lax19

Flavor Teller Barrio Bites tour was awesome!

https://www.flavorteller.com/

We did a free (tip Ok at the end) walking tour and throughly enjoyed it. 

I agree with the recommendation to fly into FLL. Look for hotels along 17th street near the port (Hyatt place, Embassy Suites,Holiday Inn express). All with shuttles from the airport. Plenty of restaurants plus a grocery store and a Toal Wine store for last minute items within walking distance.

On 1/11/2024 at 12:50 PM, decrepit old man said:

Is Uber readily available here?

Yes Uber is available 

1 hour ago, Panhandle Couple said:

 

 

The lighthouse is not too far from the port.  It is on a rocky point, some 600 ft up from sea level.  The site is a city park, and there were many locals also hiking on the Saturday afternoon.   Our guide was good, reasonable English, and provided lots of facts, and point out things like iguanas along the way. 

My favorite sign from the hike to the lighthouse:

In Mazatlan If you are into local food book the Barrio Bites tour through flavor teller.

https://www.flavorteller.com/

my wife and I had a great time on this tour

5 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

If its anything like the Yotel in NYC the room is miniscule-- literally a coffin with a duvet. Location wise its not my favorite-- you are still a decent walk to most tourist things but not terrible. If you're ok with a 15-20 min walk to most things then it's fine. 

Thank you. The room description shows it at 240 sq ft, which is bigger than the my cabin for the upcoming cruise! My only plan is to go to a game at Fenway and will probably Uber. Other than that we like to walk and wonder.

Any thoughts on the Yotel on Seaport Blvd? Looking at two nights at the end of August 2024. 

NCL stocks Coke products, but you CANNOT bring your own soft drinks on if you prefer Pepsi.

Carnival stocks Pepsi products but you CAN bring your own soft drinks if you prefer Coke products.

Last January in Acapulco we walked down the beach from the port about 1/2 mile. I think it was Playa Hornos. Nice family beach with plenty of locals. No pushy vendors, $5 for covered table and chairs. Plenty of cheap tasty taco and mango vendors. Just a chill day. Felt very safe.

We Uber’ed there in January for 135 pesos.

There was also a milk dispenser in the buffet and observation lounge on the Bliss

On 3/23/2023 at 3:35 PM, YVRteacher said:

Week 2 Day 5

Mazatlan

 

We have been spoiled with sunshine!  I had been hoping to find someone to walk into Mazatlan with and my trivia partner also wanted to find someone with whom to go ashore since her travel companions felt Mazatlan was too dangerous.  We met at 10:00am in the atrium and the process of getting off the Bliss and taking the little trolley to the port building was swift and easy.  We dodged the taxi drivers and walked the blue line …

I’m glad you enjoyed Mazatlan. We’ve been there twice in the last six months and it has become my favorite Mexican Rivera destination. The Central District is great to wonder. We’ve found beautiful artwork, relaxing plazas, friendly locals, great tamales and fresh corn tortillas.

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. 

1 hour ago, drumming cruisers said:

Great review, a couple of questions. 

Is there pickleball game and if so, do you know the hours you can play?

Is the band Siglo aboard?

The Bliss does not have a sports court, so no pickle ball, volleyball or basketball.

3 minutes ago, Cruise5life said:

Not when I was there in January.  Same cruise on the joy.   

We were on the Bliss Miami to LA in January. Columbia required current Vax or negative test. It still does per NCL Safe Sail protocol 

https://www.ncl.com/travel-requirements-by-country

5 hours ago, luckybecky said:

 

I believe NCL is requiring either proof of vaccine OR a negative test result. 

Columbia required proof of Vax or Covid test back in January.

6 hours ago, LloydJr said:

Was this for a foreign port?

When we went on this itinerary in January, Columbia required proof of Covid Vax or negative test.

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Not true in PV.  ….

Thank you for the additional insight. 
My comment was based on an observation from my last two cruises. Last Nov we were on the Panorama parked furthest away from the cruise center. Later in the day the Bliss came in and parked next to the cruise terminal bldg. They also left before us.

In Jan we were on the Bliss parked at the furthest pier. A smaller Holland ship came in and parked next to us and then the Discovery Princess came in and parked next to the cruise terminal bldg. Because of the Discovery Princess’s size, we had to wait for her to leave before we could leave in the Bliss. I would have been a tight squeeze for the Bliss

On 3/11/2023 at 7:43 AM, Leejnd4 said:

Thanks for the responses! They will be on the Norwegian Bliss, so I'm not sure which pier they will be on...I'm hoping the one closest to the terminal. 

 

Pier position depends on arrival time I think. First ship in gets the furthest pier. 

On 2/26/2023 at 7:28 AM, Florida_gal_50 said:

@Turtles06i have a couple questions.  First, how small is the van you transfer to when you get close to Antigua?  I have knee issues and can’t be crawling into the back of something like an 8 passenger van.  Also I’ve heard the curbs are very high yet in pictures and YouTube I’m not seeing that.  Thank you.  If anyone else can answer I would appreciate it.

The transfers are onto a twentyish passenger minibus. Up a couple of steps with an aisle down the middle. No crawling necessary. 

Tamales at Maztamales (Central District) a couple of blocks from Plaza Machado

Walk down the side walk along the marina from the tender dock. There is an opening between Booths B17 and B18.  Go through to the parking lot and look to the right.  You'll see La Jarocha restaurant (more of a food truck with a covered eating area.  In expensive food, fresh made and very delicious. We had Fish Tacos (3) plus a coke for 4 dollars (80 pesos).

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.

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.