The Norwegian Pearl is a Jewel-class ship built in 2006 and refurbished in November 2025, shortly after our cruise. At that time, they added a Vibe Beach Club, performed routine maintenance, and made minor updates to public spaces and staterooms.
The NCL Pearl docked off Santorini, Greece.
At double occupancy, the ship accommodates 2,344 guests and nearly 1,100 crew.
It’s the ideal size ship for us. While it offers multiple specialty dining options, wonderful bars, theaters, and lounges, it isn’t a mega ship; it doesn’t feel crowded and is small enough to enjoy ports some larger ships might miss.
We also love NCL’s Freestyle Dining, which lets us eat dinner whenever we’d like so that we can schedule meals around shows or later port times. We also really enjoy being able to get a table for two or sit with people we meet along the way, instead of being assigned to a random table of other cruisers.
A glass sculpture, by artist Dale Chihuly in the ships atrium.
An art deco inspired mural.
The Summer Palace is one of two Main Dining Rooms.
The Spinnaker Lounge
Cagney’s Steak House is an NCL staple.
Random Weird Stuff
We were surprised to find a very modern vending machine tucked near some of the ship’s bars. A little pricey, but very convenient!
We were quite surprised by this!
Greek Isles: Istanbul to Venice
We chose this cruise because it visits countries that were all new to us, except Italy, which we visited on a previous cruise. But Venice was new and on our bucket list.
As you’ve seen, we’ve added extra time to explore Istanbul. We’ll cruise to Kusadasi, Türkiye; Santorini; Athens; Mykonos; Corfu, Montenegro; two ports in Croatia; and Slovenia, before disembarking in Trieste, Italy. This really appealed to us, as many other cruises departed Athens and skipped the Turkish portion of our itinerary.
From Trieste, we’ll head to Venice for a few days to explore on our own. As we mentioned in a previous post, this trip was a marathon, not a sprint. We made sure to build in plenty of pampering along the way.
We’ve learned that as we age, we appreciate little things like this even more. The cost was about €32/$35.70; the driver arrived early and greeted us in the hotel lobby.
The van was clean and comfortable, and honestly, having him move our luggage down the hotel steps to the van and load it all was worth the cost.
We highly recommend them for shuttle service in Istanbul.
Unfortunately, the rest of the embarkation process wasn’t as smooth and pleasant. The cruise line doesn’t operate cruise ports; local companies run them. In this case, the signage was terrible, and even with priority embarkation, they told us that boarding times were changing and tried to move us to another holding area.
Galataport
The Galataport is a really interesting concept. The cruise terminal is underground; a series of hatches can close off the customs and embarkation areas when no ships are in m port, creating a huge promenade along the waterfront. Combined with the restaurants and shops connected to the terminal, it has revitalized this portion of Istanbul.
Fortunately, someone from Norwegian Cruise Line stepped in and sorted everything out. Once we got past the locally operated portion, the rest was smooth and easy.
Here’s a quick look at Istanbul’s Asian side from our cabin balcony right after embarkation!
A mosque near Galataport.
The Galataport shopping area was right next to the ship.
Loyalty Status
Having lived on the East Coast and then in Central Florida, we took a fair number of shorter NCL cruises to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. Our first cruise as a couple was around the Hawaiian Islands aboard the NCL Pride of America.
By this sailing, we had Platinum status. This included Specialty Dining credits, a bottle of wine with dinner, discounts on excursions and spa treatments, and our favorite, laundry service!
On an 11-day cruise, laundry service is essential, especially since we added about four pre-cruise days in Istanbul.
Another perk is priority embarkation and disembarkation at cruise ports. We appreciate it as we get older, since disembarkation lines can get long. We also enjoy a complimentary ship’s tour and a wine tasting.
Laundry sorting area.
Industrial washing machines in the laundry.
The pressing area.
We got to tour the galley too!
Cooks prepping food.
Random Weird Stuff
The third portion of our complimentary ship’s tour was in the theater. We got to go backstage to see costumes, green rooms, the stage, and the lighting. However, we weren’t permitted to take any photos there.
Thanks for following along on this amazing adventure. Up next, our cabin!
