Welcome to the Crossroads! I’m continuing my reviews and commentary about my experiences on the NCL Bliss during our recent Alaskan cruise. This was my first Norwegian sailing, and The Local was one of the top dining locations on the ship. Located on the 7th floor, overlooking the atrium, this large pub and grill features a dining area, pub seating sections, and a bar. The best part of The Local is that it is open 24 hours. Hungry in the middle of the night? Do you need a sandwich before bed? If you answered yes, The Local is the right place for you.

The food is pretty good, too.

Because The Local is open 24 hours a day, the menu varies depending on when you go. They have a small breakfast menu in the morning, a full lunch and dinner menu served most of the day, and a limited menu for those late-night munchies.

Click Here to View The Local’s PDF Menu

The best items on the menu were the starters. The pretzel bites, nachos, and three flavors of hot wings topped the items we sampled. We ate at The Local enough to munch our way through most of the menu. Of the four cruise lines I’ve sailed on, The Local is one of the best restaurants included with your cruise fare on any ship. The focus on pub fare makes this a great place to eat and grab a beer or cocktail after you return to the ship after a long day at port or a snack in the middle of the night.

The main dishes were mostly sandwiches and burgers, keeping with the pub atmosphere. Some of the menu items are available at The American Diner, so you can eat them in several locations. The menu highlights include the Reuben, Coney Island Hot Dog, and the classic pub favorite fish and chips. We also tried the Wrangler burger, blue cheese burger, and tavern-battered fish sandwich. Each menu item was good, and I recommend trying everything on the menu. The only disappointing things were the fries and the enormous amount of bread on the hot dogs. I don’t eat a lot of buns with things, so I had to remove half of the bun to taste the actual hot dog and toppings through all the bread. The fries would’ve tasted better warm, but since the food appeared to be batched out of the kitchen, you could tell some of the plated fries sat out for a while once they hit the plate. Guy’s Burgers on Carnival still has the best fries, and those bad boys are hard to beat.

The desserts were the only weak point. We tried the carrot cake and the chocolate sundae. The carrot cake was super rich and too sweet for my tastes, especially for a piece of cake cut from a mass-produced sheet. The sundae mainly consisted of vanilla ice cream with a light touch of chocolate syrup at the very bottom of the dish. It wasn’t terrible, but it was nothing to write home about either.

The breakfast is a skip. The menu is limited, and it wasn’t very good. I was so unimpressed, I didn’t get any pictures so we could hurry to the Garden Cafe to grab a bite before disembarking the ship for the day.

Overall, I highly recommend The Local. It is a great place to eat lunch or grab dinner if you aren’t crazy about the MDR menu for the evening. It does get crowded depending on what is happening in the atrium below. People will sit in the seats surrounding the atrium all day to watch the different shows and talks. The dine-in area is usually walk-up, but it gets busy when passengers are boarding the ship in port and the Garden Cafe is closed. Seating around the entire restaurant area is generally open and not full except for the main seating area. So, find a table and enjoy some great pub food and cold beverages. It’s included, so take advantage of the hours and the menu!

Thanks for stopping by the Crossroads, and I’ll see you out in the world,

Brent