We usually cruise with Carnival. We love cruising with Carnival, but decided to give Norwegian a try due to the face that the Bliss had new and exciting things to offer. The disappointments began immediately upon embarkation with NCL and did not improve throughout the cruise. We have all agreed to never cruise NCL again and will share this information with anyone we meet who is planning on cruising. The staff were extremely rude. The service was below par. The entire family was disappointed with NCL and the Bliss. We have never had a bad cruise with Carnival, especially not a cruise that we regret taking!! Alaska was supposed to be a once in a lifetime trip for everyone. While the state of Alaska itself was beautiful, that beauty was definitely overshadowed by the terrible Norwegian experience. Carnival Cruise Line will without a doubt get my vacation money from now on.
Embarkation
2 out of 5
Our "mini suite balcony" room was smaller that the ocean view rooms we have stayed in with Carnival Cruise Line. It was definitely not "suite" worthy. If you consider our room a mini suite simply because it had a mini fridge, then you are poorly mistaken.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Food and drinks were okay. The service behind the food/drinks was terrible.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
I wish that Norwegian would have notified us to book reservations for go-karts and laser tag upon embarkation. This message could have easily been sent to cruisers in any of the emails prior to the cruise that were sent by NCL. Also, the price of go-karts was advertised at $7/ride prior to the cruise. Upon embarkation, the price was $10/ride. False advertisement.
Entertainment
1 out of 5
Children's Programs
4 out of 5
Service and Staff
1 out of 5
Room steward never once converted our son's bed back to the couch position during the day. Doing this, would have allowed much more space in our mini suite. Considering that our mini-suite was smaller than ocean view rooms with Carnival, this lack of daily bed conversion made it difficult to walk around our stateroom during the day. Food service staff, buffet staff, and cleaning staff were all very, very rude on a consistent basis. Made the cruiser feel as if we were inconveniencing the staff. Staff at Guest Services seemed unknowledgeable and indifferent to our needs. Hostess safe at dining rooms were by far the worst- terrible, nasty attitudes. My husband was forcibly pushed aside by a buffet staff member as he was putting food on his plate so that the staff member could shut down that part of the buffet. He could not even get the food that was trying to get. I'm talking about, the buffet utensil was in his hand. He was not in a line; he was directly in front of the food item that he was trying to get. Uncalled for!!!
Ship Quality
1 out of 5
Not enough seating in dining room. The overflow room (Observation Lounge) was not designed to be an eating area. Table were much too small. You had to go up and down a floor just to get salt and pepper for your meal.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
Ship tip
Cruise with any other cruise line, but if you are insistent on choosing this ship then here are my tips. Make reservations for laser tag, go-karts, shows as soon as you get on the ship! Bring salt and pepper down to the Observation Lounge with you if you are forced to eat in there.
Not enough time in port. The Lumberjack Show was fun. We booked this off-site not using NCL excursions due to the huge excursion mistake that NCL had already made.
Not enough time in port. We went to the Mendenhall Glacier and the sky tram. We again, booked this off-site not using NCL excursions. We felt rushed due to the short port times.
Not enough time in port. Misprint on our excursion ticket. We were told to meet at the end of the pier for our excursion. After meeting there, we were told that our meeting place was actually at the ship. This was difficult seeing as the pier was probably 1/2 mile long!! The White Pass train ride was beautiful, but we only got to spend 30 minutes at the Yukon Suspension Bridge due to our short port time. After paying nearly $800 for an excursion, I was disappointed that we could not full enjoy all parts of the excursion. Upon embarkation, we were told that our son could not go on the initial excursion that was booked prior to our cruise due to his age. We booked our initial excursion through NCL's shore excursion phone line. Never once did our NCL representative tell us about an age restriction. She knew that we had a minor going on the excursion. This was not a good way to start our cruise.
Sorry, when someone put 1* for everything I disregard their comments as complainers. One star for all ports, you know the itinerary and port times before embarkation.....give me a break! I believe some people you can't make happy no matter what!
In 40 cruises, on many lines, I have never had a bad room steward. In fact there are a couple we keep in touch with. They will do anything for you, just ask.
Did you ever ask the room steward to fold up the pullout during the day, or did you just passive-aggressively resent that they didn’t, leaving them to believe it was ok? The room stewards are there to make your stay enjoyable, and they’ll cheerfully make up your room any way you ask them to, because they like getting appreciative tips.
After 2 Carnival cruises our experience on the Bliss was disappointing. The ship is great but the food, service and customer service were sorely lacking.
I have always heard that Carnival is the McDonalds of the cruise industry. Considering all of the issues they have had, including Costa, part of the carnival family, I’ll never cruise on them. That being said, Disney has the best service, followed by Royal Caribbean, the NCL. First cruise on NCL was Hawaii. I said i would never cruise on them again but then we saw an itinerary on the Getaway and gave it a try. We had a Haven suite, so that improved my perception and now, as long as I can afford it, will always book an aft facing suite/Haven when cruising NCL. Cruising on BLISS on August 18, 2018. Aft-facing penthouse suite. Hopefully all issues will be worked out by then. And as far as cruise lines go, everyone has their own perceptions of what top notch service is, so stick with whatever you’re comfortable with. It’s a lot of money to be disappointed.
We did NCL BLISS Panama cruise in May 2018. It was 15 days of wonderful ness. The staff was amazing. Never had one complaint. Yes in the Garden cafe area it was sometimes hard to get a seat, but we always moved out to outside decks & enjoyed the view. A vacation is always what you make it. If the buffet was crowded we’d go for a half hour walk on the waterfront then try again. It was a win win. It helped with the calories and we enjoyed the ocean views.
I was on there all week and only encountered two rude employees. The rest were spectacular, way beyond amazing. This is my 3rd NCL cruise and would never sway from them. They let everyone know right away that there was a charge and to make reservations. In person and by email before the cruise. Can't compare Carnival to Norwegian...
We have previously used Princess and were delighted. Due to use Bliss March 2019 (Panama) and getting very worried now. Have we made a dreadful mistake?
NCL is awesome and puts Carnival to shame. We always stay in a Haven suite and are never disappointed. If you cruise you ALWAYS book dining and entertainment in advance. Sorry you were disappointed.
Sorry you had a bad expierence with the Bliss...i love NCL...also have did Carnival..prefer NCL,but to each ots own...not everything is always great...too bad it didnt turn out well for you
atking315, I have to agree with you. Years ago, we switched from CCL to NCL for an Hawaiian cruise. It was the worst experience of all our years of cruising. The staff was rude from day one...not just one particular person, but all that we encountered. I could go on and on, but I will just say we will never spend our money with NCL again. Carnival all the way!
The Bliss is a new ship and they probably need to work out more kinks. NCL, however, is a great cruise line and I would definitely go on it again. Since you were so unhappy, you should definitely stay with a cruise line that you are happy with.
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