Norwegian Joy - Panama Canal & Central America

Where this cruise calls, day by day

8 ports and 8 sea days over 15 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Miami, FL

   United StatesDepart

   PortMiami is the busiest cruise port on earth and behaves like it: a lettered row of terminals strung along Dodge Island - A for Royal Caribbean, B for Norwegian, C for MSC, D through F for the Carnival brands, V for Virgin. Traffic funnels in over the Port Boulevard causeway or through the tunnel under Government Cut, and on a Saturday with six ships turning around, both back up.

   • Ocean Drive and the Art Deco district in South Beach, 20 minutes across the causeway
   • Wynwood Walls and the warehouse murals around it
   • Calle Ocho in Little Havana - a cortadito and the domino tables at Maximo Gomez Park
   • Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, a 1916 bayfront villa in Coconut Grove

   Getting ashore

   Terminals A-G and V sit on Dodge Island, reached by the Port Boulevard causeway or the PortMiami Tunnel; Miami International is about 8 miles west, usually 20-30 minutes but longer on a heavy turnaround morning.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr (Aug-Oct is peak hurricane season and August ashore is punishing)

2. Day 2 · At sea

3. Day 3 · At sea

4. Day 4

   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

5. Day 5

   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

6. Day 6 · At sea

7. Day 7

   Puerto Caldera

   Costa RicaPort

   Caldera is the cargo alternative to Puntarenas, ten miles down the coast - a container and bulk terminal with no town, no beach and nothing at the gate but a line of waiting coaches. The excursion menu is the standard Pacific-slope set: crocodiles on the Tárcoles, monkeys at Manuel Antonio, coffee, and the cloud forest. Judge the day by the tour you booked, not by the port.

   • Tárcoles River crocodile boats and Carara National Park
   • Manuel Antonio National Park
   • A central valley coffee plantation tour
   • Jacó beach and the surf coast

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at the commercial port; Puntarenas is about 20 minutes by road and nothing is within walking distance.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is the Pacific dry season; Sep-Oct is the wettest stretch

8. Day 8 · At sea

9. Day 9

   Puerto Quetzal

   GuatemalaPort

   There is nothing at Puerto Quetzal but a container terminal, a craft market that appears on ship days, and black volcanic sand. Everything worth doing is a long transfer inland: Antigua, the cobbled colonial capital ringed by volcanoes, is 90 minutes to two hours each way, and Lake Atitlán is closer to three. Plan the day around one destination, not several.

   • Antigua Guatemala's colonial centre and the Cerro de la Cruz viewpoint
   • Hiking Pacaya volcano
   • Lake Atitlán, if you accept a very long day
   • Macadamia and coffee farm tours on the volcanic slopes

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at the commercial port; there is no town within walking distance, so the day depends entirely on a coach transfer.

   Best months

   Nov-Apr is the dry season; May-Oct brings afternoon downpours

10. Day 10 · At sea

11. Day 11

    Puerto Vallarta

    MexicoPort

    The Terminal Marítima is at the north end of the bay, next to the marina and a cruise-oriented shopping mall, so Vallarta proper - the Malecón, the Zona Romántica, the tiled church dome - is a 10 to 15 minute taxi away. Banderas Bay is deep and calm, humpbacks winter in it, and the town behind the seafront is a real one with an art scene and a long-established gay quarter.

    • The Malecón sculpture walk and the Zona Romántica
    • Playa Los Muertos
    • A boat to Yelapa or the Marietas Islands
    • Humpback whale watching, December to March

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock at Terminal Marítima; downtown is 10-15 minutes by taxi, and timeshare touts work the terminal exit hard.

    Best months

    Nov-Apr is dry and warm; Jul-Sep is hot, humid and the heart of the rainy season

12. Day 12

    Cabo San Lucas

    MexicoPort

    Cabo is a tender port, and one of the better ones - the boat drops you at the marina in the middle of town rather than a mile from anywhere. The setting does the work: desert mountains falling straight into the Pacific, with the granite arch at Land's End a ten-minute panga ride from the dock. Expect timeshare pitches from the moment you step onto the boardwalk.

    • Water taxi to El Arco and Lover's Beach
    • Médano Beach, the one bay in town that is safe to swim
    • Snorkelling at Chileno Bay or Santa María
    • Grey and humpback whale watching in winter

    Getting ashore

    Tender port - about 10-15 minutes to the marina, which puts you in the centre of town; heavy Pacific swell occasionally cancels the operation.

    Best months

    Nov-May is dry and mild, with whales Dec-Apr; Aug-Oct is humid and hurricane-prone

13. Day 13 · At sea

14. Day 14 · At sea

15. Day 15 · At sea

16. Day 16

    Seattle, WA

    United StatesArrive

    Seattle is the busiest Alaska turnaround port in the US, and which pier you get matters. Pier 91 at Smith Cove is a converted cargo terminal about three miles north of downtown; Pier 66 on Bell Street puts you a steep ten-minute walk from Pike Place Market. Because sailings from here are US-flagged only in part, almost every Seattle Alaska itinerary is legally obliged to call in Canada, usually Victoria.

    • Pike Place Market and the original Starbucks, best done before 9am
    • The Museum of Pop Culture and Chihuly Garden and Glass at Seattle Center
    • A ferry across Elliott Bay to Bainbridge Island for the skyline view back
    • Pioneer Square and the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park museum, free and directly relevant to where you are sailing

    Getting ashore

    Two terminals: Pier 66 is downtown and walkable, Pier 91 is three miles out and needs a taxi or shuttle - check your ticket, they are not interchangeable.

    Best months

    May-Sep (Jul-Aug reliably dry and warm; May and Sep wetter but far less crowded)