Day 1 - Miami | Miami, Florida

Day 1 - Miami

This place was Average

M/S Norwegian Pearl (hiding a Princess)

I flew down to Miami the day before the ship departed and used points to stay at the Sheraton Four Points in Miami Beach. I've gotta admit, it's quite nice for a Four Points. I had a room with a full-on view of the ocean over the pool area. I had a couple conference calls in the morning which I took from my room with the balcony door open. At one point someone asked if someone was on a cell phone because they heard a lot of white noise. Uh, no, that was actually the sound of the ocean.... ;-)

The ship is amazing. While I'm still getting used to using the Pearl as a camera, you'll get the idea from some of the photos I'm attaching. One of the main lounge areas has a huge wall that's all video. Fascinating. The same lounge also had a Chihuly glass work that was quite beautiful, as well as a tasteful Christmas tree.

My room is much better than I had hoped for. When I sent one of the photos to a friend, she described it as W Hotel meets Novotel, which I think is spot on. Plenty of room for me and I can't get enough of the balcony.

Another thing I've already becomed enamored of is the live piano jazz each night down by the champagne bar area. Good times.

As with all cruises, there are always staff photographers trying to snap your picture, and then sell them to you at higher prices later on. These photos are displayed for all to see in a certain area. The area's kind of cool, though, as the photo displays can slide away to reveal small benches looking out through portholes. There were also dark oil paintings of cities at night posted in the area. Including one of Times Square that contained a certain building I am trying to evade by taking this trip!

This entry is part of the trip itinerary M/S Norwegian Pearl