Lovely Cruise - Great Service - Good Food

Overall, we had a very nice cruise to the Panama Canal.  NCL Pearl is a very casual ship, including the décor.  It all looks a lot nicer in person than it does on  you tube.  I did like the colorful ‘flower’ mural painted on the outside of the ship around the promenade.  There were also some nice picture/paintings throughout the ship.  The Atrium had a very pretty blue “Dale Chihuly” sculpture.   Most people wore very casual clothing most of the time.  There was one night that getting dressed up was optional and some did.  The famous NCL “white hot” dance night had many people dressed in white that looked cool under all the neon lights.  Staff and crew joined in – it was fun and unique, especially for younger folks.

We didn’t do any excursions so this will only be about the ship.

Embarkation/disembarkation

The port of Miami is small compared to Ft. Lauderdale which we really liked.  It was easy to park onsite (but expensive $20 day).  We boarded the ship in Miami around 1:30 and there was a very long line outside to get into the building – to which we had to stand in another very long line.  Normally at this time of day we walk right on other ships so I am not sure why it was so crowded at this time.  Not problems when we finally got on board – food and music around the pool deck was enjoyable.  Sailaway party was lively and fun.

Disembarkation – we chose to get off last since we live in Florida – and it was fast, easy and short lines to leave.  Very nice.

NEW RULE:  YOU CAN’T BRING ON BOTTLED WATER. 

Room

We had a ‘mini-suite’ which as smaller than the mini-suites  on Holland or Princess.  It was more of a standard Balcony room on those ships.  The only difference I could tell from the NCL Pearl mini-suite room and their balcony room was  the size of the couch.  It was a little larger and the size of the room may have been somewhat larger (but not by too much).  It was roomy enough and had lots of drawer space and a decent size closet.  There are only Two 110 volt (3 prong) plugs on top of desk area. So bring extension cord or power strip as needed.

The bathroom was unusual with the ‘compartmentalized’ toilet area.  At first I thought it was strange but I ended up really liking the layout.  There was big tub/shower – the only downside for me was how deep stepping into the shower was for me.  We had great water pressure and the toilet never acted up.

The AC/Heat worked the best we have ever had on any ship.  Amazing…even while in port.  Also – the hair dryer was very powerful.  First time I used one on a ship (normally I use the one I bring because they are usually very weak and not very hot).

However, the bed was very hard and flat – it really needed to be replaced.  It would have really hurt my back but luckily I brought a thin air mattress (camping style).  The couch was a good long size but this was also very, very hard to sit on.  Even the chair at the desk was very hard so we brought in the chairs from the balcony to sit on.  It was doable.

The TV was very, very small and I think it was an outdated plasma style.  It you sat at an angle you couldn’t see what was on the screen.  There was a channel (22) that showed the time, weather, ships position and played music (instrumental – very nice).  It was the only music channel.  This is the station where you could listen to the Captain/Cruise Directors messages (for example when you are in your room and hear them speaking over the intercom in the hallway it won’t come through the cabin speakers unless it is important info).    You can also listen to the Panama Canal expert talk about highlights and historical facts as you go through the locks. 

There was only a couple of movie channels – one was primarily for family/kid type movies (channel 35).  So that only left one channel (channel 36) which showed standard movies but  the same movies over and over again – even on multiple days.  Not much variety which was disappointing.  In the evening we like to watch a movie before bed but there wasn’t much of a selection like there was on Holland or Princess.  There were a few other channels that showed a couple of sitcoms and few other type programs such as food network or sports.  There were also channels that talked about the jewelry/art sales or what’s in port.  I would have liked more regular movie channels because we don’t stay out in the ‘clubs/bars’ all night and enjoy watching a movie in the evening.

I loved the small single serving coffee pot (used small coffee ‘pods’).  You could also use for just hot water for tea.   The water on the ships really upset my stomach due to my IBS issue so having a way to use bottle water for coffee was terrific.

The room steward we had was fabulous – so friendly, professional, and helpful. 

Gift Shops

NCL Pearl only carries  a small amount of drugstore type items – which are pricey like all ships – so make sure you bring what you need in case they don’t carry the item want.  Don’t ever count on cruise ships to carry every little personal item you may need.  Pearl had more jewelry store than clothing stores.  There was one store with a small selection of clothing items – I wish they had a bigger selection.

Entertainment/Shows

Like most cruise ships – the entertainment was hit/miss.   The theater seats could use better padding – they hurt my back (if you don’t have back issues they probably would be okay). 

Music

I really loved the music throughout the ship – they had a really nice variety all over the ship. The was everything from popular music to classical violin sounds.  The pool area had a fun live band that everyone liked a lot. 

Staff/Crew

The majority of the staff/crew that we interacted with was really nice, personable, friendly and helpful.  Even the officers were pleasant and said ‘hello’ to you as they passed by.  No complaints at all.

Movies

They showed a movie every night at 11:00 pm and some days at noon in the Atrium which was located in front the main desk and next to the jewelry counter and in front of the cigar bar (I think).  Anyway they have a bunch of seat (not that comfortable) all crowded together and you watch the movie on a large screen.  It’s hard to watch the movie at noon time because of all the people walking back and forth, talking everywhere.  I didn’t check it out at 11 pm – so it might be quieter then.  

Restaurants/Buffet/Lounges/Bars

The food in the specialty restaurants were good from what we were told but expensive in the ones you had to pay for (even the ala carte choices adds up).   Cagneys was really high quality.  The Asian and O’Sheenans restaurant was okay (both were free).  There was a french, Italian and Teppanyaki restaurant which we didn’t try but people seemed to enjoy.   We ate many times at the buffet and thought the quality was surprisingly very good.  Some people have complained that they served the same food over and over every night, but that is NOT TRUE.  There were a few things the same every night like hamburgers/hotdogs, salad bar but they always had some type of theme food selection that varied each night.  We enjoyed the food and variety very much.  The décor in all the restaurant was very nicely appointed.   Very lovely.

We really enjoyed the “Great Outdoor” Cafe located next to Garden Café (buffet).  We enjoyed eating breakfast and having an evening cocktail.  Beautiful view of the ocean and surrounding areas.  Great for sunsets.  Just lovely – my favorite place on the entire ship.

I didn’t love the layout of the lounges/bars….for example on one of the floor there was the martini, beer, whiskey bars but they all were right next to each other on one side of the ship in an open area.  Again you could watch people walking back and forth next to where you sat and it could get congested, loud from all the talking – so the bars never had that cozy, intimate feeling.  It was nicely lit up at night however.

The Bliss lounge was a little odd looking to me…there were two bowling lanes and arcades games that surrounded the small lounge, bar and stage area making it a little claustrophobic looking to me.

I prefer the lounges/bars on the Holland and Princess ships much better.

ART/PHOTOS/JEWELRY/SPA

Like most ships NCL sells a lot of art work, jewelry, photos and SPA packages.  However, we didn’t find anyone to be too pushy like on other ships which was such a pleasure for a change. 

PORTS

One thing I was disappointed in was that fact that NCL Pearl didn’t highlight some fun things in the ports that you could walk to (especially for those of us who didn’t do any excursions).  For example in Cartagena,  You can walk over (about 10 minutes or so) or take the shuttle to entrance area and visit gift shops and see all types of parrots and flamingos and other wildlife everywhere.  The parrots would even climb on your shoulder for photos – so much fun.  They was even a separate aviary area to view local exotic birds and Emerald Mine ‘simulation’ that was fascinating.  They may have mentioned it in one of the port talks but if you didn’t attend that you wouldn’t know because it wasn’t highlighted in the daily paper. 

Another nice thing to do was in Bonaire – there was a nice outdoor market with all types of booths set up selling a wide variety of items from locals.  We just stumbled upon it and met a lovely mother/daughter selling a variety of items which we enjoyed purchasing. 

In Puerto Limon – there was a nice park and beach within walking distance that would have been nice to be make them aware of in the daily paper.  Some people just walked to the gift pavilion and didn’t even know about how close these were to visit.