PEARL for Alaska

[LateCruiser]

if the pearl is 1/2 as good as the star was last year, you will love it!

pleasant dreaming!!:)

 

Well said Toyz! Before we went on the Pearl, I said if it was half as good as the Jewel, I'd be delighted. It turned out to be as good and better:) !

[packercruising]

Hey latecruiser, what's the difference between the Jewel and the Pearl? They look identical on he deckplans, except for the bowling alley. The cabins even look like they are numbered the same. we were recently on the Jewel and thought it was great! Hoping to book Pearl for next year. :)

[Ghia]

I am scheduled to sail on the Pearl to Alaska on 7/08. I am excited and love reading everything, bad and good, about the ship. I am not lookig to make friends with the crew. What I am looking for is a clean room, good food, and answers to questions that I might have. It is sad when people spend money, be it a $1 or $1 million, and do not get the service they expect. I would love to hear more from those who had bad experiences.

[OceanDreaming2]

I'm not LateCruiser but I have been on both ships. The Jewel is about 2 years old now, the Pearl is less than a year old. Both have similar layouts, virtually the same dining rooms/restaurants although they may have different names, i.e. Mama's/LaCocina. The food was excellent on both ships.

 

The Pearl has a rock climbing wall and the bowling alley while the Jewel does not.

 

The cabin layouts are virtually the same. In most cases, the staff has no idea if you're in an inside cabin on deck 4 or in a penthouse. Everyone is treated equally.

 

The staff on the Pearl was hand picked to be the best of the best. Our last stateroom was always immaculate, service was great. We had no complaints, just compliments!

 

By next year the Gem will be the newest ship in the fleet and I expect the cream of the crop employees will be stationed there.

 

We have been on several NCL cruises and have found each one unique and first class in it's own right. :)

[shoreguy]

Hey latecruiser, what's the difference between the Jewel and the Pearl? They look identical on he deckplans, except for the bowling alley. The cabins even look like they are numbered the same. we were recently on the Jewel and thought it was great! Hoping to book Pearl for next year. :)

 

 

In fact there are major differences and most for the better. The bowling alley is in fact a great new night spot. The Garden cafe is completely different with action stations offering cooked to order food. All the outdoor funiture is a total upgrade. Far more balcony cabins for four. Indigo is a complete remodel of Azura with great window seating. The cigar bar is inclosed. They added new A2 owners suites. Deck 7 is smoke free end to end. ..............

[mommykateb]

I was on the same 5 day cruise as Envirolawyer. Personally, I did not have any problems with the crew, though some were better than others.

 

My cabin stewards were outstanding - they were very friendly and quickly learned my family's schedule (difficult with two early rising/early to bed kids and an afternoon nap) and worked with it to be sure they got our service in at least twice daily.

 

The food service was very friendly as well. In fact, one worker overheard my son say that he wanted a cookie, which was not being served at the time, and moments later she appeared with a plate of six cookies just for him. There are definitely members of the crew that go above and beyond. Service in the main restaurants was good (though not generally outstanding), but the service in the specialty restaurants was better.

 

I will say that, although the service was very good overall, it was not quite as good as the service I received on a Celebrity ship, which was really fantastic.

 

The atmosphere of this particular cruise was unusual - there were several hundred college spring breakers on board, many of whom were from the same school. At times, certain areas were loud and crowded (most notably the pool deck). This type of atmosphere can certainly color someone's cruise experience as well. Also, it made the bar service substandard - there were typically long waits for drinks and not enough poolside servers, even though they had set up additional tables from which to serve drinks.

 

Even with these small issues, my experience on the Pearl was great and I am considering booking another cruise with them in the near future.

 

Hope this helps!

[brunolvr]

In fact there are major differences and most for the better. The bowling alley is in fact a great new night spot. The Garden cafe is completely different with action stations offering cooked to order food. All the outdoor funiture is a total upgrade. Far more balcony cabins for four. Indigo is a complete remodel of Azura with great window seating. The cigar bar is inclosed. They added new A2 owners suites. Deck 7 is smoke free end to end. ..............

 

I haven't heard about that before. I think it's great that Deck 7 is smoke free! Last summer on the Star when we would walk around the promenade deck, we ended up inhaling a lot of secondhand smoke which we didn't enjoy. It will be great to be able to spend time out there enjoying the fresh air!:)

[packercruising]

Glad I asked!:D