Norwegian Bliss Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,408 reviews

NCL Bliss 21 Day Panama Canal Cruise LA to NYC B2B with 7 day Florida/Bahama

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Norwegian Bliss
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silverc243
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Nov 2019
Cabin: Aft-facing Balcony Stateroom

Hi all!

Now that I’m back from my 28 days on the Bliss and trying to recuperate before our January adventure I’ll try to give some of my thoughts. First of all I had a fantastic time. This was a B2B sailing the first 21 days from LA to NYC thru the Canal, then a 7 day roundtrip to Florida and the Bahamas. The first cruise had a very different atmosphere than the second. The first had an older average passenger age and about 3800 passengers with very few under 18, while last week being a holiday week was much younger with about 4800 passengers and 1000 under 18. So things were more laid back the first 21 days and much more hectic the last 7.

I ate in most specialty restaurants. I did not go to Los Lobos and Food Republic. My favorites were Le Bistro, Cagney’s and Teppanyaki, though La Cucina and Q Smokehouse were also very good. On the first 21 days, even though I had reservations, because of the length of the cruise, most restaurants had walk up seating available, but a total different situation last week, all were booked solid all week. If you don’t have reservations for dinner yet you can still book as soon as you board. On my cruises on the fist day they had reservations set up in The Social on deck 6 and most times were available, but they go quick. Though I have seen complaints about service online, I did not feel it was bad. I always allow 2 hours for dinner in the specialty restaurants. I didn’t have a bad meal in the 28 days. I did not go the buffet much, only for a quick breakfast on some days. I had lunch in The Local, basically the same as O’Sheehan’s but there are some different items then I’ve seen before.

Cabin Review

Aft-facing Balcony Stateroom

I booked a BX GTY and was assigned a B1 aft facing balcony. Great cabin with the larger balcony. I liked the layout that had the bed closer to the balcony than the closed. I was a solo on this cruise so there was abundant room. It was also a Panama Canal transit so I was able to set up a time lapse camera on the balcony to create a great video of the transit. Plenty of outlets since the lights by the bed both had USB ports. Temperature controls were fine. Bathroom was in great shape. On the second leg of the B2B I was in a MA Mini Suite with my wife. This was an excellent cabin with the larger bathroom.

Port Reviews

Los Angeles

Embarkation was a breeze. Got to terminal early and was in first group to board

Cabo San Lucas

Wild 4X4 jeep ride thru the baja desert

Puerto Vallarta

Nice catamaran and great snorkeling, great variety of fish and coral

Puerto Quetzal (Antigua)

Went on Antigua Charm and craft beer tour. Stroll through the old city and visied a craft brewery

Santa Marta

Took the half day land rover safari tour. Very bumpy but a lot of fun

Aruba

Ostrich farm was great also went to Hato Caves

Curacao

Very interesting information of the Jewih influence in Curacao

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