Our family of four cruised the Western Caribbean on the Pearl earlier this month. Stops included Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya, and Key West. My wife and I had a balcony, and our sons had an inside stateroom across the hall on deck 10.General observationsNCL must take marketing lessons from beach vendors, they're always trying to extract as much money as they can from you, while delivering as little as required. The constant reminders about the great art sales, duty free specials, bingo, etc. are extremely tiresome. Getting hounded by high pressure salespeople is not something I want on a cruise. There's no need to buy anything, but it's impossible to escape those annoying announcements. If you have time to kill and a calculator, go to one of the bingo games and estimate how much NCL makes every game. Every player should feel like they have a hook in their mouths.In Belize passengers had to use tenders to go ashore, and NCL gives priority to passengers who book excursions through them, at a nominal markup of roughly 100%. Other passengers were forced to stand in line to get a ticket for a tender, then stand in another line for the tender, because NCL only contracted the minimum number possible, causing long line ups of disgruntled passengers. The lineup was on the deck above the tenders and we were first in line. Somehow, NCL staff had let other passengers, some of whom were referred to as "guests of the concierge" wait in line on the tender deck. By the time we got there, the tender was full. We had to force our way back to the front of the line for the next tender, as it was boarding from the other side of the ship. Disorganization at its finest, courtesy of NCL.CabinA definite thumbs up. Roomy enough, well equiped, clean, and comfortable. The one issue some may have is that the room was always cold. We like it that way and just opened the balcony door whenever we wanted heat, but others may prefer it a little warmer. While my sons' room was everything we expected, I highly recommend a balcony.FoodThere is a surcharge for eating in the specialty restaurants. We tried the Italian, Chinese, and Teppan restaurants. The Chinese food was excellent, the service was great, and there were no lineups. The Italian was a huge disappointment. Unless you like your meat cooked beyond recognition, I suggest you avoid this place. The Teppan restaurant was also very good. Just be aware that like most restaurants of this kind they use a lot of butter and/or oil.The buffets were the family favourite. Something for everyone and it was all good. Sadly, NCL doesn't offer juice after breakfast and even that isn't fresh. If you want fresh juice at breakfast, you have to buy it. Probably best to do that on your way to the bingo since you have the hook in your mouth anyway.The outdoor portion of the buffet at the back of the restaurant must be the punishment zone for wait staff. They don't want to be there, as evidenced by their lack of service and surly attitude. The one exception was the bartender we met one night who seemed genuinely nice. Sadly he got his ass chewed out by another NCL employee while we were sitting there. Probably for being too cheerful.Pool area and barsNice. People kept reserving chairs around the pool and on the deck overlooking it, and never showing up, but NCL can't really monitor that. Bars were nice, what you see is what you get.EntertainmentGood to very good, and no one sellig anything during the show, except the comedian hawking his books.Ports of callRoatan is awesome, Belize is beautiful (after the tender experience), Costa Maya is a collection of decent beaches and tourist shops, and Key West is party central with some great activities (jet ski, fishing, scuba diving, etc.)Summary I liked the ship, I liked the ports of call, I like most of the NCL staff we encountered, and I like many things about NCL (freestyle dining, teen programs, etc.) I don't like being nickle and dimed to death (restaurant charges, mandatory gratuity for sub-standard service, fresh juice, reminders about great on-board deals, etc), and I definitely don't like unecessary lineups caused by NCL's disorganization.