Disappointed that we didn’t receive any of our Platinum latitudes benefits except priority embarkation and dis embarkation. Would have been nice to get water bottles. The wine is unnecessary. Difficult to get drinks. Not enough waiters. Long lines at the bars. Confusion on the part of NCL stafff as to what benefits we would get on a 4 days cruise. Cabin small but we expected that of an inside category. Entertainment poor. The welcome aboard show had no singers and dancers, just a lady singing was was just fair and some kind of trick by the magician. Service fair. All in all the most disappointing out of 10 NCL Cruises. For the third time we were not able to tender to Great Stirrup Cay. We will not take a 4 day cruise on Norwegian in the future. The Spinnaker lounge where we usually spend a lot of time was closed a lot due to the charter group on board which we had no idea about when we booked. Read Less

This was our 7th cruise (DIsney, Celebrity, Holland, Royal Caribbean), but our first time with NCL. We are a married couple in our late 50s. We enjoyed the more casual, laid - back, freestyle experience. The Pearl, although not as "elegant" as some other ships, still is in good shape, clean and modern. The Pearl staff was very friendly and attentive, especially our cabin attendant, Daniella. The restaurants and food variety was good, but not as good as Celebrity or Disney. We ate at 2 specialty restaurants, Cagneys and Moderno. Cagneys was excellent, Modernos not as much (although a great salad bar). We loved the musical entertainment (Avalon, Roxie the guitarist, sing-a-long with Peter, DJ Tazz) and pool entertainment more than other cruise ships. The pool water was a nice temperature, not too cold. We could not go to the only scheduled port, Great Stirrup Cay, due to high winds/weather, but went to Freeport, Bahamas instead. Our time in port was much shorter due to the diversion to Freeport. We had a very negative experience with the excursion desk staff and lack of announcements regarding the port of call change. This cruise had many spring breakers and cruisers that were part of the "Trailer Park Boys" theme cruise, so the atmosphere was younger and more energetic which we enjoyed, but some cruisers could not handle their alcohol. We smelled the strong, persistent odor of marijuana emanating from some of the rooms, hallways and common areas, although we did actually witness any cruisers smoking marijuana. For people with sensitivity to smoke or asthma, it may have presented a problem. We took advantage of the free perk unlimited beverage package (alcohol, soda and juices) although it is not totally free since you are charged a service fee (approximately $160 for 2 adults). The service fee, though, was well worth the package. The theater entertainment was very average (husband and wife magician and a solo singer). There were no big production shows, maybe because the shorter length of the cruise and the "Trailer Park Boys" theme cruise using the theater for special events. If you are looking for a casual, lively and energetic cruise, please consider NCL. Read Less

This was our third cruise on The Pearl and again the ship and crew hit a home run. Even though this particular cruise was a half charter we didn't run into that group very often. The exception was in the hot tubs where the charter members and spring breakers took over all of the hot tubs putting sometimes as many as 18 people in one at a time. However, to some extent this can be expected with the spring break group and was not the ship's fault. I did notice the crew monitoring and correcting the issues after day 1. The food was excellent as always I just wish they would mix up the menus more often. The food service staff was professional, personable and efficient. We were scheduled to stop at Great Stirrup Cay but were told that morning that weather would not let us tender in. Two items about this. First, NCL should seriously consider or expedite plans to build a pier at GSC. Second, why Freeport? That port maybe the worst port in the Caribbean to stop at. Again, these are not necessarily and relection on The Pearl but more so on NCL. We had a Meet and Mingle on the first day at sea at which all of the ship's key staff attended and welcomed us taking time away from what was already a busy schedule for the officers. There were plenty of refreshments and snacks provided by the ship which helped to make the Meet and Mingle a great success. It was our third trip on The Pearl, but not our last. We love this ship. Read Less

My sister in law and brother treated my husband and myself to this cruise, we were. Ot told about the trailer park boys and there groupies being in the ship. They had multiple restraints and lounges closed for private events. We were not able to go to the island due to weather they said, we went to Freeport which was awful they stayed from three oclock to eight o'clock. We lost out on our excursions. I was not impressed with the buffet Nd I didnt even know who my steward was . The safe broke.. should I go on. The bed was hard no room to get into the bed . The noise was out of control could not sleep.i think they need to offer something to the passengers that were not with the trailer park boys since we lost out on alot of experiences. Oh and the pot smoking was out of control. Read Less

I spent 4 days on the Norwegian Pearl with a group of 11 other college students. We chose this cruise for its price, and because it would allow those in our group who were under 21 to cruise without their parents (we would have chosen Carnival instead had they allowed it, I think). But this ended up being a really nice choice and despite some hurdles we all had a great time. The purchase and online check-in were pretty painless and straightforward. The cheapest option was to split our group into three groups of four in interior cabins. As Florida residents, we weren't interested in spending time in Tampa so we showed up close to departure. The check in process was pretty painless too, except for one member of our group who is in the US on a student visa. The check in desk bungled her process pretty badly and kept repeatedly telling her that her papers were expired even though she had everything together and it clearly said on the front of her papers that they weren't set to expire for quite a while. She spent a good half hour scared that she wasn't going to be allowed to get on the ship. When we got onboard we went straight to our cabins, which were a little cramped but still comfortable. Our room had two twin beds set up when we walked in and when we came back later our luggage had shown up and an attendant had set up a third bed in the middle and pulled a fourth bed down from the wall. Everyone had space to sleep but it was a little tricky managing four people plus four people's luggage in such a small area. It was a little disorienting to wake up at 10am and have your room be pitch black, but that comes with the territory of not having a window. The ship looks like it was decorated at least 20 years ago and some of the carpet is peeling but overall it was clean and nice to explore. The food is plentiful and pretty decent, and all the staff I met were very sweet. There are two pools on the top deck, and four hot tubs with a small covered stage in the middle. They blast music from there from 11 to 1 every day and it's a little obnoxious, but people have a pretty good time to it. The drinks are expensive and light. If you want a spot in a hot tub or a nice spot on the deck you have to get there early or fight for it. There are a lot of people who camp out in the hot tubs for hours and won't leave, and if there are too many in there a lifeguard will come over and tell you to clear out. They spend as much time doing that and patrolling the deck as they did watching the water, which peeved me a little as a lifeguard myself. There wasn't much going on in the pools, though, as they were pretty cold and the weather took a bit to warm up. Also, we didn't find out until we got onboard that this was supposed to be a Trailer Park Boys themed cruise that didn't sell out completely. That explained all the camo people were wearing. Probably about half the ship was there for that, a quarter were students on spring break, and the rest were families. The arcade was great fun and we played a lot of air hockey and guitar hero. We really enjoyed the rock wall too. Most of us only managed to attend one show on board - the magic show - which was cute but overall pretty mediocre. It felt a bit like we were just killing time. We showed up to the Spinnaker Lounge for a scavenger hunt event that seemingly never happened. The club is nice but the music is a bit iffy (a lot of Bruno Mars remixes, for some reason). So overall the entertainment provided was a bit scarce but we made our own fun. And there's plenty of room for it. The decks are great to explore and the ocean is really beautiful, plus you can play shuffleboard or giant chess while you're watching the horizon. The ship seems to shut down at night for cleaning so there are no chairs on deck or anything but the employees don't seem to mind if you're out there. As for the food, we had a dinner reservation at the Summer Palace dining room every night so we could all eat together. Every single night without fail they claimed that our reservation didn't exist. Luckily we had printed out papers that showed otherwise, but it was a bit annoying. We probably could have sat together on most nights without a reservation anyways since it seemed to be pretty empty. The food was pretty good but not great, but there was a lot of it and the staff were super sweet once we were sitting. We had lunch at Lotus Garden one day where the food was a bit disappointing, and had the rest of our meals at Summer Palace or the buffet. The soft serve machines sprinkled through the buffet were a big hit, as were the employees strumming a guitar at the entrance. We were supposed to hit Great Stirrup Cay, Norwegian's private island but got diverted due to weather. They automatically refunded our excursion reservations and we didn't have to do anything but wait to arrive somewhere else. We ended up spending about three hours in Freeport instead, where we took a taxi to the beach and had a great time. Most people were angry with how long it took to get off the boat (an extra 4 hours to get to Freeport, plus another 1.5 to set up the gangway) but I'm sure a lot of that was logistical considerations. It would have been nice if it had gone a bit more smoothly, but what can you do? Overall it was a nice first cruise experience and a really good time, especially for the price. Read Less

We chose this cruise (day at sea-Norwegian private island- day at sea) because it’s close to our home and the prices were reasonable especially for spring break! The cruise was hosting Trailer Park Boys and their fan base which was honestly fine except that some areas were closed off for private events etc. the only real issue we had was that we had to move rooms (9505 to 8619) at 1am the second night of the cruise because TPB was hosting a rock concert two floors below us until 2 in the morning. Poor planning on Norwegian’s part in my opinion....it was so loud it hurt our ears two floors up. Most events in the Stardust theater are done by like 10 so this was definitely weird....however they were quick to help and get us moved! As far as the ship goes this is probably my favorite Norwegian ship! We enjoyed the specialty dining (Cagneys and Japanese) very much! We also enjoyed the Irish pub and the grouping of bars at the middle of the ship! Nothing ever felt crowded and the service was impeccable. I’ve only ever been on the Norwegian open bar cruises and honestly this one had a whole different vibe. Even though we still had the bar “perk” the bartenders were attentive and really took pride in their work! The pools were also great and never really overcrowded. In conclusion I want to say that this was probably the smoothest cruise I’ve ever been on....sounds weird I know, but it really felt like the the captain took great care to avoid bad weather and rough seas. In fact, we did not make port at stirrup cay because they felt the seas were too rough and they still took us the Freeport! All in all just a good time....we will definitely book again!!! Read Less

Very unmemorable cruise event. Overcrowded pool and hot tubs. We didn't;t get in pool or hot tubs as seemed at risk for germs with side by side throngs of people really-really drinking. Ship decor-tired; food in restaurants was average but low quality in buffet dining room as was always cold (if supposed to be warm); desserts and breakfast rolls 100% pre-packeaged, dried-out, cardboard-like and high sugar-fat content. fresh fruits were good. Stopped at Freeport as was unsafe to ferry to original stop. Freeport was a dreadful, depressing collection of dirty shops desperate for tourists to buy any type of junk. There was nothing we wanted to buy and absolutely nothing to see in the tiny area in which we were let out in. Such a disappointment and cruise-line did nothing to make it better like a champagne toast or absolutely anything.Cruise-line very intent on selling anything and everything (art, jewels,casino...) Norwegian typically has really good entertainment but only one evening was really special-rest so-so. Do not recommend this ship at capacity; only recommend sit-down restaurants and really think not a memorable vacation experience. Read Less

My wife and i felt like a mini-vacation for some R&R was needed so a cruise popped into our head as a good idea-- we wanted something short so as not to miss too much work, that was not so expensive, and that was different (through we'd been on cruises occasionally in the past). This cruise perfectly fit the bill! This cruise was supposed to include a stop at Great Stirrup Cay (GSC), NCL's private Bahama lsland, for a day of beach and local activities with a cookout, drinks, and relaxation in general. We even got there after two days of sailing, dropped anchor, and prepared to exit the ship to board the tender. But the Captain announced there were swells east of the island that would cause difficulty and safety issues (make getting back to the ship from the tenders difficult). So at literally the last minute he canceled the visit and announced we would go to Freeport 5 hours away, dock, and have much more limited time on the ground there. Too bad, and a few hours in Freeport really wasn't worth it. Still, it was understandably the right thing to do in cancelling GSC. We got to Freeport about 1:30pm but sat in the harbour for more than 90 minutes waiting to dock, leaving a little over four hours on the ground Freeport. So this was a great cruise, but really one to no where--we got off (and got hassled and hustled) and did some straw market shopping and got right back on. Enough of that--nice try NCL...not your fault. The promotions offered by NCL were superb--and smart business. For example, we got 100 minutes internet, ultimate beverage package, shore excursion credit, and a free meal in a specialty restuarant. The 100 minutes is great to have if you don't need to keep much on contact with home but need to check in--setting the phone up for "wi-fi calling" made it snap and saved a lot of money. The wi-ft signal onboard was also awesome--I was suprised (though directions for getting on were spotty and incomplete). Needing to check in a couple times a day with home, we bought the unlimited wi-fi package and it was handy to have throughout the trip--and worked very well after toying with our phone settings for a while to get it to work. The drinks package; obviously this is what most people want to take advantage of. About $85 a day give or take, but you have to pay about 20% of up front gratuities. So my wife and I normally would maybe drink one or two drinks a day, if that, but we paid abotu $75 each over four days for the gratuities--yup, the package would normally be over $400 apiece...not worth it to us. So, they made money on us clearly by giving us the drinks package and making us pay the gratituity...made more money here had they not offered it "free." At the same time, we did come up with reasons to drink 3-5 drinks per day on average. So if you are in it to party, or to drink a lot of soda and juice along with beer, wine, and booze, the value of this promo goes way up. The package covered drinks up to $15, and one is allowed to get two at a time per plan. However, it does not cover specialty coffees like expressos or fraps or bottled water. Too bad. That would get more people to buy it. It also does not cover room service drinks or anything at all in the stateroom minibars. The "Specialty Dining Package" promo is only for one night, and while I may have missed it, this wasn't clear until I called a cruise rep. That said, we also added the 3-meal package for two and dined in Le Bistro, Moderno, Cagney's and La Cucina--a specialty restaurant each night. Maybe overkill, but from a past NCL cruise, we also like quality over the ever-present high quanities food offered in other on-board restaurants (although make no mistake, the portions are huge and short one one entree, they will bring you as much of anything else as you'd want). The food in the specialty restaurants was all very well presented, and very tasty, with great table service. As for what to do onboard other than eat and drink to excesses, I'll first offer some context on my wife and I, as this is important to address entertainment from our point of view and why we chose what we did, including the suite that we did. We are both professionals, upper middle income, in our 50s, with me also being retired military; we both have traveled extensively all over the world. We live in in the Tampa, Florida area, own a pool home, and pretty much like to get out and see and do all there is. Living in Tampa is already close to paradise, so we don't need pools, parties, and beaches on vacation. Also at our age, we like to chill with the option of doing so with or without the crowds the top deck cruise ship pools, and don't really need to be in the middle of a big party or pre-planned event to have a good time. But we do like having the opportunity to be in the mix now and then, as well as take in some other onboard activities or shows--and we did. Which gets to why picked the suite we did and why it was so perfect for us (i'll get to that later). As for onboard entertainment on this trip, there were a variety of shows, with "Angels" (acrobatic performers) being the best. I really wasn't extremely impressed with the music featured but it was okay. We know that Blue Man Group left NCL a while back, and had heard that Legends performed on the Pearl. Well, to our disappointment, not on this cruise and nothing was said about it. Nonetheless, there are plenty of classes and interest groups and theme parties and things to do. Oh yeah, we typically go to bed fairly early but are up at 5 am. So after the first night, I realized I'd forgotten to bring any ear plugs about the time the band two floors away started their finale at 1 am, or when whatever was happening the theater two floors below kicked off late in the pm. But the NCL staff was great in setting us up withearplugs for next nights. Of course, we enjoyed so much of the ship's amenties between 6am and 12pm while so many passengers were still in the rack from a good time the night before. So all worked out great. Most important we learnd is to check the "Freestyle Daily" that comes out the night before and offers all the activities and important announcments of the next day. They delivered it to our suite and left it on the bed at "room turndown" and about Day 3 it was clear to study it carefully to be best prepared for meals and shows and other events, many of which can change. it would be great if this were emailed to gain familiarity in the days before the cruise, and certainly the night before we set sail. Our most recent cruise was out of Barcelona and it was no surprise to us the ship's superb crew was comprised heavily of people from Asia and Europe. That is, all of their nametags had the Country where they from also listed; but no matter the origin they worked as a team to provide a very high level of service. So it was interesting to note this crew sailing out of Tampa was simimlar in composition, with a few folks we met being from Central and South America but again mostly Asia and Europe. For the officers, I noted the ship's Captain was from Italy, though there were some Australia and USA folks mixed in there too; the bottom line is this was a very diverse crew committed to what they are doing, and they all did it very professionally each day. The Norwegian Pearl is neither the largest nor among the smallest of ships, and of course, the amenities are named identically in many cases (i.e., restuarants and bars). However, compared to a larger ship like the Epic that holds more than thousand more passengers than the Pearl, most venues aboard are smaller. The breakfast buffet at the Garden Cafe with made-to-order omelets and a very wide variety of other hot and cold foods will suit anyone's tastes. Th Great Outdoors and Sky High Bar were great places for drinks. The Garden Cafe was a good choice for lunch--though I'd suggest they offer at least four pots stickers and two egg rolls as a starter. Yes we could order more if needed, but it did seem a bit little. We didn't care for the pizza in the Garden Cafe and the "Mexican Lunch" buffet was a disappointment, but the food overall in the complimentary eating places was just fine. The Moderno salad bar was excellent, but some of the meats seemed a little "recycled" or hanging around as there were not many guests when we went at 6pm. It is certainly "the place" if you are into eating large quanties of meat. Cagney's Steakhouse for dinner was good in most cases. However, we noted our ribeye steaks had less marbeling than normal, and were not as tender and expected and that we'd normally seen in the past. Le Bistro and La Cucina were both excellent, and the service in all places was outstanding. Mary Ann. The ship was clean (except around 9560 or so there were clearly a couple of staterooms close for sewage problems...bad smell walking through there every time). The entire crew was always pleasant...they were good at what they do and seemed to take great pride in their jobs. So what was best? The suite, and I'll explain that. Read Less

This was my 4th year in a row sailing aboard this ship for a themed cruise run by Norwegians company sixthman. TERRIBLE IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT FOR THIS YEAR! The staff was rude and careless! Sewage issues on decks 4 and 10... lets start there. Plastic bags being suspended from the ceilings filled with human waste!!! Pool towels on the floor to capture any spillage. As if that wasn’t bad enough there was no announcement to avoid the areas! And when we walked down the hall we were told to “walk around or duck under the bags”! How in the world is that sanitary?! What happened with those pool towels? Were they laundered or discarded?! Cause when it comes to issues where you’re dealing with BIOHAZARD MATERIAL there are saftey precautions that need to be followed! I have a picture of this posted on my Twitter @kco8586 We go to the Irish pub for food and I order a potato soup... the server brought out seafood gumbo and put it in front of me without saying a word. I’m HIGHLY ALLERGIC TO SEAFOOD! When I asked him where the potato soup I ordered was he told me “oh we switched to the dinner menu so the soup is this now”. How dangerous and careless to do! On top of that he was rude when I explained to him that I was allergic to seafood and would prefer a salad. After that we never saw him again. He had another server drop all of our entrees. Never checked on us. Then, we go to a very popular event on this particular cruise called “dirty bingo” and event security pushed my one friend into a seat and said “you’ll sit where I tell you” then the same guy lunged at my other friend as she was taking a picture. He grabbed her by the wrist and threw her arm down! This is completely and totally unacceptable behavior by any security team! Then to add insult to injury when speaking to another member of the security team at the night club we were informed that this wasn’t the mans first offense when it came to being physical with cruisers! To add insult to all the injury the very last night we leave the silent disco looking for food. To our astonishment we exited the elevator to see two of our celebrity guest standing in front of the closed buffet doors. Only to tel us they were hungry and there was no food. We proceeded down to the Irish pub as we knew they do a late night buffet and low and behold no food. When we asked the person mopping the floor they told us to leave. No explanation nothing! At this point frustrated, thirsty (all hydration stations were away), and hungry our group of about 10 went to the front desk. This was the final straw for me. When asking why there was no food or beverages being served we were told the entire ship was being shut down and sanitized for the guests boarding the next morning!! HELLO! What about the guests standing in front of you still aboard the ship that paid thousands to be there?! Then the rude and snide woman told us to order room service and take drinks from the mini fridge! How exactly do you order room service if all the kitchens are shut down?! And why should we have to acquire extra charges on our rooms when we have paid for the drink packages and the “freestyle dining and 24 hours buffet”? How ridiculous! After 2.5 hours of arguing and asking for a manager this very unhelpful woman got a a member of sixthman staff. This guys name was Matt. Matt was condescending and rude. He talked down to us. His was of rectifying the situation was to give us ring dings and chips. Thousands of dollars on a trip and I’m given ring dings and chips! Unreal! I have since reached out to sixthman and their staff continued to be rude and gave me the run around on everything! It was the blame game for them. Everything was NCL’s fault! Funny considering Sixthman is owned by NCL! Needless to say this is my last cruise with NCL and Sixthman! The last 3 years were amazing but this one was definitely enough to make me never ever go back! Read Less

We took this cruise because of itinerary, perks and price. We travelled with a group of 13. It was a nice January getaway in the sun and a good value. Experienced cruiser and was expecting an average cruise. It exceeded my expectations. Nice ship, has been updated. Kept very clean. All staff are VERY FRIENDLY, kind and accommodating. Entertainment was excellent. Drinks were excellent. We had free drinks and took advantage of our perk. It was nice to have options for dining. Both of the main dining rooms were nice, food about a B, very good but not high end. Service in both dining rooms inconsistent. No organized protocol for service....waiter recommendations, ladies served first, courses served at the same time, needs some work. The pub was open 24/7 and was a nice change for a good pub meal or snack with good service. The Lotus Garden was exceptional with good food and service. Disappointed with specialty restaurants which is very unusual. Italian was a C, Brazilian was a D, French was an A. Could not get reservations at the Steakhouse, full. Make your specialty restaurant reservations b4 your cruise. This was our 4th on NCL. I think NCL has improved over time and has a niche in the marketplace. Read Less