Review of the Pearl with toddlers

[MamaS]

My family and I recently returned from an 8-day Eastern Caribbean cruise with the Pearl, and I would like to share our experience with you. It was me, my husband, our 3,5 year old son and our 1,5 year old daughter. This was our first cruise ever.

 

We live in Scandinavia and I would like to start out by asking you to forgive any language mistakes, since English is not my first language. I will divide the review in sections, so that you can more easily find what you are looking for, in case you are searching for something in particular.

 

Embarkation

We spent a few days in Miami prior to the cruise. We rented a car from Alamo, and they provided a free shuttle to the port upon returning the car. It worked out great. People were boarding the shuttle when we got there, so we could just load our things and jump on, and we were on the road in a couple of minutes.

 

We arrived at the port around 10.30. There was a bit of confusion since there were no porters to assist with the luggage. I believe they were still busy with people disembarking. However, we asked around and ended up leaving the baggage on a cart. We felt somewhat strange about that procedure. When you travel by airplane you always get a slip so that you can prove that you left your suitcases. Here there was no confirmation and no proof at all, and I must admit we were quite happy when we found the suitcases in the hallway by our room in the afternoon.

 

There was only a short line for check-in, but quite a wait before we could board the ship. Since we were there early, we could sit down though, so I shouldn´t complain. People arriving later had to stand up. We ended up boarding around 12.20 and headed for the Summer Palace for lunch.

 

Stateroom

While we were having lunch, there was an announcement that our stateroom was ready, and we headed there to drop off our hand luggage. We had booked a mini-suite in the front part of the ship, room 11510. We were pleasantly surprised with the lay-out of the room. It was very well planned in order to maximize the usage of space and storage, and it had many small things that increased usability. For example there was an extendable clothing line in the shower and there were both US and European outlets (with 110v in the American ones and 220v in the European ones).

 

We started unpacking and found that there was plenty of storage space for all our things, including the kids´ bulky car seats that we were hauling around.

 

Overall we were very happy with our room. It was quiet, we liked the thick curtain that divided the room, and we really enjoyed having the balcony where we could spend time when the kids were tucked in bed in the evenings. The pull out couch was quite hard to sleep on, and might be uncomfortable for adults, but the kids did not seem to mind. We had the steward fold the bed every day in order to increase the walkable space in the room. In the evenings we unfolded it ourselves and made the bed since the steward was not available at the time when our kids went to bed (around 7 p.m.).

 

The shape of the ship

In general, the ship was kept in a great shape, especially the public areas. Staff seemed to be cleaning, painting and fixing things all the time. The staterooms kept a somewhat lower level. In our room the shower head needed to be re-screwed daily for water to not go in all directions, there were some tears in the bed sheets and paint was literary falling off the gutters on the balcony. None of these actually decreased the functionality of the room, but it did lower our overall impression of the place.

 

Cruising with toddlers

We found cruising a very convenient way to travel with toddlers, and believe me, we have brought our toddlers on many kinds of vacations all over the world so we do have some experience. The stateroom is nearby whenever the little ones need some calm time, food is always available, and there are always some fun activities to engage in.

 

Then, of course, travelling with children is not the same thing as travelling without them. You need to plan a little bit more and you will need to make adaptations of your schedule to fit the kids. But if you enjoy being around your kids at home, you certainly will enjoy spending time together as a family on a cruise.

 

So do I have any tips to give to other families travelling with toddlers? Yes. I would recommend booking a room with a balcony. We spent a lot of time on our balcony, enjoying the calmness and the view, when our kids were taking a nap in the afternoon, or having gone to bed for the night. We also paid a visit to a Dollartree store before heading to the port and bought a few small surprise gifts for the kids to keep them entertained during dinners and other slow moments: jigsaw puzzles, activity books, soap bubbles, glow in the dark sticks, etc.

 

However, the best entertainer was the kids´ tablets loaded with favorite movies and games, which they used when waiting for food to be served, and once they had finished eating. It made eating in formal restaurants a whole lot easier for everyone. Make sure to bring along a sippy cup if your child uses it, because none of the restaurants provide cups with a lid.

 

Our 1.5 years old really liked the splash pool which had warm water and a small slide, whereas our 3 years old mainly played in the big pool and the whirlpools with us (using arm rings, since the water is pretty deep in the main pool). It is forbidden for children who are not potty trained to be in the pools, no matter if they use swim diapers or not. However, nobody is enforcing this, and especially in the splash pool, most kids were using swim diapers. I found this a bit disturbing since, if the cleaning system of the pools is not adapted to kids in swim diapers, the water quality might not live up to safety standards.

 

Splash Academy

I do not have much to share about the Splash Academy. The rooms seemed nice, and there was plenty of staff. Our 3 year old went there a few times. He found it okay, but not wow, and generally preferred staying with us. I believe part of the problem was that there were hardy (if any) kids in his age there. Most were several years older.

 

We did spend some time in the “guppies’ room” (the playroom for kids under three years of age). It is a room with toys for young kids, but no staff, which was open throughout the day. It was generally empty and provided a nice spot for some calm time.

 

We did attend one of the guppie activities, but were not impressed, so we did not return. It was a drawing activity, but since we arrived five minutes late (to a 30 minute activity according to the Freestyle Daily), we were not given crayons and paper. Instead the organizer told us that they were almost done. A soap bubble maker was turned on while a song was played, and then the activity was over. Some people arrived 15 minutes late, but by that time everything was cleaned up and the organizer gone.

 

Restaurants

In order to decrease our jet lag, we decided to stay on an early schedule throughout the cruise, which actually worked out great. We were always among the first ones in restaurants for breakfast, lunch as well as dinner. It meant that we never once experienced a line and we always got to sit by the windows in the Summer Palace, which soon turned into our favorite restaurant.

 

In the mornings we usually had buffet breakfast. We filled our plates at the main buffet, and then sat down to eat in the Great Outdoors to enjoy the food. If we wanted to fill up, we could just pick something from the Great Outdoors´ buffet instead of heading all the way back inside. It was also close to the coffee machine by the Kids´ Café, which had the best coffee on the boat (unfortunately we were told by the officers that this machine will in due time be exchanged to the same kind of coffee maker they have at other locations of the ship). We found the Great Outdoors a very nice place. We liked sitting there, enjoying the view and feeling the breeze.

 

We did have lunch and dinner at O'Sheehan's and Indigo, but we soon became frequent visitors of the Summer Palace. O'Sheehan's was nice, and they had great cheesecake, but in general the food felt too unhealthy. At Indigo we weren´t quite happy with the service, so we ended up never returning there.

 

Instead we had dinner in the Summer Palace pretty much every night, as well as a few lunches. We soon got to know the staff there and we felt quite at home. Overall food was good. Portions were generally small, but we found this a good thing, since you tend to eat too much anyways when several courses are being served.

 

The only disappointing experience was on the last night of the cruise, when it took more than an hour to get the kids´ food. By that time all the courses for the adults had been served and eaten, and we decided to head for the buffet to feed the kids. We did get a bottle of wine as compensation, which was a nice gesture, but it did not help the kids who were not happy about having to wait an hour for their food.

 

Staff

There was plenty of staff everywhere. They all greeted us with a smile and were ready to help whenever you asked, or sometimes even if you did not ask. More than once I was approached by staff when I was carrying a child with one hand and plates with the other and they wondered if they could help me.

 

The children got lots of attention, especially from the waiters. They were often telling us about their children or grandchildren back home, who they only got to see every 8 months or so. If you have any questions about the ports of call, the staff is generally a great source of information, since they are likely to have been there before and they know where to find the best internet café or the best store for bargains.

 

Great Stirrup Cay

The first port of call was Great Stirrup Cay, NCL:s private island. As usual, we were up early in the morning, which meant we got an early ticket for the tender (the tickets were available to pick up starting 7 a.m.) and we were among the first ones on the island. It was a sunny, but windy day. Warm, but not too hot. It is clear that some major landscaping work has been done on the island, and it looks very nice with newly built facilities.

 

To avoid the crowds that we were suspecting were to come, we walked along the water to a beach further to the west of the main beach where there were only a handful of people and plenty of empty beach chairs. The water was warm enough for swimming, and it was very clear. The bottom was a mixture of sand and rock. For those who like snorkeling there were quite a few small fishes to look at, some of them colorful.

 

After a while we continued walking westwards to the manmade lagoon. There were plenty of empty beach chairs everywhere. Not many people ventured this far off from the main beach. There were no waves in the lagoon, but the water got deep quite quickly and was therefore not as much fun for the kids, so we decided to find some food instead. By now it was lunch time and we had heard that lunch was served both at the main beach and by the lagoon. However, there was no activity by the lagoon and the staff we asked did not know if food was to be served there or not. Instead we caught a shuttle back to the main beach.

 

By now the main beach was a very busy place with music playing, people playing beach volleyball and table tennis, and a lovely aroma coming from the kitchen where staff from the ship had prepared a barbecue lunch. There was quite a line to get food, but plenty of places to sit and eat in the shade.

 

After lunch we went for a walk on a path that went along a tubing river (currently without tubes). It was quite nice. Plenty of sea urchins could be seen in the water and the hike took us away from the crowds to the opposite side of the island. There were hardly any people there, and the original landscape of the island could be seen. However, it was quite windy, so we soon decided to head back.

 

After a stroll past the straw market, we decided it was time to catch a tender back to the ship. The kids were tired and we were concerned they had got more than enough sun for the day.

 

In summary, it was a great day and we could easily have spent more time there, if it wasn´t for the amount of sun. There was very little shade on the island. It is possible to rent clam shells or cabanas, but since we like moving around exploring, we didn´t consider that an option.

 

Puerto Rico

Since the cruise ship docked right downtown San Juan, we brought a map and decided to slowly make our way towards Castillo San Felipe del Morro, the main fortress. It was a nice walk through the old city, and we stopped on the way for some picture taking and shopping.

 

We did bring a stroller for our youngest kid, and it worked, but the old town is really not wheelchair or stroller friendly. There were high steps, the sidewalks were narrow, and when two strollers needed to meet, one of them had to step out onto the street. It is an old city, and the narrow, cobbled streets are part of what makes it charming, so I do not mean to complain. I just want to warn, or at least prepare, other people travelling with young children, so they can plan accordingly.

 

The fortress was not very big (well, everything is relative, but I come from Europe where we have quite a few fortresses, so for my standard it was not big), but it provided a great view and it was fun for the kids to run around. Once again a word of warning for parents: It is an old building, very much kept the original way, so there are plenty of high places where there is no protection, so make sure to keep an eye on your kids.

 

St Croix

This was probably my favorite island of the ones we visited on the cruise. It is new as a cruise port, which means it is less exploited and adapted to tourism. We were also the only cruise ship docked at the time, which might also have made a difference.

 

True to our habit, we headed out as soon as we docked, in order to enjoy the morning on the island before the sun got too hot and the kids got too tired. We decided to walk northwards along the shore. Some parts were sandy and some were rocky. We found quite a few nice sea shells and coral rocks on the way. After a while we stopped on a deserted beach to swim, play and relax. The ship could be seen off in the distance. A local woman stopped by to have a chat and swim with us, before heading off for her daily activities.

 

For the kids, this was the best place for swimming during the entire cruise. The wind came from the east and we were on the west side of the island, so there were hardly any waves at all, the sand was nice, and the water didn´t get deep too fast.

 

When we got tired of swimming we continued walking northwards until we got to a spot which involved too much rock climbing for us to feel convenient. I believe if we would have passed that rock we would have arrived at Rainbow beach, a place many cruise passengers take a cab to. Instead we made our way back to the main road and walked back to Frederiksted to have some lunch and calm time on the ship before heading out again.

 

In the afternoon there was a parade in Frederiksted in celebration of Three Kings Day (Epiphany). We arrived just in time to see the end of it. We checked out the little market which was targeting tourists, and took a walk around the town. It was done pretty fast, since the place is small. Once again we ended up on the beach. This time on the beach which is right by the pier. It was crowded, but worked fine for some swimming before heading back to the ship.

 

St. Maarten

We got off the ship shortly after 8 a.m. and had some time to spend before our tour with Bernard´s Tours started at 9 a.m. We walked around the pier area, but most shops were still closed. We had booked Bernard´s full day tour, which included stops at Orient Beach, Marigot and Maho Beach, as well as a few brief stops at sights of interest along the way.

 

We boarded our mini busses and our tour guide, the Mailman, told us about the island, its history, the people and the sights throughout the drive around the island. It was quite interesting. Drinks – homemade rum punch, soft drinks and water – were included.

 

Orient Beach was a standard, mass tourism beach with quite a few people, restaurants and bars. The sand was nice, but the waves were very high. We spent most of the time in the shade in a restaurant.

 

We enjoyed the second stop, Marigot, much better. We had lunch at Sarafina´s, the French bakery, which was excellent. Then we had a walk around the town, including the market on the waterfront. As all other markets we visited on the cruise, it was very touristy.

 

The final stop was Maho Beach, which is right at the end of the airport runway. It means that the planes fly right over your head as they are landing and lots of people were standing on the beach, waiting for next plane to arrive. Since we suspected that our kids would not appreciate the loud noise of the aircraft, we went to the far end of the beach where we went swimming and played in the sand until it was time to head back to the port. The waves were not quite as big here as on Orient Beach.

 

Once back in Philipsburg we were given the option of being let off in the city, or be taken back to the port. By then we were all tired and had gotten enough sun for the day, so we decided to head back to the ship.

 

I can really recommend Bernard´s tours. The tour was great, the guide informative and it was a great way to get a grasp of the full island in just a few hours.

 

Disembarkation

Having too much luggage to be able to carry it off the ship ourselves, we took it easy on the last day of the cruise and disembarked when our color was called, at 8.40 a.m. (9.00 a.m. was the estimated time for our color). It took about an hour from us leaving the stateroom, until we were outside the port building with our luggage. We got help from a porter, which we would highly recommend. Not only did he help us with our luggage, he also knew which line was shortest through customs and immigration, and he knew exactly where the car rental agency´s shuttle was to stop. This turned out to be of great help, since we got on the first shuttle that arrived (about 3 minutes after we got there). There were several people standing further down the road waiting for a shuttle from the same car rental agency that were not able to squeeze in, but had to wait for another shuttle.

 

Overall impression

We were pleasantly surprised with NCL and the cruise. As I mentioned in the beginning, this was our first cruise, and we were a bit concerned it would be too crowded for our liking, and that we would get bored during sea days. This was not the case at all. We did not experience much crowds at all (which could partly be due to our early schedule) and we had plenty to do all the time.

 

The ship was wonderful, our room was nice, and we enjoyed visiting all the ports of call. Finally we were pleasantly surprised by the officers of the Pearl who did not only come to our meet and greet, but also organized a recap meeting on the last day of the cruise, in order to get our input. I have not heard about that before and it was above my expectations.

[g35girl]

Thanks for sharing your experiences! It sounds like you had a wonderful time.

 

I'm saddened to hear that the "good" coffee machine will be replaced. I was looking forward to having good coffee in the mornings.

[cruisetraveler2]

I'm so glad you enjoyed your cruise. Very nice review and by the way, your English is excellent.

[eliterror]

Thanks so much for your review. I will be on the Pearl next month.The deck plans show the Summer Palace on deck 6 far aft. Which deck did you embark on? Where was that in relationship to the dining room? The reason I ask, the last time I cruised with NCL, I got sort of turned around trying to find the dining room on embarkation day.

[MamaS]

Eliterror, I’m happy you liked the review! Yes, it´s not easy to find the Summer Palace using a map. The reason is that it is on deck 6, but the only way to get there is by stairs from deck 7 (unless you come with the aft elevators which takes you directly into the restaurant on deck 6).

We boarded mid-ship on deck 7. If you board on the same level, you need to make your way to the back of the ship. Just before entering the Bliss Lounge, look to the side and there are the steps down to the Summer Palace.

Have a nice cruise!

Edited January 26, 2015 by MamaS