Norwegian Pearl, October 30 2011

Last month, I was able to sail with Norwegian Cruise Line for a full seven days on their Norwegian Pearl. Let me tell you all about it.

We boarded at Miami for a 7-day Western Caribbean sailing. Since this was my first time really sailing NCL (I’d done the 2-day Epic pre-inaugural, but those sailings aren’t necessarily indicative of what the line generally does), I wanted to make sure to pay close attention to pretty much everything I experienced. The Pearl is a lovely ship, with a passenger capacity of just under 2500 (double occupancy). Our particular sailing was completely sold out, which might explain the really long lines for check-in at the port. We boarded around 1:30 (having been on line for about an hour) and were about to head up to the Lido deck for a snack & a cocktail when we heard the announcement over the loudspeaker that our cabins were now available. Props to the crew, then, because one usually expects to have to wait until 3pm before cabins are available. Seeing our bags show up not too much later made us really note that the crew were on top of their game. It would become a running theme throughout the sailing.

Norwegian operates on the “Freestyle Cruising” philosophy. No set times for dinner, you don’t have to get all dressed up if you don’t feel like doing so, and they offer a wide variety of options for dining. If you’re looking for a more formal cruising experience, NCL may not be the right line for you. Although the ship is well appointed and tastefully decorated, and some bits of it are even Fancy, the atmosphere is definitely a little more laid-back than on other lines. NCL’s detractors have been heard to say that this shows in the service and in the fact that since you can sometimes pay less for your sailing, the line does tend to nickel-and-dime more than others. I absolutely disagree with the comments about the service, but absolutely DO agree about the nickel-and-dime aspect.

For example: Many of the dining venues offered on the ships have an up-charge attached to them. They’re not included in your cruise fare. The ones that are included, I found the food to be of a lower quality. This was true on Epic, and it’s true on Pearl. I feel that it’s something that’s fleet-wide. Perhaps the thinking behind it is that if the food is so much better in the up-charge venues, people will ignore the up-charge and simply eat there for all of their main meals. The problem with that is that some passengers feel as though they have certainly paid enough to the line for their cruise already, and don’t feel as though they should have to pay extra for GOOD meals.

While I only dined in one of the up-charge venues (Cagney’s, the steakhouse), and while it was good, my thought is that if you’re going to charge extra for a dining venue, perhaps you want to ensure that the entire experience is a cut above the rest – both on board and shoreside. The service in Cagney’s was excellent (thank you to Alvin Sigua and Miguel Arcilla, our waiters), but when I’m in any upscale steakhouse in the world, I do not expect to see A) a microwave in use for ANYTHING or B) food being put on plates with an ice-cream scoop. I realise that cruise lines have to get a little institutional due to the volume they’re cooking, but there are busy steakhouses that don’t use those things in view of the public (Cagney’s features an open kitchen so you can WATCH THE ACTION!) and they never use a microwave.

Actually, I found the use of the microwave on the ship to be a bit much anyway – in the Blue Lagoon restaurant, for example, the buffalo wings were great, as were the fish & chips. The chicken fingers, on the other hand, showed up having clearly been microwaved. They were hot enough to remove skin, yet hard as rocks. And please, don’t get me started on the thing sitting on my plate that was masquerading under the name “buttermilk biscuit”. Listen, NCL, if you’re paying attention? I don’t think it’s the head chef on the Pearl who’s doing this. I think it’s the executive chef for the entire line, so whoever that person is, PLEASE LISTEN CLOSELY: What you are calling a “buttermilk biscuit” in Blue Lagoon restaurant (or O’Sheehan’s, if you’re serving them on Epic as well) bears absolutely zero resemblance AT ALL to an actual buttermilk biscuit except that they can both generate crumbs. This item was consistently, throughout the cruise, an affront to buttermilk biscuits, and offensive to all biscuits everywhere. Have you ever tried to EAT one of those creations you’re serving? Like, you yourself with your actual mouth? I wonder what they’re like fresh, because I can tell you that microwaves can only account for the fact that I could damn near chip off pieces of my plate with this thing. It is about the circumference of a mini-muffin, it’s maybe an inch thick, it’s Sahara-level dry, and I’m not sure what that flavour is, but it’s no biscuit like I’ve ever had in my life. Everyone that I spoke to, no matter where they were from or what their food history was, laughed at that tiny rock-like thing. Either please reformulate your recipe, or stop calling that thing a buttermilk biscuit. I don’t care WHAT you call it, but it’s not a biscuit.

That said, Blue Lagoon is a venue that is included in your cruise fare, and is open 24 hours a day throughout the sailing. It’s nice to have that option, especially since the Garden Cafe (where the buffet lives) closes at night until breakfast the next morning).

HINT: If you really need snacks or cookies late at night and don’t feel like going to Blue Lagoon, there’s a little snacks setup in the Pearl Casino (deck 6, midship). One of the friends we met on the sailing would get a fierce cookie jones at around 11 or midnight, and we always knew where we could find him.

We did have some lovely meals in Summer Palace, the main formal dining room. There were a few outstanding hits (apple & endive salad, lemon ginger custard, roasted garlic polenta cake, chicken noodle soup, bread & apple pudding, and potato leek soup being a few of them), a few incredible misses (penne alfredo – TERRIBLE, Vietnamese summer rolls – meh), and some really excellent service. Jeus, Locksley, Shaila Macarubo, and Jose Algao were a few of the ones who were just fantastic. Yes, I filled out comment cards for all of them, but I wanted to mention them here as well. Due to the Freestyle nature of NCL, you’re not going to necessarily get the same waitstaff every night like you would with traditional dining on other lines, which means that these people may work extra hard for no extra recognition. I believe strongly in recognising good service and friendly staff (many of them would find me and ask how my quest to learn to speak Tagalog was going, and help me learn new words), and this lot were all lovely.

There’s a little bar up on Deck 13 midship (though closer to fore than mid) called the Sky High Bar. When you go there, say hello to bartender Kurt Ange for me. My traveling companion & I spent a lot of time there, because it’s out of the way of the craziness even in the middle of a sea day, yet there’s still a lovely view of the ocean, the pool activities, and great people-watching. It’s out of the wind, the service is attentive but not pushy, and it’s a nice, relaxing place to just hang out if you don’t want to be in the center of it all.

Our cabin steward, the lovely Rey Cruz, was fantastic! I can’t say enough good things about him. He was fast, efficient, thorough, took care of anything we asked right away (squeaky door, etc.), and so very friendly! On the Pearl, in balcony cabins and higher categories, there’s a coffee maker in the cabin, of which I took full advantage. Stumbling out into the hallway in the morning, seeking a packet of coffee, or creamers, or sugar packets, I’d find Rey. There I am, last night’s eyeliner down to my chin, hair in disarray, in my PJs, all one-eyed and incoherent. Rey would just smile brightly and say, “Good morning, gorgeous!” I love that man.

Spinnaker Lounge, deck 13 forward, is, for me, the BEST place to be when the seas are acting up (as they were on our first and last nights out). Though we were informed that the seas were merely “moderate” (waves 4-7.5 ft.), seeing the water SPLASH out of the pools on the Lido deck and feeling all the rockin’ & rollin’ we were doing leads me to believe that we were pushing that top end of “moderate” pretty hard. We had a function to attend at Spinnaker on our first night. The whole front and sides of the lounge are floor to ceiling wraparound windows. There are also nice chaises upon which one may relax and stretch out. The view of the ocean activity from that high up and that forward on the ship, a location where one is likely to feel all of that movement the most, was absolutely stunning. Now granted, I’m one of those weirdos who actually likes active seas as much as I like turbulence when I’m on a plane, so I was beside myself with joy that whole night. Others, perhaps, were less comfortable and if you don’t like the feeling of the ship moving on an active ocean, I would advise that you stay on decks 5-7 in the midship area but definitely do NOT go to Spinnaker Lounge. Leave it for weirdos like me.

Bliss Ultra Lounge is on Deck 6 aft, and is decorated in a similar fashion to the lounge of the same name on Epic. Mis-matched furniture, loads of different seating options from bar stools to couches, beds for lounging, 2 VIP rooms, a stage for live music, a dance floor, and bowling lanes! It’s definitely the hot spot of the ship for nightlife. This is also where the karaoke was every night, and you can bet I was there as often as I could be.

Due to weather, I sadly did not get an opportunity to experience Great Stirrup Cay (NCL’s private island) at all. However, the rest of the port days had excellent, hot, clear weather which enabled us to get off of the ship and wander about.

I will say straight up that I’m totally okay if I never go back to Jamaica. Perhaps the new port at Falmouth is nice, I’ve certainly heard it is, but Ocho Rios? No thank you. I’ve heard good things about the resorts too, but the general consensus with Jamaica is “stay at the resort or in the shopping areas meant for tourists, but DO NOT stray on your own”, and I can see why. In Ocho Rios, in order to even get to the harrassment-free oasis that is Margaritaville, you first have to walk a gauntlet of about 3 city blocks that’s nothign but people who want to either drive you around the island in a taxi, braid your hair, or sell you handicrafts of sometimes questionable provenance. Every three steps, even if you’ve just told a taxi driver that you’d rather walk, here’s another one telling you that he’s got the lowest prices, and then another one, and another one. Listen, I understand poverty more than some people know. But when your offerings of services take an almost angry tone to them, you’re going to drive more people away from you than anything. I experienced a lot of that – just the edge of anger – from hair braiding ladies to taxi drivers to people wanting to sell you necklaces and bracelets or at least have you give them money or a cigarette. With the amount of business that comes in, one would hope that some of these people would have learned a little business savvy, but instead, I guess they get enough suckers because it’s just aggressive and off-putting.

Grand Cayman was next, and the atmosphere couldn’t have been more different. No-one was hawking their wares or services on the streets, the woman in the information booth was pleasant and helpful, the streets were clean. We went to Hell, on the northern part of the island (near the Turtle Farm and Stingray City), and chose to take a city bus to get there and back ($2.50 each way per person as opposed to $12 per person each way for a taxi). The island is beautiful, the people are friendly, and I would definitely like to go back and spend more time there.

Next day, Cozumel. While not as aggressive and angry as Jamaica, the people in the shops in Mexico (both East and West coast, I’ve found) are just as pushy and will say almost anything to get you to come into the shop. Once in, they will keep piling things on you and showing things to you, and leaving without purchasing something can be a challenge. If you’re shopping there, unless you’re fluent in Spanish or happen to be very brave, stick with the shops recommended by the cruise line. While I was not worried for my safety in Cozumel like I was in Jamaica, the pushiness can be extremely wearing after a few shops. We did, however, have a plate of really amazing nachos with shrimp, chicken, and beef in a shop just at the beginning of the strip while Benito promised to make us a good price on the goods in the shop behind the restaurant (and he did, too). At the other end of the strip, my new boyfriends Otoniel & Eddy at Tiki-Tok offer $6 margaritas, 2 beers for $3, a fantastic view of the port, and charming company. Watch out, ladies! They’re both single and on the prowl!

All in all, I did have a great time on the Pearl. The category BA balcony cabin was, while not palatial, certainly spacious enough for us to be comfortable. There’s loads of storage space, a nice big closet, plenty of hangers, and enough room under the bed for suitcases. The shower was mid-range in size (Princess showers are smaller, Carnival’s are bigger), and the toilet has its own little room and door so one’s cabin-mate can shower or use the sink/mirror while one is in the tinkle chamber. There were movies all night long on television (when I wasn’t watching The Ship Channel), everything from Inception to Rango, we noticed almost no noise at all from our neighbouring cabins, and Rey kept our ice bucket full. Of course, everything’s better with a balcony, and we both spent untold hours there.

24 hour room service (complimentary except for 12am-5am, when there’s a small surcharge) came in handy a couple of times, as did the option to have a large pizza with whatever you want on it delivered anywhere on the ship for $5. For that, I don’t mind the surcharge at all.

I must note, however, that there was a crew and cast on the ship shooting a reality show. Some dating contest, from the look of it. While the film crew were lovely, the male cast members (or contestants, or whatever they’re called) left much to be desired in the maturity and manners arenas. I saw and experienced behaviours that I would have perhaps expected from college sophomore frat guys, but certainly not from people who call themselves adults who wish to be seen as desirable on national television. I don’t know what the show is called, and am not sure whether or not they’re still on the Pearl shooting, but I can tell you that my personal experience with them was unpleasant at best. I won’t be watching the show, even if there’s a possibility to catch a glimpse of myself on TV.

Again, the service throughout the ship was outstanding no matter where we were, and deserves to be recognised. There are a few things that could use some tweaking (like the 2 hours we stood in line to debark and go through Customs – there’s absolutely no reason it should have taken that long to get through the terminal), and I think the food issues are endemic to the entire line, so I can’t imagine many changes are going to be made there (but please, for the love of all that’s holy, for the sake of your favourite comfort food, PLEASE FIX THOSE BISCUITS). The ship isn’t too huge, she’s well appointed, and easy to navigate. For a fun cruise with excellent service at a decent price, I can easily recommend Norwegian Pearl. Just make sure to call a travel agent, because NCL often has promotions for free upgrades and extra onboard credit, and your friendly neighbourhood travel agent will be prepared to take advantage of those on your behalf to get you the most bang for your buck.