Pearl Mist Review

4.5 / 5.0
231 reviews

Not the "Luxury" claimed

Review for Canada & New England Cruise on Pearl Mist
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2410redman
10+ Cruises • Age 80s

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Sail Date: Sep 2019

We chose this cruise because of the route & ports. In previous cruises up the coast to Canada, only the biggest ports were included because of the ship size. So the Pearl Mist being smaller, was able to stop at places like Lunenburg, Gaspe, Isles de la Madeleine and Saguenay that bigger ships can't. However, it was not to be. In Bar Harbor, the ship lay at anchor for a full day because of a mechanical problem. So two of the smaller ports that we had planned on were cut. To increase the uncertainty, the bridge never gave ongoing information about the reason for the unplanned stop and its consequences. Further, the captain was Romanian and was not a good speaker. So, his few announcements were almost unintelligible.

There were three pleasant surprises however that we learned about on arrival - the brochure stated that there would be "Premium" excursions at some ports. But all the excursions were complimentary. Further, there was a full complimentary bar in the late afternoon. If one wanted a drink at another time - or anything else within reason, room service would provide it at no charge. But then again, the bar was open at 5:30, the same time that the dining room opened. It would have been more convenient if the bar had opened before dinner time. And there was a complimentary laundry service. It took a day or so to be returned, but everything was nicely folded.

The per day charge for the cruise was at a level similar to that at Regent or Crystal, for example. Thus, we were expecting a certain level of luxury, as claimed. In my mind, I justified the higher-than-expected cost that since the ship visited more than one US port, that it would have to abide by the Jones act and have a more-expensive crew than the usual complement of south Asians. I was surprised to note that there were very few US citizens in the crew, and certainly not the 75% called for. How the ship avoided those restrictions I do not know.

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