NCL Pearl
11 Day Panama Canal Partial Transit Cruise - March 23, 2017
Itinerary
Thursday - March 23 - Miami, FL
Friday - March 24 - At Sea
Saturday - March 25 - At Sea
Sunday - March 26 - Cartagena, Colombia
Monday - March 27 - Panama Canal/Gatun Lake, Panama
Tuesday - March 28 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
Wednesday - March 29 - At Sea
Thursday - March 30 - Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
Friday - March 31 - Belize City, Belize
Saturday - April 1 - Costa Maya, Mexico
Sunday - April 2 - At Sea
Monday - April 3 - Miami, FL
When deciding where we wanted to cruise next, the Panama Canal was high on our list, but most Panama Canal cruises are full-transit, from Florida to California or the other direction. We knew we wouldn’t be able to take that much time off from work, plus having to pay for cross-country flights home from the cruise (or to the cruise depending on the itinerary). We also had decided to look at other cruise lines (we love Carnival, but there are many other cruise lines and we wanted to start trying some out). When looking at available cruises from Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) we found this partial-transit Panama Canal cruise roundtrip from Miami and it was perfect for us!
These were all new ports for us, except for Belize City and Costa Maya. Plus, we were getting to go back to a port we previously missed on a cruise, Roatan!
Embarkation Day
The best day of the year - embarkation day! After stepping on board the Norwegian Pearl we went straight to the dining room to have lunch. This was a first for us, because Carnival doesn’t open their dining rooms for embarkation day lunch. We ordered some cocktails (had to start putting that free drink package to good use).
After lunch we went and checked out our stateroom. Shortly before the cruise we had upgraded our balcony stateroom to a mini-suite! After seeing our home for the next 11 days it was time for the muster drill, ours was held in the Lotus Garden Asian Restaurant. We definitely enjoyed not having to be outside on a hot deck for the drill.
We had a very active Cruise Critic roll call for this cruise with lots of events planned. Our first event was a sail away party. We met up at Great Outdoors right after the drill. It was fun to meet those that we had chatted with online leading up to the cruise.
After the sail away party we went to Magnum’s Champagne & Wine Bar. Once we had tasted a few wines, we decided we were hungry and headed to the Indigo main dining room (MDR) for dinner. After dinner, we found some seats at Shaker’s Martini & Cocktail Bar where we enjoyed some cocktails. The bar had a TV playing college basketball games. This quickly became one of our favorite bars on the ship.
First Sea Day
After waking up, we went down to the Summer Palace main dining room for breakfast. We prefer MDR breakfast to the buffet when we have the time. At 11am we went to the Bliss Ultra Lounge & Night Club for our Cruise Critic Meet & Greet. Some cruise ship officers joined us and it was nice to be able to ask them questions about the cruise and ship. After the Meet & Greet those that signed up for the Gift & Magnets exchanges stayed to take part in their events.
We watched the sushi making demonstration in the Crystal Atrium, then headed to the Noodle Bar for lunch.
That evening, we enjoyed some cocktails at the Sugarcane Mojito Bar before our dinner reservation at Moderno Churrascaria. After dinner, we headed back down to Shaker’s Martini & Cocktail Bar to watch the Florida Gators take on Wisconsin in the NCAA basketball tournament, Go Gators!
Second Sea Day
We met up with our Cruise Critic friends in the Casino for the Slot Pull. A slot pull is where a group of people pool their money (usually a previously agreed upon amount, like $10 or $20) and then take an equal amount of turns at the slot machine. Once done, you divide the remaining money equally, if there’s any left! We enjoy doing slot pulls with our Cruise Critic groups, we’ve never won any money, but we’ve broken even a few times. This is usually the only time you’ll find us in the casino, we’re not big gamblers.
This evening was Dress Up or Not Night. We chose to dress up and take some pictures. Then we headed to Le Bistro for our dinner reservation.
Cartagena
After reading many great reviews online, we booked a city tour through Dora. We began our tour in Manga where we saw great mansions built at the beginning of the 1900s. We saw the main monuments of the city. We then headed to La Popa Convent where we got to see an amazing view of the city of Cartagena. After visiting the monastery and the chapel we headed to the San Felipe de Barajas Fort. Next we walked and drove around many historical plazas. We stopped to learn about the Palace of the Inquisition. Then we went to the Cathedral of Cartagena de Indias, which was built in the late 1500s. We visited the Museo del Oro Zenú, which has a collection of pottery and gold from the Zenú people. Before heading back to our cruise ship, we visited the Dungeons, which are now shops. We had a great tour of Cartagena and highly recommend Dora and her team.
All aboard was at 1:30pm and we were back from our tour with plenty of time. Once back on board the NCL Pearl, we decided to have lunch at the Noodle Bar. At 3pm we went to the Stardust Theater to watch a documentary about the building of the Panama Canal.
That evening, we enjoyed dinner in the Summer Palace main dining room. We went to bed early, because we knew we’d be up before dawn tomorrow to watch the ship enter the Panama Canal!
Panama Canal
Today is the reason for this cruise! Jay’s an engineer, and he was very excited to see the Panama Canal. This morning was an early start, but we wanted to be able to see everything. We went up to the Spinnaker Lounge to watch as the Norwegian Pearl approached and entered the Panama Canal.
All Panama Canal excursions have to be booked through the cruise line, you can’t book any independent tours. We chose to do the Panama Grand Tour. We had to meet at 9:30am in the Stardust Theater. Then we were lead off the ship to the lifeboat, which served as a tender. Once off the boat we got on the charter bus which would take us to the Gamboa Rainforest Reserve. There we boarded a 24-foot boat for a leisurely ride up the Chagres River. Our guide talked about the rainforest ecosystem and pointed out monkeys, sloths, and many birds along the way.
Then we stopped to visit the Embera tribe who still live in traditional villages within Panama’s rainforest. They sang, danced, and played music on their handmade instruments. The Embera are very talented craftsmen and we were able to purchase some of their beautiful items.
After our time with the Embera tribe came to an end, we continued to Agua Clara Locks Observation Center, on the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal. We learned about the history of the Panama Canal and how the locks work. Then it was time to head back to the NCL Pearl which was now docked in Colón, Panama.
After dinner in the Indigo main dining room we went to the Stardust Theater to watch the Comedy Funday show featuring Dan Bennett and Chris Pendleton.
Costa Rica
For our time in Limon, Costa Rica we booked a tour with Oscar Brown Tours. For the first part of our tour we visited the Jaguar Rescue Center. The JRC is a rehabilitation center for sick, injured, and/or orphaned animals. We got to see sloths, snakes, birds, monkeys, crocodiles, ocelots, oncillas, and more. After our time at the Jaguar Rescue Center we stopped at a beach for lunch. We enjoyed some Imperial Costa Rican beer with our food. We finished our tour by taking a boat tour of the Tortuguero canals. Tortuguero National Park is the second largest wetland in Costa Rica. Our guide talked about the rainforest ecosystem and we got to see many animals, including birds, monkeys, and crocodiles.
After our tour ended, we returned to the NCL Pearl. We got ready for dinner and headed to Teppanyaki for our reservation at 7pm. We really enjoy teppanyaki style cuisine and loved being able to experience it on a cruise ship!
Sea Day
We slept in a bit this morning and then headed down to the Summer Palace main dining room for a leisurely breakfast. At 1pm we participated in the Origami Crane arts & crafts class in the Crystal Atrium.
We walked around the upper decks and Jay stopped to practice his golf swing in the driving cage at the Sports Court on Deck 13.
After freshening up, we headed down to the Summer Palace main dining room for dinner.
Roatan
We immediately knew what we were going to book for our time in Roatan. In 2014, we were on a cruise that was supposed to stop in Roatan, but missed the port due to high winds. We re-booked the same tour we originally had through Victor Bodden, the Best of Roatan private tour.
Our tour began with sightseeing and hearing about the history of the island. Then we stopped at Victor’s Monkey Business where we got to hold monkeys, parrots, and even a sloth! After I finally said goodbye to the sloth, we headed over to West Bay Beach where we relaxed for a couple of hours. Once we had our fill of the sun, we headed back to port, but made one more stop at the Stone Castle Cameo Factory. After perusing over the beautiful cameo jewelry made from stones and shells by local artisans we drove back to port and our ship. We said goodbye to our tour guide and thanked him for the wonderful day.
We decided to walk around the port area and do some shopping before getting back on board the Pearl. While walking around the port area, we saw a Caribbean Fish Therapy stand and decided to have a couples pedicure, by fish! It was an interesting experience, but I can understand why the practice has come to an end.
After our pedicure we reboarded the Norwegian Pearl and got ready for dinner. This evening we had dinner reservations at Cagney’s, the onboard steakhouse!
Belize City
When we first visited Belize in 2014 we got to see the Xunantunich Mayan Ruins. When deciding what we wanted to do this time, we looked for other Mayan Ruins close to the port and chose to see Altun Ha. We booked the Altun Ha Mayan Temples & Belize City Tour through Discover Belize Exotic Adventures.
We took a tender boat from the NCL Pearl to Belize City. Soon after, we met up with our tour guide for the day. He then drove us to Altun Ha, which was about an hour away from Belize City. When we arrived, we proceeded to walk around and learn about this particular Mayan Ruin. Altun Ha, meaning Rockstone Water, was an important trading area. Many trade items have been discovered here, including the largest known Mayan jade artifact, a carving of the Maya Sun God. After we were done touring the site, we got back in our vehicle and headed back to Belize City. We stopped for lunch at Road House Restaurant. Once we were done with lunch and a couple of Belikin beers, we finished our drive to port. We did a little shopping then got in line to get a tender boat back to the ship.
For dinner, we enjoyed a leisurely meal in the Indigo main dining room. At 10:30pm we went up to the pool deck for the White Hot Party!
Costa Maya
For our day in Costa Maya, we decided on a relaxing beach day at Blue Kay in Mahahual. After getting off the NCL Pearl, we walked through the port area to the taxis. It was a quick taxi ride over to Mahahual, where they dropped us off right at Blue Kay. It wasn’t long before we were sitting in our beach chairs with some drinks! We had a lovely day and enjoyed a few dips in the ocean. After drying off for the final time, we headed back to the Costa Maya port and got back on board the NCL Pearl.
We enjoyed our experience at Cagney’s so much, we decided to do it again! Our steaks were perfectly cooked and paired nicely with the bottle of wine we ordered. We finished off our meal with the Oreo Cheesecake and some espresso, so delicious!
Final Sea Day
I can’t believe its the last day of the cruise already! We enjoyed our final sea day breakfast in the Summer Palace main dining room. At 1:00pm we went to the Barcelona Conference Room for the Cruise Critic Recap with the Hotel Head Department. Our group gushed over the wonderful cruise and left some good feedback for the crew.
We enjoyed one final dinner onboard that evening in the Indigo main dining room. After dinner we went to the Stardust Theater for the Farewell Variety Show. Then it was time to pack! Nothing like waiting until the last minute.
Miami
The post-cruise blues were already starting to hit hard. We didn’t have any future cruises planned, and knew 2018 was going to be a busy year with friends’ weddings. Unsure when our next cruise would be, we departed the Norwegian Pearl, headed through Customs, and ordered an Uber back home to Fort Lauderdale. Until then, whenever that may be, happy cruising!
