We just arrived home after a 7 Day Cruise on the NCL Pearl.  We had a wonderful time.  I had had a recent accident which resulted in a compression fracture of one of the vertebrae in my back and we thought that taking a cruise might be a nice way to relax and heal.  Doctor had suggested taking it easy and what better way than to cruise.  We had notified NCL that we would need a wheelchair to board  the ship in Miami.  They also arranged for us to have a handicapped room since I could not do the raised step to the bathroom.  We also asked that we needed a small freezer to store my ice packs.  NCL assured us that all the refrigerators aboard had small freezers in the cabins.  We also assigned a cabin that was close to the main dining room as well as the buffet.  We felt that this trip was really going to make my healing process work while I wore a back brace and used a rolling walker to get around while aboard the ship.

Since we are locals in North Miami Beach we drove to a parking facility called  Premier Parking.  We were told to arrive no sooner than 10:30 AM and at that time we would be able to park our car for $6.99 a day, and be transported  to the port at no extra charge and also a return trip back to the parking facility at no extra charge.  This all sounded good since the parking at the Port of Miami is quite a bit higher, $20/ day.  They no longer offer free parking for the handicapped.  We arrived at the Parking facility at 10:30 AM and found that we could not enter the facility and had to wait in line in our car for at least one hour.  Once we were allowed to enter we gave the valet our key and asked if he could help with our luggage.  He said yes and then promptly disappeared.  My husband had to lift the bags himself from the trunk and then we had to wait for the tour bus to arrive inside a small building that had about six steps that you had to carry the luggage up with no assistance(no ramp available and no personnel available to assist you).  Once inside we found the waiting room very cramped and there were only a few chairs to sit in.  We were fortunate enough to obtain two chairs.  The wait for the bus was about 15 minutes and fortunately there was a ramp by the back door leading to the bus.  The bus driver was very courteous.  He loaded the bags onto the bus for everyone.  Once again we found about 5 steps to climb into the bus.  This was difficult for me and have already decided that we would no longer use Premier Parking on any future cruises in Miami.

Once at the Port of Miami the driver unloaded all the bags and dropped us close to the building for check in.  There was a ramp to enter the building and after about a 15 minute wait our pre-arranged wheel chair arrived.  The NCL employee who wheeled us directly to our cabin was very courteous and gave me a smooth ride.  He mentioned to us as we went aboard that he worked as a waiter on board in one of the specialty restaurants.  I asked him if he knew which night was lobster night?  He told us it is only served in the buffet on the first night of the cruise.  I had never heard of this before.  It usually is served the first formal night in the main dining room.  But he was correct.  Recently they changed this because they found that service in the main dining room on lobster night caused dining to be delayed because of the back-up in the kitchen because everyone would want more than one lobster.  It turned out the lobster night was the second night of the cruise.  The Cruise Director, Pedro, announced that the lobster would be served in the buffet from 5:30 PM- 9:30PM.  It was delicious and plentiful.   The staff was helpful when they saw I had a walker carrying my dish for me to our table.  Fortunately when staff was not available my husband was right there to help me.  NCL offers room service and we took advantage of this having breakfast in our cabin daily.  This was offered even on the last day of the cruise.  This made  dining much easier for me.  Their breakfast choices were all cold food items except for coffee and tea.  The fresh fruit plate and the blueberry muffins were my favorite.  My husband enjoyed their chocolate croissants.  Their coffee was delicious and always hot.  We usually had lunch in the buffet because they seemed to have larger variety of choices than the main dining room.  Our best dining experience was in the Italian Restaurant, La Cochina.  Service was excellent and the platters were delicious. The tiramasu was exceptional.  We also tried the Moderno Steak House but found it did not compare to La Cochina.  Service was very slow and the food was okay.  Food in the main dining room was good and the service excellent. Read more