DH and I are both in our mid-40's and this was our third cruise, our second with NCL. We had cruised Alaska on the Norwegian Star in 9/06 and had such a good experience that we wanted to cruise NCL again. One of the primary draws for us is the Freestyle dining concept. With the traditional system, the early seating is too early and interferes with shore excursions. The late seating is way too late for us.

We flew into Miami one day pre-cruise. DH travels frequently for work and as such is only too aware of the possibility of not getting where you want to go when you want to get there. This is not a risk we want to take! We had a buy one-get one with Delta and the flight was uneventful. We stayed Thursday night at the Hampton Inn Airport/Blue Lagoon. If you haven't seen Miami before and want to get a taste of the city, I would recommend staying at a hotel downtown or in South Beach. In our case, we have been to Miami before and the price was right for this (free with HiltonHonors points!). The hotel is just minutes from the airport, is clean and provides a free airport shuttle and a nice breakfast bar. There are a couple of places to eat nearby, nothing spectacular, but most importantly there are two drugstores and a large supermarket just across the street for those last minute needs. We bought some bottled water and Diet Coke for the cruise, as well as various and sundry small items we'd forgotten (or suddenly felt we must have!). The hotel offered a shuttle to the port for $10 pp. The times offered were 11, noon and 1 p.m. Since we were up and ready to go, we decided to take our chances and head out to the ship at 11. When we arrived, the passenger/luggage area was already busy but not overwhelmingly so. Unlike Seattle, we left our bags with a porter ($1 per bag is usual) where the shuttle dropped us, and walked on in to the terminal. It is difficult to see the ship as it is behind the building and I was anxious to get a look. Thankfully, we didn't have long to wait as we were processed and walking aboard by 11:30. It was a very efficient and painless process.

Boarding a cruise ship makes me feel like a 2-year old at Christmas, and the Pearl was no disappointment. Everywhere you look there is something unique, wild and wonderful. The atrium is lower-ceilinged than the Star, but no space is wasted and certainly it does not feel cramped. I love the way the Blue Lagoon and Mambo's restaurants encircle and look down on the area, in the evenings you can sit at dinner and listen to music and watch the goings-on below. Read more