bambione

36 minutes ago, Zellchat said:

We were also on this cruise, and I agree with Bambione, everyone will have their own opinion on food quality.  But, we absolutely loved the buffet.  We are both platinum, so we received two free speciality dinners.  Both of these were very good (Le Bistro and La Cucina).  We only had one dinner in Manhattan room, and it was also fine.  Because of our opinion of the buffet, we ate most meals there.  Our food was always fresh, hot, and we felt the menus changed daily.  Each station has a grill and a cook behind it.  They are constantly cooking the food, and keep a small quantity available so it doesn't get soggy, etc.  We actually didn't want to eat anywhere else because we didn't want to miss a new item at the buffet!  This cruise topped all other cruises we have been on.  Loved everything about the ship - the observation lounge, the spa, the bars, etc.  We were happy with our NCL excursions, and our spa mini-suite cabin.  We had placed an upgrade bid for the Haven, but so happy it was not accepted.  We have sailed in the Haven on other ships, but see no need for the Haven on the Bliss and hopefully, the new ships going forward.  

I have to agree with you about the buffet. I ate lunch there most days, and loved it.  Delicious fresh carved meats, and a good selection of Thai and Asian foods for those that like that cuisine.  I always had to check it out every day because I didn't want to miss anything. 

I was on this same cruise and I agree with everything you said. The staff was amazing, the food was good, I had a great time. 

I do want to comment on the Norwegian App.  I downloaded it before I got on the ship, and when I was waiting to board, I was able to log in to the ships wifi and make the rest of my reservations for dinners and comedy shows. This app is free, and has a lot of features. I enjoyed having the schedule of events for the day, so I didn't necessarily need the daily newsletter. I also did the texting feature, which is an additional 9.95 per person, but was worth it to me. 

So again, make your reservations for everything early. 

Karen

I was also on this cruise, and I'm sure every person on board will say something different about the food. I plan to post a more detailed synopsis in a few days, but just want to say we ate at Savor a lot. Almost every breakfast and  most dinners. We loved it there, and the staff as well.  Did a few specialty restaurants which were delicious.  We were also a big fan of the Observation lounge, in particular two young women bartenders from the Philippines who were excellent. Jersey Boys was wonderful, Havana was fun but not the best. The Beatles played three times in the Bliss theater, and more in the Cavern. Get to all the shows early, they get filled quickly. 

Time Zones: Most of the time we did switch time zones, except for one port, I believe it was Acapulco, that we stayed on ships time.  

Karen

I just got off the Bliss and was impressed by the lack of smoke odor inside the casino.  However, the doors do open to the smoking section within the casino so there might be a slight odor of cigarete smoke wafting out.  But my clothes never smelled of smoke. Also, there were quite a few mornings I sat outside the cigar room, and occasionally a waft of cigar smell would come out. But overall a great improvement.  

I was in room 5112, not any noise at all.  Are you looking at family oceanviews versus a typical oceanview? 

I was also on this cruise, and I'm sorry some people became ill.  No one in my party became ill, so we were thankful for that. I was appreciative of the fact that the crew became extra diligent concerning the washy washy. It would not have surprised me at all that people became sick from eating food from different excursions or off the ship restaurant sites. Food is prepared differently, under  different sanitary conditions, with different food ingredients, than what we are used to. 

I will be posting a review later of this cruise, had a wonderful time. 

Karen

Can the comedy shows be reserved once you get on board? 

Thanks,

Karen

Once you get on board is it possible to just make the reservation on the app rather than hoofing it to the restaurant reservations deck? 

Thanks

Thanks everyone, I think I'll cancel the reservation for 4, and just have a romantic dinner for my husband and I.  We'll take my inlaws to Margaritaville and order nachos. 

My husband and I are sailing on the Bliss March 30. We have a specialty dining package. We are traveling with two other people (separate cabin), who do not have a dining package.  I have a reservation at Le Bistro for 4 people one evening.  Am I allowed to bring along guests and pay for them with my specialty dining package?  

Thanks everyone,

Karen

Also when they give you the receipt take a photo of the bottle and the receipt on the table. Sometimes they mix up an expensive bottle for a cheap one.

This is a great idea, thanks much!

Karen

I booked my March 30 Bliss Panama canal through Costco. Yesterday I received an email from them:

I was on this same cruise, and plan on posting a review soon. I was also on deck 7, 7523, but didn't notice any sewer smells. I guess I got lucky.

It did take a while to get off the ship. It wasn't RCCL's fault, customs and immigration were really slow. Our customs agent said they had received an incorrect manifest from RCCL. I really enjoyed this cruise.

I just got off Sunday from Liberty of the Seas and there was a roaming bartender in the main dining room. His name was Vilmos and he really knew his drinks and wine.

I just got off the LOS and had gone to guest services to request an earlier tag number. I was told the only way to get off earlier was by carrying off my luggage. But maybe you will have better luck

Thanks everyone, appreciate all the suggestions.

Karen

This is the first time I have noticed this thread. I've never sailed on RCCL so I don't even know what's offered. Can someone tell me what the offerings are? I'll be sailing on LOS Feb 5, and I enjoy watching the news (CNN). Can someone give me an idea of what news sources are available?

Thank you,

Karen

It seems like what you are trying to do is to see if this is possible. You may not have this opportunity to go on this type of cruise in the next foreseeable future, so I can see why you are trying to see if you can get this all to work. I don't know when your classes are scheduled, if the call in time is flexible, but you may possibly be able to find an internet café while you are in port. Look at the schedule of your classes and see if any of your call in times coincide with when you are in port. Most port cities have internet cafe's.

Suitcase: can you borrow one, or buy one from a thrift store?

clothes: a dressy pair of pants or dressy crops, a few cami's and a dressy sweater to wear over the cami's. Some casual clothes to wear around the ship, a skirt that could do double duty, like wear at night and during the day. Some casual t-shirts that you could also wear as a pajama top.

shoes: good walking shoes, could be a Teva type pair of sandals that you do exploring in. A dressier pair of sandals to wear at night. Maybe some flipflops.

I love planning my clothes. Again, if you need something go to a Goodwill or thrift store.

You have some time yet to plan it out. I hope it works out for you. Keep us posted. I'm rooting for you to keep on trying to figure it all out.

Good luck,

Karen

Thanks everyone. I love salad bars, so I can see myself eating at lot of salad. The oatmeal sounds yummy as well. I'm going to try to bring on a few diet coke's, if they get confiscated at least I'll still have my wine.

Karen

I can certainly understand you having concerns about what your kids are watching. I think seeing plays like Grease are a good reminder of how far we've come. It makes me think of the days when smoking was around all the time. And it's possible that RCCL is not allowed to take too much creative license with the play due to copyright reasons.

Whenever I came across a situation like this when my kids were younger I would take that opportunity to have a discussion with them about 1) the dangers of smoking 2) how times have changed 3) discussing the behavior of the teenagers, .

Situations like those in the play always provided plenty of opportunities to bring up a discussion on different topics. I didn't always have a chance to have discussions like these, so had to pounce on every opportunity that I could.

I also noticed that sometimes when I would notice things that I would think is a big deal, my kids didn't even notice it at all.

Karen

Hi everyone,

I am sailing on LOS Feb 5 and have a few questions. I am not purchasing the soda package, but do like my diet coke. Are there vending machines for a bottle, or is it sold as a fountain drink only, and if so how much is it for a fountain drink?

I will be eating mostly in the MDR, so am wondering what are some of the breakfast and lunch items available? I'm sure I'll be happy no matter what, but I'm the kind of person who always looks up the menu before I go out to eat. Just would like a few ideas of what's available. I love oatmeal, has anyone had that for breakfast in the MDR?

Thanks everyone, I know I won't starve, and I'll enjoy every bite no matter what I eat.

Karen

I'm also leaving February 5 and now I'm getting a little concerned about weather as well. I leave out of Denver CO, so need to worry about driving to Denver, getting stuck in snow, ice on the airplane, and then I get to Houston and will worry about fog. As long as I can get onboard the ship I'll be happy. If we don't sail till later that's OK. But I'm tired of snow, it's snowing now. Everyday it's snowing here in Vail. I want some nice sunny weather! Does it sound like I have cabin fever? Yes! I'm bringing along my own wine so won't have to worry about running out of Texas alcohol if we're stuck in the port. Only have to worry about my MIL drinking all my wine.

Karen

I'm flying into Hobby and using Galveston Limousine. Round trip for my husband and me is 80 bucks. I know they also service Bush airport. There's several companies that have shuttles going back and forth.

I am cruising out of Galveston Feb 5 on LOS. I booked with Galveston Limo for my husband and I. It was $80.00 round trip out of Hobby airport.. They had quite a few times to pick from, both going and coming back.

Karen

I have been on the NCL Getaway twice now and loved it. We are getting ready to sail on Liberty Feb 5, and I'm nervous because I loved the Getaway so much. I watched a few YouTube videos of LOS and I have to say, their pool area on Liberty is just amazing. I thought the pool area on the Getaway was really small, but I'm not a hanging out by the pool kind of person, and my kids are now young adults. I loved the entertainment and the food on the Getaway, but food is really subjective. I would base my decision on the pool area. If that's important to you, don't choose the Getaway.

Karen