Our Alaska cruise was a wonderful way for us to have a family vacation and see the wonders of our 49th state. We chose the Pearl because we liked the itinerary and have traveled happily with Norwegian before. The Pearl's two bedroom suite is the perfect room arrangement for our family travel-- sleeping me, my DH, DD, and DGS comfortably. The master in this suite is wonderful and private. It's master bathroom offers windows in the shower and tub that bring the sea inside and make you feel like you are flying over it. The dining/living area allows us a place to gather before and after excursions to compare and plan experiences and just hang out together. Our DD slept in the 2nd bedroom which is small but comfortable for a single adult or a couple of children. The 2nd bathroom is really the reason we love this suite. No bathroom squabbles this trip. Our almost 15 year old DGS slept on the living room couch and loved it. He had his own space and the TV at his disposal--perfect.

We arrived in Seattle a couple of days early and spent the time with my brother who lives there. We left our car at his house and took Uber down to the pier--a hassle free way to arrive. Our driver dropped us off with our luggage right at the luggage check in line and in no time we were on our way. As we were in a suite, though not in the Haven, we received a priority check in--so we were escorted immediately to a special area which had some drinks and snack available while we waited to be escorted on board. My husband was still checking in when our concierge, Naomi, rounded everyone up and herded us off to board. We were at the end of the line and hustled to keep up with the group but somewhere along the line we got separated and ended up confused and lost. We were rescued by another ship staff member and escorted to Cagneys where we had the first of our many fabulous lunches. After lunch we found our way to our cabin which was ready and quickly made ourselves at home.

We had read on cruise critic that this was the best day to take advantage of the pool since the weather was likely to not be cooperative the rest of the cruise so we brought suits etc. in our carryons. The weather was beautiful and we had a couple of hours to just enjoy sitting in the sun on the pool deck. The pool water was pretty cold--but the hot tubs were just right. After the lifeboat drill we joined the sail away and waited on deck to wave at my brother and sister-in-law who were waiting on their deck with binoculars to see us off. Read more