NCL Bliss Feb 23-March 1

[ncracken]

We flew into New York two days before the cruise and spent the days exploring New York.  The 911 memorial was amazing!  We rode the ferry to Staten Island to see the Statue of Liberty, that was cool.  We spent some time in Central Park, and overall it was a good couple of days.  We ended up buying stocking hats, because the wind and cold was brutal.  We are the type of people who will make the best of a bad situation, as long as we are on vacation we are generally happy.  The weather was not good at all during this cruise, not NCL's fault, but we were pretty much stuck inside.  This would have been ok, but EVERYTHING on the ship was sold out or closed.  The service was the worst I have ever experienced on any cruise or land based vacation.  Simply put, the staff did not care.  They would walk right by you and not even speak to you.  Standing at the bar for 20 -30 minutes to get a drink, very understaffed!  The buffet was a constant zoo with no seating.  Lots of food spots empty and not refilled.  We ate at Cagneys, Teppanyaki, La Cucina, and Margaritaville.  They were all very good and the service at these "additional cost" restaurants was good.  Our first stop was Port Canaveral.  I wish I had stayed on the boat and enjoyed the outdoor amenities for a few hours.  We bought the Cocoa beach excursion and it was ok.  The transfer was only $15 per person plus tip.  The weather was good for about 2-3 hours, then got cold, windy and rainy.  They had a bus with Our about 14 seats on it.  It took an hour to stand in line and then get on the bus to Cocoa beach.  Very unorganized as well.  The waves at Cocoa beach are HUGE!  The grandkids had a blast in them.  I did not really get in the water, because I have back issues and could not hold myself up against those waves!  It was fun watching the kids play in the waves.  My shore excursion tickets were not delivered to my room and I didn't realize that they were supposed to be.  Luckily, they were able to print them out at the spot where we stood in line for the bus, but that was one more hassle.  Our 2nd stop was Great Stirrup Cay.  I have read on these boards that many times the ship does not even get to stop there.  This was the most horrible and disappointing part of the cruise!  We again did not receive tickets.  We bought the wave runner tour 3 months in advance, partially using a $100 shore excursion credit to pay for it.  I assumed that tickets would be distributed at the shore excursions spot on the island.  It took us a while to figure out where to go to get on the tender.  Made it to the Bliss Theater and explained that we did not receive tickets.  They told us no problem, go talk to the shore excursion staff on the island.  We were on the second tender boat over.  Once on the island we went immediately to the shore excursion kiosk.  We were told that our tour had already left.  I asked about being given a different excursion - trying to make the best of it.  Everything was sold out.  They told us that they would take us up where the wave runner excursion takes place and they would get us on the next tour.  That seemed reasonable.  We went up to the area, watched the safety video, got life jackets, etc. and then they told us that the current time was full, but we could definitely go on the next one in 30 minutes.  We waited around and got the same story again.  Ultimately we spent most of the day sitting on a bench and never got to go.  When we got back down to the main area, we were told we had 10 minutes to eat before all food service was shut down.  We quickly ate and got a drink.  We decided to go enjoy the water for the hour we had left.  The bars closed 2 hours before the last tender left the island.  The tender line was about 45 minutes long.  We were 1/2 hour late to our Teppanyaki reservation - Kudos to them they got us in anyway.  I asked guest services to give us onboard credit for the $100 we did not get to use.  They said no.  They told me that it is not there responsibility to ensure we got our excursion tickets, it was my responsibility to make sure I got them.  I was told on the phone that the tickets would be delivered to me.  They did not say where delivery would be, I misunderstood, to me this is a good example of the level of service on this cruise.  They literally told me - not my problem.  The final stop was Nassau.  This is my least favorite port, as there is not much to do here.  We went fishing on a private tour, I can' remember the name of it, but it was excellent.  We caught several different fish and it was a good day.  When we got back to port after fishing the weather turned cold, rainy, and windy.  We went back to the ship and indoors.  2 days before disembarkation we went to check on buying the ncl transfer back to the airport, surprise, surprise, sold out.  We ended up taking an Uber and it was cheaper than NCL's transfer anyway....SCORE.  We did enjoy being on vacation, but I will not take a cruise out of New York again, and this will be my last cruise with Norwegian.  I emailed them about my experience and they replied with a form letter that basically said guest satisfaction is important to them, and they are sorry about my experience, and they hope I will cruise with them in the future.  NOT A CHANCE!!!  The ship was crowded at all times, because everyone was inside most of the time.  NCL does not have the staff to handle this many people.  It's like being in disneyland, lines everywhere!!  We did see the Beatles show, and it was excellent.  The kids club was full most days, it has a capacity of 120 kids, there were 900 kids on this cruise.  I saw lots of little ones crying because they could not go to the kids club.  The weather was not good enough to use the pool or slides, race track or laser tag, so there was virtually nothing for these kids to do.  The line for the kids club was 45 minutes to an hour each time.  You had to show up half hour before they opened to even have a chance of getting in.  Seems like they would be able to handle more kids on a ship that size.  I wonder what it is like in the summer when there are even more kids cruising!  None of this stuff ruined our vacation, but it could have been a lot better.  We had a balcony on deck 11, but were not able to use it much, to windy and cold.  I would be happy to answer any questions.  I am still trying to catch up at work, so I will try to check in and answer questions at least once a day for a week or so.  Thanks for reading and happy cruising!!

[kevink1955]

Wow, I cannot believe we were on the same Ship at the same time.  Only thing I agree with you on is Nassau, the weather turned bad early afternoon. We did not have any kids in our party so I cannot say anything about the kids venues.

 

Only complaint I have is the Internet congestion, I was expecting some lag but not 60 second (or not at all) page loads. Everything else on the ship was great, the crew very accommodating. the buffet was a little crowded but they always had plenty to eat and it was good and we always found a table but we were a party of 2

 

My wife and I are still walking around saying " Best Week Ever"

[ZoeyRox]

 T

Edited March 6, 2020 by ZoeyRox

[ZoeyRox]

1 hour ago, kevink1955 said:

Wow, I cannot believe we were on the same Ship at the same time.  Only thing I agree with you on is Nassau, the weather turned bad early afternoon. We did not have any kids in our party so I cannot say anything about the kids venues.

 

Only complaint I have is the Internet congestion, I was expecting some lag but not 60 second (or not at all) page loads. Everything else on the ship was great, the crew very accommodating. the buffet was a little crowded but they always had plenty to eat and it was good and we always found a table but we were a party of 2

 

My wife and I are still walking around saying " Best Week Ever"

Thank you for saying that. I’m going on my 1st ever cruise on the Bliss in 2 weeks and these negative reviews have been worrisome. I’m going with an open mind and my mantra will be, “I’m not going to let it ruin my vacation” as a glorious poster recently said on this forum. 

[KateQ22003]

Thanks for your review and taking the time to put your thoughts on paper. I was on the Bliss February 2-16 and completely agree with your assessment about the service levels; they were terrible except for the specialty restaurants. Lines were long for everything, and people were generally rude. I have cruised NCL a fair amount, but this cruise really made me sit up and take notice. Never again on a large ship that can't handle the number of passengers it crams on.

[david_sobe]

Thanks for sharing your experience.  You point out a good lesson for everyone.  Normally excursion tickets are waiting for you in your stateroom or delivered shortly after you arrive or book an excursion.  Take note: If they are not there take care of the issue ASAP because you probably do not have the excursion booked.

 

[ncracken]

11 hours ago, kevink1955 said:

Wow, I cannot believe we were on the same Ship at the same time.  Only thing I agree with you on is Nassau, the weather turned bad early afternoon. We did not have any kids in our party so I cannot say anything about the kids venues.

 

Only complaint I have is the Internet congestion, I was expecting some lag but not 60 second (or not at all) page loads. Everything else on the ship was great, the crew very accommodating. the buffet was a little crowded but they always had plenty to eat and it was good and we always found a table but we were a party of 2

 

My wife and I are still walking around saying " Best Week Ever"

To clarify, none of this ruined our vacation, but it could have been better 

[ncracken]

2 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Thanks for sharing your experience.  You point out a good lesson for everyone.  Normally excursion tickets are waiting for you in your stateroom or delivered shortly after you arrive or book an excursion.  Take note: If they are not there take care of the issue ASAP because you probably do not have the excursion booked.

 

We had the excursion booked, but because of the disorganization of NCL, we didn’t get to go. They didn’t care and did nothing for us. 

[kevink1955]

11 hours ago, ZoeyRox said:

Thank you for saying that. I’m going on my 1st ever cruise on the Bliss in 2 weeks and these negative reviews have been worrisome. I’m going with an open mind and my mantra will be, “I’m not going to let it ruin my vacation” as a glorious poster recently said on this forum. 

Zoey

 

Just go and enjoy, we did

 

We are from New York and the crowds and small waiting times do not bother us, We did not feel either was excessive.

It's been more than a few years since my last cruse and this was my wife's first cruse, had a blast.

 

We both felt that the crew went out of their way and worked very hard to make the passengers happy, other posters have to keep in mind that this was an end of Feb to beginning of Mar cruse, we were not expecting the tropics either leaving or returning to NY. I had asked my Car Service when I booked with them if they had a 4 wheel drive vehicle available in the event the weather was bad, they did but we did not need it Lol

 

On the return trip from Nassau to NY my wife (brave soul) did go on both water slides and enjoyed both, I got some nice video. There were people by the pool the entire time from Port Canaveral to Nassau  and part way back to NY

 

Just go and have fun !!!   it was great for us and I hope it will be for you also

 

PS: if you have not made reservations for any to the specialty restaurants try to do them on line now, if you find they have no availability, go to their front desks as soon as you get on the ship as I am told they do hold some space that they only release on ship. We never did get into Cagneys but had some great steaks with my sister in law during the Fla lay over.  

 

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by kevink1955
add info

[Matt_75]

I was on this cruise as well. Sorry to here about the confusion on GSC.

Generally I found the staff to be pleasant but very busy, it seemed the ship was at or near capacity and with the weather not much outside time made it seem particularly busy. 

 

As mentioned above the internet was slow due to the high demand, fortunately it wasn't something we needed. Worked well in the early morning, benefit of being an early riser.

 

Food throughout was as expected and whenever I saw an empty space at the buffet it was quickly refilled. We had a really good meal at Cagney's. 

 

We enjoyed the shows we were able to get into. SIX is a nice mix of history and pop culture. We missed the Beatles as the times we booked dining conflicted a bit and Social was full by the time we arrived. I think the demand was through to do this in the Bliss Theater.

 

We did a beach day on GSC and enjoyed the sun and water. Got off in Nassau to eat at Bahamian Cooking and didn't even leave the boat on Port Canaveral. 

 

We had one issue, with Amex & not NCL, on board credit helped us resolve quickly. 

 

Overall it was  good trip but not our best no fault to what NCL could control.

 

 

[Kclovesken]

13 hours ago, Matt_75 said:

I was on this cruise as well. Sorry to here about the confusion on GSC.

Generally I found the staff to be pleasant but very busy, it seemed the ship was at or near capacity and with the weather not much outside time made it seem particularly busy. 

 

As mentioned above the internet was slow due to the high demand, fortunately it wasn't something we needed. Worked well in the early morning, benefit of being an early riser.

 

Food throughout was as expected and whenever I saw an empty space at the buffet it was quickly refilled. We had a really good meal at Cagney's. 

 

We enjoyed the shows we were able to get into. SIX is a nice mix of history and pop culture. We missed the Beatles as the times we booked dining conflicted a bit and Social was full by the time we arrived. I think the demand was through to do this in the Bliss Theater.

 

We did a beach day on GSC and enjoyed the sun and water. Got off in Nassau to eat at Bahamian Cooking and didn't even leave the boat on Port Canaveral. 

 

We had one issue, with Amex & not NCL, on board credit helped us resolve quickly. 

 

Overall it was  good trip but not our best no fault to what NCL could control.

 

 

Hello I have seen many commenting on the internet. Was this the upgraded wifi? Curious if it is worth getting for our cruise or if it is pretty slow period. 

[Matt_75]

5 hours ago, Kclovesken said:

Hello I have seen many commenting on the internet. Was this the upgraded wifi? Curious if it is worth getting for our cruise or if it is pretty slow period. 

This was the basic. I think it was the huge demand on this particular cruise, it was OK early in the morning. I had the same package on Star last spring and it was fine. The demographics of that cruise were much different and not everyone running around with their phone in hand. 

[Greenpea2]

I was on this cruise too and had a wonderful time! Wherever we went we had no problems getting drinks swiftly and all staff were terrific. The weather was as we had expected for a 7 day out of NY in the winter. Three days of warm weather. Although the waves were pretty high going and returning, it was a pretty smooth ride--never anything to cause discomfort. And that is not usually the case in February. The ship is beautiful but I think just too big for me. We walked so much and the elevators were crowded most of the time so we walked more. We never even got to explore a number of areas, I realized after. The internet was awful. We had upgraded to unlimited and could usually not even use it, it was so slow. The food was very good to excellent, we loved Six and The Jersey Boys. Boarding and disembark were great, sail away weather was a gift--sunny and low 50s. All in all it was a terrific cruise! 

Edited March 8, 2020 by Greenpea2

[kevink1955]

9 hours ago, Kclovesken said:

Hello I have seen many commenting on the internet. Was this the upgraded wifi? Curious if it is worth getting for our cruise or if it is pretty slow period. 

We had the upgraded/unlimited and it was bad, so bad it was almost unusable at most times.  If you got up at 3 am it worked fairly well but by 7 am it was back to sloooo loading or timeout for the rest of the day.

 

I would have to assume that the time you are waiting for a page to load counts toward your minutes on the standard plan making it even more useless as you would be out of minutes in the second day