NCL Joy 12 night Panama Canal 2020

[waggles02673]

Afternoon.  Wondering if anyone can share their experience on NCL cruising to the Panama Canal or just an NCL cruise in general.  My wife and I are thinking about possibly trying this cruise and it would be our 1st NCL cruise.  We are in our mid to late 40's, no kids and a little apprehensive switching cruise lines.  We are long time DCL cruisers (17+ cruises so far) and love the service we receive on Disney.  We are wondering if the service and entertainment will be what we are used to, or will we be wishing we were on DCL.   Currently we have the Panama Canal booked on both and will be canceling one of them.

Thanks

Jon

[TUNZAFUN]

41 minutes ago, waggles02673 said:

Afternoon.  Wondering if anyone can share their experience on NCL cruising to the Panama Canal or just an NCL cruise in general.  My wife and I are thinking about possibly trying this cruise and it would be our 1st NCL cruise.  We are in our mid to late 40's, no kids and a little apprehensive switching cruise lines.  We are long time DCL cruisers (17+ cruises so far) and love the service we receive on Disney.  We are wondering if the service and entertainment will be what we are used to, or will we be wishing we were on DCL.   Currently we have the Panama Canal booked on both and will be canceling one of them.

Thanks

Jon

Hello, we have never been on the Joy, we are scheduled to take her to Alaska in Aug  2020.  We have been on 11 other NCL ships and have had a great time on everyone of them. We are not picky people but we do like good food & service.   We have eaten in the buffet, Cagney's, La Cucina's, and a number of other restaurants and have never had  bad meal.  Every one of the shows have been exceptional.  On a NCL ship a few years ago a magician made a helicopter disappear from the stage, we were on the six deck of the ship and we could not figure it out - it was pretty awesome. 

We have done the Panama Canal trip twice, both trips were the best of the best.  I would go again in a hearty beat.  Both of the ships were around 2800 people, the Sun & the Jewel.  We had inside cabins both times, if we go again it will be in a balcony. When we were on the Jewel friends had an aft balcony & that spoiled us.  You could sit on your aft balcony & see everything at the back real close.  They had the TV on that showed you the bow & you could see what was coming up shortly.  Before you entered the canal a well spoken narrator is brought on board and talked the entire trip.  It's an all day process to get through the canal, very slow moving but very interesting, both trips were thru the old canal. On the Jewel we saw larger ships (huge ships) going thru the new canal.  The Joy will need to go thru the new canal. In the old canal we had 2 feet on each side for the ship to get thru, you could almost touch the  wall.  Bring binoculars you will hopefully see birds and animals.  Check out your library as ours had books to check out about the canal that was interesting to look through as I had no idea what to except.

Have a great time and enjoy your trip which ever way you go.

 

Linda & Tom  TUNZAFUN  (we are in our 60's)

[waggles02673]

9 minutes ago, TUNZAFUN said:

Hello, we have never been on the Joy, we are scheduled to take her to Alaska in Aug  2020.  We have been on 11 other NCL ships and have had a great time on everyone of them. We are not picky people but we do like good food & service.   We have eaten in the buffet, Cagney's, La Cucina's, and a number of other restaurants and have never had  bad meal.  Every one of the shows have been exceptional.  On a NCL ship a few years ago a magician made a helicopter disappear from the stage, we were on the six deck of the ship and we could not figure it out - it was pretty awesome. 

We have done the Panama Canal trip twice, both trips were the best of the best.  I would go again in a hearty beat.  Both of the ships were around 2800 people, the Sun & the Jewel.  We had inside cabins both times, if we go again it will be in a balcony. When we were on the Jewel friends had an aft balcony & that spoiled us.  You could sit on your aft balcony & see everything at the back real close.  They had the TV on that showed you the bow & you could see what was coming up shortly.  Before you entered the canal a well spoken narrator is brought on board and talked the entire trip.  It's an all day process to get through the canal, very slow moving but very interesting, both trips were thru the old canal. On the Jewel we saw larger ships (huge ships) going thru the new canal.  The Joy will need to go thru the new canal. In the old canal we had 2 feet on each side for the ship to get thru, you could almost touch the  wall.  Bring binoculars you will hopefully see birds and animals.  Check out your library as ours had books to check out about the canal that was interesting to look through as I had no idea what to except.

Have a great time and enjoy your trip which ever way you go.

 

Linda & Tom  TUNZAFUN  (we are in our 60's)

 

Thanks so much for the response.  We have a big decision to make thankfully we have plenty of time to research NCL further.  As you mentioned we have an aft balcony booked on the Joy for this cruise.  We love the aft balconies on the DCL Dream Class ships.  Thanks again. 

[Oakman58]

1 hour ago, waggles02673 said:

Afternoon.  Wondering if anyone can share their experience on NCL cruising to the Panama Canal or just an NCL cruise in general.  My wife and I are thinking about possibly trying this cruise and it would be our 1st NCL cruise.  We are in our mid to late 40's, no kids and a little apprehensive switching cruise lines.  We are long time DCL cruisers (17+ cruises so far) and love the service we receive on Disney.  We are wondering if the service and entertainment will be what we are used to, or will we be wishing we were on DCL.   Currently we have the Panama Canal booked on both and will be canceling one of them.

Thanks

Jon

 

I would check to see if the Disney ship will be going through the old locks and if so I would book that ship.  Going through the old locks is much more interesting than going through the new locks.  Because of the size of the NCL Joy that ship will have to go through the new locks.

 

I’ve never been on a Disney cruise ship but given the huge difference in price I would certainly hope that Disney offers better service and shows.

[Chris931]

I am a long time Disney cruiser (I am Platinum level).     I do sail on other lines at time for work (I am a travel agent) or sometimes for our personal trip.  My husband and I have done Norwegian, Royal and are doing Celebrity in the fall.

 

   I can tell you that nothing has yet come close to Disney.  Yes, it is more expensive but the level of service and quality across the board is superior.  The shows on Disney are definitely better.  They way they handle excursions is better.  

 

  That said, we will still continue to sail on other lines.  Sometimes the price makes the difference or another line has an itinerary that Disney doesn't.   We have never come home having not enjoyed our vacation.   You just have to go in with managed expectations.  

[timf2001]

The entertainment offerings on Joy are still unknown, as they will likely change significantly when the ship is converted from the Chinese to American market.

 

If you really want to see the whole canal, you will need to book an excursion that takes you on a smaller ferry through the Pacific locks.  This would be through the old locks, so even if you don't get to see the old locks onboard the cruise you would still get a chance to experience them.

[bluenose1]

We are booked for the 16 day on NCL Joy,  Miami to Los Angeles in a aft balcony. Looking forward to it. Stayed in mid ship balconies on both the Star and the POA. Looking at the itinerary I think the ship goes thru the new locks then anchors in

Lake Gatun for a day(?). I figure some interesting excursions thru old locks or observing them would be available. Some ports sound interesting some do not. But who cares your on a cruise. Enjoy. Some old pictures of subs.

 

[spang]

 We did the 14 day Panama Canal on the Star in January this was our 3rd cruise and 2nd one on NCL.  We loved this cruise, I would not hesitate to do the same cruise again.  We loved the entertainment on board and all the excursions we booked through NCL.  Our favorite thing with NCL is the anytime dining and all the dining options available without having to dress up.

[BillB48]

11 hours ago, bluenose1 said:

We are booked for the 16 day on NCL Joy,  Miami to Los Angeles in a aft balcony. Looking forward to it. Stayed in mid ship balconies on both the Star and the POA. Looking at the itinerary I think the ship goes thru the new locks then anchors in

Lake Gatun for a day(?). I figure some interesting excursions thru old locks or observing them would be available. Some ports sound interesting some do not. But who cares your on a cruise. Enjoy. Some old pictures of subs.

 

 

 

Bluenose1, check your itinerary... the one Joy full transit I looked at there were no stops in Panama before or after the day of the transit.  The ship does not offer shore excursions the day of the transit.

[BillB48]

11 hours ago, bluenose1 said:

We are booked for the 16 day on NCL Joy,  Miami to Los Angeles in a aft balcony. Looking forward to it. Stayed in mid ship balconies on both the Star and the POA. Looking at the itinerary I think the ship goes thru the new locks then anchors in

Lake Gatun for a day(?). I figure some interesting excursions thru old locks or observing them would be available. Some ports sound interesting some do not. But who cares your on a cruise. Enjoy. Some old pictures of subs.

 

 

 

Bluenose1, check your itinerary... the one Joy full transit I looked at there were no stops in Panama before or after the day of the transit.  The ship does not offer shore excursions the day of the transit.

[bluenose1]

10 hours ago, BillB48 said:

 

Bluenose1, check your itinerary... the one Joy full transit I looked at there were no stops in Panama before or after the day of the transit.  The ship does not offer shore excursions the day of the transit.

Checked and there is a stop in Lake Gatun on 2/20/20. ( a lot of 2's)  from 0700 to 2359.  Still a lot of time left who know's they might change....

[timf2001]

Something looks off with the itinerary posted on ncl.com.  It shows Daylight Transit Panama Canal on Tuesday, then Panama Canal/Gatun Lake on Wednesday from 7:00-23:59.  It doesn't take two days to transit the canal, nor would the ship stop to let people off in Gatun Lake if it is a full transit.  That is only for partial transits that then stop in Colon to pick up passengers who took excursions.  I'm guessing the second Panama Canal day is a mistake and will really just be another sea day.

[BillB48]

35 minutes ago, bluenose1 said:

Checked and there is a stop in Lake Gatun on 2/20/20. ( a lot of 2's)  from 0700 to 2359.  Still a lot of time left who know's they might change....

 

This is the itinerary I looked at, it is for 2019... you're right, lots of time to sort it all out

 

[tlm48]

We just booked Joy for 2020 panama partial transit with the ABC's!  so excited this is our third time through the Panama Canal first time on a cruise ship. I am reserving some private excursions  if anyone is interested, usually can get a better rate if their is 6-10 people doing the tours. we are a couple  in our early 60's.

[Turtles06]

45 minutes ago, tlm48 said:

We just booked Joy for 2020 panama partial transit with the ABC's!  so excited this is our third time through the Panama Canal first time on a cruise ship. I am reserving some private excursions  if anyone is interested, usually can get a better rate if their is 6-10 people doing the tours. we are a couple  in our early 60's.

 

The place to arrange excursions for a specific cruise is over on the Roll Call for your cruise.  If none exists yet, you can start one!

 

The Joy Roll Calls are at the link below; the Roll Call finder tool isn't working right now, so just scroll down the list to see if there's a Roll Call for your sailing:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/803-norwegian-joy-roll-calls/