Norwegian Pearl Review

Nice ship, good stops.

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Pearl
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TDellaTorre
2-5 Cruises • Age 40s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service

Additional details

Sail Date: Jan 2019
Cabin: Obstructed Oceanview
Closet TV and Mini Bar
Summer Palace main dining room
View from cabin window, room 8552
Sun Deck sailing under the bridge on Tampa Bay
Atrium, view from Java Cafe bar
From the tender, Grand Cayman
View from O'Shehans
Obstructed view at night with curtains open, too much light!
La Cucina, quite zone for breakfast.
Last night swing set with the Pearl show band
Great outdoors cafe, morning of return, Tampa harbor.

We love cruising with NCL, this was our fourth NCL cruise and our third on a Jewel class ship. We chose this cruise because we like 5 day or shorter sailings and the stops were our two favorite ports in the Caribbean: Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Our party had three different state rooms, an inside, an obstructed ocean view and a "Priva-Sea" balcony, so it was interesting to see the differences between the rooms (but more on that later.)

Embarkation:

We had never sailed from Tampa and I highly recommend this port for anyone driving from the Southeast. The drive was less than 7 hours from Atlanta and the parking is reasonably priced and right across the street from the terminal. Weather was nice when we embarked although I can see where bad weather could cause issues in Tampa since we had to stand in line outside for about 30 minutes before they collected our luggage and let us inside to the security line. We did the self-assist baggage carry off when we disembarked which went very smoothly, we left our rooms at 8AM and were through customs and back to our car by 8:30 and back in Atlanta before rush hour.

Cabin Review

Obstructed Oceanview

Cabin OK

The cabin was clean but the carpet was a bit worn and had a few stains plus some of the trim around the window was worn or missing and the sink had some stress cracks from age. The room was a good size for two people with plenty of storage but we did not like the placement of the bed against the window or the bunk bed above. Everything worked as it should but I would not take this room class again due to hallway foot traffic and constant light outside our window from the promenade deck.

Port Reviews

Cozumel

Cozumel is our favorite port and very easy to explore on your own with a rental car. The ship's scuba excursion was canceled due to high winds and rough seas so we found a very nice beach club called Punta Morena on the Eastern shore with a nice restaurant and small pool.

Tampa

Lots to do around the port and only a 7 hour drive from Atlanta. Bad weather can make embarkation difficult due to lines outside and fog can cause delays.

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