The Pearltastic cruise of Candy and Andy

[CruisinCandy]

This is the escapades of Candy and Andy (yes it's so cute and yes we married knowing that every time we introduce ourselves we hear a joke) on their Pearl cruise in the Caribbean. This was our second cruise and our first on NCL.

I should tell you that it is I - Andy - who is using Candy's moniker for this post.

It started off as most airline trips do for me - with anxiety. I'm not fond of air travel as it seems somewhat unnatural to fly and I seem to have pilots who decide to find turbulence or try a "hard" landing. I think I would pay extra for a pilot who can make my trip feel like I was riding in a car. We used frequent flyer miles and traveled first class. This was a first for me and now I'm a little spoiled. I think what made the first class experience so great was the flight crew. Their service was over the top and they smiled and joked with us and each other the whole trip. I also think the three bottles of vodka with each can of bloody mary mix may have also helped with any anxiety I had. Needless to say I was quite happy upon arrival in Miami.

We arrived at our hotel - the Hilton Miami Downtown - to find a large and loud party in the meeting area in full swing. I believe it was associated with the Carnival parade that occurred the next day. (more on that later) We were standing in line to check in listening to the bass reverberate though out the lobby - I thought to myself am I going to have to find a new hotel?. I requested a quiet room due to the party to which the front desk woman asked "what party?". I grinned (counted to three quietly to myself) and put on my incredible charm...(at this point I need to stop fibbing - I have no charm but somehow we ended up with a quiet room).

We grabbed dinner in SOBE at a Fish Called Avalon. Dinner was good, service fair and the drinks excellent. We were tired after a long day a traveling so we headed back to the hotel instead of exploring SOBE as originally planned. Boom-chick-a-bow-wow We started vacation off with a bang and went to bed.

I just realized I have started this cruise review off with a little too lengthly introduction. Tomorrow's installment - "Did you see those feathers!?" and we begin our cruise.

Andy

[Dreamer 2000]

Methinks this will be an entertaining review! Carry on, Andy and Candy - we're all looking forward to reading more.:)

[mypleasure]

This sounds like it will be very, very good!

 

Jean

[Batgirl2]

More, please! :cool:

[coka]

Well all right now! You have my attention! Looks like I will be breaking some work rules this week! Can not wait for the next installment!

 

coka

[*Wink*]

I disagree with Andy already.. He seems very charming! Looking forward to more.

[CruisinCandy]

The morning of the cruise started off with a bang (no not that kind of bang). We went out to find breakfast and as the doors of the elevator opened there stood numerous scantily clad young women with large peacock feather headdresses. The scantily part consisted of very small feathers covering certain places on their bodies. My head was on a swivel as I received a sharp elbow poke to my ribs. "Did you see those feathers....head dresses (I tried to recover to no avail)". Candy feigned another crosscheck as I focused on walking straight.

As we walked down the street we found preparations for a parade as barriers were being erected. We discovered later from someone at the hotel that a Carnival parade was planned for later in the day. Very odd since I thought Carnival normally occurred just before Lent.

We came across a wonderful place for breakfast - The Daily. I had stuffed french toast and she had a baked egg dish with goat cheese and other goodies. I don't know who had the better dish as mine was sweet and Candy's was savory, but I sampled both without a problem. On the way back to the hotel I enjoyed more Carnival girls.

Unfortunately we seemed to have hit embarkation at it's hightpoint. We waited in various lines for 30-45 minutes and finally made it aboard.

I like the layout of the Pearl. Many small seating areas inside, a smaller more useful atrium not the overly large and grandious kind, a great pool deck. I could do without the water slide - but I'm sure the kid's liked it. I tried it once and found it way to slow for my liking. Maybe because I kept running into children on the way down.

We ate a lunch at Summer Palance that was not memorable. I can't tell you what we ate, but I came away with a thought that the food can only get better.

We tried to snooze a little in the cool beds in Spinaker lounge until our room was ready. Unfortunately we had overzealous servers constantly bothering us for drinks. It's obvious were both lying down with our eyes closed. Don't ask us for a sail-away-drink. But I have to say - those were way cool looking and very comfortable beds/couches. I love to have one at home, but our home is not decorated in early Norwegian cruise decor.

After freshing up - we headed to our favorite sail-away spot - the aft deck bar. Had a few drinks, explored the ship more and headed to dinner at Teppenjaki (I'm sure I've spelled it wrong). It was here I encountered the most annoying waiter of the trip - Arnold. Arnold had this annoying habit of following everything he said with this nervous high-pitched laugh that caused spasms down my back. You want more water? hehehehehe You no like the edamame? heehehehe So sorry - we are out of your desert! hehehehehehe

Yes that's right. The first night of the cruise and everyone else at the table was served desert but me. I was eventually given the option of the ice cream - but everyone at the table who had the ice cream recommended I pass. I enjoyed the Teppenjaki experience. The food was good, but $25/person good? I'm not sure. I'm glad we had a coupon for half off our dinner. The best part of dinner was the people we met and had fun with the rest of the cruise. Holly and Stu (pizza king of Cincinnati) were so much fun - but regrettably we never saw them until the morning of debarkation. I would have liked to party it up with Stu.

 

Tomorrow - how many ears on a truck and other impossible trivia questions.

[OceanDreaming2]

I saw on your rollcall that you were offered an upsell. Did you take NCL up on their offer?

[AerynSun_JohnCrighton]

cool.. can't wait.

[CruisinCandy]

I saw on your rollcall that you were offered an upsell. Did you take NCL up on their offer?

 

We were offered to upgrade to a garden villa, however by the time we called back they were gone. :( Then we were offered an upgrade to the AA-owners suite or the deluxe owners suite. It was just too much for our budget and we declined. The first two days with all the rain we were second guessing our decision but in the end we had a wonderful time and it was the right choice.

 

We had booked a aft BA balcony and were offered a free upgrade to a mini-suite by our cruise consultant, but decided to keep the aft balcony based upon others rave reviews. We regretted that decision since, to us, the aft balcony was no different than a regular balcony.

[CruisinCandy]

We should name the above mentioned waiter Arnold #1. In future installments I am guessing Andy will mention a second waiter also named Arnold (#2) - wait till that story!:mad: Interesting as they are both from the Philipines - who knew Arnold was such a common name there!:rolleyes: :D

 

Also, Teppanyaki, with a Y not a j.;)

 

Candy

 

PS: I am sooo embarrassed about the Boom-chicka-bow-wow!:o

[lmf914]

Candy,

 

Dean & I wondered what that noise was the we heard all the way on SoBe the night before we left....now I have my answer it was the 2 of you.

 

I am really enjoying the review and look forward to more of your adventures, well, maybe not all of your adventures :)

 

Are you also responsible for the ship rocking so much that one night?

 

I must say Andy has been cracking me up with his day by day review

 

Lotte

[coka]

LOL,

 

coka

[odblnt]

I could do without the water slide - but I'm sure the kid's liked it. I tried it once and found it way to slow for my liking. Maybe because I kept running into children on the way down.

 

Were you going slow or were they?

 

I was told after my first (very slow) time down the slide that the key was to put your heels down and your shoulders down and (sort of) lift your swim trunks (okole, in Hawaiian). That made it much more fun.

 

On our last trip on the Pearl there were only about a dozen kids, so running into them wasn't a problem.

 

If you want a great taste treat, watch for the chocolate raspberry tartlets for desert at dinner time in either the Summer Palace or Indigo. They are great.

 

Also highly recommend are the spare ribs in Lotus Garden. We made a meal out of appetizers in there.

[CruisinCandy]

Were you going slow or were they?

 

I was told after my first (very slow) time down the slide that the key was to put your heels down and your shoulders down and (sort of) lift your swim trunks (okole, in Hawaiian). That made it much more fun.

 

On our last trip on the Pearl there were only about a dozen kids, so running into them wasn't a problem.

 

If you want a great taste treat, watch for the chocolate raspberry tartlets for desert at dinner time in either the Summer Palace or Indigo. They are great.

 

Also highly recommend are the spare ribs in Lotus Garden. We made a meal out of appetizers in there.

 

I wish someone would have told me about okole. I tried the slide on a port day and and actually came to a stop half way down, but I think I was sitting up. I'm sure if there were kids around they would have shown me the error of my ways. There were no kids in the pool and a few adults in the kids pool - because it was warmer than the adult pool! I told them I knew why it was warmer and did not enter.

 

I did not read about the spare ribs in Lotus Garden until after we returned from the cruise. I'm sure that's just another excuse to cruise again.

Andy

[odblnt]

I wish someone would have told me about okole. I tried the slide on a port day and and actually came to a stop half way down, but I think I was sitting up. I'm sure if there were kids around they would have shown me the error of my ways. There were no kids in the pool and a few adults in the kids pool - because it was warmer than the adult pool! I told them I knew why it was warmer and did not enter.

 

That's exactly what happened to me the one time I tried it last year and then the first time I tried it this year. I thought it was just my size (over 200 lbs), but I had seen big guys going down the slide and was confused. Fortunately, there was a pool attendant there who clued me in.

[CruisinCandy]

Our first day out from port was a sea day and we were delighted to find trivia included in the NCL daily. If I recall correctly there was morning and afternoon trivia scheduled for that day. Candy and I enjoy trivia and were pleased to find out we would end up playing everyday. It turns out there was a chronic group of triviaholics we were pitted against frequently with a few new parties mixed in. One of the ever-present groups – I’ll call them the Gainesville Crewe – we continually bumped into at trivia, various events and bars for the first two days of the cruise and had to introduce ourselves. We merged our trivia groups thereafter and our evening socializing from time to time. From the Gainesville Crewe I learned the best way to smuggle rum on to the ship (Captain Jack Sparrow would be proud), that there is a big difference between Florida and Florida State football and I shouldn’t joke about either football program, and that there’s a bar open until at least 3am on board. I’m not sure if the Gainesville Crewe learned much from me – except that natural childbirth is a messy event and yes they should go to that childbirth class, they don’t like Johnny Walker Black on the rocks (and especially a rusty nail), and getting older doesn’t mean you have to grow up.

Back to trivia. There were about four different people on the cruise directors staff who handled the trivia. Our favorite was a woman from Japan who introduced herself and immediately apologized for her Japanese accent. She realized her English was difficult to understand so she brought an “interpreter” – a junior member of the staff who was from Jamaica and had quite an accent as well! The Japanese woman’s accent was so bad that trivia suddenly became – guess the question before you could even guess the answer. “How many ears on a truck if you blank a error” was one of the first questions. At this time there were probably 30 to 40 people in the room and we all went HUH? Slowly someone in front realized that ears were years and passed the information back. Since ears were years we figured out that truck was luck and passed that on to the group next to us. I felt like I was in the UN and the interpretors were on strike and the delegates were working together to figure out what the speech was about. Suddenly we were all working together instead of against each other and it was a riot. ANSWER: How many years of bad luck if you break a mirror? That afternoon’s trivia lasted twice as long, but we laughed a lot.

I will confess I asked her to repeat one question even though I understood. The question was about the song ‘Crazy’ by Patsy Cline. But I just loved the way she said Kawazy.

Dinner that night was at Le Bistro. Appetizers were OK to iffy, Dinner was good but luckily Candy was waffling between two main courses and the server brought both. The life saver for us was a vegetarian dish that I’ll try to describe as a terrene of mushrooms with cheese and other vegetables. That was the most memorable food. For me, the most memorable event at dinner was a snide comment by our server. I told her that I was having a hard time deciding between two dishing. I asked if she could please explain the difference between the two. She said – “One is beef and one is chicken” with a smirk and a look on her face like I was an idiot. While I realize I may look like an idiot, I don’t believe I should be treated like one.

That night I believe we took in one of the comedian acts in the Stardust Theater. We may have been in the theater one other time, but we normally don't like to attend the Broadway style shows on a cruise. In fact the shows for our cruise were cancelled. The rumor mill said it had something to do with the cast staying up until 3am drinking witht the Gainesville Crewe.

Up next - check out that hot pirate and get your fins away from me

Andy

[*Wink*]

...I told her that I was having a hard time deciding between two dishing. I asked if she could please explain the difference between the two. She said – “One is beef and one is chicken” with a smirk and a look on her face like I was an idiot. While I realize I may look like an idiot, I don’t believe I should be treated like one.

 

LOL.. Love it. Thanks for this installment. Looking forward to the next.

[OceanDreaming2]

I'm enjoying your day-by-day review. Will you be posting the complete version in the Review section?

[Jamrenjer]

We really enjoy reading! Waiting for the next installment!:)

[OceanDreaming2]

Hey! What happened to the rest of your review??

[thephillykid]

Andy,

From the Gainesville Crewe I learned the best way to smuggle rum on to the ship (Captain Jack Sparrow would be proud), that there is a big difference between Florida and Florida State football and I shouldn’t joke about either football program, and that there’s a bar open until at least 3am on board. Andy

Give me secret for rum smuggling........lol............please.

 

Howard

[lmf914]

Andy,

 

Are you just trying to make us guess what happens next? If you don't finish we might all have to band together and finish out the rest of your week for you.....now that might be interesting.

 

Lotte

[jagergirl55]

Your leaving me in too much suspense! I can't wait for the next installment! Hurry Hurry!

[mush71]

Hey Andy and Candy

 

I am loving your review. You have me laughing. Can't wait to finish reading your review.

 

After your review I don't know if I should even post one. I can't compete. :D