During the end of March my family and I set sail on a cruise bound for the Caribbean. We cruised on the Norwegian Pearl Ship from the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), and docked three at islands on our journey. After lifting from Miami, we headed to island destinations, Nassau, Freeport, and Norwegian’s private island. I rated the trip by the food, activities on and off the boat, the price, and the service overall.
The Ship
The small size of the ship made my experience very unpleasant. The rooms on the ship were small and cramped. Our room came with a balcony but barely used it because the beds were up against the door so there was no space to access it. I wouldn’t recommend The Norwegian Pearl for families bigger than two. The food was limited when compared to better options on other Norwegian ships. The entertainment was amazing, I went to a Vegas show called Music Legends, played bingo and saw a family friendly comedian. Most of the entertainment was adults only which was unfortunate but the family show was fun.
Island one: Nassau, Bahamas
Queen’s Staircase
The Queen’s Staircase is a flight of stairs that Queen Victoria desired so she would have a direct path to Fort Fincastle. It was free to visit if you went by yourself, but with additional people and tour type it can cost from 49 dollars to 595 dollars. The staircase had a really pretty view, but sadly, we were never informed that it was closed for construction. According to Lonely Planet, “built from solid limestone carved by enslaved Africans, it’s one of the island’s most enduring landmarks.” I would recommend going to the Queen’s Staircase and hopefully you can experience Queen Victoria’s beautiful stairs.
Fort Fincastle
Fort Fincastle was built to help protect the island but it was never used. According to Lonely Planet, “set on a small hill just south of downtown Nassau, this small fort was built by Lord Dunmore in 1763 to guard the harbor against invaders. Never used, it was eventually converted into a lighthouse.” Sadly, the inside was closed due to renovation and, again, we were not informed, but you can enjoy the beauty of its construction as you walk around the outside.
Fort Charlotte
We took a tour of Fort Charlotte and there was plenty of history to learn. The tour guide asked questions to make sure we listened which made it entertaining. The price for the tour was fairly cheap at 50 dollars for 8 people and we did it as a group tour not private, so we had other strangers on the tour who talked to us to make the tour less awkward. According to Lonely Planet, “built between 1787 and 1790 to guard the west entrance to Nassau Harbor, this massive fort was the pet project of Lord Dunmore, who named it after King George lll’s wife. ILL-designed (the barracks were built directly in the line of fire) and over budget it quickly took on the name
Isola Gelato
Isola Gelato is an ice cream shop in a Nassau shopping center. The service was amazing, they were nice and patient, they also gave us recommendations of their best flavors of ice cream. The ice cream was delicious but it did melt fast because of the heat, so I wouldn’t recommend a cone if it’s really hot outside or find sitting indoors. The price was a little high at 10 dollars for one scoop of ice cream but I would say it was worth it. They had a lot of options for ice cream, it was one of the cheaper places at Nassau.
Taxi
If you visit Nassau and need a taxi, I would recommend KungFu Mitch. He was the best taxi driver ever. He was so funny and so much fun. He has Instagram and TikTok. He talked to us about things other than history on the tour, he brought us to places around the city, and came inside with us. He also brought us to see a funeral music march. It was interesting. KungFu Mitch also made sure we got to the dock on time. He actually made it on the dot which was impressive. My family and I really enjoyed the experience. (KungFu Mitch’s social media: if you type in KungFu Mitch he will pop up)
Island two: Freeport, Grand Bahamas, Bahamas
Freeport wasn’t fun because there wasn’t anything to do there other than visit shops, buy food, and a walk around a beach we didn’t want to go to, because we didn’t want two beach days. There is nothing at the dock but shopping. We tried to go to a national park, but the taxi drivers refused to go there and tried to charge us 50 dollars per person round trip, but to go to the beach was 20 dollars per person round trip. We decided to stay on the boat because 50 dollars per person wasn’t worth it. We had a party of eight. My dad didn’t feel good anyways because of the rocky waves from bad weather, so staying on the boat was the better option.
Island three: NCL’s private island, Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas
The private island was the last island my family and I traveled to. This day was supposed to be a beach day, and it was so sad to hear that it got cancelled because the waves were too rough for us to take a boat out to the island. If the island had a dock for the ship we would’ve gone. Lucky, NCL is building a dock so this won’t happen again which should be done in the next year. It was kind of a waste of money, and a big let down because the boat was really small. Everything was more packed than usual then we had bad weather so everyone was either inside or in their rooms.
Trip rating
To sum up the trip, my family and I didn’t enjoy it the way we expected. If you plan a trip on a cruise, do your research about the weather, make calls to see what is closed or not, and look up the ship to see if there are any tours. I would rate this trip a 4.5 out of 10 because of the construction we were never informed about, the weather, and the ship’s food, and the size of the ship itself. The best part was the entertainment. I wouldn’t want to go on that ship again, and I wouldn’t book again unless I do research on what there is to offer and what is closed.
