NCL Bliss - LIVE - 1/22/23 to 1/27/23

[drwbrt]

Thanks all for tuning in to this Live. It kind of fizzled a bit as we got to our port days. We have a lot of updates and overall thoughts that we'll be organizing and posting.

 

We enjoyed our cruise and it was certainly made better by the contributions of others on this forum.  We appreciated the insight and tips we received while preparing for my first NCL cruise and for the first cruise of @New2cruise2022and his boys. 

 

More to come shortly.

[cruiser52forever]

3 hours ago, drwbrt said:

Thanks all for tuning in to this Live. It kind of fizzled a bit as we got to our port days. We have a lot of updates and overall thoughts that we'll be organizing and posting.

 

We enjoyed our cruise and it was certainly made better by the contributions of others on this forum.  We appreciated the insight and tips we received while preparing for my first NCL cruise and for the first cruise of @New2cruise2022and his boys. 

 

More to come shortly.

You are both fantastic writers.  Can't wait to read all about the shenanigans! 

[New2cruise2022]

Who Was On The Ship

It is worth a minute to say who was on the ship — and who wasn’t. Every sailing is different with varied populations. The actual volume/occupancy is worth something but fails to paint the whole picture. 
REPORTED OCCUPANCY: 4,400 to 4,700

This “reported” number is not official by any means. We never had an official report from any of the officers. We attended a Meet and Greet but this number wasn’t made available. We did survey staff at bars, restaurants, guest services, and housekeeping. The comments were anything from numbers ranging from 4,400 to 4,700 as well as more generic commentary that the ship was “full”, “nearly at capacity” (which would have been 4,900), and “very full”. 
One particularly insightful commentary was from a very talented bartender at Sugarcane Mojito Bar. He commented that the 5-day out of LA this time of year is a booze cruise. He said it is a cruise full of younger passengers (25-55) traveling without kids. This was our observational data as well. 
Easy on the Wheels

This ship was light when it came to wheels. All the way around. There were some strollers and some motorized and manual wheelchairs. I think I maybe even saw a few (like 2) walkers. The number of strollers and wheelchairs were so low that I can attach a face to every single user. I would say maybe 4-5 motorized wheelchairs, 2-4 manual wheelchairs, and maybe 6 strollers. 
Why does this matter? Mobility and demographic age estimates. There were not a lot of people making up the bookends of travelers. Very few little kids, very few older people. These observations bolster the assertion that the population was younger. 
Minimal Elevator Strain

From day one all the way until the end, we had no complaints with the elevators. Outside of crew elevators, there are two banks of 8 elevators for a total of 16 elevators. (More on this in @drwbrt post.) We averaged around 60-90 second waits for the entire cruise. 

The higher mobility on this particular sailing helped ease the strain of people on the go. More people inclined to use stairs for short travels and less scooters and strollers taking up the bulk of the space on any particular lift. 
Bartenders Handled the Booze Cruise

Winning on the elevators didn’t mean losing at the bars. If the reports and the demographics were accurate, the 22 bars on the ship were up to the task. We never had long wait. Never. Like 3-4 minutes to order and get a drink. Soda, beer, cocktail. Didn’t matter, always fast. 

[cruiseny4life]

Thanks for the follow ups here, and in other threads. It's interesting to hear both of your thoughts on the cruise. What caused the reporting to drop off on the cruise? A question - was the internet crappy on the Bliss? I forgot what package you had (free minutes? upgrade to unlimited? streaming unlimited?). Or, did you find what so many of us do, that there's so much to do on a cruise that you just don't have time for more earth-based things? 😁

 

I'm interested in your boy's thoughts. What was their impression of the cruise? So many times (like always) we know what adults think, but I'd love to hear what they thought of the whole adventure! 

[drwbrt]

15 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

Thanks for the follow ups here, and in other threads. It's interesting to hear both of your thoughts on the cruise. What caused the reporting to drop off on the cruise? A question - was the internet crappy on the Bliss? I forgot what package you had (free minutes? upgrade to unlimited? streaming unlimited?). Or, did you find what so many of us do, that there's so much to do on a cruise that you just don't have time for more earth-based things? 😁

 

I'm interested in your boy's thoughts. What was their impression of the cruise? So many times (like always) we know what adults think, but I'd love to hear what they thought of the whole adventure! 

I’ll let @New2cruise2022respond on his boys of course. 
 

we both had unlimited through FAS+. Our on board posting as you thought because we got busier and there were less direct questions. We’ve been trying to make up for that now. We still have some comments we’d like to make about food on board, our tendering in Cabo, and probably a wrap up on some of our take aways that would have made the cruise better. 
 

really appreciate all those that have chimed in. Particularly, some of your comments clued us in to look at provisions more heavily. So thank you!

[cruiseny4life]

18 minutes ago, drwbrt said:

I’ll let @New2cruise2022respond on his boys of course. 
 

we both had unlimited through FAS+. Our on board posting as you thought because we got busier and there were less direct questions. We’ve been trying to make up for that now. We still have some comments we’d like to make about food on board, our tendering in Cabo, and probably a wrap up on some of our take aways that would have made the cruise better. 
 

really appreciate all those that have chimed in. Particularly, some of your comments clued us in to look at provisions more heavily. So thank you!

Thanks! I just read through your Premium Plus thread and noticed it. I'm catching up form being away for the weekend!

 

I'm glad y'all were busy and enjoyed yourself...the different postings have been great. I'm about to start the chicken wing story.

 

Also....and I should have said this before, @New2cruise2022 - obviously only if your teens want to. I know how teenagers can be and don't want to inconvenience them from whatever it is they do. 🙂 But definitely curious since we rarely hear about the experiences of those a wee bit younger. 

[New2cruise2022]

@cruiseny4life My boys are the main reason our LIVE fizzled. And for good reason. I anticipated they would go to Entourage, make friends, and we would never see them again. Teen and kid population was very small on this sailing. I think my kids learned really fast that the party was with me and @drwbrt   For a dad to have his 17 and 15 year old like him enough to hang out with him, it was a win beyond anything that I could have hoped for. We spent all day eating, drinking, playing cards and games, talking and laughing. The boys loved the cruise. They loved the freedom to do what they want but still opted to spend most of their time with us. I ended up buying extra specialty dining for them. Not because I thought the specialty dining was that great, but because my brother and I had two more specialty meals and they wanted to spend the time with us. 
The internet was reliable and good the entire cruise. My boys did not have internet and I think, absent an endless stream of reels, they found a world outside of their phones and joined my brother and I for conversation. Lots of laughing. 
I learned that I am definitely 45 and can’t keep up with 17 and 15 year olds. We would stay out late with my brother and then when we got back to the room, they would want to talk more and watch movies in our very small inside cabin for three. 
NCL is doing something right when I can travel and share an inside room with my two boys and have the best times of our lives. The people you travel with matters!

[janetz]

Oh that is wonderful that your boys hung with you ❤️
Can you tell me what are the show times onboard?
 

[drwbrt]

29 minutes ago, janetz said:

Oh that is wonderful that your boys hung with you ❤️
Can you tell me what are the show times onboard?
 

I've posted the Freestyle Daily here. Thanks for reminding me I need to upload the last of them. I will post that in just a few hours.

[drumming cruisers]

Did you get copies of the daily schedules?

If you did, could you, please post them? 

[drwbrt]

1 hour ago, drumming cruisers said:

Did you get copies of the daily schedules?

If you did, could you, please post them? 

Link directly above. Adding the other two here in a minute. 

[drwbrt]

Sorry for the delay. All five days are posted. Freestyle Daily