15 Nights - NCL Bliss (L.A. through Panama Canal to Miami)

L.A. through Panama Canal to Miami, Norwegian Bliss (4,000 passengers), December 2-17, 2022

Room #: Family Club Balcony Suite 10202, after rates were dropping and Lynn found a special which upgraded us for only $135 from an inside room. Nights: 15, Freestyle dining

Cruising

This was our fourth attempt at booking a cruise, using future cruise credits after covid caused us not to travel and since Norwegian would not give us our money back. Previous attempts, Scotland/Ireland, Hawaian Islands, Australia/New Zealand

This will be our 23nd cruise (8/64 days on Princess, 5/47 (61 latitude points) days on Norwegian (after this cruise), 6/44 days on Carnival, 3/26 days on Royal Caribbean and 1/9 days on Celebrity) = 190 days of fun and relaxing cruising. We enjoy them as you get to see many new parts of the world, different lifestyles, and they pamper you by cleaning your cabin, providing entertainment and making your meals. We also are not claustrophobic like some being comfortable in the small staterooms (usually an inside cabin) which we generally are only in to shower, change and sleep in. A reason our motorhome also works for us, but as we know, different strokes for diffent folks.

We transferred our credit from our cruises cancelled previously due to covid, the total price is $4,426. ($3,262.14 Cruise package & prepayed gratuities, $174.50 cruise air (from Miami, transfers included), $999.36 Taxes and Fees.) We get a $165 Costco Shop Card, 2 x 300 minute Internet packages and $50 shore excursion credit as included extras.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Dec. 4, 11:00-7:00

This was our only tender stop. We were here before in March 2003 on the Sun Princess. We scuba dove here then, or I should say I did as Lynn had a problem getting down, the water condition was poor and decided to snorkel. Lynn, Debbie and I took a tour to Todos Santos. We had a tour guide (Libby who slowly walked us to our bus for a 45 min. ride and then walking through the town). Not tons to see (in my opinion), a lot of cactus and ranches that need to be self sufficent with not much water or power. In town we walked a few streets and went to Hotel California (Libby said a history expert believes the song by the Eagles was based on the hotel). Foreign tourist were sometimes detained in the hotel as opposed to locals in the jail and a brother of one of the Eagles may have been held for smoking marajuana.

We had a good lunch, included in the tour and were introduced to Guaycura Licor de Demiana after a round of margaritas. The bartender gave us each a shot, and teased that it caused pregnancies. 30% alcohol and comes in a bottle shaped like a pregnant woman. A good tasting sip and got us to go find and purchase a bottle to bring home, along with my first tee shirt from the Hotel California.

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Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Todos Santos

NCL Bliss

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Dec. 5, Noon-9:00

We took a taxi to The Malecon boardwalk (a stone build enbankment along a waterway) and walked along the water and enjoyed the many sculptures along the way. We also stopped on the beach and Sooner is here also. We eventually took a break (Debbie's hip was bothering her a little) for beers and a warm coke for Debbie (since we didn't trust the water or ice).

Debbie got us a uber to get back to port, which was half the price a taxi would have been.

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Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Malecon boardwalk

Church

Malecon boardwalk

Cool down drink

Leaving port

Acapulco, Mexico
Dec. 7, 7:00-5:00

Woke to the sound of loud music and on shore was a large group working out. We had no real plans here so eventually the three of us got off and walked to the fort that was close. After a quick glimpse of the fort on the hill, we backtracked past the ship and walked along the shoreline. Had to watch our footing as the walkway was dirt and poorly maintained in areas. Past a shoreline fish market and towards the city until all of us decided a little ship time would be good.

Back on the ship Lynn and I ate, listened to mexican music at the pool and then the saltwater in the pool made us float well. I had to try the water tube, which I believe you had to be between 120 and 250 pounds (a scale to weigh you) to qualify for and have nothing in your pockets or hands. It surprised me as the floor dropped out under and you shot through the tube with enough momentum to also go up and around. Once was fun and enough for me, as the water sprayed in your eyes also and no one else was playing with me :)

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flat 180 view of Acapulco from ship

Acapulco, Mexico

Fort

Acapulco, Mexico

Me in waterslide

Puerto Quetzal (Antigua), Guatemala
Dec. 9, 7:00-5:00

We booked a bus tour to Antigua and our guide on the 1.5 hour bus ride, was very informative about Guatemala. The country has 37 volcanoes, 3 active and has very good soil to be able to grow a wide variety of foods. The bus was comfortable, the roads were adequate but two lane at the most. We saw volcanoes shooting up smoke and saw a landslide getting cleared on one road. Antigua is at 5,000 feet so it was up hill going.

The roads got narrower as you got towards Antigua so they transferred you to mini vans, into the city about 1.5 miles from the bus parking. They dropped us of at a jade factory, saying to meet in 2.5 hours and we were able to walk around the town. We stopped and had lunch first, chicken nachos for me, beans and guacamole for Lynn (both small with hardly any chips). Debbie had a big platter and was happy with it. There was a bit of a communication challenge for all us in ordering but it worked.

We then headed to a monestary/museum/hotel (Monasterio de Santo Domingo/Casa Santo Domingo Museums/Hotel Museo Spa Casa Santo Domingo) and toured its nice grounds, before stopping in their chocolate shop. We all ordered some chocolate (our purchases had ginger, sea salt, candy cane mint and macadamia nuts). Then through the streets of town checking out small local shops, street vendors selling local wares like bead birds, blankets, etc. They had what they called, chicken buses that were color coded for the locals as their are so many indiginous languages.

Our time was good, but the end of the trip left something to be desired. We were at the jade factory after 2.5 hours as instructed but no minivan for 45 minutes, then we had to walk 1.5 miles back to the bus. For some older tourist and Debbies sore hip it was a long walk. After making it to the bus, we were stuck in a mass of busses and took anther 1/2 hour to get moving. On our way back we got behind slower vehicles that you could not pass, some cars crossed the median and went the wrong way on the two lane highway. We finally got going and made it back to the ship, but with not much time to check out the local stores as we needed to get back on the ship.

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Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

volcanoe in distance

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

Bus to Antigua

volcanoe

short volcanoe clip

Farmland

volcanoe

Road work

Jade

Antigua

Lunch

flat 360 view monestary

Monasterio de Santo Domingo

Church walking to bus

Antigua view

vendor being blocked

Plants on some roofs

Color coded chicken buses

Church of Saint Francis, 1702,
some Tarzan filmed here 1935

Saw Dolphins while cruising, a few times

Panama City, Panama,
Dec. 11, 6:00 pm - Dec. 12, 10 pm

Arrived at port and their was a lot of ships in the area. Lynn and I decided to stay on board and relax and check out Panama City the next morning. Debbie took the bus out and back for a quick look. The next morning we took the free shuttle bus to the drop off at Isla Perico and after a few negotiations, caught a taxi to Panama Old Town. Our taxi driver dropped us off at his relatives store and just pass the president residence on the water. Tee shirt number 2 & 3 for me, Panama hat for Debbie and gifts to give for Lynn. Then we walked around and checked out statues, streets, a church with a couple large christmas displays and an art sale.

We eventually caught a taxi back and waited for the free port bus as you were not allowed to walk the road in and out of port. It may be in the future. We got lunch and outside our balcony was a barge filling our ship with fuel. Our ship pulled away around 7 pm and pulled out to wait our turn in the canal in the morning.

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Panama Port

Debbie in back

Police presence

Metropolitan Cathedral is a
Catholic church located in the old
town. It was consecrated in 1796

Municipal Palace of Panama

Old town Panama City

Casa Gongora, best preserved colonial house in old quarter. Built in 1756 by Captain Paul Gongora, a pearl merchant that inhabited it.

Plaza Bolivar

Old town Panama City

Taxi back view

Port drop off area

Fuel fill at port

Panama Canal, Full transit
Dec. 13, 6:00 am - 3:30 pm

I woke up around 5:00 am and woke Lynn to see our ship heading to the locks. It was dark out with lighted bouys and arrows pointing to the locks. They said it would be 8-10 hours to go all the way through the locks, depending on traffic.

We started on our balcony, went in the observatory lounge to look forward. From there we went to the pool and watched the big screen showing the camera on the front of the ship. Around 6:30 they opened the bow of the ship on deck 8 and throughout the day we went back and forth to our room, lunch and the bow around 8 times. It was a lot of walking and watchingh our trip through the canal. We went under the Bridge of the Americas, through the Cocoli Locks, under the Centenary Bridge, Gaillard Cut, Gamboa with its cranes and dredging equipment, through Lake Gatun and through the Agua Clara Locks and under the Atlantic Bridge into the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. 75.517 km or 46.924 miles. We did see a couple crocodiles sun bathing on our way out.

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Cocoli Locks, Panama Canal

Cocoli Locks

Cocoli Locks, Panama Canal

Cocoli Locks

Panama City

Bridge of Americans in distance

Cocoli Locks

Gatun Lake

Centennial Bridge

Dredging Canal

Panama Canal

Gatun Lake

Bow deck 8 NCL Bliss

Gatun Lake

Gatun Lake, Colon, Panama

Agua Clara Locks, Colon Panama

Agua Clara Locks

Agua Clara Locks, Atlantic bridge ahead

Agua Clara Locks

Atlantic Bridge

Cartagena, Colombia
Dec. 14, 10:00-5:00

Lynn, Debbie and I took a taxi to the Walled or Old City. As in the other ports we preferred the older areas to the big new citys. The roads were crazy with taxis, cars, motorscooters, trucks, buses all jockying in two lanes, cutting each other off. We unfortunately had two taxis that the air barely worked. One rattled as if it was going to fall apart. The port area was done up well with flowers and many animals in a wildlife and store area. The walled city had many street vendors trying to get hired to give tours or sell food, hats, etc. A few homeless people asked for money, and there were both poorly and well maintained areas. There was a decent police presence and many small stores to explore, thus my weakness, tee shirt number 4 (the last for this trip).

We did find a nice chocolate shop and after purchasing some, Lynn and I having a small ice cream and exploring the streets and wall around the city we caught our taxi back. I think we paid $20 each way and probably could have negotiated down to $10. Best to keep some smaller $5 bills in a lot of these stops to be able to negotiate and pay accordingly. Credit cards were no problems in stores.

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Tierra Gomba, Bolivar, Colombia

Cartagena, Colombia

Cartagena

Centro, Cartagena's old town

360 of Centro, Cartagena's old town

Centro, Cartagena's old town

Cartagena's Historic Walled City

Cartegena founded in 1543

Picked up chocolates here

Cartagena's Historic Walled City

Cartagena's Walled City

Castle San Felipe de Barajas?

Cartagena's Historic Walled City

Port of Cartagena

Norwegian Bliss

For this cruise we wore our mask whenever indoors with groups of people around (buses, elevators, hallways, tender, etc.) Probably less than 5% of the people were wearing mask, and we did hear of another couple we were going to play bridge with, came down with covid and had to quarantine for five days (or until two days of negative test results). They also had to pay $15k for their time and treatment in the infurmary. They are hoping they get reimbursed by their medical coverage.

The ship had 4,000 passengers but it did not seem crowded. We enjoyed our balcony room and the dining in the Taste (smaller dining room) or Garden Cafe (buffet) for breakfast or lunch was good. They were able to accomodate Lynn's vegan diet in both areas, for dinner in Taste they would consult with her and fix her a vegan meal for the next day. In taste they could tell her what dishes were vegan.

NCL generally requires less formal attire than other cruise lines at dinner. It has been a while but I was surprised that the dress code at dinner was basically shirts and shoes. You could come in shorts, tee shirt and sandels. I don't remember it being that casual but I will not worry about taking multiple dress clothing on our next NCL cruise. One other difference I noticed was there was no lobster night. Maybe they are cutting a few corners after a couple years of covid has hurt all cruise lines bottom line.

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