We just completed a 19 day Panama canal cruise on the Gem and there was an opportunity to cruise again. Since a TA was on our bucket list, we had three choices to check this one off the list. Seems the Getaway ( 4/27 ), Pear and Jade all had TA's scheduled to sail out of NYC. The Pearl was chosen since the first stop was in Ireland, a place we always wanted to see.
Embarkation was out of Manhattan on pier 90, the Escape was docked at 88. I was expecting chaos at the terminal but it went unusually smooth, we arrived around 11 am and was aboard before noon.
Since we booked the cruise under 60 days our first cabin was a GTY oceanview but working with a very good travel agent we were upgraded to a balcony along with no DSC as an added perk. Our cabin 9090 was a 4 person but I still don't know how. Everything was in working condition and clean. We did find the TV was just that a TV. We couldn't do anything else, seems strange that the ship was that backward with technology. Going down to the front desk and getting a print out of your account became a hassle since we found several items charged that shouldn't be, so going down every morning became a chore.
First time in a while that we didn't find anything wrong. Room was clean when we arrived.
We avoided the crowds, went up the hill and attended church. Later on, went to a local pub, had a pint and some lively banter with the locals. Later back down the hill and had some local food at the fair.
We tender in at Dun Laoghaire. Tendring process was a nightmare, NCL really needs to step up their game here. Was able to get the 9 am train to Dublin and used to HO / HO bus. Found some of the stops where tourist traps but overall had a great time. Tendering back to the ship was better. NCL should have known that there was a large group of PAX with mobility issues aboard and additional help was needed to load the boats.