NYC to san Francisco Panama canal cruise

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 5
Helpful Votes: 79

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Norwegian Gem

20 Night Panama Canal Westbound (New York To San Francisco)

Sail date: January 04, 2020

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9174

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

We took a lot of excursions because of a 50 dollar credit offered and some of these ports were a little scary for the wife. But I think on the most part they were a time stealer the constant waiting for the line ups and people that cannot get to the buses on time gets extremely frustrating and you lose a quarter or more of your time because of it but if you want to go any distance book with ship all of the trips ran long and were late back otherwise if there is a town nearby walk the town in a group and you will get the flavour of the area

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Seemed a little chaotic

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
Food was of good quality and varied

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
You could keep busy or not as you wanted

Entertainment

4 out of 5
Very good on the most part but on 20 day cruise starts to be repetitive

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Good to very good depends on restaurant and staff did notice service was better where managers wandered around talking to guests

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Seemed clean and easy to get around

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
We thought the cabin was adequate for two 3 or 4 would have got very cramped

Ship tip

Use campionways on cabin decks to get between elevators faster and safer in rough seas

Ports of call

New York, New York

4 out of 5
Had 24 hrs did some of the iconic New York things, Katz's deli, empire state building times square saw Broadway play wish we could has more time

Kralendijk, Bonaire

5 out of 5
Clean friendly and beautiful

Oranjestad, Aruba

4 out of 5
Clean friendly and beautiful but way more commerciallised

Santa Marta, Colombia

3 out of 5
Very poor but people were very friendly on beach if you buy anything expect a frenzy as every one descends on you for more did take no gracias and leave with a smile

Cartagena, Colombia

4 out of 5
Same as above but the city is really old and interesting

Panama Canal Transit

5 out of 5
Highlight of the trip very slow and takes the whole day so don't try to see it all pace yourself and expect best spots for viewing to taken or crowded

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

4 out of 5
Went on a coffee plantation tour very interesting

Puerto Corinto, Nicaragua

3 out of 5
Took a sit down tour I spoke bad Spanish he spoke poor English still my wife and I and Jorge communicated for the hour had a great time very poor port

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

4 out of 5
If you love old old spanish cities antigua Is a must see

Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, Mexico

4 out of 5
Idle ixtapa great

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

4 out of 5
Just cabbed and walked very nice port

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

4 out of 5
Nice port to walk around

San Pedro (Los Angeles), California

3 out of 5
Been here nothing nearby but the Iowa and maybe the queen mary in long beach everything else is quite a bit from the port

Santa Barbara, California

4 out of 5
Bueatiful town cheap shuttle to the downtown area

San Francisco, California

5 out of 5
Loved it great place to end a cruise

Disembarkation

3 out of 5
Very chaotic and getting out of the pier area was a nightmare
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