Overall impressions – Generally, the ship was clean and well maintained and the staff were generally upbeat and friendly. The special 15-day dining room menu had good variety but the buffet offerings were average. There were only two theater production shows during the whole 15-day cruise. The other shows varied from very good (the comedian, 4 Season tribute) to poor. Assistant cruise directors were very good with lots of trivia contests, dance classes and other activities during the long cruise. The special narrator brought on board for Panama Canal transit was excellent.

Cons - Embarkation in LA was extremely slow and debarkation in Miami took 1 ½ hours, both due to terminal personnel problems. NCL needs to put pressure on these ports to improve service. NCL’s new “iConcierge” app has potential but was very disappointing with many texts not send or delivered. NCL has increased prices on drinks and excursions. Some menu items are now priced ala carte.

Details – This cruise was a 15-day cruise leaving LA, visiting six ports on the western Central America coast, transiting the Panama Canal and visiting Cartagena before arriving in Miami. The NCL Pearl was being repositioned from Vancouver-Alaska cruises to Caribbean cruises. About half of the 2200 passengers were from the US and many of the rest were from Germany, Australia, Europe and Asia. Read more