This was my third cruise, two with Carnival (Victory & Miracle), first with NCL - on the Pearl. This was the second for my husband.

Embarkation: Living in southwest Florida made for a very easy drive over to the Port of Miami. Being that we had embarked from Miami before, we expected a busy, frantic rush to the cruise terminal. My advice to anyone embarking from Miami: Get there early! You will appreciate this advice. This way you and your luggage will be sure to make the ship without any added hassle. It is a zoo! This will also afford you time to make any last-minute decisions that you may be confronted with, which will be addressed shortly. The terminal itself is run quite efficiently - and is clean, however, the first red flag occurred when we entered the terminal. We were greeted by Cruise Agents who sprayed our hands with sanitizer and handed us a flyer. A flyer, you ask? Well, the Norovirus had hit the prior sailing of the Pearl. The flyer stated that we had a choice to cancel our cruise and have a full credit issued, or board the ship at our own risk. NCL did state that they believed they had the virus under control and that it should not affect anyone, but there was still a slight possibility. Two words: OH, GREAT, came to mind. My husband and I chose to board, in which case once we (and all other passengers) proceeded through security, we were given a survey and a pen, and told to fill it out completely. They were to be reviewed and collected upon boarding. The surveys asked if anyone in our party had recently been ill with any GI symptoms and what our cabin numbers were. It also asked about any children in the party. It stated that honesty was crucial, due to the prior outbreak onboard. Fortunately, we were fine, but we overheard a few passengers state that they were not going to list their prior symptoms because they would be denied boarding and did not want to cancel their trips - nice, eh? Regardless, after processing through, encountering 2 more hand sanitizing stations, and handing in our paperwork, we boarded the beautiful Pearl.

The Ship: Enormous, yet fairly easy to navigate. This is a gorgeous ship, with a tasteful, yet lively, contemporary design that amazed me (and I'm an artist). Full of rich textiles and vibrant colors, it has a very lavish, chic feel throughout. I simply loved it! HINT: I had previously read (in another Pearl review), that the fish on the carpeting pointed Forward - keep this in mind when wandering around. It will make finding your way much easier. I shared this information with several confused passengers who were grateful of the advice. Take some time to wander around and acclimate yourselves because it will make your trip more enjoyable. The only complaint that I have about the public rooms were the Restrooms - and this may have been an issue with the Norovirus outbreak. On a few occasions, they were not clean at all; downright dirty and smelled. This was a shocking contrast to the other areas of the ship in which were tidy and clean, but this is also one area that needs to be clean ALL of the time, for sanitation and health reasons. On a positive note: Our Cabin bathroom was always clean - thank goodness for that. The Fitness Center was fantastic! My husband is a gym-rat and really enjoyed the quality of the services and equipment. They offer some rather lovely Yoga/Stretching classes too. Nice touch and NCL scores points on the Fitness aspect. Read more