BACKGROUND: My wife and I are from Montana. We planned this out for a year ahead of time. We love Seattle, and cool wet weather. An Addams Family good day of weather agrees with us. We each have our own points of view and interests, so each of us wrote our own review. We feel that we are frugal and practical in most things. My wife was very kind to share my dream of going on a cruise ship. Alaska seemed like an ideal destination for us, because although we'd both like to go explore Europe, We didn't know if we even liked cruising. We also thought that Alaskan weather would be more agreeable to us. We drove. We paid for parking in advance. We stayed at Super 8 in Federal Way. The accommodations were reasonable for the price and the bed was comfortable. Our ship was the Norwegian Pearl! A beautiful ship, well maintained and very clean! Having read many reviews on Cruise critic, we boarded early, about 11:30 AM and after drinking our champagne, we proceeded to the Summer Palace for lunch. Our room was ready at 2pm as promised. Luggage arrived at about 6pm. Soon after we were introduced to our stewards Mr. Rommel and Ms. Alicia. The level of service here is beyond compare In any other thing I've ever experienced, I've never felt more like Royalty! Mr. Rommel in particular took the time to learn my name, which I at first thought would irritate me, but after the first few times made me smile everytime I saw him. They clean the room 3 times a day! I've never seen anything like this! I asked for two ice buckets which were filled at least twice a day. I believe that if you want anything onboard, just ask!The restaurant staff was also very friendly and polite.

FREESTYLE CRUISING: This concept is the best imaginable. I'm not the kind to be seated and scheduled for meals on someone elses whim with whoever.I don't think I would do it any other way, so other cruiselines take note!I'll also note that I'm not much into onboard activities or gambling. RESTAURANTS: Before I review the restaurants I'd like to say a few words about other reviewers comments that could scare somebody to death. Don't believe them, but try and have realistic expectations about the quality and amount of the food you eat. Please keep in mind that 1. You are not on a private yacht with a private gourmet chef. These folks all-in-all are cooking for over 2000 people, and trying to keep them all happy. While they are doing this they are a very international crew, trying to understand each other. I believe that if you keep this in mind, you will be pleasantly surprised at how good everything is. These folks also will cheerfully fix problems if you happen to get something that's not very good. From what I've seen in these reviews I don't think many reviewers take the matter of personal taste in to account. We're all different. If you keep these things in mind, and are somewhat charitable , I think that you'll find that the food on the Pearl was excellent! I tried many things for the first time and enjoyed most. Back to the summer palace, the blueberry and peach cobbler wasn't very good, but the rest of the meal was great.

I was adventurous on food, and drank too much wine and rich food the first day, so I was a little under the weather later. We visited Cagney's, Le Bistro,and Mambo's All the food was good to excellent here, except I found out that I didn't like Bouillabaisse. The prime rib is a better deal than the rib steak in Cagney's if you like your beef well done. I really liked the chocolate Napoleon in Le Bistro. Don't panic if you can't make it to a specialty Restaurant on a certain night. Most nights the menus are always the same. Menus for Indigo and the Summer Palace are usually identical, and are not broadcast on the TV. Sometimes it is difficult to get reservations for the specialty restaurants, and even if you physically go there it won't help. You must reach them on the phone. These things weren't too big of a deal to us, because we normally eat at off- hours. The food in the Garden buffet was also very good, and almost like a preview to some of the specialty restaurants. I think it's the best place for breakfast. You can get eggs anyway you want them, and on most mornings they had eggs benedict the way I like it, the eggs are poached soft. Add lemon juice to the hollandaise sauce(mix) and Tabasco, and to me it was great! We wished the Garden had trays. We were able to find seating all the time. We teamed up to do it though. There were times we took cookies and food to our room. No problems. However, unless you have the Blackbean soup at Mambo's or the chowder at Cagney's avoid the hot soup, unless they drastically improve it. The cold soups, for the most part were very very good. ACTIVITIES/EXCURSIONS:I enjoyed our trips to Mendenhall Glacier and the Gardens in Juneau. We went to see the not-so-Newleywed game and that was ok. I enjoyed prowling the deck at night in high winds, and the balcony the most. I found out that I don't get seasick! Read more