A few Pearl questions/ Alaska, especially those that sailed 5/10/09

[judyf]

I have a few general questions regarding the Pearl and some regarding her in Alaska, Thanks for any help.

 

1. What channel do you put the TV on to hear the annoucements?

 

2. I'm looking for someone to share their experience with Budget rental cars at Pier 66. How did it go?

 

3. What time did you start boarding in Seattle? How did it go? Any tips? We will be taking a cab to the pier.

 

4. Any tips on a balcony? This is only my 2nd time in a balcony, 1st time was on the Spirit. Do I need to bring anything special to hold the door open or keep the heat on? Or if needed AC? :D

 

5. Where do I find those great cookies on the Pearl? Blue Lagoon?

 

6. What time did they start calling colors? We want to be the last off the ship, what time was that? How can we make sure we're the last off? Is there a certain color? :D

 

7. How did most dress for dinner in the main dining rooms?

 

8. What did you pack you should have left home?

 

9. What do you wish you packed, that you didn't bring?

 

That's it for tonight, 2 weeks and starting to stress.:eek:

[PIPER50]

Haven't been on the Pearl yet but just off Jewel so will try to answer from that point of view: cookies were available in buffet, re disembarkation - the last colour to be called from the Jewel was orange and we left around 1020, dressing for dinner - a nice top with trousers or skirt or dress if you are female and a pair of chinos, or long trousers with a short sleeved shirt if male. A light cardigan or jacket might be beneficial as some times it was pretty chilly with the air conditioning. Things I found very useful - an over the door shoe organiser - the pockets were really useful to keep camera, sunglasses etc in, post it notes to leave requests for the stewards and a highlighter pen for the freestyle daily

[noobcruiser]

To add another question to judyf's....

 

Does anyone have the dailies\menus form alaska or are they consisent with recent pearl itineraries in the caribbean?

[mbisson]

To add another question to judyf's....

 

Does anyone have the dailies\menus form alaska or are they consisent with recent pearl itineraries in the caribbean?

 

The first Alaska Pearl sailing for the year departed Seattle yesterday. Answers will probably start coming in soon

[judyf]

To add another question to judyf's....

 

Does anyone have the dailies\menus form alaska or are they consisent with recent pearl itineraries in the caribbean?

 

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2782197140101666721YtDUSZ

 

Here's what I found, hope it helps.

 

Thanks for the tips, hoping to get some replies when thr first sailing comes back.

 

Thanks

[judyf]

Looking forward to hearing from those coming off the Pearl tomorrow.

 

Hope they all had great weather and a wonderful time.

[Hikini]

We watched the Pearl last Sunday and will watch her go by again today. A beautiful day in Seattle to be boarding a cruise ship!:)

 

I can't wait for the reviews to start coming in from the May 10th cruise. We are booked on the Pearl in September and I'm anxious to hear how things went for this seasons first sailing to AK.

[judyf]

We watched the Pearl last Sunday and will watch her go by again today. A beautiful day in Seattle to be boarding a cruise ship!:)

 

I can't wait for the reviews to start coming in from the May 10th cruise. We are booked on the Pearl in September and I'm anxious to hear how things went for this seasons first sailing to AK.

 

Me too!

 

What's the long forecast for Seattle weather for Thursday through Sunday 5/21 to 5/24? We board next Sunday.

[judyf]

Actually things have changed for us since posting this thread.

 

We booked a Tillicum Village cruise for 11-11:30 am on the day we get off the Pearl 5/31

 

So now instead of being last off the ship, we need to get off the ship and get a rental car, for luggage and trans to the airport. Then park and get on the cruise at pier 55 I think. Any suggestions?????

 

Anyone use Budget or Enterprise? We have ressies with both. How did it go today at peir 66?

 

 

Thanks

[Traveller20074]

Me too!

 

What's the long forecast for Seattle weather for Thursday through Sunday 5/21 to 5/24? We board next Sunday.

 

click on extended...although I might add, it's fairly difficult to get an accurate long-range forecast for Seattle ;)

 

http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USWA0395.html

[judyf]

click on extended...although I might add, it's fairly difficult to get an accurate long-range forecast for Seattle ;)

 

http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USWA0395.html

 

As of now looks fairly good for the weekend. No rain in the forecast except sailaway day and that's only 10% thanks.

[Elde]

As of now looks fairly good for the weekend. No rain in the forecast except sailaway day and that's only 10% thanks.

 

That will change between now and then. At least four times. :p

 

Seattle area weather is notoriously unpredictable.

[brunolvr]

That will change between now and then. At least four times. :p

 

Seattle area weather is notoriously unpredictable.

 

And also that is very true of Alaska!:) maybe even more so!

[cole]

You can read my previous post about our wonderful experience last week. We started the boarding process at 11:30 and had cleared everything by 12:15. Used the Shuttle Express rather than a rental car company and that worked out great both ways. We booked a private van for our group of 7 so the charge was $25 each plus tip. We took a bungie cord to hold the balcony door open. Worked great! Channel 24 has the announcements, channel 23 has ship position and sailing information. Dress was casual. I saw men in slacks, pressed jeans, nice shirts, etc. On formal night - same for some and then again, there were some who dressed to the 9's. No one felt out of place. I don't think I took a thing I didn't think I needed nor did I not take something I wish I had taken. Of course, I have been mentally packing for the past 6 months!

B. Cole

[garycarla]

Lot of questions.

 

If you want to be last off, just wait.

If you want off, as an experienced cruiser, you know you can do self disembark.

 

Not sure which great cookies - buffet?

 

NCL does not do formal dress. Casual is fine.

 

TV for announcements - there will a TV listing in your room and I think in the daily. Easy to find.

 

Boarding - late morning to early afternoon will work fine.

 

And, for Alaska trips, make sure you visit the Alaska portion under PORTS OF CALLS

[challada]

Ummm....you can walk from the port that the Pearl comes into to the port that the Argosy cruises go out of for Tillicum Village, so I'm not sure why you would want to go all the way to the airport and back in between there (airport is nowhere near downtown).

 

Have fun...we're taking her in June!

[Traveller20074]

So.....what else did you do on the cruise? What were the ports that you docked at? Did you go on all the excursions off of the ship?

You can read my previous post about our wonderful experience last week. We started the boarding process at 11:30 and had cleared everything by 12:15. Used the Shuttle Express rather than a rental car company and that worked out great both ways. We booked a private van for our group of 7 so the charge was $25 each plus tip. We took a bungie cord to hold the balcony door open. Worked great! Channel 24 has the announcements, channel 23 has ship position and sailing information. Dress was casual. I saw men in slacks, pressed jeans, nice shirts, etc. On formal night - same for some and then again, there were some who dressed to the 9's. No one felt out of place. I don't think I took a thing I didn't think I needed nor did I not take something I wish I had taken. Of course, I have been mentally packing for the past 6 months!

B. Cole

[judyf]

Ummm....you can walk from the port that the Pearl comes into to the port that the Argosy cruises go out of for Tillicum Village, so I'm not sure why you would want to go all the way to the airport and back in between there (airport is nowhere near downtown).

 

Have fun...we're taking her in June!

 

Sorry for the misunderstanding, we are getting a car in the pier area. I have 2 ressies one with budget and one with enterprise. The pier will only hold your bags till 2:30 we don't get bacvk from Tillicaum untill 3:30 so we need a mini van to store luggage for 4 adults and then a ride to the airport for 10:15 om flight.

 

So we need to get off the Pearl get the rentazl find a place to park and then make it to Argosy before 11-11:30am.

 

We will not walk off as too much luggage to lug around.

 

What color tags should we get to be able to do this in time for the Tillicum cruise? When are the colors available?

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

[cole]

So.....what else did you do on the cruise? What were the ports that you docked at? Did you go on all the excursions off of the ship?

 

We booked our own excursions. Rented a car in Juneau, Dave & Kat Taxi Tours in Ketchikan and Chilkoot train and van ride in Skagway.

B. Cole

[electricron]

I have a few general questions regarding the Pearl and some regarding her in Alaska, Thanks for any help.

 

1. What channel do you put the TV on to hear the annoucements?

 

2. I'm looking for someone to share their experience with Budget rental cars at Pier 66. How did it go?

 

3. What time did you start boarding in Seattle? How did it go? Any tips? We will be taking a cab to the pier.

 

4. Any tips on a balcony? This is only my 2nd time in a balcony, 1st time was on the Spirit. Do I need to bring anything special to hold the door open or keep the heat on? Or if needed AC? :D

 

5. Where do I find those great cookies on the Pearl? Blue Lagoon?

 

6. What time did they start calling colors? We want to be the last off the ship, what time was that? How can we make sure we're the last off? Is there a certain color? :D

 

7. How did most dress for dinner in the main dining rooms?

 

8. What did you pack you should have left home?

 

9. What do you wish you packed, that you didn't bring?

 

That's it for tonight, 2 weeks and starting to stress.:eek:

 

Just got back, I'm answering questions like yours before posting my review.

 

1) The channel with the bow cam, which was Channel 24 if I remember correctly.

 

2) I didn't rent a car while in Seattle. From SeaTac to hotel near the Space Needle by taxi was ~$40. From my hotel near the Space Needle to SeaTac by limo was $35. From hotel near Space Needle to Pier 66 by limo was $35. From Pier 66 to hotel near Space Needle by taxi was $6. Limo had a $35 minimum charge. It was actually cheaper to use the limo to and from SeaTac.

 

3) I arrive at Pier 66 by 11 am where they were already processing passengers. NCL started letting people aboard the Pearl around 11:30 am.

 

4) My balcony door stayed where I placed it. I didn't use anything to keep it in place. My only recommendation is to pack jackets for everyone.

 

5) I didn't go looking for great cookies, sorry I couldn't help answer this question.

 

6) The Pearl should arrive at Pier 66 around 6 am. They announced express disembarkation at 8 am. They actually started letting passengers off the Pearl at 8 am. They usually start calling colors 30 to 40 minutes later, a new color every 10 minutes afterwards. I got in line for express disembarkation at 8:30 am, and was in my hotel room by 9:30 am.

 

7) Most passengers, I'd say over 90%, were dressed in resort casual attire in the Main Dinning Rooms. I saw a few ties, a few jackets, a few t shirts, but no shorts in the Main Dinning Rooms throughout the cruise. To be frank, I didn't see that many shorts throughout the cruise, as it was much too cold outside for shorts.

 

8) I used everything I packed.

 

9) I wished I had pack my toothpaste in my own bag, not relying on my brother's bag. My brother wished he had remembered to pack his passport.

[hrfs]

I have a few general questions regarding the Pearl and some regarding her in Alaska, Thanks for any help.

 

1. What channel do you put the TV on to hear the annoucements?

 

2. I'm looking for someone to share their experience with Budget rental cars at Pier 66. How did it go?

 

3. What time did you start boarding in Seattle? How did it go? Any tips? We will be taking a cab to the pier.

 

4. Any tips on a balcony? This is only my 2nd time in a balcony, 1st time was on the Spirit. Do I need to bring anything special to hold the door open or keep the heat on? Or if needed AC? :D

 

5. Where do I find those great cookies on the Pearl? Blue Lagoon?

 

6. What time did they start calling colors? We want to be the last off the ship, what time was that? How can we make sure we're the last off? Is there a certain color? :D

 

7. How did most dress for dinner in the main dining rooms?

 

8. What did you pack you should have left home?

 

9. What do you wish you packed, that you didn't bring?

 

That's it for tonight, 2 weeks and starting to stress.:eek:

 

1. Announcements are on Channel 24

2. Didn't rent a car, used a towncar service both ways, worked out great.

3. Started boarding around 11:00, Was on board in time for lunch.

4. Balcony door stayed open, didn't need anything to help. Never left the door open long enough to need extra heat, usually closed it when we were out there.

5. There were great cookies? There were ok cookies at the buffet.

6. Used the bags program(which was terrific and a wonderful idea) so not really sure about what color gets called when.

7. Most everyone was very casual. Anything that isn't jeans or shorts will be fine.

8. I packed too many t shirts, tank tops

9. Should have packed more long sleeve tees, wore the one I brought a lot with a vest or sweater.

 

It was a great cruise and we are planning another one. Have fun!

[judyf]

WOW you guys are great!!

 

Thanks for all the answers. They really are helping me a lot.

 

I have one more for a fellow ccer.

 

Does anyone know if they have PB & J on the Pearl? Her dd or ds wants to know or she needs to pack some.

[Cubechick]

Both peanut butter and jelly are in the buffets in the morning (on all of the ships I've been on, so I have to assume on the Pearl as well).

 

BUT I did read recently that PB&J was no longer on the room service menu? Perhaps someone can confirm/deny? :confused:

[judyf]

Both peanut butter and jelly are in the buffets in the morning (on all of the ships I've been on, so I have to assume on the Pearl as well).

 

BUT I did read recently that PB&J was no longer on the room service menu? Perhaps someone can confirm/deny? :confused:

 

Yes, that would be great. I think since the PB incident in the news, things might have changed.

[BaileyandBella]

From hotel near Space Needle to Pier 66 by limo was $35.

 

Which Limo company did you use?