Booked this Panama Canal cruise from L.A. to Miami to cross off my bucket list. Got a great price inclusive of air and transfers. Embarkation at San Pedro went relatively smoothly. Food at Garden Cafe was average at best. Breakfast was the same each day, ;lunches and dinners had a bit more variety. Nice that they had Congee for breakfast every morning. Coffee was horrible, with no flavour at all. Juices were overly sweet. Pasta Station was quite good, Had dinner most nights in Azura Dining Room. Our Special Diet Server, Melody, was awesome looking after our no sodium requests. Communication was extremely poor, as even though we preordered the night before, hostess and waiters always gave us the regular menu when being seated and looked confused when we informed them that we had already ordered off the special diet menu the night before. This info need to be filtered down to the staff a lot more efficiently.
Cabin was made way too late in afternoon, sometimes not till 1:00pm or later. Poorly designed room, as there were no electrical outlets close to our beds. They were located far away, and had to borrow two extension cords from Guest Services to plug in medical equipment. Absolutely hate that NCL adds on a mandatory $189 USD service charge onto account, and had to plead with Guest Services to remove them, as we wished to tip in cash an amount we felt was consistent with service provided. The customer should determine amount, not the Cruise Line.
Entertainment onboard was superb, went to every 7pm show at Stardust Theatre. Cruise Director, Iain Bagshaw was the best I've ever seen. Absolutely hilarious, personable, and a Magician to boot. Enjoyed Raegar, Dan Bennett, David Naster, Chris Pendleton, George Solomon, and Elegy (Rinat and Elena). All shows were throughly entertaining. Ports of Call were just ok, stayed mostly close to port and did our own walking tours. Keep in mind that these are not cosmopolitan cities, so overall not too bad. Constantly pestered in Acapulco by taxi drivers and guys wanting to set us up for massages with young senoritas. Was asked eight times during two block walk from terminal to restaurant. Ship is outdated, but knew this being going onboard. Overall , a very geriatric crowd as we felt like kids onboard compared to other passengers. Would I repeat, probably not, unless it was a smoking great deal presented to me...
Very clean, easy tender ride to shore
Very dirty, hassled constantly by taxi drivers and guys wanting to arrange young senoritas for massages
Not much to do in terminal, just walked around market area. WiFi very weak
Walked along main streets. Good deal on Costa Rican coffee beans. Felt very safe there
Took taxi to see Old Town area of city. Lots to see