Norwegian Panama Canal & Central America Cruise Reviews

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 ...

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 ...

Having sailed on Joy's sister ship, Bliss, a couple of times previously, my DH and I looked forward to this bucket-list cruise through the Panama Canal on the Joy. While it was great to be back cruising after 3 years away due to the pandemic, it wasn't all that we remembered before the shutdown. Embarkation: Was absolutely a cluster as has been typical of past NCL cruises. We arrived 30 minutes ...

We choose because of the itenery. Ship was very clean & crew very friendly. The food was horrible ! Corn & ham on pizza only 1 example. Entertainment I have seen better at high school level. Pool Entertainment was funeral music. They asked us to buy a cruise pkg of $3k upfront lump sum to guarantee them 12 cruises. NO! there was a port cancelation & the refused refund of the port fee. They ...

This was an interesting itinerary with a fair number of sea days so I was looking forward to a bigger ship with lots of activities to fill the time. Unfortunately this was an unwelcoming and underwhelming experience. This was my second cruise with NCL and it seems the nickel and dime tactics have just gotten worse since COVID. Nearly everything onboard came with an extra fee, to participate you ...

Want to sail the Norwegian Jewel? You may want to read this first. If you wonder why the ship is cheap, there is a reason. First time sailors don't be fooled. You have better choices. Need internet? Choose another ship as this one's complicated system robs you of minutes every time you turn it on and turn it off (many ports do have free internet, except Colon, Panama- Cartagena and Santa ...

This cruise had a great itinerary that started by leaving from NYC (no flying for us) and doing some really good ports including Turks & Caicos, the Dominican Republic, Curacao, Costa Rica, and a full transit of the Panama Canal. Then I learned from CruiseCritic (not from NCL!!) that Grand Turk and Curacao were replaced by Bermuda (which we missed anyway, due to weather conditions) and Catalina ...

The cruise had an interesting itinerary and we wanted to traverse the Panama Canal- this was definitely the highlight of the cruise. The tours offered were quite ordinary and in my opinion overpriced. The regular restaurants offered excellent food and very good service. We did enjoy the specialty restaurant The Bistro but did not think the other specialty restaurants available were worth 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 ...

We chose this cruise to go through the locks and visit Panama which was not to be. It seems you have to book a land tour with NCL or else you are held hostage on the ship till it crosses back through the locks. The 2 plus hours of going through the locks is a great experience. It stops at port for 2 hours which does not allow you to visit Panama. This cruise was also reduced in price several ...