Coast to Coast Panama Transit on Norwegian Bliss
Norwegian Bliss Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 74
16 Night Panama Canal - Westbound (Miami To Los Angeles)
Sail date: February 04, 2022
Ship: Norwegian Bliss
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 15240
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
Wonderful 16 day coast to coast Panama Canal cruise from Miami to Los Angeles. Numerous sea days made for a very relaxing vacation. The ship sailed at approximately 30% capacity and a crew to passenger ratio of 1 to 1, resulting in exceptional service and no lines for virtually anything. Due to the 100% vaccination requirements, time of year, and duration of the cruise, there were very few minor aboard - I heard there were 7. Truly the only downside of this cruise was the mandate to wear masks indoors or outdoors when social distancing could not be maintained. Additionally, masks were generally worn during all excursions and always worn on buses. Masks could be removed to eat and drink, so.....there was a lot of both.Embarkation
Took longer to get through COVID check than promised, but not too long. Waiting times were very minimal and the crew was ready to greet us aboard ship.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food was very good except for the buffet, which was just average...no complaints, just nothing really outstanding at the buffet.
Onboard Activities
The staff did an outstanding job with daily trivia contests. We very much enjoyed the various wine tastings with cheese and chocolate pairings. The pool had regular entertainment and contests, was kept neat and clean and was well staffed with waiters to take drink orders and serve beverages
Entertainment
The shows, including the comedians, Beatles Experience, Jersey Boys, and Prohibition: Happy Hour, were all fantastic. The staff did an outstanding job with daily trivia contests. We very much enjoyed the various wine tastings with cheese and chocolate pairings. Finally, the rotation of musical entertainment including piano soloist, rock band SIGLO, singing duet, and the other bands at the various venues were superb and kept us signing and reminiscing all cruise long.
Service and Staff
The staff was amazing. Everyone smiled, everyone was friendly, attentive, professional, and went well out of their way to remind us that we were on vacation and that they were their to ensure our every need and want was met.
Ship Quality
The ship is 4 years old and has held up well. Everything was in working order, clean and looked good as new. The only issues were with the technology aspects of staying informed. The NCL iPhone app, in-room TV on screen info pages, and digital screens throughout the ship rarely agreed and had many blank pages resulting in having to look in multiple places to find the information I wanted....but it was always within one of these systems. The systems rarely disagreed with one another, just no one system had all the information in one place.
Cabin / Stateroom
Overall, this veranda cabin was of comfortable size for 2 adults for 16 days. The room was kept immaculate. The only real complaint is how the closet is set up and located next to one side of the bed, which restricts access and makes seeing what's on the lower storage shelves more difficult than necessary.
Ship tip
If you want to see virtually any show in the Cavern Club (SIGLO or the Beatles Experience) get their 30-45 minutes early. Seating is very limited and this venue fills up virtually every night.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
We spent two hotel days in Miami prior to the voyage near the port. The free shuttles are a great option for tourist travel in the area prior to the cruise. It would be awesome IF those went to the cruise terminal, but they don't. Miami is a very nice place to visit.
The port itself is nice and clean. Be sure to know the prices of those things you want to purchase before handing a cashier your credit card. Few things have prices marked and if you don't know the price before purchase, you are likely to be surprised at the receipt.
The OASIS at the port is a wonderful attraction to visit. We saw many peacocks, parrots, a couple of moneys, an ant eater, many flamingos, a red squirrel, and several other species of birds I don't know. There was a nice gift shop there as well.
You won't even get out of the port welcome center before being accosted by the masses of taxi drivers, excursion sales folks, and trinket sellers. Watch your wallet.
The transit was beautiful and the Panama Canal Transit narrator was very knowledgeable. I strongly recommend viewing YouTube for videos on the canal's history before going as it helps you understand what you are about to see and can save you from taking excursions where you will pay a lot of money to hear the exact same things.
This is an industrial port, remote from the action, and there are no taxi's or non-cruise line excursions available. We did the Scenic Costa Rica excursion, which was modestly interesting, but is mostly a lot of viewing things from a bus window and a stop for souvenirs.
This was my second favorite port of the journey. The scenery is beautiful and you can see several volcano's, one of which was smoking. The scenery is tropical and lush and the climate is warm and humid. We took an excursion to look at Mayan artifacts that has been recovered in the local area and are located in two separate museums. The tours were interesting and we viewed my historical native Mayan artifacts and sampled some Guatemalan rum and coke. Yummy!
My favorite port of the journey was Puerto Vallarta. Lush and tropical with many many tourist hotels, spas, and beaches. The downtown shoreline has numerous outdoor artworks and sculptures lining the coastal area, making a walk along this area a must for any first time visitor. Our excursion was the Sites of Puerto Vallarta and I would recommend it. During our walk through town we saw several large birds, numerous sculptures, an Opal store, and an old picturesque Catholic Church.
No excursion here. We did tender in to the port from our ship and enjoyed several hours in the port tequila tasting/buying and eating/drinking around the port. There are many sales people working the port area selling everything from tequila, timeshares and facial creams....so come prepared to rebuff the near constant barrage of gimmicks used to lure you into a shop. Unless you want to spend $200 or more for eye cream, don't show anybody your "beautiful eyes" or allow them to put some cream on you....as that then results in drying that can only happen in their store....and once they have you in that chair.....hang on to that wallet or purse.
San Pedro (Los Angeles), California
Minimalist port, really a warehouse for retrieving your baggage and passport review by CBP. Bus transfer from the port to the airport are available from NCL, but I won't be doing that again. Let's just say that the vacation is over and the great customer service end at the end of the gangway.
Disembarkation
Disembarkation went smoothly despite having 1600 people who all want to move at the same time.
Traveler Photos
