Almost Live …. NCL Bliss through the Panama Canal (Dec 4 to 19) Miami to LA

[HBCcruiser]

46 minutes ago, SingBill said:

We have never sailed on Bliss, but board when you debark and will be sailing Dec 19-31, 2023, so your report has been very helpful.  

And we get on when you get off - NYE cruise. If you can, please post the dailies for your Christmas cruise. Enjoy!

[Rotorlow]

Thank you for the great reporting.  We are on the same itinerary for the 27 January departure from Miami, so looking forward.  Your posting of the daily's has been real helpful in figuring out the theme nights...the ladies in our group are curious about what to pack for those.  Keep up the great work and keep on having fun!

[Busybeeva]

Thanks for the great daily recaps and pics! Fun to follow along. And we will be on 1/27 so it’s really helpful!

 

Did Acapulco port get cancelled for you? Did then say due to hurricane damage or

something else? 
 

Loved the dolphin pics btw!!!!

[JamesIowa]

3 hours ago, Busybeeva said:

Thanks for the great daily recaps and pics! Fun to follow along. And we will be on 1/27 so it’s really helpful!

 

Did Acapulco port get cancelled for you? Did then say due to hurricane damage or

something else? 
 

Loved the dolphin pics btw!!!!

Those in our roll call figured out Acapulco was going to be cancelled well in advance based on similar sailings in November, but afaik the first we heard about it officially from NCL was once we embarked. Even then there was a bit of confusion as some heard a rumor that we would stop, but not be allowed off ship. The official reason was hurricane damage. Extra sea day!

[EganFire]

Day 11 - Recap - Dec 14 - Manzanillo

Went to the Local again for breakfast. As I will be staying in Anaheim for a few days after the cruise, I needed a haircut. I schedule one on board. This was the first time I did this on a cruise and was not sure what to expect.

 

It was expensive; however I had some on board non-refundable credit from being a stock holder and used that to pay for it. I met my barber and he started my haircut. He gave me a 'complimentary' eye treatment and honestly the stuff worked. I did not purchase it at the end but he of course offered to sell me the product since it worked so well on me. 

 

I did not have an excursion but wanted to explore the town some so I headed in. Its  is a very nice cute town. What sort of scared me was that no one was doing any hard sales or begging me to enter their business. No one had their hands out looking for a tip. No one was acting like every other Mexican port I have ever been to and it sort of freaked me out. I did not expect this at the slightest. I did notice several armed federal troops driving around in pick up trucks as well as multiple police officers.

The town was cute, lots of colors of course and honestly the people we very nice. I would for sure re-visit this town if I have the chance again.

 

After walking around town for a couple of hours I headed back onto the ship. I prepared a bag of laundry to go out and this was my first time realizing they have two different size bags. Good to know as next time I will ask for the larger bag when using my complimentary bag of laundry. 

 

I headed up to the Vibe and we spotted several whales in the harbor. The pictures did not come out great but it was certainly fun to watch them come up to the surface to breathe and dive down eating for hours.

The sunsets on the Pacific have not disappointed and tonight was no different. This evening was breath taking and as great as these pictures look, it was even better in person. 

I had dinner at Los Lobos again and that guacamole did not disappoint. The one problem I have with this restaurant, the portions are giant. After dinner I headed to the theatre to watch the magician Jean Pierre (JP) Parent, His show was funny and entertaining. 

 

Tomorrow we are in Puerto Vallarta and here is the daily for today:

 

[hallux]

8 hours ago, EganFire said:

I did notice several armed federal troops driving around in pick up trucks

I saw the same in Mazatlan in 2019.  Speaking of - are you doing an excursion there or self-guided again?

[KDCruising]

On 12/5/2023 at 8:55 AM, Bruce Knight said:

When you first board can you confirm where you can make can make any changes to specialty dining/show reservations on the Bliss?  Thanks again for doing this review!

Hi Egan! I can't tell from the Daily Schedules what the theme nights are. Can you share more about that? Are there formal or elegant evenings - how many are on this itinerary?  I am on this same itinerary on January 27th.

 

Also - are you a solo cruiser? Did you participate in the Solo meetups? How were they?

 

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us!

[hallux]

1 hour ago, KDCruising said:

I can't tell from the Daily Schedules what the theme nights are.

It looks like it's early in the night but at 10:15 on the latest daily posted is the Awesome 80's party.  On page 4 the day 9 daily has a 70's & ABBA dance party.  Both were on the pool deck.

[www3traveler]

The theme dance parties begin about 10:00 P.M.-- very loud and sometimes very crowded.  No special clothing required.

There are no "formal or elegant" nights on a Norwegian cruise.  The only cruises where people are more formally dressed are Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve.

[EganFire]

Day 12 - Recap - Dec 15 - Puerto Vallarta

Watched us dock at the pier from my balcony around 615 AM. I called to have some laundry taken as it needed to be in before 9 AM and within 4 minutes of calling housekeeping someone came to pick it up.

 

I headed to the Theatre as the meeting point for my excursion. I sat near the soon to be exit for the excursion to get ahead of the crowd. My excursion was called and I immediately saw it was a large amount of people standing to leave. As I sat near the exit I was number 9 to walk out of the Theatre. Unfortunately this excursion had a large amount of inconsiderate people who literally pushed their way ahead as we walked through the ship to leave, arrived on the pier, and walked through the shops to our awaiting 4 buses. I was now number 75 to arrive to load onto a bus. 

 

I am not a fan of large group tours and 4 very large buses is a lot of people. Getting on the third bus to load I noticed our aisle was extremely narrow. However, for this narrow aisle we had very comfy large and cushioned chairs for our ride. The sound system was loud and a little crackle as it was used. Alberto was our guide and he was nice and provided some great knowledge. He was very patient with some of those on our bus who needed quite a lot of extra attention at every stop we visited. 

 

Alberto took us to the old city and we walked around visiting the shoreline and I took a few pictures. It was quite cool with the breeze from the water. It was about 65 degrees. 

I am not sure if any code enforcement officers, or electrical inspectors are reading this, but if so, do not look closely at anything in Mexico. It was interesting to see how they wired the city streets for the holiday lights:

 

The church was very beautiful both the exterior and interior. Church of Our Lade of Guadalupe. 

Outside the church was a festive decorated town square where Alberto said after mass everyone will go here, listen to music, share food, and come together as the community. The trees were filled with bright birds singing some morning serenades to us. We also learned that to be a tour guide in Mexico you have to pass a test and be licensed to do so. Alberto was a licensed tour guide for 50 years and his years of experience were appreciated.

We went to a silver jeweler and were given a short class on the processing of silver ore and how that dust is then turned into fine jewelry. We had some time to look around the store, some made purchases, others like myself appreciate the fine craftsmanship each of the pieces had, and some waited outside. The store also provided tequila, lime, salt, and squirt drinks free of charge. These were refreshing.

 

We left the store and back on the bus. We drove back towards port, then into the new city area near the airport out to the country for our Mexican fiesta lunch. Alberto provided information along the way and it was interesting to see all the areas of the city. We drove through some lower income communities and some beautiful country areas. We left the store around 950 AM and arrived at the Hacienda Dona Engarcia around 1045. 

We took a tequila making tour and learned how they turn agave plants into tequila. Then we sat in room and were handed a shot glass of silver tequila. We learned about it and did a shot. We then upgraded to a gold and did the same; then a much more expensive gold, then it was time for a palate cleanser so they provided a corn chip with a dot of hot sauce. The sauce was good, and I am not usually a heat or hot sauce fan.

Then we had a sample of Peach tequila, almond tequila, and coffee tequila. The peach was a little sweet for my liking, but the almond and coffee one was delicious. I really liked the almond one and ended up buying a bottle. I have no idea why as I have no room in my luggage to fly home with this, but maybe it was the 6 shots of tequila and no food other than one corn chip that did it.

We then stood in line for food. I was really looking forward to an amazing authentic Mexican family meal. I was very disappointed. It was bland, not thoroughly cooked, and I cant say it enough... disappointing. They provided some entertainment for us to watch as we ate. Dancers, a lasso demonstration, dancing horse, a tequila drinking contest, and pinata. 

Back on the bus at 1 PM and at the port at 2, back on the boat at 220 PM. On the entire journey, I was not looking for anything specific, but did observe many Irish bars and wing restaurants. I just thought it odd to find so many of these in a port like this. 

 

After the long bus ride and a fiesta, I needed a siesta... but instead opted for a Starbucks wake up drink. 

 

From my balcony I was able to see many jet skiers in the bay as well as some parasailing, and a pirate ship cruise tour. It was very Mexican Rivera expectations and what I imagined it would look like in the area. 

 

I headed to the Vibe where I met with others and shared our experiences from the port today. I had dinner at Food Republic and was not impressed. It was not a bad dinner but some of the dishes were not what they looked like in their pictures or prepared as described. For example, I ordered the pot stickers and they came breaded and did not taste good. Today was not a good food day anywhere for me. 

 

I attended the Beatles Experience Sgt Peppers in the Theatre. I enjoyed it. 

I walked around and listened to some live music at Sugarcane and headed to bed. Here is the daily for today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EganFire]

15 hours ago, KDCruising said:

Hi Egan! I can't tell from the Daily Schedules what the theme nights are. Can you share more about that? Are there formal or elegant evenings - how many are on this itinerary?  I am on this same itinerary on January 27th.

 

Also - are you a solo cruiser? Did you participate in the Solo meetups? How were they?

 

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise with us!

So far I only saw the 70's party, 80s party, and the glow/white party. Most people did not dress up, but the staff does well to help bring some fun into the party. 

 

I am solo, I have not attended the meet ups on this cruise; however, I have several times in the past.

 

My observation is they are quite helpful to meet others and I love that NCL provides a host to help coordinate. I have had some work almost like a concierge for the group planning dinners, excursions, and go kart rides together. Some just meet and get others talking as a group. Some groups clicked well and others have not. I will always recommend checking it out and if the first night is not good, go back and try again. The group changes day to day. 

 

As I said, this time I have not attended but have spoken to several who have. The first night was hectic as over 60 solos were in attendance but they have been enjoying them when they attend and have met some new friends because of it. 

[EganFire]

Day 13 - Recap - Dec 16 - Mazatlan

I awoke very early today. We had our second 25 hour day yesterday and with the time change of an extra hour. The smart watch and phone did not change and my alarm went off one hour before I needed to be up. So I took advantage of this and watched the sunrise before as we docked. 

This is a commercial port and many new cars were being processed on or off of train cars and a car carrying ship also docked. 

I headed to the Local and then to the Theatre as that was where my excursion was meeting. As we left the theatre and the ship, due to the commercial port, they would not allow anyone to walk around. The port offered a free shuttle to an area with stores and restaurants like all piers seem to have. After leaving that the excursion placed us on a Taxi and off to the boat we were taking.

 

My excursion was Sport Fishing and 5 of us from the ship were on our boat. They provided a bag lunch and two beers each. The bag lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich, an apple, a juice box and 4 oreo like cookies. 

 

The boat was a 42 foot boat, and it had a sleeping room, bathroom, kitchen, sitting area inside and an upper deck. 

We trolled for 6 hours before our first fish on the hook. That was a 35 pound mahi-mahi (dolphin fish). 

Only one other fish was hooked and it got away before making it on the boat. I knew this was a possibility going and I enjoyed the time on the ocean, fresh air, and scenery. We saw a couple of whales, and several sea turtles. 

After returning from the trip, I headed to the Vibe and again shared our port adventures with new friends. We all watched a beautiful sunset while we were docked in port still over the mountain. 

Dinner was at Cagneys and afterwards I met some friends at the Silent Party. If you have not done this before, it can be a lot of fun. I have seen this done many different ways now but they are all similar. You are provided a headset and all the music is on that and the room is silent (well you can hear people singing along to the headsets) and can be very funny and entertaining to watch. On the Bliss, the room was divided into 4 areas and each area was a different genre and song. So you had to move around to hear different songs. 

 

Our group went to the Observation Lounge afterwards for a nightcap. Tomorrow is Cabo San Lucas and here is the daily for today:

[bluesea777]

Loving your review and fantastic photos!

 

Last week we booked the Dec 2024 B2B Miami-Panama City-Miami on the Gem, and we can't wait. I understand we'll be going thru old locks, and won't expect a crocodile to hitch a ride with us, lol.

 

 

[L1211]

On 12/14/2023 at 2:07 PM, EganFire said:

Per the Technical Manager on board it will be replaced with ‘Wheel of Fortune’ 

Same here.  What a terrible switch for entertainment!! 

[EganFire]

Day 14 - Recap - Dec 17 - Cabo San Lucas

When I returned to my room last evening I found a new printed excursion ticket, and I will be honest, I did not read it thoroughly. I just looked and saw a new earlier time and it was meeting in the Theatre.  The original said 845 AM and this one said 715 AM. So I set my alarm clock early and awoke this morning before the sun again. 

 

I saw the sunrise and saw tenders already approaching the ship. 

As I was leaving the room ready at 700 for a 715 meeting time I noticed that the excursion ticket was for a different excursion, and upon a better examination that it was for a different cabin and passenger than I. So I walked around and enjoyed an early morning.

 

I took an 8 AM tender for my 845 on the pier meeting time. I was put off a little by the tender crew asking everyone to tip them. They asked us to pass around a cup for money from the passengers. I also noticed this sign on the Tender. I also think the grammar police may have something to say since they asked for TIPS and not TEPS. 🙂

At 822, I was at the pier. NCL had towel and water stations on the pier for anyone wanting or needing these. NCL had a bluetooth speaker playing and it was a nice touch; however, a very inappropriate song was suddenly being heard by all on the pier. The song included several explicit words, words that I cannot list here. I looked around for a high ranking NCL employee and found one officer. He did not seem to understand me with my concern and by the time we ended speaking the song was over. 

 

As we lined up for the Whale Watching excursion, it appeared this was a large group. I was a little concerned but as we got on the boat there was plenty of room. The crew was amazing, they served a variety of drinks and some snacks. They explained the travel patterns of the whales as we made our way out to see them. We passed some Sea Lions sleeping on Pelican Rock:

The boat made a short stop and circled so all sides could capture a true iconic image for Cabo San Lucas, this beautiful natural formed arch. 

We also went near the Bliss so I snapped an obligatory photo of her.

Before leaving the port area, we already encountered whales. We saw several and one was a juvenile who seemed to like to breach out of the water when he came up for air. I have like 150 pictures and here are just a few. 

On our return to port, I walked around some and came across these Sea Lions begging for scraps, the area they are in is used by local fishermen to bring in fresh catches for area restaurants. The fishermen usually clean the fish rewarding the Sea Lions for the barking with the parts of the cleaned fish. 

On the return tender ride we again had the staff pass around a cup asking for more TIPS. What really got me here is they did nothing. NCL Staff was helping passengers on and off the tender and the tender crew did their job but nothing in my opinion warranting a TIP. 

 

I grabbed a quick snack at the Local and headed to the Vibe. We sailed out of port around 3 and saw several more whales from the Bliss as we made our way out to sea. Tonight's sunset was another amazing Pacific ocean sunset. 

Dinner was at Teppanyaki and was good. The chef was very funny and the table was all involved. It was one of better performances I have attended. 

 

Tomorrow is a day at Sea and here is the daily:

[EganFire]

Day 15 - Partial Recap - Dec 18 - At Sea

I want to post this today as tonight will be a little busy as the last night of this cruise and with my post cruise travel plans of going to Disneyland I may not have time for a day or two for my final recaps and the summary I will also post. I will keep up with my notes and add the days after this as well for anyone interested. 

 

Last night was our last 25 hour day and my watch and phone did not update. I headed to breakfast at the Local and I also secured some food so I can have an in room breakfast tomorrow as I plan to wake early and be off the ship to get to Disney. 

 

I am on the Port side of the Bliss and sun rose on Starboard but our port side sky was very colorful. The seas are calm, it is a little windy, and for sure it is starting to cool down. It is about 68 degrees as the high. 

I also went to Deck 8 to see the sunrise on the aft starboard side of the ship.

Today was the first day for me with WiFi issues. It works fine but has been kicking me off multiple times. I can log in when I notice but it is slightly annoying. 

 

I did a little pre-packing so I would not be rushed to do this later. I dislike packing for a trip but really hate packing to leave one. Reality is setting in that the cruise is coming to an end. With a post cruise trip I had to do some planning as I packed as well, instead of my normal routine... throw everything in the suitcase and sort it out at home. 

 

I went to the Vibe and it was a nice touch that they had blankets for us. I enjoyed the fresh cool air as this trip is winding down.

 

When I returned to my room I found a small gift from the Assistant General Manager. I spoke with her a day or two ago and I think she sent this for my kind words about her and the staff. A bottle of Merlot and some yummy chocolates. 

I went to Savor for lunch, had about a 15 minutes wait and service was a little slow but the staff was very nice. Lunch was good.

 

Tonight I have to go to the Q and retrieve the bottle of Almond Tequila I purchased. I have dinner at Ocean Blue as well. 

 

Tomorrow we are in LA and here is today's daily:

Here is the disembark times for LA if anyone is interested.

 

[yakcruiser]

3 hours ago, EganFire said:

 

 

I really hate this sheet of paper!

[Busybeeva]

36 minutes ago, yakcruiser said:

I really hate this sheet of paper!

Indeed!!! 

[Susiray]

Thanks for the play by play. We’re sailing the reverse from LA on Jan 12. Hope you enjoyed your trip as much as I enjoyed the narrative. Have a great time in Disney!

[Busybeeva]

5 minutes ago, Susiray said:

Thanks for the play by play. We’re sailing the reverse from LA on Jan 12. Hope you enjoyed your trip as much as I enjoyed the narrative. Have a great time in Disney!

Agreed. I just asked my DH what will I read at night now?!

[cruiseny4life]

Appreciate all the sunrise and sunset photos! I just love both when on the water. 

[JamesIowa]

Wow that was an easy disembark. Self-assisted, got in line at 0730, off ship and was outside terminal by 0800; LAX at 0900. Flights at 1430. Few hours to relax in the lounge. Had heard some horror stories of LA disembarks after pc cruises; much better to have hours to relax at the airport than to rush around at the beginning of a fairly long travel day. 
 

edit: they did have facial recognition at customs. Think we got through before the flood of pax hit, interested in hearing if others had the same experience today. 

Edited December 19, 2023 by JamesIowa

[SV_Bliss]

Our disembark was a cluster f*ck. Pink group left the ship at 0940, took 1hr 45min to get to customs, then another 1/2 hr wait for Uber. Finally left the port just before noon. ETA LAX 1230 for a 1345 flight. Way too close. 

[JamesIowa]

 Jason sudeikis let me ride his daughter’s motorized suitcase around the admiral lounge. Going to order one for my next trip!

[Panhandle Couple]

Yellow was called 30 minutes early. Still took 2 hrs to get through the whole process. 10 minutes to get off the ship, 110 to get through customs.

Customs had 5 or 6 agents working the line, with that many empty stations.

Uber was fast, but he may have been working off clock with the company. We paid cash.