6 days into our Bliss Panama Canal cruise

[tallnthensome]

Having a spectacular time aboard the Bliss with my wife and kids. Costa Rica tomorrow ..... Food has been good in the MDR and buffet although the breakfast buffet isn’t anything to write home about. Bar service has been spectacular with plenty of servers walking the pool deck. Weather has been spectacular and hot down here in Cartegena and such. I could write a lot about how much we like the ship but here are the negatives: WiFi stinks .... we have the unlimited and it’s not worth it, save your money as it’s slow and that’s with 80 percent senior citizens on board not even using it. You’d think it would be faster for that reason but it’s not. Casino slots are the tightest I’ve ever seen, don’t waste your money. Spa is great but the heated stone loungers are held by rude women who think if they place their bag on one of the 12 or so loungers in belongs to them all day. If I see another person lick their fingers in the buffet while in line and then grab the tongs  I’m going to have to bounce a coffee cup off your head.... think norovirus and how it’s spread .... there ya go. Elevators are useless ..... not because they don’t work but because this cruise is all seniors and we are on deck 5. A ride up or down all the way is a 15 minute ordeal. They all stop on every deck up and down. People will stop a full elevator shove their way in only to go down 1 floor. These people are not handicapped but simply lazy and you know this when they say “sorry, I guess I could have walked down one flight” with an embarrassing laugh that the other 20 people on the elevator didn’t find funny .... more later.

[perditax]

I did find internet on Bliss to be terrible to nonfunctional, and the elevators seemed smaller than on other ships.

[Sand and Seas]

It is a beautiful ship.  Hope you enjoy your cruise!

 

I totally agree with you about those tongs in the buffet! 

Sorry the casino isn't friendly for you.  Wonder if they tightened them up since we were on in February.  There was lots of action and many jackpots announced each night.

[marktwothousand]

That’s unfortunate about the slots. When I was on the Bliss at Christmas, many of my party were up at least something at the end of the week, and one even took home $800 on her first play of a session.

 

i would hesitate to declare people lazy just because they use the elevators though. I am only middle aged, but still, Even I occasionally suffer attacks of body pain and need to use the elevators for short trips. People can appear perfectly able-bodied and healthy but sometimes they do carry pain or other health issues which make even one flight of stairs difficult.

 

Add that to walking long corridors on the ship, and it really can take its toll. 

[Turtles06]

11 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

i would hesitate to declare people lazy just because they use the elevators though. I am only middle aged, but still, Even I occasionally suffer attacks of body pain and need to use the elevators for short trips. People can appear perfectly able-bodied and healthy but sometimes they do carry pain or other health issues which make even one flight of stairs difficult.

 

Add that to walking long corridors on the ship, and it really can take its toll. 

 

Thanks for posting this.   I look able-bodied, but an arthritic knee makes walking down stairs quite painful.  (Down is way worse than up.)  

 

OP: some day you'll be a senior too.

[WestfieldTraveler]

Well, at least it should be easier to get on the go-karts I imagine, unless it has become a "senior" thing to do.

 

Did you have the premium unlimited or just the regular unlimited internet?  I'm also wondering how much credit they will give me for the 250 minutes I got as a perk if I upgraded to the unlimited on board.

[tallnthensome]

1 hour ago, WestfieldTraveler said:

Well, at least it should be easier to get on the go-karts I imagine, unless it has become a "senior" thing to do.

 

Did you have the premium unlimited or just the regular unlimited internet?  I'm also wondering how much credit they will give me for the 250 minutes I got as a perk if I upgraded to the unlimited on board.

I have the regular  internet .....Too much money for the slow connection speed. Go Karts were fun but ...... It was 91 as we closed in on Costa Rica. They make you wear a knit face mask as well as a helmet ...... My wife and kids about suffocated to death with that stuff on with that sun beating down . Safety is way way overdone . It was still fun and worth riding for the $9 but the track takes up too much space and is a waste of space. Add that to the always empty useless Margaritaville below the track and you can imagine how much useless space NCL dedicated to these two. I f That aft half of the deck up top is deadsville. We have the arcade package and we probably spent it’s worth ($161) in the first day alone. A great value for 15 days and a godsend with the kids. Sugarcane’s is our favorite bar ....great mojitos. Service all around has been very good. 

 

Edited April 5, 2019 by tallnthensome

[Love my butler]

Slots are always tight on every NCL ship.  Fact of life.  As for the stone loungers, if you are not on it, your stuff goes on  the floor and I am on it.  Had that fight many times.

[Pghpensfan]

On 4/4/2019 at 10:26 PM, WestfieldTraveler said:

Well, at least it should be easier to get on the go-karts I imagine, unless it has become a "senior" thing to do.

 

Did you have the premium unlimited or just the regular unlimited internet?  I'm also wondering how much credit they will give me for the 250 minutes I got as a perk if I upgraded to the unlimited on board.

I was on the Epic in January and had the free 250 minutes.  They gave me $125 credit for that to apply to the unlimited package which was $270 (this was a 10 day cruise).  That was for any unlimited internet and email use, not just social media.  On the Epic, the internet worked really well, I never had any issues with it.

Edited April 6, 2019 by Pghpensfan