Norwegian Jade - Panama Canal Repositioning: Tampa to Panama City

Where this cruise calls, day by day

10 ports and 2 sea days over 11 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Tampa, FL

   United StatesDepart

   Tampa's terminals sit in Channelside, in the city rather than out on an industrial spit, so you can walk from the ship to an aquarium and a row of restaurants. The catch is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge: everything sailing from Tampa has to fit under it, which caps ship size and keeps the megaships in Miami. Tampa International is about 20 minutes away.

   • The Florida Aquarium, next door to the terminals
   • Ybor City and Seventh Avenue - the old cigar district, reachable on the TECO streetcar
   • The Tampa Riverwalk from Channelside up to Armature Works
   • Busch Gardens if you have a full day and like roller coasters

   Getting ashore

   Cruise Terminals 2, 3 and 6 sit in Channelside within a few blocks of each other; Tampa International is about 10 miles out, usually 20 minutes.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr (summer is hot, wet and inside the hurricane window)

2. Day 2

   Key West, FL

   United StatesPort

   One of the few Florida stops that is a genuine port call rather than a turnaround. Ships berth either at Pier B on the old Navy mole or at the Mallory Square pier, and both put you within a few blocks of Duval Street. The island is small enough to cover on foot and crowded enough by noon that the early hours ashore are the good ones.

   • The Hemingway Home on Whitehead Street and its six-toed cats
   • Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, the best swimming beach in town
   • The Southernmost Point buoy, if only to get the queue over with
   • Mallory Square's sunset celebration - only worth planning for if your ship stays late

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Pier B (the former Navy mole) or the Mallory Square pier depending on size; both are a walk of a few blocks into Old Town, with no tender involved.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr (Sep-Oct is hurricane peak and midsummer is airless)

3. Day 3 · At sea

4. Day 4

   Cozumel

   MexicoPort

   Cozumel is an island 12 miles off the Yucatán that runs almost entirely on cruise traffic - three piers, up to six ships at once, and a downtown built to absorb them. Which pier you draw matters more than anything else: Punta Langosta puts you in San Miguel on foot, while Puerta Maya and the International Pier sit a few miles south and need a taxi. The reason to come is underwater, on the Palancar and Colombia reefs.

   • Snorkel or dive Palancar Reef
   • Chankanaab Park's lagoon and shore snorkelling
   • A beach club day at Mr. Sancho's or Nachi Cocom
   • San Gervasio Maya ruins in the island's interior

   Getting ashore

   All ships dock; Punta Langosta is a walk into San Miguel, while Puerta Maya and the International Pier are 3-4 miles south, about 10 minutes by taxi.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is driest and calmest; Jun-Nov is hurricane season, and sargassum can wash ashore May-Aug

5. Day 5

   George Town

   Cayman IslandsPort

   George Town has no cruise pier, and that shapes everything: every passenger from every ship arrives by tender at one of two small harbourfront landings. When winter northwesters blow up, calls are cancelled outright and the ship sails on. Ashore it is a tidy, expensive capital of banks and duty-free shops - the actual draw is offshore at the Stingray City sandbar and up the coast at Seven Mile Beach.

   • Standing waist-deep with the rays at the Stingray City sandbar
   • Seven Mile Beach
   • Cayman Turtle Centre in West Bay
   • Starfish Point and Rum Point on the north shore

   Getting ashore

   Tender port - 10-15 minutes to the George Town landings, with Seven Mile Beach another 10-15 minutes by taxi or public bus.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is driest; Sep-Oct brings the most rain and hurricane risk, and winter swells can scrub the tender operation entirely

6. Day 6

   Ocho Rios

   JamaicaPort

   Ocho Rios shares its harbour with a bauxite loading terminal, so the view from the deck is industrial before it is tropical. The compensation is how close everything is - Dunn's River Falls, the tiered limestone cascade people climb in a linked human chain, is ten minutes away, and Island Village and Turtle Beach are a walk from the pier. Vendor pressure in town is among the most persistent in the Caribbean.

   • Climbing Dunn's River Falls
   • The Blue Hole at White River
   • Dolphin Cove
   • Konoko Falls and its botanical garden above town

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at the Ocho Rios pier; Island Village and Turtle Beach are a five-minute walk and Dunn's River Falls about ten minutes by taxi.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is driest; May and October are the wettest months and Aug-Oct is hurricane season

7. Day 7 · At sea

8. Day 8

   Cartagena

   ColombiaPort

   The berth sits inside a working container port, and the walk out passes a small aviary the port maintains - flamingos, macaws and monkeys in the trees, an odd but real feature of the arrival. The walled city is 20 to 30 minutes by taxi and earns the trip: a complete colonial core inside Spanish fortifications, with Getsemaní's murals just outside the gates. It is punishingly hot and the plaza vendors are relentless.

   • The walled city and Las Bóvedas
   • Castillo San Felipe de Barajas
   • Getsemaní's street art and Plaza de la Trinidad
   • A boat out to the Rosario Islands

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock in the commercial port; the walled city is a 20-30 minute taxi ride, and official port taxis queue at the terminal.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is drier and marginally less humid; Sep-Nov is wettest. Outside the main hurricane track

9. Day 9

   Panama Canal (Transit)

   PanamaPort

   This is a sea day where the ship itself is the excursion. A full transit takes eight to ten hours, lifting the ship 85 feet through the Gatún chambers, across Gatún Lake and the Culebra Cut, then down through Pedro Miguel and Miraflores. Partial transits go only as far as the lake, land passengers for shore tours, and back out the way they came. Forward deck space fills before dawn.

   • Watching a lock chamber fill from a forward deck
   • The Culebra Cut, the section hacked through the continental divide
   • The wider Agua Clara and Cocolí locks, if your ship is Neopanamax
   • The onboard canal narrator, who boards with the pilot

   Getting ashore

   Not a port call - the ship transits; on partial transits passengers tender ashore in Gatún Lake for excursions and rejoin the ship there.

   Best months

   Jan-Apr is the dry season; drought years have cut the number of daily transit slots, so schedules can shift

10. Day 10

    Puerto Limon

    Costa RicaPort

    Limón is Costa Rica's Caribbean port and a working one - the pier is in town, the town is scruffy and humid, and almost nobody stays. This coast is the country's wettest and its most Afro-Caribbean, with Jamaican-descended Creole culture and rainforest starting right behind the city. Everything worth doing runs inland to the canals, the aerial trams and the whitewater rivers.

    • Tortuguero canal boat trips
    • The Veragua Rainforest or the Braulio Carrillo aerial tram
    • Whitewater rafting the Pacuare or Reventazón
    • Cahuita National Park and Puerto Viejo down the coast

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock at the pier in central Limón; you can walk into town in minutes, though there is little reason to linger.

    Best months

    Feb-Mar and Sep-Oct are the driest windows - the Caribbean side reverses the national pattern and rains hardest Nov-Jan

11. Day 11

    Panama Canal (Transit)

    PanamaPort

    This is a sea day where the ship itself is the excursion. A full transit takes eight to ten hours, lifting the ship 85 feet through the Gatún chambers, across Gatún Lake and the Culebra Cut, then down through Pedro Miguel and Miraflores. Partial transits go only as far as the lake, land passengers for shore tours, and back out the way they came. Forward deck space fills before dawn.

    • Watching a lock chamber fill from a forward deck
    • The Culebra Cut, the section hacked through the continental divide
    • The wider Agua Clara and Cocolí locks, if your ship is Neopanamax
    • The onboard canal narrator, who boards with the pilot

    Getting ashore

    Not a port call - the ship transits; on partial transits passengers tender ashore in Gatún Lake for excursions and rejoin the ship there.

    Best months

    Jan-Apr is the dry season; drought years have cut the number of daily transit slots, so schedules can shift

12. Day 12

    Panama City (Fuerte Amador)

    PanamaArrive

    Fuerte Amador is an anchorage off the causeway that links Panama City to four islands at the Pacific mouth of the canal. Many ships still tender here, though a cruise terminal opened at Amador in 2023 and some now berth alongside. Either way, the skyline across the water is a wall of glass towers, and the day belongs to Casco Viejo's restored colonial quarter and the Miraflores lock viewing platform.

    • Miraflores Locks visitor centre
    • Casco Viejo, the old walled quarter
    • Panamá Viejo, the ruins of the original 1519 city
    • Gamboa and Soberanía National Park rainforest

    Getting ashore

    Mixed - many ships still tender to the Fuerte Amador marina (15-20 minutes) while others use the Amador cruise terminal; downtown is another 15-20 minutes by taxi.

    Best months

    Dec-Apr is the dry season; May-Nov brings heavy afternoon rain most days