Ship Review: The Norwegian Pearl

This weekend, I had a chance to visit the Norwegian Pearl while it was in Port in Seattle.  What a great experience!  I’m so glad that I get to see ships in person so that I can better match them to your needs.  On this tour, I was able to see the main public areas, staterooms in several categories, restaurants, speciality venues and even sit down for a lunch in the main dining room.

The Beginning Of The Tour

This is a large ship. holding 2,394 passengers.  As I walked in, the first thing I saw was the Crystal Atrium, which was decorated in rich jewel tones.  Here you can see how royal feeling this area is:

The Staterooms

We quickly headed off to visit the staterooms, which are also all decorated in various jewel tones for a warm, happy feel.  I really like the way the rooms are decorated and laid out.  The veranda rooms were bright from all the natural light streaming in; definitely my first choice for this ship.

The Garden Villa

The most amazing thing on this ship, though, is the Garden Villa, part of The Haven, a private suite only area of the ship.  This three bedroom villa is gorgeously decorated, with plenty of space to spread out and relax, including a private outdoor area with hot tub.   The bathrooms are huge, with amazing views, there are large walk in closets, and a living room with a bar and grand piano!

The Haven suites open into a private, suite-only pool area:

After viewing the staterooms, we ventured into a few of the restaurants on board.

Summer Palace

Then we settled into Summer Palace, one of the main dining rooms, for lunch.  I don’t have a picture of this one (but it’s beautiful!) because my husband was playing both photographer and videographer.  Stay tuned for the video, though, and you’ll see lots more.  In any case, we had a choice of appetizer, entree and dessert from the menu.

It had some typical lunch options like sandwiches and burgers, but also entrees such as Chicken Milanese and Grilled Steak.  I had the Chicken Milanese, which came with a tomato and arugula salad.  Some of my table-mates had the steak, which they said was perfectly cooked.   Our table was right at a window, which was great.

After our lunch break, we headed out to see some of the fun areas of the ship.

The two pools on the main deck area were quite nice.  One had a large water slide, great for all ages, and the other was deeper and had a waterfall.  There was also a (very) small kids’ splash and play area.  A rock climbing wall offered adventure on board (video to come), as well as a bowling alley!

Overall, I was impressed with the many options to keep busy on board.  The spa was lovely, with  many interesting treatments offered (including acupuncture!), the many lounges and bars were inviting, and the large number of restaurants meant that even picky eaters are sure to find a dish that suits their fancy.  The Pear sails to Alaska all summer long, so if you’d like to learn more about this ship or about cruising to Alaska, give me a call!