My Week Aboard Norwegian Bliss - Nov 24 - Dec 1, 2018

[ev98]

15 hours ago, CincyJen said:

That's so interesting to me about the Celebrity Infinity.  If you don't mind, what was it that didn't live up to NCL?  

 

I'm actually in the process of writing a fairly lengthy review. While there were definitely good points, here are some of the negative things so far...

 

• We bought the "Cheap Plan" (Standard beverage package) and it wasn't like NCL where you had a maximum dollar figure per drink... you could only get a "something n' something" like "rum n' coke", "gin n' tonic", "scotch n' soda" with the well brands. We accepted this limitation - but in the lounges and on the pool deck, you couldn't order any of the cocktails off the menu, and paid full price (not just the difference) if you did want a specialty drink. The included beer selection was fine, but availability at any given bar was inconsistent. Maybe this was our fault for not going to a higher tier, but come on... at least one drink on the menu should be available! 
• Select vs. Traditional dining. Select is definitely not Freestyle and we disliked it. We booked over a year out and the early Traditional dining time was "sold out", the late dining option was 8:30pm. With Select you essentially had to make reservations for the MDR each day or wait in line for a table. 
• No late-night food options after midnight, except paid room service. I've liked O'Sheehan's, and am planning on hitting up The Local for a 1:30am Reuben or hot dog.
• Constant upsell for specialty dining, including people stationed in between the buffet and pool area, trying to convince you to partake in $40/person crab dinner. Our MDR waiter was also clearly forced into promoting this on Day 5. On NCL we've never been upsold after dessert to eat somewhere different the next night. It felt like getting accosted by one of those beach vendors.
• Ship maintenance not as good as NCL. Visible rust on some railings/barricades, and other exterior areas looked somewhat run-down. Might be due to age of ship, but on Getaway, Breakaway and Epic, workers were regularly repainting, cleaning, etc...

Anyway, enough about that, I don't want to hijack your thread!

 

We are definitely sold on Los Lobos - and thank you for the photos and recommendations. The reservations online were very limited (2 people could only pick 9:30pm), so it is good to hear that Day 2 had availability. I will be trying to find a touchscreen ASAP for both that and go-karting, although now I'm not sure whether it's better to go to the restaurant directly if we want to be guaranteed a reservation. 

 

[mtns2sea]

1 hour ago, CincyJen said:

The coffee was.... fine. It was enough to get us up and going in the mornings and it's fun to sip a hot cup on the balcony wearing the bathrobe! They would bring us a full pot too, good for 4 cups or so. It was the same coffee you'll find in the buffet or Observation Lounge, but delivered right to your room.

 

If you want the good stuff though, Starbucks is the best option. Yes, it's extra, but the cost is no more than at land, and I sprung for a latte or three during the cruise. 😊

Sometimes it is hard to drink....coffee. 😂

[ClaireAndMike]

Sooooooooo, and it might be too late for this anyway since we're less than three weeks from sailing, but I've been seriously considering trying to upgrade my mom and I to a spa mini suite.  My only concern (well, I have two) is the noise having what I'm guessing would be the pool deck above us and also, we're currently booked in a room right beside my brother, his wife and their two kids.  That was done intentionally to be close to them and my mom would probably not be pleased with me if I switched our rooms.  Ugh, I wish my husband (or sister) was going because I'd be bunking with one of them and they'd be totally onboard (heh) with the upgrade request.

[CincyJen]

4 hours ago, ev98 said:

 

I'm actually in the process of writing a fairly lengthy review. While there were definitely good points, here are some of the negative things so far...

 

Thanks so much for the scoop!  We sailed Celebrity years and years ago, and we're pretty solidly NCL now, but with all the hoopla surrounding Celebrity Edge, I was really curious.  That's interesting stuff, thank you so much and I'll look for your review!

 

I'll mention it later in the review, but we dined a second time at Los Lobos, on Day 6 I believe, pretty late as it was after the Jersey Boys show.  A day or two prior, via one of the video boards, we snagged what looked to be the last reservation they had that day, at 9:45, for a table of two.  We showed up around 9:30 or so and the place was empty again.  It makes no sense to me.  At any rate, if your experience is anything like ours, don't stress too much over Los Lobos reservations and if you just do a walk-in either early or late, I bet you'll have no problem whatsoever, which is really too bad, because the place is so good it should be as packed as its neighbor Cagney's is every night.

[CincyJen]

26 minutes ago, ClaireAndMike said:

Sooooooooo, and it might be too late for this anyway since we're less than three weeks from sailing, but I've been seriously considering trying to upgrade my mom and I to a spa mini suite.  My only concern (well, I have two) is the noise having what I'm guessing would be the pool deck above us and also, we're currently booked in a room right beside my brother, his wife and their two kids.  That was done intentionally to be close to them and my mom would probably not be pleased with me if I switched our rooms.  Ugh, I wish my husband (or sister) was going because I'd be bunking with one of them and they'd be totally onboard (heh) with the upgrade request.

 

Hi ClaireAndMike,

 

What type of stateroom are you booked in now?  I haven't reached that portion of my review yet but on Day 3 we did a Cabin Crawl with our Cruise Critic Roll Call group, and got to see many different stateroom types up close.  The only difference between a Spa Mini-Suite and a Mini-Suite is, obviously, the Thermal Suite access, and some upgraded amenities.  I'd book any mini-suite that exists just to get that shower.  Have I told you guys how much I loved that shower yet?  HA!

 

If you followed my Semi-Live Blog, I did mention that the location on Deck 15 is, indeed, at times quite noisy.  It didn't bother us, but you'd be surprised how many people run across that pool deck, and at night the music can be pretty loud.  I'll talk more about it later in this review, but yeah, if you're sensitive to noise, skip the Spa Mini-Suites which I believe are all located on Deck 15.  But, don't forget the upside... the Observation Lounge is right down the hall!

[ClaireAndMike]

2 minutes ago, CincyJen said:

 

Hi ClaireAndMike,

 

What type of stateroom are you booked in now?  I haven't reached that portion of my review yet but on Day 3 we did a Cabin Crawl with our Cruise Critic Roll Call group, and got to see many different stateroom types up close.  The only difference between a Spa Mini-Suite and a Mini-Suite is, obviously, the Thermal Suite access, and some upgraded amenities.  I'd book any mini-suite that exists just to get that shower.  Have I told you guys how much I loved that shower yet?  HA!

 

If you followed my Semi-Live Blog, I did mention that the location on Deck 15 is, indeed, at times quite noisy.  It didn't bother us, but you'd be surprised how many people run across that pool deck, and at night the music can be pretty loud.  I'll talk more about it later in this review, but yeah, if you're sensitive to noise, skip the Spa Mini-Suites which I believe are all located on Deck 15.  But, don't forget the upside... the Observation Lounge is right down the hall!

 

So envious of that shower!  We're currently in a BD balcony cabin on deck 13 Forward.     

[CincyJen]

Hi again everyone and thanks so much for reading!!  I really appreciate it and love the questions and comments.  You're all so nice!

 

Random Stuff, Part One!!

 

I had answered a question about the Themed Nights at the Buffet on another thread, and thought I'd add it here, as well. We only visited the Garden Cafe Buffet for a breakfast or two, and for random snacks; we never had lunch or dinner there. However, I was wistfully going through my Freestyle Dailies earlier and thought others on this thread might appreciate the information while they plan their days and meals, especially if going with a larger group.  So, on our 7 Day Eastern Carribbean Cruise, these were the offerings at The Local, and at the Garden Cafe Buffet.

 

The Garden Cafe - Buffet - Nightly Themed Dinners

 

Day 1, Embarkation Day - Miami : Prime Rib

Day 2, Sea Day: Seafood Buffet

Day 3, Sea Day: Mixed Grill Extravaganza featuring Whole Roasted Pork Leg, Chili Relleno Casserole and Shrimp Tostones

Day 4, St. Thomas, USVI: Country-Western featuring Tex-Mex Roasted Chicken, BBQ Braised Short Ribs, and Rosemary Roasted Lamb

Day 5, Tortola, BVI: No themed dinner, but offerings include Honey Roasted Ham, BBQ Beef, Potato Skins and Pork Cutlets, Chicken, Eggplant PIe

Day 6, Sea Day: Family Dinner with Whole Roasted Turkey, Peppercorn Bernaise Sirloin Steaks, Pulled Pork Tostones, and Taco Station

Day 7, Nassau, Bahamas: No themed dinner, but offerings include Carved Roasted Striploin Station, Latin-Style Roasted Striploin with Chimichuri, Beef Florentine, Beef Empanadas, Salsa Piquante, and Lamb Stew

 

The Local - Nightly Specialties

 

Day 1: Prime Rib

Day 2: Spare Ribs

Day 3: Prime Rib

Day 4: Shrimp Po Boys

Day 5: Mixed Grill

Day 6: Spare Ribs

Day 7: Veal Schnitzel and Fried Egg

 

 

[CincyJen]

Random Stuff, Part Two!!

 

TV Channels on Norwegian Bliss

 

OMG What?!??  Who goes on a cruise vacation to watch TV??  Well, probably not very many people.  However, at one point, while sipping morning coffee and watching Bliss Today channel, I decided to jot down the TV channels offered on the Norwegian Bliss during our cruise. Some people may find it informative.  We usually flipped on MSNBC in the morning just for a brief news catch-up before flipping over to the Navigation or Bliss Today channel, and that was about it.  At any rate, here you go, in order of channels:

 

- Navigation (showed ship location, weather conditions, your cruise path so far)

- Live Bridge Cam (self-explanatory; would probably be a terrific way to for Studio or Inside Cabin cruisers to check the weather)

- Feel Free (this was a rotating loop/infomercial of stuff you could buy on Bliss)

- Port Infomation

- Activities (really just another infomercial and not terribly informative)

- Onboard Offerings (oh heck yeah, it's another looping infomercial; this one focused on Spa Treatments and the Art Auction)

- ShoreEx/CruiseNEXT (again, an infomercial about shore excursions and the CruiseNEXT program)

(You know, what we really need here is another Infomercial Channel)

- Port Shopping (And there it is!! They would also repeat the port shopping lectures held in the Bliss Theatre and Atrium)

- Safety Channel (You might want to watch at least one loop of this feed. Kinda interesting. Titanic, people. Concordia, people.)

 - Bliss Today (OK, actually watched this a lot. Cruise Director Silas Cook and Asst. Cruise Director Jackey Chan. Very funny!! In addition to the daily update, they repeated Pool Games, Crew Talent Show, etc. Our Fave Channel while chilling or getting changed or while sipping coffee)

- Wyland (this was basically a Wyland bio channel)

- BBC (live)

- MSNBC (live)

- CNBC (live)

- FOX News (live)

- Sport 24 (essentially a futbol/soccer channel)

- Prime (never really figured this one out.  Kind of an International Travelogue channel.)

- Special Feed Channel (OK this one was important to us, as it showed the NFL Games during our cruise! FYI, football fans, we weren't able to view any College Football whatsoever, in cabin or in public areas, so we were sadly unable to watch our OSU Buckeyes crush Michigan on Day 1, but they did show some NFL games on Sunday Day 2, Sunday night, and the MNF game)

- Free Movie Channels - There were four of them. We didn't watch. One was Adventure, one Family, one Comedy, one Drama I think)

- TV Favorites (this showed American sitcoms)

 

That's it for the free TV offerings.  There were also Pay-per-view movie channels if one is so inclined.

 

Feel free to ask any questions about the TV offerings and I'll do my best to answer!

 

 

Edited December 9, 2018 by CincyJen
For reasons

[JJAuckland]

Loving your review. Thank you for sharing....the guacamole looks amazing!!!!

[SAmome]

Very nice review.  I almost don't want to clutter it up with this post but wanted to point out your info will be very useful when others find it in a search; possibly for years to come.

[jimbri]

Enjoying your review and photos!

[marktwothousand]

Wow...bummer on the TV offerings. I was hoping for a full selection of news and network stations in HD, considering this is a new ship. Sometimes I wonder where they’re heads are at when they design these things. and still no CNN or BBC??! what a let down. Thanks for sharing. 

[CincyJen]

3 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

Wow...bummer on the TV offerings. I was hoping for a full selection of news and network stations in HD, considering this is a new ship. Sometimes I wonder where they’re heads are at when they design these things. and still no CNN or BBC??! what a let down. Thanks for sharing. 

No CNN, but they do have BBC and it's on my list as well. 

[beerman2]

Thanks CincyJen for your review.

 

Residence Inn is our go to and will be there in 25 days. Sailing Bliss on Jan. 5th.

 

Deck 15 Spa Balcony,  so looking forward to that walk to Observation Lounge.

 

Also thanks for the reminder when seafood buffet is. We will have some seafood Apps there before dinner.

[CincyJen]

Day 3 - Day at Sea - Monday, November 26, 2018

After the Havana show last night, and the nightcap at Skyline Bar, we encountered our first Towel Animal at turndown!  You know, I just adore returning to the stateroom at night after a long, fun-filled day.  It's the little things, sometimes, isn't it? Photo below, the only one in this post. I feel like I'm failing my readers but, hey, it was kind of a laaaaaazy day...

 

So, GOOD MORNING, getting into the swing of things now, which essentially means, Hey, let's have a really nice, relaxing, lazy day at sea!  Work stress is finally melting away and we're really starting to love our vacation.

 

Once again, as we did each morning of the cruise, we ordered the included room service continental breakfast and coffee, using the door hanger thingy the night before.  Today we had our usual pot of coffee, a fruit plate (melons, mostly), and cereal with milk. It's another gorgeous day.  We honestly didn't encounter any rain or cloudy weather until St. Thomas, and it's fun talking with family back home telling us about the cold and light snowfall in Cincinnati.  HA!!  Just kidding.  Poor things.

 

For our (second!) breakfast today, we thought we'd try Margaritaville.  The Freestyle Dailies listed it as an option, and it was a very nice, extremely chill, breakfast buffet with hot scrambled eggs, link sausages, bacon, and those wonderful hash browns which are more like little potato pancakes with onions and seasoning.  You can't order an omelette or any other made-to-order item here, but it's so nice to be up on deck, outdoors, in a relaxing environment that we felt we had all to ourselves.  Shhhhhh... don't tell everyone, but it's a wonderful alternative to the breakfast buffet and you can't beat the chill, beachy atmosphere. LOVE!

 

After breakfast, we did some more exploring and then met our Cruise Critic friends for the Cabin Crawl at 2:00, at Spice H2O, organized by Tgloresen!  This was terrific and I can't recommend it enough if you're on a Norwegian Roll Call and planning a future cruise. It's one thing to look at deck plans and photos and videos online, but it's another thing entirely to see the cabins up close and personal.  The Spa Mini-Suite person didn't make it to the Cabin Crawl so we volunteered our cabin to view... well, let's back up.  "We" an in "I" because I think I slightly panicked DH when I jumped in.  We hadn't straightened up the cabin for viewing but we tend to keep it neat and nice anyway; he got over it pretty quickly.  After our cabin was viewed, he even joked, "HEY, where's my wallet???" Oh, the funster.  Yeah, we've been married for quite awhile, folks.  

 

We really enjoyed seeing the Studio Inside Cabin, hosted by Tropicalgurl, and the lovely social hub offered to them.  The "virtual balcony" view on the TV was very cool to see. Also loved seeing the Angled Balcony Cabin hosted by Sweatpants; I think I'd really like to book one of these in the future! And of course the Aft Balcony hosted by Shadowmeboy, who had regaled us yesterday at the Meet & Greet about how he had sent his wife Susan on a scavenger hunt to find it!  And then, the Haven.  Was very nice to really get to see the cabins; the Haven Two Bedroom hosted by Sharinalovestocruise, right in the Haven complex, and the Haven Forward Suite hosted by Tgloresen, our Cabin Crawl Host.  (as an aside, we went into the Haven complex in small groups, not the whole lot of us at once. We only viewed the cabin, not the actual pool or restaurant or anything)  Everyone was so kind to open up their private staterooms to the curious.  It was a great way to spend an afternoon at sea.  Thanks to everyone who shared!!!!  I didn't snap photos so as to preserve this private experience and out of respect for the cabin hosts.

 

The rest of the afternoon is a bit of a blur, and I didn't take photos at all.  We relaxed on the comfy chairs at The Waterfront, enjoyed the Observation Lounge for awhile, gambled a bit in the casino, saw our bartender friends at The Skyline Bar, maybe napped for a little while, and then changed for dinner at La Cucina.  We hadn't experienced this restaurant on our Epic Med cruise, so we were very excited to give it a whirl.  Again, we were offered al fresco dining, but stayed inside, with a beautiful view of the outdoor seating.  This dinner was... well, OK.  It didn't blow my mind.  I'm surprised the Foodie in me didn't bother with photos that night, but I had the Pasta Fagiouli soup (it was tasty, but it wasn't Pasta Fagiouli. Sorry.), Pasta Carbonara (very nice and perfectly al dente), and Chicken Cacciatore (not great, bland even).  To be fair, I manage an Italian fine-dining restaurant in real life, so maybe it's just me and I'm being a bit overly critical.  The service was very good, although I did notice that many "suits" were around that evening, eyeballing everything, and our server seemed a tad nervous.  Can't really blame him. Can't even recall my dessert but I think it was tiramisu?  Again, not a terribly memorable experience but a good time.

 

** Warning Ahead: There's a very bad experience coming, on Friday.  I don't even want to write it up, but I'm going to have to. UGH **

 

Day 3, more to come!!  Thanks so much for reading!!

Edited December 10, 2018 by CincyJen
Added photo

[yankees111]

6 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

Wow...bummer on the TV offerings. I was hoping for a full selection of news and network stations in HD, considering this is a new ship. Sometimes I wonder where they’re heads are at when they design these things. and still no CNN or BBC??! what a let down. Thanks for sharing. 

Maybe NCL is just very smart and realizes that CNN is fake news!

[CincyJen]

1 minute ago, yankees111 said:

Maybe NCL is just very smart and realizes that CNN is fake news!

 

Please, I'm asking kindly, don't do this on my thread.  There are all sorts of politics boards out there.  Go find one.  This thread is about my vacation experience aboard the Norwegian Bliss, and nothing more.

[CincyJen]

2 hours ago, beerman2 said:

Thanks CincyJen for your review.

 

Residence Inn is our go to and will be there in 25 days. Sailing Bliss on Jan. 5th.

 

Deck 15 Spa Balcony,  so looking forward to that walk to Observation Lounge.

 

Also thanks for the reminder when seafood buffet is. We will have some seafood Apps there before dinner.

 

Oh yay!!  I think we chatted on a Miami Port thread about the Residence Inn?  It's such a perfect pre-cruise choice!!  The entire complex is just lovely and it's hard to believe they are "airport" hotels.  Honestly, couldn't compliment the friendliness of the staff enough, and we printed out all of our boarding docs right there at the "business center" printer in the lobby, it was so easy. I was having trouble with the hotel WiFi too, and the awesome clerk at the desk took my phone, went bloop-bleep-bloop and fixed it right away.  Breakfast was great.  We kind of love breakfast, if you haven't already figured this out reading this thread. Ha!  Have an awesome trip!! Not sure where you're from but there's nothing better than escaping winter!!

 

ETA: Oh, just remembered!!  For you and anyone else staying at the Marriott Airport Complex, the free airport shuttle buses aren't "Red" anymore. They're kind of black, but have Marriott Logos on the sides. We were looking for that all-over-red shuttle and almost missed it because it's, well, not red.  Just a tip. 😉

Edited December 10, 2018 by CincyJen

[beerman2]

11 minutes ago, CincyJen said:

 

Oh yay!!  I think we chatted on a Miami Port thread about the Residence Inn?  It's such a perfect pre-cruise choice!!  The entire complex is just lovely and it's hard to believe they are "airport" hotels.  Honestly, couldn't compliment the friendliness of the staff enough, and we printed out all of our boarding docs right there at the "business center" printer in the lobby, it was so easy. I was having trouble with the hotel WiFi too, and the awesome clerk at the desk took my phone, went bloop-bleep-bloop and fixed it right away.  Breakfast was great.  We kind of love breakfast, if you haven't already figured this out reading this thread. Ha!  Have an awesome trip!! Not sure where you're from but there's nothing better than escaping winter!!

 

ETA: Oh, just remembered!!  For you and anyone else staying at the Marriott Airport Complex, the free airport shuttle buses aren't "Red" anymore. They're kind of black, but have Marriott Logos on the sides. We were looking for that all-over-red shuttle and almost missed it because it's, well, not red.  Just a tip. 😉

Sandusky, Oh. Home to Cedar Point and close to the Islands.

 

The Residence works as our friends from Fla can leave their car there and it's a 2-Bedroom suite that works well for us.

Edited December 10, 2018 by beerman2

[CincyJen]

Just now, beerman2 said:

Sandusky, Oh. Home to Cedar Point and close to the Islands.

 

I was just heading back to edit my post after seeing you're from Sandusky!  Brrrrr.  You get it!! Yeah Ohio, on the Bliss!! 

[CincyJen]

13 hours ago, SAmome said:

Very nice review.  I almost don't want to clutter it up with this post but wanted to point out your info will be very useful when others find it in a search; possibly for years to come.

 

That is a very nice thing to say, and I appreciate your comment!  Thanks so very much. Comments like these make taking the time to write up this review so very worth it. 

[CincyJen]

Day 3 - Day at Sea - Monday, November 26, 2018, continued

Dinner at La Cucina is over, we headed back to Skyline Bar for a cocktail (we found our bar encampment for sure, loved the staff so much, more on them later), and decided to change into comfy beachy clothes and hit the Caliente Party up on deck.

 

This was a pretty good time!!  My photos don't do it much justice, but the cocktails were flowing and the music was pumping and cruisers having a really wonderful time at this party on deck.  Loved it so much, and we thought Caliente was a huge improvement from The White Party which NCL cruises used to highlight.  There's just something about dancing on the deck in the middle of the sea with awesome music and terrific lights and everyone really letting go and getting down!

 

 

After the party, maybe around midnight, we headed back to our Deck 15 Spa Mini-Suite with the beers we had in hand from the party, and listened to the music from our balcony.  We really loved this, but as I warned cruisers in my Semi-Live blog, you can really hear the music, and the bass, inside the cabin.  Well, especially the bass.  From the balcony, you're going to hear all of it. According to my notes, the Caliente party wrapped around 12:45 am, and we stayed out on the balcony until the music stopped.  If you're looking for a more tranquil experience, I dunno, maybe don't do the Deck 15 balcony cabins as the Pool Deck is right above you.  It might disrupt your sleep, but it might not. Really just a friendly caution to all. 

 

That's it for Day 3!  We'll arrive in St. Thomas first thing tomorrow morning.  Land Ho!  What a great vacation it's been so far, and we haven't even reached that moment where it feels like it's flying by too fast.  How wonderful!!   

Edited December 10, 2018 by CincyJen
Added photos

[CincyJen]

Day 4 - St. Thomas, USVI - Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Have I mentioned yet how well we've been sleeping?  Our bed in our cabin is just dreamy and the ship rocks us to sleep every night.  To be honest, the Captain seems to have the Bliss on full-steam-ahead-mode and the ship has been quite rocky, but it doesn't bother us much.  I do hope you're not bothered by the motion of the ocean either... it's part of cruising and it helps connect you with the environment surrounding you.  But, do be warned, if you're motion-sensitive.

 

Our cabin was port-side but not sure that means anything at all when it comes to docking and what kind of view you'll get.  We weren't woken up by the docking at St. Thomas at all, and instead awoke to this gorgeous, gorgeous, OMG GORGEOUS view from our balcony.  Sigh.  Swoon. I WANT TO TELEPORT MYSELF BACK THERE PLEASE.  And also a nice blurry shot of our coffee pot thanks to the room stewards and that invaluable continental breakfast door hanger thingy, yet again.  Just look at that turquoise water.  I could sit out here all day...

 

This is a photo-intensive day so I'll try to break it up into a few parts. GOOD MORNING, St. Thomas!!

 

 

Edited December 11, 2018 by CincyJen
Added photos

[coach jim]

Thanks so much for your review!  We board in Feb. and cannot wait.

[CincyJen]

2 minutes ago, coach jim said:

Thanks so much for your review!  We board in Feb. and cannot wait.

 

A February Cruise!! SO jealous. Can we all just agree that for us northerners, February is a yucky month?  Good for you to escape it!