Norwegian Pearl Review

NCL Pearl Alaska June 23, 2013

Review for Alaska Cruise on Norwegian Pearl
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ajpdunakin
First Time Cruiser • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Jun 2013
Cabin: Mid-Ship Inside

A little about us: We were first-time cruisers, have never been to Alaska, don't have kids, and love to travel. We are not sit-on-the-beach types, which is why we thought the adventures of Alaska would suit us. Below is a review of all parts of our NCL Pearl Alaska Inside Passage round-trip cruise from Seattle, with some tips for first-time cruisers like us.

Day 1: Embarkation in Seattle: The embarkation process was pretty easy, but if you bring wine along with you, either keep it in your carry-on bag, or bring a separate bag for it. We ended up carrying it the whole time, and we didn't realize we could carry on one of our suitcases if we wanted to. Registration and security took about an hour from start to finish. When we got on board, we thought our room wouldn't be ready until 2:00PM, but it was ready for us right away (we boarded around 1:00PM). As first time cruisers, we didn't know what to expect, but found that the ship was a lot like a miniature floating version of Las Vegas. Once we got used to that aspect of it, we loved it!

Day 2: Sea Day and random observations: We explore places really fast. We were done exploring every aspect of the ship within a few hours the first day. Highlights: The bridge-viewing room on deck 11 forward is really cool. You can see what the crew is doing to steer the ship. We went to the performance in the Stardust Theater for "Oh What a Night!" They were fantastic! If you know even a little of Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons' music, go to this--it's really fun. They engage the crowd and play all the hits, with comedy thrown in, too. The shows are all about an hour long in the Stardust Theater, and they usually have about 3 per night. There are 2 main shows, and a different one in the middle. They are all around 7:00PM, 8:15PM, and 9:15PM. They will be listed in the Freestyle Daily (NCL's newspaper) that's delivered to your room each night so you can plan the following day's activities. The promenade on deck 7 was very nice, and you can walk all the way around the ship for nice views of everything (except the forward part of the ship for a head-on view). The promenade was not very crowded, except on Glacier Bay day, during which it was a great place to view the glacier. The advantage of the promenade is that you can quickly go to either side of the ship. There are a few lounge chairs on the promenade, but they were usually taken.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Inside

Cabin IB

We stayed in cabin 9585. Our room was small, but perfectly adequate, with enough closet and drawer space for the two of us. We chose a cabin that was mid-ship on deck 9, as it was near everything. Being mid-ship also helped during times with rough seas (which are rare in Alaska, but we still felt the boat rocking) because the middle of the ship rocks less than the ends. We were really close to all of the amenities and could run back to our room if we forgot anything. The hallways are really long on the ship, and being at either end means you're taking a lot more time to talk back and forth to your stateroom. Our room steward was Norbie, and he was so nice. He learned our names right away, always greeted us, and did a great job. He made us the cutest towel animals. We left him an extra tip (on top of NCL's $12 per person per day service charge) because he was so great. It was an inside room, and though we would have loved a balcony, it wouldn't have been worth doubling the price of our cruise to have that, since there are so many public spaces from which to view everything.

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