My wife and I sailed on the NCL Pearl during a "Pacific Coastal" aka repositioning cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver BC. This was our 7th NCL cruise and the 2nd on the Pearl (last being a 2014 cruise to Alaska). We chose this cruise for some rest and relaxation on the ocean.

We flew into LA from Seattle and took the NCL sponsored bus directly from the baggage claim to the Long Beach embarkation port. Boarding the Pearl was uneventful and our room was ready shortly after lunch.

Compared with prior NCL cruises, we felt some improvements have been made mainly around the food. The Garden Cafe buffet had a rich variety of food include fresh fruits. The cruise was not full so the seating areas were rarely packed. The main dining room had a typical rotations of daily entree specials which ranged from very good to average. It did not appear that any meal had any wait to speak of. We ate at specialty restaurants La Cucina and Cagney's, both of which had some very good dishes. Of note, NCL deserves praise for upgrading their desert offerings which we felt were subpar in the past. Read more