My husband and I were on the Feb 25th 5-day sailing of the Pearl with stops in Cozumel and Belize City. We are in our early 30's and were celebrating our 10 year anniversary. This was our 4th cruise overall, but our first with NCL. I spent several weeks before our trip reading posts on this website and have written a detailed review for those who have a few minutes to read. Happy Cruising!

CABIN: We booked our trip online for a guaranteed balcony. Since we booked the lowest balcony cabin available our balcony was slightly smaller than most, but fantastic none the less. I loved the dEcor of the cabin. All of the linens were white, including the duvet cover which was kept clean by the steward laying a coordinating luggage-blanket on the foot of the bed when making the room up in the morning. Much better than the loud gaudy comforters I've had in cabins in the past. For a 5-day cruise we found the hanging and drawer/shelf space more than adequate. It would be tight on an Alaskan cruise with bulky sweaters and coats.

EMBARKATION: We arrived to an empty embarkation area around 12:30. We walked right up to a waiting agent who took our pictures and sent us on our way. We walked right on to the ship and couldn't believe it when we found our room already cleaned and ready to go. It was just after 1:00 pm. Although we arrived early, we did not get our luggage until around 6:00. This was no problem since we'd packed our shorts and suits in our carry-on luggage. FYI - don't put any liquids/gels over 3 ounces in your carry on. We forgot and had our sunscreen, toothpaste, hair spray taken at the airport. Read more