Advice on pearl with ncl

[felix9]

Dear all,

 

we have been on 3 cruises all with carnival and wish to try another cruise liner for new year. We are thinking of the NCL Pearl as we want a Miami or Ft lauderdale departure. we have 2 kids age 11 and 4 and will boook a mini suite. please does anyone have any views. really want a greta kids club as we use this alot plus good food etc. bit nervous with a new liner and any tips would be appreciated. thanks in advance:p

[lolakat]

I can't speak to the kid's club as my daughter was too young to participate, however, I did enjoy my cruise on the Pearl. Freestyle dining is very easy with kids. You can go anytime you want and get a table in the size that you want. Watch the boards by the elevators to see what resturants are open and which have a wait. Try to make reservations early b/c the peak times can fill up if you try to "walk in." The food in the MDR is OK but the specialty resturants are very good. If it is in your budget check out Le Bistro/Cagney's and the Tex-Mex place. We did not like the Italian resturant but others do so maybe check it out if you really like Italian/Pizza. There is a Tempanaki place where they cook at your table which I think kids really like. You need to make reservations for this early b/c it books up. There are a lot of options at the Buffett and they have a grill by the pool for lunch. They have mid day sushi served in the buffett area as well. The Blue Lagoon is good to grab a late night snack (ie wings, grilled cheese) Overall the food was as good and in some cases better than other mass market cruise lines but I don't think the MDR food is the best food on the ship.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise!

[2Cruise4Ever]

We haven't been on the Pearl, but we've been on the Dawn 4 times with our kids (now 6 and 11). And, they LOVE the kids crew! We can't keep them out of there! And, we love Freestyle because we don't have to get them ready for dinner at any particular time. It's really nice to dress for dinner at our leisure. We rush enough at home. We thoroughly relax on a cruise.