Look out competition, Norwegian means business with this ship. First off, I will say that the port of Miami is a well-oiled machine. I think there were 6 or 7 ships in port that day, and it ran seamlessly. We were staying in a penthouse, #11530, and I think Norwegian is doing a marvelous job of making the extra money you spend on a suite worth every penny. The first of which was VIP embarkation. We arrived at around 2:30, waited in line about 10 minutes, and were directed to the VIP lounge where we were offered refreshments while our key cards were created. After that, we breezed through security and were off to the Pearl. The Pearl is not yet a year old, and is definitely the most beautiful ship I have ever seen. The lobby is amazing, how often do you get to see a Van Gogh when you are not in a museum? In case you don't see the enormous glass case, it's behind the front desk! And the enormous Nintendo screen, wow. My very favorite part of the ship, however, was my room. I have a two and a half year old son, and it really isn't worth taking a vacation if I can't have a separate room for my son to nap in. Anyone who has tiptoed around a stateroom while a baby is napping knows how tough it is! So we saved our pennies and went for the penthouse. Wow! Talk about luxury. The smaller bedroom is immediately on the right, and while not huge is definitely large enough to for two adults. The bathroom in this bedroom is nicer than all the regular staterooms I've stayed in on Royal Caribbean, Crystal and Celebrity and other Norwegian ships : the size is similar but it is trimmed in polished wood paneling! The common room, also trimmed out in polished wood has a dining table, a swanky bar with Starbuck's grade cappuccino machine and a cabinet full of real crystal, a den area with a flat screen TV and DVD player and veranda. The master bedroom looked on to the coolest bathroom ever, complete with soaking tub with a picture window and flatscreen TV, double sink and vanity, watercloset, double closet and shower with window! I have never taken a shower with the window open, but I will never forget looking out on the ocean passing by...Just don't forget to close it when you are in port....=) I want to say at this point that I'm really not including much info on the southern Caribbean itinerary for this trip because we really didn't do more than go off the ship at each port and stroll around town with our son. He usually naps in the pm so we were normally back on board by 12:30. I booked this cruise for the ship's facilities and activities and didn't really care were we were actually going. For me, it's all about enjoying the ride, not that the islands weren't lovely. As parents, the main reason we booked this particular cabin on this particular ship was because of the level of service and the children's program. Let me state to everyone that the children's program on Norwegian starts at age 2, whereas everyone else that I know of starts at 3. This is a BIG difference. The most relaxing part of my vacation experience was ordering room service for our son (from any restaurant on the ship) from our butler, Ahkmad. Ahkmad would cheerfully bring our son's dinner (several times we ordered Szechwan noodles from the Blue Lagoon or pizza from La Cucina (yum!) and we would enjoy the appetizers sent by management while we sailed out of port on the veranda. At the risk of sounding like a beer commercial, it doesn't get any better than that in my mind! Better yet, the fact that all of the dishes would magically disappear after we left the room for the evening may have made it even better!

Our stateroom attendants were Richard and Hydralino and were the best we've ever had. They knew our names from the moment we walked on the hall and always had a smile. The towel animals they made delighted my son every night-- I've never seen a towel dinosaur! Every night, after "cocktail and toddler dinner hour" in our room, we would take our son to the Kid's Crew at 7:00 and we would go to dinner. For all of you parents out there, you know how liberating it is to see your child happy and entertained and then be able to go out on your own! We were issued a cell phone and were called only if our child had a problem. I'm not just talking about babysitting, our son came home each time his face painted and tales of some great adventure. They have this amazing "jungle gym" which won my son over on his first night. It is huge!! One night they made Fruit Loop Leis and I don't think he will ever forget it. My husband and I equally enjoyed getting to go out every evening and definitely recommend using the concierge to make reservations. The flat screen monitors outside of the dining rooms are helpful, but many of the restaurants always seemed to be full. We tried them all, with our favorite being Le Bistro, the Chateaubriand is as good as they say and worth the extra "extra" upcharge (Don't miss the $19 million Renoir on the wall there!) We ate there twice. I also thought La Cucina, Blue Lagoon, and Mambo's we great, and with no upcharge, they were all nice options. Also, we ate at the Summer Palace once, and enjoyed it. The room really is beautiful, and did remind me of the real thing, which we visited in 2003. Oh, and I'm still craving the sushi at the sushi bar. One of the other really great perks of being in a VIP room is that you can eat breakfast and lunch at Cagney's. How relaxing it is to sit in a quiet, clubby restaurant and be served a wonderful breakfast of Filet Mignon and eggs or Tahitian vanilla french toast covered in Grand Marnier-laced strawberries! To feel even more relaxed, have your butler bring it to your cabin! We did eat a few breakfasts, lunches and dinners in the Garden Cafe just because we wanted something quick. I think they are doing a great job in there. All of the food I had there was tasty and fresh, and the staff was always friendly. I even saw Eggs Benedict on the buffet, which I thought was nice. The ice cream served in the afternoon and evening is excellent! I loved the chocolate the most. One more thing about eating breakfast and lunch at Cagney's, we saw the same staff there basically every day, and though they share in the tip pool with everyone else that serves you over the course of your cruise, we really felt they deserved a little extra. The service there is excellent and Roy and the rest of the gang were so kind to us and our son.

So, I really feel Norwegian has done a great job making parent's life more relaxing on board. A few examples in addition to what I have already mentioned: the Kid's Crew area has a restroom just for little ones with "little potties" and lower sinks. It's so cute and my son loved it. Cruising is a great vacation to enforce potty training because there is always a clean bathroom nearby and my son knew that if he wasn't potty trained, he wasn't going in the pool! We really loved the glass enclosed toddler pool area as well. It is located just off the main pool area and has an adorable elephant slide and about 6-7 inches of water, all the little people seemed to love it. There were several playground style toys there too, including a seesaw. Having this area enclosed was great because I didn't have to worry about my son getting sun burned or bug bites. Plus, it's great to keep the little ones away from the busier big pool. Also, the Garden Cafe has a "Kid's Cafe" all the way in the back, complete with kid friendly food and adorable low tables and chairs. Definitely toddler approved! With all of these glowing things to say, it's hard to believe I'd say anything negative, but I want to be as honest as possible. A few things that bothered me--the overhead noise above our cabin was LOUD. I mean, loud, loud. I'm not sure exactly what was overhead, chaise lounges around the pool area maybe, but we had noise at all hours. The kind of noise that would jar you out of sleep. I was always able to go back to sleep, but it's hard to believe that a ship this thoughtfully designed wouldn't have some sort of better sound insulation. The night of the Caribbean deck party was really annoying, the music blaring until midnight. It's vacation, I didn't let it stress me out, I was just afraid it was going to wake up my little one (thankfully, it didn't or Simon the cruise director would have had to come down and sing him some lullabies). Really the only other negative thing I have to say is that on the two occasions we visited the specialty bars on deck 7, we had pretty crappy service. I stopped at the champagne bar to order a glass of Veuve Cliquot one evening and had a pretty long wait, which wasn't a big deal, it was around 7 and I know that is a very busy time. The problem I had is that the bartender was very brisk, actually he was rude, and it left a bad taste in my mouth, especially since I was ordering a $15 glass of wine. What's worse is that my husband ordered a small-batch bourbon at the whiskey bar and asked for the bartender's input and he rolled his eyes and basically said he didn't have an opinion. Then, after my husband placed his order the bartender poured it over ice and sat it in front of him and walked away, and never asked how we would like it served--which is neat. This is the service you get at a bar designed specifically for whiskey drinkers? Come on, why bother if that is the kind of education and attitude your servers are going to have? We are fun and always enjoy chatting with the bar staff and just didn't have luck or fun with the staff there. And yes, I did mention both of these fellas in my cruise survey by name. Incidentally, we had much more fun with the staff in Bliss, what a cool place! I guess that's about it. I would get back on this ship in a heartbeat. I am just afraid that I am so completely spoiled that I won't enjoy any other ship as much!