Review of Jewel Panama Canal Feb 22 - March 4

[JennKach]

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 out of Panama City which did a full canal transit and visited Costa Rica, the ABC islands and Colombia, ending in Colon.  Aruba and Bonaire were our only repeat visits.  The ship was at full capacity with very diverse nationalities on board.  All announcements were in English and Spanish, but there were many Europeans on board as well. 

Pre-cruise

We flew down to Panama two days early using NCL air.  Two flights with a 3 hour layover went perfectly and we arrived early.  Our friends also used NCL air, but half had horrible red eye flights on a subpar airline, while the others had had non-stop on a great plane.  We stayed at the Sheraton Grand which was just ok, with a really nice pool area and a free breakfast buffet for AAA members.  It’s not really downtown, but UBER’s are super cheap to get around.  We toured the old town and went to the Miraflores visitor center and saw the Jewel coming through!

Embarkation

Having heard about the possible nightmare boarding process, we Uber’d to the Convention center at 11am.  We thought we’d be late because our driver went the wrong way on a one way street and got pulled over by a policeman that was not in a good mood.  It was very organized at arrival where we were given a numbered sticker (11) at a desk where staff took our bags.  No porter to tip.  Then we went upstairs to the main convention center hall and saw hundreds of people sitting down, and a couple signs for echeck-in and Haven.  Other than that we had no idea what was going on.  Were people checked in and waiting to board?  No, they were all waiting for check in to start and they called the numbers in order.  It was much better than standing in line to check in, but some directions would have been helpful.  Things moved quickly, check in took minutes and then we moved on to a passport check.  After that we walked to buses to transport us to the pier.  At the pier we had a short line into a tent for bag xray, then walked into the ship. I believe it was about two hours from the time we left the hotel until we boarded.  Rooms were not ready until 3 so we headed to the main dining room for lunch.

Food

Buffet – we mainly ate lunch here but also a couple breakfasts.  Not much really to say about it.   The omelet station was rarely crowded.  There were round hash browns available every day.  If you miss lunch, there is a small buffet out back with basics and afternoon tea type items.  I enjoyed the fresh scones with cream.  With a full ship it was always crowded unless you get there early.

Main Dining - ate dinner in the main dining rooms five times, mostly with our group of 10.  On this cruise the demographic tended to eat later meals which is the opposite of what we normally encounter.  If you have a large group you should make a reservation, and they won’t seat you until half of your party has arrived.  I will echo other comments lately that it seems the dining room is understaffed.  Food was very good and bar service prompt.

Cagney’s – ate twice here and everything was great.

Le Bistro – not my favorite meal.  The filet was ok, dessert was Il Flotant and we all loved it!

Teppanyaki – all I can say is it was LOUD!  The four stations are all in one small room, with two stations in action at the same time.  New to me is all the singing that they want you to participate in.  Yikes, we were half deaf between the cheering and clanking utensils by the end of the meal.  Food was very good though.

La Cucina – it was our favorite.  The steaks were perfect and our waiter got the vacation hero card.

Room Service – this was really the only frustrating thing we encountered on the ship.  Since we had many early morning activities we ordered room service breakfast five times.  I don’t mind the $5 charge and I tip well.  There were no door hang tags in the menu book so I called in our order the night before on two occasions.  The third time they refused to take my order and asked why I wasn’t using the hang tags.  When I explained I didn’t have one he said he would send housekeeping to bring me some.  Mind you it’s after midnight and we need to get up at 6:30.  45 minutes later I still don’t have hang tags so I called back and they eventually took my order.  I never got hang tags the next day so I had to call housekeeping to get them.  The menu in the book has many more choices than the hang tag so we wrote in what we wanted (like an order of bacon).  Three out of five days the orders were wrong or missing things.  I will give them props for being on time every time.   Yay for having room service on disembarkation morning!

Cabin

We were in a balcony on deck 8.  Having two CPAPs was not a problem running the cords under the bed with the extension cord I brought.  The cabin steward provided bathrobes and distilled water at my request. There were wine glasses every day, and two complimentary bottles of water for Latitudes status.  Cabin service was fine (once a day) and the steward managed to get it done while we were out of the room.  A first for us was the heavy deodorizer smell as we entered the first day.  Normally NCL cabins are very neutral smelling and pleasant, maybe with a light bleach scent.  My husband is very sensitive to chemicals and has never had a reaction on a ship before.  This time it was me lol.  I started sneezing immediately and couldn't stop.  Our steward said they spray this between cruises now and he wouldn’t use it anymore.  It happened the second day too and it ended up being the bathroom cleaner.  He let me smell the cleaners to identify which one made me sneeze and didn’t use it in our cabin anymore.  Thank goodness we could open the door and air it out.  I just hope this isn’t a fleet wide thing now.

Panama Canal

I loved it!  I’m not a morning person so it was really hard to be up at 6am to see the first lock.  We enjoyed room service on the balcony in our robes for the first hour, then went to the bow.  Eventually we made our way to the top decks and then to the observation lounge.  I’m so glad we did the visitor center first and I read books on the history and operation.  I appreciated it so much more.

Excursions

Costa Rica – we did a short, cheap ship excursion which was a pontoon river cruise.  It was worth it to see wildlife and a glimpse of the country.  Gone are the days when we feel it necessary to have day long adventures in every port.

Aruba – we’ve been here before so we just walked around and bought a few things we forgot and some new water shoes.  Prices are better if you go one street away from the main one.  A note about port: we arrived at the left port building which is closed under construction.  I’m sure most people didn’t know you could go in the other building which had shops, free wifi and nice bathrooms. 

Curacao – we took the ship’s Trolley Train excursion for a quick city tour and then took our time walking back to the ship.  The entire town was closed except for a couple restaurants and souvenir shops.  The floating bridge was cool and we went for a ride on it while it opened.  The walk back takes you through an old fort section and of course a shopping mall.

Bonaire – this is our favorite island to visit.  We rented golf carts again, and four friends did too.  Since we had a full day we were able to do the south and north loops and see things we hadn’t before.  Did a little snorkeling and had lunch too.

Santa Marta, Colombia – one of the roll call members set up a private sailing adventure and eight of our group members joined in.  We had a fantastic day sailing to a beach in a national park, spending hours in the water, and enjoying lunch in the sand.

Cartagena, Colombia – we did a ship excursion bus tour of colonial highlights which stopped at a fort, the dungeons (a shopping area of course), and the old town.  There was a tour of the inquisition jail and the emerald museum which ended in the most expensive gift shop imaginable, a jewelry store.  We had about 20 minutes to stroll around the old town before heading back to the ship.  Unfortunately our tour guide had his watch ripped from his wrist, and another passenger had their phone grabbed from their hand in the old town square.  I know it can happen anywhere, but to have two people out of 30 on our bus end up being robbed was unfortunate, and unusual I hope.

Entertainment

We saw a couple shows and the comedian in the theater and enjoyed them all. I think NCL does an excellent job on productions compared to other lines we have sailed.  We were so busy with friends that we didn’t see any of the other entertainment like the “not so newlywed” show, or trivia.  I never got to the casino.  We enjoyed the nightly music in Spinnaker and it was very well attended.  Latin night, 80’s night and Abba were packed!  It was great to see so many people dancing and singing along.

Pools

Of course there were some chair hogs and slim availability right at the pool, but we could always find chairs one deck up. Shade was more coveted than poolside on this ship though.  We had some heavy wind where they took all the loungers away on the upper deck so it was really hard to find a chair that day.  Hot tubs were often filled with kids.  Bar service was excellent.

Latitudes Perks

This was our first cruise as Platinum.  We didn’t get priority embarkation or the chocolate covered strawberries, but everything else was available.  We both used our free bag of laundry, did the wine tasting and took the behind the scenes tour.  We used our two free dinners and free bottle of wine, and discounts on photos and excursions.

Miscellaneous

I didn’t see any pier runners, but we did leave a few people in Aruba.  My husband walked past a cabin and overheard security asking housekeeping to be let in to retrieve passports.

Many passengers thought lines were just a suggestion.  On excursions it was a free for all trying to get on the buses.  One couple got on the wrong (empty) pontoon boat because they wanted a front row seat, and ended up getting put back on ours in the most undesirable obstructed view lol.  Others sat in the back of the bus but wanted to be first off.

My husband had gone up to the buffet for more food and a woman just walked up to my table and started to move his dishes to sit down!  We didn’t speak the same language so neither of us could understand, but I had to literally put my hands on his dishes so she couldn’t move them, and point to the seat next to him.  She and her daughter sat down and kept staring at us as we finished our meals and dessert.  Awkward!

I’m not sure if they did away with it or not, but we never got a paper that talked about disembarkation day and what restaurants were open, etc.  I checked the app and it wasn’t there either.

It was definitely a younger crown on this trip which greatly enhanced the nightlife.  It was nice to see people out at midnight instead of rolling up the carpet at 10p. 

If you wore a regular bathing suit you were overdressed.  It was more of a thong/Brazilian cut type of crowd with lots of cleavage, much to the delight of many on board.

Covid is still alive and well.  Two of our group came down with it the day we got home, and three others (including me) got sick with the regular old sore throat/sinus thing.  Our room steward was out sick a few days too.  Not much masking going on.

Disembarkation

We chose to use the NCL airport transportation from Colon and booked it on the ship.  We received a letter with luggage tags and a time of 8:15. They also mentioned self-assist, but it wasn’t clear if you could do that with NCL transportation.  In hindsight we should have done it to save time and anxiety.  Our flight was at 12:15p and it took forever to get off the ship.  We stood on a staircase for a long time, not moving as tours walked past and people took elevators past us directly to deck 4.  The problem was using only one gangway backed everything up.  Finally someone complained and they got us moving.  Once we got on the bus I could relax and happily we were the first terminal to get dropped off. 

Trip Home

NCL air gave us three flights home with not much room for error on connections.  In Panama, by the time we got dropped off, checked it, dropped our bags, grabbed some snacks and got to the gate we only had 30 minutes before boarding.  Our first connection was in Costa Rica so we had to exit one terminal and go back through security in the international area.  Our flight was late getting in due to traffic and we were circling the airport for 20 minutes.  I didn’t even get a bathroom stop before boarding the next plane.  Thankfully I ate a sandwich in the Panama airport.  Our next connection was Chicago where we had to get our bags and go through immigration and customs, recheck bags, take a train to the farthest terminal and walk to another one.  All of this in less than two hours.  Guess what?  Our plane was 30 minutes late because there was no gate available.  We were those people running through every stop on the adventure and of course got the slowest immigration line, and no one willing to recheck our bags. Eventually enough people demanded they take our bags and we ran up to the gate as they were boarding.  Then we finally reach our home airport and hear that baggage will be delayed one hour because too many planes showed up at the same time!  That’s code for “people didn’t show up for work” or “management didn’t schedule properly” since I’m pretty sure they knew what planes were arriving.

Final thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed this vacation and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.  I would do NCL air again since it saved us so much money.  The Jewel and her crew were awesome and I look forward to sailing her again.  With tight connections I’d probably not check a bag next time, and carry more snacks.  If you choose your flight time, don't leave Panama before 1:00p.  Wow the sun was strong!  I’ve learned to love my long sleeve sun shirt.  Make sure your sun hat has a strap to keep it on.  Two months is too long to wait until my next cruise.

[itsnotjustme]

Thank you for a comprehensive review.

[Turtles06]

Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed and well-organized review.  I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise!

 

It was interesting to read your observations about the demographics of your cruise, which embarked in Fuerte Amador.  My wife and I returned last month from B2B Panama Canal cruises on the Gem, NY to Fuerte Amador, and Fuerte Amador to NY.  The two cruises had very different "vibes" and demographics. The first leg, out of NY, was older and had more Americans, and it felt to me that many people were there in large measure to transit the Canal.  The second leg was more like your cruise -- younger, and more diverse in nationalities.  It also seemed to me that lots of folks, coming from Central or South America, were more interested in a cruise to NY than in seeing the Canal.  Each leg was fun!

[Muckyduckway]

You sound like you have a great attitude. Some of the things you describe would have certain posters declaring "no more NCL".

An enjoyable and well-written account.

Was the Costa Rica tour the Tarcoles River excursion? If so, what wildlife did you see?  We had considered it, but were put off by reports of very limited sightings of wildlife.

[Turtles06]

43 minutes ago, Muckyduckway said:

Was the Costa Rica tour the Tarcoles River excursion? If so, what wildlife did you see?  We had considered it, but were put off by reports of very limited sightings of wildlife.

 

I'm not the OP, but I'll just note that we did the Tarcoles River as part of a private tour (with a small group from our Roll Call) back in 2017.  It was fabulous. We saw lots of wildlife then.  I hope nothing has changed.  (Sometimes it depends on the time of day of your tour.  Midday in the tropics  -- many creatures with brains are taking a siesta.  🙂 ) 

 

 

 

 

 

(photos by turtles06)

 

[Muckyduckway]

Do you remember what time your tour started? We are torn between this and the Aerial Tram and Nature Walk. Our interests are primarily scenery and wildlife.

[JennKach]

6 hours ago, Muckyduckway said:

You sound like you have a great attitude. Some of the things you describe would have certain posters declaring "no more NCL".

An enjoyable and well-written account.

Was the Costa Rica tour the Tarcoles River excursion? If so, what wildlife did you see?  We had considered it, but were put off by reports of very limited sightings of wildlife.

A good attitude is the first thing I pack!  The excursion was the "Tortuguero Canals and River Cruise".  We saw sloths, two kinds of monkeys, a crocodile, and lots of birds.  It was disappointing that they were so hidden in the trees and the guide had to point them out with a laser pointer, but it is a rainforest not a zoo, so there's that.  If I had paid more money I would have been really disappointed, but it was still an enjoyable short excursion.  We got chips, a banana and a bottle of water PLUS a trip through the gift shop.  If you have a stop in Cartagena you see many more animals up close in the free aviary/zoo at the port.

[JennKach]

3 hours ago, Muckyduckway said:

Do you remember what time your tour started? We are torn between this and the Aerial Tram and Nature Walk. Our interests are primarily scenery and wildlife.

It says 12:30 on the reservation, but I think it ended up being 1:30 on the tickets because the ship didn't change to local time.