Panama Hotels

[armwinder]

We have a cruise booked out of Colon, March 2022. We hope it sails! What hotels do NCL use in Panama City or Colon? We are using the NCL air promotion again as in the past we have been happy with the flights.  

[complawyer]

while i cannot specifically answer your question, i would suggest (1) you call the ncl 800 number and speak directly with one of their reps, especially in light of the fact you're using their air package, so i believe they can put together an entire itinerary or(2) whenever we sail out of a foreign port, i personally use booking.com. its a great site, and we've used it for many years. it gives you a massive selection of hotels, prices, and different categories of rooms.

 

the best part, is you can book a reservation, and although they ask for a credit card info, the card does not get charged, and you have the ability to cancel the room with no penalty up to 3 days prior to your arrival. this came in really handy, in lieu of the fact ncl has cancelled 4 of my cruises within the past year. hope this helps you out a little

[njhorseman]

7 hours ago, armwinder said:

We have a cruise booked out of Colon, March 2022. We hope it sails! What hotels do NCL use in Panama City or Colon? We are using the NCL air promotion again as in the past we have been happy with the flights.  

AFAIK NCL has never before done cruises originating in Panama so no one here can possibly answer your question. My guess is that if you call NCL the reps aren't going to know either because it's a little early .

[armwinder]

51 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

AFAIK NCL has never before done cruises originating in Panama so no one here can possibly answer your question. My guess is that if you call NCL the reps aren't going to know either because it's a little early .

Sailed through the Panama a number of times but as you pointed out never out of Panama or Colon. Be interesting to see what they come up with as far as hotels go. I’ll check in a few months, let’s hope the cruise actually happens and things are back to some kind of normal by then. I see that Crystal are requiring vaccine two weeks before boarding. 

[lax19]

The cruise that leaves from Panama City (Fuerte Amador) -  11:59PM Sunday 3/20/2022, so it is possible that the flight is either an overnight flight that arrives the day of the cruise or leaves early in the morning on the 20th.

 

This is just speculation based on a random sample of current flights. 

[CILCIANRQTS]

Be VERY careful in booking a hotel, as Colon is perhaps the “sketchiest” port we ever visited. Guidebooks warn not to venture out of the immediate port area without a local tour, etc.

[farmersfight]

7 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Be VERY careful in booking a hotel, as Colon is perhaps the “sketchiest” port we ever visited. Guidebooks warn not to venture out of the immediate port area without a local tour, etc.

 

This is very true. My Dad used to work on the Panama Canal and used to live in Margarita. When I used to visit him in the summers, I always avoided Colon. Cristobal yes, Colon no. Not sure if things have changed with Colon, but I doubt it.

 

As I remember, Panama City was safer than Colon.

 

 

[armwinder]

1 hour ago, farmersfight said:

 

This is very true. My Dad used to work on the Panama Canal and used to live in Margarita. When I used to visit him in the summers, I always avoided Colon. Cristobal yes, Colon no. Not sure if things have changed with Colon, but I doubt it.

 

As I remember, Panama City was safer than Colon.

 

 

Hopefully NCL chose a decent hotel in Panama, we will not know until later in the year. We have been happy with the hotels they have used in the past on other itineraries so we will wait and see. If in fact things are back to some kind of normal by March 2022 and the cruise actually sails.   

[farmersfight]

16 hours ago, armwinder said:

Hopefully NCL chose a decent hotel in Panama, we will not know until later in the year. We have been happy with the hotels they have used in the past on other itineraries so we will wait and see. If in fact things are back to some kind of normal by March 2022 and the cruise actually sails.   

 

I'm sure NCL will. I would bet NCL puts you up in a hotel in Panama City vice Colon. Panama City is much bigger, nicer & safer. Let's put it this way; I wouldn't want to walk around the streets in Colon at night (maybe even in daytime these days) but the opposite is true for Panama City. Best of luck.