Bliss Panama Canal Trip Review 2/25/23 - 3/12-23

[kitkat343]

2 hours ago, GALSews said:

Thanks for sharing your cruise. We are thinking about doing a Panama Canal cruise.

The Panama Canal is amazing, but NCL has really gutted these cruises.  

People reported on this board that cancellations were also made to the 1/27 sailing on the Bliss.   The port stops in Nicaragua and Costa Rica were cancelled for safety reasons after final payment (which makes sense in Nicaragua but not for Costa Rica) , and replaced with Acapulco and Jamaica.  On the 1/27 sailing the port stop in Panama was changed from a full day and overnight and replaced with 4 pm - 11 pm, knocking out shore excursions (which is a shame because its nice to see the locks in action from the land).    I'm assuming there were no tours of Panama where you leave the ship and get to see the locks in action on the 2/25 sailing unless I missed something in this review.  

 

If you are on the East Coast, the easiest trip is with Princess, a 10 day partial transit  https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/results/?trade=T&subTrade=TF .  It's a shame that NCL is offering a worse experience for a 14 day full transit than you would have on a partial 10 day transit.

 

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by kitkat343

[luckybecky]

Monday March 6 Sea Day

 

We slept 11 hours! Worn out from staying so busy all the time. It felt so good to sleep! Once we got up we went for a brisk walk for 30 minutes on deck 8. You really can’t use the running track on deck 17 because there are just too many people.

 

Deck 8 is also a very popular spot with lots of comfy sofas, chairs and loungers. Unfortunately the seat saving is just as bad here – or even worse!-- as on the pool deck. We saw towels “reserving” entire 8+ seat sectional sofas and chairs. Nobody there. Just towels.

 

After getting in a light workout with our walk, we spent an hour or two in the pool and hot tubs on deck 16/17 and also went to Spice H2O on deck 17 aft. It’s a nice space, the hot tubs are larger.

 

We had lunch at the buffet in between hot tubbing and swimming. They had a prime rib that was outstanding – steakhouse quality IMO. A delicious thick slice of juicy flavorful beef. Complemented with roasted potatoes and some expertly seasoned roasted veggies. And this was at lunch!

 

 

They also had an excellent and beautifully presented antipasti spread at the buffte today:

 

 

 

 

 

Back to our room to shower and get cleaned up for the evening. As we have done several times, we grabbed some chips and salsa (the salsa is surprisingly good!) to take to our room for late night snacks. Paul also likes to grab a sandwich and a couple of pieces of fruit for breakfast in the morning. We have some ziploc bags for this purpose. Today, he got a ham and cheese sandwich, apple and orange, to have in our cabin before leaving for our excursion in the morning.

 

Casino for an hour or so, then Dinner early at 5pm so we can do the shows.

 

 

Fried cheese

 

 

Spring roll 

 

 

Buffalo chicken taco salad

 

 

Strawberry spinach salad

 

 

Pork loin from the classics menu. Prime rib was on the menu tonight, which we normally both would have ordered, but we had just had it at lunch.

 

 

Lemon pepper chicken

 

 

 

Lemon cream cake

 

Chocolate volcano

 

 

Magic show at 7 with Rob Rasner, then comedian Tyrone Hawkins at 9. They were both good. 

 

[luckybecky]

7 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

The Panama Canal is amazing, but NCL has really gutted these cruises.  

People reported on this board that cancellations were also made to the 1/27 sailing on the Bliss.   The port stops in Nicaragua and Costa Rica were cancelled for safety reasons after final payment (which makes sense in Nicaragua but not for Costa Rica) , and replaced with Acapulco and Jamaica.  On the 1/27 sailing the port stop in Panama was changed from a full day and overnight and replaced with 4 pm - 11 pm, knocking out shore excursions (which is a shame because its nice to see the locks in action from the land).  

 

If you are on the East Coast, the easiest trip is with Princess, a 10 day partial transit  https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/results/?trade=T&subTrade=TF .  It's a shame that NCL is offering a worse experience for a 14 day full transit than you would have on a partial 10 day transit.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for this information. I did not know NCL was doing this so often.  They actually changed our itinerary twice. First, they dropped Nicaragua. Then at a later date they also dropped Costa Rica and added Acapulco. 
 

Obviously changing or dropping ports for weather reasons is unavoidable and not the fault of the cruise line. But these changes were made months before sailing. No explanation why the changes. And we do look at itinerary more than pretty much any other factor when choosing which cruises to do, so it's important to us to have some reasonable belief that the itinerary will be followed unless mother nature intervenes.

[luckybecky]

Tuesday March 7 Acapulco

 

Sunrise

 

 

There were a band and dancers on the pier

 

 

 

I was nervous about this port from the day NCL added it to our itinerary. It is not considered safe and is even on the US State Department Do Not Travel list. (My concerns were confirmed when the day before our excursion, it was reported that four Americans had been kidnapped at gunpoint in a Mexican border city; two were reported dead the next day.)

 

I intentionally chose to do an NCL excursion, not a private tour, and picked one that did not take us into the city. We did a snorkeling tour. We walked off the ship, met up with our guide and group directly on the pier, then walked directly down the pier to board our snorkeling boat. When we returned, we went back down the pier and onto our ship. I am not a timid traveler, but I just was not comfortable with Acapulco so this tour worked for me.

 

We basically just had to walk from where we exited the enclosed pier area near the blue arrow, further down the pier to the black arrow, escorted by our guide. 

 

 

Our tour was great. We were on a pontoon boat with about 25 or so other cruisers. The boat was a good size so we were not crowded. We had five crew on the boat so they were able to provide very good service for this number of passengers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were snacks and unlimited sodas and beer.

 

 

 

There is John Wayne's former home on the point:

 

 

 

We had two snorkeling stops. The water here was not as clear and beautiful as in Grand Cayman, but we saw a large variety of fish. But the highlight of the tour was a surprise on our return. After we finished our second snorkeling spot, we were motoring back to the ship when someone on board spotted a couple of whales. We think they were a mother and baby.

 

The whales were being unusually active, breaching a couple of times, blowing, and repeatedly slapping their tail fins on the water. It was a remarkable sight. No other boat was nearby; this was a treat that we felt was just especially for us! After 20 minutes or so of watching these remarkable creatures, we headed back to our ship. It was a wonderful morning!

[luckybecky]

Back on board around noon, we showered and dressed, so it took us awhile to make it to lunch. We had lunch in the buffet. I think I have said before that we usually are not buffet people, but on this ship the food has been consistently good. I especially like the Asian food at the buffet, has been consistently good.

 

We took a nap and then went to the casino. We weren’t hungry because we had a late lunch, so went to 7pm show with vocalist Elton John tribute. It was a great show.

 

 

 

Then, since we had reservations for the 9m comedian, we only had time for a quick bite in the buffet again. The comedian Jim McDonald was good. The showroom was not too full 15 minutes before showtime, so there was plenty of room for people on standby list, then filled up quickly. We have been to the comedy show four times and it is always full by showtime, but has always had room for people in the standby line.

 

 

[luckybecky]

Wednesday March 8 Sea Day

 

Slept late, walked for exercise, then hot tub. Almost no one in the pool because it is cloudy and the water was too cold, but the pool deck was as full as always. The chair saving continues at the pool and deck 8.

 

The captain announced today that our last port day, which already had an early on board time, would be shortened even further due to forecast weather conditions. He said that in order to reach Los Angeles on time Sunday morning, we would need to depart Cabo San Lucas an hour earlier than planned on Friday afternoon.

 

We did a wine and cheese tasting at 2pm at the Cellar. It was great! Included four wines and four cheeses. The leader Yulia was funny and very informative. This cost $22 per person plus gratuity, but there was a 20% discount since we had the drink package. We enjoyed it so much that we signed up for another wine tasting for the last day of the cruise.

 

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

We went to our favorite spot at the casino bar to play video poker for awhile. The bartenders here have been terrific.

 

Then spent some time on our balcony until dinner. Saw a couple of whales blowing in the far distance.

 

Ocean Blue at 6pm. Outstanding! My favorite restaurant and I don’t even like seafood! Everything was excellent including food and service. Paul had on a collared Hawaiian shirt and shorts. The hostess tactfully said that shorts are not allowed, but she could seat us outside if we wished. We chose for Paul to run upstairs and quickly change into pants, but I sort of regretted this choice. I think it might have been very nice to sit outside. At any rate our meal was outstanding.

 

Sorry, once again my photos came out with weird coloring. The food was beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

Crab cake

 

 

 

Roasted beets

 

 

Clam chowder

 

 

 

Iceberg wedge

 

 

 

Seafood linguine

 

 

Sides

 

 

Filet mignon

 

 

 

 

They brought us an itemized bill with the total cost zeroed out; I believe the total was something over $180 if we had not used our dining package. A la carte pricing can add up very quickly.

 

We had reservations for Jersey Boys at 9:30pm but I just couldn’t get into it. We have seen this show before (not on NCL) and it is a terrific show. I had been looking forward to it the whole cruise. But after 12 days or so of vacation I am getting worn out. I just could not get into the idea of lining up an hour before the show to get a good seat (yes, you have to line up very early) and then an almost two hour show… it would be a late night. I am a very active traveler but tonight I just didn’t have it in me.

 

I went back to the cabin with some wine from the Cellar – they give a very generous pour! Relaxed and watched some TV. By the way, there is very good reception for MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, and several movie channels. On some previous cruises we have not had good TV reception. We do not spend a lot of time in our cabin watching TV but it is nice to have some options.

 

[lax19]

54 minutes ago, luckybecky said:

Tuesday March 7 Acapulco

 

Sunrise

 

 

There were a band and dancers on the pier

 

 

 

I was nervous about this port from the day NCL added it to our itinerary. It is not considered safe and is even on the US State Department Do Not Travel list. (My concerns were confirmed when the day before our excursion, it was reported that four Americans had been kidnapped at gunpoint in a Mexican border city; two were reported dead the next day.)

 

Glad you had an enjoyable time snorkeling. When we were in Acapulco during our cruise on the Bliss, I had similar reservations about Acapulco. However we found Acapulco to be very enjoyable. We walked around the fort across the street from the pier, then headed down the road that parallel the beach about 3/4 mile. We found a decent beach spot with an umbrella, table and chairs for about $7 and plenty of locals and families . Very few vendors, but amazing tacos and mangos. It turned out to be a very relaxing day. Walked back to the ship and stopped by a flea market. There was a police and military presence throughout the area. 
 

Everybody needs to judge for themselves and are responsible for their own safety. 

[luckybecky]

Thursday March 9 Puerto Vallarta

 

I had reserved a food walking tour, not with NCL, a couple of months ago. It would require us to take a taxi approximately 30 minutes to the old town to meet our guide. And although we should have more than enough time to get back to the ship, we still had a relatively early back on board time (2:30pm) which would not leave a huge amount of time for error.

 

I woke up at 4am worrying about this tour. The horrifying experience of the Americans killed in Matamoros a few days ago had confirmed my longstanding trepidation about traveling in Mexico so I decided I just didn’t want to go on the tour that I had been looking forward to so much. Since we had not canceled in advance, we lost the money we had spent for the tour but I was ok with that, just for peace of mind.

 

As it turned out there were many vendors outside the ship offering shuttle service or taxi to the city center. The taxi service probably would have been easy.

 

There is a Sam’s Club and a WalMart directly across the street from where the ship docked, and a shopping mall right next door to them. We got off the ship and walked across the street to pick up a few things. We were running low on a couple of toiletry items and also got some snacks.

 

Here is the sun about to come up behind the mountains. This is the view from our balcony.

 

 

Here is the same exact shot taken later in the day. Doesn't look quite as romantic when you can see WalMart and Sam's in the foreground LOL

 

 

Note: the Freestyle Daily every day has had this restriction listed: “No food or dairy products are allowed off or onto the vessel in our ports of call. Guests are prohibited from bringing any beverages back on board including liquor, beer and non-alcoholic beverages such as water, soda and juice.”

 

Much of this restriction is completely ignored. There is a table set up right inside the gangplank where you can check in beverages. If you have the beverage package, you are allowed to take wine to your room without paying a corkage fee. We also brought packaged snacks back on board even though the policy says no food.

 

We did not try to hide or smuggle these items on. They were openly carried, no questions asked.

 

I’m sorry, I can’t say what they do if you try to bring water on board. The policy says you cannot, but as we saw with wine and packaged foods, they were not following the policy as written. They are much more strict with fresh foods such as fruit and vegetables – going either on or off the ship. Don’t even try that. In Mexico we saw a table full of fruits that passengeres had tried to carry off the ship with them.

 

Anyway, we just got off, went across the street to the store, and then got back on board. This is not our typical port day. We sail for the ports and always do excursions. But we did not feel comfortable in the Mexican ports to be exploring on our own.

 

We had lunch in the buffet again. I wanted to do Savor or Taste but they were not open. Although the buffet is good, as far as buffets go, I have to admit I’m getting a little tired of it.

 

We spent some time in the pool and hot tub. Then back to the room for a shower and nap. Sailaway was early, 3pm. 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the casino for a little while before dinner, as usual. Then around 6pm we went to the Manhattan dining room. I prefer the smaller venues of Savor and Taste but the Manhattan was just steps away from the casino bar where we were playing, and we could see that there was no line. Dinner was good with good service.

 

 

Chopped Greek salad

 

 

 

 

Carved striploin

 

 

 

Then we went to the hypnotist show. As before, she was entertaining but I am not at all convinced.

 

One of our CC friends was on stage

 

 

 

From there, we went to Q – our first time here. There was a country band from 8 to 9pm. They were good and we enjoyed some dancing for the first time on this ship.

 

 

Paul is a UT grad. Found his happy place!

 

 

Then back to the casino for another spin before returning to our cabin to chill out with a movie.

[luckybecky]

Friday March 10, Cabo San Lucas

 

Last tender 1pm! We were originally scheduled to be here 7am-3pm. Then as I mentioned, on Wednesday our captain announced that our port time would be shortened by one hour to 2pm. But the last tender today was scheduled for 1pm. So our original port time was shortened to just 6 hours. As you may have noticed, these early all aboard times are a real pet peeve of mine. I probably would have looked for a different cruise if the true ports and port times had been published at the time I booked this cruise. We are having a great time, but we would have liked to have more time in each port. With a back on board time of 1pm, you can’t even have lunch to try the local cuisine.

 

We had an NCL tour called Luxury Day Sail and Snorkel. It was 45 minutes shorter than advertised due to the early tender time, but otherwise was fabulous! We had 16 people on our sailboat which was plenty large enough for us not to feel overly crowded. However there were only a few seats in the shade in the back of the boat, and we were told we could not sit there. We were in full sun the entire time so just be aware of that if full sun is an issue for you.

 

Immediately after boarding we were served mimosas, soon followed by an excellent bento box of grilled shrimp, guacamole and more, along with more unlimited alcoholic beverages. We started by going by the iconic Cabo arch and got many beautiful photos.

 

 

 

Then we were in for such a treat! We saw multiple whales. Moms and babies. Some of them very close to us. Our captain did a great job of steering us near to whales. You can see how close we were to the whales!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived at a snorkeling spot. The water was clear and cold. We had a great swim and saw many colorful fish.

 

 

 

Back on board, we saw several more whales, and enjoyed another bento box of excellent food: pasta salad, ceviche, grilled chicken caesar salad, fruit, chocolates.

 

 

This was an excellent day with numerous opportunities to see whales which was such a bonus. They are not here year round, we just got lucky with our timing. I definitely recommend this excursion, but do wish we had gotten the full 4+ hours that we had paid for.

 

Just curious if anyone has an opinion or experience with this: since our excursion was shortened by almost an hour from the advertised duration, should we have received a partial refund or any type of compensation? 

 

At any rate, it was a fantastic excusion.

[luckybecky]

Back on board with the day still young. We went to the hot tub for awhile. Then showered and relaxed on our balcony. Hit the casino for a time before supper at Taste or Savor. Sorry, I can never remember which was which. We did like them much better than Manhattan. All serve the same menu but Manhattan is much larger, and louder. Taste and Savor offer a more intimate experience.

 

 

 

We watched The Perfect Couple game show in the atrium. Lots of fun! Hosted by assistant cruise director Alex who is doing a fantastic job on this cruise. Personally, I think he’s better than Paquito the cruise director. We have seen a lot more of Alex and he is much more energetic. This is a hilarious and popular show so arrive early to get a seat. 

 

 

Here is Alex on the left, along with Henry – another fantastic member of the cruise director team – “assisting” a couple in the Perfect Couple game show. It was hilarious. 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

Saturday March 11 Sea Day

 

Our last day on board! Oh no! It has gone by fast.

 

Thanks to all of you who have followed along with my excessively long review! We are almost to the end. 😉

 

We went to the gym for a run on the treadmill.

 

The weather had turned chilly and windy overnight. Also very foggy. It was too cold for the pool or even hot tubs (which are kept at a fairly low temperature).

 

View from our balcony

 

 

View from observation deck

 

 

At least you could get a seat by the pool!! 

 

 

Went to the theater with our red raffle tickets to win a free cruise. They were doing Bingo. I asked what time was the raffle. The cruise director staff member said we had to be there at 11:15. Actually, they were doing bingo at 11:15. The raffle drawing was not until 11:50am. So we sat and watched the bingo game, then finally the raffle rolled around. Sorry to say that we did not win the raffle, and a little annoying that we had to wait and the true time for the raffle was not given when we asked. Sorry to report that we were not the winners of the free cruise. 

 

Lunch at Taste or Savor. Big portions! And very good. Paul had the Cuban chicken (plantains and black bean sides were very good) and my chicken parmesan was delicious.

 

 

Nicoise salad

 

 

Spinach caesar

 

 

Cuban rotisserie chicken

 

 

Chicken parmagiana

 

 

I did not ever see a menu repeated. All the entrees looked new every time we went to MDR for lunch or dinner. I did see several appetizers repeated, especially the lobster ravioli and  french onion soup come to mind. But there were always variations of salads and other new offerings, 

 

We did another wine tasting session at The Cellars at 2pm. This one was Old World vs New World. It was great! Yuliya the cellar master is an excellent host and teacher for this event. It included six wines and a tapas plate.

 

 

 

 

 

[luckybecky]

After this we went to our cabin to finish up packing. We had done some preliminary packing a day or two ago.

 

Then, again a spin in the casino. I know it sounds like we need to join Gamblers Anonymous. We went to the casino every day, usually for a little while before dinner and again later in the evening after any shows we wanted to see. However we are small time gamers. We like to play video poker and enjoyed sitting at the casino bar, where bartenders Dom and Ernesto took great care of us. But we do not bet large amounts of money. We consider this to be our entertainment expense. On this cruise, we both came out ahead! Not a lot, but definitely ahead.

 

Dinner again at Taste/Savor. We got there around 6pm, I think. Received a pager and sat at the bar nearby. I think it was about 15 minutes or so before our table was ready. Food was good as usual.

 

Sorry I have so few dessert photos. We almost always skipped dessert.

 

 

 

 

 

This teriyaki beef tenderloin was very good

 

 

 

 

We went to the 8pm Beatles show. It was really good. This was the third time, I think, that we have seen them. Each show has been different and I liked this one the best.

 

 

We made sure to stop by and tip our favorite bartenders at The Cellar and the casino bar. They always provided superior service. We did not tip early in the cruise to ensure good service. That was not necessary at all. They gave the same excellent service whether you were tipping or not. We thanked them for their hard work at the end of the cruise.

 

We put our bags outside our cabin door prior to the 9pm deadline. We have always done self assist debarkation. This time we decided to let the porters carry off our luggage for us. Huge mistake!!!!

[luckybecky]

March 12 Debarkation

 

We had selected a 9am debarkation time. Our flight was not until 6pm so we were not in a hurry. And we were fully packed the night before so would not need much time to get ready in the morning.

 

The info we received said we should vacate our room by 8:30. So we set our alarm for 7:30 but the racket with doors slamming and announcements in the hall woke us a little earlier.

 

At 8am, despite our Do Not Disturb light being on, our steward knocked on our door. We told him we would be out of room soon.

 

We vacated the cabin a few minutes later, well before the 8:30am deadline. I was a little annoyed at being rushed out before the requested time. Especially since we had had to wait for the latest time ever to get INTO our rooms at the beginning of the cruise. However I understand that there is a great deal of pressure on the stewards to turn this many rooms around so quickly.

 

We went up to the buffet for breakfast. This was the only time I ever ate breakfast on the ship. It was fine. Seemed very typical to any other breakfast buffet on other ships/ cruise lines.

 

Our scheduled time to leave the ship was 9am and we headed down the elevator at exactly that time. Then ensued the disastrous debarkation/customs process. I posted an entire thread about that here 

so won’t reiterate the whole saga. Just to say it was the worst/ longest/ most disorganized re-entry process I have ever had by air or sea.

 

Do not book a close flight time. And do self assist, wake up early, and get off the ship as early as possible.

 

We had booked a day room at Embassy Suites near LAX. Got there a couple of hours later than expected, but still glad to have it. It was a suite with living room and bedroom. We relaxed for awhile and had time for a nice nap before taking the hotel shuttle to the airport. The room was money well spent; nice to have this comfortable room rather than killing time at the airport.

 

By the way, the shore excursions price list shows three excursions in LA. None of these were available to book online even months before the cruise. I called NCL to ask why no LA excursions were showing up; she said they must be full. This was well in advance of the cruise.

 

The rep suggested I keep checking online (something might open up if there were cancellations), and also said to check once onboard to see if we could get on a standby list. I did check online many times. Nothing ever opened up. By the time we sailed, we had booked the day room so I did not ask at Shore Excursions if anything was available.

 

Flight home went off without a hitch and we even arrived early. So nice to sleep in our own bed!

 

I'll be back with some final thoughts and also will post the full list of excursions offered on this cruise with prices. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

 

Thanks for the outstanding review.  We'll be on the Bliss very soon!

[luckybecky]

Random thoughts about the cruise:

 

We did not get free water that should have been included. I vaguely remembered that somewhere along the way in booking this cruise, our booking included six bottles of water delivered to our stateroom. And NCL values its water very highly!! Six bottles cost about $20. We never received the water. So when we went to pick up our Bronze cruiser (returning cruiser) pin, I asked about it. I incorrectly thought it had something to do with being a returning cruiser. No, I was told, you don’t get free water until you are at a much higher loyalty level.

 

I just let it go. We had limited internet access, and were always so busy that I never wasted the time trying to figure out where I had seen this offer. It was only the very last day of our cruise that I saw a thread here about this very issue. I realized that the water was included in the “perks” we were supposed to get with our original booking: six bottles delivered to our stateroom. Apparently other cruisers have also had trouble with this perk being fulfilled.

 

Just make sure you know what perks are due to you. They may not be fulfilled automatically.

 

Casino: we usually play video poker, but Paul likes to play table games occasionally. But as previously stated we are not big gamblers. All the table games had $10 minimum. Paul would have played a lot more if there was a $5 minimum. He commented about this to his dealer on the last night of the cruise.

 

The dealer said, “oh, all the tables in the smoking section have a $5 minimum.”

 

Wait, what?!

 

Apparently it was true. Why in the world would the smokers get lower minimums than the main casino? We had walked through the smoking area briefly upon boarding the ship and saw the same $10 minimum there as in the main casino.

 

Paul’s dealer verified that on the first night the minimums are $10 but then they lower them in the smoking area. What the hell? Would have been nice to know much sooner.

 

Here’s one thing we found to be strange: the sliding doors in public spaces all had a button you had to push to open it. Sometimes the button was on the door itself, sometimes on the wall right next to the door, sometimes on a side wall nearby. We noticed this could be awkward for people in scooters depending on the location of the button, or if you had your hands full. Every store in America has automatic doors. In the days of norovirus and covid, why are they making every single passenger touch door buttons? But like I said before, covid protocols are completely gone.

 

[luckybecky]

What we liked about this ship:

 

• Friendly crew
• Large hot tubs in Spice H2O
• Food has been good in all venues
• Large casino
• Smoking area of casino is fully enclosed, not open to the rest of the area
• Excellent entertainment including main shows and fun diversions in the atrium all day and evening
• Superb musicians with a wide variety of options
• Restaurants are nice; tablecloths
• Really nice décor everywhere
• Great art work around the ship
• Wine bar is nice with a bartender who gives us generous pours 🙂
• Snacky type foods available which we haven’t found on many ships, such as potato chips, tortilla chips and salsa, bar snacks
• Tendering process seemed very efficient and went off earlier than scheduled
• They gave a paper daily schedule every day, and had physical menus at the restaurants. We’ve been on a couple of post covid cruises where they stopped doing this and were trying to force everyone to use their app for everything.
• Observation lounge was lovely

[luckybecky]

Didn't like:

• No outside forward deck!!! At least not for us in steerage. There are apparently some areas for Haven. This was a biggie for me. Very disappointed in the ship design that did not have a single forward open deck.
• Small cabin
• Steward overworked and can’t get to us until mid afternoon
• Too many pay venues. Only really three dining choices for “free”: the buffet, the Local, and the Savor-Taste-Manhattan MDRs, which I lump into one because they all serve the same menu. It is just a matter of location but no additional choice. Oh and there is also a limited selection of light fare in the observation lounge. In contrast, there are nine specialty restaurants all at high cost if paying a la carte. And that doesn’t count extras like Starbucks, the ice cream shop, etc.
• I think it is unconscionable that they won’t include bottled water in the drink package. I can get all the alcohol I want but no water!?! You also cannot get a can of soda. Only a fountain drink – unless you find a friendly bartender who will bend the rules.
• Shops seemed no better or different than what we have found on much smaller ships.
• Although this is the largest ship we’ve been on, it seems like the extra – and best – spaces on this ship have entirely been allocated to pay venues (restaurants, go carts, laser tag, Haven, Vibe beach club, etc).
• “Free” entertainments are if anything worse than what we have enjoyed on smaller, older ships such as the mini golf which looked pretty lame, or for example we have enjoyed ropes course or basketball/sports courts at no extra cost on other ships. Pools and hot tubs seemed about the same as older smaller ships we have been on, although the extra large hot tubs at Spice H2O were nice.
• Very early port times: both on and off early for almost all our ports. Who has an all aboard time of 1:00pm?? The day is just getting started then!
• Very substantial changes to itinerary after we booked; not due to weather concerns (changes made far in advance)
• Cruise director was much less involved and dynamic than others we have had
• No more E muster, back to in person crowded and inconvenient mustering
• The app could be wonky. Not able to use it to join the queue in the app for dining; we just had to go and get a pager if they could not seat us immediately.

[luckybecky]

Here are the shore excursions:

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately we completely missed seeing the behind the scenes tour offered on sea days. I bet that is a fun one. 

 

Here is the schedule of wine tastings. If you like wine, it was well worth the price.

 

[Oakman58]

Excellent review.  Thank you for taking the time to write it and include all those photos.

[Jordan61]

22 minutes ago, Oakman58 said:

Excellent review.  Thank you for taking the time to write it and include all those photos.

 

Seconded! You put a lot of time and effort into it and it is really appreciated.

[kitkat343]

2 hours ago, luckybecky said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived at a snorkeling spot. The water was clear and cold. We had a great swim and saw many colorful fish.

 

 

 

 

 

Back on board, we saw several more whales, and enjoyed another bento box of excellent food: pasta salad, ceviche, grilled chicken caesar salad, fruit, chocolates.

 

 

 

 

Just curious if anyone has an opinion or experience with this: since our excursion was shortened by almost an hour from the advertised duration, should we have received a partial refund or any type of compensation? 

 

 

 

In the past, the cruise lines have sometimes issued partial refunds if a tour did not match its description.  You can speak to the shore excursion desk to request a partial refund. I think its usually at the employees discretion, but you can try.  Sorry - just realized your cruise is over.  You can try to email NCL or call or text them, but they usually handle this on the cruise because the shore excursion desk would know the subcontractors and have a better sense of what is happening with the excursions.  Sorry about that.  

Edited March 18, 2023 by kitkat343

[cruiseny4life]

2 hours ago, luckybecky said:

 

Just curious if anyone has an opinion or experience with this: since our excursion was shortened by almost an hour from the advertised duration, should we have received a partial refund or any type of compensation? 

 

Of course it should have been discounted! That's one charge I'd actually consider disputing if NCL didn't provide a discount. .. divided by the number of hours equals what I'd dispute. 

[mapleleaves]

Another great review !

Thx for taking the time to post so much helpful information as well as all the photos.

I really appreciate that you take the time to write it all in one shot.  The LIVE reports get so bogged down with so many questions and comments, that I lose interest. I'm sure it took a lot of time, so again, thank you.

 

[luckybecky]

2 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

Another great review !

Thx for taking the time to post so much helpful information as well as all the photos.

I really appreciate that you take the time to write it all in one shot.  The LIVE reports get so bogged down with so many questions and comments, that I lose interest. I'm sure it took a lot of time, so again, thank you.

 

 

Thank you! I try to get my reviews uploaded as quickly as possible. I don't want people to think I'm just trying to keep my post bumped to the top. Trying to get it uploaded as fast as I can work through my photos. Maybe next time I won't post ALL the food photos on such a long cruise. I can't believe we ate all that! LOL

 

But the truth is I like reading info about ships that I am about to cruise on so I try to pack it all into my own reviews. I figure if people don't like it they can scroll on by. 

 

Thanks to everyone who followed along with us. This was a terrific cruise, especially all the amazing whale watching. The excellent entertainment and delicious food were also highlights. We were so grateful to have this opportunity.