Pearl March 2-7 Review

Left on the Pearl out of NOLA on March 2nd. We were very lucky to get into a Suite this time cruising. We were in suite 9002.

Arrival--

Since we were in the suite you didn't have to pick an arrival time. You are able to just arrive when you like. We decided that we wanted to get there around 11 so we could get checked in and go ahead and have lunch at Cagney's. Unfortunately we weren't the only ones who thought about arriving at that time. This was our first time out of this port so it was a little confusing on where to go for parking ( we drove to the port). We finally ended up getting that figured out and got our luggage unloaded and parked the truck.

Once inside the port it was a little crazy. We got inline to go through security and made it to the next area were there was only one lady directing people were to go. I know that since your in a suite you do have a separate area to go to get signed in. I had my paperwork with me and showed her our room and she directed my family to the side with a few others and said that another attendant would be with us to take us to the private room.

That really didn't take that long, BUT once we arrived in the room it was a little crazy. The room was packed. One person checking in passengers people. The room was very small! We were packed in with standing room only for a while. I spoke with some of the other passenger's and they said that this was one of the worst ports for check in for suite/haven guests.

Once we got checked in, they had led some of the other on board the ship so it wasn't has crowded. It took about 15mins after check in to get our key cards and get escorted onboard the ship and led to Cagney's for lunch. Once we got to Cagney's they told us we could go and sit in Moderno's and that the hostess would come and get us when our table was ready. My husband uses a cane so it was nice to be able to sit instead of stand. When we arrived there was about 10 of us, 5 of us chose to go in and sit down. We were in there for about 10 mins and I told my husband I think they forgot about us, I was going to walk back over and check. Sure enough they didn't let the hostess know that there was a group of us sitting in Moderno. She was very apologetic and came in and got us all seated quickly. I had mentioned to the hostess that we had reservations at Moderno and Cagney's but I couldn't remember the exact times. She quickly said no problem and looked them up and printed me tickets for all of reservations. She noticed we had a very late one (9pm) set up for Moderno and told us that we could arrive at any time we wanted to eat and she would seat us.

My DH and I both ordered the steak and our son ordered a burger. The food was delicious! We were able to sit and relax, speak with other guests while we were served, and they updated us when the cabins were ready.

Cabin 9002

The room was BEAUTIFUL!! We had an incredibly large balcony looking directly over the front of the ship. The cabin had a lot of storage space and plenty of room for the 3 of us.

Our room steward Edward was in the hall when we arrived and introduces himself and offered assistance with anything we needed. Next our butler Theresa stopped by, dropped off some treats and explained what she did. All were very nice, and polite.

Exploring 1st Day

We made a list of a few things we wanted to do once we were on board.

We wanted to register our son for Teen Entourage, get him his soda cup, move him to a cash account for his key card, get my sticker for the Thermal Spa and also register for the spa giveaway.

We stopped at the service desk and asked to change our son's account to cash. Our son is great, pretty responsible kid, BUT he is still a young kid. We know he isn't used to having to carry a key card around, so we didn't want it to get lost. They had us sign an authorization form saying that you will still be responsible if they go over the amount of cash on the account.

My DH went and got us drinks at the Atrium bar and I took our son to the table in the atrium to pick up his soda cup. They had a table for the spa set up so we picked up our registration cards for the giveaway and went to the pool deck to check things out. Our son got a snack and my DH and I enjoyed another drink. We went back to our cabin to check on luggage and than headed to our muster station. They went quickly and smoothly. Back to our cabin to relax and change for dinner.

Sure enough we arrived at Moderno at 5:45 and the Hostess created us all by name and sat us at our table. We were celebrating our sons 14th birthday that night. The food was great and they even ordered his a cake and sang happy birthday to him. Amazing staff, very friendly and attentive.

I will continue with the review a little later and also try and upload some pictures we took!!

Keep it coming!

Who was the concierge?

Following along and you are off to a wonderful start.

Keith

It's great to hear that so far all of the food has been to your liking!

Continued.....

few things I forgot for day 1

*We had called the 800# for the concierge that we had found in a different thread. They told us they could set up our beverage preference ex- coffee, tea, ect... and we could go ahead and choose from the pillow menu before the cruise.

My husband and I had both told her what pillows we had wanted and she said they would relay that to the ship.

The pillows weren't there when we arrived. We did mention this to our butler and room steward. By day 2 they did find us 2 memory foam pillows but not the reading wedges we had asked for. They stated they would keep looking. In the end they did get another memory foam pillow for our son but that was all. It was a small disappointment but easy enough to get over.

My DH went with me to the spa raffle. We met in one of the fitness rooms for this. They of course have to go over their many spa treatments they offer and introduce the different staff, all while doing the drawing in between. I believe they did 5 drawings in all. We didn't win one :(. They did at the end off a coupon on a massage to be booked on the sea day. There weren't that many people who attended. We had all the chairs filled and a few people standing around the room. The room wasn't that large so maybe 60 people.

Day 2

Sea day.

I got up early and went to the spa to enjoy my 75min massage! It was amazing!! very nice and relaxing.

My DH and son went to Moderno for breakfast. My DH ordered me breakfast to be delivered to the room. He knew about what time I would be done with the spa. There was some confusion in the restaurant and my DH had to call them and they worked it and soon breakfast arrived. It was good some of it was a little cold but all in all great breakfast.

Our son soon ventured out to meet the other teens and my husband and I went to our cruise critic meet and greet. We were a few mins late as we forgot the Bliss lounge is on the opposite end of the ship!! We made it just in time for introduction of officers. It was really nice to see how they go out of their way to help make your meetings special. They had a snack and beverage table set up and a sign up saying private meeting. It was nice to meet several of the people from our roll call.

After the meet and greet DH decided to take a nap and I went back to the spa to enjoy the thermal spa. It would have been nice if they had a bigger Jacuzzi on the women's side. We sailed on the Jade a couple years prior and they had a nice sized one in their thermal spa. The one on the Pearl is the size of a bathtub for one. Of course the heated tile lounge chairs are the best! they are so relaxing. I never had a problem finding one open the entire week.

I ventured back to the cabin and DH had his nap interrupted several times :eek:. We forgot there is a dial on the outside of your cabin door to let everyone know if you don't want to be disturbed. My son and I flipped the dial and let DH try for his nap again and we went to the buffet for a late lunch. I have to say I do like the new organization of the buffet. It was easier to move around and they have a variety of selections.

Son and I walked around the ship for a little while and than he headed back to meet up with friends. DH was up and we enjoyed our balcony for a while. It was nice that we were able to meet and talk to others around us. We had dinner plans at LeBistro so back inside to get ready.

We had reservations at 8pm but wanted to eat earlier so we decided to venture down and see if it was possible. DH went over and spoke with the hostess and we were seated in 3 mins.

We ate here on the Jade and had

We had done a little research about this port and decided that since we had our son we wanted to do a beach excursion maybe. So more research and found one that had great reviews Mr. Sancho's, unfortunately they are closed on Sundays. We ended up deciding to take a tour of the Island. We didn't book this with the ship and figured we would be able to find a local taxi to take us around. There were a group of them across the street from the pier on the ground level. My husband walked over and asked how much a taxi tour would be and the first one told us $150. We decided we would walk around. Another guy came over and said he would take us on a 3hr tour for $30 per person. We felt that was a good deal.

The driver took us in the van and showed us local beach's, military base , shops and generally all over the island. He stopped frequently so we could get out and take pictures and offered to take pictures of us together. He asked if we wanted to go on the Tequila factory tour or stop and eat anywhere. He showed us some local area's as well as the many different beach club locations.

I'm not sure what the name of the beach was but it was the first one he stopped at. There was a little shop area, a bar/maybe restaurant on the right and beach access in the middle with another shop or two on the left. We stepped out to take pictures and my DH and I were looking around. We had glanced over to the right and I was thinking of going over to the shop. I looked over at the bar did a double take and my husband was looking at the same time. He leaned over and said I believe those people are naked in that bar :eek:. I laughed and said I believe your right I think its time to get back and move on. As we were leaving we both looked on top of one of the shops and it had a sign for naked beach.

We weren't able to go in and see the different beach clubs but know where they are located for next time. The last stop we ended up picking up another couple from one of the stops. We rode back into town and ventured around and did some souvenir shopping and than back on board the ship.

We had had snack in the room when we arrived. Always a nice treat, something different every day.

We went to the pool deck enjoyed a few drinks and relaxed.

Back to the room to change for dinner in the main dinning room.

I have to say we never waited anywhere we wanted to eat. We were seated right next to the beautiful windows and enjoyed the view of the ocean while having dinner. DH once again had steak, I had the flounder and our son had pasta carbonara.

I will continue soon!

Who was your concierge?

Who was your concierge?

Our Concierge was Yahirs Suazo. She was very nice but we really didn't use her services on this cruise.

Thank you very much for the review. Keep on going.

We love the forward facing suites on deck 9 because of the ginormous balconies.

Our Concierge was Yahirs Suazo. She was very nice but we really didn't use her services on this cruise.

Thank you. We read that Bruno will be boarding the Pearl but not sure when. We were very happy with how well Bruno treated my parents on the Jewel in 2016 (they were also in room 9002). We did not need him much ourselves but felt he was available for us. We have not met Yahirs before. It seems it will be one of the two for us.

Thank you for your review as well! I am certainly following. :D

Nice review

Don't feel bad. I always make sure to show up for the spa raffle and never win either :loudcry:

Many winners don't show up so they keep drawing names and I don't win again :')

I find the pre-concierge planning never really works out perfect. Its much easier to request things and get what you want once you board upon meeting the butler and concierge.

I'm wondering if they still have the old menus for breakfast and lunch in Moderno. Do you recall if they offered Shrimp Cocktail at lunch? If so, it is the old menu. No big deal either way as we enjoyed the old menu and if it's the new menu we get some new items to try. We are just curious. Thanks. :D

Thanks for the review.

Great read.......looking forward to the rest.

Ok Day 4 Costa Maya Port

We all got up and once again headed to Moderno for breakfast. We all pretty much had what we liked and stuck with it. DH and son loved steak and eggs and I couldn't get enough of their waffles, they rocked!!

We have never been to Costa Maya so we did do some research but not has much as we should of.

The walk off the boat is long, and no bicycles to take you to the end like in Cozumel. As I mentioned before my husband walks with a cane so we took our time on the walk.

There is a pool in the middle of the tourist area with plenty of lounge chairs. There is a high pool in the middle where 4 men were at the top. One played a drum and the others played a flute of some sort. I did look and wonder what in the world we're they doing. My husband decided to sit and watch while my son and I walked around the square. We found several shops and places that served food and drinks. We did find they had a small area with dolphins. That was a definite high light. Once we made it back to my husband we saw the men on the pole were now swinging upside down flying around the pole still playing their instruments.

I have to say I thought this place was beautiful. I would definitely love to go back to this port with our older children and do a beach excursion. The water was breathtaking.

We headed back to the boat and relaxed on our balcony. Our son went out to see if any of friends were back.

There were treats in the afternoon by Theresa. She had a plate of small sandwiches, another plate of veggies and dip and a plate of cookies. We also had a bowl of fruit in our room that was refilled when needed. Oh and we also asked that we have a pitcher of water and tea in the fridge. And she refilled those daily. We did request that our mini fridge be emptied. She also stocked milk and chocolate milk daily.

We saw on the daily they were doing a bingo in the stardust so we headed there. We didn't realize it was just one game of blackout for 4K. Nobody won in 47 numbers so no jackpot.

Son had plans with friends for dinner and DH and I had our anniversary dinner at Cagneys. My DH had the sliders , porterhouse steak Creme brûlé. I had the shrimp cocktail, filet. Now my DH had mentioned to Theresa that this was our anniversary dinner and she had them bring us a cake and sing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart " I was blushing but it was a great

memory!

We headed to the show Legends and it was awesome. 3 ladies in the front row basically attacked Elivis. Was hysterical lol

We headed to the casino and tried our luck. We actually had luck that night DH hit a jackpot ! Great night!!

Day 5 Sea Day

Up and at Moderno for breakfast. My DH changed it up today and ordered the pancakes. They had bananas and whip cream. They were also delicious!

Easy day walked around a little, took a nap and than headed out again for lunch.

We met our son for lunch at Lotus Garden. We got egg rolls, pot stickers , noodles, fried rice and a sushi roll. Well this one was not my favorite. DH didn't mind it so much except for the sushi roll. I like the pot stickers and noodles that was about it.

We headed to spinnaker lounge to play bingo. Didn't win. Headed bank to our room to start getting a little organized for departure the next day.

DH and I headed to O'Sheanns for dinner. We both enjoyed the fish and chips.

We a suite you get a bottle of Champagne and one bottle of water. They have both in the ice bucket chilled on your arrival. Now they iced the Champagne every night. We finally drank it on the last night ! Lol

Back to packing!!

We decided to set most of our bags out to be picked up to make departure a little easier.

We decided we way over packed!!

Day 6

We decided to have breakfast in our room. Theresa was awesome and delivered all our favorites. We received a note from the concierge if we wanted to do an early departure we needed to meet in the stardust by 8:30 I believe.

We met our concierge and she said if you had all your bags she would lead you off if not wait in the stardust till she gets word that our luggage was off loaded. We waited about 15-20 mins and she lead us to security.

Now we were told that if you are a suite or Haven you were lead off and escorted to customs. This was not the case. Suite and Haven had a separate security area to check out of but once you were past that there was only one line leading off the ship and you basically had to jump in front of people to get on the gangway.

Now all and all the trip was fabulous! We enjoyed every part of the "suite life". We have decided that 5 days is not a long enough cruise!

I would recommend anyone having the chance to drive to a port once in a while. We made it like 2 vacations! We were driving from Iowa and we went to Biloxi stayed one night at the Hard Rock Hotel. New Orleans day before cruise at the Harra's and on our way home 2 nights in Nashville.

I will try and upload some pics tomorrow from my computer as I am on my cell and can't figure it out lol.

What an awesome review! Great job!

Gray review! We board very soon so it is great to rad reviews of the Pearl!

Omg I realllllllllly hope Bruno does not board the Pearl before we do on March 25. We had the absolute worst experience with him.

Hoping the pictures will post this time.

Thanks so much for your review! We'll be on the pearl in a suite this Sunday so it's extremely helpful. Curious though - what's the point of having a cash account for your kid if they can have more expenses than that anyway? I have two 12 year olds so this is what I was planning on doing...but... ?

Thanks so much for your review! We'll be on the pearl in a suite this Sunday so it's extremely helpful. Curious though - what's the point of having a cash account for your kid if they can have more expenses than that anyway? I have two 12 year olds so this is what I was planning on doing...but... ?

We also thought this. We talked with our son and explained that we put $20 on his account and he needed to manage it. We figured there were several areas that he could play video games that were no charge and really there shouldn't of been anything else he really needed to pay for. The teen entourage set up bowling so there was no charge for them to play there.

Now our son spent $6 the first and second day and than the night before the cruise was over he spent $20. So when our final charges came the morning to depart he had to run down and pay the $6.00 overage. We did receive a separate bill and they didn't add it to ours. I would assume they wouldn't let a huge amount go over but I would ask next time what the limit would be.

I did download their NCL APP I CONCIERGE. It was awesome. I was able to track out spending throughout the cruise. There actually was an error that I found on the account and they quickly took care of it.

We'll be in the same room in two weeks... I'm almost reluctant to give it up for an H2 or H3, but it is hard to turn down the Haven if my bid is accepted...

I'm wondering if they still have the old menus for breakfast and lunch in Moderno. Do you recall if they offered Shrimp Cocktail at lunch? If so, it is the old menu. No big deal either way as we enjoyed the old menu and if it's the new menu we get some new items to try. We are just curious. Thanks. :D

Yes I did have shrimp cocktail for lunch at Cagneys the first day. It was awesome!! I will check to see if my DH has a picture of the menu.

We'll be in the same room in two weeks... I'm almost reluctant to give it up for an H2 or H3, but it is hard to turn down the Haven if my bid is accepted...

I know what you mean! We also had bids for the Haven but all were turned down. We didn't have our hopes up to much since those has been showing sold out for weeks before the cruise. Good luck I hope you get an upgrade !!

I didn't realize Moderno was an option for breakfast. Do you have to be in a suite to eat there? Was it free or did you have to pay to eat there like you would at dinner? Thanks!

I didn't realize Moderno was an option for breakfast. Do you have to be in a suite to eat there? Was it free or did you have to pay to eat there like you would at dinner? Thanks!

On the Pearl it doesn't have a separate Haven restaurant so Suite and Haven guests go to Moderno for breakfast. This is Full Suite and above dining for Breakfast and Lunch.