A delightful, worry-free, half-empty sailing to Mexico -- only 1800 onboard!

NCL's COVID-era protocols are just about as good as they could be. Arrival instructions were not clear enough, though, because almost everyone seemed lost and unsure of which order, and where, to get things done like 1) checking bags, 2) onsite COVID testing, and finally 3) check-in. I purposely chose one of the latest arrival times (1:00pm) and there was almost NO line for my COVID test, woohoo! I heard from a dozen friends who arrived at 10:00am that they had a 1-to-2-hour wait for testing. The check-in line to get my room key took a long time, too, but perhaps that was just because of the additional waivers and checkboxes to complete with the desk agent.

A noticeable amount of the food this week, especially desserts, was just okay. Most cakes and cookies seemed dry, no idea if they were day-old? Specialty restaurants were fresher for sure, though, so I guess that's good. Perhaps the chefs are still figuring out the weird balancing act of when or how much to mass-produce the food since the ship is half-empty? I went to the Taste/Savor dining rooms multiple mornings for a sit-down breakfast. It was good! I will do this on future cruises as much as I can, instead of 'just' going to the buffet. Since the ship was half-empty, there was no difficulty getting reservations for the Premium restaurants or even the main dining rooms -- walk-ups were easy! I'm sure this would not have been the case if the ship actually had a full 4,000 passengers. I really missed the Shakers martini bar -- on the Bliss it's replaced by the Mojito Bar which is okay, but eh. Also, I really missed the Moderno churrascaria -- on the Bliss it was replaced with Los Lobos, and its standard-looking Mexican restaurant menu sure isn't as exciting as Moderno. (I assume the plated Mexican menu is cheaper to run than the all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse menu.) And Q Smokehouse...why? The texans/real BBQ fans said it was just okay, and very few in our group bothered to try it anyway. Was cool to have line dancing and the live band there multiple evenings though. Outside the Mojito Bar is the small "Sail & Sustain" Bar -- my second-favorite place on the ship besides the Observation Lounge. I tried every Drink of The Day and the bartenders were great. It wasn't a busy bar, so they really got to know the daily regulars who came back to try each of the new drinks. I LOVE the idea of the re-purposed ingredients, and you can only get the Drink of the Day there at the Sail & Sustain Bar; be sure to ask the bartender what the 'story' is for each day's drink! They'll tell you how one or more of the ingredients was recycled or repurposed from elsewhere on the ship! (i.e. taking the flat champagne left over from the dining room bottles each night, simmering it into a champagne 'syrup,' and using it as a mixer for the next day's Spritz drink. Clever!)

Loved the constant stream of things in the Observation Lounge! I booked with a group of 140 LGBTQ and Ally folks, and we had a great time. The nightly Friends of Dorothy LGBTQ meetup was in a good location, shows were good. The pool area, theater, and some other venues are oddly small for a ship that holds 4,000. Even on this half-empty sailing, it seemed full 'enough' so I can't imagine an actual crowd of 4,000 fighting for deck chairs and Cavern Club seats. Too many things are upcharges on the new ships -- for example, on the Breakaway the big Ropes Course is free, but on the Bliss the go-kart track is extra, laser tag is extra, even the 'adult' pool is extra since the Epic was built with a pool at Spice H20 but the Breakaway and newer ships eliminated it and now the Vibe Pool is...an upcharge. No thanks. Plus, since this sailing was half-empty, there was literally no reason to pay for a pool!

Six the Musical was really fun!! It's a perfect cruise-ship show since the 'real' show itself has limited set pieces and this small cast of 6 girls plus the onstage band. Our group really enjoyed it. Sadly the Jersey Boys was cancelled the last 2 nights of the cruise due to COVID cases in the cast. Lounge acts were all good soloists/small groups. The DJs were mostly bad. Like, frustratingly bad. I booked with a group of 140 LGBTQ and Ally folks, and we definitely were the majority of nightclub attendees this whole week. Most people's song requests were denied or there were simply no requests taken -- what's the point of having a "DJ" if half of the music mixes are pre-made? Is the person just there to look busy or something? Also, any good DJ can and should tailor the music mix to the guests present.

no kids, woohoo!

Always great service from all!

VERY clean overall. Some cruisers in my group got room upgrades because their rooms had not been fully cleaned from the previous guests, but other than that it was VERY apparent that the crew is working very hard to clean ALL the time. Like, really often...especially since there were only 1800 guests onboard yet there was a full crew. They really made efforts to look busy all the time even if it meant wiping the handrails after EVERY guest. I'm okay with that; it really made us feel comfortable about sailing. I love the Observation Lounge! It's clearly designed to accommodate a lot of people on both port and starboard sides for Alaska viewing, but for this Mexico sailing the long, LONG lounge spaces became almost like a second Waterfront area where people could just go hang out, work on a laptop, read a book, nap on a chaise, etc. Always some coffee and snacks available in the Observation lounge, too! Easily one of my favorite spaces on the whole ship aside from The Waterfront and the bars. If you're familiar with NCL ships, you will find your way around easily. Some noticeable changes, though -- on the Bliss the Martini bar has been replaced by the Mojito bar, which seemed like a downgrade to me. Some of my favorite Shakers drinks from a previous cruise were indeed onboard the Bliss but I had to go look for them at other bars -- for example, the Aviation martini is my favorite at Shakers, but on the Bliss it was only available at The A-List Bar (between Cagney's and Los Lobos) only open during dinner hours. Speaking of Los Lobos...why? I really missed the Moderno churrascaria menu (see previous Food comment above).

I upped my booking from an Inside to a Balcony because it was only about a $200 difference -- I did it in advance, not through the bidding process. It was worth re-checking the prices and I recommend doing that periodically, because having a Balcony cabin to myself was GREAT. Design-wise, if you're familiar with NCL cabins, it's exactly what you'll expect. Space between the corner of the bed and the corner of the desk seemed oddly tight even though I had the mattresses pushed together. If I had separated them as twin beds, I'm not sure if I would've been able to walk between without hitting the desk -- and I'm not a large person!

FAST! With the ship being half-empty, there was hardly a line to disembark! Our color groups were actually being called AHEAD of schedule because things were moving so efficiently!