Pearl Balcony

[NW Pacific]

Very limited cruising experience (3 times) have an opportunity to join in on a family Alaskan Cruise in July. Can only afford a balcony, would appreicate comments on the best location for a balcony. Trying to figure out which deck has rooms below and above, but need help.

[deepnite10]

Whats with the thumbsdown?..

 

i think you ll have a great time regardless

where the balcony located..

[Toyz711]

since the pearl goes to glacier bay, if you view the area from your balcony...you will want a port side balcony. best viewing are top decks, next best on your balcony, port side. try deck 9 or 10..

remember, all the balconies cabins are the same, the price only reflects the better locations. the higher the deck the higher the price.

i did that cruise when the NLC star was doing the route, glacier bay is great.

[chrisbd1]

I'm going to Alaska on the Pearl. I chose a balcony (BB) aft on the port side. My cabin is on deck 10. I chose port side because I've heard that the view is slightly better on that side (some say starboard is best for Alaska), but I prefer port side. I chose aft (not total aft) because it's only two flights from The Great Outdoors :D .

[Toyz711]

for glacier bay, the view is a lot better on the port side. you get to see the glaciers as the ship approachs and paused. starboard gets nice views, but can't see the glaciers until the ship turns.

[Migglewump Fizzlebottom]

remember, all the balconies cabins are the same, the price only reflects the better locations. the higher the deck the higher the price.

 

I don't want to Carl Corrector, but there are differences in the balconies. the ones closer to the bridge are "framed" by steel. The ones in the middle are completley open. I know this because I had a framed balcony on the Pearl last year. I'm not sure how much a view I was missing, because I didn't have anything to comapre it to. I could see officers on the bridge if I stuck my head out. Hopefully they didn't see me and my wife as we pulled into Cozumel:o

 

You can see what I mean. Look at the windows above the lifeboat deck nearest the bridge. Those are balconies. Compare those to the middle of the ship:

 

 

Here's the view from the inside:

 

[Toyz711]

if they get a balcony toward mid-ship, they can get views like this one.

but i still had to go to the railing to really be able to enjoy it. on the day it rained, your framed balcony would have been nice.

[seastheday]

Deck 10 on the Pearl has only staterooms above (Deck 11) and below (Deck 9). We were on her early December in #10104 and all was peaceful and calm...with lovely views. Don't feel that you are missing out if a balcony is "all you can afford". It is wonderful! ;)

[NW Pacific]

Deepnite 10, I thought the thumbs down was a question mark, this is what happens when you are in the age bracket eligible for AARP and discounts! Thanks everyone for information, there are cabins avalialbe on deck 9 towards the front in the BC category. I have to refresh my mind and start getting familiarized with the ship and categories, sounds like fun to me!

[Debbie in Orlando]

We've been on 3 different NCL ships in balcony rooms on deck 9 and they've all been quiet. We've been to Alaska and had a starboard room, next time a port side.

[watzonii]

We are planning a cruising to Alaska on the Pearl in 2009. I understand the port side is the recommended side of the ship. I have a couple of additional questions.

1) Are all the balconies covered on the Pearl? I've read where on Princess, all are not all covered.

2) Which would be preferable for the views on this cruise, an Aft balcony or a balcony on the Port side?

Thanks for your input and suggestions.

[Rory Girl]

We took the Pearl to Alaska last September. We were on the 9th level with a balcony closer to the front of the ship....9018???or somewhere near there. We were on the starboard side of the ship which is the side nearest the dock when you are in Seattle. It was nice to stand on the balcony and watch the skyline of the city as we departed. That side was away from the towns when we docked in most cities.

It was very quiet...I would book it again although for our cruise thru the PAnama Canal in April I went up to floor 10, about the same location. Hope it is as nice.

[GottaLuvCruising]

We sailed the Pearl to Alaska last May. We had a mid-ship balcony on the starboard side of deck nine. It was wonderful! The location was very convenient and we thought the views from our balcony were excellent. During glacier bay we went outside to check the view on the other side several times, but felt ours was better. Here are entirely too many pictures, in case you'd like to take a peek at our cruise:

 

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=10q6e9zr.6ttf0q17&Uy=g9c3ys&Ux=0

[neverthought]

We sailed the Pearl to Alaska last May. We had a mid-ship balcony on the starboard side of deck nine. It was wonderful! The location was very convenient and we thought the views from our balcony were excellent. During glacier bay we went outside to check the view on the other side several times, but felt ours was better. Here are entirely too many pictures, in case you'd like to take a peek at our cruise:

 

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=10q6e9zr.6ttf0q17&Uy=g9c3ys&Ux=0

 

 

Janet,

What wonderful pictures, thank you for sharing. DH,I and another couple will be on the Pearl for our 1st Alaskan cruise the end of May, and your shots are just the excursions we booked (more or less). We too have a balcony on starboard so your pictures showed us what to expect. Great shots, Thanks again!

Neverthought

[chrisbd1]

Looking at the balcony that is framed made me realize that we've had at least one framed balcony. I actually never realized that it was framed, as our view didn't seem to be obstructed.

 

I just looked at pictures from the Dawn-it was a framed balcony :eek:

 

I liked it just fine :)

[GottaLuvCruising]

Janet,

What wonderful pictures, thank you for sharing. DH,I and another couple will be on the Pearl for our 1st Alaskan cruise the end of May, and your shots are just the excursions we booked (more or less). We too have a balcony on starboard so your pictures showed us what to expect. Great shots, Thanks again!

Neverthought

 

You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. I'm sure you'll love Alaska, too. If you want to take a sneak peek at the ship, here are some interior shots:

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=10q6e9zr.4m3mud0j&Uy=flqt89&Ux=0

[disneydiane61]

Janet,

Another thank you for sharing your photos. We are on the Pearl in August and I love seeing a "preview" of all the wonderful things to come.:D

 

disneydiane

[TexDisneyMom]

Thanks for posting the great pictures!

[jag2gator]

We were on the Pearl to Alaska in July and we had a port side balcony as well. However, when we were in Glacier Bay they did turn the ship completely around so that the other side could have a great view as well. They did this at each point of interest so that everyone could enjoy the view. You really can't go wrong with views on this ship. If any of you are interested in doing a whale watching tour in Juneau, my husband and I did a private tour. The company is Harv and Marv's and it was fantastic!! We learned about them(They are 2 old friends from High School-neither named Harv or Marv, it was a high school joke. They switch names each year-pretty funny) anyway, we learned of them through cruise critic. We were with two other couples. It is a very small fishing boat and books fast. They will pick you up at the pier and bring you back. Legally you have to stay a certain distance from the whales, but fortunately we were able to get a little closer than the tours(which book ALOT of people). We also were able to see alot of other wildlife and glaciers. Highly recommed them. My sister and her husband booked them for their Sept cruise. Have fun!

[AFT_LOVER]

Thank you so much for sharing them. We were Radiance OTS with you, did the Skagway train tour whch we just loved & we were round trip on it.

[watzonii]

Thanks for posting the photos and responses to the balcony questions. I have another question since 2009 Alaska Pearl is now available for booking on NCL's website. We will get a balcony and were wondering if a Side balcony or an Aft balcony would have better views on this cruise. We have never had an aft balcony but have been near the back of a ship before so the motion should not be a problem.

Thanks for your replies

[Toyz711]

if you want to spend time on the balcony, for glacier bay viewing...port side or forward is where to be. as the ship cruises through glacier bay, the park rangers will comment on the differenet glaciers and views...all on the port side.aft and starboard will get views, at the bigger glaciers, when the ship rotates.

when we did that route, on the star, we had an other ship behind us. when it was time for our ship to rotate for viewing, the other ship moved up and in the way. port side balconies were the only ones that got the views. our ship turned and left, didn't pause like it usually does.

for the rest of the trip, i would say to go for the aft.