Our cruise from San Diego through the Panama Canal was almost perfect. With only 1600 passengers aboard, the ship was full of life and still had plenty of room to avoid lines and dance the night away.
The most surprising part of the cruise was the quality of the food, which has always been good and was even better than usual on this cruise. The menu changed each day, repeating itself later in ...
We chose this cruise because we had not visited any of the ports of call before, and we have always wanted to see the Panama Canal.
The Issues:
We were disappointed that Nicaragua was cancelled, due to Covid Protocols. We were not told about this until we were on board. More notice should have been given to all passengers. I think NCL knew well in advance about this situation, and could ...
Itinerary
We were on a repositioning itinerary from 7-night Mexican Riviera to Panama Canal. We selected this cruise because we would visit some different countries while traveling towards the canal. The following itineraries will be in the southern Caribbean, but still with a Panama Canal crossing. There were only about 1500 passengers onboard, so it was much easier than normal to reserve a ...
I am taking a few moments to write a review as several I've read since returning from our trip are rather negative. Our experience was very positive.
I should note, we have cruised on other lines (Celebrity, Carnival, Holland America, etc) and this is not our first boat ride. Also, traveling when we did the ship was not sold out (in fact, it was at about 60% of guest capacity) and the "crowd" ...
Insane-level service by bar waitresses; surprisingly good but limited entertainment (nothing going on in the day); average food, even in the pay restaurants, but no bad meals; some of the worst shore excursions I've ever been on; one of the easiest embarkations ever and the easiest debark in more than 10 cruises (I literally walked off the ship, no line, and was on the street in San Diego in ...
The jewel was impeccably clean, and well maintained despite its age. The crew were all very friendly, super helpful. There were activities all over the ship at all hours of the day and a show inside the Stardust theatre every night. No matter if it was a port day or sea day, there was never a dull moment.
During this Nov sailing, the ship was more than half empty. I suspect because most kids ...
We chose this cruise for a couple of reasons - ports of call including the Panama Canal and second the price was amazing. NCL service is absolutely TOP NOTCH in all aspects of delivery. Everyone was polite, helpful, kind and courteous. The Jewel is a great ship - just the right size - not too big/not too small. The refurbishment is NICE. Ports of call included Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, ...
10 friends celebrating one our friends birthday.
Some of the group have cruised before but it was our first big cruise. We really enjoyed our experience on the Jewel. The staff made us feel very special, and were so perfessional and fun to be around.
We did an excursion at every port using both private and ship excursions. We got to see so many differen and wonderful place, people, ...
We chose this particular itinerary because of the unusual ports of call, especially Central America. This did not disappoint in the least. However, the NCL experience could have been better. First of all, embarkation was complete chaos and very disorganized. Long lines and half-way into our wait, quite a number of agents just "disappeared" making the wait even longer. No system at all. Maybe ...
Even if you know the history, have seen the documentaries and understand the engineering, a full passage of the Panama Canal is a MUST for any lover of history, science or travel. The senior crew members were very assessable and were quite willing to answer questions from the very basic to the very technical. The food set up at the buffet provided a good flow with multiple food islands. Lines ...