Norwegian Pearl Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,402 reviews

Nice Ship, Poor Customer Service

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Pearl
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Runitsajellyfish
First Time Cruiser • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Oct 2007
Cabin: Inside

Embarkation: We arrived at the cruise terminal at 11:10, and by 11:30 we were boarding the ship, we had no waiting at all. I think this was due to the time we got there, and the fact that a number of people on this cruise opted for the 14-day sailing, and we were on the 9-day, so a lot of guest were already on the ship. We passed by a hand sanitizing table where we were handed a paper that stated that our room would not be ready until 1:30p.m., and the location of the buffet. We ate and lounged by the pool...very hot!

Stateroom 4509: At 1:25pm we proceeded to our stateroom. It was small, clean, and cozy. The mattress was soft, as were the sheets. We did a quick inspection, and under the sheets we went for a well-deserved nap. After 2 hours of tossing & turning because of loud noises in the walls, we decided sleep wasn't going to happen and we just lied in bed until the muster drill. For the next 2 days the noises in the room never subsided, and only intensified during the early hours of the morning. The sounds resembled that of a boiler room and kitchen; inconsistent noises of steam running through pipes, banging, and crashing, enough to cause my wife and I to become very irritable, and neither one of us slept but for a few hours up until Sunday. We called and personally went to the Customer Service desk 3 different times and got the run-around. Finally, at 2a.m. Sunday (note: we boarded the ship on Friday), my wife told them to get us a different room, or she'd be sleeping on the floor of the lobby. At 2:30am, they gave us a "temporary sleeping room" to get us through the night. My wife called later that morning and demanded a meeting with the Manager of Hotels at 5:00pm when we returned from our excursion. She met with the Front Desk Manager (Irma) who apologized and said that we could have the room they let us sleep in that morning. We were told that the entire ship was booked solid and that room was only available because someone missed the ship in Miami, and wasn't able to catch up with the ship in Samana. With the exception of Irma, this was the worst customer service we had experienced on any of our 5 cruises on 4 different cruise lines. The new room we were given, 4533, was wonderful, the only exception being that the toilet was not designed with enough clearance for your legs, so you have to sit sideways on it. Neither my wife nor I are "big" people, but someone tall or heavy would have a terrible time using the toilet....very bad design. We had the same issues with the toilet in room 4509, so this wasn't an isolated scenario. In conclusion, room 4509 needs to be mega-insulated or taken out of service, and it is insulting that NCL would even rent it to anyone. One of the Officers (one that visited after call #3 to come listen to the noises) admitted that most of the "noise complaints" come from "...rooms in this area...". Well fix it!! This was a major strike against NCL for lack of concern and very poor customer service.

Garden Cafe Buffet (free): Very large and consistently had a wonderful variety of food, representing many different countries. Unfortunately, much of it was kind of bland and not well seasoned, similar to hospital food. For what it lacked in flavor, it made up for in variety. They had a decent selection of complimentary ice cream which was quite popular noted by frequent lines of customers. We quickly noted the drink fountain lacked in variety, only offering water or tea. The NCL Spirit had water, tea, fruit punch, and lemonade. They also had strong hot coffee and a selection of bagged tea for steeping, available all the time. During breakfast hours, orange and apple juice were available. Drink fountains formed long lines, and weren't very "linear" in the buffet area. Drink fountains were also available on the back deck (just keep walking through the buffet seating area), and were much easier to get in and out of. They also serve hamburgers, hot dogs, bread and salads on the back deck, just outside the Garden Cafe.

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