Bliss 1/5/2020 sailing from NYC

[tokidoki]

Welcome home Pete!   Thanks for your detailed and honest review!   Looking forward to the dallies!

[Arzeena]

On 1/6/2020 at 11:13 AM, PistolPete13 said:

Back from the gym and it was packed.  Not surprising for a sea day and with the outside decks still being too windy and cold to hang out.

 

Decided to stop by the observation deck to refill the water bottle and I was horrified at what I saw.  Now keep in mind that for the last 21 years I’ve commuted to work daily on the Staten Island ferry.  I’ve seen my share of homeless people asleep on the boat without a care in the world.

 

I walked into the front observation lounge and saw the largest collection of corns and bunions in the world all propped up on the couches and pillows.  People were sprawled out asleep WITH BLANKETS and some were some drooling on the pillows.  I don’t understand why people would sleep like this with a room readily accesible to them.

 

I’m regretting now not bringing my subway pants.  This is a second set of clothing I use just for daily commuting where I don’t care who or what’s been on the seat before me.

 

OK, rant over, time to see if there are any good books in the library.  I’m going to see if I remember how to read after not picking up book (aside from a tech manual) since graduating college 28 years ago.

So true!!!!!

My initial thoughts were the same as yours.

 

[Arzeena]

On 1/9/2020 at 11:04 AM, mking8288 said:

 

Goooood morning, hello & there you are.  Success in getting ashore yesterday and I mostly kept my mouth sealed but from that "Windy" App, it did suggested the returning tenders from GSC might be rocking & rolling a little bit.  From the ship's live webcam feed, it looked calm but not as nice in the afternoon.  Enjoy your sea day ... go find a nice lunch somewhere - is it still the Vietnamese chicken Pho soup or just plain chicken noodles soup in the MDR? 

 

In other news, locally, temp's in NY area going to hit 61and 67 deg F this weeken with a bit of shower & rain, not a typo in early/mid January ... forecast, nothing really below freezing thru end of month & no snow (yay !)  But, not quite Bermuda shorts weather.  

Pho was different types...loved the Tom Kha soup and did exactly as you advised....gathering the ingredients. Difficult to navigate the soup canoe in big crowds, but managed without spilling or burning fingers.😁

Food everywhere was pretty good. Service was slow but nothing to complain about. Did not get to eat at Local...lines and no place every time I went so gave up.

I think I met Pistol Pete.....if he was the guy taking sunset pictures from deck 8 aft two days ago. I was pulling my chair out of his way.

 

Edited January 19, 2020 by Arzeena

[Arzeena]

Pistol Pete, I read all your posts. Great way to relive it not to feel blue after the cruise!!!!😁

 

[PistolPete13]

24 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

I think I met Pistol Pete.....if he was the guy taking sunset pictures from deck 8 aft two days ago. I was pulling my chair out of his way.

 

 

Were you the lady who pulled up a chair to the aft section to watch the sunset??

[PistolPete13]

OK, here we go.

 

Day 1 (1/5/2020) Sail Away photos.

 

[PistolPete13]

And a few more including some of my inside cabin, Room 12677

 

[Arzeena]

27 minutes ago, PistolPete13 said:

 

Were you the lady who pulled up a chair to the aft section to watch the sunset??

Yessss! That was me!

[PistolPete13]

7 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Yessss! That was me!

 

Haha, I like your style!

[Arzeena]

37 minutes ago, PistolPete13 said:

 

Haha, I like your style!

😁 Yeah I thought I would be there for a while so why not sit an enjoy the sunset.

[WestfieldTraveler]

On 1/18/2020 at 10:59 AM, PistolPete13 said:

 

I’ll post all the daily activity sheets next Tuesday when I get back to the office and have access to a scanner.  

 

Keep checking back on this thread. 

Thanks in advance from those leaving on the cruise on Feb 2nd - always like to tweak the plans and which reservations I may want to change (not that everything will be repeated on the same day).  

[Shidah]

Your photos are amazing!

[mking8288]

2 hours ago, Arzeena said:

Pho was different types...loved the Tom Kha soup and did exactly as you advised....gathering the ingredients. Difficult to navigate the soup canoe in big crowds, but managed without spilling or burning fingers.😁Food everywhere was pretty good. Service was slow but nothing to complain about. Did not get to eat at Local ... 

 

 

Welcome home, RJ and you are already home ... unpacking & unwinding.  Good to know about the soup "trick" - and, they have the regular mid sized bowls to use vs. the small ones.  I trust that the Indian food in the buffet met your expectations, as th ey usually are ... Asian/Chinese "fusion" food is a hit-n-miss thing, usually.  

 

Asian themed night and Street Food feast in the buffet, etc. or been scaled back ... even on these longer cruise itineraries.  Susan has been getting restless but I am hold the horses ... the newer NCL ships are, more or less, more similar than different among each other.  Nothing to get really excited with the "extra" bells & whistles - the new Observation Lounge looks nice but with the camping crowd issues hanging, not sure if we are in a hurry to book this ship.  

 

Planning our 2 weeks overseas trip in early April, probably going to get our airline tickets this weekend & get visa - might even spend 3 or 4 nights in Beijing to take advantage of the visa-free transit waiver option.  Although, I have to say, the Jade itineraries, options and prices next month is very, very tempting ... decisions, decisons.  

[mking8288]

Pete ... love these pictures just uploaded, difference of a fast/superior WiFi network vs. ship's satellite & server bottleneck.  

 

It's easy to tell when pro gears/equipments are used to frame these pictures ... what did you used ?

[PistolPete13]

5 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Pete ... love these pictures just uploaded, difference of a fast/superior WiFi network vs. ship's satellite & server bottleneck.  

 

It's easy to tell when pro gears/equipments are used to frame these pictures ... what did you used ?

 

Thank you.  I'm a complete camera gear head first, photographer second.  For this trip I decided on a minimal "light" setup with two bodies and 3 lenses.  All Nikon.

 

Z6 with 24-70mm f/4 zoom

D800e with an 80-200mm f/2.8 zoom

20mm f/1.8 lens that can go on either body.

 

Also has a GoPro Hero 7 Black with me that basically filled up all my laptop storage. 

[PistolPete13]

Near the base of the flagpole in the center of this photo is where I normally perch to get photos of the ships sailing out under the bridge.  Quite a different feeling to be on the other side this time! 

 

[tokidoki]

22 minutes ago, PistolPete13 said:

Near the base of the flagpole in the center of this photo is where I normally perch to get photos of the ships sailing out under the bridge.  Quite a different feeling to be on the other side this time! 

 

Beautiful😻⚓️🛳

[KateQ22003]

Your pictures are stunning!

[Arzeena]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

 

Welcome home, RJ and you are already home ... unpacking & unwinding.  Good to know about the soup "trick" - and, they have the regular mid sized bowls to use vs. the small ones.  I trust that the Indian food in the buffet met your expectations, as th ey usually are ... Asian/Chinese "fusion" food is a hit-n-miss thing, usually.  

 

Asian themed night and Street Food feast in the buffet, etc. or been scaled back ... even on these longer cruise itineraries.  Susan has been getting restless but I am hold the horses ... the newer NCL ships are, more or less, more similar than different among each other.  Nothing to get really excited with the "extra" bells & whistles - the new Observation Lounge looks nice but with the camping crowd issues hanging, not sure if we are in a hurry to book this ship.  

 

Planning our 2 weeks overseas trip in early April, probably going to get our airline tickets this weekend & get visa - might even spend 3 or 4 nights in Beijing to take advantage of the visa-free transit waiver option.  Although, I have to say, the Jade itineraries, options and prices next month is very, very tempting ... decisions, decisons.  

Food was good and met all my expectations. That is me....but I had to endure some table mates' constant complaining about this being not good and that being too chewy and the egg being too hard and on and on........got really sick of it!🙄 and wanted to say "shut up" but RJ kicked me under the table every time he felt I was going to say something.

I am missing the food. The Indian chefs at the Garden Cafe were very good and always asked for special requests.
breakfasts in Savor were very good, except for the last two days when the crew seemed kind of very tired. Do not blame them one bit. Had most dinners in the Manhatten Rm. No complaints about the food or service. We were well cared for. We feel that food on NCL is a notch above Royal Caribbean. Plus the specialty restaurants were very good. Between 2 PP vouchers and dining perk, we went to Teppanayki, Los Lobos, Le Bistro, La Cucina, Ocean Blu and back to Teppanyaki again. La Cucina was my least favorite and you can guess which one was #1 on my chart.

With all the walking from back to front and going up and down to catch the shows and activities this cruise was kind of 'busy'😁. One good thing about eating and then walking up and down is that the pants still fit perfectly.

I am still deciding about SIX....I don't think I like it. I really enjoyed Jersey Boys. Although not from my era, I have heard their music over and over and I really enjoyed this show.

My take on the observation lounge was the same as Pete's.

 

Edited January 19, 2020 by Arzeena

[PistolPete13]

13 minutes ago, KateQ22003 said:

Your pictures are stunning!

 

Thanks so much.  We haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet...

[PistolPete13]

Day 3 (1/7/2020)

 

Port Canaveral and the weather is finally warm enough for the chair hogs to emerge at 8AM in Spice H2O.

 

 

[PistolPete13]

Day 3 (1/7/2020)

 

Pulled into scenic Port Canaveral and wasn't sure what to expect.  Basically this was a resupply stop for the ship.  I had already visited the NASA center a few years ago so I decided to stay on the ship and walk around the port.  Yeah, walking around the port worked out well.  The Disney terminal was locked up tight and I was unable to get a clear shot of the ship.

 

Little did I know I would get many more clear shot opportunities later on the trip, but at that moment I was disappointed.  A nice sunset saved the day (photographically) for me.  

 

After a very early breakfast, I walked around Spice H20 before the hoards descended and saw my first chair hogs.  Later in the day I also got an overhead of the main pool deck.  Not too crowded mainly because it was a port day and there was still a bit of a chill in the air.

 

Side note about disembarking here, I think it took me 30 minutes to get off the never ending gangway at the port there.  No, it wasn't crowded, it just went on and on and on!

 

Saw the Beatles Experience in the main theater and they were really good.  The crowd was up on their feet and dancing in the aisle to Twist and Shout by the end of their set.

 

OK, I do photos a lot better than I write so enjoy the Day 3 snapshots.

 

  

[PistolPete13]

[IRMO12HD]

I noticed two green (refillable) water bottles on the counter in your cabin picture -- were they a Latitudes perk, or does every guest get them?  Thanks for all of the great pictures and notes -- we'll be on Bliss in April; first time on NCL, first time on a BIG ship, first time out of NYC!

[mamashamiller]

2 hours ago, PistolPete13 said:

Near the base of the flagpole in the center of this photo is where I normally perch to get photos of the ships sailing out under the bridge.  Quite a different feeling to be on the other side this time! 

 

Do you recommend this spot for sail away 

love your reviews!!!!