Norwegian Pearl Review
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We embarked on the Pearl around 12:30 and the process was very quick and easy. Once on-board, we were served lunch and before we finished the meal, the announcement was made that the cabins were ready. Therefore, we were able to deposit our carry-on luggage in our cabin before heading out to explore the ship. Since we sailed on the Jade last year, we were fairly familiar with the layout of the ship. Some areas are different, but in general the layout is very similar.
Our experience with the staff on the Pearl was the best of any cruise we have taken. Since I helped with setting up the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet, I had the pleasure of working with Charlin Zaldivar (Group Services Coordinator), Steven Jacobsen (Hotel Director) and Carlos Zarate (Concierge). All three were wonderful to work with and it was our pleasure to get to know them. At the meet and greet, we had close to 50 Cruise Critic members in attendance. It was great to have the opportunity to meet everyone. We had at least 6 officers to attend the meeting and speak to us about their duties on-board. Most of them shared their phone numbers and said to contact them if we needed anything at all. In addition to the previously mentioned staff members, our cabin steward, Arnold Bugabuga, and his assistant were wonderful. Also, the staff of Cagney's was the best wait staff on-board. I also want to mention that Captain Lars Bengtsson was very humorous and made the daily announcements quite enjoyable. We also had the opportunity to meet Rolf Isaksson, the Chief Engineer, who we had a very enjoyable conversation with during the cruise.
We watched most of the shows. Our favorites were "Oh, What a Night", Sharkbait and The Second City. The two shows by the Pearl production cast were our least favorite. As a matter of fact, we did not stay for one of their shows. After about 10 minutes, we had heard enough. We did stay for the one called "South Beach Rave" mostly because the farewell performance featuring the Officers, Staff & Crew was taking place at the end of the show.