We arrived early into Panama City airport, and the transport started with an impromptu tour of Panama City and a pit stop for breakfast as we couldn't arrive in Colon before 11. The ride to Colon was purely functional, and we didn't view much that was photo worthy. Embarkation felt like sort of a mess in Colon, and it was a relief to finally get on the ship.
My bucket list included full ...
Cruise number 14 for us. Panama Canal passage on the list of " must do ". The price seemed very reasonable, although with Norweigan the extras add up like one of those $29 airfares that actually costs $229 when you pay for all the necessary extas.
We had put in a "bid" for an upgrade that works like an auction over about a week period. Day before cruise received an email stating that our bid ...
The Jewel was just refurbished in 2018 and is still very new looking. At 2350 capacity she is my size. The seating in the common areas was clean and comfortable. I had a ocean view with 2 persons and it was OK. Beds were new and we had enough space. Entertainment is always a mystery to me. They only play for 45 min and sometimes at really odd times. We ate mostly in the main dinning room and the ...
My wife and I finally were able to complete our long awaited Panama Canal cruise which had been postponed twice due to covid. We typically cruise NCL (me - Sapphire, wife - Platinum) and love the Jewel class ships. After staying two nights in the Panama Hilton (wonderful!) on the NCL pre-cruise package we were off to meet the ship in Colon. We opted out of NCL's transportation as my wife ...
We chose this cruise because we could do the Panama Canal in 8 days, rather than 10 or 14 days. The Jewel is a nice ship, a little dated, but the service on the ship was far better than expected. Our room was always clean. Cindy and Ronald in the Palace dining room went above and beyond to provide excellent service. The entertainment was outstanding with comedy magic and Stephanie Pope and ...
Want to sail the Norwegian Jewel? You may want to read this first.
If you wonder why the ship is cheap, there is a reason. First time sailors don't be fooled. You have better choices.
Need internet? Choose another ship as this one's complicated system robs you of minutes every time you turn it on and turn it off (many ports do have free internet, except Colon, Panama- Cartagena and Santa ...
On this cruise it was me (56), my husband (60), and a group of 8 others. We met two of them on a cruise last year, and they invited us to join them and their family members on this one. This was cruise #16 for us with 8 on NCL, our first as Platinum. We originally booked OV and did some price drops and used points to upgrade to balcony deck 8.
Our cruise was the Feb 22 Jewel 10 day sailing ...
Thanks to everyone that wrote a review of the Norwegian Jewel because we read them all along with all the other Norwegian reviews before deciding to take this cruise. This was our first cruise since covid.
We had an absolutely fantastic time—it was an exciting, fast paced, well managed action-packed cruise that went to some exciting ports celebrating my birthday. Aruba, Bonaire, and Caraco ...
Plus
Food was normally pretty good
Staff were mostly polite and accommodating
Minus
Not stopping at Nicaragua changed the dynamic of the cruise. Too many days at sea. Also, no explanation or apology, just a note on arrival. Not acceptable
The constant announcements through the canal starting at 6am, and going all day, was a real distraction.
Entertainment was somewhere between ...
The Travelers: Early 50's empty nesters. This was our fifth cruise, third with NCL, and the second time we’ve cruised without the kids. I’ll say going in that overall I was pleased with NCL, and especially with the Jewel and her crew. It wasn’t perfect, no trip ever is, but it sure was a great vacation.
The Cruise: NCL Jewel 12-night, San Diego to Colon, Panama via the Panama Canal with port ...