just got home from the Pearl have questions??

[Dnyzgrl]

Hi all!

I just got home from a wonderful time on the Pearl. Ports were Roatan, Belize, Cozumel... Have any questions about the ship or ports I can share while everything is fresh in my mind ask me!:D

Dawna~

[sinita]

Hi Dawna! What excursions did you do at each port? We leave on the Pearl this Sunday and I am still debating what to do!:D

[Dnyzgrl]

Hi Dawna! What excursions did you do at each port? We leave on the Pearl this Sunday and I am still debating what to do!:D

Hi Sinita,

We did the Roatan Highlights Island Tour booked online thru www.roatancruiseexcursions.com it was $30 per person and we really enjoyed it. We saw most of the island the two ship wrecks, went to the Iguana farm, West End Village for shopping then to West Bay Beach where we stayed and snorkled.(very close to Tabyana Beach) It was a very nice day. I was told you can take a city bus for very little and it will take you to the same beach and see some of the island. For what we paid we had a private tour of the island and the driver stayed with us the WHOLE time. Didn't leave and come back to get us.. we liked that.:)

Belize we did the Banister Beach excursion. The company was great. I will have to get the card unpacked from my suitcase with the info if you are interested. Because the weather was not good they changed the excursion somewhat to make it better and SAFER for us. Beware there are alot of people selling excursions at this port and it is all about the money for them NOT your safety!! We had lots of them saying they would take us to snorkle and it was totally not safe that day! The company we were going with was taking us snorkling and they called it off because of the danger to us. I was impressed with them because they could have charged us to go anyway when it was not safe. Be careful.

Cozumel is a shoppers dream! If you don't want to do an excursion you can walk right off the ship and shop or go to a bar or restaurant..see the city it's all walking distance. We did the Nachi Cocom beach break booked online and it was AWESOME!! $49 Palm trees to lay under, lounge chairs, hammocks, white beaches to shell collect, torquoise water to swim or snorkle, pool, jaccuzi all the cold beverages you want alcohol or non and four ala carte food choices during the day to enjoy. Everything you need right there. If you choose to go parasailing or kayaking you can purchase that for a fee right there too. Awesome day!! I also went to the Mayan Tulum Ruins on a different cruise a week later. That was truely an enjoyable day also. If you like or history it is a must see. Even if you don't like history it is well worth the time. There was a beach there also you could swim at if you wanted to.. not alot of time but worth seeing. Our tour guide told us scenes from Blue Lagoo was filmed there! I booked this through the cruise ship (not NCL) so I don't know what they charge for it off hand. Hope this is helpful and if there is anything else let me know!

Dawna~

[bradtoon]

Typical NCL question: Did you eat at any of the specialty restaurants? if so, which one was your favorite?

 

And, would you book an NCL cruise again? What was your overall thoughts of the cruise.

 

Thanks!

[seasideny]

Thanks for volunteering info. I have a ton of little questions... so here are a few:

 

--Were crab legs offered anywhere, ship or shore?

--What time do I need to get to the pool to get a lounge chair (that I plan on actually staying in and not 'hogging')? I'm not confrontational, however am getting tempted to simply ask if a chair belongs to anyone and if no one replies - claim the chair for me and my baby to enjoy for the day. I will actually give it up when I leave the pool area.

--Can you borrow movies to watch in your cabin? Is there a dvd player in the cabins?

--Did they show a movie (with popcorn) on any night and if so - what was it?

--Did they have a specialty drink of the day (usually for a little less money than usual) like 'mojito monday' for $5 or something like that?

--Did the cabins have hairdryers in them?

--How was shopping on the ship?

--What was the earliest time the ship allowed you to leave in Miami? I'm trying to catch a 12:15 flight out of MIA and am a bit nervous...

 

Thanks

[rio123]

Crab legs in Cagneys

Had a dvd in our cabin with a list of movies available

dont know about pool chairs

yes to drink of day plus "tasting" events

yes to hairdryers

 

you can leave at 8:30 if you take your luggage with you. We left at 9:30 and were at the airport checked in by 10:30

[coka]

They have crab legs in Cagneys?!!! Man, I am bringing my reading glasses this time. Crab legs and minced mashed potatoes...hmmmmm...Sunday can not come soon enough! Sinita, see you at the meet and greet! It was changed to Bliss Lounge...I am glad to see OP had a great time on the Pearl!

 

coka

[ncyankee]

what type of room did you have?

How was great stirrup cay? Is it worth getting off the the boat?

Thanks

[Princess Pearl]

Crab legs in Cagney's, you say?!?

You just made a 9 year old VERY happy! (And cost Mom & Dad a bit more $$) :-)

[Blond^Cruiser]

Can you give a little info about the pool area? Is it nice? Is there a waterslide by the pool...for big kids?

[t.t.]

Thank you for offering info on the Pearl.

We are travelling with our 13, 12, & 3 yr old as first timers. Will our departing bill cost a fortune after the mandatory tiping x 5 people, beverages for the kids and occasional drinks of us?

Is the pool heated?

[momofmeg]

Crab legs in Cagneys

Had a dvd in our cabin with a list of movies available

dont know about pool chairs

yes to drink of day plus "tasting" events

yes to hairdryers

 

you can leave at 8:30 if you take your luggage with you. We left at 9:30 and were at the airport checked in by 10:30

 

Really? we were in a minisuite Thanksgiving week and there was no DVD-you must have a suite or better for that.

[momofmeg]

Can you give a little info about the pool area? Is it nice? Is there a waterslide by the pool...for big kids?

 

Basically two large pools-the family pool has the slide, and the adult pool is next to it, no separate area for the adult pool. There were, I think 4 hot tubs, and also a small kiddie pool the other side of the slide in a covered shaded area.

 

This was enough for my cruise,as it was coolish, even in Cozeumel, I found it too cool to swim, however with 2400-2700 PAX, I am sure with warmer temps this would not be adequate. I understand that the villas guests do have a SMALL pool that is for their use only, I have read here where many dislike that-however, I doubt even if that pool was open to all, that there would be enough pools for 2400-2700 guests on a hot day.

[travel_lover]

Hi Sinita,

We did the Roatan Highlights Island Tour booked online thru www.roatancruiseexcursions.com it was $30 per person and we really enjoyed it. We saw most of the island the two ship wrecks, went to the Iguana farm, West End Village for shopping then to West Bay Beach where we stayed and snorkled.(very close to Tabyana Beach) It was a very nice day. I was told you can take a city bus for very little and it will take you to the same beach and see some of the island. For what we paid we had a private tour of the island and the driver stayed with us the WHOLE time. Didn't leave and come back to get us.. we liked that.:)

Belize we did the Banister Beach excursion. The company was great. I will have to get the card unpacked from my suitcase with the info if you are interested. Because the weather was not good they changed the excursion somewhat to make it better and SAFER for us. Beware there are alot of people selling excursions at this port and it is all about the money for them NOT your safety!! We had lots of them saying they would take us to snorkle and it was totally not safe that day! The company we were going with was taking us snorkling and they called it off because of the danger to us. I was impressed with them because they could have charged us to go anyway when it was not safe. Be careful.

Cozumel is a shoppers dream! If you don't want to do an excursion you can walk right off the ship and shop or go to a bar or restaurant..see the city it's all walking distance. We did the Nachi Cocom beach break booked online and it was AWESOME!! $49 Palm trees to lay under, lounge chairs, hammocks, white beaches to shell collect, torquoise water to swim or snorkle, pool, jaccuzi all the cold beverages you want alcohol or non and four ala carte food choices during the day to enjoy. Everything you need right there. If you choose to go parasailing or kayaking you can purchase that for a fee right there too. Awesome day!! I also went to the Mayan Tulum Ruins on a different cruise a week later. That was truely an enjoyable day also. If you like or history it is a must see. Even if you don't like history it is well worth the time. There was a beach there also you could swim at if you wanted to.. not alot of time but worth seeing. Our tour guide told us scenes from Blue Lagoo was filmed there! I booked this through the cruise ship (not NCL) so I don't know what they charge for it off hand. Hope this is helpful and if there is anything else let me know!

Dawna~

 

I went to the link you posted above just looks so beautiful, thank you.

[travel_lover]

--What was the earliest time the ship allowed you to leave in Miami? I'm trying to catch a 12:15 flight out of MIA and am a bit nervous...

 

Thanks

 

No need to be nervous usually people book for that time...good time!;)

[travel_lover]

Had a dvd in our cabin with a list of movies available

 

Where the channels with free movies playing all day long? On some of NCL ships they usually have two channels....when I was on the Gem you had to purchase most of the movies.:confused:

[BIN]

i sailed on the Sun Feb of '08 and went on that same itinerary down south. i am looking forward to sailing on The Pearl on 10/10 this fall. how long did it take for you to initially go through the boarding procedures? from the time i stepped out of the cab and was pool side with an ice cold Bud Light on the Sun was less than 20 minutes.

[Dnyzgrl]

I went to the link you posted above just looks so beautiful, thank you.

No problem, it really was beautiful there. :D One thing that may or may not be of interest we found out while there is it is right next to Tabyana beach. If you do not go with the cruise ship, there were people that would not let you cross the invisible line to that side. We didn't really care but some people got unhappy about it.

About the movies in the room we didn't spend much time in our room so I really can't honestly say however we did NOT have a DVD player in our room.

Have a wonderful time!!

Dawna~

[travel_lover]

No problem, it really was beautiful there. :D One thing that may or may not be of interest we found out while there is it is right next to Tabyana beach. If you do not go with the cruise ship, there were people that would not let you cross the invisible line to that side. We didn't really care but some people got unhappy about it.

About the movies in the room we didn't spend much time in our room so I really can't honestly say however we did NOT have a DVD player in our room.

Have a wonderful time!!

Dawna~

 

lol really that just sounds silly? I wonder why? I'll just check out the tv then when I get onboard.

 

Thanks!

[Dnyzgrl]

what type of room did you have?

How was great stirrup cay? Is it worth getting off the the boat?

Thanks

Unfortunately our day at Great Stirrup Cay was cancelled due to bad weather so we went to Key West instead... that was very nice. You will have to let me know what you think of it.:p

Dawna~

[crusoe97]

Hi Sinita,

We did the Roatan Highlights Island Tour booked online thru www.roatancruiseexcursions.com it was $30 per person and we really enjoyed it. We saw most of the island the two ship wrecks, went to the Iguana farm, West End Village for shopping then to West Bay Beach where we stayed and snorkled.(very close to Tabyana Beach) It was a very nice day. I was told you can take a city bus for very little and it will take you to the same beach and see some of the island. For what we paid we had a private tour of the island and the driver stayed with us the WHOLE time. Didn't leave and come back to get us.. we liked that.:)

Belize we did the Banister Beach excursion. The company was great. I will have to get the card unpacked from my suitcase with the info if you are interested. Because the weather was not good they changed the excursion somewhat to make it better and SAFER for us. Beware there are alot of people selling excursions at this port and it is all about the money for them NOT your safety!! We had lots of them saying they would take us to snorkle and it was totally not safe that day! The company we were going with was taking us snorkling and they called it off because of the danger to us. I was impressed with them because they could have charged us to go anyway when it was not safe. Be careful.

Cozumel is a shoppers dream! If you don't want to do an excursion you can walk right off the ship and shop or go to a bar or restaurant..see the city it's all walking distance. We did the Nachi Cocom beach break booked online and it was AWESOME!! $49 Palm trees to lay under, lounge chairs, hammocks, white beaches to shell collect, torquoise water to swim or snorkle, pool, jaccuzi all the cold beverages you want alcohol or non and four ala carte food choices during the day to enjoy. Everything you need right there. If you choose to go parasailing or kayaking you can purchase that for a fee right there too. Awesome day!! I also went to the Mayan Tulum Ruins on a different cruise a week later. That was truely an enjoyable day also. If you like or history it is a must see. Even if you don't like history it is well worth the time. There was a beach there also you could swim at if you wanted to.. not alot of time but worth seeing. Our tour guide told us scenes from Blue Lagoo was filmed there! I booked this through the cruise ship (not NCL) so I don't know what they charge for it off hand. Hope this is helpful and if there is anything else let me know!

Dawna~

 

How was the Tulum Ruin tour? How long did it take? How many people were on the tour? Etc...I've read a lot of good reviews to this tour, and I really wanna see the ruin!