Source: Cruise Junkie dot Com

Events at Sea by Norwegian Pearl

Events by Ship:

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The events listed have been reported in the public domain or to cruisejunkie by passengers or crew members onboard.  The list is by no means comprehensive.  For that reason it is necessary to be cautious in drawing conclusions from the potentially limited data.  Keep in mind that some companies may be more transparent than others about things that go wrong; conversely, some companies may be better at concealing events and thereby project an appearance that is inaccurate.  With that said, the following list is still interesting, as are the patterns when viewed separately by ship.


dd/mm/yy
 2009
 Incident
29.11.09 A poster at Cruise Critic says: We are nearing the end of our 1st sea day and we went down to Blue Lagoon for a light dinner. While sitting there with DW these two women sat down and were talking. All of a sudden they hollered out loudly "Dave" and this Dave character came flying up the stairs from the Crystal Centrum screaming and yelling expletives as these 2 ladies. The male slammed the one girls head against the window while punching the other woman in the face. He was screaming up a storm and pounding on these poor girls. Looking around for security or staff they were nowhere to be found. Myself and a few other patrons witnessed this attack. Obviously the guy was very drunk and kept screaming at them that he was going to come by later and finish them off. He was even menacing towards myself and my wife. When asked the staff basically acted like nothing happened. I spoke with security personnel who said they were looking into the matter. Can't even sit in peace onboard a cruise ship and have a dinner without some crazy idiot assaulting and battering passengers. This guy was not a crew member but just a passenger who needs to be tossed off the ship and arrested. Later on I overheard the ladies saying they didn't want to press charges. Hmm get your head bashed against a glass window and your face punched but they don't want to press charges. Called down to reception later after our dinner was basically ruined by this character and his unwarranted behavior and reception said that they weren't doing anything about it. So I guess now NCL thinks it's ok to be assaulted by other passenger's and witnessed by at least 6-10 other passengers including myself but they don't feel the need to locate this guy and put him off the ship. We will be in Samana in the Morning and hopefully they put this jerk off on a slow boat sit adrift in the open Atlantic. NOTE: It appears the discussion threat has been removed. The incident is now only mentioned as an aside at this URL. 2 female passengers assaulted
1.9.09 The ship was cited for violating Alaska Wastewater Quality Standards in July. There were two violations. The ship's effluent on July 7 exceeded the allowable level of fecal coliform bacteria and on July 28 exceeded the allowable level of pH. Environmental
dd/mm/yy
 2008
 Incident
26.12.08 Searchers from the U.S. Coast Guard joined the hunt Friday for a cruise ship passenger reported missing after employees of the Norwegian Pearl failed to find her. The search was centered about 15 miles east of Cancun, off the northeastern Mexico coast. The husband of 36-year-old Jennifer Feitz told cruise ship personnel about 3:50 a.m. that he couldn't find her. When a thorough search didn't locate her, the Coast Guard got a call for help. "Initial reports indicate the guest may have gone overboard while the ship was at sea, east of Cancun," a spokeswoman for the Miami, Florida-based Norwegian Cruise Line said in a statement. Given her mental health history, media are assuming the disappearance is a suicide. Person Overboard
15.10.08
 Skipped its port call at Roatan due to riots/unrest. Over the last few months there has been a steady escalation of civil unrest by inhabitants of Roatan due to major increases in electricity charges. In the last week, at least two cruise ships have diverted scheduled port visits as a direct result of the civil unrest currently making travel potentially unsafe. The UK Foreign Office has the unrest listed in their travel aware section. The US dept of State has no mentions of the problems. However, as per instruction from the UK Foreign Office, it is adviseable to avoid all large groups of people if visiting Roatan and do not be surprised if you are diverted to another port, such as Progresso, if Roatan is on your itinerary until the civil unrest ceases being a potential danger towards visitors.
 Skipped port
25.9.08
 The Juneau Empire reports the ship violated its wastewater discharge permit in May, June and July (2008), according to Alaska state regulators. Wastewater samples from the ship had higher-than-permitted pH. Environmental
3.9.08
 Further to the pod problem (thrust bearing failure) mentioned on August 27, NCL has announced the October 26th cruise aboard Pearl has been cancelled so the ship can enter drydock for repairs. All passengers booked on the sailing will be fully refunded and a credit of 25% for a future cruise will be given. September 7 & 14 cruises - will have slightly altered itineraries. Victoria will be a 'touch & go' therefore passengers will be unable to disembark. September 21 cruise - San Francisco and Los Angeles are being dropped. Port calls at Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco and Cartagena will be slightly altered to allow for a slower cruise speed. Each passenger will receive $50 OBC. October 12 & 19 cruises - Roatan times will be altered slightly to 11am til 7pm. The ship will return to normal service November 2.
 Mechanical problems / Itinerary changes
27.8.08
 Cruising Talk reports that the ship appears to have a pod problem meaning a slower cruise speed and slight alterations to her planned itinerary. The stop in Victoria is a touch & go (to stay legal for Jones Act purposes) and the time spent in Ketchikan has been reduced. OBC of $50 per head or a full refund choice has been issued by NCL as this problem was picked up about a fortnight ago. The ship is not due to drydock in the immediate future, however should her performance deteriorate, she is likely to go to a Bahama drydock shortly after her repositioning to Miami at the end of her Alaska season.
 Mechanical problems / Itinerary changes
17.1.08
 Reported in the St. Lucia Star January 21:   "Six cruise ship passengers, two Americans and four Canadians were on a forest trail above the Botanical Gardens [at Soufriere] when two masked men, one yielding a machËte and the other a gun, robbed them of their ID, jewelry, purses and wallets.  The two tour guides were robbed of their monies and one of them, Katia Polius, attempted to call for help on her cell phone. The bandits noticed and landed her with several kicks. When the masked men left, it is reported that the female guide reassuringly escorted the guests to their taxi . . . then fainted." Robbery on shore excursion
dd/mm/yy
 2007
 Incident
17.4.07
 A 35-year-old man drowned while snorkeling off the west coast of Barbados.  He was a passenger on ship and was snorkeling off a small boat with his wife and a few others. 
Pax drowns



Illness Outbreaks at Sea by Norwegian Pearl
dd/mm/yy
 Reported Outbreaks
25.5.08
 FROM A PASSENGER: We were on Inside Passage Alaska cruise May 18-25, 2008, and there was illness on the cruise. We were told at the start of the cruise that they had had 500 people sick the previous week on the ship. Not sure how many were sick on our cruise, but they never did open the buffet line. All food was served by crew. I contracted the virus on the 2nd to last day of our cruise and my husband and I were both quarantined. One visit from the nurse with shot for nausea and meds for vomiting and diarrhea and stomach cramping. Two check-up calls from the reception desk the next morning. We had to order all food from room service and it took more than 8 hours to get Gatorade and saltines. No further contact with any crew other than room steward. No instructions as to how long this would last. FROM ANOTHER PASSENGER: I was aboard the ship at the time. Please note that the number of ill passengers and crew were less than 2% - the percentage that they are legally required to report to CDC. With 4000 guests and crew onboard, 500 sick would mean 8 percent were ill. Granted, they had an elevated number of cases, which by NCL policy (8 or more new cases in a 24 hour period) they go to extreme control measures to ensure it does not become higher. Those measures include the elimination of self-service (for guests and crew alike).
18.05.08
 There was a large outbreak of gastrointestinal illness on the May 11 - 18 cruise. There has been no official report from the CDC. (see May 25 for what details we have.)
7.12.07
 The ship reported 15 of 1097 (1.27%) crew and 273 of 2377  (11.49%) passengers had reported ill on a 8 day eastern Caribbean cruise from Miami.
22.4.07
 		A passenger just returning from a  9 day Southern Caribbean cruise reports that there had been an illness outbreak, but he couldn't reliably estimate the number affected.  Rumours onboard put the number reporting ill in the hundreds. On May 17, the CDC issued a report indicating 92 of 2490 passengers (3.69%) and 7 of 1084 (0.65%) had reported ill during the cruise.

Illness Outbreaks by Ship: