Live (ish) Bliss Apr 9-14 Coastal

[ceilidh1]

We are docked in Vancouver now

[ceilidh1]

Crap. Upside down 

[ceilidh1]

I swear I’m not THAT drunk 

[ceilidh1]

Desert

[bluesea777]

When taking pics landscape, make sure the (shutter) button is on the right side of the phone.

 

 

[ceilidh1]

Flourless chocolate cake and banana split.

Delicious!

[YVRteacher]

Yes!  Always order the banana split when it is offered!

[ceilidh1]

Then this happened (Red Sox fan through and through ) 

[ceilidh1]

Someone else on our group posted this so I wanted to add it as it really does sun it up. There are issues and frustrations but we are having a blast!

[ceilidh1]

For all that has sucked, I cannot stress how amazing the entertainment and food has been!

[ceilidh1]

@YVRteacher this is for you!!!

[ceilidh1]

Oh dear…more from our group 

[ceilidh1]

The hits just keep coming 

[YVRteacher]

14 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

@YVRteacher this is for you!!!

Thank you!  This made my night!

Aren’t they incredibly talented??!!

[ceilidh1]

Just now, YVRteacher said:

Thank you!  This made my night!

Aren’t they incredibly talented??!!

Amazing 

[YVRteacher]

Those reviews and comments are sad.  I had the same experience at O’Sheehans (never had my order taken and never got food.) I thought people wouldn’t believe what I wrote in my review because it felt almost unbelievable as I was experiencing it. Yet it’s true.

The only thing I disagree with is the food in the Garden Cafe does not taste like dog food.  Mostly it was really good.

Edited April 14, 2023 by YVRteacher

[YVRteacher]

@ceilidh1 the keyboard player/music director in Six (Joan) is from Vancouver.

[ceilidh1]

16 minutes ago, YVRteacher said:

Those reviews and comments are sad.  I had the same experience at O’Sheehans (never had my order taken and never got food.) I thought people wouldn’t believe what I wrote in my review because it felt almost unbelievable as I was experiencing it. Yet it’s true.

The only thing I disagree with is the food in the Garden Cafe does not taste like dog food.  Mostly it was really good.

Hands down, the food everywhere (when we got it) was outstanding! The Indian station at Garden Cafe was to die for!

[hallux]

I've been on 3 ships in the same class (Breakaway+) as the Bliss - the Bliss, Joy and now Escape.  I LOVE these ships.  Are some of the venues under-sized for the quality of performance they put in them (looking at you Cavern Club and Syd Norman's)?  ABSOLUTELY!  But NCL still has some of the BEST entertainment at sea on these ships!

 

I agree with you that this experience seems to be an outlier - this is definitely not normal, I just hope it's not the new normal.

 

I'm looking for my next cruise and actually considering going back to the Bliss as I loved that ship.

Edited April 14, 2023 by hallux

[cruiseny4life]

I've cruised four times in the last year and each time I've joined the banned book group for my sailing. There seems to be a recurring theme in each group as the lifecycle of the cruise goes on:

 

1. I just booked! I'm so excited. I can't wait to meet you guys!!!!! 

2. Here's info on the meet and greet, slot pull, and bar crawl. We're going to have a blast! And yes, Cruise Critic, the meet and greets have people because of the banned book. Not because of Cruise Critic. Just admit it, roll calls are dead. 

3. We're on our way. Oh no! Our flights are delayed. We're hoping you get here! 

4. We're onboard! Look at my drink. Embarkation is a nightmare - we've been waiting an hour. It only took us 15 minutes. We're partying, boozing, and eating! 

5. Why aren't our rooms ready? Mine is. Are you Haven? Maybe. But not necessarily. Our room is ready! Let's get ready for sail away!

6. This cruise sucks. The server forgot my dessert. My room steward is never available, but my room is clean. I'm never sailing NCL again! 

7. Worst cruise ever. I hate NCL. NCL is the worst! It sucks. 

8. I just tested positive for COVID. I have a sore throat and cough, but my tests are negative. I have a cold. Do you have COVID? How many have COVID?

9. Six months later - I just booked a NCL cruise. Who's coming with me?? *crickets*

 

You are now in stage number six, almost seven. 

[cruiseny4life]

9 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Appies (I moved both to same plate) Bruschetta and beef tostadas

Those tostadas are some of the most divine little things I have ever eaten in my life! I hope yours were equally as yummy.

 

[ceilidh1]

And just like that, it was all over! If I were a passive aggressive person, I would play NCL at their own game. You want me out of my room at 8:30? Sorry, there’s an hour delay on that. Lol

[ceilidh1]

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

 

The Good

 

1. The Food: All of the food we ate was top notch - from Garden Cafe through to Food Republic. No complaints on that score.

 

2. The Entertainment: Hands down the best entertainment at sea. Jersey Boys and Six knocked it out of the park, Siglo, Archie, Stephen, Heartbreaker Duo all great. Only saw one comedy show and missed all Beatles shows, but everything we saw was outstanding!

 

3. Most of the staff: Ordinarily, no matter what the issues, the staff look to be doing their best and trying hard. This wasn’t as evident this time - for the most part, the majority of staff were friendly, helpful, and happy but a lot were outright grumpy and most seemed to just be going through the motions. Shout out to the washy washy crew and the pastry sisters at breakfast who had a song for every occasion!

[ceilidh1]

The Bad

 

1. The Room: First off, the fact that rooms weren’t ready until 5pm meant I couldn’t truly relax and start my vacation until then. Club balcony costs more for a few reasons - the bathroom/shower (our shower was not the nice rainforest head we have had before), ability to pre book dining and shows (that never happened - 21 days same as everyone else), bottle of bubbly (never materialized), one free laundry (no mention of this / no laundry bags in room), treats (first treat wasn’t enough for 4 of us, second treat was cookies we could have got from the buffet). The room itself was the set up with sofa next to closet so it was impossible to actually use the closet as there isn’t enough space to maneuver. It was very hot in the room with four people. Even with the thermostat at the lowest, there was no cool air or air circulation. At night I felt like I was melting and woke up bathed in sweat - not ideal since the bedding never got changed the whole 5 days.

 

2. The Servicing of Rooms: I have no issue with once a day service but have a huge issue with not being able to use the room. This impacted our use of the room as the bunk was always down over the sofa, which was always a bed. This meant there was nowhere to sit and little space to move. Additionally, service usually wasn’t until late afternoon so no clean/dry towels if we wanted to shower later in the day or needed to get ready later.

 

3. Kids Club: This sailing had a lot of kids but, apparently, only room for 90 of them at the kids club. That’s a really low number! My DS wasn’t able to get in at all and many other families seemed to have the same issue. This is surprising for a line that markets to families.

[AKR2011]

I appreciate your honest review and how positive you stayed throughout. I really hope @Norwegian Cruise Line pays attention to this and all of the other recent reviews. Cutbacks are really showing and it is not good!