Norwegian Pearl Review
Rating by category
Additional details
The itinerary looked good and included ports we'd never been to with only 2 full days at sea. Previously had cruised only on Princess.
The Norwegian Pearl was nicely decorated for the holidays, clean and well-maintained. NEVER crowded even though all cabins were sold out - amazing! One fellow remarked he'd been on 38 cruises and couldn't figure out where the people were! So many bars, lounges, restaurants to choose from. As expected - Only the area near the casino was disgusting as it reeked of cigarette smoke from the moment the elevator opened. YIKES that was gross - usually it just stinks inside the casino.
New Orleans Port Authority could use some improvements - the port crew seemed lackadaisical when loading ship and baggage - left passenger bags uncovered during torrential evening rain - giving many passengers soaking wet luggage (it wasn't close enough to the ship to allow the ship's crew to touch it. Probably a union thing. We left hours late and I heard and felt it was due to poor management of the port at NOLA. The check in experience could be better, long lines and they need to realize people will always come earlier than they are supposed to (or agreed to online in advance!)
Cabin Review
Mini-Suite with Balcony
This cabin was ideal for those that don't like to walk a long way - short distance to elevator (but NO noise from elevator) and quick elevator ride with short walk to main dining room. Easy to navigate to any other part of the ship and liked it a lot. Very comfortable.
Port Reviews
Santo Tomas de Castilla
We did take a nice 1 hour tour and got to see how folks live and a bit of the area. Enjoyed it and was a great exchange between passengers and the tour guide about life there versus USA as he was very engaging. It was a pleasant diversion because otherwise there is just one large warehouse type building for local shopping and a bit of local music, which could be boring for younger people/families. Got to take a tour - this place needs more tourism!
Harvest Caye
This place had something for everyone. It was super clean and easy to get to everything! Wish it had been just a bit warmer that day - but we were the only ship so NOTHING was crowded. Could've spent longer here. Super long walk down a really long pier so lots of older people were riding the shuttle which was really rather a slow process!
Costa Maya
I liked this port and sorry we didn't do an excursion. Will next time I visit, but the shopping was close and had a great mix of local and bigger stores, free entertainment constantly.
Grand Cayman (Georgetown)
Spent all my time shopping and getting some fabulous jewelry here.
New Orleans
Have been to NOLA for land vacation before - other than enjoying some dining didn't do ship-related excursion.