We arrived early into Panama City airport, and the transport started with an impromptu tour of Panama City and a pit stop for breakfast as we couldn't arrive in Colon before 11. The ride to Colon was purely functional, and we didn't view much that was photo worthy. Embarkation felt like sort of a mess in Colon, and it was a relief to finally get on the ship.
My bucket list included full ...
Cruise number 14 for us. Panama Canal passage on the list of " must do ". The price seemed very reasonable, although with Norweigan the extras add up like one of those $29 airfares that actually costs $229 when you pay for all the necessary extas.
We had put in a "bid" for an upgrade that works like an auction over about a week period. Day before cruise received an email stating that our bid ...
The Jewel was just refurbished in 2018 and is still very new looking. At 2350 capacity she is my size. The seating in the common areas was clean and comfortable. I had a ocean view with 2 persons and it was OK. Beds were new and we had enough space. Entertainment is always a mystery to me. They only play for 45 min and sometimes at really odd times. We ate mostly in the main dinning room and the ...
Plus
Food was normally pretty good
Staff were mostly polite and accommodating
Minus
Not stopping at Nicaragua changed the dynamic of the cruise. Too many days at sea. Also, no explanation or apology, just a note on arrival. Not acceptable
The constant announcements through the canal starting at 6am, and going all day, was a real distraction.
Entertainment was somewhere between ...
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" ...
The Travelers: Early 50's empty nesters. This was our fifth cruise, third with NCL, and the second time we’ve cruised without the kids. I’ll say going in that overall I was pleased with NCL, and especially with the Jewel and her crew. It wasn’t perfect, no trip ever is, but it sure was a great vacation.
The Cruise: NCL Jewel 12-night, San Diego to Colon, Panama via the Panama Canal with port ...
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 ...
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 ...