We just got back from the Pearl...hard to come home.

We live in Charlotte, NC so we drove to Miami. We left 3/27 and stopped in GA at a LaQuinta. Got to Miami Saturday afternoon and stayed at the LAQuinta East by the airport. You can leave your car there for free and they take you to the port for free. They had a couple shuttles going at 10 am and 11 am Sunday morning. We had to get back from the port on our own. I booked Supershuttle....will not do that again. Will take taxi next time, the wasted time was not worth the savings.

Embark was the easiest I have ever had. I'm sure most of that was due to how early we arrived. We got checked in and got our room cards. We were then sent to the seating area. I guess because we were in a mini-suite it was a different area, not the main big sitting area. They were a little late getting everyone off the prior cruise so we didn't get on until close to 12. I think we were the first 12 on the ship. Got our Welcome aboard bubbly and went to the buffet. We were totally impressed with the food and the selection. Everything was great. We wondered around the ship stopping at the restaurants for samples and getting the feel for the ship. We were allowed to the room at 2:15. Loved the mini-suite 11656 an aft room. The layout is great. The bathroom setup is great and the shower with tub gives you so much more room. The balcony off the back is really nice too. We had CC people on both sides of us, that was nice since. It's like having friends on board since we got to talk on the boards before hand. Only real issue with the room is the noise from the great outdoors late at night and early morning... chair scrapping on the deck. We made reservations for Mambos that night and really enjoyed....so much food and it was all really good. Went to the show that night and made an early evening of it. It was a full ship, little over 2800...over 600 were under the age of 18. I was really surprised except for a few times... they were very well behaved and you really didn't know there were that many on the ship. College age were not an issue.. didn't see any really issues there either. Read more