11 Nights Greek Isles: Santorini, Athens & Croatia Cruise

Wonderful Cruise with Old World Theme!

We had a wonderful cruise on the Pearl from Rome to Athens. NCL booked us great flights with only one layover each way. We pretty much got to spend two days in Rome, landing at 9am and Two days in Athens. NCL allows for 2 night deviations when choosing their air plan which we love. We booked this cruise for the intensive, old world itinerary and the BOGO airfare certainly helped make this cruise a reality for us. Embarkation was a breeze and the terminal in Civitavechia is very nice. Disembarking in Athens was a little slow but with our two night deviation we were in no hurry and had a nice breakfast in mdr that morning before departing the ship. Taxis were easy to get, just had to fine the line. We do enjoy the Jewel/Dawn class ships very much. We know they are not the latest and greatest but they are easy to get around and it seems like we can always find a seat somewhere. Our port days were so long we didnt really have time to do much on the ship besides eat, perhaps hangout a little bit outside and sleep. So we really cant comment on any of the shows. The bartenders where friendly and upbeat. The public spaces were relatively clean and kept. Wait staff for the most part were cheerful as well. I wasnt expecting much from the food on board. I really hope ncl and food prices in general can get worked out. We only ate at the mdr a few times and the food was just ok. Cagneys 2x and Le Bistro 1x were very good. Osheehans was good as well. We would have loved to eat at the chinese restaurant on board but the cover charge of $50 person was too much for us. This was the first cruise we did not indulge in the chinese restaurant, Lotus Garden, on board which was a bummer as the food has always been above average in the past and the green tea ice cream is fantastic. All of the port stops were wonderful! Most stops we were there with ample time to do a tour and then explore on your own with many port stops departing at dusk or night. Which we love. Our tours booked through NCL varied from excellent to average with most being very good. Our Instanbul by land and sea through ncl was just an outstanding tour and it has to be way up their, if not number one of all the tours we have booked through ncl over the years. The lets take a selfie tour in mykonos was okay. The tour to Oia in Santorini was just too short, very crowded, but too short as they only gave you one hour in Oia which is just ridiculous. The tours we took in Crete to Knossos and in Rhodes to a baptistry and old town both had outstanding tour guides. Our three stops in Italy I arranged tours from outside of NCL and they did a wonderful job as well. Getting off the ship in all cases was relatively easy. We did end up tendering in Mykonos which turned out to be a positive as the one ship pier that was in use on our day is quite a walk from the old town and tendering for us didnt take that long. Both Santorini and Mykonos used the ports tenders not the ships which was a plus! Our room was an inside on deck 8 close the Osheehans. This was our first inside room, in the past we usually get an obstructed view room across the hall. We love this location. right by the main elevator shaft that takes us to the entry to the Garden buffet, Cagneys, the atrium, or down to the Indigo mdr. We are just one deck up from promenade which we like walking around on. All in all it was a wonderful trip from beginning to end and we are looking forward to our next cruise on Norwegian!

Haven - the Ultimate Experience

Recently traveled on the Pearl in the Haven 3-bedroom villa. Me, my sisteWr, brother and brother-in-law and my 8 yo disabled grandson. If you ever have an opportunity to sail in a Haven suite, do! We love cruising and NCL has never disappointed, but the Haven takes the experience to the next level. Our Concierge, Lou, ensured we were able to get reservations for shows, specialty dining and any other activities were available. Jafar, our butler, was always available to meet any needs or requests, at any time. I was a little nervous traveling with a wheelchair bound 8 year old for the first time, but NCL worked very closely with me prior to and during, to ensure any special accommodations or needs were able to be met. My grandson had to travel with special food (tube fed) and I worked with an accommodation specialist, prior to sailing to ensure we were able to bring all things needed on board without issue. Most other passengers were wonderful and did not make us feel we were in the way and were understanding. Dining - we ate at a variety of venues throughout the 11-day sailing. The buffet was good, nothing out of the ordinary, but good, great variety and certainly something for everyone in our group. As we were in the Haven, we were able to have breakfast and lunch in a "specialty" venue as there is not a Haven restaurant on the Pearl. As in the Haven restaurant on other NCL ships, the menu did not change from day to day, but enjoyed ordering different items on various days... the brie burger and shrimp louie turned out to be my favorites for many lunches. For specialty dining, we choose Le Bistro, La Cucina, Cagney's and Teppanyaki. My favorites were Le Bistro and Cagney's. We ate in the main dining room on most nights and I enjoyed the variety and being able to try different and new things. I was always able to have a wonder and relaxing dinner. I do love being able to order more than one appetizer/dessert, as sometimes you just can't make up your mind. I'm not the greatest in writing reviews, but wanted to say that NCL did not disappoint, all of the staff we encountered and interactived with, always made a feel special, even if only a smile and a greeting.

Awesome 23-day cruise on the Pearl!

We had an awesome time on tgis 9-day cruise which we also went a 14-day TA afterwards from Barcelona to Miami! We also booked a Paris hotel stay through NCL, which allowed us to walk over to both the Arch de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower before jumping on tge 3-hour NCL transfer bus to Le Havre where be boarded the Pearl. Along the way our bus driver had to drive through a snow blizzard most of the way. Fun times!! We had fun visiting a variety of ports in Portland and Spain along with stopping by Casablanca on our follow-on TA ending in Miami. One of the cool things about our cruise was that most evenings, we dined in either Cagney’s, Le Bistro, Moderno, and even Lotus Garden, which for the most part is complimentary unless you want to purchase sushi. For more information about our cruise, please check out my Live From thread on the NCL forum, https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3035784-live-from-the-pearl-23-day-western-med-transatlantic-b2b-nov-21-dec-14/