The Pearl (and her staff) was Awesome (Mar 18th to 25th)
The ship and crew- We took the seven day cruise out of Miami to Western Caribbean and loved it. The ship was very festive, clean and up to date which made for a perfect week. Our mini suite was very comfortable with a great view and a nice size balcony. The Pearl's crew was awarded best staff of the fleet and we could see why. We were in good hands with Captain Rune Myre, he was just chosen to speak to the U.S. Congress representing the entire cruise industry. Cruise director Julie (really her name) were great and her staff was everywhere with a kind word and friendly face. They made it about you, we will never forget the welcome back party in Cozumel! Our cabin steward Michael always had a friendly word and every request was met with a smile.
The food -- NCL has made an effort to upgrade the Freestyle dining. They added a destination themed Chef's special, I really enjoyed the Jamaican flavored pork chop. We ate in the main dining rooms (Summer Palace and Indigo) several nights and just happened to get a window table for two every night. We enjoyed great food and even better service. We tried two specialty restaurants and they may have had a little better food, but sadly our service was actually worse. We had breakfast in Garden Cafe on excursion days and a sit down breakfast in the Summer Palace on sea days, they were both good. The Chocoholic Buffet is always fun on the final evening of the cruise. Lunch was had all over the ship and always plenty good. I greatly enjoyed the Bavarian themed meal in the back of the ship our last sea day.
Cabin 11594 is directly under the teen center. It was noisy one night until about midnight.