FIRST TIME CRUISERS LOVED IT

Norwegian Bliss Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 103

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5
Norwegian Bliss

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 09, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Bliss

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Don't believe the negative reviews you may read of the Bliss. By the time we disembarked in Miami, we were convinced that previous cruisers who whined about lots of things were very unfair to Norwegian. It was a great value, and the ship and crew were awesome. Your fellow passengers . . . . it's not Norwegian's fault who is on board. Human nature, but some pax were determined to get their "money's worth." The inebriated folks on board, who would behave badly, were not fun to see. The buffet on embarkation day was overcrowded, as people camped out to wait for their cabins. I have never seen so many over indulging adults scooping mountains of food on multiple plates, as if this was their last meal in the next 7 days. It was disgraceful how much food was wasted on that first day. Many passengers were just plain rude, but I can't blame Norwegian for their behavior. In fact, kudos to the staff for always remaining polite and smiling, no matter what they are likely to observe or encounter in their jobs. In summary, I will cruise again on Norwegian.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Easy. Had luggage tags preprinted off edocs prior to arrival, just hand bags to curbside porter. No wait inside, picked up room keys immediately, even though cabins not yet ready

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
There is nothing not to like about dining on board . . . unless you count your fellow passengers and their unsavory manners and style of eating. We did not eat at any speciality restaurants and were happy. We are not "foodies" but we've had a lot of buffets and restaurant meals in our lifetime. The buffet was laid out very well, never had problems with finding seats, lots of choices. The Local was fine for simple food, and the main dining rooms had excellent wait staff and good food.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
We enjoyed events in the Atrium that are planned by the Cruise director, Sean, and his staff. Some of the games were hilarious to watch. We never bought in to any of the game shows that cost money (like Deal or No Deal), but they were still fun to watch. The highlight for us was watching Wyland paint live in front of us and talk to the audience while he was painting. We also enjoyed the Meet Your Cruise Ship Officers.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
Jersey Boys was great, we saw it twice. Saw Havana, they are talented performers. Saw the Beatles tribute band twice, we had previously seen them perform in Las Vegas. Attended a comedy show. The Bliss Theater is a great venue and we never had issues finding seats. The on board live bands were both awesome and we went to the Atrium every night to hear them.

Children's Programs

Just spouse and me on this cruise

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Every single crew member we encountered was smiling and friendly. No exception. We had "friends" in every department . . . buffet staff, dining rooms, Guest Services, Housekeeping, Cruise director staff. They remembered our names and constantly asked how our week was going. Maybe because we recognized the hard work they do on the ship, and treated them as fellow humans and not our personal servants.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
The Atrium was large and open, but had insufficient seating for night time events. Otherwise, everything is clean and well maintained. The elevators were busy at times but never a long wait.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Our stateroom was larger than we expected, with lots of storage cubicles and closet space. The bathroom was big, larger than many hotel bathrooms. It was a very comfortable cabin and kept very clean by our steward.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

2 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

4 out of 5

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

3 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

3 out of 5

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
A long wait, don't know how this compares as this was our first cruise.
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3 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

onlysail    5 years ago

Yet another review about badly behaved americans.

MsNicNav    5 years ago

Glad you had a good attitude and a fun trip!Vacations are definitely what you make of them and you can only control your actions, not those of others. Cruising can be such an amazing experience and I hope you have more adventures soon!

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