Disappointed but not surprised.

Norwegian Bliss Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 30

Overall rating:

3.6 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Bliss

14 Night Panama Canal - Eastbound (Los Angeles To Miami)

Sail date: January 21, 2022

Ship: Norwegian Bliss

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9856

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

We cruise to see new places and enjoy new experiences. This cruise was billed as having 6 countries to enjoy. We saw 3. Day after day after day at sea was frustrating and boring. Of course we were not reimbursed for the loss of these countries. The entertainment was poor- the Flashback 4 second concert was just a rehash of the first and while a couple were good singers they did not blend well. The comedians were good once, then admitted they had no more material and admonished the crowd not to complain when subsequent shows were more of the same. The magician was meh level at BEST, used the same schtik both shows (even though his tricks were different) and billed as coming from Canada's Got Talent. Obviously not a whole lot. This passenger list seemed to average 65+, but the bands trended younger. We rarely heard from the Cruise Director, let alone saw him. His staff did all the work. The food was good but limited, and other than "pay to eat places" was all the same at each place, each night. The garden place seemed to have the same food for EVERY meal the whole cruise. We paid two kids and a future lotto win for this cruise as we wanted to try The Haven while numbers were down. We really enjoyed it. The staff was awesome, we were well taken care of, and it was the highlight of our cruise.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Raymond and Mike did an excellent job taking care of the stateroom.

Ship tip

Spend for The Haven once in your life.

Ports of call

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

4 out of 5
Wife did an excursion, I self explored. Both were enjoyable. The whales were an added bonus. Communication between Shore Excursions Group local people and ship itinerary were poor. In Cabo SEG complained we didn't show up when we hadn't even arrived yet.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

3 out of 5
No excursion as there didn't seem to be much unique that interested us. We self explored for the exercise.

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

1 out of 5
Stop was cancelled.

Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica

1 out of 5
Ship was refused permission to disembark.

Panama Canal Transit

4 out of 5
The cache of going through the canal was nice, but it was simply a river cruise with cool locks at each end. No excursions offered.

Cartagena, Colombia

4 out of 5
There was more to see and take in that possible to do in a day. Would like to go back and learn more!

Miami, Florida Did not visit port

All NCL wanted was people off the ship. Passengers were no longer guests they were obstructions.

Disembarkation

1 out of 5
We did not like that we were rushed off the ship by 8:30am only to stand in a queue for an hour and a half waiting for a bus to the airport for a flight that didn't leave until 5pm. It was very disorganized at the port, and everyone was ducking responsibility.
Was this review helpful? 30

7 Comments

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing.

PaulzyJC    2 years ago

What excursions should be offered during the Panama Canal Transit when you don't even leave the ship?

PaulzyJC    2 years ago

I was on this cruise and you were likely then only one complaining about the sea days. I had a great time! Yes the buffet was the same, but so what. Why would it change? Its a buffet. They did have different selections during dinner on some days. Besides it was a very reduced capacity (1313 out of 4004 passengers), so it was fine.

hollysmomtravel    2 years ago

Never sure exactly what people are expecting at the end of a cruise. The staff need time to flip the rooms and clean up after you, for the next group of people. If you had to wait to the people before you to lazily debark you would be griping about that.

izrgreen    2 years ago

Sorry you were disappointed.

mollyv71    2 years ago

You are so lucky you got to even go on the cruise!! We love sea days!! If NCL was so disappointing then maybe check out a new cruise line!! We will be going on our 8th NCL cruise in March on the Bliss!!!

Bonny99    2 years ago

We have this cruise reserved for next January in reverse, leaving Miami to LA Thanks for your review.

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