I have cruised Norwegian line for the last 8 cruises and have found it a great delight, especially on the Pearl. However this particular cruise felt devoid of the joy and excitement I felt from the crew and the itinerary of the past. We are used to seeing gleeful people greeting us as we embarked and disembarked, none of that happened on this trip. There was a true lack of enthusiasm, that I feel is a reflection of the management who were mostly absent on this trip.
We only saw the Captain twice at person parties and he only introduced three other members of crew. Last time we saw all the head staff and it was exciting and joyful. Not this crew, we heard over and over again how the various staff members were glad the season was over. Not a great feeling on my yearly cruise.
It was indeed the last Alaska cruise of the season and it was reflected in the dinning and porter of this cruise. Most of them were only talking to each other, on two occasions I had to yell at the servers to get their attention. Not what we had experienced in the past. There wasn't the vote for your favorite crew member either this cruise. I'm not certain why that stopped, but it was reflected in the crew's lack of interest. I had to chase people down, one to many times for my liking.
We stepped up to the Mini Suite this time, mid ship. It has a nice little bathtub, and a bit of a step up and in to get into the shower. Since we had more room in our bathroom, we showered in our cabin rather then in the thermal suite. I like the second curtain that blocked out the light and allowed more privacy in the room and allowed us to sleep later and deeper. We had to fight to get better padding on the beds but sleep well. Our porter kept things clean and clear for us. Though we had an disagreement over where the second chair and trash can belonged each day. We are going to have the same Cabin in March as a result.
We stayed at Hotel 5 which was in walking distance to a lot of restaurants and the Space Needle. We enjoy most of the time there.
We sat on the balcony and took many pictures, the ship spun around 3 times so we were able to see it all. Lovely and enchanting.
Just did a little shopping at the dock as it was cold and rainy that day. Great deals in the shops as they were clearing out for the season.