Allison & David's Babymoon: Norwegian Pearl 11/3/15

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

This was a different CruiseNext promotion that we received on this cruise then I saw right before we left on the Cruise Critic boards. I thought it was an excellent deal and if I wasn't pregnant I most likely would of taken it. At this point I don't want to be tied down to any vacation/cruise.

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

I had trouble sleeping in this morning (this has become a trend during my pregnancy). This was compounded by the fact that during the early morning hours I noticed muzak coming from outside our stateroom. David didn't hear it so it didn't bother him. This was the only morning that I noticed it/seemed to be playing. It appeared to be coming from the stairway.

 

I pecked out our window (trying to not disturb David) and saw that we sailing alongside land and almost ready to dock.

 

The Pearl docked right by Mallory square, making it very convenient for sightseeing.

 

We headed up the breakfast buffet once David woke up. We figured that since it was a port day, it was the perfect day to try Norwegian's breakfast buffet. We tend to eat more in the main dinning room on our cruises.

 

Hate to say it, but this was the most disappointing breakfast we've had on a cruise. We brought our food to the Great Outdoors area so we could enjoy the fresh air. It was crowded, but nothing super crazy.

 

The food was cold by time we got there, not even luke warm. Besides the temperature..... things just didn't taste good..... at all. The eggs were bad and I even like Carnival's buffet eggs (just to give you perspective). This was also the first time I had a croissant that was hard. Needless to say, we would not be eating at the buffet for the rest of the cruise.

 

The watermelon was good....... :rolleyes:

 

After breakfast we checked out Key West from the Great Outdoors area:

 

[ncklhaus]

Thanks...been busy with Thanksgiving week and it's not much motivation when all you hear is crickets....:rolleyes:

 

so thanks for the motivation :D

 

Please keep it coming. I'm really enjoying your review.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I'm enjoying your reviews, too! Keep it coming!

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

We got off the boat early.... probably around 8:30, so we walked around a bit and took some photos until Truman's Little White opened up at 9am.

 

 

Of course you can't forget all the chickens/roosters roaming Key West.

 

Where I live, we are actually known for our chickens/roosters that roam the historic downtown area (ironically seen by Popeye's often).... But even I couldn't believe how many there were. Many more then I remember from last time I was in Key West.

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

We've both been to Key West before (by car). Truman's Little White House was one of the attractions that we hadn't been to before, so it was initially on my radar while researching things to do in Key West. What sealed the deal was a coupon I came upon on the Recylebank webpage that I could redeem points for.

 

During some time in October I went on the website to cash out some points for a local restaurant coupon and while searching I came upon a grouping of Key West coupons. The Truman Little White House was a BOGO coupon....SOLD!

 

There are also coupons on the there for the Trolley Tours and aquarium that I saw.

 

Recyclebank is a website in which you earn points by completing short quizzes and reading about recycling information. It very easy to earn points. The quizzes only take a couple minutes. You can have enough points for a basic coupon after sometimes even completing one task. There are whole bunch of things you can redeem your points for... mainly coupons for local restaurants and even some movie theater coupons.

 

As you can tell I like I am a coupon person who loves to save money.

 

The price for the tour is $16.13 a person with tax. It is pretty expensive since they don't receive any government funding... so the coupon was like gold to me. You can buy your ticket in advance online for $15 if you don't have a coupon.

 

We took some photos around the grounds while waiting for the first tour to start. No photos are allowed inside and phones must be turned off or on airplane mode since the site is still an actively used by the White House.

 

Both David and I highly enjoyed the tour. If you like historical sites/tours, this is a great place to visit. There was only one other couple on this tour. So going first thing in the morning was a great choice.

 

I know this says a lot about our school system.... but I learned honestly almost all I now know about Truman on this tour. You learn about the house before Truman as well and a lot of information on Truman's early years.

 

 

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

There is small exhibit inside that is free to see and you can take photos in there. Honestly not too much to see.

The gift shop sells very nice ornaments inside. There is a new one every year. They are pricey though... I think around $30. You can see the past years ornaments on the left in the photo. A lot of them are also still for sale in the gift shop.

I have to mention one thing that was very apparent the moment we got off the ship. It was VERY HOT in Key West. Mostly miserable because of the high humidity. This is coming from a true Floridian!

 

I wasn't expecting such high humidity for November. The gift shop and home is kept wonderfully cool with AC.

 

I have no idea how any poor soul can tolerate Disney during the summer. I have to wait until the sun is setting to usually get my mail.....:p

[herdingdogmom]

Great photos. I was on the same cruise and didn't take many pictures so I am really enjoying your pictures. The heat was tough on this Californian for sure. I went by the Little White House but had no idea the gift shop had A/C. I spent most of my time in the Crocs store on Duval St. I'm looking forward to the rest of your review and your experience that night with the Code Bravo.

[vampiress]

great pictures!

 

i'm going on the pearl in january. i won a cruise, it is a theme cruise though, so i'm wondering how different the amenities and activities will be from a normal cruise.

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

After Truman's Little White House, we headed to other side of the island to the Key West Butterfly Conservatory. It was and approx 22 min walk. When looking at things to do, this was something that I immediately put on my list of wanting to check out. Over the summer I started a butterfly garden. :D

 

Before leaving for the cruise, I did a quick online search that immediately brought me up some coupons. First I saw $1 off.... then $3 off.....then the third link I found a November 2015 coupon for BOGO! Sure pays to research. Full price tickets are $12 each for adults.

 

David on the way had doubts about the butterfly conservatory. I kept telling that online it had great reviews....give it a try!

The butterfly conservatory is definitely worth a visits. David even had a great time! David was imagining a few butterflies here and there...... they were plentiful everywhere!! Never saw so many butterflies at once.

 

The only thing is that it's very hot inside... was expecting this. There are air conditioning vents placed through out, that we sought out at every opportunity.

 

Before you enter there is a movie to watch (if you want), and displays on the walls of many types of butterflies.

We actually ended up doing a loop through the conservatory, then cooled off in the gift shop, then did another loop. Stayed as long as we could to stand the heat.

Along butterflies (all the species non-indigenous to the area), there are two flamingos (Rhett and Scarlett), small birds, and a few turtles.

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

 

Now sit back and enjoy the butterflypalozza

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

 

Butterfly photobombed the photo

 

 

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

 

 

 

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

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[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

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When we came back into the gift shop the second time, I got "butterflied" with a sticker.... caught me off guard

David got attacked as well...

 

 

Very nice gift shop....just a tad pricey

[ucfalli]

Great photos. I was on the same cruise and didn't take many pictures so I am really enjoying your pictures. The heat was tough on this Californian for sure. I went by the Little White House but had no idea the gift shop had A/C. I spent most of my time in the Crocs store on Duval St. I'm looking forward to the rest of your review and your experience that night with the Code Bravo.

 

Code bravo is coming up soon! It honestly didn't affect us since we out and about the ship :cool:

[ucfalli]

great pictures!

 

i'm going on the pearl in january. i won a cruise, it is a theme cruise though, so i'm wondering how different the amenities and activities will be from a normal cruise.

 

Should be similar as ours....Ours was very limited because it wasn't that's how the ship was geared (towards charters)

[SenatorsFan]

Beautiful butterfly pictures! :) Thanks for sharing them with us.

Heather

[herdingdogmom]

Wow, thanks so much for the butterfly pictures. I spent time in the gift shop in the afternoon but I was melting at that point after 3 hours of walking so I skipped out on the tour. I'm thrilled to see your photos of the butterflies. My sticker is currently on my fridge.

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

We walked by the southernmost point after the butterfly conservatory. I have photos from a prior trip so we decided to skip any photos there. The line was crazy long and it was HOT. I guess this is what happens when a cruise ship is in port.

We were both hot and hungry so we decided to head back the ship for lunch. We dropped off our stuff at our room and headed to O'Sheehan's.

 

We got a good spot by the window overlooking the port. The menu is still the old menu on the Pearl, which I was happy about. I saw some reports prior to our cruise that some ships have a different newer menu. I was looking forward to the chicken pot pie which has been removed from the new menu.

David got the wings and a chicken sandwich. I got the mozzarella sticks and the chicken pot pie. The mozzarella sticks are yummy, but they come to your barely warm, so the cheese is kinda stiff. The chicken pot pie tasted like chicken pot pie.....David liked his lunch. O'Sheehan's is good place to grab a quick bite that isn't the buffet. The food isn't anything out of this world, but I wasn't expecting that.

 

Our service was quick and friendly. Overall we where very happy with O'Sheehan's. The only real complaint I had was that food comes out you barely warm. The kitchen must be far from the restaurant. Would our opinion change after a second time at Sheehans?.....you'll just have to wait and see.....

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

We did have some desert at O'Sheehan's. We got the cheesecake to share. Overall Norwegian's cheesecake is better then Carnival's. Still not the best...since I'm a cheesecake snob.

Our view overlooking the port while at O'Sheehan's.

After lunch David decided he wanted to grab a beer. So we did a quick search online and came up a place with good review's......The Porch. We don't like loud bars, so this place was right up David's Alley. It's a small chill bar inside a historic house.

Afterwards we headed back to the ship, showered, and took a nice nap :D. This would the first of our daily afternoon nap .We actually don't ever nap on our cruises, but I guess with begin pregnant and dealing with the heat, my body demanded it.

 

After the nap we got ready for dinner. Tonight would be our first specialty restaurant, Le Bistro.

Before dinner while we had sometime to kill, we headed up the buffet. I sampled the leek soup, which was yummy and David had a little chicken.

 

We watched as we left port and the sunset from up at the buffet.

 

 

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

When it was time for our reservation (5:30pm) we headed to Le Bistro. The restaurant was empty when we arrived and once again by the time we left it was busy. We got a seat by the window, so were able to watch some more of the sunset.

 

They bring you some yummy bread:

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

 

David got the pisco punch, which was the drink of the day:

 

I had to coax David into eating at Le Bistro. He is over a picky eater and doesn't like to try new things. I convinced him that we would never eat at a restaurant like this on land, so why not try it at sea....especially if it was included for us

 

I got the escargot and mushroom soup, while David got the duck salad and les quatre cornets for an appetizer.

 

The mushroom soup tasted to me pretty much like the same mushroom soup up at the buffet the prior night. I didn't really care for the escargot at Le Bistro. My personal opinion was that the escargot at Carnival's steak house was much better. The duck salad was too fancy for David's liking. I had read rave reviews about the les quatre cornets, but they were just bland.....

[ucfalli]

Day: 2 Key West Continued

11/04/15

 

I got the salmon and David got the pork tenderloin for the main entree.

 

David liked the pork tenderloin and said it was something he would order the again. The salmon was just ok.....

David has never stopped playing with his food.........

 

Now desert time! There was a lot we wanted to try on the menu. We got the creme brulee, cheese platter, and chocolate fondue to share.

The creme brulee was just ok and the cheese was really for David (he wasn't thrilled by it). The chocolate fondue was very yummy. The chocolate fondue was definitely the best thing on the desert menu.

 

Overall the meal at Le Bistro was mediocre and a bit disappointing. I don't see us ever paying to eat here. The ambiance was nice, but the food was not up to par for the charge (our opinion). I've seen so many rave reviews on Cruise Critic for Le Bistro.... so I am not sure if it's just us or it was just an off night?

 

The staff although friendly wasn't very attentive. The service was a bit slow at times and it was hard to catch the eye our wait staff when we needed them.

 

The bill had the pisco punch at the full price (not the drink of the day price) ......and that took forever to fix.