Norwegian Pearl Review

Norwegian Pearl - Haven Suite for Alaska Cruise

Review for Alaska Cruise on Norwegian Pearl
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SKfromDallas
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Jun 2017
Cabin: Courtyard Villa with Balcony
Beautiful glacier - it is massive and the blue tint is breathtaking.
Another glacier.
Bald eagle in all its glory.
Our Aleutian Ballad crew - great job and wonderful tour!

This is the 2nd cruise I have been on, and there was a lot of hype about doing the Norwegian Haven option (e.g. butler, private courtyard with mini swimming pool, priority for embarkation, private restaurant for breakfast/lunch, etc.). We booked two 2-bedroom suites next to each other (1 for my family of 2 adults and 2 young boys and a second for my elderly parents). First, the Norwegian Pearl underwent a renovation in 2017, so the individual rooms were quite nice; in fact, I would say the rooms were comparable to most high end hotels. The décor was clean and modern with stylish fixtures. Great job! The food in the main dining was okay, but I think it's considered decent as far as cruise food goes. If you can afford it, I would highly recommend getting a balcony room, especially if you're going to Alaska. There is so much to see, and the main deck areas get very crowded quickly, especially as you near the glaciers. There were hours we spent just lounging on our balcony with a picture perfect view of a blue glacier. Amazing and breathtaking!

The biggest benefit of booking the Haven Suite was that you had a private courtyard right outside your room with a small pool, hot tub, plenty of lounge chairs and gazebo style seating, and a snack/juice bar stocked with various items depending on the time of day. It was a nice retreat from the chaos and crowds of the main decks. Our 2 boys loved the relatively empty area with plenty of space to play in the pool and hot tub. The access to coffee, water, juice, fruits, cookies, and candies were great.

As for food in the main dining areas, you have your standard American food - hotdogs, hamburgers, nacho bar, pasta, basic salad bar, etc. Then, you have attempts at various ethnic foods, which were hit-or-miss. The option for private dining for breakfast and lunch for the Haven guests was in a designated restaurant called Moderno. It was the same menu every day, but there was enough to keep all 6 of us happy and well fed. Our butler stocked fresh fruit and a variety of afternoon snacks for us every day. Sometimes the snacks were basic finger sandwiches and other times we had something more decadent like chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate candies. The chocolate covered strawberries were excellent, but the gourmet chocolates were not. I would have preferred a Dove chocolate candy to the gourmet chocolates - no joke.

Cabin Review

Courtyard Villa with Balcony

Cabin H4

We booked 2 cabins - 14008 and 14010. Beautiful cabins. Renovations were awesome. Room steward, Judy, did an incredible job keeping our rooms nice and comfortable. The view from the balcony was the best part.

Port Reviews

Seattle

We booked a night at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront the night before the cruise to avoid any delays on the embarkation day. The hotel was $396 a night and very expensive in our opinion. We actually booked 2 rooms for our family and the grandparents, and 1 room was ready for an early check in, but the other was not. The other room was ready at the regular check in time. The staff was not very friendly nor very helpful. The only advantage to staying here was that Pier 66 for Norwegian Cruise Line was literally right across the street, about a 3-4 minute walk.

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