We are booked on NCL Pearl end of October for 14 days. I am getting quite concerned after reading all of the negative comments. I have been very hesitant to cruise with NCL due to all of the bad things I have heard from former cruisers on HAL, Princess and Celebrity. The reason we are trying NCL is I find you have to try something yourself. I had always heard Carnival was not good. Last year we were on the Carnival Spirit and everything was great, food (except the buffet which was bad for all 3 meals), cabin, crew and there was not the party hearty atmosphere that kept us away for many years. So I do understand all of this is subjective but I would like to hear some of your comments. One thing that really concerns me is the size of our inside cabin. 143 sq. ft. or possibly less, I am very concerned about tripping over anything in the room. I welcome all of your comments. Thank you so much and happy cruising to al.
We are booked on NCL Pearl end of October for 14 days. I am getting quite concerned after reading all of the negative comments. I have been very hesitant to cruise with NCL due to all of the bad things I have heard from former cruisers on HAL, Princess and Celebrity. The reason we are trying NCL is I find you have to try something yourself. I had always heard Carnival was not good. Last year we were on the Carnival Spirit and everything was great, food (except the buffet which was bad for all 3 meals), cabin, crew and there was not the party hearty atmosphere that kept us away for many years. So I do understand all of this is subjective but I would like to hear some of your comments. One thing that really concerns me is the size of our inside cabin. 143 sq. ft. or possibly less, I am very concerned about tripping over anything in the room. I welcome all of your comments. Thank you so much and happy cruising to al.
We are booked on the Pearl in January and have no Reservations about the ship....I don't care which cruise line you go on...there will be negative comments from people who can't be positive about anything...We were on the Jewel, which is the sister ship to the Pearl...it was by far the nicest ship we've been on...14 cruises with NCL and yes there have been things that didn't go well, but over all nothing to complain about....You will find the service very good, and the food above average to great...The entertainment is some of the best of any ship on the high seas...your room shouldn't scare you away....You sleep, you shower....don't need anymore room to anything else in my opinion.....and the bathrooms on the new NCL ships are wonderful....You will have a splendid time....Go and have a GREAT cruise...
I've always said "There isn't such a thing as a BAD cruise, some are just better than others"
The reason we are trying NCL is I find you have to try something yourself.
You've answered your own question, not only with that statement, but with your own experience on Carnival that you mentioned. Go with an open mind, don't expect to have a bad time because of the reviews, and I'm sure it'll be fine. That's how you get a sense of which cruise lines are best for YOU and which are less your style, by having the good fortune to be able to try a variety of cruise lines.
Don't worry about the 143'. Royal Caribbean's older ships' inside cabins started at 122', and it wasn't horrible. The 143' would feel like a suite after that!
Well, I have tried NCL (like you said, sometimes you just have to try things yourself). BUT I sailed on the Dream and not an NCL America ship. So I can't really offer anything except to say to make up your own mind.
Yes, the cabin sizes are small (Carnival offers larger cabins than other cruise lines) But its not so bad as to worry about tripping over things unless you are going to have 4 people in there...
Go with an open mind. You may find that Freestyle Cruising works for you and it offsets any other negatives there may be. You will be on a cruise. Even a bad cruise beats a day at the office!
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================================================== ========== Carnival Cruise Lines:
Fantasy 90, Celebration 95, Victory 05, Conquest 05, Spirit 6/06, Freedom 6/08, Holiday 7/08, Victory 6/09, Valor 9/09, Dream 6/10, Splendor 8/10,Conquest 8/11,Magic 11/11,Triumph 4/12,Spirit 7/12,Freedom 11/12, Triumph 2/13 - The fire cruise
NCL Dream October 2006, RCCL Mariner OTS June 2007
I agree with the others. With an attitude as wonderful as yours (that I wish more people had ), I would be surprised if you did not have a good time.
Regarding the cabin size, it's amazing how well they are laid out and organized. My husband and I have been in cabins as small as 108 square feet, and we've had our family of three in several that were 140 square feet. Sure, it can feel a bit tight at times, but I've found that if I put things away (and get my husband to do the same), we have plenty of room.
jp, I have had a great number of bookings on the Pearl already and every report I've recieved has been wonderful. Everyone has loved the beautiful new ship, bragged on the crew and had a great experience. There is a very small number of ships in NCL's fleet that do get rather frequent, ummm, not too favorable press in certain areas. Rest assured the Pearl in not among those. There is a coule that posts here regularly "Richard&Mary" who have sailed her, I belive twice and I think they have a third booked. Hopefully soon they'll see your post and be able to give you some first hand information. Have a great time.
jp047-A year ago my girl and I, who combined have over 80 years of cruising experience, were somewhat hesitant to try NCL after all the less than stellar revues-within 48 hours we had booked another NCL cruise-so enthralled were we! We both love cruising dearly but freestyle hit us just right. Don't worry about it in the least-you will have a wonderful time-attitude is everything-it can make or break your cruise!
We will sail on the NCL Pearl for the 3rd time on Sept 24th, 2007. This will be the 3rd cruise in 9 months during 2007. The ship is the newest in the NCL fleet, and the freestyle dining gives you plenty of choices for dining. The Stardust showroom is state of the art and beautiful. The ship is beautiful and I can't see how anyone could not have a good time on this ship. As passengers we have never been treated better. I have written extensive reviews here on cruise-chat.com ref the 9 day Southern Caribbean cruise and the 7 day Alaska cruise that we took. You can find my posts about NCL here on cruisechat.com and they are all positive. As I have stated in the past cruising is what you make it. Once you get off the ship, you will realize the fine treatment that you have received. You will be treated very well. Keep an open mind, and just enjoy. Many of the negative comments about NCL are totally unwarranted. We are loyal customers of NCL and our NCL Platinum Latitudes status shows that. We have already booked another NCL trip for OCT 2008.
You won't be disappointed with cruising on the Pearl. Be sure to look at my photoshows of the Pearl at:
for a photo review of both trips. We look forward to boarding the Pearl on Sept 24th from Van Couver, B.C. to L.A. and look forward to once again being with many crew members that we have gotten to know.
Do yourself a favor, and search for my cruise reviews of the Pearl and I am sure they will ease any fears about this grand ship.
you know, if you research the other cruise lines you are going to get negatives about everything. If someone books an inside and they are expecting a suite then they are going to complain. Just remember "some people would not be satisfied if they were hung with a new rope".....I'm not advocating this just trying to prove a point..I think you have to go with the attitude that you are going to enjoy. I am going to enjoy my husband, see the sites, and yes eat, but I am not going to fatten up, just to sustain life so to speak. I know the next thing people are going to say is sure we paid a lot for the cruise, and they are expecting to get the best. I have been on 9 cruises, mostly with carnival, we were on a ship once that was very worn and old, but we had a good time. I have been reading on another site about Spirit and there is good and bad. I did notice that if someone had a bad review of the food they also had a bad review of the room, staff, etc.. I have always said that it does not matter how much you do good, people are going to remember that one bad thing that they did.
I had a bad taxi driver in NYC but I did not measure my trip by that one thing.
), I would be surprised if you did not have a good time.
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