Norwegian Joy - Panama Canal Repositioning: Seattle to Miami

Where this cruise calls, day by day

13 ports and 9 sea days over 21 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Seattle, WA

   United StatesDepart

   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)

2. Day 2

   Victoria, BC

   CanadaPort

   Victoria's oddity is the clock. US cabotage law requires round-trip Alaska sailings to touch a foreign port, so most ships arrive here late in the evening on the final night and leave near midnight - four hours, much of it dark. Ogden Point is a working breakwater terminal a couple of kilometres from the Inner Harbour, and the city itself is low-rise, English-inflected and easy.

   • Butchart Gardens, about 30 minutes north and lit for evening visits in summer
   • The Inner Harbour, the Parliament Buildings and tea at the Fairmont Empress
   • Royal BC Museum for its First Nations and natural-history collections
   • Fisherman's Wharf and its float homes, a walk along the water from the pier

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Ogden Point; it is roughly a 30-minute waterfront walk to the Inner Harbour, or a short shuttle, taxi or pedicab.

   Best months

   May-Sep; late calls suit Butchart's summer illuminations

3. Day 3 · At sea

4. Day 4

   San Francisco, CA

   United StatesPort

   Arriving here is the point: ships pass under the Golden Gate Bridge and berth at Pier 27, on the Embarcadero within sight of Coit Tower and a walk from the Ferry Building. It serves as a turnaround port for Alaska and Hawaii sailings and an occasional day call. Fog can swallow the bridge entirely even in July, so the famous approach is not guaranteed.

   • Alcatraz Island, which sells out weeks ahead and cannot be booked on the day
   • The Ferry Building marketplace and the Embarcadero waterfront
   • Cable car from Powell Street over Nob Hill
   • Golden Gate Park, the Presidio and the view back at the bridge from Fort Point

   Getting ashore

   Docks at Pier 27 on the Embarcadero; Fisherman's Wharf and the Ferry Building are walkable in either direction.

   Best months

   Year-round (Sep-Oct warmest and least foggy; Jun-Aug is peak fog season)

5. Day 5

   San Francisco, CA

   United StatesPort

   Arriving here is the point: ships pass under the Golden Gate Bridge and berth at Pier 27, on the Embarcadero within sight of Coit Tower and a walk from the Ferry Building. It serves as a turnaround port for Alaska and Hawaii sailings and an occasional day call. Fog can swallow the bridge entirely even in July, so the famous approach is not guaranteed.

   • Alcatraz Island, which sells out weeks ahead and cannot be booked on the day
   • The Ferry Building marketplace and the Embarcadero waterfront
   • Cable car from Powell Street over Nob Hill
   • Golden Gate Park, the Presidio and the view back at the bridge from Fort Point

   Getting ashore

   Docks at Pier 27 on the Embarcadero; Fisherman's Wharf and the Ferry Building are walkable in either direction.

   Best months

   Year-round (Sep-Oct warmest and least foggy; Jun-Aug is peak fog season)

6. Day 6 · At sea

7. Day 7

   Los Angeles, CA

   United StatesPort

   Ships berth at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro, under the green span of the Vincent Thomas Bridge and ringed by container cranes. This is a working port rather than a waterfront to stroll, and it is overwhelmingly a turnaround terminal for Mexican Riviera and Hawaii runs. Los Angeles proper starts about 25 miles inland, so most passengers meet a freeway before they meet a beach.

   • Tour the battleship USS Iowa, moored a short walk up the channel from the terminal
   • Point Fermin Lighthouse and the collapsed bluffs of Sunken City on the San Pedro headland
   • Cabrillo Marine Aquarium and the tide pools below it
   • Griffith Observatory or the Santa Monica Pier if you are willing to spend the day in traffic

   Getting ashore

   Docks at the World Cruise Center in San Pedro; there is no walkable city here, and downtown, Hollywood or Santa Monica each mean 45-75 minutes by road.

   Best months

   Year-round (Sep-Nov clearest; May-Jun often overcast on the coast)

8. Day 8 · At sea

9. Day 9

   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

10. Day 10 · At sea

11. Day 11

    Acapulco

    MexicoPort

    Acapulco has had a brutal decade. Cartel violence emptied out its international tourism, then Hurricane Otis came ashore as a Category 5 in October 2023 and flattened much of the hotel strip. Cruise calls are far fewer than they once were and the rebuild is uneven. Ships berth beside the old town near the zócalo, but Guerrero state carries the US State Department's strongest warning, so most passengers go ashore only on ship tours.

    • The La Quebrada cliff divers
    • Fort San Diego and its museum
    • Playa Caleta and Caletilla in the old town
    • A boat tour around Acapulco Bay

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock next to the old town and the zócalo is a short walk, but the state's security advisory means most people stay with an organised group.

    Best months

    Nov-Apr is dry and warm; Jun-Oct is the rainy season with real hurricane exposure on this coast

12. Day 12 · At sea

13. Day 13

    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

14. Day 14 · At sea

15. Day 15

    Puntarenas

    Costa RicaPort

    Puntarenas is a narrow sand spit with a long pier down the middle, and walking off the ship puts you straight onto the Paseo de los Turistas, a seafront promenade of soda stands and ice-cream carts. Do not swim - the estuary water here is grey and murky. This is a jumping-off point, and the headline trips, Monteverde above all, run close to three hours each way.

    • Monteverde cloud forest, accepting the long drive
    • Manuel Antonio National Park
    • Tárcoles River crocodiles and Carara National Park
    • A Churchill, the local shaved-ice dessert, on the Paseo

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock at the pier and you walk directly onto the Paseo de los Turistas; San José is about two hours inland.

    Best months

    Dec-Apr is dry; May-Nov brings afternoon rain, heaviest in September and October

16. Day 16 · At sea

17. Day 17

    Panama City (Fuerte Amador)

    PanamaPort

    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

18. Day 18

    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

19. Day 19

    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

20. Day 20 · At sea

21. Day 21 · At sea

22. Day 22

    Miami, FL

    United StatesArrive

    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)