Norwegian Pearl |
This was a spring break trip with my son and daughter. We drove to a nearby city for our nonstop flight to Miami. The flight was smooth and on time. We arrived, got our luggage and grabbed a cab to the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. Only one problem Miami was in the midst of a very cold spell and the hotel had no heat! Oh well, things happen. We contacted our cousin who lives in the area, and went out for dinner. After a lovely dinner at Mykonos Greek Restaurant in Miami we went back to the hotel for sleep. Surprisingly sleeping was no problem even without heat.
We got up and ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then walked down the street to a new CVS (at least I don't remember it from any previous stays at this hotel) to pickup a few last minute toiletries. We left hotel in Miami around 10:30 and had completed the checked in procedure and was waiting for ship to open by 10:45. One thing that I noticed is that when we got upstairs to wait for the ship to open that they were using temporary gangways while they worked on the main one. The ship opened at 11:00 and passengers were allowed to board. This did not seem to affect embarkation, and NCL was very nice about letting people who did not want pictures to just bypass the area.
Of course before being allowed on board there was the obligatory (you were not
allowed to by pass this photo, and it was not for security) boarding photo.
Boarding takes place on deck 7 and passengers are directed to deck 12 to the
garden café for lunch. We made a side trip to our cabin and dropped our carryon
bags and then made our way upstairs. As we walked into the buffet we heard our
first, and not our last chant of "washy - washy - happy - happy", which is
designed to get people to use hand sanitizer. While the stuff really doesn't do
anything it is better to accept the misting of your hands than to fight the
system. The buffet was quiet good.
There was plenty of food in the buffet. Not real interesting, but the hot food
was hot and the cold food was cold. It all was well prepared and tasted fine.
The cabins were supposed to be ready at 2:00 but were ready for us at 1:30.
After eating we explored the ship until we could get to the cabin. The kids
(Well I'm not sure I should call them that as both are over 21) found the Bliss
lounge with its bowling alleys. Our luggage was promptly delivered and we
unpacked prior to safety drill at 3:30. The drill took all of 15
minutes. Our station was in the Le Bistro restaurant on deck 6. It was a
painless drill as it only involved sitting
and watching some of the crew demonstrating how to wear the life jackets.
The Pearl is tastefully decorated and easy to navigate. The public spaces
are really in two areas, decks 6 and 7 and decks 12 and above. There are not
enough beverage stations offering soda and juices and finding snacks is not an
easy task. The Pearl went down the channel shortly after 4:00 p.m.
As there were three of us we had a cabin with a bunk. The way the beds were arrange this was almost unnoticeable and never got in the way. The bedding was fine, though it is not new. The duvets are nice but there are times when a good blanket would have felt nice too. I do have to say that the beds were horrible. I had a sore back for about a week after we got home. Was it because the beds were bad or because I was in a smaller bed than usual and felt cramped? Who knows. The shower door is a nice addition. The cabin was service twice a day without fail and always in an unobtrusive way.
We visited the spa and purchased the weekly pass for $100 per person. This
gave us access to all the hydro therapy pools. Access to the steam and sauna are
free to everyone. The spa area was rarely full, and always a quiet place to
relax. I think that I used this are everyday for at least a couple of hours.
Soda card for the
duration was $50.31 including gratuity. (6.25/day +)
Helmet of domestic beer is $19.75 + gratuity for 6 (Pay for 5 get the 6th free
is the hook here)
Casino limits are high, often $10 minimums at night sometimes $5.
Grey Goose Martini was 10.25 + gratuity.
We started today with breakfast at the Garden Cafe. Since it was a sea day the chair hogs were out in force. We was unable to find anywhere to sit after 9:30 a.m. This was the first week of spring break so there were a number of college students on board. This may have contributed to the chair issue as they tend to be sun worshipers. Bar-b-que served poolside for lunch. The hamburgers were very good and cooked over charcoal grills set up on the deck. The food on the entire cruise was consistently good. It was always well prepared, and there was a wide variety. This is not to say that it is 5 star food. It is not and don’t expect it to be. Remember that they are preparing 2500 meals at a time.
Today was very windy, and cool, but the bright sun felt nice after the chill in Miami. It was almost impossible to be on the decks forward. It was also dress up or not day.
The seas are still rough, but we arrived in the Bay of Samana right on time. It is a beautiful area. This is one stop that is not to be missed. This is what most of the Caribbean is really like when you get away from the tourist areas. We took the Cayo Leventado beach excursion which is very nice. The sea is beautiful, wonderful color, no sign of any run off, etc. I doubt that it was ever there. Since we are in a bay with a sandy bottom and sea grass , it just looks different than most island stops. All three of us spent some time in the ocean and even snorkeled a bit. Because of the lack of rocks there is not a lot to see, but we did find a few fish and some sea stars.
One thing to remember is not to worry about taking water off the ship with you, in fact don’t do it. Water on shore is $1 per bottle and soda is $2 for a 20oz bottle. The first tender back was at 3:00. The tenders run on this schedule to accommodate other tours and tendering operations. No other reason. There are a lot of tenders going to the ship from third parties and this way they do not all pile up waiting to unload. There are plenty of free chairs available.
I enjoyed a 30 minute massage on the beach for $20. While it was not the best massage that I have ever had it was very good.
A spider
monkey and a seal are brought out by locals for picture taking ($8)
opportunities. Beer was available for the typical bar price $4 - $5 depending on
brand. One pound of Caribbean lobster was available for $20, hamburgers and hot
dogs were also available on the beach for less than $5, and there was a buffet
for $12.
The ride to Cayo Leventado was great, it was on an open boat designed to
transfer people and since the seas were rough it was almost like being on a
Zodiac. Great fun! Of course we got wet, but we were going to the beach. There
is no reason to be concerned, if you don’t want to get wet then simply don’t go!
The ship had 6 tenders in the water all day running back and forth to town.
Samana is a good stop. There is a lot to do, but if you expect St. Thomas type
activities and shopping (though from what I have seen if you get away from town
on St. Thomas it is just like Samana), you are going to be sorely disappointed,
but this is the real Caribbean.
We arrived in St. Thomas about 30 minutes early. Since we had been outside the
US and were returning all passengers were required to clear immigration. It took
place in the Spinnaker Lounge on deck 12. It is a very efficient process and
took less than 90 seconds. It is certainly not something to be worried about.
We had just been in St. Thomas in December and the kids wanted to buy cameras,
so we headed downtown to Royal Caribbean. As usual we ended up with some good
deals. We then grabbed a cab back to the pier to
and took the cable car to Paradise Point. Elizabeth really enjoyed the view and
Alex and I enjoyed some wonderful Bushwackkers. Also in town was Oasis of the
Sea and its 6000 passengers. We spotted it docked at Crown Bay next to our
favorite Sea Dream II.
We did not spend a lot of time ashore and were back on the ship for lunch. I then went back ashore and wandered Havensight for a while, though it was more just to walk than anything else.
We took a side trip to Jost van Dyke. We tendered ashore and then got our boat for the hour ride to Jost. As you can tell from other reviews Jost is one of my favorite spots. We had a very wet landing, is in we had to swim, not wade ashore. We walked down to where Sea Dream has its splash but gotten eaten up by no see-ums so we went back to the Soggy Dollar. Alex and I proceeded to consume 7 pain killers each. Yummy! After about 3 hours ashore headed back to the ship.
Since there were three large ships in town we tendered today.
I am amazed at how little there really is to do on the Pearl on a sea day. There is the Bingo and the Art Auction, but I was expecting more in the way of activities that never materialized. This leg was from Tortola great Stirrup Cay. The weather was much better heading north than it had been heading south.
We were due to arrive at Great Stirrup Cay at 10: 00 a.m. There was a front coming off Florida. Great Stirrup Cay is a tender stop and due to weather the captain canceled the stop at 10:20 a.m. There was no announcement made regarding any change of plans. We were refunded the “port fees” for the day. No other compensation was offered.
NCL is very typical of other mass market lines. The only differences that I note between NCL, RCCL and CCL are the freestyle dining. People dress in a very similar fashion except for formal nights. Chair hogs are present everywhere. The quality and quantity of food is consistent across lines. The shore excursions and the ports are all the same. I find that the crew members are consistently hard workers that are always friendly and happy to chat with you. Every ship is different, yet they are in a way all the same. RCCL has the most beautiful ships, NCL has the most variety of dining, and Carnival has the most on board activities. Which is right? The answer is always a big it depends.