Norwegian Pearl Review

Alaska was unforgettable, might not sail Norwegian again...

Review for Alaska Cruise on Norwegian Pearl
User Avatar
casavaldez
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Service

Additional details

Sail Date: Jul 2016
Cabin: Mid-Ship Mini-Suite with Balcony

We have sailed twice with Norwegian 20 years ago. At that time we were convinced that there was not another cruise line that we would ever sail with. However, after this last cruise, we will be looking at all options for our next cruise.

Norwegian changed their whole culture by creating this "Freestyle" way of travel. Basically, do what you want when you want and wear whatever you want in the process. All of that is not a bad thing. But the worst thing they have done is make you pay a daily service fee $14/day per person and all of this gets divided among the staff in lieu of tipping (the old style). This is the single biggest change on Norwegian. You basically tip whether you have good service or not. There is no going above and beyond anymore. The dining rooms were the best example of how this system is terrible. We received below average service in all of the dining rooms we dined in except in the cafe buffet where we served ourselves. The wait staff seemed bored and disgruntled. Going through the motions. Perhaps they were almost ready to start their vacations, but we paid a LOT of money to be able to have our vacation. The one exception was our cabin steward, Patrick. who always went above and beyond for us, making us feel great on our vacation, and guess what? We tipped him for it because he was the best example of old style cruising.

The food was good, but not like I remember from years ago. Freestyle dining does not allow for special dinners because you can eat in the dining rooms or go to the buffet. The meals we had in the dining room seemed to be taken from the buffet, at times, except we had to wait for awhile for it to be brought to us. Mealtime was just something we did, not something we looked forward to. I have to say the staff in the cafe worked very hard because so many of us ate there. It was faster and since the dining rooms did not really add anything special, it was just easier.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Mini-Suite with Balcony

Cabin MA

Cabin was nice. Our cabin steward took excellent care of us! Thank you Patrick!

6 Helpful Votes
previous reviewnext review

Find a Norwegian Pearl Cruise from $419

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.