Norwegian Pearl Review

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Pearl
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BostonTravelPro
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Jan 2011
Cabin: Balcony

I will start off by saying my sailing on the Norwegian Pearl was my 6th cruise. My first with NCL. In the past I have sailed once with Carnival, once with Cunard and three times with Royal Caribbean.

I chose this particular cruise for the itinerary (Miami-Roatan-Belize City-Costa Maya-Key West-Miami). I had never been to any of the ports.

BOOKING

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin BB

CABIN

We wanted a balcony cabin and didn't really care where it was on the ship so we decided to go with a "Balcony Guarantee" (purchase the least expensive balcony cabin and a few weeks before sailing you will receive your cabin assignment. You are guaranteed a balcony cabin or better).

The NCL website states the balcony cabins are 205 sq ft, I figured I can't go wrong with that. How I wish I had brought my tape measure. It sure felt small. My 184 sq ft cabin on RCCL Mariner of the Seas felt much bigger than what I had on the Pearl.

Perhaps it was the layout? The bed was right at the end of the hallway. One bed was against the wall. The bedside table was literally wedged between the two twin beds. Then the sofa was wedged up against the other bed and that was against the balcony slider. It all felt very crammed.

Plenty of closet space. Too few hangers and they are those awful detachable ones. Three drawers. Shelves. A few hooks outside the bathroom. You certainly have room to store things. And large luggage even fits under the beds.

The bed was short, but the most comfortable I have had on a cruise ship.

The vanity area is small. We were never able to use the vanity since the corner of the bed was in the way of where the stool would go.We had a coffeepot which was great. The sofa was comfortable. The tv was tiny. There was a table and chair under where the tv was on a shelf. I'd have preferred to not have the table and chair and just had space. It was very difficult to find a spot to dress without bumping a wall or a bed.

The balcony was spacious. Enough for two chairs and a small table. Plenty of room to move around.

The bathroom was wonderful. I wouldn't have minded a smaller bathroom to give the cabin more space. Large sink with plenty of counter space. Three small shelves for personal items. Two towel racks. 4 hooks. The shower was large enough for two people. It wasn't the typical cruise line shower that looks like a capsule. It even had a clothesline. The toilet area had a gliding door you could close.

Before booking I had read that the room had a mini fridge. HA. It was a mini bar that was crammed with items to sell, no room for my own items.

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