I did a 3 day solo Christmas cruise to the Bahamas (NCL's Great Stirrup Cay & Nassau) on the Norwegian Pearl. The ship was beautifully decorated for Christmas, and there were fun, holiday-themed activities all day long each day. My room was bright, clean, and cozy. Most of the food on the ship was very good. My favorites were the Irish pub and the French restaurant. You can skip the Chinese restaurant. I highly recommend get an all-you-can-drink and wi-fi. NCL has sales all the time, so you can usually find a deal with extras included. Service ranged from fine to excellent. As for guests, it was a good mixed crowd of young and old. If you search FB, you can probably find a group for your cruise date and get to know people in advance like I did. I booked a Nassau harbor cruise excursion which I really enjoyed. At Great Stirrup Cay, I stayed on the ship and enjoyed the ship's amenities. Tip: this is a smaller ship, so you'll feel some ship movement. I took a couple Dramamine each day and felt ok. read more

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Extremely disappointed with Norwegian Cruise Line--not only because of what happened onboard, but because of how difficult NCL makes it to report serious employee misconduct. The employee involved was Duvan Felipe Beltran Acevedo, Cruise Consultant in NCL's Sales Department. I was onboard as his guest. After Guest Services replaced my malfunctioning room key and specifically told me Duvan's card was still valid, I later came downstairs to let him into the room when he said he was locked out. After I let him in, he deliberately locked me out with my belongings inside. Security had to restore my access. He then locked me out a SECOND time, requiring another security call and roughly another 30-minute wait. While I was gathering my belongings to leave, he threatened to throw them into the hallway if I didn't turn the lights off. I felt unsafe enough that I stayed in a public area until disembarkation. Separately, on August 30, he used my card for a $42 transaction I did not authorize. I disputed it with Guest Services, yet I was still charged. Now I'm trying to formally escalate this and NCL does not provide an easily accessible HR phone number for guests to speak with someone about employee misconduct. Their online Guest Experience form also would not successfully submit my complaint. For a company this large, there should be a functioning, direct way to report serious safety concerns involving employees. I expect NCL to investigate Duvan Felipe Beltran Acevedo, review the security reports, surveillance, room-access records and unauthorized transaction, and provide me with a case number confirming this has actually been escalated. read more

We love NCL and have cruised countless times with them . We just recently took a four day cruise out of Jacksonville Florida to Great Stirrup Cay and the Bahamas. We were not pleased with our room choice. We had the balcony club balcony suite. The TV was the size of a computer screen, and we had trouble all week with the the door to the balcony, we had to call three times before they finally sent someone to fix it. We also were not impressed with the bathroom. I've never been on an NCL cruise line that had a tub and not a shower and not just any tub but a tub that was extremely high. See picture below as usual. The entertainment was great and the drinks were plentiful and the food was great. We would have to rate this cruise ship the Gem in need of some upgrades. We love NCL and will continue to cruise with them read more

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Spent a record 10 days at sea on this ship for their inaugural transatlantic cruise that got extended and changed right at check-in for a different disembarkation date and port. The captain handled it well. The service staff did the best they could, but it was obviously stressful for everyone to make such big changes last minute before sailing. All of our plans still worked out. Overall a fantastic experience on a brand new ship, specially designed for Caribbean or warm weather cruising with extended outdoor deck spaces for lounging and pools on lower decks in addition to upper deck so you can love the shade or the sun depending on the time of day. Fun rides and games great for older kids and adults like the Tee Time Mini Golf, Drop Dry Slide, Twin Racing Aqua Coasters, Glow Court Interactive Games, and an entire arcade with Duck Pin Bowling. Dinner options are spread out across two main dining rooms, a buffet, an Indulge food hall with international cuisine, local pub & cafe, and 6 additional speciality restaurants. Casual clothing is welcome everywhere on ship and all nights. The current cruise director likes to theme nights according to decades, plus a glow party night- main late night activity after main stage performers is dance party with DJ or sitting in a lounge listening to musicians or comedian. Excellent thermal spa worth the extra spend for the trip if you need quiet spaces to escape and relax, but doesn't offer any true hydro-massage, mostly heat therapies and cold contrast therapies. read more

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Norwegian pearl Worst cruise ever Never waitied in line for hours from check in to get in and out of ships or even elevators . Horrible food like hospital cafeteria No steak no shrimp no see food not even fried chicken and nugget for kids Nasty ! read more

I had the best cruise experience on the Norwegian Pearl. This ship is gorgeous, from the concert hall to the casino, there's so much to do on board. The ship was immaculate, the food was delicious and the entertainment was superb! Embarkation and disembarkation was seamless. The entire staff was pleasant. I'm looking forward to booking another NCL cruise soon. read more

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This was our first cruise. We chose a two week Trans Atlantic, hitting ports in Halifax, Reykjavik, Belfast Ireland, Cork Ireland, Portland England, La Havre France and ending in London. All the staff (restaurants, bar, room stewards) really make the trip special. Our room was always taken care of, food consistently good, and the staff remembered our name, which made us feel special. I knocked two stars for two reasons: 1. The shore excursion coordination was brutal and frustrating. The right hand was not talking to the left hand. However once on the excursion it was a great time. 2. The constant upselling was a bit much. Also, the extras were expensive. Also they push using their app, but you have to pay for internet. Tip: if you want to participate in the spa services, do it! Totally worth it. Just wait a few days as they really start to discount as the days go on. read more

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Here I go... I have been on many NCL cruises. This week we were booked with our family travel group aboard the Aqua. It's a new ship with some changes. This was a 4day Miami to Bimini and Great Stirrup Cay. Being a new ship they are still working out some issues. The new dining option is the Indulge food hall. Here you have a pad to order food electronically from multiple types of food outlets; Tex/Mex, Indian, Vegan, American, Pasta, etc. The primary issue here was the pad, it kept freezing. Hopefully it will be more functional in future. The food was hit or miss. Turkey bbq sandwich and plate both got , fried okra , pulled pork sandwich , Gnocchi , Chicken Legs . I had a Vegan bowl with Jackfruit cake as the protein . Dining room service was slow, food was again inconsistent. The vegetarian offerings seemed scant; one night I had a Pad Thai entree, there was no appetizer that complimented this entree. On prior cruises there were always appetizers in the same food type. I would have loved some spring rolls with this entree ‍. The buffet dining is smaller but very good quality and variety. We ate at the new Mediterranean seafood restaurant Palomar which was disappointing. The appetizers and desserts were very good but the entrees were not. My Dover Sole was inedible. I had my SO try it and he agreed. Entertainment was excellent! We went to the Fleetwood Mac Rumours show and Prince Revolution. The performers were all great; excellent musicianship! Percussionists and guitarists !!! Big shout out to the dancers and singers in the Prince show! Great energy and super sexy! I believe Prince would approve of the show!! We also saw one comedian Rodney Laney who was laugh out loud funny and I will look for his book "Lighten Up." Recreation included a lot for children of all ages. I tried the slides The teens and families were enjoying the mini golf and all the other games. Bimini really required a golf cart our travel companions did rent one and enjoyed the local offerings. The jet ski excursions were great! No one in our group did the ZipLines on Great Stirrup Cay, they looked fun though. I usually do them but did not on this trip The gym was nice except some of the machines that could have been facing out were facing in and this ship had no walking track! Our last Europe trip we spent every evening on the track at sunset we missed the track. Overall it was relaxing trip on a beautiful new ship! I like NCL this crew has some work to do getting it right. The shows we saw 5 stars!!! read more

The Pearl is a ship with a lot of miles on it. It's far from the nicest ship in the fleet, so to speak. But even with that being said, it's still nice enough. On the cruise we attended the food was below par for a cruise ship. And this ship has none of the big bells and whistles newer ships can offer. But if you enjoy cruising you can still have a good experience. read more

The Norwegian motto should be" where the weather is warm so is the beer and food" Sailed from Miami to cozumel. The old boat floats, that's the only good thing. RC is by far better. read more

I booked my cruise in August of 2023, as part of a group that included several members of my family. At that time, I elected to take part in the Free at Sea promotion. This package included: shore excursion discounts, dining package, internet package and unlimited open bar for myself and my partner. The cruise left on March 23, 2025, upon arrival, I was amazed with the level of customer service we received. The ship and room was exquisite and the first meal in Cagney's was divine. After settling in and wanting to explore the ship. I went to one of many bars and was told that I did not have the drink package. I went to guest services to straighten out the matter, as I was sure this was a simple mistake. I was told in fact that I did not select it. I went back to my room and gathered my documents that clearly showed that I had requested and paid for the Free at Sea, which included these items. I was advised by the concierge and guest services that it did not appear in their records. When I upgraded the room to the family suite they deselected the Free at Sea promotion. I called into the 800 number and upgraded the room. The service representative from Norwegian advised me of the cost of the upgrade and I agreed, I did not authorize the deselection of any other items. I was given the price to upgrade the room and paid the difference. Also, on the guest service copy it stated that I ordered a celebratory cake. I did not order nor did I receive this cake that I allegedly ordered on this trip. I was given a case number at guest services as they stated that there was nothing that could be done, and I would have to speak with guest experience after the cruise. This was not my mistake, this was clearly an error on the Norwegians representatives' part, yet we had to suffer the humiliation. Having a large group of fourteen (14) that we traveled with, everyone was able to take part in certain activities except us. We had to either be excluded or charge it to our room and pay out of pocket to participate in the dinner, drinks and excursions that we had planned. This was an embarrassing, humiliating, degrading and mortifying experience on this cruise. Why would we spend over $7,000 booking a suite and not take advantage of the Free at Sea, makes no sense whatsoever. Additionally, to not be able to provide a simple solution, like updating the cards is beyond me. I even offered to pay if there was a difference in taxes and they refused. They offered us a total of $100 each for their error, which I will refuse. The dinner I paid for at the steakhouse cost more than that, which would have been $60 each if I had the promotion that I asked for. I will never use this cruise line again, unless a satisfactory solution can be offered. read more

The Norwegian Cruise Line ships are all a bit different. This one is better than the huge ones in my opinion, but others might disagree. We had a balcony room on the 11th floor. I've been on some of the lower floors on other cruises, and I prefer being on the upper floors. Obviously I also prefer a balcony room, but it costs a lot more. The garden cafe had a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have just okay food. I appreciated that there was always fried rice for breakfast and that they offered made to order crepes for dinner. We sat on the back of the ship a few times to eat because it's nice to be outside and the food in the great outdoors was pretty similar to garden cafe. We ate at Indigo and the summer palace (Russian themed, not Chinese themed lol), which have the same menus. The only difference is that the summer palace has a dress code. The food is ok. We also ate at lotus garden, a complimentary Chinese restaurant. I'd say the appetizers and fried rice were pretty good. Everything else was not good haha. Oh and panda salad? It's not made with pandas. Haha. For specialty restaurants, we dined at Cagneys, Modesto, la cucina and le bistro. We bought a 5-day dining package. I would highly recommend reserving your tables before the cruise, because they fill up fast. I'd say Modesto was my favorite. That glazed pineapple was fantastic. The pearl also has a bowling alley, a spa, a gym, a kids club, an arcade, a casino, several bars, a theater, and a few lounges. Many things cost extra, which I don't like about NCL. They also try to sell you on things like shore excursions, raffle tickets, spa packages and jewelry. For example, on other cruise lines I've been on, shore excursions are free or the presentations are informative so that you can decide whether or not to venture out on your own. On NCL, the shore excursion presentation was the worst I've ever seen. There was almost no relevant information and we just bought shore excursion packages because they made us feel like every port was unsafe. In reality, we totally could have ventured out on our own. Oh, btw, we were on the 12-day Panama Cruise. It is one of my favorite routes, actually. Finally, the laborers on the ship were sooooo hardworking. Not the salaried employees. I'm talking about the guy who cleaned our room, the many people who served us in restaurants, the maintenance people, etc. Our rooms were made up and turned down every day. That's twice a day that our room guy was cleaning up after us. I peeked into some of the other rooms as I walked up and down the hallway and some guests leave their rooms a huge mess and expect the cleaners to clean up their clothes and whatnot? Crazy. I feel bad. I don't particularly like cruising on NCL, but if I did, I like the Pearl enough to go on it again. read more

I was charged $300 to fix a booking problem they made and they did not fix it. They refuse to refund my $300 - total scam!

I love this ship. During its time in Miami, it is primarily used for music festival charters from Sixthman, of which I have had the pleasure of being on two. The Pearl was built in 2006 and Norwegian is keeping her up well. The staff is friendly, courteous, and knowledgable - always eager to please. There are plenty of entertainment venues on board, especially if you're on one of the music charters. I haven't been on one of the larger ships like the Breakaway, but I've been quite pleased with what the Pearl has to offer. read more

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Just got off the Pearl. All in all I was impressed with the efficiency of the organization and the cleanliness of the overall ship. The embarking and disembarking processes went very smoothly. Also purchasing excursions were quickly processed and you received the tickets within minutes. The same for canceled excursions, they were credited immediately. We never had a billing issue. We loved our balcony stateroom. As staterooms go, this was the best we have ever had. The room was spacious and clean. We found all staff and service was good. I wasn't impressed at all with the buffet (lots of cold over cooked food), the sit down complimentary restaurants were about as good as a chain restaurant. The specialty restaurants we went to were much better. They were not up to a 5star review, but things were well cooked, seasoned appropriately and had nice presentations. My husband and I liked the specialty restaurant the Bistro. We found there were plenty of deck chairs at all times. That doesn't happen on bigger ships. We took part in some of the games and activities and we enjoyed them. We laughed a lot. As far as the shows go, you're not getting Broadway quality, but you are not getting a community production either. I was impressed with the male dancers, the Michael Jackson impersonation and the comedian. All in all the shows were entertaining. The internet and the Norwegian App worked occasionally. Both were pretty useless, not to mention frustrating. We would recommend taking part in the Whiskey tasting. We did that a few times and learned some cool things. Do go on the Pearl if you like smaller ships. Don't go on this ship if you like lots of options Do go on this ship if you like freestyle dining and don't mind average Sysco food at best. Don't go on this cruise if you like scheduled dining times and dress up days. Don't go on this ship if you can't stand over selling everything and being nickel and dimed. read more

This was my 8th cruise, first with Norwegian and this was by far my favorite ship. Not that the other ships (3 different name brand lines) were crappy it's just The Pearl used all the public spaces really well. Not a lot of wasted space on shopping and useless atriums. The staff was great, the food was awesome and the entertainment was off the hook. But I really got to give mad props to the streamlined embark and disembark at the Norwegian Miami Cruise Ship Terminal. You guys are head and shoulders above Seattle, San Diego, San Pedro or the Long Beach terminals. We started and ended our cruise efficiently. Give these guys and gals a raise. read more

Norwegian Cruise Line - The cast of Impractical Jokers - Travel Services Near Me

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We sailed on a 5 night cruise on this ship and it was my first time on this cruise line paying $2000 each for a rock cruise. My review is biased by my cruises I've been on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean which have all been great experiences. For those who haven't cruised, or like burger and fries diet, they would probably like this cruise line and ship with the freestyle dining. I'm not a fan of the eat anytime in the buffet or dining room where the service is disorganized and food is about quantity and not quality. Here are the list of pros for the cruise and ship: - The embarking process was quick and efficient except make sure if you pay with a credit card it's properly linked to your room card. - Staff in specialty restaurants are excellent. Obviously, since you are paying to eat there, they will give you better service than at the free restaurants - When concerns are brought to their attention, they listen and try their best to apologize and fix the issue - Bowling lanes on board! But there's a surcharge to play - Fast elevators - Soft serve ice cream and crew scooping other flavours Here's are the cons: - When we couldn't pay with our room card, they didn't manually write a receipt like they do on other ships. Very inconvenient after waiting for a long time to make a purchase - No signs and information in the dailies about the deck for the gangway. We had to ask what deck to get off the ship - The food quality is poor. Lots of burger, fries, hot dogs, pasta with tomato sauce, and pizza. The buffet does offer Indian food but nothing different or diverse such as Asian foods. - Disembarking line ups can go around the ship and with people trying to lug their luggage with them, can get busy and disorganized - Room is ok but the balcony was dirty with hair from previous passengers, table top dirty, and cleaning wasn't great - Walking track on the top deck is tight around the basketball court and can get windy. Better to walk around the ship on deck 7 Would not cruise again on Norwegian or on this ship unless it was for a special cruise. read more

We took the Pearl for a 4-5 day charter cruise called ShipRocked (see recent review). So instead of the usual cruise activities, all the daily schedule was surrounding concerts. The Pearl specializes in this type of cruise (for equipment, organization, etc.). The Norweigan Pearl was well equipped for all the concert fun. With five concert venues throughout the ship, each was properly sized for the band that was booked. Probably the most awkward was the Stardust Lounge, outstanding sound and stage, but seats precluded a vibrant area near the stage. Our favorite was the Spinnaker Lounge, perfect for the less renown bands to get within a few feet of them. The food was solid and exceeded our expectation. We almost exclusively did buffets and the non-additional charge meals, mainly because we were looking to eat and move on to the next event. The staff on the ship was top notch, busing tables in the eating areas efficiently (sometimes too efficiently as you would get up to get another drink and your plate had been cleared). They do a great job of ensuring a bacteria-free environment with their mandatory anti-bacteria spray outside the eating venues (washy-washy). Would have preferred easier access to menus of what was being served in different dining rooms (some pay, some included). As for drinks, many cruisers got "beer buckets" in which the sixth beer was free. I preferred the self-serve tap with Stella Artois and Michelob Ultra. It was out of service sometimes, but when in service, at something like 30 cents per ounce you could get a full cup for $4. Otherwise it was $6 per beer plus gratuity already added (plus you'd want to add another $1 if the server came to your table). The pool area was overcome by the deck stage, rendering the pool and hot tubs nearly unusable. I would have also appreciated more sitting areas (lounges, chairs) around the decks. They were mostly removed for the concerts. The gym had everything I needed (and I work out regularly) that was definitely a plus. I also used the trace which was about 330 yards or 5.5 laps per mile. 22 laps later... The staterooms are what you would expect. Ours was big enough to move around, sleep comfortably, and do everything bathroom-wise, but just not that roomy. I will say there were plenty of drawer space for clothes, which was very nice. Overall, the staff was great (bartenders, waiters, room stewards, help desk). All of it well done for this type of cruise. read more

Picture the Wal-Mart in the scummy side of your town. Think of the sophisticated clientele that this store would attract (if you need to briefly click on to the People of Wal-Mart website to get a visual, that's okay - but don't say I didn't warn you). Add to that indifferent employees with attitude problems and low attention spans. Now imagine this Wal-Mart breaking away from its land mass and floating out to sea and you'll get an idea of what this ship is like. The Norwegian Pearl is a floating trailer park, not at all typical of a normal cruise experience. Miserable experience #1: The only reason my wife and I ended up on this ship was because it was hosting the KISS Kruise on behalf of Sixthman, a travel company that specializes in themed music cruises. While the Sixthman staff were professional and courteous, I can't say the same for all of Norwegian's staff. On the first night of the cruise our payment cards were deactivated for some reason. We found this out the hard way after standing in line for 90 minutes waiting to buy KISS merchandise. We went to the Guest Services Desk to sort out the problem. The guest relations clerk was rude, dismissive, unapologetic, and completely unprofessional. I could understand her behaviour if we were being belligerent or disrespectful but we were not. She showed no empathy for the fact that we were in line for an hour-and-a-half only to have our cards denied. She was also reluctant to explain to us how this mix-up could have happened. The next day we complained to her supervisor about her awful service. Miserable experience #2: The Garden Café (the ship's buffet) is a nightmare. I don't consider myself high class by any stretch of the imagination but it's hard to not be put off at the sight of three-hundred pound, hairy tourists shovelling buffet food down their throats like they're starving to death. It looks like feeding time around the trough in there with everyone all crowded together. I wanted to wear a raincoat as I walked through the line so I wouldn't get bits of pizza, hot dogs, and burgers all over me. The buffet is located in one concentrated area which creates big-time congestion. Royal Caribbean's ships have the buffet area divided into a few smaller lines so as not to restrict movement. NCL needs to wake up. The tables in the Garden Café are really close together it is difficult to maneuver around them. Don't expect any of the café staff to greet you at your table and ask if there's anything more they can get you like on Royal Caribbean cruises. You're on your own at NCL. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of NCL staffers walking around trying to sell you drinks. You'll be hearing "Bar Service? Bar Service? Bar Service? Bar Service?" so many times that you'll relive it in your sleep that night. The staff look miserable too. Is the morale at NCL really that low? Miserable experience #3: We decided to go to the dining room for our next meal to avoid the plague of the zombies at the buffet. The dining room was way more spacious with a livelier atmosphere. It's too bad the service sucked. After sitting around for about 10 minutes we were finally approached by the assistant waiter with menus. My wife was given the previous night's menu by mistake which meant her order was null and void. After this happened there was another 15 minute vacuum where we had no service. My wife had to get up to ask a waiter at another table for some water. Finally another waiter that we hadn't seen before came out of nowhere to finally take our order (for the second time). Apparently he was pinch hitting for someone else because we never saw him again either. After we raised our concerns over the gong show service, the head maître d apologized and offered us a free bottle of wine. He actually seemed to want to make things right. I can't say we weren't warned. Our travel agent told us that meal times on an NCL ship were nothing but a cattle call unless you do specialty dining. For the duration of the cruise we only ate in the specialty restaurants. It was better to pay the cover charge and get great service than it was to take our chances in the slums of the buffet and the dining room. The Teppanyaki, an authentic Japanese Hibachi restaurant was a lot of fun and the food was awesome. La Cucina, a traditional Italian restaurant was also a highlight as was the Lotus Garden which serves Japanese, Thai, and Chinese cuisine. Great food and great, personable servers. My wife and I are huge music fans and we would enjoy doing more music-themed cruises. It's just too bad that Sixthman only deals with NCL. If Sixthman decides to jump ship (ha!) to another cruise line, we'll be joining them but I'll charter a canoe before I sail with Norwegian again. read more

Norwegian Cruise Line - That's it on the left. - Travel Services Near Me

If I could give this a negative 5 stars I would! I am not one to give a bad review for anything unless it's absolutely terrible. I went on the Norwegian star in December and had the best time of my life! The food was amazing, the crew was superb, and the shows were top notch! I was on cloud nine the entire time! I decided to buy the deposits to go on more and bring my boyfriend, my brother, and his wife. I wanted them to experience what I did. From the time we got on the boat to the time we exited we had an awful experience. First off, the crew was anything but friendly, most of them wouldn't even say hello. Whenever we were at the bar to get drinks the bartenders would ignore us for the people who looked like they had money (the older couples). We had one or two people that were nice in certain sections of the boat. Second, the cleanliness was terrible. There was always food on the deck up top and our bathroom wasn't working the first couple days, for the rest of the cruise it smelled like a porta-potty. We complained about it multiple times but they came in and said we were crazy and there was no smell. We asked to switch rooms and they told us the only rooms they had left were 8 floors apart. Another reason we wanted to switch rooms was because our phone was stolen out of our room by our plumber and they tried covering it up. We spend 3 days having to deal with this issue which took away from our entire trip.... I feel like we missed out on so much... I would not recommend this cruise line to anyone!! I would never want anyone to waist their time and money. The ports were extremely poorly planned. We got into one of the docks at 6 in the morning and left at 1, nothing in the town opened until 10 and by that time it was time to head back to the ship.. The Canada port we got there at 6 pm and 80% of the town closed at 5pm... Then they had the most interesting stuff on the boat at 10 and we weren't supposed to leave the dock until 11:30 which was dumb because everything was closed. None of the crew knew any information as to when we docked so we always had to guess what was going on... The food was absolutely terrible, it all tasted like home town buffet food that had been sitting out for days... Even the nice restaurants! We only had two or three things that we liked... My sister in law lost a ton of weight because she couldn't bring herself to bring the food she only ate at breakfast and in the ports. On top of all of this it was my boyfriend and my 6 year anniversary and we were supposed to have an anniversary dinner which we were never able to do because we were dealing with the room situation the whole time. They said the only thing they could do was email corporate and hear back from them in three days. Which is when our cruise would have ended... I bought multiple deposits for future cruised because of my last cruise but this one completely ruined it for me. I would rather go on carnival read more

Taking 10 day cruise to Panama. Staff ok but not as friendly as other ships, entertainment selection week. Cagneys (extra charge) best meal yet. Food no better than golden corral on a bad night! Pepsi products on NCL....no Coke. Ovwrall not overly impressed this trip.. read more

This is my second Alaska cruise and first time on NCL. I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy the experience at all. Took the 7 day Alaska cruise from Seattle. Here are my main issues: Crowded-2400 people is just too many, lines everywhere, hard to get reservations, activities are oversubscribed Bad food-the quality is poor: coffee is weak and tasteless, eggs are powdered, even the pastries were dry and tasteless. Unless you pay to eat in the specialty restaurants, nothing is good: ok at best. The positive side is that I didn't gain any weight! "Always be selling"-constant pitches from bingo to deals at the spa to pictures, you name it... They even use the PA system to tell you about shopping deals. Gaaa! Clientele: maybe because this is a budget line... but lots of overweight people with noisy misbehaved kids. Smoking is allowed outside and in the casino and the smoke drifts back into the main areas. Gross!The family next door kicked the walls late at night and played loudly in the hallways. Not a relaxing way to spend one's vacation. I will not take another NCL cruise- this was a family trip planned by others. read more

NCL never disappoints me-and the Pearl is no different! The Alaska ports, the Park West Art staff, the servers, the food - all Freestyle! NCL is our only cruise line because it is 5 Star from start to finish! read more

We lov Norwegian in general but we most recently cruised on the Pearl. This trip was the Panama Canal with other stops. Boarded in Miami after parking in the cruise terminal parking garage. Greeted with a smile as usual. Plenty of bag porters to take you bags. Make your way through the front doors and on through security which is relatively painless. On to the check in desks. Painless. Provided our cards and on we went. Up to the waiting area. Waited about 20 minutes and then boarded the ship. Made our way to the food as we were starving. Buffet looked traditional compared to their usual. Tons of choices and everything I tried was great. Off we went to explore the ship. Always love learning the layout of ships we have not been on. Grabbed a drink at the bar and enjoyed some sun at the Port of Miami. 4 pm, off we go. See you later Miami. Headed down to Cartagena we enjoyed several days at sea. I love sea days as they offer you a true time to relax. Went to our cabin and it was made up, clean and ready for us. Our bags had not made it yet so we decided to catch the show. It was pretty decent. Now this is not Las Vegas or Broadway so keep that in mind when you go. There are plenty of people willing to complain about how horrible this entertainment is but I tend to lean the other direction. Why complain? It just makes you look like a unappreciative human. BE kind! So we dined at all of the complimentary spots except for the Italian and the formal dining room. We were turned away at Indigo because we had "Epic" hats on. So, the next night we returned. Guess who was sitting in the dining room? A little older woman WITH A HAT ON. Not going to lie, it made me a little angry, but not going to let it ruin my meal. The food we chose was great. Service was great. We returned another night to dine again. O'Sheehan's was a let down. I was SO looking forward to it. The appetizer was good but my fish and chips, not so much. The chips were so so. The fish was soggy, over breaded and over fried. Never had that experience before as usually it is always good. It was so bad we did not return the remainder of our voyage. :( The casino always seemed to be packed. VERY smoky. There are several bars to choose from but our favorite was In the Sky bar and Danny the bartender became our go to guy. Cruisers are always interesting. No shame, rude, entitled, etc.... I can't tell you how many times I saw them waving their cards in the air trying to flag down a staff member to get them a drink. Never mind the bar was less than 50 feet away from them. And did they bother saying please or thank you? Nope. They must have taken away the 'tip' portion of things on the beverage package which I am guessing is why the staff are not as excited to get someone a drink. I can't say as I blame them as there is no longer an incentive for them to do so. Too bad as we always tipped our server and I think they were appreciate of it. Pools were nice. There were several hot tubs which were always full no matter how hot it was. The entertainment director, JC, was fun. Before we arrived in Cartagena he told us to try the Arepa. Man, was he ever right. I wish he would have offered us these suggestions at every port. The ship and ports could do a MUCH better job at informing cruisers of what the exchange rate is and whether places generally accept US$ or if they only accept local currency. When we arrived in Costa Rica it was as if they could have cared less that we were there. There was nothing in english and the little spinach I could make out did not offer an exchange rate or US$ acceptance. I could go on for days but I love Norwegian. I may not enjoy some of the other cruisers but that is anywhere you go. We will always return to Norwegian unless something goes ary. read more

We had a wonderful anniversary trip on this ship. The room and amenities were wonderful and I found nothing wrong with those aspects of our stay. The French restaurant was fantastic, as was the bar service on pretty much the entire ship. I'd definitely cruise with Norwegian again and we certainly had a good time, but I feel like an important complaint needs to be made. So, really the 4 stars are for the overall trip, but if I were basing my rating on the following experience, it'd be a 2 star review. We ran into a HUGE issue when my husband had an allergic reaction and the staff in the restaurant was clearly not trained to react to the phrase "allergic reaction". He had taken one bite of fish and started swelling, breaking out, and feeling discomfort. At this point, we were finishing up our entrees and had placed an order for dessert. We weighed our options and it wasn't looking like the dessert was coming very quickly, so when we could FINALLY snag our waiter to let him know what was going on, he had a pretty inappropriate reaction. I think this was 50% language barrier and 50% training issues. Me: "My husband is having an allergic reaction, so can we get the dessert boxed up to go?" Waiter: "Oh yes! I'll bring you an extra dessert! You want two of the cake?" Me: "No, no, that's not necessary, we just want to take it back to our room. Can we just get that boxed and get our check?" Waiter: "Ok...so no extra dessert?...I'll be back." The last thing we needed was more food. We needed to MOVE. This exchange felt like it took a good 2 minutes just to clarify what was actually going on and I think the waiter STILL didn't understand. He just thought we were being weird--he went to talk to someone about boxing the desserts up in plain view and was just staring at us like we were nuts. In the end, we just hauled ass to the host sans any amount of dessert and asked where we could find Benadryl. I ran to the guest services desk and was cut in line by a sassy girl and the person working the desk had enough time to hear me say "allergic reaction," but STILL ended up servicing the other girl's request. My husband wasn't writhing around on the floor from this reaction, but these are not situations that should be taken lightly or treated at all like the staff on this ship did. Time is important when it comes to allergies and I hope Norwegian is able to better train staff in the future before something more serious happens. I can't be mad at people for not being native English speakers, but simply training staff to know the phrase "allergic reaction" could alleviate many issues. read more

I can't understand what in the world people are finding to complain about this ship,the staff,the food or whatever.Somebody tools a four day cruise and it ended up costing then $221 ,plus standard room fees and they complained???.That's about $55 a day!,including room and meals! I just returned from two consecutive cruises.One on Royal Caribbean and just today disembarked from the Norwegian Pearl.No comparison.The Pearl was a better experience for my wife and I in all regards.Food was far superior on the Pearl.Staff was friendly and always helpful.Room was spacious,clean and everything worked as expected. I was bored to tears on the Royal Caribbean."bingo" tomorrow was the high point of the cruise. Labadee,Haiti was a joke of a port call.Ocho Rio,Jamaica wasn't much better,but at least it was a real town. The trip on the Pearl was a Blues Cruise and I realize that from a schedule perspective,I'm comparing apples and oranges.But food is food and The Pearl was superior.Room and service is able to be compared and Again the Pearl was superior. I'll not be doing another RC cruise and ,yes, I've done many other cruise lines.The Norwegian Pearl is just fine for me. read more

I am mixed on this review thoughts so I will throw it out there for those to read. It is about their communications. I realized I left my phone in a shuttle van as I entered my room in the ship. This was about an hour before the ship was leaving the port. I called down to service desk and they said that I needed to call from the room and that it was $ 4.95 a minute. I mentioned that I left my phone on the van and needed to contact the van now and asked them to connect. They said use the phone in the room or go down to the service desk 5 floors lower. I tried calling with the room phone but the call did not go through. I called my friends rooms to use their phone but they were still off ship. I then went down 5 floors to the service desk only to find out they only have one phone to call out on and it was being used. 15 minutes I waited while asking the service staff multiple times that I needed to call out. Once I was able to get the service phone it did not dial out also. NO HELP FROM ANYONE ON THE SHIP. My phone had all the pictures and phone numbers for everything. I went back up to the room and my wife and son were back and I was able to call the van shuttle company and they found my phone and drove all the way back while I ran down 7 more levels and off the boat. I met the van driver as he ran along the dock and I just made it back on board with 2 minutes to spare. IT IS RIDICULOUS THAT NO ONE ON BOARD THE SHIP WANTED TO HELP ME IN THIS SITUATION. Totally poor service on their part. Alan from San Jose read more

We recently went on an 11 night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean and our first time on Norwegian. The ship is one of their older vessels but, it is still a very nice cruise. The ocean view room was smaller than Carnival's ocean view but, the bathroom was fantastic and large. We got the ultimate dining package and only attended their specialty dining restaurants. All of the restaurants were delicious except the Lotus Garden, the food was bland and did not taste well. The entertainment was plenty and the shows were pretty great. The one thing I did not like about the ship is that the internet packages were pricey by far of that than Carnival. The shore excursions were okay, I would rather just do my own shore excursions can see and do more on my own for way cheaper. read more

I went on the Lebrewski Cruise March 1st-5th. I have been on the Pearl before in 2011 for a Ships and Dips Cruise. The ship has been renovated since then and it is super clean. The beds in the rooms are comfortable and the perfect size to sleep in. Both times on the ship we have had interior rooms. Stayed on floor 4 before and 8 this time. We preferred 8 because it was centrally located and easy to use the stairs. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful we did not run across anyone that was rude and most staff seemed to really like their work. The food was really good in the buffet. The sit down options in summer palace were hit and miss most days. While the food was good the price of drinks were a bit extreme with two mixed drinks costing $28 and one craft beer at $13! We also had the ability to experience Great Stirrup Cay that the cruise line owns. It was a really organized and nice island. You can tell they invested a lot of money into the place. Overall I would do a cruise again on this ship anytime. I only wish the cost of drinks was not so high. read more

Buffet is really good. Majority of staff is okay. No major problems or issues. Only real criticism is that they need more bartenders during busy times, my husband & I waited as long as 45 minutes for a drink on the pool deck. What's the point of investing in an expensive beverage package if you cant get a drink? read more

I have been on the Pearl twice, the first time was a little better, this past time the boat seemed to be aging a bit with a lot of wear and tear- it need some updating for sure. the bed skirt was ripped up and unraveling and the toilet was about to over flow from the people before us(fixed quickly). Other than that the rest of the ship was fine and we had a good time, the staff is always very friendly. I have chosen a 4 rather than a 2 because the first trip was perfect and they fixed the bathroom issue quickly. read more

So I will skip most of the details about the ship and ports as it has been covered in previous reviews. We (wife, myself & my parents) were on the 7 day Alaskan cruise. Overall it was a fun trip there are some issues with the boat/ cruise in general that I think stems from the age and size but they are fairly easy to work around given the beauty that you are able to see. THE PART OF THIS CRUISE THAT IS TERRIBLE IS THE SECURITY. It seems that certain passengers are allowed to run roughshod over the other gusts and even when ship staff call security they refuse to take any type of action. Instead they take the victim(s) to the side and try to convince them that this isn't that big a deal and they should just move on. I WOULD NEVER let my wife come on this cruise with girlfriends and not me as it certainly seems that you have to be capable of providing your own security. read more

Sell sell sell i need to relax and i get SELL,and a race for seating in the buffet. I spend too many meals in the kids zone sitting on a tippy toad stool.Meals were ok they did not strain me in the 21 days from Miami to Seattle,8 days is a bit much to hang about waiting for Ports. Day 5 one port, even the trip through the Canal was not enough to cheer me up. 2 days later Costa Rica, after that the stops were more frequent and the reason for the cruise showed up.. finally. Weirdness of it all, people talking on the first day, ignored you for the rest of the trip, go with a group, this was the biggest complaint when I talked to people on board,21 days on a self contained barge and you pull that attitude, no soul on cruises. 5 day cruise , you can bail on the ship after 5 days..book either 2 days before arrival or 2 days after destination, that is the way to go. 48 hours in a port opposed to 6-8 hours on the cruises. read more

We went on a Alaska cruise, mid-May 7 night round trip Seattle. Itinerary included Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Victoria, & Glacier Bay. I wanted to give NCL another shot even though we weren't too impressed with them on the Pride of America in Hawaii, as the Pearl is a foreign based ship (POA is the only U.S. registered cruise ship so it has U.S. staff) and I really like the idea NCL (the whole freestyle thing with anytime dining, although a few other cruise lines also now offer that, and especially, casual dress...who wants to wear dressy clothes on vacation?). Most everything was quite average to below average--service, food, and ship. Even though the Pearl is only 10 years old, it is really in need of better upkeep. Stateroom couch & carpet stained & worn, bed uncomfortable, and pillows lumpy. Furniture throughout the ship was chipped, stained, and worn. The ship's windows were all really in need of a cleaning, which was unfortunate for a scenic cruise. Carpets were stained. I think some better color and fabric choices would have gone far. We've been on a Princess ship which was much older which was kept up much better. Our favorites were: - Free beverage package (booking perk, although they mark up the cruise prices some, and it was difficult to get a drink) - Itinerary (we live in Seattle) - Freestyle dining (never had an issue getting a table at the buffet or included restaurants, although the popular specialty restaurants fill up quickly, especially for prime times) - Spa (we got a pass for $150pp for the week; awesome forward views, indoor hot tub, etc) - Teppanyaki ($30pp + 18%), Sushi (a la carte), and Lotus Garden Asian restaurant (included), both food & service - Magnums Champagne / Shakers Martini / Maltings Beer & Whiskey Bar, for service & selection - Soups, salads, fruit, bread, pizza, & hot dogs (which says something about the quality of the food!) Issues we had: - Long wait times for drinks. Understaffed bars, besides Magnums/Shakers/Maltings. Difficult to get a drink in the buffet (only offered a few wine & beer selections, no one ever asked for our drink order tableside, and closest Great Outdoors bar often closed) and restaurants (had to specifically ask for a bar waiter, then drinks wouldn't arrive until midway through meal). - Stateroom cleanliness & upkeep. We had the basics (clean towels & sheets and clean main surfaces), but everything else was dusty (nothing was picked up to dust around, such as the coffeemaker and bathroom soap/lotion), and the mirrors were completely smudged and not cleaned the entire week. Glad I brought Lysol wipes! - Had to request room service menus from our room steward. I knew going in that its now $8 for anything but a very basic continental breakfast, but they have again reduced the menu...if we could get omelettes and french toast and such I would have gladly paid the $8. - Food selection, quality, & temperature poor. Lots of fried food. Few vegetables (especially at lunch). It seemed like they got a lot of frozen prepared food which they heated/fried. Everything was barely warm when we got it. Only 2 lunch menus in the dining room for 7 days. Desserts were poor (cheap ingredients?) and they were usually only fancy looking cakes and such. No cookies the entire cruise (only on the room service menu for $8 per order) and brownies only once. At least there was soft serve! - Moderno was disappointing, especially at almost $60 for 2 people (including 18% service charge). Service was very slow to start getting meat. My husband thought the meats were cheap cuts, not fresh, and cooked poorly, compared to many other Brazilian Churrascaria restaurants. They even made the Caipirinha drinks wrong, using brown instead of cane sugar, and hardly any of it, and used way too much ice. Even the Pride of America was better. Their appetizer bar was good though. My husband asked for a refund and they said they would (after much discussion), but it was never applied. - Its nice they have an app for some ship info. You can even book dining. However, it said Teppanyaki was available for lunch on a sea day, and when we showed up, it wasn't. It looks like the Maître D' / ship had no control over that error, and they made it right (got us reservations that night even though they were full; I assume they kept spots open for suites & VIPs), but it was a pain to deal with. Also, it is difficult to use, only has the late night pub menu (not breakfast, lunch, or dinner), and doesn't show main dining room menus for each night, which would have been the most helpful. - They tried to sell us stuff the entire trip. Multiple announcements a day about bingo ($50!), art auctions, shopping & spa presentations, etc. - We were late being cleared to disembark at each port. Many port stops aren't too long, so even 30 minutes late takes time out of our day. Poor communication and signage about gangway locations (which changed at each port). read more

Worst cruise experience EVER! The Noro Virus broke out within 24 hours on our ship, We were subjected to a Death Threat by a drunk New Yorker at the first show. There was NO SECURITY present at the show. Consider this, you pay to go on vacation, you can't choose the 3000+people you sail with, you don't know who these people are and what they are capable of, you are locked in a container at sea, and security is not present onboard the ship. I had to hunt down security, they did not follow up and when they did they asked us "do words make you bleed". The captain repeatedly came on the speakers telling us the first 5 days about how sick he was. We ran late leaving, there is no Priority Check in for previous cruisers, there are no Ship Pins as promised to Silver member cruisers, there truly is no benefit to travel on NCL as they don't reward loyalty and misrepresent the benefits in print. read more

I've decided to open a yelp account just to leave this review. The customer service at Norwegian or the lack of I should say, is indescribable. I have never experienced a more unprofessional company in my life. I sailed in March and found that I was charged $160 for mini bar charges after we got off the ship. Mind you, I did not consume any of it. When I called to dispute the charge, they stated that the entire contents of the mini bar were missing and that I would have to pay. So the result is that it's my word against the cleaning attendant, which makes no sense. I was told to escalate the issue to upper management that had still not responded to multiple emails and phone calls. ( going on weeks). When I called today the employee tells me they've made their decision and no refund will be given even after no one had contacted me and there's nothing I can do about it. Really? Pretty pathetic and cowardly for not wanting to speak with me directly. How are you a manager Carmen. Do the right thing and call me back! And don't even get me started on the experience on the ship. GARBAGE!!! save your money and avoid this cruise line at all costs. Food sucks and drink lines are never ending. read more

My wife and I just returned from a 10 day cruise on the Pearl. We sailed on 3/6/15. We have previously cruised on NCL three other times and would rate them 3 1/2 stars. We chose them because my niece and her boyfriend were joining us and we liked the itinerary and pricing. Having cruised more than 35 times we have never encountered the problems that we did on the Pearl. First, the ship appeared terribly shorthanded of beverage staff. At poolside there was little or no service on the upper level and when you did find someone it took at least 20 minutes to get your drink. At various bars throughout Deck 6 and 7 service was so slow that we got up and went to another one hoping to find service. At one lounge there were four people when we arrived and it took over 20 minutes to get a drink. Secondly, something I never thought that I would say about any cruise ship, the food was horrific. We purchased a package which included all specialty restaurants and we ate at three of them [Brazilian, steakhouse, Italian] and found only the Brazilian menu eatable, but not satisfying. We heard raves of the Italian restaurant but found it to be the worst of all of them. We had three different waiters, each one with little knowledge of the menu, and the food disgusting, to say the least. The four of us didn't touch our plates and when the waiter inquired as to why, nothing was done about it. Whereas my niece and her boyfriend had paid a $30 surcharge, I demanded a refund, which after 20 minutes they approved. The three main dining rooms served food that lacked taste and often times included meat that you couldn't chew. At one seating the dining room manager was advised, visited us at the table and took each plate into the kitchen to discuss with the chef. Nothing resulted of it, even after he took our cabin number. We finally decided to use the cafeteria to try our luck there. We ate mostly salads and a few select items from the buffet. We were looking forward to the cruise after we checked out the reviews on Cruise Critic but were extremely disappointed to find that the food and beverage service was such a disaster. We will never sail with NCL again. I wouldn't give the NCL Pearl 1 star. read more

We went on cruise from Feb. 7th to Feb. 11th. We had a problem with our excursion which was supposed be a combination beach and shopping excursion lasting 5 hours. At the end of the beach portion, we were taken back to the ship without the 2 hours of shopping. When we tried to complain on the ship, we were told that the ship's people couldn't help us and we'd have to come back when the shore excursion people were working. After three attempts on the ship, our cruise ended and we had to call Norwegian on the drive home, After waiting on the phone for 45 minutes we were told a case number had been created and we would hear back within 2 weeks. After not hearing anything from Norwegian for 3 weeks I decided to email my complaint. I received a reply with another case number and the assurance I would be contacted within 15 business days. After the 20th business day we decided to call Norwegian and endure another 45 minute wait time. At this point we were told that since we didn't complain on the ship we could not get any money back for the shortened excursion. We tried to explain that there wasn't anybody from shore excursions available when we tried to complain. Very disappointed the Norwegian is dickering over an excursion cost of $158 when the cruise cost well over $3,000 dollars. Don't think I'll be cruising Norwegian again. read more