I'll try to be brief. We're a senior couple, started cruising 35 years ago, and we've come to expect certain things from a cruise, and fortunately NCL delivers, for the most part. Our room steward directly asked for a positive review (after performing somewhat less than standard service) which kind of left us cold. Overall service was great, but it's like the newest trend of online businesses offering discounts for 5 star reviews, not very professional.
We did this same cruise, same ship 2 years ago, and while we had a good time, nothing really surprised us from a positive standpoint. Had we not enjoyed Bliss the 1st time, we wouldn't have returned a 2nd time. We live within a couple hours of Galveston Tx, and have cruised from there often, much as California residents view this cruise; it's close, so why not? Again, it was good, and we feel we got our money's worth,, but once more, nothing exceptional. There's worse ways to spend a week. Our last cruise was on a line we'd never tried before, and it definitely DID NOT live up to our expectations. NCL delivers a quality product for the money, and while there were some hiccups, overall it was a great time, With some reservations, I'd recommend this trip.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Disorganized would accurately describe it. For the most part we walked on, but only from using some "initiative"
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
We only ate dinner in one of the main dining rooms once, we ate in 4 specialty restaurants, the rest of the time in the Garden Cafe (buffet) it was much as expected. Ocean Blue, Los Lobos, Cagneys, and the Q Smokehouse were fantastic, excellent meals in all of them. Other than limited choices in the buffet for dinner (a trend we've noticed lately, the selection was a half to 2/3 of the lunch selections, encouraging passengers to utilize either the dining rooms or the specialty dining options), and I understand it from a business perspective. I should also mention the Local, where we ate several meals, an excellent choice for light meals at any time, consistently good "pub" or "bar" food every always.
The Observation Lounge
5 out of 5
Great space, nice place for a nap (provided some of the noisier groups would quiet their level or volume of conversation......not young people either!).
Garden Café
4 out of 5
Only thing stopping a 5 star rating was a limited choice of options during dinner, but quality was superb.
Q Texas Smokehouse
4 out of 5
Excellent quality, the portion sizes have seemed to diminish from last time, but the food was fantastic!
The Local Bar & Grill
5 out of 5
Great pub or bar food, great for breakfast too!
Savor Restaurant - Main Dining Room
5 out of 5
We only ate in Savor once, and it was during Dinner with the Officers, but it was the equal of any meal we ate in the specialty restaurants, excellent in every respect.
Ocean Blue
5 out of 5
Only compliant I'd submit about Ocean Blue was I couldn't physically consume the amount of food they serve. Go easy on appetizers, the entrees are worth waiting for!
Los Lobos
5 out of 5
From people who're discriminating about Mexican food, it was surprisingly outstanding!
Cagney's Steakhouse
5 out of 5
Excellent in every way! Food, service, everything awesome!
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
At our age (mid 60s) poolside games and napkin folding isn't something we look for. We enjoy trivia, though we didn't do very well on this trip. Last cruise we won frequently. I'm of the opinion that the trivia games are geared toward a younger crowd, but overall I didn't want for "something to do" even though we only had 2 sea days.
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Entertainment
3 out of 5
The show "Six" was cancelled due to illness, The comedy of Mark Klein was excellent as always, the other guy not so much. "Jersey Boys" was good, though too long in our opinion. An hour to an hour and a quarter would've been quite sufficient, an hour and 3/4 too much. As well there were no warnings about the level of profanity used, and though we didn't have young kids with us, profanity for the sake of cursing leaves me cold, indicates a lack of education, talent, etc. Gratuitous use of the F word is way over the line, whether in society or in "entertainment", take your pick. I wouldn't have watched it had I known the amount of profanity involved.
Children's Programs
No kids, we're seniors
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
With the possible exception of the Guest Services staff, service overall was excellent. Not the best room steward we ever had, but adequate. Openly asking you to fill out a "positive" comment card from a staff member is as bad or worse than paying for an online review. Let your service do the talking is my philosophy. And if a passenger asks Guest Services for a simple request (changing money for smaller bills, etc) and you have a crew drill coming up quickly, a simple "not at this time" would've been sufficient, more so than a flat "no" as if refusing. I felt it was a lousy way to treat anyone, much less someone who's cruised your line many times in the past. Bar staff, wait staff, all were outstanding, I don't want to leave the impression that a couple substandard performances spoke for the whole crew, most of whom were great!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Bliss was much as we remembered it from 2 years ago, spotless, modern, and more than acceptable.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
While small (all NCL insides are) it was more than comfortable, large enough shower for my 6'2" frame, etc. Adequate storage, clean, everything worked.
Snorkeling at Santa Maria Cove was fantastic, the tequila served on the slow trip back to the ship was even better. It was a big party by the time we got back!
We walked around the shopping area adjacent to the pier, lots of tourist junk, and that's what we wanted to see. Bought a couple gifts for friends and family, a couple personal items, it was fun.
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