My husband and I (40) are late comers to the cruising craze. We never thought we'd enjoy cruising as a concept, but with the number of ships and itineraries in our backyard (south Florida), we can't help but get addicted. We have sailed RCCL (Western Caribbean) in 2004 and Celebrity (Western Caribbean and Alaska) twice this year. We just returned from the 11/16 holiday cruise aboard NCL Pearl. I was a little nervous about booking a 9 night cruise on a line I was unfamiliar with, and during a school vacation period (we don't have kids and are frankly, scared of them), but was fortunate to have met some wonderful people on the CC boards prior to our sail date. Most members were like us, never having experienced NCL (or their "Freestyle Dining" concept). Our goal was to relax, eat, and basically do absolutely nothing. Now for the 'scoop'...Because we were in a suite, embarkation was a breeze. NCL earns my biggest gold star here. We went to small VIP lounge in the terminal and had coffee and cookies while NCL processed our paperwork and issued key cards. We passed some fairly long lines for security and documentation, but were in our cabin within 15 minutes. We were in one of four (AD) Romance Suites # 10644. The interior is strange in color (gold, purple, pinks, and cherry wood) but somehow it all works. In the bathroom, the tub is deep and narrow, the sink is a good size and there's a separate toilet room. Water pressure was super, towels plush and the upgraded amenities, like the loofah sponge were from Frances Denney. The Saeco coffee machine is the greatest invention since the automobile. If you like coffee and you have a suite on NCL, bring your own beans like we did. This machine will do the rest! The bed was fine, linens were nice and clean, and we had excellent housekeeping service by Rosalie and Rommel twice per day. This is also the first cruise we got towel animals. Our Butler was Orlando and Concierge was Al. We kept both of them busy with shameless requests; DH forgot his dress shoes, we always needed ice, changed dinner preferences a few times, and had endless cheese and cracker requests. Although we've only had veranda Sky Suites on X, the aft balcony on Pearl was a pleasant first for us. The aft views were great, but the size of the space was way too small for two loungers, the chair and small table. I will try to book aft for future cruises (as long as the stacks are mid ship like on the Pearl). I've seen some ships with aft stacks where the smoke blows direct downward to the aft cabin balconies. Yuk.

Because we took this cruise to really relax we (chose) not to hit on a lot of the activities. Reading the Freestyle Daily every night after turn down was mind boggling. If you are considering this ship, know that there is plenty to keep everyone in your party happily occupied. For us, we went to the casino and the spa between loafing around, getting off the ship and looking for food.

Food: Everyone wants to know about the food. We definitely didn't like freestyle dining but didn't find it all confusing likely because Al handled our reservations. We began to think we were the only folks disappointed with the food overall, but inconsistent, undesirable, and boring were the relative terms. It's too bad the excellent staff (most notably Violeta, Juanito and Grace) have to serve this crap with a smile. Here's our restaurant rundown without going into all dishes ordered because it doesn't matter. It was all sub par to us. Read more