Five Things to Know About Pearl Seas Cruises' Pearl Mist Cruise Ship

Scheduling a vacation close to home sound tempting? Pearl Mist spends mid-May to mid-October sailing Maine, the Great Lakes, and Canada’s Maritime provinces. It’s an easy way to see Toronto, Chicago, Niagara Falls, and Mackinac Island in one shot—or go leaf peeping in Maine and Atlantic Canada without every having to slide behind the wheel of a car.

Pearl Mist made its inaugural 10-day culture-themed voyage to Cuba in January 2017, including stops in Havana, Cienfuegos, Trinidad, El Cobre, and Santiago de Cuba. Based in Miami for the winter, the ship is set to sail there through April in 2017, returning in November for another five-month stint through April 2018.

The ship may be small, but the staterooms are spacious. (The smallest is 300 square feet; the largest 580.) And since there’s a balcony for every cabin, passengers have some private space outside where they can unwind after a long day onshore.

Before dinner, guests gather for an all-ship cocktail hour, where they can sip complimentary wine, beer, and mixed drinks, sample some hors d’oeuvres, and exchange stories about their day at port.

All meals happen in the dining room, which is large enough for everyone to sit down at a single seating time. You’ll find plenty of traditional cruising favorites on the menu, including lobster and filet mignon. But if you have a dietary restriction or a request, speak up: the chefs will go out of their way to make adjustments.