Great 19 Day NCL Panama Cruise
Norwegian Jewel Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America
19 Night Panama Canal & Pacific Coastal (Houston To Seattle)
Sail date: April 18, 2015
Ship: Norwegian Jewel
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 9581
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 9 years ago
Review summary
We booked our NCL cruise 1 year before the sailing. We'd been waiting for a Panama cruise from Houston for years so we had to take it when it came available. We had never taken a cruise as long as this before (19 days) and so we were a little unsure about the length. Also, we were unsure about the Jewell as it is 10 years old.
After completing our cruise, all of our concerns were not issues. We enjoyed the long cruise as we saw and did a lot for the money. The ports were well spaced out so we were at sea for days on end and then hit all the ports. We are now interested in taking 10+ day cruises. I think we could even look at a 30 day cruise.
The ship, the NCL Jewell was well maintained. Everything was kept up and very clean. I had seen prior reviews were some people said the furnishings were well warn but I did find anything that looked warned. I believe the whole ship has been refurbished.
The ports of call were all good and the excursions we went on were good too. We did have a problem with the bus air conditioning on our Butterfly tour in Huatulco, Mexico but considering all we did that is not much to complain about.
The ship food was excellent. We liked the menu choices and it provided us a wide variety. We did not go to any specialty dinning opportunities and ate most all of our meals in Tzars at the back of the ship. The service in this dinning room was good. I did feel that they could use more wait staff at times. Tzars has large windows which provided good views.
The ship entertainment was the best we'd experienced on a ship. We had a good variety and the talent was excellent.
Nancy and I liked the on board activities. We went to all the art auctions and many of the other events offered. We did wish that they'd done a better job with bridge. The newsletter did cover the bridge activities very well and the ship didn't provide the bridge teacher with a good room to teach bridge.
Our stateroom met all our needs. It could have been larger but it was sufficient for what we paid. Our room steward was excellent.
Thank you NCL. Good job. We are happy.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Skip all of the dinning opportunities and eat in Tzars on the back of the ship.