Norwegian Bliss Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Going through the Panama Canal is a must. NCL is struggling with limited passengers so while service remains outstanding the level of the entertainment and activities has gone downhill since before Covid.

Absolutely the BEST cruise we've ever taken. We definitely had a memorable trip!

Great cruise. Great staff. Great entertainment. Would reamend this cruise to friend.

This is LOOONG review with over 300 pictures, so skip it if you don't like reading. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to sail on this vessel when I did. I knew I would never be able to cruise on a ship this big at full capacity, willingly. So I jumped on the chance to sail on the Bliss on a 14 day cruise from Los Angeles to Miami. Despite some party poops saying the ship would be at 60% capacity, this cruise sailed with only 1313 passengers aboard (34% capacity), and it was AMAZING!! In fact the Primary reason I was willing to sail during the pandemic was that Norwegian Holdings (which owns NCL and Regent Seven Seas) was, at the time, the ONLY cruise line allowing only fully vaccinated passengers with a negative COVID test to board their vessels. That boosted my confidence, so I wasn't worried. This cruise was intended to give me a great start to 2022 doing two things I've always wanted: The Mexican Riviera & the Panama Canal. I had heard fairly bad things about NCL in the past, as such my 1st cruises were on Celebrity for their premium status. However, when looking for a Panama Canal, this was a perfect cruise. It was 14 days, and on a ship that had a lot to offer. Since Bliss is one of NCL's newer ship (ships less than 5 years old are still considered 'new'), there were no verifiable bad reviews, except NCL's fleet wide practice of charging for extras, and the 'so called' "Service Fees". This would be my first time on a mega-ship, however my main motivation for doing this on Bliss was the reduced capacity. This was so I could enjoy all the amenities without crowds and long lines. The longest line I stood in was about 6 people, excluding exiting the ship on port days. Embarkation was smooth and I was onboard within an hour, as expected. This cruise had seven ports: Mexico - Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, Nicaragua - San Juan del Sur, Guatemala - Puerto Quetzal, Costa Rica - Puerto Caldera (Puntarenas), Panama - The Canal (New 2016 Locks), and Columbia - Cartagena. When I looked at the itinerary I suspected that Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Columbia might close their ports, and prepared for that. In December we were informed that the Nicaraguan government closed it's ports ahead of the cruise. On the first sea day I got a notice and voicemail that my zip-line excursion in Costa Rica was canceled and the money refunded to my onboard account. I was able to book a replacement zip-line & aerotram excursion. The evening before we were to arrive in Guatemala we were informed by the Port Authority we could not dock, so we passed the port for an extra sea day. It wasn't until we docked at Costa Rica, that after 3 hours we were told the Pier Manger would not allow passengers to debark and we left port an hour later. I was getting frequent alerts for Columbia well ahead of the cruise, so I was very surprised that we were able to dock and debark. The Panama Canal, the reason I took this 14 day cruise, was awesome! It took 11 hours to get through the new 2016 locks, and it was actually cool. Now I want to cruise on a much smaller ship and go through the original Locks! The food was amazing! I had no issues whatsoever, and I am a bit finicky. My reservation had a 4 meal dining package so I used it at Cagney's, Le Bistro, La Cucina, and Teppanyaki. I wished I skipped Teppanyaki for my dining package; it was over-hyped, and not as flashy as Benny Hanna's. I should've used Ocean Blue for my dining package, as that was the most expensive restaurant. American Diner was the only specialty restaurant I went to twice, because it was the only one that had fried chicken (though it was too salty, even for my Black ass). Savor was great (Taste was closed, except for the crew) and ate here most days for breakfast and lunch; The Manhattan Room was awesome; I ate here more than once. Food Republic was great and had really strong drinks! Q Steakhouse was fine and the dessert was awesome! By this time in the cruise (day 12) I was so stuffed from food that I never finished all of my meals. I tried to finish my dessert (a bread pudding that was frikken awesomeness) at Q's, but couldn't and only ate half - I was so mad at my fat self!! I put off doing most amenities in the first week because of the ports; so during the second week I went to the Bliss Speedway (I was hoping to have the track to myself, like one person shared in another review), mini golf (meh, way too mini, and no castles or traps!), and laser tag. I did water flume (loop tubes) 4 times (the 1 st time I didn't make through the first loop), and I did the tube racer 4 times; that was fun!! Laser tag was fun, except the guns didn't have straps and the field was more cramped than I expected. The Atrium is amazing and so big and spacious. This is where they did demonstrations, game shows, and showed movies (I caught the end of a Boss Baby movie), most movies I watched in my room. Speaking of, I discovered that there were some form of ambient noise was on every part of the ship. There were no actual quiet spaces, not even the library. Noise from the Atrium poured into the library, so reading in silence was impossible. So unless you were on this one sundeck outside Vibe Beach Club (on this cruise anyway, can't speak for a full capacity cruise) or the Thermal Spa, the only truly quiet place to be was your cabin. I only used the Pulse fitness center twice, because it attracted those people who like to show off how great they are at working out. I did manage to get through an entire early morning stretch routine on the 3rd day of the cruise, but never went back. I paid for the Thermal Spa pass, so that got waaay more use, though there a couple of days I never made it to the Spa. PREPARE FOR AN EXTRA SEA DAY. NO cruise itinerary is guaranteed and all the cruise documents state VERY CLEARLY THEY CAN CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITH SHORT NOTICE. So don't go off whining and blaming the cruise line or Travel Agent like a little baby! IGNORE those who say “Don't waste money on the souvenir mugs”. Bunk those people! Get the mugs. However, get them from the bars and restaurants, NOT the Duty Free shops: those are outrageously expensive. My NCL branded thermal coffee cup cost 24$ from Tradewinds. I paid 10$ for my Los Lobos Mexicanidad Skull Mug (plus the cost of the drink), and my Pineapple mug cost 6.57$ (plus drink tax, as we were still in US waters). It's worth the cost, if you don't have such a mug. Everyone kept asking about my Skull and Pineapple mug, even NCL crew from other restauraunts. This cruise was just phenomenal (despite the extra seas days), and when I got back to Tampa, it felt like I never should have left. Now, I know I'm ready for that Transatlantic on Regent 7Seas Splendor in 2023. I am even ready for a world cruise or a grand cruise. I am glad I sailed the Bliss at 34% capacity, but will I cruise him at full capacity? Probably not; I have learned that when it comes to cruising I like space to move about, both on the ship and in my suite or cabin. I liked the Celebrity Infinity because it was a small ship, and it only felt crowded in the clubs and lounges. All in all, I will sail on the Bliss again - IF it is ever less than 40% capacity again! Ahoy!

We cruise to see new places and enjoy new experiences. This cruise was billed as having 6 countries to enjoy. We saw 3. Day after day after day at sea was frustrating and boring. Of course we were not reimbursed for the loss of these countries. The entertainment was poor- the Flashback 4 second concert was just a rehash of the first and while a couple were good singers they did not blend well. The comedians were good once, then admitted they had no more material and admonished the crowd not to complain when subsequent shows were more of the same. The magician was meh level at BEST, used the same schtik both shows (even though his tricks were different) and billed as coming from Canada's Got Talent. Obviously not a whole lot. This passenger list seemed to average 65+, but the bands trended younger. We rarely heard from the Cruise Director, let alone saw him. His staff did all the work. The food was good but limited, and other than "pay to eat places" was all the same at each place, each night. The garden place seemed to have the same food for EVERY meal the whole cruise. We paid two kids and a future lotto win for this cruise as we wanted to try The Haven while numbers were down. We really enjoyed it. The staff was awesome, we were well taken care of, and it was the highlight of our cruise.

Overall great cruise. My real complaint was the Checkers Hotel and the travel arrangements to the ship. We've stayed in better $100 a night hotels with good free breakfasts, better internet, and pool, even the service was not that great. I'll tell my travel agent to not recommend that package to anyone.

Horrible service, Horrible staff. K y family felt racially profiled. And cruised only promised me things I did not get and spent $$$$$$ out of pocket

Overall, NCL did a fantastic job on this cruise. Service was perfect. The only issue were the entitled guests that felt they could ignore the rules and not wear their masks or not wear them properly. That was very upsetting.

Planning another cruise on NCL in March of 2022! And another cruise on carnival in May 2022!

The 7-day Mexican Riviera Cruise was fantastic during the pandemic. I think the ship has been a lot cleaner than before. I don't understand why everything has to be closed on disembarkation day. I'd like to get my workout out of the way before getting off the ship but was told the fitness center is closed. The Specialty Dining is okay. I'd expect better food for the extra charge. I was looking forward to having Escargot or Lobster in one of the specialty restaurants but didn't see them on the menu. I think NCL needs to bring back Steak and Lobster night at the Main Dining Rooms and also Escargot as one of the Appetizers.

We were lucky the ship was only ~60% full so there was always room for us to do what we wanted to do. The water slide was great for the 9yr old especially since the kids club was closed for drop off, (the water flume however seemed to fail about 1/4 people). Book early for laser tag it fills up fast.

We had a wonderful trip, NCL took precautions; we always felt safe and comfortable. Love the Bliss

NCL does a really amazing job with food and entertainment, ships are well maintained and cleaned.

Was looking forward to a great Christmas cruise, but wish we chose another company, not sailing NCL again.

With masks optional onboard for passengers, it was almost back to normal. Almost.

We selected this cruise with credits from a cancelled one. Not as warm in December as in our original March date, except in the Mexican ports. The ship itself, our cabin, the food, the variety of things going on, the staff were all excellent!

Excellent service from booking agent throughout the entire cruise experience. Will definitely use Barbara Nason and NCL again.

We felt very safe on the ship and our excursions. It was extra nice though since there were only approximately 1,800 passengers.

All in All a very enjoyable time. Certainly there could be improvements but overall very good. I guess the fact that I would do it again in a heartbeat speaks for itself. I will say however, the our ship was sailing at 40% capacity.....it might be a totally different story at full capacity.

This was a great tour. We certainly enjoyed the ship and all the ports. Weather was wonderful and all the crew on the ship were very friendly and ready to work.