RCCL Guy Sails NCL Pearl 3/30-4/8

[rolloman]

This was my first sailing on NCL. I have to admit, it probably will not be my last. The positives-This ship is absolutely beautiful and the crew and officers are first class. The Bliss nightclub is one of a kind and not to be missed. The pool areas are spacious and decorated beautifully with many ammenities. (slide, rockwall, full basketball court, ect.) You can even gamble on the pool deck as they set up a couple tables.

 

Food was very good and a few times excellent.

At any point in time if you are hungry there is always somewhere to go and find a bite to eat. Indigo was my favorite, Corine the Maitre D was outstanding as well as every single person working in the place. Le Bistro was worth the extra money as well as Teppanyaki. I will state, the wait staff onboard the ship were all dressed sharply and hair and makeup was sqaured away. I dont usually don't pay attention to this but because they stood out so well you couldn't help but notice.

 

The cruise director Simon Murray rates as one of my all time favorites. This guy was everywhere and always going out of his way to greet everyone with a smile. His tag line "smashing day" is now a part of my vocabulary.

 

Negatives-Cagneys restaurant is not worth a penny extra. The NY strip in Indigo and the steak strips in the Buffet blew away my fatty cajun rib eye (cajun seasonings were missing) and to top it off the hostess was rude.

 

The ship is a little quirky in its lay out- nothing major but could confuse a first timer for a few days.

 

The term "Free Style" is a bit of a stretch. You still have to eat in a certain time frame and making reservations is kind of a drag, especially when you get shot down.

 

Checking on to the ship was kind of wierd, they make you get into another line to get your room keycard. Not sure why you dont get it up front like every other cruise line. Getting off the ship was quite delayed.

 

Basically outside of the Cagneys experience, I highly reccomend this ship for anyone trying to decide. There is a strong possibility I may book this ship again in June for Alaska, as they clearly have the best port schedule leaving out of Seattle over any of the other lines.

[Stillfloatin']

Thanks for your review. We sailed the Pearl in early March and I'd agree with just about everything you said. We also were very disappointed in Cagneys, but all the other restaurants were terrific. And we loved the high service level and friendliness of the staff. Wouldn't mind sailing her again.

[newmexicoNita]

Interesting about Cagney's: DH thought it was about the best he had ever had, I was a little disappointed. We both have always loved Le Bistro. NMNita

[Kingz]

We also have a few RCCL cruises under our belt. But we tried a NCL cruice a few years ago and really likes it. We did like the various restaurants with the different themes.

We will be going on the Pearl in a month and it sounds like a great ship.

[_anamarieus_]

:cool: Please tell us more of your experience!!! I cannot get enough info!!! :D

[rolloman]

I also found the slot machines to be very tight, to tell you the truth I kind of see a trend on all lines, if you want to win money, play the last night only. They have an automated electronic roulette machine. I advise everyone to play at the real table if roulette is your thing. I feel the machine does not drop the ball randomly. I have seen automated blackjack on RCCL but this roulette machine was the first I have ever witnessed.

[_anamarieus_]

Do you have any thoughts on the ports or the food or the ship? I really would love to hear your views.

[BeachBumMama]

Welcome over to the 'other' side!:)

Glad you enjoyed yourself and nice review.

[brunolvr]

This was my first sailing on NCL. I have to admit, it probably will not be my last. The positives-This ship is absolutely beautiful and the crew and officers are first class. The Bliss nightclub is one of a kind and not to be missed. The pool areas are spacious and decorated beautifully with many ammenities. (slide, rockwall, full basketball court, ect.) You can even gamble on the pool deck as they set up a couple tables.

 

Food was very good and a few times excellent.

At any point in time if you are hungry there is always somewhere to go and find a bite to eat. Indigo was my favorite, Corine the Maitre D was outstanding as well as every single person working in the place. Le Bistro was worth the extra money as well as Teppanyaki. I will state, the wait staff onboard the ship were all dressed sharply and hair and makeup was sqaured away. I dont usually don't pay attention to this but because they stood out so well you couldn't help but notice.

 

The cruise director Simon Murray rates as one of my all time favorites. This guy was everywhere and always going out of his way to greet everyone with a smile. His tag line "smashing day" is now a part of my vocabulary.

 

Negatives-Cagneys restaurant is not worth a penny extra. The NY strip in Indigo and the steak strips in the Buffet blew away my fatty cajun rib eye (cajun seasonings were missing) and to top it off the hostess was rude.

 

The ship is a little quirky in its lay out- nothing major but could confuse a first timer for a few days.

 

The term "Free Style" is a bit of a stretch. You still have to eat in a certain time frame and making reservations is kind of a drag, especially when you get shot down.

 

Checking on to the ship was kind of wierd, they make you get into another line to get your room keycard. Not sure why you dont get it up front like every other cruise line. Getting off the ship was quite delayed.

 

Basically outside of the Cagneys experience, I highly reccomend this ship for anyone trying to decide. There is a strong possibility I may book this ship again in June for Alaska, as they clearly have the best port schedule leaving out of Seattle over any of the other lines.

Come join us on the Pearl to Alaska on June 17th! Still seems to be a lot of available cabins!

Can you tell us a little about your cabin?

[rolloman]

The food was some of the best I have had in years. The roasted chicken in the buffet is excellent. Food will not be an issue, as I stated before the only place I had a food issue was Cagneys.

 

I had a balcony cabin 10018 on deck ten to be exact. The room was nice and the bed was very comfortable. The bathroom had a great enclosed shower. One issue is the toilet is also enclosed with a sliding door and it must have been designed by oompa loompas. You have to sit sideways to fit in the little room. Me and the wife are below average in height and weight so good luck to anyone that might have some size.

 

The ports were nice but typical to every other island. I think each one will be what you make of it. Do a tour in Dominica or stay on the ship. Barbados was nice with, I recommend taking a tour to the mahogany forest as the views up there are incredible. Tortola, clean and scenic with beautiful water views. Antigua go to the beach, Dickenson has about all you need and is closest at 6 per person cab ride. St. Lucia has a lot to see and do but I must warn you if you get car sick do not go on an excursion. Everything is far away and you will be traveling up and down one lane mountain roads.

 

When in port the Pearl really stands out among the other ships, Clean beautiful, Sleek.I hear alot of griping about the colors, these complaints are way over blown in my opinion. Its year 2007, the 50's and 90's are over.The Bliss lounge is just really neat in my opinion. The ship has some hits and it has some misses but then again which line doesn't? Having sailed quite a few times on several lines I highly recommend this ship to anyone.

[watchdiva]

Thanks for posting your review:) . We leave on Friday and can't wait............

[dshefter]

Rolloman: Thanks for posting your review. I, too, have done three previous cruises on RCCL and enjoyed all of them. But my wife (she's done 5 RCCL cruises) and I have decided to try a different line for our cruise in January 2008 and we have selected the 9-day Southern Caribbean cruise on the Pearl. We are looking forward to it, thanks to the many great reviews and pictures on this board. Interesting to hear your thoughts on Cagneys since so many people have given this restaurant a major thumbs up. I was curious if anyone in your party tried the sushi bar?

[triplover]

I sailed the Pearl in March and my husband and I really liked the sushi bar. Both taste and service. Also spoke to another couple who enjoyed it as well. We also found Cagney's to be our worst dining experience. Enjoyed all of the others.

[pink_1]

I just came off of NCL 3/30-4/8 and I have to agree that this was an incredible cruise. This was my first NCL cruise and I had a "SMASHING" time. I also ate at Cagneys and loved the food, however the ribeye in Indigo was just as good. I ate all day everyday and will definitely go again. I booked my tours outside of the ship and was quite pleased. I found my tours here at cruise critic. Look at adventureantigua.com, we took the xtreme tour which was kind of expensive but woth every dollar, and in St Lucia we took a tour with Cosol which I also found here. Will definitely do NCL again. Everything was great except getting off. Huge delay but the 10 days were so incredible nothing could bring me down.

[dshefter]

Good to know TripLover. It seems like there are varying reviews of Cagneys. Some love it and some think it's not so good. I will definitely hit the sushi bar.

[LateCruiser]

I sailed the Pearl in March and my husband and I really liked the sushi bar. Both taste and service. Also spoke to another couple who enjoyed it as well. We also found Cagney's to be our worst dining experience. Enjoyed all of the others.

 

Just goes to show how subjective "food" is. We were on the Pearl in February and loved Cagney's. The Filet's were awesome. Ate there twice. (without reservations either time).:)

[Len3]

Can you tell us what you thought on the atrium area? On the RCCL ships (Voyager and Jewel) the atrium always seemed to be several stories high and made quite an impression. I love the NCL fleet and freestyle, but IMHO, this interior space of RCCL has it over NCL. Any thoughts?

[debshomespun]

We were on the 3/2/07 9 night southern sailing of the Pearl. As you can see below, we are pretty loyal to RCCL. We were even on the Freedom's 9/10/06 sailing, and I would have to say we enjoyed the Pearl the best. First, the extra days are the best! Their itinery is really great IMHO. The Pearl does not compare inside to the atrium and royal promenade on the Voyager & Freedom class ships of RCCL. However, we didn't miss the promenade. The Pearl does have their really big tv screen, it is 2 or 3 stories high, and they have wii games throughout the week. It is something different. We thoroughly enjoyed out time on the Pearl and would not hesitate to go on her again.

 

We did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants, and thought the food was very comperable to RCCL. The Blue Lagoon has really great snacks 24/7. Not quite the same type as the royal promenade cafe, but still good.

 

On the islands, we arranged our shore excursions ourselves, through cruise critic information. We were very pleased with each island. This was our first time to St. Lucia and Dominica, so we arranged tours of the islands, and had a great time at each one. We didn't do much in Antigua, Barbados and Tortola, having been to these islands before.

 

We didn't have any problems with chairs on sea days. We do, however get up very early, and go up 1 deck from the pool, and we love to sit near the ships rails and look out over the seas. The pool area was very crowded, but the pool entertainment was very good. They had a variety of musicians, I think about 3 that played at various times throughout the day.

 

Regarding the casino, one of our group won $2500. on the quarter slots on the second night out. She still had at least $2000. when we got back. She loves to gamble.

 

The bliss nightclub is very unique. Anyone going on the Pearl, be sure to take your camera and go in during the daytime sometime and get lots of pictures! Entertainment is comperable to RCCL. Granted, IMHO, the ice shows on RC are some of the best shows on the high seas, but the Pearl's weren't to bad.

 

If there are any other questions, let us know!

[mcp8283]

Hello,

 

We will be going on the Pearl this Friday and are enjoying the reviews immensely. Does anyone know if the tea is brewed or instant. I know this is quite a silly question concerning the state of the world, but it would be nice to know since we are from the South and take our tea very seriously. Thank you, mcp

[BeachBumMama]

Hello,

 

We will be going on the Pearl this Friday and are enjoying the reviews immensely. Does anyone know if the tea is brewed or instant. I know this is quite a silly question concerning the state of the world, but it would be nice to know since we are from the South and take our tea very seriously. Thank you, mcp

Brewed.:)

[rolloman]

The atrium on RCCL is hard to beat. NCL has a huge screen that covers 3 decks with lounge chairs out front. Its kind of neat but not near the beauty of an RCCL atrium.

 

I am sure a few people have had a great time in Cagneys. I did not- Hostess rude and the steak they forgot the cajun seasonings. The au graten potato had no taste but the mushrooms were good. Here is the deal folks, IMO why pay double for something you can get for free? I guarantee the buffet and Indigo are better steaks. Yeah, Yeah your filet was good.. so? Is it 40.00 extra good? IMO No Way. Teppanyaki.. worth it, you get a show. Le Bistro- worth it, you get a show and its extremely elegant. Whats in it for me to pay 40 bucks extra at Cagney? I think RCCL steakhouse is lame as well and will never eat in there again, but I will state their desert in RCCL is incredible. Keep in mind this is my opinion, I business travel a lot and eat at 4 and 5 star restaurants on a regular basis. Save your 40.00 bucks and go to Smith and Wolinski near the pier in Miami, now that is a steakhouse!