Returning home from a 5 night Western Caribbean cruise

As I sit here on the floor in the American Airlines terminal at the Miami airport I have to wonder.. why don't they have more outlets for computer plug-ins? Actually it took three or four tries before my boyfriend and I found a live working plug. A tad frustrating since each time we had to unplug, pack up and move on. I'm actually plugged into the panel of the service desk. I figure I only have a few more minutes before they chase me away, so here goes...no wait...looks like I'll have to vacate now...

Okay...now the rest of the report is from the comfort of my home office in Egg Harbor Township (near Atlantic City).

Milt and I just returned from a fabulous 5 night cruise on the Norwegian Pearl out of Miami. Our ports of call were Cozumel and Georgetown, Grand Cayman.

When you think of NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line) you think of the ads they have touting Freestyle Cruising and I have to say, for us it was perfect. We got to eat when we wanted, where we wanted and with whom we wanted. We'd made some great friends along the way and enjoyed being able to sit with them at dinner.

The Norwegain Pearl is one of NCL's new ships. Her sister ship, Gem is just getting ready to launch and their sister, Pride of Hawaii will be renamed the Jade which be sailing the Caribbean waters in the near future. She is a beauty. Every lounge, every dining venue is decorated in clean, crisp and vibrant colors befitting the cuisine or theme of the venue.

Entertainment galore from Wii games on the 70ft screen (approx) in the Grand Atrium, to side splitting comedy routines performed by Second City members, to afternoon pool deck Caribbean bands, it was all there for us to enjoy. The ony disappointment was the smoking in the casino, which really wasn't a bad thing...we only stayed long enough to lose $40.00!

Eventhough we really didn't see many children on the cruise, knowing we would be headed back home to three teenage boys made the Adult only Biss Lounge, well blissfull! It was romantic, bohemian and just a bit naughty...they had luxuourisly decorated sofas that encouraged cuddling and even elegant appointed double beds for relaxation pleasure. When we were there one early evening for drinks, the video screen played 80's classics (has Mick jagger aged at all?)

We were very impressed with their precautionary health measures...making sure we all sanitized our hands before entering any restuarant and when returning from shore excursions.

The only thing that was a bit surprising was the room size. We had a Balcony cabin category BA and we were in pretty tight corners. But by the second day we had adjusted just fine-- the sofa bed made for a great suitcase valet for Milt and a good place to drop our dirty clothes at the end of the day.

I must confess though, that we were part of a large group of cruise travel professionals from CruiseOne (http://www.cruisesbymarilyn.com/) and Cruises, Inc. and we were priviledged to have many of the NCL reps as well as other cruise line reps on board for daily seminars and programs. While I don't believe we received any special cabin treatments, we did get nightly cocktail parties.

Did you know that when you book a group, each cabin may be offered a free cocktail party, or complimentary champagne, or even shipboard credits? Group cruises are a great way to bring the family together, raise funds for your favorite charity organization, party with your favorite local bands and on NCL even your local bowling league...yes, they have 2 bowling alleys on board!

Our 5 day cruise visited 2 ports of call, Cozumel and Grand Cayman. In Cozumel, the group did a deluxe beach party at Playa Mia. Lordy did we have fun! Open bar, free food and lots and lots of sunshine and blue waters. Did I mention I forgot to back my sunsceen? Ouch :-( I'm headed back there in January as a Pre-Mardi cruise out of New Orleans ( some inside cabins still available!) and I look forward to exploring other parts of the isalnd.

In Grand Cayman we partied at the Hard Rock Cafe, but didn't get to the Seven Mile Beach. Next time!

Check out my next blog..."oh where, oh where has my suitcase gone???"