Norwegian Panama Canal & Central America Cruise Reviews

It has been a LONG time since we have been on NCL and it will just as long before we return. While the Gem itself is a nicely appointed in the common areas and the main dining room was quite nice, service support outside of the room attendant who was excellent was hit and miss. Some of the wait staff in both the main dining areas and specialty were quite good and others acted like newbies which ...

The staff were friendly and helpful. For the most part, waiters were attentive, but the food left a lot to be desired. I’m not a picky eater, but I had trouble finding one entree that appealed to me each evening in the main dining room. The best dessert was usually the sherbet or ice cream choice. I got food poisoning the third day of the cruise as did another guest I talked to. Since the food is ...

The good to great-staff and food in Moderna and Cagney’s for Exclusive breakfast/lunch! Our cabin steward and butler were amazing as we had a Club Penthouse Cabin. Our concierge was amazing! The Panama Canal Lock viewing was fantastic from our forward balcony. The rockiness of a forward facing balcony however, on the first night was a bit terrifying and sea rockiness does not usually bother me. ...

Even the engineer in our group wasn't completely wowed by the canal, we've cruised other canals, know how they work...other than the history and kinda cool engineering of recycling the water it wasn't that exciting and made us wonder why it was a "bucket list" thing for some. There are other smaller canals around the world that are much more fun to navigate because there are sights along the way, ...

Nightmare starting at arrival at Port of Miami and basically sitting (or standing due to lack of chairs) in a human warehouse; given numbers without explanation when we checked in. Little did we know that thousands of people would be waiting for their number to be called because they were yelling that they were running behind in getting people from the previous cruise ship. That's at least what ...

We picked this specific itinerary, and because Celebrity does not do a FULL transit, in the winter. We did do a Princess Cruise in 2020 but did not like it at all. Having not sailed with NCL since 2018 (previously 6 cruises), (we did 3 Celebrity, and 1 Princess in between), we definitely noticed the cut-backs, and the nickel and diming that NCL has been accused of. Embarkation was a ...

This was my first time on a Mega Ship. I was not impressed. All the food came out cold and had to be sent back many times ( Including MDR, Specialty, and even Haven). I prefer the smaller ships of NCL ( I am Sapphire on NCL, so I know what to expect). The entertainment venues are very closed off and behind doors. You will not stroll the walkways trying to find a bar to sit at and listen to a ...

Overall a fantastic cruise with very good itinerary. We stayed in Pullman Hotel outstanding Miami airport the night pre cruise. The hotel has a free shuttle from airport to hotel and a $30 shuttle to the port which was great. The ship was brilliant and very Marc large which was good for not too many people in the same place at the same time. We did have one day when the weather wasn’t very good so ...

We had the best time on our Panama Cruise on the NCL Gem. The staff are reallly the gems of this ship! Everyone was so friendly and helpful. You really had the feeling they all just wanted you to be happy and have a good time! The ship itself feels cozy and warm. It's beautiful and has so much entertainment. We had wonderful musical acts, magicians, comedians. Entertainment on this ship is so ...

This was a celebratory cruise for my 60th. A once in a lifetime to be totally ruined. Main restaurants had same menu in both for all 11 nights. Waiting time was over 30 minutes. The food was raw and had to be sent back. By now husband had finished his meal. Finally arrived and there was more fat on the meat than meat. The total disorganisation of getting people off the ship in ...