Pearls of Wisdom- A blogger's review of the NCL Pearl (Tips, Tricks, Pics & Insights)

Hello fellow cruise lovers,

My husband and I are cruise lovers and addicts and recently sailed for the first time on Norwegian Cruise Line. We have been on 12 other cruises before this and sailed on Carnival, Royal Caribbean as well as Princess. I am a cruise blogger and love sharing our experiences with other cruise lovers. I am going to post the blog installments daily as well as the Freestyle Daily and other information. In each installment I try to highlight tips and tricks we found useful.

I hope this helps some of y'all plan your next cruise. Please let me know if you have any questions! Thanks for following along!

~Kellie

Pre- Cruise... What a nightmare it was traveling in from Houston to New Orleans but we made it!

http://chrisandkelliedavis.blogspot.com/2018/03/pearls-of-wisdom-pre-cruise.html

Thanks for following along!

Thanks for sharing your blog,

I'll be following along.

Keith

Excited about this review! I will be on the Pearl in Jan 2019!

Sea Day #1- The gorgeous NCL Pearl did not disappoint!

Thanks again for following along!

http://chrisandkelliedavis.blogspot.com/2018/03/pearls-of-wisdom-sea-day-1.html

Kellie, we are in similar room next week. Could you fit your suitcases under the bed?

Really looking forward to this review! We will be on the Pearl in May and it will be our first cruise outside the Disney Cruise Line bubble.

Kellie, we are in similar room next week. Could you fit your suitcases under the bed?

Yes! They fit very well. There is a small ledge you have to go over so at first we did not think they fit but with force the suitcase will roll over the ledge and you are all set.

Thanks

Will be on the 4 week Pearl cruise nextweek.

I'm really enjoying your review. Cozumel is one of the ports we will be stopping at for our first cruise.

Following your blog. Thank you!

Even after 12 cruises, we had never been to COXEN HOLE. When we had visited Roatan previously, we have always ported at Mahogany Bay (The Carnival Port). This was a real treat to port at Coxen Hole. Due to only 1 pier, the NCL Pearl had to tender into the port but that was no issue for us. The tender ride was short and sweet (less than .5mile).

I hope this helps some of y'all!

Let me know if you have any questions!

http://chrisandkelliedavis.blogspot.com/2018/03/pearls-of-wisdom-coxen-hole-roatan.html

I'm really enjoying your review. Cozumel is one of the ports we will be stopping at for our first cruise.

You will LOVE Cozumel! It is one of our FAVORITES! The water is just gorgeous!

Loving your review & your pictures are great. Look forward to more of your thoughts on the Pearl. We might be considering the Pearl for 2019 for our 40th. Anniversary cruise to the Panama Canal. It will be coming to Tampa so very easy for us as we are only about 45 min. from the port! We too have never been on NCL so not sure. :confused: Look forward to more of your review & pictures.

One question, do you have the dining pkg. & do you know what the extra charge is for some of the specialty restaurants?

Excited about this review! I will be on the Pearl in Jan 2019!

We will be with you, so I'll follow along here too!

Loving your review & your pictures are great. Look forward to more of your thoughts on the Pearl. We might be considering the Pearl for 2019 for our 40th. Anniversary cruise to the Panama Canal. It will be coming to Tampa so very easy for us as we are only about 45 min. from the port! We too have never been on NCL so not sure. :confused: Look forward to more of your review & pictures.

One question, do you have the dining pkg. & do you know what the extra charge is for some of the specialty restaurants?

Yes I am going to share lots of Dining Package info coming up.

But Basically Cagneys, Le Bistro are a la carte costs. Steaks were $16-21 each then the cost of appetizers or sides. Moderno, La Cucina and Teppanyaki were a set price. Moderno $25, Teppanyaki was $30 and Le Cucina was $25 I believe (but not certain as we did not go there).

We had the 3 night Ultimate Dining Package and it was basically $23 per meal for a $68 total each. With gratuities it was about $84. It was worth it FOR SURE. Most of the time at the a la carte places it allowed you 1 appetizer, 1 soup or salad, 1 entree with 2 sides and 1 dessert. We were able to get additional sides at no extra cost but was told would have to pay for appetizers.

Day 5 already... It is going by SO FAST!

Harvest Caye was AMAZING! We have been to cruise line private islands before but this was exceptional. The beach was excellent (albeit cold but great) and the pool was phenomenal. Plus the amenities were excellent. I wish the Ultimate Beverage Package was included but other than that it was PERFECT. Also, I would like to see NCL serve food like Royal Caribbean or Great Stirrup Caye,

I took LOTS of pictures and videos of the island! I included bar and restaurant menus as well.

Let me know if you have any questions!

http://chrisandkelliedavis.blogspot.com/2018/03/pearls-of-wisdom-harvest-caye-belize.html

We will be with you, so I'll follow along here too!

Thanks for following along! We loved the PEARL!

Day 5 already... It is going by SO FAST!

 

Harvest Caye was AMAZING! We have been to cruise line private islands before but this was exceptional. The beach was excellent (albeit cold but great) and the pool was phenomenal. Plus the amenities were excellent. I wish the Ultimate Beverage Package was included but other than that it was PERFECT. Also, I would like to see NCL serve food like Royal Caribbean or Great Stirrup Caye,

 

I took LOTS of pictures and videos of the island! I included bar and restaurant menus as well.

 

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

http://chrisandkelliedavis.blogspot.com/2018/03/pearls-of-wisdom-harvest-caye-belize.html

Just so you, and everyone reading your blog know Harvest Caye is NOT a private island for NCL. its just another port stop, that's why they don't serve free food there. Only on their islands, like Stirrup Caye :D

 

 

Just so you, and everyone reading your blog know Harvest Caye is NOT a private island for NCL. its just another port stop, that's why they don't serve free food there. Only on their islands, like Stirrup Caye :D

Actually it is.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Just so you, and everyone reading your blog know Harvest Caye is NOT a private island for NCL. its just another port stop, that's why they don't serve free food there. Only on their islands, like Stirrup Caye :D

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

J

Thanks for the insight as I had wondered why call it a "private island" if you are not going to include the food and etc... BUT I am just going off what they explained to us on board.

Either way... We enjoyed Harvest Caye a LOT and despite no food or drinks included, we had a FANTASTIC day! The point of my installment was to just get as much info as I could out there since the island itself (rather private or not) is still fairly new.

Day 6... Costa Maya

The last time we visited this port it did not end well and honestly... I cannot remember a thing!

But this time was much different. We did not have any set excursions but wanted to look around the port since we didn't do that last time. While exploring we came across a spa and fell in love. I swear a massage on the beach is the way to go. We are coming back in June and November and we will be getting a massage each time. $50 for an hour?!?!? Yes... please!

Thanks again for following along. I hope it has helped some of y'all!

Let me know if you have questions!

http://chrisandkelliedavis.blogspot.com/2018/04/pearls-of-wisdom-costa-maya.html

Day 7... our last day on the Norwegian Pearl!

It started somewhat shaky but was an incredible way to spend St. Patrick's Day!

We took a few time lapse videos of the decks and that was fun!

Again, thanks for following along!

http://chrisandkelliedavis.blogspot.com/2018/04/pearls-of-wisdom-sea-day-2.html