AKR2011

Spades is often our game of choice, and we enjoyed playing while The Funky Roots Band was playing poolside. We heard that rooms were ready and headed out, just as the rain started coming down really hard again. Sadly, the announcement was not for our decks, but it didn't take long before we were allowed to get inside. Our room was small but efficient Is anyone else following Saint Greg's review? He posted a photo of the weird toilet on The Jewel and we had the same one. You had to sit sideways, unfortunately, but we made it work. Our two smaller bags arrived and soon the bigger ones did too, so we unpacked and got settled in. We played some Trivia at 5:00 and then had dinner together at Cagney's. I had my first lamb of the cruise and it was amazing, as was the 7-layer cake. That evening Comedian Jose Sanduy was supposed to be on board for the opening show, but he didn't make his flight and would have to join us in Bermuda instead. They had a Broadway Cabaret in the theater, but this was a show meant for Spinnaker, and sadly it showed. There were no sets or costume changes, and this was really needed for a theater show. The singers were mostly good, although the blond girl always sounded like she was screaming into the microphone. I know that they had to have an opening show of some kind, but this one was a bit disappointing, to say the least. We were all very tired after being up so early and ended up retreating to bed shortly after.

After lunch we walked outside to tour the ship from top to bottom and get photos of the port. The Black Falcon Cruise Terminal is very industrial, and there is a lot of non-cruise traffic rolling through as well. We noted that anyone driving in would want to leave some time to navigate and find parking. Soon we decided to grab drinks at the pool deck and grab a table to play our first game of Spades. We are all gamers and play virtually a few times a week. Lots of our downtime on this cruise was spent with the games that we brought with us. Although the pool deck was hopping, bartenders were walking around taking orders. I typically throw a dollar at my bartenders when they bring me drinks, so I started this immediately. Our table was not forgotten. They have some sangria here that I like, although I miss the days when NCL made it fresh every cruise. Does anyone else remember that? I even did a tasting where they gave me their recipe for it and I made it when I came home. Cruise Critic does not want me adding more photos to this post, so I will make a another one. I was just asked about the officers on board too, so here you go: General Manager: Cary Turecamo Cruise Director: Will Oliva (We had him both weeks and then the previous CD Carol came back this week) Food & Beverage Director: Oscar Fernandes Guest Services Manager: Ana Roncesvalles Executive Housekeeper: Osley Ollivierre Executive Chef: Rodney Bennet Beverage Manager: Rodelio Raydanas Restaurant Manager: Furtoso Gonsalves

Alex will make fun of me, but he had to have a martini too. His was just a regular Lemon Drop, though. I realize that the drinks look pretty identical, but I can attest that Limoncello is always the better option. We then ducked into the atrium quickly for the Freestyle Daily and so Alex and I could sign up for the Platinum Behind the Scenes Tour and Wines Around the World Program. Schedules in hand, we headed to Summer Palace for lunch. A bit of a warning, Alex hates it when I take photos of food and menus, so I do not have many photos of this, but I highly recommend Professor Cruise's website for all of the NCL menus. She runs a terrific blog! Another one of my many traditions is having Fish and Chips on Embarkation Day, so I definitely ordered that. There are three rotating lunch menus. My favorite desserts are on Day 2 (Milk Chocolate Cheesecake) and Day 3 (Peanut Butter Cheesecake). In general, the food in the main dining room is delicious and the crew are always fantastic!

Although we were check in very quickly, it took a while to be let on the ship. Alex and I are Platinum, and the check-in team allowed Emilie and Luca to join us in Group A. The Haven guests went first of course, and then we made our way on board next. It was about 11:30 when we were finally able to walk across the gangway. We had different muster stations and did that first, then agreed to meet at the bars on Deck 6 for drinks before lunch. We were all starving, but embarkation drinks are a must! My traditional beverage is a Limoncello and Vodka Martini. The bar was supposed to open at 11:15, but they were not quite ready for us. Luca and I waited at the bar while Alex and Emilie made faces at us and were none too quiet about their hunger:

I can't believe the photos are not showing. I am SO sorry!! I am going to try and restart here. I don't know what else to do 😭 From the beginning... Alex and I have used Yankee Trails' Cruise Express bus in the past, and it has worked out well, so we went ahead and booked that again. We live in The Catskills of NY two hours south of the terminal outside of Albany, an easy county road and then straight up I-87. Our friends and family also booked the bus and were coming from the Syracuse area. That about 2.5 hrs. straight across I-90. Alex and I woke up very early and left around 3:30. We wanted to find something to eat for breakfast one we got closer, and we weren't sure about the weather. There were torrential downpours from 4-5am, so I'm glad we had ample time. There was very little visibility and we made a quick stop at a Stewart's once we got close to the bus station. They have a covered pavilion at the bus terminal, and we arrived first. Soon Emilie and Luca joined us and we had our big reunion. There was a Tornado Warning for the Boston area as we were riding along, and we were very thankful to have booked the bus at this point. I hate driving in general, and it was good to have someone else in charge. We arrived in Boston around 10am and tipped our driver and the porters as we ran into the terminal to check in. I always carry a small travel umbrella, and this came in handy. A few weeks ago I fell flat on my face walking to my car coming out of work. Luckily I was ok, but my right knee was very bruised and my left one had a cut that was just not healing. I decided to get a spray tan the day before this cruise, which I hadn't done since college. With the rain, tanner was getting on my clothes and would eventually leave my body streaks. I don't think I will be getting one of those again! But I wanted to point this out since you will watch my tan fade a lot throughout this review 😄 Once in port we were checked in quickly and had our Embarkation photo together. I always buy this and look forward to it every cruise:

They used to have one, but it was really slow so they took it out years ago. If you can find the ship model, you will see the yellow slide. It might be on display in the bridge viewing room.

The wave points to the back of the ship. That's what we learned on The Pearl at least. The fish were so much better!

Greetings, Cruise Critic! I just completed a special Back to Back on the beautiful NCL Pearl, and I wanted to jump in and get started on my review for you all. My name is Ashley, and my DH Alex and I try to cruise every two years. We prefer longer journeys, but the pandemic threw a wrench in that on our previous cruise. We ended up on a 7-day on The Gem in 2021: Previously back in 2018 we did a 14-day on The Escape that was full of fun adventures: We booked this Pearl cruise while on The Gem two years ago with the help of the Cruise Next team. I purchased three deposits, two to use for these cruises and one to gift my parents, who kept saying that they wanted to cruise with us someday. I liked the idea that this back-to-back had two different itineraries and that I could keep the same room since we booked so far in advance. I transferred the booking over to my TA after returning home, and the price went down a bit. I also signed up for price drops and rebooked when that happened briefly. Unfortunately, my TA did not rebook the same room and all of a sudden we went from a nice sideways inside midship on Deck 9 to way down on Deck 5 in different rooms for each leg. Luckily I saw the error immediately. My TA was able to get us the same room for both cruises again, but now we would be on Deck 11. Still midship, though. While all of this rebooking was going on, I gifted my parents the Cruise Next for Christmas in 2021, and they wanted to join us for their very first cruise. My mom has always wanted to go to Nova Scotia, so they booked the second leg. Meanwhile, our friend Emilie loves to cruise and was interested in doing Bermuda with us. Our friend Luca is a very busy teacher and has not had a vacation for a long time. She decided to room with Emilie, and Alex and I ended up with cruise companions on both legs of our trip. This was so special! I do a TON of planning and was looking forward to docking for a few days in Bermuda. Then last February we were told that the ship would leave at 8am instead of 4pm on our third day there. That was a bummer, but I love a good sea day and still figured that we could do a lot while in port. Here was our final itinerary: Friday, 8/18: Depart Boston at 4pm Saturday, 8/19: At Sea Sunday, 8/20: Arrive in Bermuda at 10am Monday, 8/21: Bermuda Tuesday, 8/22: Depart Bermuda at 8am Wednesday, 8/23: At Sea Thursday, 8/24: Bar Harbor, ME 8am-5pm Friday, 8.25: Arrive in Boston at 7am Saturday, 8/26: At Sea Sunday, 8/27: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island 12pm-7pm Monday, 8/28: Sydney Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia 9am-5pm Tuesday, 8/29: Halifax, Nova Scotia 8am-5pm Wednesday, 8/30: Portland, ME 11am-8pm Thursday, 8/31: Bar Harbor, ME 8am-5pm Friday, 9/1: Arrive in Boston at 7am So welcome aboard, and let's get started ❤️⚓

Wishing you a great cruise day, Megan! I just got back from mine and am excited to follow your trip now ❤️⚓️

Welcome to NCL, Greg! I just got back from my cruise on Jewel's sister ship the other day, and I'm glad that I was able to catch up to your review. It looks like you're having a good time overall with Freestyle Cruising. I hope you have a great last day on board. Thank you for sharing your trip with us ❤️⚓️

Hi Willdra! Thank you for another amazing review 😍 I just came back from my cruisexand couldn't wait to finish reading about yours too.

I have absolutely loved and appreciated your "summer of NCL" and cannot thank you enough for taking us along. I board The Pearl tomorrow and your reviews have been so wonderful to read in preparation. I wish you a wonderful school year snd look forward to following your next trip ❤️⚓️

Welcome back, Willdra! I've been looking forward to this review and am excited to follow along. I'm sailing myself in 5 days and need a distraction from the excitement this week.

Another vote here for the Marquise au Chocolat 🙋‍♀️

Yes, absolutely walk around Deck 8. It was a favorite of mine when I sailed The Escape a few years ago. I love walking laps and watching the sunrise. However, you have to walk inside at one end as it is not a full promenade.

I am so sorry for what you're dealing with trying to get balanced meals. That is completely unbelievable! It seems like they are trying to make it right, but they also seem to be super inconsistent. This is a long and special cruise and this is unacceptable. I really hope that things start to improve for you. ❤️⚓️

Have an amazing cruise! I'm happy to hear that they made you some new food after your lunch debacle. ❤️⚓️

Loving the photos. Happy Anniversary and safe travels ❤️⚓️

Wow, what an ending! I am so sorry you had to go through all that. I would be driving to the port in August if I were in your shoes.

I highly recommend Los Lobos. The food there is excellent. For tye other meal I would choose either Cagneys or Le Bistro.

Another amazing review! Thank you so much for taking us along on your adventures again. Looking forward to your next one already ❤️⚓️

I think a lot of this comes down to food waste. Breakfast dies down after 9:30 anyway, so I would imagine that a lot of food goes uneaten and has to be thrown out. It also takes time to clean up and set up lunch as well. The same goes for at night. That being said, I wish they would consider late night snacks at The Great Outdoors or that small buffet by the pool deck bar. I remember years ago they had small bites like nachos or fruit fondue out there, and that was a nice touch. For those that want a quick snack, it would be a great grab and go option that would keep The Garden Cafe from needing a late night cleaning and not leave as much food waste.

Richard is the BEST! I wish he was moving to The Pearl this summer. I've sailed with him twice and will go anywhere with him. Best Cruise Director ever!

Thanks! I just read On Juneteenth by Annette Godon-Reed also to celebrate the holiday. I will look into these picks.

Welcome back, Yvonne! I am excited to follow along on another trip with you and your grumpyish dad 😆 Your timing is perfect. I read the Braving It book that you suggested in your last review and loved it so much that I read the first book about Heimo as well. I just completed it this week. What are you reading on this trip, and any new recommendations? I appreciate the librarians on this forum always giving good picks! ❤️⚓️