My wife and I have been extremely busy this past year, so we were looking forward to some rest and relaxation this time aboard the NCL Pearl. This is our sixth cruise, having cruised on Carnival and RCI prior to this. We utilized cruise critic extensively to research ahead of time, got a great deal on an internet site for the cruise around a year ago, and by February after a rough winter, we were definitely ready to get someplace warm. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale, around one hour ahead of a major winter ice storm in Indianapolis, but feeling very snug and excited once we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale. We went to a nice Italian dinner in a nearby restaurant to the Doubletree Galleria, which was a very nice pre cruise stay. It was around 8PM of the night before the cruise that I realized that I forgot my Passports...nothing can describe the feeling of despair that I felt and helplessness. Back home was a major ice storm and traffic was virtually impossible. However, on a whim, I called FedEx, and they said that they could do a same day service, a courier picking up our Passports at our home, taking them to the airport and by noon the next day (sailing day) have them delivered to our hotel. They came through perfectly, but it was expensive. At that point, I was very grateful that we would cruise at all, so we headed to the shuttle and then to the port to board the beautiful Pearl. Embarkation: Was very easy. We just went up to customs, took five minutes, and before we knew it, we were in our room. First impressions of our room...a little small, smaller than our last cruise on the Carnival Miracle,but the balcony was much more private, and I learned to like it even better. Very tight getting around the beds, but that was part of the fun as it was easier to catch Mrs, Indy in the room. The bathrooms were very efficient, nice shower, push button shampoo and gel . The room stewards were excellent...always kept the room nice and clean, towels fresh and the usual towel animals.

The ship itself I found to be colorful, and yet classy. Nice signage around the ship to help you keep oriented (I normally get turned around and find myself on the aft when I want to be forward) There were plasma tv's about that showed how full the restaurants were at any given time, to help you decide where you might want to eat. We never had the need as we reserved ours ahead every night, and never had any problems getting reservations. Our concierge Carlos was fabulous in making sure that all our needs were met. He even came to visit us at Le Bistro one evening to "check in" with us. Very first class treatment. The pool area was typical of most ships I have been on, but the pool band was the best I have heard yet. They got the place going. The loungers are nicer than on other ships, the fabric type, but were hard to find on sea days near the pool. No worries, we found some one floor up with a nice breeze. The pools are also fresh water, which I liked better than salt water. The spa area is extremely nice, and my wife and I took advantage of the seaweed wrap treatment. It was a bit pricey, but very well done, and the staff did not try to hard sell their products after the treatment, which I appreciated. The restaurants were our favorite feature on this cruise, with the tremendous variety of different venues and types of food. Some people complain about having to pay a little extra, but I much prefer the freestyle cruising over the regimented typical cruise line seating and timing of dining. We liked La Cucina, the Italian restaurant, the best, and it was free. The others were also very good, but I was a little disappointed in the Cagney's dinner, as the steak was not cooked as I asked for. However, the waiters at Cagney's were my favorite in the entire ship, especially Michael and Luciano (sp) We also ate in Summer Palace, Indigo's and Mambo's (twice) which were all free and were all on a par with Carnival or RCI food in my opinion. Le Bistro had excellent food and deserts. The itinerary was also excellent. We did not get off in Samana, opting instead to lay out by the pool. We pretty much had the place to ourselves which was very relaxing. We did get off in Tortola, which had a great beach called Cane Garden Beach. Antigua was also beautiful and had a nice beach also called Dickinson Beach. Barbados was a bit of a disappointment. We went to Malibu Beach, which was next door to the Malibu Rum factory. Lots of rum sold here cheap, and the beach itself very nice, but the town I thought was industrial looking, and the drivers seemed dishonest. Finally, we ended our itinerary with St. Lucia, my favorite island. We booked the tour by Cosol, and it is every bit as good as advertised. Our driver, his name is Bompy, was fantastic, articulate, caring and fun. For fifty bucks a person, we had all the beer, rum, breakfast foods provided, bread and cheese for lunch (hot, freshly made, just delicious) and the tour itself which lasted from 8:30am to around 4PM. The best deal of the whole cruise in my opinion. We also went to all the shows. We like them all except Second City, which I did not find funny at all. However, the Cirque de Soleil type acrobatic dancers were unbelievable, the jugglers Max and Shawn called Sharkbait were hilarious, the magician and his wife were very good and I even tolerated the soap opera guy (he redeemed himself with a nice rendition of "Proud to Be an American" at the end of the show. His impressions actually were very good. We also made some great friends with our cruise critic board folks. We had around 75 turn out for our meet and greet at Le Bistro, and the captain, the cruise director, the hotel director and others came and spoke with us. We went on excursions (St Lucia, beach time etc)with some of these great cruise critic friends, and spent the last night at Mambo's eating dinner with them as well. I highly recommend getting involved with a roll call on the boards and get to know other people. It makes the cruise so much better. The nine night cruise finally came to a close, and we decided to try the freestyle debarkation, which means you simply walk off with your own luggage when you want. We liked it a lot, and were all done with the whole process in less than a half hour. This was our favorite cruise to date. We were treated like VIP's the entire trip by Dwen the hotel director, Carlos the concierge and others. I highly recommend the beautiful Pearl and its smashing crew.