Our Haven ‘Lite’ Experience On The 15 Day Bliss Panama Canal Cruise Jan.7-22, 2023

[gmbhardy]

We’ve cruised on NCL 26 times, the last seven in the Haven, so this was our first ‘steerage’ experience in a few years. We also cruise in MSC’s Yacht Club. We booked a Club Balcony Suite on deck 15 so we would be close to the Observation Lounge (more on that later).  We also purchased Vibe tickets and upgraded our beverage package to premium plus. We are in our 60s and enjoy good food, beverages and entertainment. This cruise was booked to celebrate my 69th birthday.

 

Embarkation

We started boarding a tad late, but from what I can tell, things went pretty efficiently at the Miami terminal . As Sapphires, we boarded early and were moving around the ship by 11:30. The cabins were ready quite early, but my luggage didn’t arrive until 6:15 pm. Sail away was also a little late. I believe this was the last cruise that held the virtual muster drill. I for one liked the new drill and I am not looking forward to going back to the old one. 

 

Club Balcony Suite Cabin
Our cabin, 15180 was located just under the pool deck on the port side. I booked this cabin to be close to the observation lounge but in hindsight that was a mistake. Every morning at around 5:30 am you could here noise above from the pool deck and on many evenings loud music thumped continually until about 11:30 pm. The front bank of elevators were always busy because they service both the Garden Buffet and the Observation Lounge. We loved the washroom with the walk in shower and found the room to be more than adequate. We had no problem getting a coffee maker from our cabin steward. One odd thing, our bed linens were not changed during the entire15 day cruise. I don’t know if you can request a change or not. We were expecting one after a week, but it never happened. Balcony was a decent size but not big enough for a lounger. Yes, there are USB outlets in the light fixtures on each side of the bed. As part of the Club Balcony amenity package we received a bottle of cheap champagne (which we left behind), two snack plates delivered to our cabin and a voucher for a bag of dry cleaning. 

 

Itinerary

The 15 day Panama Canal cruise with full transit was awesome. A lot of people were disappointed that Costa Rica was dropped and replaced with Acapulco but overall it was fantastic. Obviously the Canal transit was the best part of the itinerary. An official Panama Canal guide boards the ship and through the on board loudspeaker system explains procedures, operations and canal history - amazing. We had a new guide and he was excellent. Just one side bar, when we were taking our tender from the ship to Cabo San Lucas a whale and calf surfaced about 50 feet from our boat. The captain stopped the ship so people would have a better view as they surfaced three or four times before disappearing. Wow, we will never forget that because it was totally unexpected. I tipped the captain and he was very appreciative .

 

Premium Plus Beverage Package

I feel obligated to report on the package because I have posted some pretty negative things about it based on reports from many other posters. The plus experience on the Bliss was excellent. We had no problem getting top shelf liquors and champagne at virtually all the bars. They had two champagnes available by the bottle, Veuve Cliquot and Pommery Rose. My wife enjoyed Hendricks and Tanqueray 10 in her gin and tonics. I had Zacapa rum in my Mojitos and Pina Colads. The District Brew House had a good supply of Chimay beer. We ordered a bottle of champagne every night for dinner, followed by ice wine with our dessert. Doesn’t get any better than that. In Vibe  we would order champagne with a touch of Chombard. Try it, you’ll like it. We also enjoyed Starbucks coffee (with a shot of Baileys) every morning. For us the upgrade was money well spent.

 

Restaurants and Bars

We ate at Le Bistro, Los Lobos, Ocean Blue and Food Republic (twice, splitting the allowed 8 selections into two four item meals). Didn’t realize going in that now there is a $10 surcharge for the beef fillet at Le Bistro. I didn’t like paying the surcharge but the fillet was absolutely outstanding, best meal I had on the cruise. We were disappointed with Los Lobos, not with the food but the service. Virtually everything was dumped on our table at the same time. If you plan on eating there ask your server to slow down. We had my birthday meal at Ocean Blue. Food in the Local and MDRs was okay. Nothing outstanding but nothing terrible either. The only annoying thing that happened was we missed a show because service was slow. We found the Manhattan room extremely loud and too busy for our liking. We also found the Buffet and the Observation Lounge to be extremely busy. There were days that you couldn’t get a table or chair at either. On those days (primarily lunch) we ate at the Local. It was busy but we always were able to get a table. Our go to bars were Cellars and the A List. For whatever reason, the Observation Lounge bar just didn’t have the same vibe as past cruises, so we spent limited time there.

 

Entertaiment

We missed Six because of slow services in the MDR. We’ve been on the Bliss before so we knew we couldn’t miss seeing Jersey Boys. What a production, love it, love it, love it. Don’t know which show I like better, Million Dollar Quartet or Jersey Boys. We also saw the Nashville Tenors in the theatre. It was basically just singing but the three tenors were quite good.

 

Vibe

Is Vibe worth it - yes.  It’s your oasis to escape the crowds (I believe there were 3800 people on this cruise). The overall atmosphere and particularly the service soundly trumps the Haven Sundeck. In the Bliss Vibe, they still do shot o’clock and they have a reasonable assortment of top shelf liquor and champagne if you have the plus package. The bartenders and servers know your names and drink preferences by the second day. The servers also circulated,it seemed almost hourly, with fruit skewers, cookies and face cloths. I watched the NFL playoff games at the Vibe bar. One note, I was having a Mimosa in the hot tub, one morning when one of the deck attendants told me that drinking in the hot tub was prohibited. Later in the week, I saw the head bartender serve drinks to two ladies in the same hot tub, so I don’t know what the real policy is.

 

Disembarkation

We purchased bus transfers on the ship to take us from the port to LAX. Our flight departed at 2:00 pm so we were given an disembarkation time of 9:45 am. Plenty of time I thought to have a leisurely breakfast with no stress - not. On the second to last day of the cruise we noticed two erroneous spa charges on our account. Guest services said the error would be corrected but it wasn’t. On the last morning we had to wait at guest services for them to speak to someone in the Spa.  About an hour later the mistake was corrected but we missed breakfast. I submitted a complaint to guest services after returning home and was given some OBC for a future cruise. I was pleased with NCL’s response.  When our disembarkation colour was called at about 10:00 am, we lined up and then got as far as the exit to the gangway when were stopped because of congestion in the customs hall. We waited there for about 45 minutes before being allowed to continue. When we entered the hall, the lineups were unbelievable. This no stress 2:00 pm flight was suddenly not happening. We eventually cleared customs and were seated on the bus by about 11;30 pm. But the bus didn’t leave until it was almost full. There was an accident on the highway on the way, so we lost even more time. We arrived at LAX at about 12:30 pm. After checking in at terminal two, we needed to go through security at terminal three. Anyway, we got to our gate when they were in the process of boarding. We didn’t even have time to go to the washroom. There were people on our bus with 1:20 pm departures. We wonder if they made it. On our next cruise out of LA, we are staying over an extra night.

 

Overall impression

We absolutely loved it. We’ve done a number of B2Bs but the 15 day itinerary just seemed to have more flow to it. We loved the itinerary, the Canal transit and this cruise confirmed the fact that the Bliss is our favourite NCL ship. The crew was great. We ran into a number of bartenders we knew from past cruises and made friends with new ones.  
 

Haven ‘Lite’ vs Haven

Value wise, no comparison, it’s literally thousands cheaper than a Haven Suite. The Club Balcony Suite is not as large as s Haven Suite and doesn’t come with all the other Haven amenities but we didn’t mind it at all. With Vibe passes, we really didn’t spend much time in our cabin anyway. The premium plus package gave the cruise experience an upscale spin with the ability to order bottles of champagne for dinner and top shelf liquor whenever we had the urge. When we cruise in the Haven, we don’t use the Butler or Concierge very much, so it’s kind of a wasted amenity for us. In my opinion. the Haven is getting very expensive. I can afford to stay in t  he Haven but the Haven ‘Lite’ approach, at least for now,  is working for us. We have two more NCL cruises coming up this spring - one in the Haven and two Haven ‘Lite’ Club Balcony Suites. I’m sure we will enjoy both experiences.

[NW Pacific]

We have an M9 #15806 booked on the Bliss In March.  We booked what was referred to as a Spa Balcony Suite??  You said you had to ask the room Steward for a coffee Maker?  thought they were included?? did your room come with robes and slippers? I know small details, but appreciate any answer.

[Panhandle Couple]

Thanks.

We are considering this cruise in Dec 2023.

Not certain if we can do 15 days, or longest has been 11.

But the canal and several of the ports are places we haven't been to.

[JamesIowa]

Great review, thanks! I’m doing the bliss 15 day pc Miami/la in Dec 23 (booked vibe/cabana)  few questions:

- one in my party has an aft balcony where we plan to watch entering the Agua Clara locks, then move to the front of the ship in the afternoon (obs lounge, garden cafe) for cocoli. Did you watch any of the crossing from vibe? Was thinking about going there when we cross under the Atlantic or centennial bridge. Have you any recommendations for the best time for vibe during the crossing?

- did you overnight in Panama? If so, do they let you come/go as you please? I assume the casinos/shops are closed during the crossing and overnight?

- >11 cruises w/NCL but 1st time cabana and vibe. Not really a lot of reviews that include cabana info, iyo is that juice worth the squeeze?

 

thanks!

[gmbhardy]

17 hours ago, NW Pacific said:

We have an M9 #15806 booked on the Bliss In March.  We booked what was referred to as a Spa Balcony Suite??  You said you had to ask the room Steward for a coffee Maker?  thought they were included?? did your room come with robes and slippers? I know small details, but appreciate any answer.

If you’re not staying in the Haven, I don’t believe any rooms have coffee makers any more. We requested one from our steward and it was delivered to our cabin right away. We used it sparingly as we had Starbucks included with the premium plus beverage package. There were no robes or slippers in our cabin but I believe they are an included amenity in spa cabins.

 

4 hours ago, JamesIowa said:

Great review, thanks! I’m doing the bliss 15 day pc Miami/la in Dec 23 (booked vibe/cabana)  few questions:

- one in my party has an aft balcony where we plan to watch entering the Agua Clara locks, then move to the front of the ship in the afternoon (obs lounge, garden cafe) for cocoli. Did you watch any of the crossing from vibe? Was thinking about going there when we cross under the Atlantic or centennial bridge. Have you any recommendations for the best time for vibe during the crossing?

- did you overnight in Panama? If so, do they let you come/go as you please? I assume the casinos/shops are closed during the crossing and overnight?

- >11 cruises w/NCL but 1st time cabana and vibe. Not really a lot of reviews that include cabana info, iyo is that juice worth the squeeze?

 

thanks!

Vibe was not the best place to view the transit as you can only view one side of the Canal. I was continually walking out of Vibe to view things on the other side of the ship.  Vibe was closed when we passed under the Atlantic Bridge in the early morning. I wasn’t in Vibe when we passed under the Centennial Bridge but that might have been a good vantage point. After going through the Pacific side locks we dropped anchor because we had to wait for low tide to proceed under the Bridge of the Americas. This happened at about 11 pm. We then docked in Panama City in the wee hours of the morning. but I don’t believe anyone could get off the ship until later the next morning. Never rented a cabana in Vibe. I spend most of my time at the bar, lol.

[lax19]

5 hours ago, JamesIowa said:

- did you overnight in Panama? If so, do they let you come/go as you please? I assume the casinos/shops are closed during the crossing and overnight?

 

We completed the transit at about 5PM and had wait until 10:30PM (low tide) to cross under the Bridge of the Americas. While waiting, we anchored just outside the Cocoli locks. After we passed under the bridge, we headed to Fuerte Amador and docked (not sure what time). I'm pretty sure nobody was let off the ship until the morning.

[lax19]

18 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

 

Club Balcony Suite Cabin
Our cabin, 15180 was located just under the pool deck on the port side. I booked this cabin to be close to the observation lounge but in hindsight that was a mistake. Every morning at around 5:30 am you could here noise above from the pool deck and on many evenings loud music thumped continually until about 11:30 pm. The front bank of elevators were always busy because they service both the Garden Buffet and the Observation Lounge. We loved the washroom with the walk in shower and found the room to be more than adequate.

 

Itinerary

The 15 day Panama Canal cruise with full transit was awesome. A lot of people were disappointed that Costa Rica was dropped and replaced with Acapulco but overall it was fantastic.

 

Restaurants and Bars

 Food in the Local and MDRs was okay. Nothing outstanding but nothing terrible either. The only annoying thing that happened was we missed a show because service was slow.

 

 

 

 

We were on the same cruise and in a Club Balcony on 15 but starboard side about five doors down from the Observation lounge.  Late night deck parties could be well heard in our cabin and on our balcony...but most of the time we were at the party.  Early morning tables and chairs and heavy footsteps also.

 

I too was disappointed that Costa Rica was  dropped...but mildly surprised by Acapulco.  We got off the ship and wondered about a mile down the beach and enjoyed a relaxing day.

 

Food as you stated was OK in the MDR.  I'm just never really excited about NCL's MDR menus. The service was slow the first few nights. We skipped dessert one night due to comedy club reservations.  Service seemed to pick up later in the the cruise. Unless you have a dining package, NCL's specialty restaurants seem overpriced (comparable to land restaurants).  They used to be reasonable...but inflation and the need to increase revenue has impacted that. We did get sushi rolls at Food Republic. They were very good, but priced similar to land based restaurants.

 

Jersey Boys and 6 were amazing. We also hung out in the District most nights when Anthony, the piano player, was there.  The UWEC marching band was an unexpected treat. Went to three of their performances and was not disappointed.

 

We waited until the very last to disembark. Getting off the ship was easy, waiting to go through CBP was a 90 minute process.  Fortunately we were staying in the LA area for several days, so no stress to catch a flight.

 

No cruise is a bad cruise and we did accomplish our goal of relaxing, having fun and going through the Panama Canal.

[mistertoaster]

Haven Lite is the same approach we are taking on our upcoming cruise. We have stayed several times in the Haven and MSC Yacht Club. While both experiences were very good, we never used the butler or concierge service, and unless you are in the owner suites are something similar a regular Haven or Yacht Club cabin is pretty similar to a regular balcony. MSC MDR' food is not good, and that makes the Yacht Club a more compelling option.

 

However, with NCL we are sapphire level, and with the free at sea program, we do specialty dining for more than half our dinners. Therefore, dinner is not an issue. We also get reserved seating for shows, and priority embarkation and debarkation. 

 

When you add up all the benefits from status and free at sea, you can replicate the Haven fairly closely in a regular balcony room. Add Vibe or Posh and you pretty much have the full Haven experience at about 1/3rd the cost. 

[Turtles06]

Thanks for taking the time to post your detailed and balanced review. 
 

On 2/9/2023 at 9:56 PM, gmbhardy said:

We missed Six because of slow services in the MDR.

Speaking only for myself, I would have left and gone to the show. SIX is that good. 😊

[Monica887]

This is the approach that I generally want to take. But concerned that vibe gets sold out so quickly, so you plan on an upgraded experience but may not get it. 

[gkbiiii]

Personally Diamond Plus at Royal, (in a full suite) not getting new sheets for 15 days, I would "fire the line!"  Has NCL have NO SHAME or Standards?

Edited February 13, 2023 by gkbiiii