My husband and I returned from a Miami based Western Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Pearl. First time on NCL, 15 cruises overall. Some observations that I hope will be helpful to others. We found lots of information on CruiseCritic that helped us before and during the cruise.We flew into MIA and stayed overnight at the Springhill Suites near the airport with a breakfast/cruise transfer package. Hotel is in the middle of nowhere. Either order pizza delivered or arrange with the front desk to have the hotel shuttle take you to a local restaurant. The hotel provided two mini-busses for transfer to the Cruise Port on Sunday.Check in was painful. Long, slow lines with very few clerks for first timers on NCL. Latitudes members and Casinos At Sea cruisers had a much easier time.I think the Pearl is a lovely ship that is colorful without being gaudy (think Carnival). The layouts on the public floors took some getting used to. We had an Obstructed Oceanview cabin with two small vertical windows looking out onto the lifeboats. First time we've ever had an Obstructed cabin without a large window. The cabin was dark and the lighting was poor. I have read many complaints on this board about the bathroom, but we liked the layout. We can understand where a very tall or very large person would have trouble, but it worked fine for us. Plenty of storage.Great: Coffee machine farthest back in the Garden Cafe before the "family area" and the doors to the Great Outdoors. Thank you CruiseCritic! This is the free REAL coffee machine. No need to pay for brewed coffee at the Java Cafe on Deck 7. The room safe large enough for a laptop. The true Promenade Deck for walking every day. (No up and down decks like Princess) Huge library with comfortable seating - best I've seen in 15 cruises. Walk-off disembarkation with our luggage. Fastest ever.OK: Food. The buffet had many, many options for all meals. DH really liked the Caesar salad station and the pasta station where the chefs would make the dishes up while you watched. I liked the Indian food and salad selections. Dining room meals were really mediocre with few selections. We usually ended up with the "anytime" items. The best meal we had was at Le Bistro (half price on embarkation night). DH said the lobster was worth the extra $10. Fitness Center. Lots of cardio and weight machines. Only on the first sea day did I see a crowd there. The exercise classes led by Sarah were fantastic, especially her Abs Class. The classes led by the young man from Slovakia were just OK. A good mix of free and pay classes. Elevators. Never had to wait too long up or down and the display screens were good, even if the time was never correct ?WORST: Worst. Cabin. Stewards. EVER. Never smiled, every question or request was met by a blank stare or "no". DH cornered the head of hotel services at the CruiseCritic meet and greet to press his request for a blanket instead of the comforter which was way too hot for him. Stewards said "no blankets available", but DH had one within 2 hrs of his CC meeting request. Stewards were not happy that he went over their heads. Bingo announcements. I've read complaints in other reviews about the ridiculous cost of the Bingo games. No wonder there were constant reminders about the bingo games - I guess no one was showing up!Can't comment on excursions because we didn't take any. It seemed like there were quite a few ships excursions available even when the ship arrived in port.The only show we attended was Sharkbait and I thought they were great - DH thought the show was stupid, but he doesn't like jugglers ?.Would we cruise NCL again? Maybe, but only for a great price.