A Fantastic week on the Norwegian Pearl We had a truly fantastic week on the Norwegian Pearl. We did a Western Caribbean route with stops in Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya and Key West. We've sailed several times with Norwegian. This was our second cruise on the Pearl. We did a Southern Caribbean cruise in Nov 2007.Embarkation: We arrived at the Port around 12:30 or so. Embarkation was an absolute breeze. 100% efficient. I don't know how they do it- a lot of practice I guess. We were on the Pearl within about 30 minutes I would say. Rooms and Bags: We had a nice lunch at the buffet. We walked around the ship and explored a bit with the kids. At about 2:00 p.m. the rooms were ready. We had interior cabins forward deck 8. Two twin beds and 2 small night stands between them. A small dressing table on one side with a mirror and a table with a chair on the other. There was more than enough storage in the room for two people. Our baggage arrived shortly after the emergency drill (ours was in the stardust theater and we didn't even need to bring our life vests). Service/Staff - For the most part, they are exceptional. We did on one occasion run into a grumpy inefficient waiter in the Blue Lagoon. This was during shift change. Could be the reason. When we complained, the Manager went out of his way to make things right, and by the time we left, we were all smiling and happy once again.Dining - One thing we love about Cruising, is the food. We're very careful in our spending (retirement checks don't go that far these days), and don't do the specialty restaurants. The food, service and presentation in the Summer Palace and Indigo Restaurants are more than adequate for us. We don't care for buffets very much, so most of our meals were in the dining rooms or at the Blue Lagoon. Entertainment - Another favorite thing is the entertainment. We really enjoyed Oh What a Night - much better than I expected. We had seen Jersey Boys in Las Vegas a couple years ago and I truly think these boys did a better job with the songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Season. Sharkbait was a lot of fun, and kept you interested. We had seen them on another cruise in the past and they haven't changed. Just as talented and funny as before. The singers and dancers were good - although in a couple songs they seemed out of their range and almost sounded like they were screeching. Second City was a riot. I laughed til my sides hurt. Excursions Roatan - We opted to try Victor Bodden Tours. I did a lot of research and found plenty of good reviews. I'm really glad we did. Our driver (Jorge "Pilo" Martinez) was fantastic. We like to just drive around and see the local culture without all the shopping and tourist traps. I explained to him that we had been there in the past (2007) and what we were looking for. We had two youngsters with us and we needed a rounded out tour that would be enjoyable, relaxing and yet fun for the kids. Jorge managed to cover all bases and left us all thrilled. We visited a site I remembered from our past trip at the top of a mountain and he just happened to know the owner of a beautiful home which we got to see and take some breathtaking photos of the island. From there we went to Victor Boddens monkey farm. He had some interesting animals and birds there and the kids got to hold a couple baby spider monkeys.... needless to say, this was the highlight of the whole vacation for them. From there we went to Half Moon Bay where we did some snorkeling. You can rent the equipment from the locals or bring your own. Lounge chairs under the palms were provided for free. From there we did some more sightseeing and then back to the ship. What and amazing day and thanks to Jorge and unforgettable time. It was well worth the $25.00 pp price tag. Belize - Unfortunately the ship is unable to dock in Belize. Normally, I don't mind taking a tender but in Belize they use local tenders and in doing so they hint strongly at tipping. I don't feel I should have to tip when it's the ships responsibility to get me to the shore wherever they set anchor. We had booked a tour to Altun Ha through the cruise line. I'm not sure I would do so again. We went to the Stardust theater at 8:00 for our 8:15 meeting time and didn't get a tender until almost 9:30. The boat we tendered on unfortunately had no viewing areas and we were unable to get some good photos from the water. Once on land, we were met by our tour guides and escorted to the bus. Thankfully it was air conditioned. The ride is long and tedious, but fortunately our guide Denise was very enthusiastic and she kept us laughing and in good spirits with stories and interesting facts and information about her country. I was surprised the ship didn't offer water to take with us on the tour. Fortunately, the bus had one bottle of water per person when we arrived at Altun Ha. It was very hot and muggy that day and the kids weren't too happy about that. Altun Ha is a very interesting place and I would have liked a bit more time to explore and learn more. We were on a tight time schedule so it seemed to be over and time to get back on the bus before we knew it. It was a long quiet ride back to the port and of course on the tender back to the ship they hinted once again at tipping. Costa Maya - This place seems to basically be a shopping area. Not much else here. It's probably more of a drop off point to take excursions to some more ruins. The do have a beautiful dock and we were the only ship there that day. We ended up renting a golf cart for a couple hours and drove to a beach away from the port. The beach was nice, but from the drive it was obvious the area was still recovering from hurricane damage. Researching, I found that they were hit by (Cat 5) Hurricane Dean in 2007. From the looks of it, they've done quite a bit of rebuilding, but there is still a lot more to do. Key West - We opted to take the Trolley in Key West. We've been here several times in the past, and were very familiar with the island. It was very warm and muggy so, the breeze on the trolley was nice. The island has grown quite a bit in the past 5 or so years and I felt it had lost a lot of it's island charm. Disembarkation - In the past we have opted to walk off with our bags - this time we chose to put them out the night before. Both ways work fine. No major problems either way. We had breakfast in the Summer Palace and savored the last meal and beauty of the ship. We had plenty of time and no one rushed us out. Went back to the rooms to grab the last or our carry out items and went and sat in the Crystal Atrium. One called, it took us literally 15 minutes to get our bags and get off the ship. We truly had a great time on the Pearl and cannot wait to return!! Thanks for reading!