Norwegian Cruise Lines

On Saturday, May 21^st 2016 we arrived in Seattle for our 7 day cruise through the inner passage on the Norwegian «Jewel». First off we had a 1.5 hr wait, standing in line just to get into the terminal building and another 30 minutes just getting to the check in agents to board the ship. This was ridiculous in itself. We were pleased with our room once we had the bed made from a full to two singles. Our cabin steward was a fellow named «Sabi» was terrific. He made sure we had everything we needed and immediately changed our beds around to our satisfaction. A very nice person indeed.
We never book excursion through the cruise lines and always contract our own off ship. It’s less expense and usually much easier.
Food: The Café had it’s good points but not many. The staff was very courteous however, the food was largely processed and unappealing. Breakfast foods were fair. The two large dining rooms mirrored each other with the menu selections however, the Azura was the best. Having sailed on other cruise lines, usually there would be a surf and turf «Steak/​Lobster night that was included in the package. Not on NCL Jewel. It cost $ 25 more for this. Some of the desserts were good but not all of them.
On board Theatre entertainment: The thing we enjoyed best was the «Crew Show», everything else was just passable. The «at sea» days were often boring.
The gift shop had a few bargains however, mostly overpriced.
The stops in Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway & Victoria BC were great and we enjoyed them.
All in all after sailing other cruise lines we would not boo. k on another NCL cruise. We feel that there was a better value in all the other cruises we’ve taken. On the shuttle back to the airport after disembarking, we heard several people’s opinions and they were all negative. In fact, one couple we talked to said, NCL is like the Walmart of cruise lines.
I’m sorry to be so blunt but, this is our experience and we always try to look to maintain a positive attitude.

Took the Norwegian Cruise on May 28, 2016. Firsy of all the weather was not that bad, but there was not any activity on the deck. The food was bland. nothing I expected. The specialty restaurants were ok, could have been better. Yhe person who cleaned our room, never told us his name or made conversation with us while we were there. There was no formal night, I was looking forward to that. That was my first time going to Alaska, and I truly enjoyed that.

Not that impressed. If you love cruising though, this one is pretty standard. To answer a few questions: will it be cold in Alaska? We went in May and it was cool. I am from Texas and very cold natured and thin windbreaker was fine 99% of the time. dont worry about what to wear. Whatever cute outfit you have on will be covered by a sweater, hoodie or windbreaker. Also bring a couple of short sleeve shirts. you will not need hiking boots– we walked on no snow or ice.
If you will be super disappointed if your excursions are cancelled think twice about the Alaska cruise. If your excursion is long and the boat lands late it will be cancelled. If your excursion involves a helicopter and there are clouds it will be cancelled. That dog sledding you had your heart set on has a good chance of not happening at all. Also, beware of the bait and switch. If your excursion is cancelled you will be rushed to take another one or «get off the bus.» The first cancelled excursion we accepted, they took our money and it ended up being a super boring slow aluminum flat bottom boat ride. Learned our lesson the second time and refused the substitution. Those who accepted said they were taken to a glacier and allowed to walk around a few minutes and that was the end of that and their $ 545.

The worst part of this whole trip was leaving! :(
7 day Alaskan cruise departing from Seattle was amazing! The staff was courteous and friendly and energetic. The food was almost always spot on (dessert was meh. But the soft serve icecream makes up for it! Best vanilla soft serve I’ve ever had!)
The cruise was essentially hassle free. Issues with our keycard happened a few times but it didn’t interfere with our fun.
Impressive staff, impressive food, clean, great ports. Will cruise with Norwegian again!

Service — 5+
My family recently took the last Alaskan Cruise of the season. One family member is in a wheel chair. Not only did all the staff act as if this was their first cruise of the season but they treat you as if you are family. They call you by name, if not «sir» or «ma’am». Constantly smiling and helpful. They rushed to help with the wheel chair any and every chance they could take to help. The training of this staff is by far some of the best. The employees really made you believe they didn’t want to be anywhere else but making your vacation with them the best. They really made us feel they were honored we picked their cruise over another vacation option.
Cleanliness — 5
The ship was spotless. Every restaurant, venue, bathroom, rooms, decks, shops, etc. This ship didn’t have a finger print, stain or smudge on it. Not that I was looking for it but the ship was so clean you couldn’t help but notice. I cannot imagine how many staff they actually have aboard working at all hours of the days/​nights.
Food — 4
My family chose to utilize the sit down with table service as opposed to the buffet for most of our meals. We started out having breakfast in their Summer Palace but quickly changed to the buffet due to wait time. The service in the Summer Palace was extremely slow and we found three days in, that we could have the same items in the buffet and just as fresh. It was easier for us to just wake up, eat and be on our way.
Dinner we dined at Indigo, the steakhouse (I cannot remember the name), Teppanaki (hibachi) and their Asian/​Sushi restaurant. Our dinners were fantastic! Teppanaki was not only a fun experience but the food was by far our favorite. The sushi at the Asian restaurant was incredibly fresh. The Indigo not only prepared every steak perfectly but the service was five star every night we were there.
The reason the food is a four, thankfully I was not a fan of the desserts. They seemed as if they had been frozen and thawed. I stayed clear away from all the desserts with the exception of the ice cream… The only time I would sneak into the buffet, other than breakfast was to grab a scoop of ice cream here and there.

Went with the family on an Alaskan trip with Norwegian; both the wife and I had been on the same trip previously (on the same ship, PEARL) a number of years ago.
Cruising on a large ship isn’t for everyone but with two small kids it isn’t a terrible way to go. There is an element of child containment that really helps and food is always available which is a big plus for the kiddos.
Positive and negatives:
Ship needs a facelift. It’s clean but looks worn.
Staff of internationals are very very very pleasant and always happy to assist in any way.
The all-​day buffet is pretty decent for a buffet. The Asian dishes were particularly good (presumably because so many of the cooking staff are SE Asian) but the more american-​style dishes were on the average to below average side.
The restaurants (both cost included and premium up charge) are a bit on the rough side. Some good dishes, some very poor dishes. Much of the problem was a lack of proper execution of classic dishes like a crème brûlée or penne arrabiata but quite good on asian dishes like dal. Didn’t like that in the premium restaurant at $ 30 additionally a person there was additional premiums above and beyond for items like lobster.
There is a nickled-​dimed feel for what many would believe is an all inclusive shipboard experience.
Cruise Director was almost completely missing on this trip. Not sure if he was even aboard.
Some of the ports we arrived at very odd times — Victoria 6 pm with the ship leaving at midnight.
Fixed daily charged per person for gratuity. This goes to the food servers and room steward and I believe is $ 16 a day. So for a party of three that is $ 48 a day for tip per day… which many first time cruisers don’t anticipate and a number of cruise lines include in the package price, however Norwegian does not.
The heavily pushed drink package of $ 62/​day per person. Bottled water/​soda/​alcohol are all additional charges unless you have the «Drink Package» which makes no sense to buy unless you are a serious alcoholic as you break even at about 7 – 8 alcoholic beverages A DAY!
Internet is sold at around a $ 1 a minute unless you buy a «package» which slices the cost approximately in half if you buy in large bunches of minutes. The internet is quite slow and if you aren’t careful to logoff each time the meter keeps running… doh! Wife used her phone to get on and thought she logged off and killed the remaining 100 or so minutes on our plan. Very common problem.
Kids area was very good. There is a dedicated staff to keep the kids busy from morning to night. It’s no cost.
Every day the Captain would get on the public address system and drone on about nonsense for 5 – 10 minutes conveying 20 seconds of actual usable information. You hear it no matter where you are in the ship.
Throughout the ship you are constantly reminded to buy spa treaments, tanzanite, duty free yadda yadda, watches, gold chains by the inch, earrings, t-​shirts, photography sessions, etc… it’s a bit much.
I did get SUPER PISSED at the shipboard customer service agent that informed me we would be charged not the $ 40 to have our 2 bags transported to the airline directly upon disembarkation but $ 80 because they charged $ 20 per person and even though my 11 month daughter and 3 year old child had no bag that charge would be the assessment regardless. So there could be two persons in a stateroom with 7 total bags but they would pay half of what our 4 person and 2 total bags would be…
I’ll definitely cruise again but I’ll likely choose a different cruise line. Norwegian was pleasant enough but there was too many attempts to get into my wallet. I would have rather paid more up front to get hassled less during the trip.

We traveled with NCL Jewel. The food is very disappointed. The 2 main dining rooms have the same menu (Tsar & Azura), why??? Their restaurants food is nothing to write home about, they’re salty. There’s a Chin Chin restaurant, which serves Asian food, but it’s much worse than Panda Express!!! They also have Taste of Asia night, which pretty pathetic; that food wouldn’t survive on the land, is it because the head chief is Indian? They served Vietnamese Chicken Phở as appetizer in restaurant 1 night & it was the worst phở I ever taste. The only positive is the employees & entertainment. Most of the passengers have the same feeling as we did. Most of the excursions are ok, we didn’t have enough time to view the beauty of Alaska or Yukon (only 5 – 10 minutes to take some pictures). We arrived at Vancouver at 5 PM, wasted 45 minutes of sunlight to wait for the coordinator to allow us to get off the ship, while other travel on their own already get to their destination. I’m sorry, I wouldn’t travel with NCL again. Book your own excursions to save money & have more time to enjoy the scenery without the crowd!!! If you travel to the airport, share a taxi with someone to save lot of money & time. Each way cost $ 40, while the NCL charge you $ 30 /​person.
Also check the restaurant price, there is no more lobster in main dining room. The steak restaurant will cost $ 40 more, French restaurant is about $ 20. They try to rip you off from left to right…
I thought Carnival cruise line was bad, until I cruise with NCL.

Overall I’d recommend this cruise line.
The staff is friendly and attentive. The food is good, and about the same in the restaurants. This was a little disappointing since the menu was the same. They tend to charge additional for items on there which is normal for cruise lines. The all you can drink package is a good deal but you’re still paying 18% gratuity and sales tax for each drink which equals about two dollars apiece
The buffet has the same items every day for the most part. Not the best of things but it works. The state rooms are nice. Staff is always there to keep them clean and leave towel animals on the bed for you.
A decent amount of activities on the ship which is really good. I would suggest checking out the barbecue that they do by the pool deck.
The only annoying part of this entire ship was going into the buffet, the Filipino guy singing songs about washing your hands and hand sanitizer. They stick in your head and are absolutely horrible. If you want, google Norwegian pearl washy washy.

We went on a cruise on the NCL Jewel and had an amazing time! Washi Washi will always be in our heads. Christian who worked with the activities was amazing especially with only being on the ship for 2 weeks. Shows were great and food was amazing. We will be cursing again in the future.

I would not cruise with them again… The ship (Getaway) was new and clean but aside from days in port the ship was so crowded it was not at all relaxing. It was frenetic. Lines to get food, get on elevators, and the pools and waterslides were exceedingly overcrowded. NCL website is hard to navigate. The customer service on the phones was incredibly frustrating and ultimately not helpful (we asked that our party of 7 be seated at the same table at the same restaurants each night and this simple request was not honored after well over three hours of phone time. And this was only one request.) There was a line each morning to find a cardio machine to use and the weight room was so cramped and crowded that it was unpleasant to work out.
The food at the specialty restaurants was really good. The thermal spa was the only relaxing space on the ship. And each of these were spendy add-​ons. There was a charge for everything and that felt not hard to stomach after paying a lot for rooms and and and… The internet was expensive and virtually useless. The charge for the wheelchair we needed due to a fall one of us took (which was because a machine was grossly out of place in the cramped gym) was a complete outrage.

Very fun cruise for all ages! It has a casino for 18+ and many events for adults along with many activities for children.

Washy Washy, Happy Happy
I am a Norwegian Now
Norwegian Cruise Lines trip to Alaska is spectacular. We had a 7 day cruise with stops in Juneau (caught salmon), Skagway, Ketchikan (best seafood feast ever), and Victoria. We cruised also and saw lots of whales and also Glacier Bay.
Crew members are stellar. Shows such as Second City are top notch.
Their flexibility dining program at different restaurants simply stellar — Brazilian barbecue, teppanyaki, French Bistro… oh, my. So good.
Lots of drinks, good buffets.
Wonderful times. Washy, Washy, Happy Happy.
I am a Norwegain Now.
Their towel animals on our bed in our port window room were fantastic — a different animal each night until alas the last night No towel animal — time to go home.
We liked our room and we liked the cruise.
Sailed: September 2014

As first time cruisers, we have nothing else to compare this to, but overall we really enjoyed the Norwegian Pearl to Alaska.
We stayed in a balcony room, which was awesome. Soon as we entered the room, we saw chocolate covered strawberries & wine… what a nice surprise! Our balcony was the best part of the cruise, being able to view the ocean, sunrise, sunsets, glaciers, seals, whales, eagles & all the natural beauty you can’t even explain, without having to leave your room.
Soon after we set sail, there was music, dancing & a welcome bbq on the top deck. They did not waste time! That was fun & the burgers were great, hot off the grill!
We mostly ate at the Garden Café buffet, which was included in our freestyle dining plan. Not bad at all, & there were nightly specials. For instance, prime rib one night, pasta w/​lobster another night, chocolate theme desserts, etc. Also lots of Vegetarian options, gelato station, & made to order crepes.
Summer Palace restaurant was also included in our dining plan. Ate there once for lunch, but it was a limited menu (off the menu style) & service was very slow.
We were very impressed by the size of the ship. There were 13 decks with numerous restaurants, from casual to fine dining, rm svc, lounges, showroom/​theater, night club, swimming pool, kids pool, jacuzzis, basketball court, rock climbing wall, bowling, spa, workout room, laundry svc, shops, art gallery & casino. It took me awhile to comprehend that we were on a ship!
We took advantage of the spa pkg at Mandara spa. Unlimited use of the spa facilities for the week & we made good use of it… the massive hot tub with massage jets, steam room, sauna, heated tile lounge chairs were amazingly relaxing. We’d normally go an hour or two before closing, so there was no crowd whatsoever.
Our cabin attendant was awesome. Always friendly & remembering us by name. Loved our little towel animals he made for us every day. One day a monkey, next a bunny, elephant, etc
I was really impressed by our cruise director, Dan. He was here, there & everywhere! Talking to passengers, making announcements throughout the day, via speaker system, hosting game shows, & emceeing the shows at night… all with a cheerful voice & pleasant smile. So much energy!
We went to most of the free nightly shows in the theater. The «oh what a night» tribute band was so good, as well as the comedian/​juggler. There was also a finale show, where all the crew comes to the stage to thank you for sailing with them. After the show ends, they stand in the hallway & applaud you while you exit.
Other things I took note of were:
— Ship does not accept cash. Everything is billed to your room.
— The crew will take pictures of you often & try to sell them to you at a ridiculous price. Take your own pics or ask others. Other times crew dressed up as a moose, eagle, etc. to try & sell photos again. Silly, cause they would take the head part off in between photos, so you could see who was in there.
— The ‘washy washy/​happy happy’ crew will make sure your hands are always clean with their cheery personalities & hand sanitizer bottles. They were at all the restaurants & whenever we docked to go on land, they were there at the entrance when we came back. What a great idea to help prevent germs from spreading on the ship.
— We ate at one ‘specialty restaurant’ which our plan did not cover. It was teppan style dining & cost was $ 25 p/​p for a complete meal. It was pretty good, but we were a little surprised when we got our bill. There was an area for ‘server tip’ AND ‘chef’s tip.’ Whaaat?
— Selling ‘gold by the inch’ is just wrong, but people were buying.
— There is a laundry special towards the middle of the cruise. All you can fit in one lge bag for around $ 27.
— When we asked about bringing food from buffet to our room, some workers said yes, while others said no. We saw many people carrying plates of food in the elevator at different times, so I guess it was ok.
— As others mentioned, bring your own bottled water & soda pop. They charge you otherwise. If you want juice, coffee, milk or flavored water, just get it from the buffet.
— The ship makes a LOT of $, promoting drink specials & encouraging you to drink. Stay sober & save $!
— They also really mark up the land excursion prices. Do your own research & look into booking your own excursions. It’ll surprise you how much you can save.
Lastly, bring a good pair of binoculars with you, to view wildlife, see the glaciers up close, other cruise ships passing by, etc. A good quality camera is a must too, for all those breathtaking shots you’ll want to take.
This was a great experience & a lot of fun. Saw & learned so much! I must say though, after 7 nights on the ship, I was happy to stay on land.

We just got home from the Norwegian Jewel. Me and my husband were crew members at The Pride of America so we have a pretty good idea of what to expect. This was our first cruise as husband and wife so we paid for the Romance Package (400.00) and booked one tour with the ship and one on shore.
I am 34 years and my husband is 30. This ship had absolutely nothing for people our age. We were surrounded by wheelchairs, walkers, terrible music and rude crew staff.
So many old people that as part of the appetizers in the main dinning room is Prunes! Prunes!!!
Our romance package was not in their list so we got to a plain room with no flowers or anything.
Got my money back (not the point) but whatever.
I strongly recomend to book your tours on shore except tours at Juneau.
The ship goes thru tender process at Juneau wich means that it will anchor a little far from the docks and you will ride a life boat to shore. This process makes it very hard to be certain about times to be on time. Book with the ship and you will have a guarantee of time at the tour and enough time to tender back.
Alaska is amazing! If you think of the cruise as a hotel with free food to get you between activities to do off shore then you are in the money but if you think that the ship is gonna be fun, entertaining or hip then prepare to be dissapointed. You have two days at sea most people book their specialty restaurants on these days. Dont do it! They have sea food buffet and prime rib at the café or O Sheehan pub for free on sea days.
Overall I loved Alaska and I know that I got to see a lot that I loved but the ship has very little to offer other than transportation. I would have saved more flying.

I cruised the Norwegian Pearl to Alaska and I feel I got a great value for my money. I’ve cruised once before with Norwegian and seven times with Disney. I will share some of the things I liked about this cruise and how to avoid the things that you will not like.
I booked an inside stateroom. It was small as expected but it was quiet and pitch black with the lights turned off so it was good for midday naps. Deck 10, where my room was, is quiet yet in short distance of everything. An inside stateroom has no view but the decks were fairly empty even when we went to the glacier.
I would avoid buying any packages: beverage, dining, alcohol, etc. Norwegian charges a corkage fee for alcohol just like you’d pay if you brought your own alcohol to any restaurant that has a liquor license. If they see alcohol in your bags during the security screenings to get on the boat, they will direct you to a table to pay the corkage fee or have your alcohol confiscated until the end of the cruise. You have a decent chance of getting a bottle through in your checked bag. It worked for me but you do risk having the bottle break or your bag detained to be opened in front of security if they see the bottle on Xray. If that happens you’ll get a letter to your stateroom.
Bring some water bottles on with you. I bought a 6 pack of sport water bottles which was plenty. Water, coffee, and tea is free on the ship but you have to pay for bottled water to take with you.
I love the freestyle dining. Norwegian does it the best because you can dine whenever you want and I never had to wait. The complementary dining rooms were great. I would recommend eating in them for lunch and dinner as often as possible, because the food here is better than the buffet. As far as optional restaurants, I’d recommend Teppanyaki ($ 25pp) which is like Benihana, hibachi, whatever you want to call it. The filet mignon and seafood here were excellent. I didn’t try the other optional restaurants but the menus didn’t appeal to me enough to bother paying an additional fee.
You can save some money on excursions if you go book outside the cruise line in certain instances. I recommend the Viator website if you do this because many of the excursions offer guarantees in case you miss the boat which is the risk you take when doing an outside excursion. I did two excursions through Norweigian and both exceeded my expectations. The whale watching excursion was on new specially built watching boat for about 20 people and our group was only 12 so there was plenty of room and great views.
You are charged $ 12 daily for the tips of all the servers and room stewards. This is far less than I would normally tip for the great service I had. I’m really bothered reading reviews of cheap, classless people who removed the charge and punished everyone because of one bad experience. If you can’t afford to tip hardworking people or you’re a miserable person who will find something to complain about, don’t go on vacation.
The entertainment was ok. I didn’t come for the entertainment but I liked a Cirque du Soleil aerobatics type show they had.
Overall it was a great experience. The cost of living on this boat was less than Manhattan so I might retire here.

I recently returned from the Alaskan inside passage cruise on the Jewel. One of the benefits was the room with a balcony. My nephew and I spent a great deal of time out there enjoying the cool temperatures and watching for sea life. (we saw two humpback whales, two sharks, a school of porpoises a dead moon fish, and sailed through several miles of jellyfish) I was not impressed with the food in the café, but it was edible. The food in Le Bistro and Tzars Palace was much better. O’Sheenahan’s was a three on a scale of 1 – 10. I have to agree with some others regarding the beverage package, which was $ 32 for kids and $ 50 for adults. we did not get our money’s worth. And to top it all off, we saw people bringing on 12-​packs of soda bought ashore on board. (unless they were crew) My sister bought a bottle of wine in Skagway and was charged a $ 15 corkage fee for drinking it on board. WTH?! I guess that’s what Chun P. meant when he said to smuggle the alcohol through security.
The crew were very accommodating and pleasant throughout the ship. At one of the bars, I acquired an empty bottle of Cedilla from the bartender who was more than happy to give it to me. It was such a pretty bottle. I quickly dropped the bottle and other stuff off in our room and rushed to make our dinner reservation. When we got back to the room, the bottle was gone. I asked our steward if he saw the bottle that was on the counter and he replied, «the purple one? yes, I threw it out. It was empty and I thought it was trash.» I told him that it wasn’t trash, therefore it wasn’t in the rubbish can, and that he never should have assumed so. He never apologized, but instead told me to go back to the bar and see if they had another one. Oh hell no he didn’t just tell ME to go look for another one!!! I thought about writing to NCL, but I think it would be more effective to write about it in my review here. So, if you have something that you don’t want thrown out, leaving a note might be the best deterrent.
We did not experience any funky smells or odors in our room nor did we hear any disturbing, loud people, so taking naps during the day was very pleasant.
I’m not going to review the issue of purchasing excursions through NCL as my fellow reviewers have already beaten that horse to death.
One thing I do want to criticize the staff for is their lack of knowledge of shuttle busses that run between the towns and the ship. In Skagway, I called the front desk asking if there were shuttles because the distance to the town was a significant way and I had an elderly, not too stable woman with me. I was told that we were close enough that shuttles were not available. We walked to the town, quite slowly and she was exhausted when we got there. Not long after, I saw shuttle busses running throughout and even saw one that said «Norwegian Jewel». Man was I pissed. We caught the shuttle back to our ship at a cost of $ 2/​person.
This was my first time on NCL and it is not a line I would consider using again. I have sailed with Celebrity three times and Viking River Cruises twice and was quite impressed with everything and will definitely use them, and Princess, as my sister used to work for them, again.
A friend of mine is currently on the Alaska cruise on the Pearl and I will do the review of that when she returns.
Peace

OMG: Cannot say enough about the PEARL.
FOOD & STAFF OUTSTANDING FOR ALL MEALS. Fresh custom made omelets. (Bacon sould of been cooked more). WE ate at the buffet every morning. (Loved the man greeting us at the door making sure everyone had sanitized hands! Great selection — etc. Fresh and hot. We did eat elsewhere for lunch and supper. EVENING MEAL: Chose sit-​down places. The food was great but I do think they needed more servers. A bit slow. FOOD a 10 always everywhere. DESSERTS … well a 20!!! ONLY DISAPPOINTMENT: we thought there would be fresh salmon. seemed to be farm raised. This was the ONLY disappointment we had on the entire trip. The last night the PRIME RIB was done just right. EXTRA SPECIAL celebrating our 52^nd anniv we were gifted with a bottle of wine and a cake.
ENTERTAINMENT: loved all of it. Got to be on the «Almost newly married game.» 52 yrs of marriage we had lots of funny /​clean comments. Archie the cruise director was well suited for the job. A HOOT and each activity fun. He pulled guests into the activiities.
CABINS: Son & wife: balcony/​hubby, self & friend: mini suite. Only thing I found here was not an outlet in the bathroom for a night light. Surprised at the comfort of the 2 twins mated into a king were so comfortable. The «towel «animals delighted this 71 year old lady. The view great — but the weather did not cooperate this not a fault of the ship. (LOL) Saw a couple whales, a mt. goat but that was it. GLACIERS — If you do not bel in God I do not see how you could not after seeing them. BREATHTAKING.
EXCERSIONS, ETC. Better pricing to wait until on land. Worth all we paid ! WANT TO DO MORE you need to book a longer cruise. More days = More time to do more. Was told, by a local, better time to see more animals is the 2^nd or 3^rd week of July. WE DID SEE EAGLES — lots of them. WOW Gods creations in their homes. TAKE A CAMERA !!! BINOCULARS!!! and patience. GO EXPECTING to have lots of fun. (I paid full price but go online to check Travelosity — some did and got a better rate.) BTW: Kids have their own club so they were not running all over except by the pool & Hot tub area. Think I read there was an ADULT only area but too cold for these ‘ol bones.
COMPLAINTS: Other guests on other ships … Negative comments. Not here, on the Pearl. To give less than a 4.5 or a 5 must of have unrealistic expectations. nothing less than a 10. (Except the fresh salmon on an Alaskan cruise!) OH ONE: I found it not fair to make everyone in the cabin buy the same beverage card: out of the 5 of us (2 cabins) only 2 of us drank. Rule of everyone needing the same card made our group not get one.) OH YA: TP is totally like tissue paper … We would bring our own. Rough etc. Probably more eco friendly ???
OK TO BRING YOUR OWN WATER, SOFT DRINKS, and JUICE onto the ship. Label them and they will get to your room Bit strange — but we did. ($ 2.10 + tip was a bit much for a «coke» and or bottle water.) TAP water is free and totally acceptable. BRING your own mug. You can fill with juice, water, coffee and carry it all day. REMEMBER all food areas open so you can refill at convience.
GET READY — GET PACKED — GOOOOO God Bless and SEE HIS GREAT CREATION of ALASKA.

Alaska and being with family was awesome. The one or two bartenders in the Bliss lounge were great. The waiter in LaCucina was awesome.
I had a problem with my ultimate beverage card, I went to the front desk 5 times to get it taken care of. They talk the talk of service, but norwegian isn’t walking it. 6 visits over 3 days to get it resolved.
The buffet in the morning, the omelet guy avoids eye contact and turns around a lot to not have to work. The buffet seems more like the Golden Corral than a cruise ship. I’ve been on princess, celebrity, and royal and this was the worst.
On Saturday, the last FULL day of the cruise almost everything closes down at 2 PM, you still have 18 hours before you get in on Sunday. It’s like the passengers don’t exist.
This is my 3 rd Norwegian Cruise, and this is the worst cruise… Food, service, facilities ever. So if you want to see Alaska, I’d recommend Princess, or Royal. Avoid Norwegian.

First time on Norwegian Cruise Lines, but it won’t be the last. Mostly because we travelled with a group, LGBT Film Festival at Sea. The ships are a bit much with colourful painted facades but the staff and service was amazing.
We sailed to Alaska and it was our second time up.

Just back from Alaska!
Well not really I’ve just been waiting to write this review.
We have been to Alaska two times on Norwegian Cruise lines. I know that cruise lines in general get a lot of crap for being floating resorts that are super expensive.
Was it expensive to go on this cruise for three people– yeah probably it was four grand for a week. We had a cabin about the size of a regular hotel room with a balcony. It had a nice big bathroom, coffeemaker and refrigerator.
Do the cruise lines ding you for everything absolutely– it’s how to make their money — you just learn to say no and heck of a hurry.
But I have to tell you on this particular cruise line the food was spot on, the drinks were nice and strong, and the service was stellar.
We didn’t do all the excursions this time because we’ve already done them this for me was really all about relaxation.
I read a lot, watched the scenery a lot, a great food, drink great alcohol, and socialized a lot.
This cruise line has tons to do besides eat and drink especially during their days at sea. All of the kids had a blast– even the officers interacted with passengers and were very engaging.
One of the things we liked about Norwegian Cruise lines was that you could wear pretty much what you wanted at any of the restaurants — and they offer with free style dining. Which means you eat when you want where you want and how you want. I don’t want to cruise lines they assign you a table and you have to go to that table at the prescribed time every day. That also means if you’re dining partners are assholes you’re stuck with them the whole week– nice.
However, with free style dining it’s not the case.
One of the things I wished I would have taken advantage of what has the spa. Had a pass you could buy and you could use the spa facilities, their pool, their Jacuzzi and these really incredible hot stone chaise lounges. My brother who did this said it was amazing and he felt like a lizard:) very relaxing.
I have my nails done there as well as my hair cut and styled– spendy yes– they didn’t push products on me which I was thankful for that meant I didn’t have to get out my bitch card.
I’m still trying to figure out how they turn the ship completely over in four hours of turn around but the manage it.
Definitely would sale again with Norwegian Cruise lines.