Review of the Pearl February 13-20, 2010 Sailing

[Dr. Jack Daniels]

Background Info: I sailed with my wife and 17 year old daughter and it was our 1st ever on NCL. This was the 10th cruise for my wife and I (8 Carnival & 1 Royal Caribbean) and the 8th cruise for DD (all on Carnival).

 

I will do my best not make this a Carnival vs. NCL review, however, given my past cruise history some comparisons are inevitable.

 

Pre-Cruise: We flew into Miami International Airport on Thursday night arriving around 10:00 p.m. Normally, we fly in the morning of the day before our cruise but decided to fly out at night to save some money and not have to get up at 4:00 am to get to the airport.

 

We took a taxi to the Intercontinental West Miami Hotel (about a 15 minute drive from the airport and $25 w/tip). The hotel was very nice (definitely worthy of the 4 star rating) and had an excellent workout facility for use at no charge. I booked the room online using a website in which you find out the name of the hotel only after you book for $125 including taxes (send me an e-mail if you want more details). We requested a late checkout of 1:00 pm since we did not get to sleep until after midnight.

 

Around the middle of December I realized that I had screwed up by only booking the hotel for one night when I actually need a room for two nights. So I went back to my trusty website and booked another 4 star hotel.

 

This time it was the Intercontinental at Miami Center. A little more expensive as I paid $150 for Friday night. The hotel was a short walk to the Bayside Marketplace which is an outside mall with a nice variety of stores and attractions. We spent a couple of hours walking around and had lunch at a nice little Cuban restaurant there and enjoyed empanadas and Cuban sandwiches. It was a very relaxing way to spend the afternoon. Later that day, I found a local liquor store for some last minute shopping.

The next morning we caught a cab to the port. It was only about a 10 minute ride and cost $15 including tip.

 

Embarkation: Extremely smooth! We arrived at the port around 10:45 and were checked in by 11:00 and onboard by 11:30. Very organized!

Grade: A

 

Ship: The ship’s décor is contemporary. The main lobby was a mix of teals, purples and pinks with chairs that were both stylish and comfortable. It was a nice place to sit, relax and listen to live music. Carnival ships typically have a large atrium that spans 8-10 floors. They are impressive and I though that I might feel something was missing. However, my thought now is ‘What a waste of space!” The Pearl seemed much less crowded than a Carnival ship and this may be one of the reasons.

 

Another aspect that impressed me on the Pearl was the overall organization. The muster drill was the most efficient I have ever experienced. Also, at every elevator bank there is a sign listing what is on each of the floors. Going to Mambo’s for dinner? No problem. The sign indicates Mambo’s is on deck 8. I thought the signage on the ship was extremely helpful and well thought out. While I’m on the subject of decks - Something I really like was that deck 8 is called “deck 8”. It’s not called “Veranda” or “Lido’ or “Upper”. It is simply called “deck 8”.

 

In general, I found the Pearl to be a more sophisticated and substantial than any Carnival ship I have sailed. Everything from the deck loungers to the linens were of a noticeable higher quality.

 

One quick tip I learned. If you are wondering if you are walking toward the front or the back of the ship simply look down at the carpet. The fish always swim towards the front of the ship.

 

Grade: A-

 

Cabin: We had an inside cabin on deck 10 mid-ship (#10573). It was definitely noticeably smaller than a Carnival inside cabin but the three of us managed quite nicely. It did not seem overly-crowded at all. Of course, it did help that I purchased the spa pass (more on that later) as I would head over there for some “me time” while the ladies got ready for dinner. When I got back all I had to do was get dressed and off we went to dinner. One thing about an inside is that I sleep great due to the darkness. The beds were very comfortable and had many pillows.

 

The bathroom was mixed. The shower was bigger than I’ve seen on a cruise ship but the toilet was positioned at an angle that made it almost impossible to sit upon normally. Had to sit sort of side-saddle and I am an average size man. Not sure how guys bigger than me were able to use it.

 

Our luggage arrived shortly after the muster drill (rum runners intact:cool:). We also brought a cooler bag loaded with a case of both Diet Coke and Coke Zero. We slapped a luggage tag on it and it arrived with the rest of the luggage. I left the room steward a note requesting he fill it with ice every day (along with a few bucks for his extra effort). Never really saw much of him but our room was always ready when we needed it.

 

Grade: B-

 

Dining

 

Specialty Restaurants - The “Ticket to Dine” plan was not offered on our sailing. This did not deter us but it would have been nice to save a couple of bucks. We dined at the following:

 

Le Bistro – We all had the filet mignon - excellent. The Four Mushroom soup had a rich, deep flavor and was delicious. The ladies went Ga-Ga over the crème brulee.

 

Lotus Garden – This was our least favorite. I had the spare ribs as an appetizer and barely found any meat. The won-ton soup was flavorless and the main courses were just OK. Service was very slow and took almost 2 hours for the entire meal. Waiter did not bring cream with the coffee and we had to wait 5 minutes for him to bring it over.

 

Mambo’s Latin – A great deal for the $10 cover charge. The pulled pork taquitos appetizer is not to be missed. Next time I will get two orders. I also loved the black bean soup. I had the chicken fajitas and they were good. DW had the beef burrito and said it was the best she had ever eaten. DD had the lobster tacos and said they were just OK.

 

Cagney’s – OK it was my birthday so I went a little crazy. I had the shrimp cocktail (meaty), lobster bisque (tasty), the 10 oz. filet mignon, Cagney’s fries, onion rings and chased it down with strawberry cheesecake. It was a belt-loosening meal for sure. The ladies had filet mignon as well. DD just loved the raspberry crème brulee.

 

One thing to keep in mind when ordering steaks at any of the specialty restaurants is that when you ask for a medium-rare steak you will get a medium-rare steak. This means the steak will have a fully red, warm center. Many steak houses I have been to unfortunately tend to confuse medium-rare with medium. Not so here.

 

My only complaint (and it is minor) is that the service in the specialty restaurants tended to be on the slow side. There were large gaps of time between courses at times. I would allocate at least 1.5 to 2 hours for dinner.

 

Dining Rooms - We dined at each of the main dining rooms one time (Summer Palace and Indigo). Of the two I preferred Indigo as it was more intimate and not so loud. We had good but not great meals in both. The meals were certainly not the quality as those in the specialty restaurants. However, if I did not have the budget for specialty restaurants, I would still feel satisfied with the food in the main dining rooms.

To my surprise, I found the service to be much more efficient in the main dining rooms.

 

Casual Dining - NCL has Carnival beat hands down on this one.

 

Garden Café – This is an efficient buffet with excellent variety. The set up using stations kept the lines moving constantly. I never waited more than 5 minutes for my morning mushroom and cheese omelette. The wait to get an omelette on Carnival was maddening. I also loved the potato crisps. I was impressed with the variety of option for breakfast and lunch (never ate dinner there).

 

Finding a seat could be a chore at peak times but that’s no different than any other ship I’ve been on.

 

Blue Lagoon – Carnival has nothing that can compete with this. You can go there 24/7 and get a sit down meal (carry-outs were not a problem either – just tell them when you place your order.). I was especially fond of the wings and chicken fingers. On Carnival, your only option at 2 am is pizza.

 

Room Service – A nice varied menu and the food was pretty good. Service ranged from 15 -45 minutes. Although the time I waited 45 minutes they told me up front it would be that long so no complaints.

Overall Dining Grade: B+

 

Entertainment

Overall I felt the entertainment on the Pearl was very good. There were some hits and misses but many more hits than misses.

 

Hits

Sharkbait – Quite simply the best show DW and I have ever seen on any of our 10 cruises. You will regret missing this show. I bought their DVD.

Oh What a Night! – If you like the musical Jersey Boys then this is the show for you. I think it is relatively new. Great show!

 

Second City Comedy Troupe: They do scripted and unscripted shows. Very funny

Dancing with the Pearl Stars – This was a hoot! The Spinnaker Lounge was packed as Flash Gordon (super shopper) and his partner claimed the title. They weren’t necessarily the best dancers but they were the most “entertaining” dancers. They locked up the title in the freestyle finale when Flash was performing some sort of lift/spin move with his partner and the top of her dress came down fully exposing her left breast taking the show from a PG rating to an R rating in a flash (pun intended).

 

Misses

Garden of the Geisha – The gymnast routine was impressive but the music and overall presentation were not for me.

Sea Legs, A Showgirl Review: A real snoozer. Not much dancing, just a lot of walking up and down the stairs. The songs were something my grandfather might have enjoyed. Not really impressed with the Jean Ann Ryan Company Productions

Karaoke – A little disorganized and inconsistent.

 

The cruise director Julie Valeriote did a nice job hosting the various events and keeping us informed without resorting to the same tired CD jokes. The announcements were not overly intrusive.

 

Overall Entertainment Grade: B+

 

Ports of Call

Samana, Dominican Republic – We did the Cayo Levantado Beach excursion though NCL (you can only book this though NCL) and enjoyed ourselves. It is a nice beach with drinks and eats that are not too expensive. I recommend booking this excursion early (as in 3-4 months before you sail early) since the space is extremely limited. Many who waited to book on board were disappointed.

 

St. Thomas – We were off the ship shortly after being cleared by U.S Customs and immediately caught a cab for Downtown Charlotte Amalie for some shopping. The good folks at Imperial Jewelers took good care of us as usual. DW, DD and I all picked up a little bling.

 

Then it was off to Emerald Beach for sun, fun, drinks and food. It was about a 10 – 15 minute ride from downtown. The driver dropped us off at the Best Western. There is no charge to use the beach. We just walked through to the beach. It is easy to follow. The beach itself is not rocky nor is the water. Lounge chairs are $8 each to rent. Drinks were a little pricey. Long island ice teas, margaritas and pina coladas were all $8 but the bartender made ‘em good (if you know what I mean.) The food was terrible and over-priced. A $10 turkey sandwich consisted of 2 slices of toasted white bread and 2 thin slices of turkey with lettuce and tomato.

 

There were 5 ships in port the day we were there including the RCL Oasis and the Carnival Dream so it was busy to say the least. We talked with some folks who went to Magen’s Bay and they said it was wall to wall people with barely enough room to lay down a towel.

 

Tortola, BVI – We went on the Virgin Gorda Highlights tour through NCL. We went to the Baths and walked the path to Devil’s Bay. The walk is certainly not for those that are not in decent physical condition as there are some narrow passages that require squatting, crawling and/or climbing. It can get backed up at certain points on the path so it could also be trouble if you are claustrophobic.

 

Devil’s Bay is beautiful. The waves were strong the day we were there as was the undertow. It is a little rocky and the water drops off quickly and steeply so caution should be used. A couple of people had skinned knees as they were knocked off their feet and hit a rock.

 

DD has decided that Tortola is her all-time favorite port.

 

Great Stirrup Cay- We had a great time here. We were on the 1st tender over and the last tender back. A couple of tips to make your day more enjoyable:

 

Try and be on one of the 1st or 2nd tender to arrive at the island as there are not enough lounge chairs for everyone. They appear to be trying to build more space on the island to rectify this but until they do I would advise to get to the island early.

 

Be careful if you bring your food back to your lounge chair as the seagulls are flying above looking for any opportunity to snag your food. When I came back to my lounger with my plate I set it down on the lounger next to me for no more than 5 seconds before a seagull swooped down and snagged the hot dog right out of the bun without even disturbing the rest of the plate. Scared the heck out of me.

 

Disembarkation: Smooth, we were in no hurry since our flight was not until 4:30 pm. We did not have to be out of our stateroom until 9:00 am. Carnival boots you out by 7:30 am. The hour and a half makes a big difference.

 

South Pacific Spa – This was quite simply the best $99 I have ever spent. The facilities are well worth the money. The saunas, the whirlpools, the heated tile loungers…I loved them all and went there every day.

 

Random Thoughts

- Overall it was a pretty smooth ride. It was a little rocky leaving Miami but that was it. The wind was pretty bad on the 2nd sea day

- There were 2 “Dress Up or Not” nights (Sunday and Thursday)

- Bar City seemed to shut down pretty early. Usually started shutting down around 11 pm most nights.

- NCL takes germs very seriously. There were people with spray bottle at the entrance of the Garden Café spraying everyone’s hands. The catch phrase of the cruise was ‘Washy, Washy – Happy, Happy” as this was what the folks with the spray bottle said as they sprayed your hands. This phrase was worked into every comedy show. There also several hand disinfectant dispensers throughout the ship. The staff was constantly asking you to use them before entering a restaurant. Bravo, NCL on these efforts.

- The Teen Passport was a good deal. The cost was $34.50 and included 20 drink tickets that could be exchanged for a soda or smoothie. The coupon could be used at any bar or restaurant.

- There were quite a few kids on board as this was a President’s week sailing. They were well behaved. No running, no foul language. The parents were doing their jobs.

- The gym had very nice equipment. It was busy at the beginning of the cruise but tapered off as the week went along. The cardio machines were busy in the morning.

- We had a Cruise Critic Meet N’ Greet that was set up by another CC member. NCL provided coffee, water, tea and a variety of pastries. It was held in the Indigo Dining room at 11 am on the 1st sea day and was attended by a few of the ships officers. Thanks to familyof4cruising for setting it up. It was very nice to meet everyone.

- There were 100 passengers that missed the sailing due to weather issues. Most of these folks joined the ship in St. Thomas.

 

Summary

Overall I was extremely happy with our choice to try NCL. I wish I had sailed them years ago as Freestyle is the way to go. We had a great time and will definitely sail NCL in the future. In fact, I would say it is now my cruise line of choice. The bottom line is I felt I received excellent value for my travel dollar.

 

Final Grade: B+

 

If anyone has any questions, I’d be happy to answer them here or via e-mail at Patrick.Seely@wowway.com

[familyof4cruising]

Great review DJD!;)

 

Nice meeting you too. Sorry I will never see you on a President's week cruise again.:D

 

Remember washy washy...

[PACRUISINNANA]

We were on the Pearl this past January. We were home only a couple of days when we booked the Epic for next January.. I loved your review. I have also cruised on Carnival in fact my son got married on Victory. We have also cruised on Royal Caribbean and Princess but we love NCL due to the free style concept.

[johnql]

Thanks for the excellent review - informative, detailed, with both positives and negatives.

[j-9]

Great review - we're at 5 in a row on NCL and just today we were just talking about maybe we should try Carnival, just to try them, even though we really like freestyle. I think you changed my mind :)

thanks!

[amistad]

I think your review is right on target. We are diamond on RCCL and have been on 9 with Carnival, with some HAL, Princess, Celebrity and MSC thrown in for good measure and we took our first NCL last April and truly enjoyed the Freestyle concept. We will still book with some of the other lines depending on price and itenerary, but we are taking our 2nd NCL in 2 weeks. I am glad you did such a detailed review on the Pearl, I am thinking about booking it for our fall vacation. We usually travel with friends and family and the Freestyle works really well for people that have a group that includes varied ages.

[LOWTYD]

Thanks for a well detailed review. B+ isn't too shabby. Glad you had a positive experience on your first NCL cruise.:)

[CamilleandNick]

Excellent review! We'll be sailing March 13th. Loved all that you said (especially show and dining info) ...and we've sailed on the Pearl before (Alaska). Great info though as things are always slightly different. Will send a quick email with a few questions. Thank you for posting. I plan on writing another review as this is our first Pearl to Caribbean trip.

[TexasLadyBug]

South Pacific Spa – This was quite simply the best $99 I have ever spent. The facilities are well worth the money. The saunas, the whirlpools, the heated tile loungers…I loved them all and went there every day.

 

I have GOT to have more information about this. I have also never sailed on a NCL ship and I leave in May. What is included? What isn't? What does the $99 buy?

 

Thanks!:D

[CamilleandNick]

We've been on 15 cruises, and the spa on the Pearl is one of the nicest we've seen...if not the winner! It has heated tile loungers, a thalassotherapy pool, hot tub in coed area, sauna, steam, hot tubs in women's/men's areas. The view ...with huge windows is ever changing and amazing. Teas are available. It is just very relaxing. It is the main reason we booked this ship again. My wife and I loved the spa on the Celebrity Solstice. It is quite nice, too. BUT, this one is our pick. Of course, with a spa treatment (like a massage or other high-end treatment..which was great by the way) you get time in this area as well. We tend to do the week pass and the treatments. It's a great way to relax.

[Dr. Jack Daniels]

I have GOT to have more information about this. I have also never sailed on a NCL ship and I leave in May. What is included? What isn't? What does the $99 buy?

 

Thanks!:D

 

No problem.

 

What it does not include is any type of spa treatment (i.e., massages, manicures, etc....)

 

It does include:

 

A central unisex area with the following amenities:

• Heated tile loungers. Very comfortable. Nice to nap on.
  
• Additional loungers that look out the bow of the ship. Nice view! Good place to curl up with a book.
  
• Hot tub
  
• A large therapy pool that is maintained at body temperature. Within this pool there are several "stations" which are activated by pushing a button. One such station activates hi speed jets positioned lower on the wall which are perfect for feet. Another station activates massaging jets beneath a rack you lay on. There is room for several people. Another activates jets for the shoulders. This was my favorite.
  
• Shower area (with curtain)
  
• Towels
  
• Complimentary water, orange juice tea
  

Separate Mens and women's area that include:

• Locker facilities (you get a key)
  
• Dry sauna that overlooks the bow
  
• Steam room
  
• More loungers for snoozing/reading
  
• 2 personal whirlpools
  
• shower facilities
  
• toilets
  
• plunge pool (57 degrees F) - I passed on this.
  
• Ice water
  

I really liked it because I used the gym daily and was able to shower after working out. There were no shower facilities for gym users (unless you purchased the spa pass).

 

You can take tours beginning at Noon on embarkation day. The space is limited. Not sure how many passes they sell but it was never crowded.

 

If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

[roger001]

Oh What a Night! – If you like the musical Jersey Boys then this is the show for you. I think it is relatively new. Great show!

 

 

I agree. Saw this on the Star in Nov. Thought it was outstanding.

[newmexicoNita]

thanks for a wonderful review, I have fallen in love with the ship and haven't been on it yet..

 

I am sorry you weren't crazy over the Asian restaurant, I was about to take our whole family to it one night, but think I will pick another one. Again, thanks for your opinion.

 

Nita

[DC'sgirl]

Thanks for the informative review, and glad you are an NCL fan now!

[Planer's Edge]

Thank you for the thorough review.

 

I like you was quite disappointed with the Asian restaurant aboard the Pearl (April '09) and the ribs were horrible. It was quite the opposite the year before on the Pearl.

 

PE

[debshomespun]

It was great to read such a positive review. We were on the Pearl back in March/07 on a 9 night itinerary. Just booked for a week in Oct/10 for the western. Got a fantastic deal! Looking forward to spending a nice relaxing trip on the Pearl!

[mkad1109]

Enjoyed reading your review. You seem fair and honest. We have booked Pearl for November with my sisterinlaw and husband and it was so good to see I am steering them right!

[Sooners]

Excellent Review!

[mr&mrscruiselover]

Thanks for the great review. We will be taking our first NCL cruise in May.

[SuiteRose]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review. Our voyage on the Pearl is not until next January.. reading your review is making it even harder to wait.

[zetachi]

DJD excellent review. I just wanted to add some items. While we had a fantastic time on this cruise there were some items in the negative worth mentioning.

 

1st off out of Miami the 1st day ship was a rocking (not a complaint as that is uncontrollable) we had an open bottle of bubbly in our cabin that took a flyer and spilled all over the cabin. No one offered to replace it and it took them a few hours before they came to clean it up. Once they did it was an excellent job and there was no odor of bubbly left.

 

2nd item. They lost a piece of my sons Pj's that were sent to the laundry on day 2. We had to remind them several times about it and they never located them. We did not hear anything until @ 10:30 PM on Friday when they left an envelope with $15 and a bottle of bubbly. Money was nice but we had no use for the champagne that late on the last night.

 

3rd on the last night one of the ships speakers fell from the ceiling in or CV bathroom. While it was connected to the ceiling by some wires it was right above my sons head. If it had been an adult it would have left a serious dent in their head. Again it took 3 calls to get someone there and then they just banged it back in place and said sorry.

 

Other then those 3 items we had a fantastic time. The CV courtyard was a godsend on sea days when there was not a seat to be found on deck or it was too cold.

[familyof4cruising]

DJD excellent review. I just wanted to add some items. While we had a fantastic time on this cruise there were some items in the negative worth mentioning.

 

1st off out of Miami the 1st day ship was a rocking (not a complaint as that is uncontrollable) we had an open bottle of bubbly in our cabin that took a flyer and spilled all over the cabin. No one offered to replace it and it took them a few hours before they came to clean it up. Once they did it was an excellent job and there was no odor of bubbly left.

 

2nd item. They lost a piece of my sons Pj's that were sent to the laundry on day 2. We had to remind them several times about it and they never located them. We did not hear anything until @ 10:30 PM on Friday when they left an envelope with $15 and a bottle of bubbly. Money was nice but we had no use for the champagne that late on the last night.

 

3rd on the last night one of the ships speakers fell from the ceiling in or CV bathroom. While it was connected to the ceiling by some wires it was right above my sons head. If it had been an adult it would have left a serious dent in their head. Again it took 3 calls to get someone there and then they just banged it back in place and said sorry.

 

Other then those 3 items we had a fantastic time. The CV courtyard was a godsend on sea days when there was not a seat to be found on deck or it was too cold.

 

I have been on ships where we rocked...this was definitely ROLLING!;) Something new to us. It was interesting in the dining room. I wish they would have closed the shades.

 

The roof in the Courtyard is wonderful on those windy days. That's what I will miss on the Epic...the enclosed courtyard.

[Rstamper]

No problem.

 

What it does not include is any type of spa treatment (i.e., massages, manicures, etc....)

 

It does include:

 

A central unisex area with the following amenities:

• Heated tile loungers. Very comfortable. Nice to nap on.
  
• Additional loungers that look out the bow of the ship. Nice view! Good place to curl up with a book.
  
• Hot tub
  
• A large therapy pool that is maintained at body temperature. Within this pool there are several "stations" which are activated by pushing a button. One such station activates hi speed jets positioned lower on the wall which are perfect for feet. Another station activates massaging jets beneath a rack you lay on. There is room for several people. Another activates jets for the shoulders. This was my favorite.
  
• Shower area (with curtain)
  
• Towels
  
• Complimentary water, orange juice tea
  

Separate Mens and women's area that include:

• Locker facilities (you get a key)
  
• Dry sauna that overlooks the bow
  
• Steam room
  
• More loungers for snoozing/reading
  
• 2 personal whirlpools
  
• shower facilities
  
• toilets
  
• plunge pool (57 degrees F) - I passed on this.
  
• Ice water
  

I really liked it because I used the gym daily and was able to shower after working out. There were no shower facilities for gym users (unless you purchased the spa pass).

 

You can take tours beginning at Noon on embarkation day. The space is limited. Not sure how many passes they sell but it was never crowded.

 

If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

 

Is the hottub here indoor or outdoor? We are on an Alaskan cruise in May.

[newcruiserCTP]

We were on that cruise too :)

 

The next morning we caught a cab to the port. It was only about a 10 minute ride and cost $15 including tip. We stayed at the Holiday Inn, right across from the Bayside and only $10 cab ride to the port. Very convenient.

 

Embarkation: Extremely smooth! We arrived at the port around 10:45 and were checked in by 11:00 and onboard by 11:30. Very organized!

Grade: A

Agree with out EASY it was checking in, getting on board, and getting to our rooms. We started at noon, were up in Topsiders Bar shortly thereafter enjoying a bucket of beer while waiting for our cabin, that btw was ready earlier than promised :)

 

Cabin: We had an inside cabin on deck 10 mid-ship (#10573). It was definitely noticeably smaller than a Carnival inside cabin but the three of us managed quite nicely. It did not seem overly-crowded at all. Of course, it did help that I purchased the spa pass (more on that later) as I would head over there for some “me time” while the ladies got ready for dinner. When I got back all I had to do was get dressed and off we went to dinner. One thing about an inside is that I sleep great due to the darkness. The beds were very comfortable and had many pillows. We had a balcony room on deck nine, very nice!

 

 

 

Specialty Restaurants - The “Ticket to Dine” plan was not offered on our sailing. This did not deter us but it would have been nice to save a couple of bucks. We dined at the following:

 

 

Cagney’s – . We had a blast at Cagney's, our waiter payed attention to our comments and when any one of us commented on the food (I tasted the salmon appetizer, it was VERY good) he brought out three more for the table (we had a party of 10). The 2 hours is a good recommendation, our reservations were for 7, we barely made it to the 9:30 show featuring both Oh What a Night and Shark Bait

 

One thing to keep in mind when ordering steaks at any of the specialty restaurants is that when you ask for a medium-rare steak you will get a medium-rare steak. This means the steak will have a fully red, warm center. Many steak houses I have been to unfortunately tend to confuse medium-rare with medium. Not so here.

 

We also ate at La Cucina and Teppanyaki. The Teppanyaki was loud, especially when families with children were eating at the same time (none used their indoor voices, and the smaller ones screamed a lot) Service was quick in both places, and the food was enjoyable.

 

 

Garden Café – This is an efficient buffet with excellent variety. The set up using stations kept the lines moving constantly. Agree, it was very easy with lots of variety and good quality (no food looked as if it had set out too long)

 

 

Entertainment

Overall I felt the entertainment on the Pearl was very good. There were some hits and misses but many more hits than misses.

 

we absolutely LOVED Oh What a Night, Shark Bait, and 2nd City. They were very very good! (Shark Bait should come with a warning to wear depends! :D

 

 

Sea Legs, A Showgirl Review: A real snoozer. Not much dancing, just a lot of walking up and down the stairs. The songs were something my grandfather might have enjoyed. Not really impressed with the Jean Ann Ryan Company Productions

Agree completely with this, not very good at all.

 

Ports of Call

Samana, Dominican Republic – We did the Cayo Levantado Beach excursion though NCL (you can only book this though NCL) and enjoyed ourselves. It is a nice beach with drinks and eats that are not too expensive. I recommend booking this excursion early (as in 3-4 months before you sail early) since the space is extremely limited. Many who waited to book on board were disappointed. we booked a catamaran sail that ends at Cayo Leventado, we enjoyed that greatly and would recommend that as well.

 

 

 

 

Great Stirrup Cay- We had a great time here. We were on the 1st tender over and the last tender back. A couple of tips to make your day more enjoyable:

 

 

Be careful if you bring your food back to your lounge chair as the seagulls are flying above looking for any opportunity to snag your food. When I came back to my lounger with my plate I set it down on the lounger next to me for no more than 5 seconds before a seagull swooped down and snagged the hot dog right out of the bun without even disturbing the rest of the plate. Scared the heck out of me. Aha!! We were sitting in the same row, next to you and saw that, it was unbelievable!

 

Disembarkation: Smooth, we were in no hurry since our flight was not until 4:30 pm. We did not have to be out of our stateroom until 9:00 am. Carnival boots you out by 7:30 am. The hour and a half makes a big difference.

 

Our whole party of 10 with different departure times due to different flight times had very easy disembarking experience. Four did the easy express early am off, four did the bags checked straight through to the airline thing, and we did the last disembarkation since we were spending the night again in Miami.

Random Thoughts

- Overall it was a pretty smooth ride. It was a little rocky leaving Miami but that was it. The wind was pretty bad on the 2nd sea day The rocking and rolling was amazing, and funny - depending on where you were. My sisters and I looked like we were totally drunk trying to navigate the hallways back to our cabins Sat night. :p

 

- Bar City seemed to shut down pretty early. Usually started shutting down around 11 pm most nights.

 

- We had a Cruise Critic Meet N’ Greet that was set up by another CC member. NCL provided coffee, water, tea and a variety of pastries. It was held in the Indigo Dining room at 11 am on the 1st sea day and was attended by a few of the ships officers. Thanks to familyof4cruising for setting it up. It was very nice to meet everyone. Met the husband of one of the posters here, but arrived too late to mingle much with others

 

Over all we loved the cruise! and, thanks to the tips we found here plus the info NCL gave us we were very prepared.:cool:

 

CTP

[Dr. Jack Daniels]

Is the hottub here indoor or outdoor? We are on an Alaskan cruise in May.

 

Hot tubs were indoors.