Just returned from the Pearl 3/6-13, 2010. Had sailed RCCL in 2005 so it had been a few years since my last cruise. I was not disappointed in any way. The Pearl is a BEAUTIFUL ship. I was traveling with my mother (a senior) and my daughter and her SO (late 20's). We stayed one night in Miami at the Holiday Inn Port of Miami. Directly across the street from Bayside Marketplace and a very short cab ride to the POM.

Embarkment was a breeze! We left our hotel at 10:30 and we were given ticket number 13 which got us on board just a little after 11:00. The Garden Cafe and buffet were open so we had lunch and then went to explore the ship. The crystal atrium is very nice and has a Chuhuly glass sculpture as it's focal point along with two staircases (on which many a picture was taken). Rooms were ready around 1:30 and our luggage arrived around 4:00. Sail away was at approximately 4:30. The pool area had live music (True Life is excellent) and so we stayed up top a good portion of the evening.

Sunday was an all-day cruising day and we chose to have dinner at the Teppanyaki restaurant ($25/person). The food was good and the chef was very entertaining. I would not choose to dine at this particular restaurant again while on board only because it is nothing different that what you can get on land and I felt it probably wasn't worth the extra dollars (I will note that this was a birthday celebration for 3 in our party). Read more