In looking for a Panama Canal Cruise, we chose Norwegian because of the itinerary (1) beginning in Miami and ending in LA. (as we planned on spending the month of February in California anyway) and (2) being two weeks long.
This was the first time we had sailed on Norwegian, previously having sailed on Royal Caribbean several times. Overall, I would rate Royal Caribbean higher. On this cruise,we had some issues with not very accommodating customer service staff and not very good service in the main dining room a couple of nights; a balcony room with a lay out that made it seem rather tight and we actually cleaned our own balcony glass because it was so dirty.
The activities by the pool and then in the evening were at sometimes just dumb and actually embarrassing. We’ve participated in games on RC before and had great laughs with them. The Norwegian activities group seemed to aim for humiliating guests to get laughs.