Back from NCL Pearl 1/25 - 2/1/2009 (Not long at all)

[byrondee]

Jan 25 – Feb 1, 2009

 

Just back from a wonderful cruise on the Pearl. I want to thank everyone for all the great information, it helped me in planning my trip and saved me time and money! Anyway I wont do a big trip report, but I will answer any questions etc. We had an inside Aft iinside cabin, 8615, I loved the location, quiet, but near the elevators, easy access to Garden Cafe, loved it.

 

What we loved:

 

Beautiful ship, she is clean, modern, and I loved almost all about her. We loved going to Club Bliss and listening to music while lying on of the bed. Loved the library, great views and peaceful. Loved our days at sea, so relaxing and lazy. I love Roatan, and I scuba dived there and in Belize.

 

Minor Concerns:

 

What I didn’t really like was minor but here they are. People hogging beach chairs/and or placing towels and no one sit there for hours. The mad scramble for breakfast on port days at Garden Cafe. The long line for Chocolate Buffet, but we where there 15 minutes before so no problem for us. People wasting food, but that’s a personal thing I guess. The thousands of paper inserts that come with the Freestyle daily and they keep coming...... The crew trashing/joking about Roatan... its not super-developed-Cozumel, but I love that sleepy island vibe away from the port... Diving was excellent there, as was Belize.

 

Food:

 

First the Food was overall great; we ate Indigo, Garden Cafe, Outdoor Cafe, Cagneys, Lotus Garden, Le Bistro, Summer Palace, and the Blue Lagoon. Notable items we loved where the Escargot (LeBistro), Those fries at Cagneys (actually fries all over the ship where always hot and that perfect crispy outside). The Lobster Tacos at Mambo, yummy! Jumbo shrimp cocktail at Cagneys. Wings at Blue Lagoon. Ice cream in Garden Cafe. I loved Breakfast at the Outdoor Cafe.....just the views along. Burgers at the Pool Side grill on at Sea Day......the perfect lunch. My wife love ALL her Seafood dishes and all the smoked salmon.... Only thing I didn’t care for was dinner at Summer Palace and nothing to do with the food, I just like the Modern setting of Indigo much better.

 

Random Tips:

 

Things I am glad I brought (thanks cc people), power outlet, LED blue nightlight, Coffee/Thermo cup. Backpack and a Wetpack (bag with mesh for wet stuff), Water, pop, and 3 bottles of wine saved us big time. Had the room stew empty the minibar. A battery operated clock, plus digital watches for the both of us. A LED mini flashlight.

 

Tours:

 

In Roatan I dived with Mayan Divers at the Mayan Princess Resort. Great staff, great rental gear, short boat ride of 5 minutes to the sites!!! Did I say I loved diving Roatan, big huge Groupers everywhere, coral, sponges, and good visibility? The wife did the day pass at Mayan Princess and chilled and snorkeled with me between my dives. Had an outstanding lunch at the View Restaurant (near town/village of Parrot Tree) and what a view! I forgot at my morning dive the wife went Zipline at South Canopy, she had a blast also! We hired a driver for the day I forgot to mention.

 

In Belize, I dived with the NCL operator and the dive boat picked us off and brought us back to the ship. Nice dive operator gave us lots of attention with our gear, etc. I had a nice time and I usually don’t like large cattle boats... A little too cautious, but cattle boats usually are. The wife went Cave Tubing with Major Tom, she had a blast.

 

 

In Cozumel, we both did the Dune Buggy tour, and we had THE best port time. Driving those cars while drinking beer was a blast. We did a snorkel stop, good snorkeling... another stop at the first old town in Coz. Next was a lunch on the beach and bogie boarding while we waited for the guid to prepare the food. Then a drive to the Tequila Museum, it was the best day and the weather was incredible!

 

 

In Key West [ I hated we missed Great Strrup Cay because of weather....:-( ] We got up late after partying in Club Bliss the night before, but we had a wonderfully peaceful breakfast as most people where already in port. Walked up to the Southern Most Point and back to the boat. Nice day actually to walk a bit.

 

 

Closing Notes:

 

I hooked up my Zune (ipod) to the TV in the room, there are input jacks to support a DVD player etc, however it is a little hard to hook up as the flat screen tv is on a stand. We did the self-walk off with luggage and it was so easy getting off the boat.

[*Wink*]

Loved your review. Happy you had a great time! We've snorkeled in Roaton and had a wonderful time. Every time someone comments on the dune buggy tour they always say it's a blast. I'm gonna have to consider that one.

[johnritt]

Thanks for the nice review. I have Roatan on my list as a must do island before it gets too developed. That was one of the reasons I liked Samana.

[bakerintn]

You will need a convertor cable for your MP3 / iPod to attach that has two RCA jacks. The TV has red / white RCA sockets on the bottom and on the left side. The left side ones are much easier to access. I had a small mirror with me (don't know why I did), and that was handy to locate the sockets and check connections, because the TV mount has limited movement.

 

For DVD players, there are s-video, composite video and component video inputs on the TV in addition to the audio inputs.

[*Wink*]

...I had a small mirror with me (don't know why I did)...

 

Heeheee!! Care to share any other items you keep handy?? You're a hoot, baker.

[tiggerfan616]

Byrondee your wife was with us on the cave tubbing, my son was the one who did the swan dive off the cliff. They told him to cannonball but he decided swan diving was more fun. He's only 7 and gave me a heart attack but he thought it was great, Major Toms guides joked about it the whole day telling him he was a real Belizean now.

 

I dont think people realized at the chocolate buffet that it was the same thing all the way around, I grabbed my plate and headed torward the end of the buffet.

 

Another item I brought that was helpful was sticky notes. Most port mornings we were up and out early so I left little notes for the butler and stewards and my requests were always taken care of when we got back.

[bakerintn]

Heeheee!! Care to share any other items you keep handy?? You're a hoot, baker.

 

Duct Tape in assorted colors

[byrondee]

Cool Denise,

 

Sorry we didnt get a chance to meet everyone, by the time we got to La Bistro everyone was gone on Monday, well next time, we had a great time, but probably should have spent a lil more time meeting people......

 

oh yeah we had duct tape and stickys, great for leaving notes to our room stew. Also brought a stick up air freshner for the room. A dry pouch (from diver store) for each of us to keep our ship card, cash. I bought ear plugs, but never needed or used them.

 

byrondee@ix.netcom.com

[jmljr]

100% with you on the chair saving. I wish NCL would do something about it. I was at an all-inclusive last year and they were pretty good about the "no saving chairs for more than 1/2 hour" policy they had.

[byrondee]

Simple thing would be to number chairs, then reserve them just like resturant reservations for 1-2 hours, I think thats fair.

[tiggerfan616]

Actually they had moved us from LeBistro to the Bliss, and posted a little sign out front. Somehow I had a feeling it was going to happen, I should have stood out front to let everyone know we had been moved.

[*Wink*]

100% with you on the chair saving. I wish NCL would do something about it. I was at an all-inclusive last year and they were pretty good about the "no saving chairs for more than 1/2 hour" policy they had.

NCL has a policy too. It just says for consideration, please don't save chairs. Something like that. It's up to you and me to enforce it. I like to wear my cop bikini. LOL JK

[yvrnavigator]

Thank you for your review of the NCL Pearl.

We were on this cruise in December, before Christmas and also really loved it.

All the points you made about the good things on the ship and the not so good things I agree wholeheartedly.

 

With regards to Roatan, I was a little concerned before we went on our cruise because of the reviews I have been reading about Roatan.

But when we got there, we realized right away there is no need for any of it as it is such a beautiful island.

We all fell in love with it and my 7 year old son had one of the best days of the cruise in Roatan.

The beaches are beautiful and clean, people were very nice and the island is so peaceful and not as commercialized and overrun like many of the other places cruise ships go to these days.

[becanden]

"What I didn’t really like was minor but here they are. People hogging beach chairs/and or placing towels and no one sit there for hours. The mad scramble for breakfast on port days at Garden Cafe. The long line for Chocolate Buffet, but we where there 15 minutes before so no problem for us. People wasting food, but that’s a personal thing I guess. The thousands of paper inserts that come with the Freestyle daily and they keep coming...... The crew trashing/joking about Roatan... its not super-developed-Cozumel, but I love that sleepy island vibe away from the port... Diving was excellent there, as was Belize."

 

Yes, Roatan is a beautiful island. Enjoy it now, while you can. According to our Victor Bodden Guide, there are several big developers working to change the islands landscape, including a few celebrities who've investing in a golf resort there! The locals seem to be looking forward to these changes. We really enjoyed our time here too!

 

As for the chocolate buffet....those choc. covered strawberries might have been the best I've ever had. Hint: Skip everything else & eat only those strawberries!

 

I was also kind of disturbed by all the waste, and yes, that is a personal thing. The strange thing is that with all that food around, I was NEVER as hungry on that ship, as I usually am. I'm not sure where my appetite went, but it sure came back when I got home! Anyone else? Weird.

[terrymtex01]

Loved your review. I could tell by reading it that you two are probably very fun people and easy going so that very little would ever ruin a vacation for you. I do have to ask.. one thing that really shocked me in your review... In Mexico, you can drink and drive? I know we American's are very uptight compared to the rest of the world on things like drinking and drugs, but one thing I am very much against is drinking and driving. I honestly am kind of shocked if that is allowed in Mexico. Shocked and concerned.

[becanden]

Loved your review. I could tell by reading it that you two are probably very fun people and easy going so that very little would ever ruin a vacation for you. I do have to ask.. one thing that really shocked me in your review... In Mexico, you can drink and drive? I know we American's are very uptight compared to the rest of the world on things like drinking and drugs, but one thing I am very much against is drinking and driving. I honestly am kind of shocked if that is allowed in Mexico. Shocked and concerned.

 

 

You definitely should be shocked & concerned, because there is very little you cannot do in Mexico!! It has seemed to us, that if you're an American in Mexico (the big resort towns that need US$$), you can get away with anything!!