Wonderful Panama Canal Cruise

Norwegian Bliss Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 16

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Norwegian Bliss

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

Sail date: January 27, 2024

Ship: Norwegian Bliss

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 11748

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 9 months ago

Review summary

Definitely recommend Norwegian Bliss. We used the $9.95 phone and texting package while we were on the ship to keep in touch with family. Wish the phone would notify you when a text came in. You can use this service without using any of your 300 wifi minutes. Service goes through the ships wifi.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
It went smoothly

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Manhattan, Taste and Savor all good Cagney Steak House and Ocean Blue delicious. Japanese Steak House entertaining and good. Omelets very good at the buffet. All staff very friendly.

Garden Café

5 out of 5

Lots of good choices. Omelets were great, fruit, they served many different types of food, Indian venue, soups, salads, vegetables, fruits, coffee, tea, juices, mimosas, hamburgers, prime rib (we didn't eat in buffet the night they served prime rib.)

The Manhattan Room - Main Dining Room

5 out of 5

The waiters were spot on with their service. Food was very good. We got seated timely with reservations for 8 people every time.

Teppanyaki

5 out of 5

Show was entertaining. Food was good. Lots of singing and clanging of knives.

Sugarcane Mojito Bar

5 out of 5

Raspberry mojito good. They have beer nuts for snacks. Staff is friendly and quick to mix drinks.

Ocean Blue

5 out of 5

Crab cakes were delicious. All food was perfect. Staff very pleasant and friendly.

Savor Restaurant - Main Dining Room

5 out of 5

Good food, seated with reservations quickly. We were also able to for breakfast and dinner with no reservations and be seated quickly.

The Local Bar & Grill

5 out of 5

Good reubens, chicken wings and burgers. The apple pie was delicious.

The Cavern Club

5 out of 5

Small venue, go early for shows. Good entertainment.

The A-List Bar

5 out of 5

Friendly, professional service. Drinks were good.

Taste Restaurant - Main Dining Room

5 out of 5

They seated us quickly with reservations. We were able to eat breakfast and dinner here without reservations and they seated us quickly. Staff friendly. Food good.

Cagney's Steakhouse

5 out of 5

Delicious steak. Cooked perfectly to order.

Atrium Bar

5 out of 5

Quick service and friendly.

American Diner

5 out of 5

Food delicious, burgers, strawberry shake, and bread pudding very good. Waitress was great. Lived the 50's theme and their uniforms.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
Pool, Deal or No Deal fun to watch. Mr. Sexy Legs competition, Line Dancing all fun.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Jersey Boys was excellent. 1st comedians were best. Six was hard to understand them when they were singing.

Bliss Theater

5 out of 5

Lots of comfortable seating. Great shows. Jersey Boys, Beatles Experience, Hypnotist, Commedians.

Children's Programs

Adults only in our group

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Leelis room steward was excellent. He knew our names and everyone in our group right away. Friendly, helpful. All staff very friendly.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Everything was very clean. Staff was always cleaning elevators, bathrooms. They were washing ship and painting the ship to keep it well maintained.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Land side cabin with balcony. Excellent room and views. Plenty of room. Recommend long extension cords and magnets to keep cord off the floor if you use a C-pap machine. There are phone charging ports next to headboard of bed each side.

Ship tip

Bring battery operated tea light for the bathroom at night.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5
We flew in late, got to our hotel around 9:30 p.m. day before cruise. Met up with family at hotel.

Cartagena, Colombia

5 out of 5
We did Easy Cartagena. Our tour guide was helpful and able to tell about the city.

Panama Canal Transit

5 out of 5
Awesome to go through the Canal and watch from our balcony.

Panama City, Panama

5 out of 5
We did the US Heritage tour. We learned more about the locks. Our family took the train tour. They were disappointed they thought they would see animals. They saw 1 sloth.

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

5 out of 5
Toured the Coffee Plantation. Interesting. Cobblestone path to walk on labeled as moderate difficulty. Our 80 year Mom who doesn't walk long distance was able to do this tour. She was tired at the end.

Acapulco, Mexico

4 out of 5
Recovering from hurricane. Our tour to see the Cliff divers by boat was great. The Cliff divers swam out to the boat and took pictures with us for tips. The shore line had boats pulled up from the hurricane. The people were all so happy to have us come into port.

Manzanillo, Mexico

5 out of 5
We didn't take a tour. This is more of a natural city. Not as touristy. They did have shopping available right down the walkway from the ship.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

5 out of 5
We did a Yelapa Falls Tour through Trip Advisor. Excellent tour. Cruise port gave as a golf cart ride .6 miles to our meeting point for transportation, that we had to coordinate on our own. Waterfall was great...walking path would be difficult for people with disabilities.

Mazatlan, Mexico

5 out of 5
We went on a city tour that we booked through a local tour guide for $25/person. Excellent. We saw cliff diver, cathedral, shopping area, saw many beautiful sites from different Lookout points. Went to the golden zone for shopping, had margaritas at the Golden Zone, one if the stores. We had a shot of tequila from our tour operator. He let us determine how long we wanted to be at each stop. Part of our group went deep sea fishing on a private tour. Seas were high, so they ended up bottom fishing. They caught trigger fish. Were hoping for Marlin or sailfish.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

5 out of 5
Whale watching excursion was the highlight of our tour. Lots of whales and some breached for us to see. We saw lots of whale tales. We saw a pod of dolphins and some sea lions also. We had time to walk around the pier for shopping, snacks, drinks.

San Pedro (Los Angeles), California Did not visit port

Transportation to the airport was smooth.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
The lines moved fast.
Was this review helpful? 16

11 Comments

javawoody     9 months ago

Appreciate the detailed review

kenagyd     9 months ago

We tried to call using the on board ship phone for $9.95. Text worked best for us. We always added the time we sent the text...everyone didn't look at them timely. And sometimes they simply didn't go through timely. Sometimes it worked great.

Gwbigdog     9 months ago

Thanks for sharing

AuntPinkie     9 months ago

Appreciate your very detailed feedback. I learned a lot. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

bubbles60     9 months ago

Glad you had a good trip.

Skooby     9 months ago

Good itinerary. Thanks for reporting back.

HeavySeas     9 months ago

Thanks for sharing and glad you enjoyed your cruise

cruising2004     9 months ago

Glad you had a wonderful cruise! Agree, Panama Canal is so fascinating! Thank you for your review.

karlgrgurich     9 months ago

For the $9.99 phone package, can you talk to others on the cruise, or just text?

karlgrgurich     9 months ago

Sounds fantastic

Niavlys     9 months ago

Tks for sharing with us

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