Looong Pearl Review, Alaskan itinerary

[christianmom5]

First, to give you some background on us and our perspective. My DH and I have been on several Caribbean cruises on Carnival, NCL, and HAL. This was our first cruise to Alaska. We went with my parents. It was our first time to Alaska. We love traveling, but are always looking to save a dollar. I’d rather travel more frequently than travel in “five star style”. I spent a lot of time reading and planning for our cruise, which will probably result in this being a rather lengthy review.

Overall, the NCL Pearl is a beautiful ship. We loved the freestyle dining, and enjoyed the ports. I would encourage anyone to try this itinerary and ship. Everyone that I talked to was having a good time. You usually hear the occasional passengers complaining about this or that, but I heard none of that on the Pearl. My first recommendation would be for people who, like us, are used to cruising the Caribbean. This itinerary is different, obviously. But there were several passengers who I heard say they had not brought a jacket. It’s Alaska-be prepared for cooler temperatures! You’re going to want to enjoy the out-of-doors, so be prepared! Also consider that most people spend a few hours/day sitting by the pool relaxing on a Caribbean cruise. If you’re going with a large party with whom you can visit, this time will probably be made up that way. As much as we loved the scenery, after a couple of hours of sitting, absorbing it, I was ready to go DO something. I thought that there should probably have been a little bit more in the way of activities offered, but there was not. So, my suggestions are-use the sports equipment available (and free!) I rarely saw anyone using it. There is shuffleboard, pingpong, tennis, basketball, and, of course the rock climbing wall. The bowling in the Bliss lounge was reasonably priced at $5/game, and was a riot! There are also games available in the Lifestyles room, as well as reading and sudoku in the Library. Lastly, if you’re truly bored, they do have two movie channels on the television and a movie schedule in your room. We never watched any because the schedule didn’t work out, but I thought it might be fun to get popcorn from the Bliss Lounge and just relax, watching a show. Another option would be to try the thermal suite in the spa. It costs $15/day or $63 for the week. Like I said, we’re penny pinchers, but the regular pool area was pretty much useless, and this was a really nice area. There are stone loungers which just seem to wrap your body in warmth, a hottub, a thalassotherapy pool with jets that pumped oxygen into different parts of the pool, serving different purposes. It was very relaxing. There were also loungers along the back of the thermal suite with a beautiful view out the back of the ship. In the ladie’s changing room, there was also a steam room, a dry sauna, whirlpool tubs, a cold shock tub (didn’t try that one), and a raindrop shower. There’s peaceful music playing, and it’s just a really nice, relaxing atmosphere. We just paid for it one day. The first time we were going to try it, it was too busy-not relaxing if crowded! The next time we visited was early morning, so we went for it, and had a nice relaxing hour and a half. It would have also been nice to sit in those loungers while sailing through Glacier Bay! We did enjoy the hottubs in the pool area. The first day or two they were not warm enough-maybe great for the Caribbean, but not for the temperatures that we were in. They did warm them up after a few days, and they became more popular as the week continued. The fitness center also had huge picture windows, so you could walk on a treadmill with a view like no other!

The things that we brought that really helped included a multiple outlet extension cord. There’s only one available outlet in the main cabin. Also, don’t forget an alarm clock. There are no clocks in the rooms. Lastly, don’t forget conditioner for your hair if you use it. The things that are provided in the room are liquid soap, shampoo, a hairdryer, and a refrigerator. It’s stocked with minibar items, but we simply emptied part of it and put in our own sodas. We stayed in an outside cabin on the lowest passenger deck, rm. 4596. The room was comfortable with plenty of room for what we needed. We had a comfortable king size bed with two bedside tables, a desk with shelves and 3 nice size drawers (6 total in room), another table in which the television was perched, and plenty of room in the armoire. The bathroom was a reasonable size for a cruiseship, and the shower had good pressure and plenty of hot water. Our cabin stewards were fantastic. We always had ice, towel animals were waiting with us in the evenings, and everything was sparkling clean after they had been there. Our one real complaint about the cruise also had to do with our room. There was a loud banging that ensued for a few hours our second night out of port. It was not there the next night, but then returned the fourth night out. We called to see if someone could do something, and had a maintenance man in our room in about ten minutes. He responded that he would have to have someone else look at it, since the noise was not in our room itself. That night we returned to a quiet room, so we thought it was fixed, but on the last night it returned with a vengeance-EXTREMELY loud for about 3 hours. My husband actually went upstairs to try to sleep in the lounge or one of the beds on deck, but he said the lights were on and the music was blaring. We did receive a bottle of wine from someone in customer service, and an offer to trade rooms, but we had hoped that it was gone. To give them credit, they were speedy, and they did try.

Restaurants-We ate in all of the free restaurants. The specialty restaurants had better service in our opinion, and we did leave tips there. The Mexican restaurant, Mambos, was fun. Try the Il Popo for something different and bring your camera. At least two people have to share it, but they bring out this large iron hook which has pieces of chicken and beef, as well as assorted vegetables hanging on it. There are flour tortillas and assorted fixings to wrap in the tortillas-yummy! Dessert was to die for- a cream puff type pastry with a coffee flavored ice cream, then drizzled with chocolate-divine!! Service was outstanding, and our water glasses were never empty, even though we drink a lot. This restaurant was the most popular and the only one that we had difficulty getting into. The Italian restaurant was also fun and different. The menu was a little confusing, since it states that you are served an antipasto tray for appetizers-which were different on the two nights we were there, then lists soups/salads, then pasta, then pizza, then entrée, then dessert. Our first time there we had no idea of portion sizes-were you supposed to order one of each? Pick one? Two? The waiter finally explained that the pasta and entrees were meal sized. The pizzas were family sized, and we were encouraged to order one for our group of four in addition to the entrees we selected. So we had the antipasto, some of us ordered soup or salad, followed by the pizza, then our entrée, and finally-dessert. Then we waddled out! Luckily, the portions were somewhat small, so we didn’t eat quite as much as it sounds like. We made reservations when we were eating at the specialty restaurants, and we just planned ahead. I didn’t have a problem with any of the reservations, just calling the previous day. You could make reservations for the day of or the day after your call. If something was scheduled that conflicted, I would just cancel the reservation. The food and service in the main dining rooms were good-very good, but not excellent. I almost preferred the buffet over the dining rooms because they had so much variety to choose from. The buffet was themed every night. The night we ate there it was Mexican night, and the guacamole was great! We also tried the Blue Lagoon, the 24 hour snack bar type restaurant. It was satisfactory. There were at least four flavors of ice cream available just about any time that you could possibly want it (except for maybe late at night). It would have been nice to have someone refilling coffee and water in the dining room. The glasses they gave you were probably 8 oz., so I always started with two, and still usually needed to refill them. The buffet area gets busy, so if the weather’s nice, head on through to the back of the ship to the Great Outdoors, beautiful views and a lot less crowded. If the weather won’t cooperate, use the tables in Mambos. The chocolate buffet was at 10:00-11:00 on the next to last evening. There were great photo opportunities, with cool sculptures. We went early, took pictures first, then tried a chocolate dipped banana, and some lovely bit of something that tasted like chocolate pecan pie-divine! There were even sugar free chocolate creations at the back, so don’t skip it just because you’re diabetic or need to watch your sugar! The first formal night was Monday I believe, and that's when lobster was served. (You can order the lobster in any of the restaurants). Overall, the freestyle cruising was one of the best parts of the cruise. The choices that you had were many. Of our party of four, none of us ever were terribly disappointed in a meal. If there was something that we tried that was only satisfactory or that we didn’t like-we left it. There always seemed to be more options. If we wanted to dress up, we did-or not. If we wished to eat early, that was okay. Late? That’s okay, too. We could make reservations or not (although that would limit your choices).

The entertainment on the ship was good. We went to the show every night, but missed the afternoon crew show. Second City was the best-hilarious! Don’t miss it! I didn’t know whether I would like it, but everyone in our family laughed and laughed! They have an improv show later, which is also funny. The magician was pretty good. The productions were decent. The acrobatic team made them more interesting, as well as the costuming and stage designs, especially in the first one, the geisha one. We enjoyed the guitar player in the atrium.

Ports of Call

Juneau- We did a whale watching tour with Cap. Larry. I enjoyed the ride through Juneau, as well as all the wildlife at the dock-many eagles, starfish in the water, harbor seals playing in the waves. I was probably almost as impressed by these things as I was by the whales. We spent too much time heading way out, trying to find Orca whales, which are more rare in that area than Humpback whales. It was Jeff, from Hawaii, his first trip back, and he has a tradition of spotting Orcas on his first trip. So we were off. Evidently, we were very lucky to spot some very brief fins and backs of the Orca whales, but the Humpback whales were larger, slower, and, therefore much easier to spot, photograph, and enjoy. We did see a couple of Humpback whales on the way back, playing, which we enjoyed, but we couldn’t stay because we’d run out of time. We did also see some sea lions playing on a dingy (bell thing??), and got some cute pictures. Overall, it was worthwhile. We did some brief shopping on our return, then headed back to the ship.

Skagway-Here we rented a car and did the drive to Emerald Lake, which I would highly recommend. We didn’t see much wildlife, but the scenery was superb. It’s just so amazing to think that there is so much land that remains wild and untamed! Emerald Lake was not completely thawed, but was still beautiful, and you could see it’s beautiful color in spots. There were various lakes alongside the road for much of the journey.

Glacier Bay-what can I say? It was the highlight of the trip! We were lucky to see some breaks in the clouds, and blue skies and sun peek through. The glaciers were awesome, and we just spent the day slowly gliding through a peaceful, glass sea, laced with tiny icebergs. Whales and seals were spotted, but I never saw anything close enough to tell what it was. The park rangers were very friendly and knowledgeable. If you go to Alaska, make sure you DON”T MISS Glacier Bay.

Ketchikan-We had been fairly lucky with the weather up to now, but it was absolutely beautiful in Skagway. The sun shone, the air was crisp. The bad part was that we had to tender!! Yuck! It was 9:30 before they got through the line of people waiting to go to shore, then we had to be back in line by 12:30. We arrived promptly at 12:30, and it took another hour waiting in line, and then tendering back to the ship. It seemed we spent almost as much time waiting that day as we had actually enjoying the port! We didn’t have anything scheduled, so stopped by the visitor’s center and got the map for the walking tour. There wasn’t time to do the whole tour, but we did get to a totem museum, see the salmon ladder, and end up at Creek Street, so it was a nice tour. You couldn’t go wrong with the golden sun shining down on us! Ketchikan seemed the most scenic town, and the easiest to just wander in.

Victoria-the ship arrived a little late, then we waited for a shuttle bus ($6 roundtrip) to take us to downtown. I was told it was only a 10-15 minute walk. The B. C. Museum was recommended to us, and looked really cool, but it closed about the time we were arriving. I think it’s open later starting in July. Victoria is a beautiful city, so we just wandered around the shops and port for awhile, then headed back.

Looking back on our week spent on the Pearl, there were many happy moments. NCL will probably be our cruiseline of choice in the future, primarily due to freestyle dining. We weren’t quite sure what we’d think of it, but we loved it. The Pearl was a beautiful, fun, fun ship. The itinerary was great. We had a nice variety of shore tours available. The value was good. We’ll be back!

[SweetpeaOne]

Glad you had a really nice time. Shame about the banging. Did you ever find out what it was? Good advice about the alarm clock. I will add one to my luggage...

[christianmom5]

I forgot to attach the link to the pictures that we took. Sorry, but I haven't taken time to label them yet, but you can see the pictures from Alaska by following this link:

 

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=361221179880631503/l=265187882/g=78901560/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

 

Enjoy!:)

[Aloha Gal]

Hi there, enjoyed reading your review. Thanks for posting. We'll be on the Pearl for our first cruise, 7/22 - can't wait. Which specialty restaurants did you try? Which would you recommend?

[silkhair1]

I am glad you had a nice time. I like to read about the new ships. Thank You!!!!!

[flyingpirate]

What a great review!

 

Thanks for the memories of Alaska last year on Star and Pearl this month.

 

Hmmm....Alaska...Pearl....nothing booked for summer :::slap:::

[Ghia]

Great review. Thanks:) I sail 07/08 and can't wait. Hey, I made a rhyme.:)

[christianmom5]

We ate in Blue Lagoon, the 24 hour snack bar. It had good potato skins, and my parents tried the fish and chips, thought they were yummy. Blue Lagoon has a wall of windows on the side of the ship, so I would recommend going there right at 11:30 (they start serving lunch then) on the day you're sailing through Glacier Bay, and you can eat with an incredible view and not so many people!

 

La Cucina was the Italian restaurant. It also has some windows with a nice view, and you can head in there to sit from the buffet. For dinner, we had superb service and food.

 

Mambos was the Tex-mex. Once again, it was excellent. We didn't try the restaurants that charged. I would like to have tried Teppanyaki. It looked fun, but our schedule didn't work out by the time I tried to make reservations.

 

:( I just realized that you have to sign up on Snapfish (the link above) to see the pictures. Sorry about that.

[LateCruiser]

Great review - thanks! One clarification about alarm clocks on the Pearl. The phone in your room can be used as an alarm clock. You can set the time for an automated wakeup call on it. I didn't see this written down in the room, just found it on the phone. Would be nice if NCL made this a little clearer for everyone.:)

[CRUZIN TOM]

Super review, glad you loved it. As we did in Feb and will be there this August for alaska.:)

[brunolvr]

I forgot to attach the link to the pictures that we took. Sorry, but I haven't taken time to label them yet, but you can see the pictures from Alaska by following this link:

 

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=361221179880631503/l=265187882/g=78901560/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

 

Enjoy!:)

 

Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures! It looks like you had a great time with some good memories to enjoy!:)

 

I wish you would have edited your pictures that are sideways, though. I think you could probably go back into Snapfish and do an edit and turn them all upright to make viewing easier.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to write a terrific review and share your memories!

[brunolvr]

As much as we loved the scenery, after a couple of hours of sitting, absorbing it, I was ready to go DO something. I thought that there should probably have been a little bit more in the way of activities offered, but there was not. So, my suggestions are-use the sports equipment available (and free!) I rarely saw anyone using it. There is shuffleboard, pingpong, tennis, basketball, and, of course the rock climbing wall. The bowling in the Bliss lounge was reasonably priced at $5/game, and was a riot! There are also games available in the Lifestyles room, as well as reading and sudoku in the Library. Lastly, if you’re truly bored, they do have two movie channels on the television and a movie schedule in your room.

 

I guess it's "different strokes for different folks"! We could watch the scenery all day -- sometimes we even hate to go eat because we might miss something.

 

We get up at the crack of dawn to see the sunrise and enjoy beautiful sunsets at night. We could never be "bored" with all the beauty around us!

 

Before we went on our first cruise to Alaska (our 5th is less than 4 weeks away), someone on cruise critic posted "Don't forget it's okay to do nothing", and that has stuck with us. We spend a lot of time relaxing and just enjoying God's Country!:)

[Aloha Gal]

christianmom5, thanks for the restaurant tips/review. We are foodies and it all sounds so yummy. Definitely need to lose a few pounds in the next 8+ weeks, so we are not over the top when we get off the ship! :)

[emmysmom]

Thanks so much for your review. Sounds like you had a great time! :) We are so looking forward to being on the Pearl.

[sue402001]

Thanks for your review of the Pearl. I'm getting excited about my trip on her in 25 days! :)

[abbyjude2002]

We leave on July 15th....I am glad you enjoyed the freestyle dining...it is the one thing we are most apprehensive about.

The thermal spa area sounds great...I will be one of the first to be signing up!

[brunolvr]

What time did you end of docking in Juneau? Was it difficult to get off the ship if you have an early excursion?

 

Also, 7SeasLover posted the Dailies but just the 4th page (showing the restaurants and open times) of one day. Didn't the hours of the restaurants vary depending on the port time?

 

Thanks!