The Panama Canal passage was worth the trip. It was amazing and a real testament to man’s ingenuity.

Norwegian Joy Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 15

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Joy

15 Night Panama Canal - Eastbound (Los Angeles To Miami)

Sail date: February 24, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Joy

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 10918

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Very crowded and pool areas were very small. The ship layout has a lot of wasted space for this type cruise with an older crowd. The staff was great.

Embarkation

3 out of 5
Changed locations several times and the port wasn’t ready for the big crowd that was boarding.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Specialty restaurants were all outstanding. The main dining rooms a buffet were average.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
Mini golf was fun. It was and older crowd on he cruise and the laser tag, arcade and most other features were rarely used. The race track was closed for 15 days.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Stage shows and musicians were very good. Comedians were average

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
All interactions with staff were great.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Very clean and well maintained. This ship layout has wasted a lot of space with peripheral things and there was zero room on the pool deck. The ship seemed exceptionally crowded everywhere you went.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
It was good and in a great location.

Ship tip

I would buy extra specialty dinners and the unlimited wi fi. The complimentary restaraunts all require reservations and are very crowded.

Ports of call

San Pedro (Los Angeles), California

3 out of 5

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

4 out of 5
Road electric bikes on the beach. It was fun.

Acapulco, Mexico

4 out of 5
Have to see the cliff divers.

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

3 out of 5
Nice shopping area right at the pier.

Panama City, Panama

4 out of 5
Panama has a ton of US influence and is a nice place. We did a Flores lock tour and boat ride. Pretty fun and educational.

Panama Canal Transit

5 out of 5
Best part of the cruise. Narrator all the way through was nice.

Cartagena, Colombia

3 out of 5
Pretty crowded and dirty. A cab ride to the old city was better than an excursion or a nascar race.

George Town, Grand Cayman

4 out of 5
Very nice place.

Miami, Florida

2 out of 5
Customs took forever.

Disembarkation

1 out of 5
It was awful. NCL should be ashamed that it took 4-6 hours to get off the ship and the transfers to the airport was mass confusion. I finally took a cab to the Fort Lauderdale airport and I got there 7 1/2 hours after the ship docked.
Was this review helpful? 15

3 Comments

Other reviews of this sailing