Studios on Bliss: vertical storage and dining reservations

[coastcat]

Next month I'll be taking my first cruise (hurray!) as a solo traveler on the Norwegian Bliss. After some debate and a whole lot of reading through this forum, I decided to go with a Studio stateroom. For the most part, various threads here have answered my questions but I still have a couple:

 

1. I selected the dining package as my freebie. Is it better to make reservations now at one or two of the specialty restaurants, or wait until I'm onboard? Although my default assumption is that I'd be dining alone, it's possible that I might want to dine with a group. Should I make my specialty dining reservations now with the solo assumption and make any needed changes on the spot? Should I wait anyway until I can see the daily menus and plan accordingly?
2. In looking at photos and watching some YouTube video reviews of Studio rooms, it seems that the designers took advantage of the vertical space. That's great, but I am under 5' tall. Frequently I've run into difficulties in hotel rooms because I can't reach spare blankets/pillows, towels, in-room safes, and other things "conveniently" stored for customer use. Are there any vertically-challenged Studio veterans who can comment on potential issues? Shower heads are another bane of my petite existence...   I do have a plastic folding stepstool but would rather not pack it on vacation.

[HarrietGF]

Hello, most of the time, I travel solo, and I favor NCL studios.  I am 5'0" inches tall.  In the Fall of 2018, I was aboard NCL Bliss

for a Pacific Coastal cruise.  I found Bliss's solo studio accommodations offerings to be very comfortable and easy to utilize

for storage.  As for the shower heads, I had no trouble adjusting them, and I didn't need to climb on anything to reach them.

(If you do need help, one phone call to the ship's customer service desk is all it takes, and a crew member will be sent to your studio to adjust your shower head for you.)  Once aboard Bliss, as with all the solo studios, the towels will be easy to reach as they are stacked on open shelf space beside the sink.  There are also plenty of cabinets  if you'd like to store the towels closer to floor-level.  To your questions about dining:  Solo travelers have their own crew representative for arranging dining with groups.  Aboard Bliss, (as well as Breakaway and Escape, based on my experiences), the solo travelers meet each evening at a determined spot (sometimes in the private solo travel lounge, sometimes at a pre-determined public space aboard ship), and

the solo travel rep will take names of who would like to eat where, for the complimentary restaurants.  He/she will then escort you and whoever is going to the same restaurant, to that restaurant and assure you are all seated comfortably.  It is very solo-friendly.  As for the specialty dining, if you have booked this already, you just go on your own and show up at the seating time

you have arranged.  You can book ahead of time for specialty dining, or you can book once you are aboard ship.  The only thing I was not impressed with regarding specialty dining is how timed everything was ("seatings").  I used it only once, aboard Breakaway.  For Bliss (and Escape), I dined only in the complimentary restaurants, or ashore, if exploring in-port restaurants.

You should find Bliss's complimentary offerings to be good.  I didn't feel I missed anything by not using the specialty dining aboard Bliss.  Enjoy your cruise!  Solo travel aboard NCL ships is very nice, and you will meet some very nice folks.  I remain in touch with several "soloists" I met on past cruises.  You may be going solo, but you are really never "all by yourself" unless you

want to be.

Happy cruising!

Harriet

 

 

[Pat.D]

I travel solo on many NCL ships in their Studios and love it.  Quick tip, show up at the Solo Studio meetup and meet your fellow solo travellers and most important the Solo Host.  The host is usually part of the Cruise Director's staff (my last time on the Bliss it was "Junior", he was super fun!) and can help you take care of almost anything with one phone call. The Host also organises group meals, theatre shows and deck parties for the Solo Travellers.

 

Here is a link to a 360° photo I took of my cabin on the Bliss last march.  You can Full Screen it and zoom in and out to check out details.

https://theta360.com/s/mHDLBtF5AzKwexlXuDm7PKkwi?fbclid=IwAR3jNj50YqFCsgGW4UmraM3nWItLX5ndgpzWNhI21LQAI2Q9SB1Vf6QMDRI 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Pat

 

[debenson0723]

I second everything Harriet said about traveling solo on the Bliss.  One other thing I have found both times I have been aboard this ship is that it is not that difficult to get a table for 1 (actually 2) in the specialty restaurants at the last minute.  I did not have the dining package on my last sailing but ate specialty's 3 times (paying out of pocket)...I went up to the hostess at the podium and asked when a table might be available and was always given close to the time I wanted.  Depending on your comfort level, you might want to check out the MDR menus in the afternoon (they are posted outside the restaurant and all 3 are the same) and if you decide you want to eat there, head to the solo meetup at 5 and go with the group.  Or if you don't want to eat in the MDR, go to see if you can get a specialty reservation.  The flexibility and the Studios are 2 things I really enjoy about sailing with NCL.

BTW I am 5 feet tall and never had an issue reaching anything in the Studio cabins.

[coastcat]

1 hour ago, HarrietGF said:

You should find Bliss's complimentary offerings to be good.  I didn't feel I missed anything by not using the specialty dining aboard Bliss.

 

Would it make more sense to switch my freebie to one of the other options? I was torn between specialty dining and excursion credit; comments comparing the quality of steak preparation at Cagney's compared to the MDR swayed my decision because I love a good steak...

[Sauer-kraut]

1 hour ago, coastcat said:

Would it make more sense to switch my freebie to one of the other options? I was torn between specialty dining and excursion credit; comments comparing the quality of steak preparation at Cagney's compared to the MDR swayed my decision because I love a good steak...

After reading some recent threads, you might not get a really good steak in Cagney's......

[HarrietGF]

Having experienced specialty dining --  and many of the specialty dining restaurants are the same from ship to ship-- I found

that, for me, it made more sense to use future free-at-sea credits to go on shore excursions.  I can get a "specialty dining" experience anywhere, but when would I again return to a particular port-of-call and see something I'd never seen anywhere else?   Whatever feels best for what you want to experience on your first cruise, I would go with that.