Amazing Panama Canal Cruise
Norwegian Star Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 52
14 Night Panama Canal Eastbound (Los Angeles To Miami)
Sail date: January 05, 2018
Ship: Norwegian Star
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 10056
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
Overall, the cruise was everything we hoped it would be. We enjoyed the food, the entertainment, the cruise staff (for the most part) and most of the ports and would definitely do it again, although next time we would do it the opposite direction. The ship was nice and clean, but we long for the day when smoking will be totally banned on cruise ships.Embarkation
We chose a boarding time between 2 and 2:30 pm, but when we arrived at about 2:15 the lines were incredibly long, so, instead of standing in line, we chose to sit and wait for the lines to die down, and finally boarded at about 4 pm. If they aren't going to honor the chosen boarding time, why even bother with giving us a choice? They should have separate boarding groups like they do at the airport and when your group is called, then you can board.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
We enjoyed all the different restaurants, but with the freestyle dining experience, we missed the interaction we have always enjoyed by sitting with the same group of people at the evening meals. So, we aren't fans of freestyle dining.
Onboard Activities
We participated in several morning walks with the cruise staff and had good conversations with them as well as with the other participants. But, since the average age of the passengers was somewhere around 80 or higher, the walks weren't as brisk as we would have liked. We also participated in many of the trivia games and had a great time and even learned some things we didn't know before. We especially enjoyed Jefferson, one of the assistants to the cruise director. But there was a Chinese girl who also was part of the cruise director staff whose grasp of the English language was greatly lacking, to say the least, and should not have been put in charge of any of the activities.
Entertainment
We enjoyed all the entertainment on the cruise, especially Aerial Adage: Duo Elegia. They were amazing!! We also really enjoyed Alan Chamo: "M1ND H4CK3R". In fact, we attended both shows because we couldn't believe what we were seeing. He was incredible! The Star Band, Dancers and Singers were also top notch, and we thoroughly enjoyed all the shows they put on. The one show we didn't attend was the Juggler show Friday night, Jan. 12, and from what we heard from those that did attend, we didn't miss much. The various musicians on board were mostly good. The Star Band, the Pink Elephants, Felicia, and Astorga Latin Duo were all very good. The Melodic Trio was very good most of the time, but there were some very "unmelodic" episodes, mostly when the female singer was allowed to sing. She should have stuck with playing the bass guitar.
Service and Staff
Our cabin attendant was very good as were most of the staff that we interacted with. However, on our previous cruises, which have been mostly on Celebrity Cruises, we felt that the staff did a better job of anticipating the passenger needs than they did on NCL.
Ship Quality
The ship was well-maintained and clean, but we could never get our bearings, for some reason. We always found ourselves walking toward the wrong end of the ship. I don't recall having that problem on any of our previous cruises.
Cabin / Stateroom
We felt very cramped in this cabin, especially in the hallway leading from the cabin door past the bathroom and the closet. The bathroom and closet doors only open 90 degrees, so you can't pass with any of the doors open. If the bathroom door was able to open 180 degrees and fold flat against the hall wall, it would improve accessibility greatly. Also, if the closet doors were able to open 180 degrees instead of only 90, it would improve things greatly when two people are trying to access the closet, especially the shelves inside the closet.
Another problem we had was that someone in another cabin smoked (illegally) on their balcony almost every morning and evening and the smoke drifted into our cabin. We reported it every time we experienced it, but they were never able to isolate where it was coming from. It made the balcony almost useless.
Ports of call
San Pedro (Los Angeles), California
The cruise port is adjacent to Ports O' Call Village, which is a very nice tourist destination with lots of restaurants and shops.
Thumbs Up
3
Acapulco overall was somewhat disappointing. The town obviously had seen better days and was somewhat run down. We did an excursion to the Chapel of Peace and the Cliff Divers, which were both awesome, but the parts in between were kind of disappointing.
We thoroughly enjoyed Guatemala. We went on an excursion to Antigua, which was delightful, and we had the BEST guide, Marian Cordova with Blue Planet Tours, who spoke English like a native English speaker (no accent whatsoever) and was extremely knowledgeable about the country and what we were seeing as we drove through the countryside.
Nicaragua was a mixed bag. We went on an excursion to Granada and I thought it was somewhat comparable to Guatemala, but my husband hated it! He thought it was dirty and unfriendly and he couldn't get back on the ship fast enough. I liked Granada, although it didn't have quite the charm of Antigua with its cobblestone streets and such nor was the climate nearly as inviting as Antigua. But, the buildings in Granada were very impressive and seemed to be well maintained, especially around the central plaza.
I was very eager to visit Costa Rica because I have heard such good things about it. And, for the most part, it lived up to its billing and I would definitely go back again. We took an excursion to Esparza and watched a group of children perform some native Costa Rican dances and also toured around the countryside for a couple of hours.
This was the highlight of the cruise, the main event, as far as I am concerned. I am a total history buff so I had always wanted to see the Panama Canal. The engineering that went into it over 100 years ago is just amazing! So, I spent every moment listening to the guide narrate the transit, taking pictures and watching everything that was going on. My only regret is that we weren't able to disembark anywhere in Panama.
We thoroughly enjoyed Cartagena and definitely want to go back again. We would like to have spent a lot more time in the Old Town as well as explore more of the city. The zoo at the port was also a very cool feature and was the only place we saw macaws on the cruise.
My husband grew up in Miami so it was like going home. In fact, we rented a car and drove to his neighborhood and saw the house he grew up in and which his mom lived in for 50 years until just last year.
The port itself is OK. They are doing construction so it's a little bit of a mess right now.
Disembarkation
We carried our bags off ourselves because we had a noon flight and wanted to do some sightseeing beforehand so didn't want to be delayed by the usual disembarkation procedure. The process was quick and painless and we were able to do everything we wanted to do before the flight back home to Los Angeles.