Pretty Ship, but Room for Improvement

Item: Norwegian Bliss
Rating: 3.8
Author: Cruisingkem

Norwegian Bliss Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

Cruisingkem

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 121

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Bahamas & Florida (New York Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 23, 2020

Ship: Norwegian Bliss

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 12236

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

The cruise was relaxing and it was, as always, fun to travel with friends. I liked this ship - it is easy to get where you want to go on it and there are multiple places where you can find things to do. I'm not sure that the ratio of staff to passengers is as good as it should be. Perhaps some of the negative things I noted in the survey would be alleviated if there were more staff.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

My husband needed wheelchair assistance. We were directed to that area, where we completed the required forms and received our Sea Passes and map of the ship. We were then directed to wait for a wheelchair. We waited for over an hour. When we finally went back to find out what was going on, we discovered that our name had never been put on the list. A wheelchair for my husband arrived within five mnutes.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The Manhattan Room, the main dining room, was excellent. The two smaller dining rooms, Taste and Savor, are nice, but it takes a long time for the meal to arrive. The buffet offers wonderful choices, but finding a seat is a major challenge unless you go when many people are off the ship. The Observation Lounge provides a light breakfast and a light lunch which are nice, but finding seating can be difficult. Cagney's Steak House is awful, not worth the money. The food is disappointing to say the least. La Cucina, the Italian restaurant, was lovely - food and service excellent. The Local provides excellent food and service. For a ship of this size, the dining possibilities are limited and the overall seating throughout the ship is definitely inadequate.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Pool areas are nice and the seating areas are about the same as on any other ship. Poolside seating can be challenging to find, but usually you can find something and then relocate if you want when someone else leaves. The Atrium provided a comfortable gathering place most of the time, some of the activities there were interesting and fun. The Observation Deck is lovely: plenty of room, lovely views, light food for breakfast and lunch if desired, bar, music in the evening.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

We saw Six, Jersey Boys, and the Beatles show. Six was interesting, the other two were excellent.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Service was generally excellent. However, the service in Taste and Cagney's were not as good as it should have been. Sadly and very surprisingly, our room steward was awful. The cleaning of the room was minimal, we almost never saw him, we did not receive all notices that we should have (nothing at all the very last night,) and he figuratively threw us out of our room the morning of disembarkation earlier than the posted time - banging on the door, throwing it open and announcing that the rooms were being cleared and that the sheets were being changed in two minutes.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

The ship is clean and well maintained. The overall layout is pleasing and it is easy to get from one side to the other. The attractions on the different decks are interesting and nicely set up. The Observation Lounge on Deck 15 is lovely. However, there are only two elevator banks - one forward with eight elevators; one, aft with eight or ten elevators. There really needs to be another bank in the center. Many of us had to wait a ridiculous amount of time for an elevator no matter when we wanted one. Frequently a number of people got in an elevator going in the opposite direction (up instead of down or the reverse) just to get on one and ultimately get where one wanted to go.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

The cabin was very comfortable, the bathroom size and layout were lovely. The initial cleanliness was excellent, but by the end of the week, it was not quite adequate (see above comments on the room steward.)

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Excellent. We reported to the area assigned to those needing wheelchair assistance. The process was very well organized, the personnel were efficient, very polite and caring. This part of the cruising experience was outstanding.