Great Panama Canal Cruise

Norwegian Bliss Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 10

Overall rating:

4.5 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Bliss

15 Night Panama Canal - Westbound (Miami To Los Angeles)

Sail date: December 04, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Bliss

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 12300

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 months ago

Review summary

Overall our trip was very enjoyable. There were many great places to see and we learned a lot from the tours we went on. The food and drinks were good. Entertainment and activities on the ship were excellent, but space could have been better utilized to accommodate more people in smaller venues. The gentleman from planning future trips was extremely helpful. He was able to find a quiet area to accommodate my wife who has a hearing loss so she could participate in the conversation and have her questions answered. Our room was always clean and our cabin attendant Gerom always had a friendly greeting for us. Disembarkation was not well organized for those who had a tour. This was our first trip on a ship this large. Future trips will likely be on a smaller ship.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Pretty efficient getting on the ship. Organized pretty well.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
The food was ok. there was variety, but not necessarily the types of food I care to eat. The buffet are a was too small to accommodate the amount of guests on the ship. Over crowded at times because not enough stations open.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
Good variety of options throughout the day.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
The shows and performers. were very good.

Children's Programs

No children were with us.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Everyone was friendly and accommodating.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
The ship was very clean. The design of the ship was not great. Venues outside of the theatre were not really big enough to accommodate people who wanted to see a show. A lot. of wasted space and not enough seating.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Size, comfort, and cleanliness were all good.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5
Did not do an excursion here but many activity options if you choose to do something.

Cartagena, Colombia

5 out of 5
the animal sanctuary. at the port was excellent. The Party Bus was a lot of fun.

Panama Canal Transit

5 out of 5
Crossing the Canal was interesting. A lot of historical information.

Panama City, Panama

5 out of 5
The Panama Canal Experience offered a different experience than crossing on a large ship.

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

5 out of 5
Did the Textile excursion. A lot of good information about Guatemala by the tour guide. Able to see several volcanoes.

Acapulco, Mexico Did not visit port

Not available to visit because of hurricane recovery.

Manzanillo, Mexico

5 out of 5
Did not do an excursion here.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

5 out of 5
We were able to see a variety of interesting areas around the city on our excursion.

Mazatlan, Mexico

5 out of 5
Hike to the Lighthouse was challenging to do, but gave great views

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

5 out of 5
Able to see many parts of the area and visit a glass factory.

San Pedro (Los Angeles), California

3 out of 5
Able to see highlights of the city, but the tour was rushed and cut short because of difficulties people had with disembarkation.

Disembarkation

2 out of 5
There were not enough Norwegian staff available to help with this process. We were signed up for an excursion , but there were no Norwegian staff to direct us where to go. We were fortunate to find our luggage and have port staff get us a porter to get us through customs quickly. Most people had to stand in line for 2 hours. No areas were marked for tours. We were able to find the tour area, but sat on a bus for 2 hours waiting for other people to get through customs. Tour that was supposed to start at 8:45 AM started at 11:00 AM. This cut back on the amount of time we had to visit and made everything feel rushed.
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