Embarkation began at about 11:30 am so I would not recommend checking in before 11:00. We checked in at about 11:00 and got onto the ship about 45 minutes later. There are a few free activities but many of them try to sell you something such as $200 insoles. I did attend stretching and abdomen fitness classes (~20 minutes each at 7 am) that were pretty good. Bingo costs $39 for 3 cards to $69 for 8 cards and a t-shirt. The evening entertainment was okay (comedian) to great (Legends concert) and lasts about 45 minutes. I don't have any children but the supervised children's activities were listed to only go only a few hours in the evening (during the show times). There was one 1/2 hour play session for children under 3 and their parents each day. We did 3 of the ship's shore excursion since we had the $50 off (per room) promotion. Most of the ports had 4 cruise ships docked at one time so while it may be possible to purchase an excursion when you get there, we wanted to know ahead of time when the excursion would leave. A note about the 'all you can drink' promotion: you will be charged $200 gratuity when you book it. We saved $150 off the excursions which was credited correctly and spent way less than $350 for drinks. Bottled water, can soda, and wine bottles are not included in the package. We purchased a water bottle package before we left and the bottles were in our cabin when we got there. We had our cabin steward take away the mini-bar stuff and used the small refrigerator for our water. A bottle of water bought after you get onto the ship is $5.50. You can go to a bar to get a drink but I didn't see anyone serving drinks in the buffet or in the lounges. The water in the cabin tastes like chlorine. The buffet had flavored water and lemonade which were good. Several years ago a friend tried to smuggle some wine in her checked suitcase on a Norwegian ship and got sent to the 'naughty room' for suitcase inspection. I believe that they still x-ray all checked and carry-on luggage. You are not allowed to bring any beverages on board (even an open bottle of water) and all packages are x-rayed each time you get onboard at all ports.

There are many ships that go to Alaska in the summer. The reason for the short times in the ports is they usually have 4 ships there and 2 groups of ships every day. The Pearl had an early time to be in Glacier bay and we were there for several hours. We did not get very close to the glaciers but could certainly see them. I did not see any wildlife except some birds. We were the only ship in the bay but another ship was cruising in as we were leaving.

The food was about as I expected. I sailed on the MSC Divina a couple of years ago where the food was very cheap and not so good (cruise was also much cheaper). There was a good variety in the buffet and the food in the complimentary dining rooms was good, but not great. At the buffet there was always seating for our large group toward the back in La Cucina restaurant (open for buffet people to use for breakfast and lunch). There was no kind of chicken soup and the pecan pie was so bad it could not be eaten. I ordered steak twice in the complementary dining rooms and the cuts were poor for the type of meat listed on the menu. However, most of the food I tried was good. Don't expect any crab legs, lobster, fancy fish, or anything like baked Alaska, just plain food with some extra garnishes and fancy names. We ate once in a restaurant where we paid extra and the meat there was excellent. Read more