the couple we went with, it was their first cruise, and now doubt will never cruise again. We did book this cruise to go 2weeks earlier, it was cancelled by ncl because the ship had been chartered by some company. We were given this alternative by virgin by the way no apology at all for the cancellation. This was a booze cruise for american youngsters that can not drink in their own country and go wild on the ship, never in my wildest dreams did I think that over 1800 university students would get on a cruise. As older travellers we would never go to say ibiza or cancun. These youngsters were completly out of control loud,drunk,sick,rude we were not able to get near the pool or jacuzzie we got into a lift-sorry elevator to find a young man having his bowels opened in the lift. Security had to haul couples out of pool and jacuzzie for having sex in there. Due to bad weather we were not able to get off for 3 whole days and were trapped with these loud hooligans with no escape, even in the so called quiet areas. I really do feel that ncl and virgin should look after our interests and let us know that the ship would be full of American spring breakers. I further think that ncl made matters worse by serving youngsters free rum punch in the afternoons Oh did we get any well no we did not. Very few of these younsters appeared to be with their parents. In the piano bar one night a group of students were with a older couple we could not hear the piano singer due to their chatter and loudness, why they requested her to play and sing certain songs I will never know. Oh and just to let the americans know we are not brits we are English, like the scots are scottich and welsh come from wales. thankyou. I advise any english, scottish or welsh people never to take a cruise that they pick up half way through a cruise from america

We sailed on the NCL Pearl on a back to back Eastern/Western Caribbean, we can say it was the best holiday ever. The Ships decor was amazing and would never believe you were on a ship. Before you entered a restaurant a member of staff would spray your hands and because you were at sea you never saw a fly hence you never worried about the hygiene, it was first class. Staff were very organized when it came to disembarking the ship for excursions and with top security when boarding again. I only had a couple of disappointments and that the air conditioning around the ship was set too cold, so take a light weight long sleeve top with you when going to restaurant/entertainment etc. and 2, was after arriving back to Miami after the 1st week we had to disembark due to immigration because we had entered other countries so the ship had to be clear of all passengers but the back to back passengers did get back on first. If you do a dolphin excursion take a waterproof camera as they photographs are expensive. If you have never had a cruise before I can guarantee you will be hooked. I wish I could afford one every year. It was fantastic

We sailed out of Miami on the 7day Caribbean cruise on the 2nd January 2011!
Boarding at Miami was painless and quick,and maybe took just over a hour and a half, from start to getting into our cabin
We had 2 inside cabins, which were fine, kept spotlessly clean and with very comfortable beds!
The choice of food was good whether having A la Carte or Buffet service!
Pool area was a liitle crowded and by 10am it was hard to find a sunbed!
I loved the fact it was Freestlye and we could choose when how and where we wanted to eat!
My one complaint is with the waiters in the bars continually hassling you to buy drinks, every minute they are asking you!
I would recommend this Cruise Line and would definitely use it again!

Booked this holiday while visiting relatives living in Seattle.Alaska has always been my personal 'dream' vacation as I am a wild life fan. Alaska did NOT dissapoint and was everything I ever dreamed it would be.

In relation to the cruise if you are looking for a 'once in a life' time experience I would urge you to chose a difference cruise provider. Let's start with the ship. Much to big and far to many pople on board, no chance to use the many elavators without been pressed aginst the walls by over bearing extreemly rude unfriendly people who appeared to have no thought for others. Screaming children left to wander around the public areas without supervision.This also applies to youths who were able to acess alcohol and hang around in groups shouting and enaging in sexually inappropriate behaviours.

Outside facilities became the personal possesions of the 'chaves' who were obiously not interested in the spectical of the widerness and tranquility but insisted making the possibility of finding quiet time impossible.

The food halls were probably the worse point of the holiday, cold food (if you could get at it through the milling crowds), al a Carte what a joke!!! the food was extreemly poor and not worth booking in advance.Speciality foods were extra who wants to pay 15% extra when the cruise and off shore trips had already taken care of the budget.If you like a drink in the evenings forget it as it was too expensive.

Entertainment was a joke, if you enjoy loud people verbalising their pleasure in being asked where they live being incouraged by a cruise entertainment director who quite frankly would more at home in on a market stall in the east end of London.
The 'special' acts promised were rubbish and given the preview evening at the start of the cruise we did not attnd any in fear of being bored to death.And my god you should hear the dancers singing we were convinced someone was trying to strangle a cat behind the stage.

All four of us were ill following our experience but is that surprising when the number of people on board would easily add to the possibiliy of catching colds.

On a final note please do not discount Alaska it is truly fabulous. Just be warned and stay away from Free style cruising.

This trip was booked during a visit to relatives in June, all parties excited having the opportunity to visit Alaska. My husband and I have cruised before and found the experience fine, so we were happy to push our family in to partaking in this trip. Boy what a mistake!!!!
On seeing the ship in dock it immediatly became clear that this was to big people swarming like ants around the quay side with no clear guidence.
That was the start of a holiday we will never forget sadly memories will focus on loud people with no manner,s /thought for others who appeared mostly oblivious of the serenity an beauty that surrounding them in prefrence for food an alcohol.

Talking about the food, I am not up for a competative an somewhat scary challenge when it comes to a bufet service. Forget the hazards of falling over loss children who were in the main unsupervised and seemingly happy to ignore the fact that food becomes less appealing when it has been messed about and left covering counter tops and the floor.

Being in a lift with ignorant uncommunicative people was an experience I do not wish to go through again.

The entertainment was truly bad, the cruise director was from the east end of London, pity he had'nt stayed there as his humour and banter was more suited to a market stall in Walford (Eastenders). The dancing/singing troop were out of tune and boreing.
American comedy is not my strong point but how can you laugh a baseball jokes that have no meaning unless you have been inducted to the national sport.

One can not say that Alaska did not please, of course the wildlife and serenity of the area was magical. Pity we chose the wrong cruise to make this a holiay of a life time.

This cruise to Alaska was our fourth on three different cruise lines. We are university professors in our early 60's. Our trip on the Pearl was the least satisfactory of the 4 cruises we have taken so far. We did have a good time, and I do not regret the money spent on our balcony cabin. However, I would just like to mention a few caveats which might help another person searching for the "right" Alaska cruise line/ship.

The really big problem on the Pearl were the hordes of passengers who all seemed to be dining at the same time...(Is this what they mean by "Free-Style Cruising?)...There was never any place to sit in the buffet area except maybe a rare table outside in the cold where, wrapped in your parka to avoid pneumonia, you might enjoy a breakfast which cooled as you surged forward to relieve your "table guard!" One always had to rush to find a table, fending off others heading in the same direction. Then it was necessary for one person in the party to sit and "guard" the table while others gathered food...this became quite tiresome after a week! One had to secure reservations to the specialty restaurants, and this was difficult...again, hordes of people crowding around the reservation/menu display area. The brochures you will read also will not stress that about half of the specialty restaurants charge extra.


The balcony cabins on the Pearl, although well appointed, were extremely small...the biggest problem is the tiny tiny toilet room with the toilet placed so close to the wall in front of it that anyone over 5 ft tall who is not an amputee would certainly have a problem...Why on earth would they engineer it in this way? The architect who designed this room must have been a midget....the only way to solve the problem is to sit sideways. If you enjoy this sort of adventure, by all means, choose the Pearl!

We had a few additional frustrations including being charged for things in the minibar which did not exist...when I questioned the lady steward about my charges for things which were not in the minibar from the previous day she became defensive, surly and promised to remove the charges in question (which she never did). So, chumps that we are, we did leave our $10 per day tip...Norwegian Lines makes it look like this $10 fee per person per day is a requirement. There is no mention, as with other cruise lines, that if unsatisfied you may refuse to pay this additional fee! The wording in the announcement is very crafty!! There is no information concerning what one might do to achieve the removal of this fee! It would appear that you are stuck!

There seemed to be confusion sometimes both in getting on and off the ship--initially and coordination with shore excursion operators hired by the company. At first, the cabins were not ready, and 2000 tired/hungry passengers descended upon the buffet area. The couple next to us had a child who just lay on the floor, shaking her extremities, and screaming for two hours...I think this child expressed how many of us felt! However, how great it would be if the cruise line could somehow segregate families with small children and place them in a special "family" cabin area next to one another...I like children...I have had several of my own...but it gets tiresome when the children in the next cabin are screaming and beating their tomahawks (or whatever!) on the cabin walls which, in the Pearl are precious thin. As soon as I turned on the TV in our "stateroom" (certainly a maleprop!)...so softly that even we in our cabin could hardly hear it, our neighbor from next door immediately dropped by to request that we turn our TV down because, our TV, located next to the wall, was broadcasting also into his cabin.

In addition there were some frustrations with excursions. In one port we were the first ones down the rear gangplank after some sort of delay opening our particular exit...only to discover that our excursion had already left!...If you would like to understand the definition of "chaos" try finding your particular excursion with 2000 people milling about trying to find theirs as well....Norwegian seemed to handle this rather badly at times with those proffering information seemingly as confused as the rest of us!

I do not know about the on-board entertainment because we rarely took advantage of it....In general I can say for sure that the crew members are friendly, but the whole experience is rather impersonal (The staff seem out of control; the ship is just too big; too many passengers!)...At least in our estimation the whole Pearl experience just does not match that of other cruise lines which we have tried. I am afraid that we were spoiled by a WONDERFUL cruise on the Holland American Oosterdam...where our experience was just the opposite of what we found on the Pearl...The Oosterdam boasts no lines, efficient,friendly, really caring staff members who even made an attempt to remember your names if they encounter you very often.

All in all, if you do not mind some inconveniences, and you would like to travel on a new, huge, beautiful, clean ship a cruise on the Pearl might be just what you want....but there is so much competition among cruise lines these days...Frankly,it seems to me that one might be able to do better experiencing Alaska with some other cruise line, especially the Holland/American (where, by the way, we never once were forced to stand in long lines, "forage" for food, or "guard" a table in any restaurant or the buffet.) I hope this review is helpful to someone! Alaska is so beautiful...Go for it!

we travelled as a family on this ship on the 27/12/07 for 2 weeks what a nightmare holiday a complete waste of money £13000.00
what can i tell you good points ship was beautiful and mostly clean
bad points food was always cold ,plenty of it but still cold speciality restraunts had to be booked 24 hrs in advance ,if you could get a booking. entertainmemt was rubbish over the period of our holiday apart from the usual (in house band and theatre
productions which were predictable)we also saw 2 jugglers 5 times and a migician 4 times and i ex soap star singer
new year was a wash out no count down all seperate venues
the last 5 days of the cruise was like a booze cruise people diving into pools with lit cigarretes and with open beer bottles security standing by doing nothing.
we booked this as a 16 day holiday but it was in fact a 9 night cruise starting of from miami (immigration queuing for 2 hours )board ship for 9 days return to maimi everyone put of ship before 10am put thru immigration yet again after an hour on land were allowed to return to ship for next 5 day cruise with more new passengers now the booze cruise began what a nightmare.talking to other passengers on this ship most of us refused to pay the $10 dollars per person per day gratuity which i think isand others is justified
i could go on and on and on but if anyone wishes anymore information you can email me thru holiday truths

Nice to be the first to comment on this ship,although its been around just over a year or so. We just got back from a 9 Day and 5 day (back to back) cruise around the Caribbean out of Miami.We are in our early 50's with a son and daughter in their early 20's who wanted to come with us. We went for the inside cabins as our budget was a bit tight. The ship was spotless and the quality of finishing was very high, the cabins were quite small as we expected, but the fittings and design was very high.The staff who were from every nation in the world (just about)and were also first class, and as you pay a small daily charge towards tipping you never felt awkward about knowing to tip or not.
Food, well, it would take me too long to explain how good it was, but you simply stuff yourself silly for the first few days as everything is so good and in portions American size, evening dinner could be from any 12 or so different type of restaurant you fancied, with usually 5 courses, you never had to wait to get in or being served, very much like a 1st class UK restaurant.
You also had very good entertainment (if you wanted)every night, an amazingly large casino, two swimming pool, 4 Jacuzzis climbing wall,etc etc
So overall we had a fab time, we visited Dominican republic,British virgin isles,Antigua,St Lucia,Barbados,Cosoma,and Grand Cayman all nice islands and only disappointment was the constant hassle from the locals for your money, apart from Grand Cayman, that was superb.