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Published: June 28th 2010
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Adam's Blog - Norwegian Pearl Alaskan Cruise:
IF EVER YOU WERE THINKING OF DOING AN ALASKAN CRUISE.........DO IT
Ok so we are a bit excited. Yes it is eveything they say it is and to top it off the NCL Norwegian Pearl was a great ship to take us there for a family.
Sunday morning and we were well organised onto the ship and into our cabin...on deck 8. The ship was built in 2008 and the flagship of NCL so everything was polished up.As we had just spent 11 weeks as a family together our holiday was meant to be for all so a little bit of space outside the cabin if you know what I mean was the GO....so first things first the kids were booked into kids club and the adults into the Spa.....again Trip advisor had given us a great tip....we booked the Health Day Spa for a week - costing $99 each - it was at the front of the ship - the best views to go with hot tubs, saunas, hot beds, whirlpools, plunge pools - and a limited number of people so you had plenty of room to move. It was
a great side trip highlight for Al and I - imagine coming into a bay full of small icebergs - sitting in a room of wall to wall glass.
We took a tour around the ship and they had a vast array of things to do or not depending on your desire - they kept saying over the PA - Freestyle - do what you want when you want. Rather than a day by day account as most days were the same and you can read a brochure book on what they offer, here are our thoughts on the wek we just had:
Entertainment - Great - they had a Vegas show doing a tribute to Franki Valli - not so much Jersey Boys musical but song after song etc and they were worth the trip - saw them twice. The Comedy juggling act of Sharkbait had us in stitches as they did some loony stunts and the kids loved their antics. The lounge singers did their job very well as we would always stay on for another drink - Tino the mexican guitar player got me up on the tamborine for a few songs - in a
Our view
We paid less for a view like this black fuzzy wig of course.
Amenities - There were so many places to find action (Casino - won $100), or quiet space to read a book....we enjoyed the balance and never felt we were on a crowded ship.
Food - Not that you go for the food but if it were only so-so you would not enjoy it. Fortunately we had a great selection - including 10 restaurants...One night we went Teppanyaki for probably the best show from a Chef I have seen...then we dined in a French restaurant on our last day as a treat.....we enjoyed Lobster and other pescatorial delights.
Stops - We had quiet a few stops along the way....the first 3 days were raining and Alaska can be quite misty, so we didn't get off at Juneau or Skagway having decided not to do the optional tours. Glacier Bay was the highlight as we cruised quietly amongst the icebergs up to the glacier wall (Margerie) and saw ice calving off into the water. WOW! Ad got off in Ketchikan and that was fun if a little too touristy.
Kids - They enjoyed the kids club and were well looked after or spent
time with us on deck or playing around....there were enough kids on the ship for them to make friends.
Service - TOPS
Wrapup - Having done a couple of cruises out of OZ, I now see what the fuss is about with cruising...the better boats are not in OZ they are doing the better routes....it was billed as a 4 star ship, but having recently been voted in top 10 of cruise liners all up we would have rated it 10/10 and felt flattered to be one of the privileged guests.
We finally got off on Sunday morning and caught the plane to LA where we have just arrived for the week to do Disneyland!
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