Great itinerary, and a nice ship

Item: Norwegian Gem
Rating: 4.6
Author: Brownd3max

Norwegian Gem Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Brownd3max

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 6

Helpful Votes: 89

Overall rating:

4.6 out of 5

21 Night Panama Canal Eastbound (San Francisco To New York)

Sail date: January 24, 2020

Ship: Norwegian Gem

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 11656

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

We loved the fact that out of ~2400 passengers, there were only about 5 kids onboard. Long cruises are like this.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

As we were the very last ones to arrive, via NCL's Air, there was NO ONE in the port terminal except for a few employees! Phew!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Buffet was excellent, the MDR was also great, Teppanyaki is always yummy, La Cucina "SERVICE"was a BIG disappointment.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Most of the 7pm Production Shows were very good, except the juggler & hypnotist were kinda lame.

Children's Programs

no kids, duh?

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

All the staff were very nice & friendly, hard working.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Everything was clean, and they were cleaning w/extra effort due to the rumor of Corona virus, Yikes!

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Nice rear view especially during the Panama Canal locks.

Ship tip

check what's above your cabin choice B4 booking!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

San Francisco, California Did not visit port

Been there many,many times in the past, before it deteriorated.

Thumbs Up 0

Santa Barbara, California

4 out of 5

Used to live in SB, seen it all, so just hung out on the pier.

Thumbs Up 1

San Pedro (Los Angeles), California Did not visit port

been there many times

Thumbs Up 0

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

5 out of 5

One of our faves! Got an awesome "Couples full body" 1 hr. massage for Two- $50 total + tip! Then hung out at Capt. Tony's for seafood, guacamole and cold beer! Awesome!

Thumbs Up 2

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

5 out of 5

Great Tequila factory, tile shopping- love PV!

Thumbs Up 0

Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa, Mexico

1 out of 5

The pier was destroyed so it was a nightmare getting to an overcrowded landing.

Thumbs Up 0

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

4 out of 5

Puerto Corinto, Nicaragua

4 out of 5

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

4 out of 5

The "Sabana Safari" property was great, the looong bus ride there sucked.

Thumbs Up 0

Panama Canal Transit

5 out of 5

3rd time through it, always a treat.

Thumbs Up 2

Cartagena, Colombia

5 out of 5

Love the Old Town.

Thumbs Up 0

Santa Marta, Colombia

4 out of 5

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5

Aruba is da bomb. Go to Reflexxions' Beach club.

Thumbs Up 3

Willemstad, Curacao

4 out of 5

It rained hard on us.

Thumbs Up 0

Kralendijk, Bonaire

4 out of 5

Don't do the ncl "Cat Sail & Swim.

Thumbs Up 1

New York, New York Did not visit port

Did the B2B thing- off & back on.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

3 out of 5

2 Comments

portofrome 4 years ago

Thanks for your review

Thumbs Up 0

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cruisereckoning 4 years ago

We are older and my husband walks with a cane so we always try to cruise when the kids are in school. We did a 17 day Panama Canal and I only saw 2 kids one about 13 and the other about 9 months old.

Thumbs Up 0

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