Norwegian Pearl Review
4.0 / 5.0
Military family: First-time cruisers and we are CRUISE FANS now!! :)
Review for Alaska Cruise on Norwegian Pearl
livingawarriorlife
First Time Cruiser • Age 30s
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Additional details
Sail Date: Aug 2017
Cabin: Family Oceanview Picture Window
Wow, where do I begin?? I have so many amazing things to say, so this will be quite lengthy. My husband and I just took our very first cruise, aboard the Norwegian Pearl to Alaska from August 6-13, 2017. We are in our early 30's. We booked fairly late for a cruise (less than 3 months in advance) because my husband has been deployed with the Army all year, and we had to wait to get his R&R leave approved. We booked through a friend who is a cruise consultant and that made it so easy, especially with being able to ask her a bunch of questions. She set us up with a nice cruise package, which included a Family Oceanview Picture Window stateroom (deck 5, room 5030), 3 meals for both of us at specialty restaurants, and a $50 shore excursion credit per port. I really liked the online portal with NCL with the countdown to the cruise.
We arrived in Seattle (via airlines) several days before the cruise (August 3) so we had a few days to explore the city. It was Fleet Week with the Navy, so we got a free tour of the USS Michael Murphy in the harbor. We ate at Anthony's Pier 66 restaurant outdoors, and the rockfish was excellent! We also rented a car and the next day (my husband's birthday) we drove out to Mt. Ranier. A bit of a trek but worth it and we recommend it!! Very beautiful. We ate at AQUA by El Gaucho for his birthday dinner, and the halibut was exquisite. Definitely make a reservation there if you want to eat dinner there. On Saturday, we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island, which is a cute little place with neat shops. We ate at the Thai restaurant there.
Sunday 8/6 was embarkation day and it was quite easy!! We hired a town car from our hotel (SeaTac Fairfield Inn) and a curbside person from Norwegian took our bags right away and put them on a cart. Our cruise consultant had printed and folded our luggage tags for us so that made it quick. We were scheduled to board between 1:30 and 2:00 but it was around 1pm and it wasn't any problem to get in line for check-in. The security line was fairly short and we were at the check-in counter in no time! No waiting there, we walked right up. We got our Freestyle Cards and went on our way to board the ship! No wait time there either. It was wonderful!! :) Our stateroom was ready by that time, so we went there and dropped off our carry-on bags before exploring the ship. The "muster drill" went smoothly and wasn't too much of a hassle. I think we got our checked bags delivered between 5-6 pm.
Cabin Review
Family Oceanview Picture Window
Cabin O1
We loved our cabin! I knew I wanted a picture window room since I can get kinda claustrophobic, and I had no issues at all in that room. The stateroom had a lot more space than I'd imagined! I thought it would feel cramped but it didn't. In my pre-cruise research, I heard/read to bring extra electrical outlets, but we didn't need to use that at all! There was a USB plug on either side of the bed for charging phones, 1 outlet at the desk, 2 outlets and 1 USB plug under the TV, and 1 outlet under the mini-fridge area, and that was plenty for us! (And I have a lot of electronics.) I also heard that it's a good idea to bring a shoe rack for the back of the bathroom door to store items in, but that was unnecessary. We had plenty of drawer and shelf space! I brought a hanging toiletry bag so I didn't need too many things cluttering the bathroom. I was even impressed with the size of the shower! The bed and pillows were very comfy, even more-so than some hotel beds. I brought beach towel clips which I used to clip together the curtains, since it gets light very early in Alaska summers (before 5am sometimes!). Our room was kept clean and neat by our stateroom attendant Ryan P., and he was always so friendly when we passed him in the hallway. We were never wanting in clean towels, and I loved how our bed was turned down in the evenings and we got towel animals!! I was so delighted with that (I'm a kid at heart). The Freestyle Daily newspaper is really nice too, and I'd look it over every evening and highlight the things I wanted to do the next day.
Port Reviews
Seattle
We were in Seattle from August 3 till the cruise, and then from August 13-14 afterward. We explored the harbor area, ate at Anthony's Pier 66, toured the USS Michael Murphy (part of Navy Fleet Week); drove to Mount Rainier National Park and hiked, ate at AQUA by El Gaucho; took the ferry to Bainbridge Island (took our rental car over), went to Mass at St. Cecilia's on Bainbridge Island, walked around, and ate at a Thai restaurant. After the cruise we went up the Skyview Observatory, the highest point in the Seattle area. It was only $9.75/person for military, so it was a better deal than the Space Needle and a great view! We also went to see a movie.
Ketchikan
Unfortunately, because of the weather our excursion got canceled. We are supposed to get a refund (have to check on that). Instead, we did an independent tour through Ketchitour of the city and got to see some wildlife, 2 black bears at the river!! Our tour guide was American Indian and grew up in Ketchikan, and he was excellent. It ended up being just me and my husband, so it was basically a private tour! Not bad for $30/person.
Victoria
Victoria was my favorite port! I wish we would've gotten more time there, and during the day. We were there from 6pm-midnight. We took a tour bus from the dock to the city for just $10 USD/person roundtrip. We walked around the city, saw the Empress Hotel, Parliament building, and went into some shops. There are beautiful flowers all over the city!! This was the least commercialized/touristy port. I would consider coming back just to Victoria and doing more sightseeing/historical stuff! I saw that there are day trips from Seattle to Victoria via boat.
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