Panama Canal Cruise Feb 14-28, 2015

Norwegian Jewel Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 16

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Jewel

Sail date: February 14, 2016

Ship: Norwegian Jewel

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 11-510

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

Overall, this was an excellent cruise.

There was a nice variety of excursions from which to choose, and wonderful entertainment onboard, daily and nightly.  Service was very good, as well as meals, and the condition of the ship, overall was good - very clean. 

The crossing of the Panama Canal was a wonderful experience, and though we found rather crowded conditions on the decks for viewing during the crossing of the first two locks that let us into the Canal from the Pacific side, we had a first-rate view from our own cabin balcony of the crossing of the third set of locks, that let us back out into the Atlantic.  Total time of the canal crossing for us was about 9 hours.  The portion of the crossing that we got to view from our cabin balcony lasted about 2 1/2 hours.  We would recommend the "meet the captain" session that was near the end of the cruise, which actually included three of the officers, as they relayed some very interesting information about the ship and the trip in general.  (For instance, we learned that the fee to cross the canal came to $485,000 for our ship alone!)

The cruise is a long one, but makes you relax!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Our cabin was excellent, as it was high on the ship, and on the port side. Considering the route we were taking, any land that we could see or ports that we were entering were visible from the port side only, most of the time. We had a mini-suite, which gave us a little extra room between the bed area and the balcony, which was nice for this long of a trip.

Ship tip

This is the first time we've cruised with Norwegian, and it was very good. Their motto is "Cruise like a Norwegian", and they live up to that!

Ports of call

San Pedro (Los Angeles), California

3 out of 5

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

3 out of 5

Acapulco, Mexico

3 out of 5

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

3 out of 5

Puerto Corinto, Nicaragua

3 out of 5

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

5 out of 5

Panama Canal Transit

5 out of 5

Cartagena, Colombia

3 out of 5

Miami, Florida

3 out of 5
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