Great way to see the canal. We were disappointed in our room location and noise. Service was not as good or as friendly as on previous NCL cruise.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
One hour and 45 minutes to get onboard. We were actually past the 2pm onboard time requirement.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Main dining was good, most specialty restaurants very good, only ate at buffet for mid day snacks. Don't bother booking specialty dining until onboard, they save the good times for then.
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Waste of space for Laser Tag and the Speedway. They weren't open for very long and few used them. The space was needed for sun chairs which people reserved(not allowed but not enforced).
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Beatles Revolution was incredible, Dmitry and Ksenia amazing, Footloose very good, Summer Breeze great for easy listening, Top Shelf Country band was great but very loud.
Children's Programs
No kides
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Food service seemed very new or poor training. Bartenders were stingy with alcohol and not at all friendly.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
Again, wasted space with Laser Tag and Speedway. Deck 9 was noisy with chairs being moved constantly on the Waterfront.
Cabin / Stateroom
3 out of 5
Connecting door, which we didn't request, rattled constantly. Cabinets rasttled in anything over 4' seas. Noise from deck below. Lifeboat maintenance early morning woke us 3 times. Engines and stern thrusters woke every docking. We paid for a room on decks 11-15 midship and supposedly got an "upgrade" to deck 9 and aft. Totally unacceptable cabin change.
Ship tip
Get a mid ship cabin up high, which we requested but were supposedly "upgraded" to lower deck aft. Make all dining and entertainment reservations as soon as you board the ship.
Beautiful town that we enjoyed. However, our bus driver rode the brakes all the way back to the ship and the smell was very toxic. He even stopped and threw buckets of water on the brakes, not a good idea in my opinion. The driver claimed they were new and needed broken in.
We did the Jungle/River hike. Due to it being overbooked we were on the smaller van with only 10 people. The hike was great but there were a couple of people that shouldn't have been there. It is rated a level 3 for a reason. Slowed us down and shortened the hike quite a bit. Nice meal for lunch.
First off it was cold here and too cold too snorkel for us. We booked the Chileno Bay boat and thought it was supposed to be a 60+ passenger sailing catamaran. Turned into a 20 person small trimaran powered by 2 outboard motors. The rest of the group thought the same as us. They did, however, provide a nice lunch and plenty of drinks. The snorkel gear looked new but no one stayed in the water much over 20 minutes. We did see some whales from a distance.
We tried to book a day tour of LA prior to the cruise through NCL but they were sold out. I called and they said no more would be added and spaces were not saved for after boarding the ship. So we booked through Sunseeker Tours which was very good. But after boarding we checked and miracuously there were many spaces available for the NCL tours. Too late for us to change and so we lost a $50 shore credit.
This went fairly quickly after a lengthy delay before anyone could get off. But only 1 restaurant was open for breakfast and the buffet. There was a 30 minute at Savor. Taste and the Local should have been open too. Our steward started tearing our room apart while we were at breakfast even though our luggage and toiletries were still there and it was only 0730.
*Cruiseline.com is not a booking agent or travel agency,
and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. Our partners
(travel agencies and cruise lines) provide prices, which we list for our
users' convenience. Cruiseline.com does not guarantee any specific rates or
prices. While prices are updated daily, please check with the booking site
for the exact amount. Cruiseline.com is not responsible for content on
external web sites.
Contact us
Submitting...
Need help from a personal vacation planner?
Loading...
Find the perfect cruise with weekly tips and cruise deals for as little as $30/night!
Sign up for weekly cruise deals
Join other subscribers and get the best
cruise deals of the week in your inbox every Thursday.
