BACKGROUND/PRE-CRUISE: We just returned from the NCL Pearl Eastern Caribbean cruise, 10/31-11/7. We are from the Midwest and are in our early forties. We don't have any children, so it was just the two of us. This was our 11th cruise, and our 2nd with NCL. The other nine have been on Princess and Carnival, with our first being in 1993.
We booked a inside guarantee a few weeks before leaving, so we were able to take advantage of a great last minute deal booked through a on-line agency. We were lucky enough to get the seven-day cruise for under $1,000 for both of us, including taxes and port charges. Air on SWA from Kansas City was $69 each way, so this trip was very reasonable. We are very budget-minded travelers and are always looking for the best deals. We guess that's why we have been able to cruise three times this year. We feel like we would rather trade a balcony cabin or suite on one cruise for guaranteed insides on three cruises. We were upgraded to an outside porthole cabin on deck four this cruise, so that was an added bonus. It was a great location since we were only steps from the door for excursions. No waiting for elevators to go to/from ports. We usually don't book excursions through the cruise lines to save additional money. We also bring water and soda from home.
We flew into the Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood Airport and called SAS Transportation for our ride to Miami the day before the cruise. We arranged the shuttle transportation ahead of time with SAS. They were prompt in getting back with us and were reasonable, charging $15 PP each way, plus tip. We did have to wait for about 20 minutes for others in the airport to come out for the ride to Miami. We weren't really in a hurry since we were going to our hotel and weren't sure we could even check in yet. We stayed at the Hotel Intercontinental (4* hotel $63 through Priceline), downtown Miami, the night before the cruise. Our room was ready in the early afternoon, so we checked in with no problems and walked over to Bayside Marketplace for a late lunch. We used a coupon from EntertainmentSavers.com for a buy-one, get-one free entree at the Cuban American restaurant. This was our first time eating Cuban cuisine, so we weren't sure what to expect. The food was different but good, the portion size was fine, but the service was lacking. Maybe we just expected a friendlier atmosphere coming from the Midwest, and the language barrier may have been part of the problem. We walked around downtown to the CVS, Walgreens and Bank of America near the hotel. There were a lot of scary people hanging out on the streets, so we decided to spend the evening in our room. We stopped by the Subway there and grabbed a sandwich for our dinner. It was a long day since we were at the airport at 5 AM that morning, so we were ready for a relaxing evening anyway. We had a wonderful view of the cruise port from our room.
Cabin #4584 - Porthole outside cabin
We were in our cabin by 2:00 PM so we decided to unpack and throw our valuables (cc's, cash, passports, phones and IPOD's) in the safe, but there was an error code and didn't work. We called the information desk and they said they would be sending security to our cabin, but we waited and they never showed up. We called the next morning and the security officers promptly arrived to fix the issue.
We were happy with the accommodations and layout of the cabin, especially since it was a little larger than what we paid for an inside cabin. We had the two twin beds put together making a queen-size bed. There was just enough room on either side to walk. The bedding is nice and the sheets feel new. The mattresses have a removable pillow top on them.
THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE/CABIN:
The only real major complaints with the cabin are the flat pillows and the bathroom:
- The pillows need to be replaced ASAP. They were really flat and lumpy. We each had three and that was not enough. There are two large throw pillows on the bed, but they are a little big to use at night.
- The toilet area is extremely small. If you are a large/tall person, it may be uncomfortable, especially in the middle of the night. Thank God for the handicap bar. It was the smallest we have ever experienced on a cruise ship. There's also an ash tray right next to the toilet. How nice. We loved the shower with sliding glass door. It was roomy enough and had the shampoo and soap dispenser with a hand-held shower head. There was also a wet clothes line above, high enough to leave connected all week. We wish all of the cruise lines would have this type of shower. It was nice not having the clingy shower curtain sticking to you while trying to lather up. There are plenty of shelves in the bathroom and the towels are nice and thick.
- Noisy Neighbors: The walls were really thin. We could clearly hear the conversations next door, as well as bathroom sounds (no more explanation needed here!).
THINGS WE LIKED/CABIN:
- Big closet, lots of storage, drawers, shelves, and hooks in room and bathroom
- Shower door instead of the usual sticky curtain
- Safe that required only a code, as long as it works
- Shampoos and soaps.
- Nice, powerful hairdryers.
- Refrigerator worked great, just ask your cabin steward to empty it for you. Also, make sure the items in the refrigerator and snacks are accounted for on the inventory pricing sheet so you're not charged for them.
- The dial on the outside of the room indicating our status (do not disturb, make up cabin, etc.). Better than Carnival since someone kept stealing our "do not disturb" hang tag on our last cruise.
- Coffee pot in the room, even though we didn't use it.
Our cabin steward kept our room very clean and the ice bucket always filled. He was extremely friendly and personable. The television is really small for the room and we didn't have any network channels, like Carnival or Princess has. One other thing that would be great would be to have the dinner menus and account folio information accessible on the television like other cruise lines do. They also show several recently released movies throughout the week in your cabin if you want to just chill out and watch a movie in the privacy of your own space.