yrodriguez7 Cruise Review on Norwegian Bliss on Feb 09, 2019

Norwegian Bliss Cruise Review

yrodriguez7

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Reviews: 5

Helpful Votes: 98

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Sail date: February 09, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Bliss

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

I completely enjoyed the Norwegian Bliss! Embarkation: The SMOOTHEST I’ve experienced yet! We arrived at the port around 9:45am and the doors opened around 10:15am. We were boarding by 10:45am. Ship: beautiful ship, lots of nice areas, fun laser tag and race trac areas, nice decor, etc. Dining: AMAZING FOOD!!! Very yummy and I love that there is freestyle dining (so you can eat at whatever time you’d like) and I loved that there is no assigned seating either so you’re seated as you come in and they never seat you with other parties. Speciality dining is very fun and yummy! We had a great and probably the most fun at the Teppenyaki restaurant (I’ve been to many Hibachi restaurants but this was the most fun I’ve had). There is so much food served all the time throughout the day, if not at the buffet at the other two restaurants (Taste and Savor) but also in the Observation Lounge and The Local. There is always something to eat! Cabin: by far this was the most spacious cabin we’ve experienced. We had an interior stateroom because we booked the cruise kind of late and we thought it was going to be tiny and uncomfortable plus we were on deck 5 so we thought it would be a bad location. We were so happy to know the rooms were really roomy (the bathroom was the BIGGEST we’d seen on cruises) and decorated really nicely! No complaints when it comes to cleaning either. The cleaning crew came in twice a day and replaced towels, fixed the bed, tidied up, and left the daily newsletters as well as animal towels. We felt very special and well taken care of the entire time. Entertainment & Activities: this is where I think the cruise lacked a little because there was very little diversity with the music (bands and DJ) and I felt as though there should have been more activities taking place in the pool deck area, which is where most people were especially during sea days. They had most of the activities in the Theater and Atrium, which is fine in the evenings but not during the day when people are at the pool and have to get out of the pool and sometimes change if they want to participate or see an activity taking place. I thought it was boring most of the time at the pool deck, which from past cruises should be one of the best places to be and experience fun! The shows are spectacular, though. I was only able to see the first show of the cruise and Havana but I was completely taken aback by the talent on board. It was fantastic! We also went to see one comedy show and the comedians were pretty hilarious! We weren’t able to see more shows because you had to reserve them and reservations are not available prior to boarding so you have to make lines and go to specific places when you board the cruise to make reservations (which I honestly didn’t like too much because there’s so much more one wants to do with their time on board than sit in lines or making reservations to shows). The activities like laser tag and race track were very fun! Laser tag was really really fun!!! Absolutely loved it. The only thing I felt was odd is that they charge $9.95 per person per activity. I understand that there’s activities that have an up charge but when we decided to get on this cruise, these two were the main reasons we became interested in the cruise. We think that it was just “wrong” to charge for this or at least at that price. Spa & Thermal Suites: we absolutely loved the spa and thermal suites! It’s the biggest we’ve seen as well and very relaxing. I had a couple of massages and the ladies were very professional and they didn’t push me to buy anything (as I had previously experienced on Carnival). The spa area is kept clean and workers are always wiping down the wet areas and there is an unlimited amount of towels available at all times. The robes and locker rooms are very nice and just top quality! The sauna, sanarium, snow room, and steam room were fantastic! The salt room felt like nothing but they recommended you to sit there after and that your skin would soak in the salt (I did it but felt nothing). Gym: We had good experiences at the gym. I think there are enough treadmills and other machines since not many people work out during their vacations. There are free weights as well as mats and they always have towels and Clorox wipes. Raffles: there are raffles several times a day throughout the cruise! My husband won one for $250 for spa services (this is what I used for my two massages and paid the balance). I highly recommend people to attend those raffles! They raffles out an Invicta watch, several Eddy jewelry, Spa Credits, etc! Ports of Call & Shore Excursions: our cruise went to St. Thomas, Tortola, and Bahamas. All of which were very nice and we felt safe. It was my first time in St. Thomas and Tortola so we booked shore excursions at these stops. We did Helmet Dive in St.Thomas. It was a lot of fun and very interesting but we felt that it was too short for the amount paid ($119 per person). We paid the same amount of money for the excursion in Tortola (Normal Island Snorkle) and it was really fun! They took us to caves and the water was perfect! We saw sooo many different fishes and coral reefs! Then we went to a private island where chairs were provided and we were able to continue snorkeling or tan up and relax. The snorkeling gear was also provided. The staff was also very very nice and friendly! Cruise App: I was disappointed that we couldn’t use the cruise app unless we purchased a WiFi package. So we were unable to keep up with the activities on board and our own reservations as a result. The good thing is that I had printed out all of the items we reserved prior to boarding and that we had been diligent in making the reservations via ncl.com. But I was disappointed because any other reservation made on board and all other activities were difficult to keep up with. We ended up having to take pictures of the newsletters on our phones to be able to stay in the know or carry the paper copies of the newsletters around. Overall: I think this cruise was excellent!! The staff is truly the happiest and jolly! It was always a pleasure walking past any of them. They treated us very good all the while working so hard to keep the cruise clean and well decorated for themed parties, etc

2 Comments

yrodriguez7 2 years ago

The app was useless unless you paid for the wifi on board. I’ve been on several other cruises such as Royal, MSC, & Carnival where everyone is able to access the cruise app and keep up with all the activities on board, make reservations, etc all without having to pay for the wifi on board. This wasn’t the case with the Bliss. We would have had to purchase the wifi package to use the app.

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FormlessFriend 5 years ago

Thanks for the great review. One thing I am confused about is your comment regarding the NCL App and wifi. The app is free to use for general info on the limited ship wifi only for the app features. You can pay $10 (1 time fee per person) and it will allow you to text or call others on the ship using the app. You can purchase the Social Media only wifi for $9.95 per day and other pkgs for wifi internet at higher daily prices. Is this not correct?

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