Bliss Pacific Coastal and Mexican Riviera cruises 9/30-10/13/2018 Trip Report

[rockfsh]

In Puerto Valarta we took the ship tour “Town and Tequila”. First stop the malecon in old town near the seahorse sculpture. As we walked across the street to the square, I met two police women. I said to them, “Disculpa, ¿Puedo tomar su foto?” The younger one said, “Si”. In the town square is a statue of Ignacio Valarta, the city's namesake and former governor of Jalisco The town used to be named Las Penas, the rocks. Port of Rocks doesn't do it.

Near the square is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Beautiful. Steps up to the entrance are narrow without hand rails. If you go to the left there is a metal hand rail.

Next post ¡Tequila!

 

Edited October 17, 2018 by rockfsh
add photos

[BigNance]

Very cool!  I have enjoyed following y'all's trip through your report.  Great job!

Please do report on the tequila tasting!  One of my favorite beverages!!

N

[rockfsh]

The bus now takes us to a “recommended” jewelry shop in old town. There we get free margaritas. Nice stuff but expensive. The salesmen follow you around and keep dropping the price until you get back on the bus.

20 minutes outside of town we visit a hacienda which is is a working tequila distillery and tourist trap.There we were shown live agave which plants, harvested “pineapples” and walked trough the brewing process. We are given many samples of tequila to try. We also were told not to use lime as that just kills the taste. First blanco or plata which is bold and used in margaritas. Next resposado which is aged in oak casks for a year and is smooth. Finally anejo which is aged at least 2 years and is subtle and complex. Also sampled were flavored tequilas such as almond and chocolate. After we had as much as we wanted or could take, we were offered tequila for sale at a special reduced price of $34.99 for a $35 bottle. We were advised that we shouldn't tell the ship about the sampler size packs so we didn't and got through security and kept them with us (don't tell).

After the hacienda we visited a rich community next to a golf course and saw a mansion owned by the Gold's gym CEO from the outside. It rents for $1000/night or Haven prices. There were iguanas on the golf course. Our guide said they taste like chicken (Too chicken to try this).

Upon returning to the ship we were told we would not be visiting Mazatlan due to the approach of Hurricane Sergio.

Next Cabo San Lucas.

Edited October 17, 2018 by rockfsh

[rockfsh]

[rockfsh]

The photos missing from the first part of this trip report are here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/gallery/album/23-pacific-coastal-and-mexican-riviera-on-ncl-bliss/

[rockfsh]

Cabo San Lucas is at the very tip of Baja California Sur. There are water taxi trips to the end called arches for about $10 a person for an hour tour. Cabo is a tender port. It took a little over 2 hours for everyone who wanted to get ashore. There was a gigantic yacht docked at Cabo. Some on our tender speculated that it belonged to Simon Cowell or perhaps Tiger Woods. After Googling it, it turns out it to belongs to a Russian oligarch. (no Manafort/Putin jokes here)

Everyone we met in Cabo spoke English, accepted dollars and credit cards. There are many shops right on he dock. Bars too. We were scheduled to depart Cabo at 3PM because of Sergio.

Two more sea days then back to San Pedro/LA.

[Victorious8]

Thanks for coming back and posting! 

[rockfsh]

9 hours ago, Victorious8 said:

Thanks for coming back and posting! 

 

Too bad you were not able to join us. We had a lively group. We kept running into
them (sometimes literally). We hit every bar on the ship.

[rockfsh]

These are more Cabo pics

[rockfsh]

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by rockfsh

[rockfsh]

Ship on the horizon on right side.

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by rockfsh

[MyTMo777]

On 9/30/2018 at 10:38 AM, UFMOM said:

 

 

 

Hope the aft elevators are less crowded on our upcoming Panama cruise. Our cabin is near them and I will be using a rollator since I am recovering from a broken ankle sustained in Cuba on our Sun cruise. I have heard horror stories about elevators and mobility devices. Have always deferred to wheelchairs and scooters myself, so hoping karma and my fellow passengers will be kind to me:)

 

 

Mary Ann

We're on the same cruise, Mary Ann, so if I see a lady with a rollator, I'll be sure to say hi and let you in the elevator first! Our room is near the aft elevators on the 12th deck, so I'm happy to hear those are the elevators to use.

Maureen

[rockfsh]

How to avoid the elevator crowd (J/K)

[PATRLR]

On 10/5/2018 at 3:09 PM, rockfsh said:

After having zombies @ Chill Bar, told waiter “I want brains”.

So, did he make you some?

(Really enjoying your report by the way.  Thank you.)

[rockfsh]

14 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

So, did he make you some?

(Really enjoying your report by the way.  Thank you.)

 

No but he laughed.

[rockfsh]

The ship headed out of Cabo at 24kts to get out of the path of Sergio. Once clear, speed was dropped to 7kts. We had 2 days to get to LA.  When a passenger fell ill, the ship sped back up and headed toward San Diego to transfer the passenger to a Coast Guard vessel. After the transfer, the Bliss dropped speed to 7 kts and headed East to bide time before LA.
We took those 2 sea days to walk all over the ship. Although I ate like a Roman Emperor (less the honeyed dormice), I gained less than 2 pounds for the trip. Noreen lost 3 pounds.  My fitbit indicated we walked over 6 kilometers plus stairs a day on sea days. A waitress told me she walks 3 times that during a work day.

Here are some random ship pics.

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by rockfsh

[UFMOM]

10 hours ago, MyTMo777 said:

We're on the same cruise, Mary Ann, so if I see a lady with a rollator, I'll be sure to say hi and let you in the elevator first! Our room is near the aft elevators on the 12th deck, so I'm happy to hear those are the elevators to use.

Maureen

 

Thanks Maureen. We are up on 15. The ship looks amazing. Great review, very entertaining. One of these days we will splurge on the Haven, just have to convince DH to go for it. 

 

 

 

Mary Ann

[NEW2THESEA]

Best review, ever!  Thank you!

 

I have one question-I went thru the dailies but couldn't find anything on Port Valet. Is it offered for this port?

[Mr and Mrs C]

Are those smokin drinks only available at the Haven bar?

[rockfsh]

Initially we booked cabin 17114, a courtyard haven penthouse on our B2B. After
final payment the price for the second cruise dropped below what we paid so we
upgraded to 18118, a 2 bedroom family villa which is bigger than our college apartment.
The cost for our Haven suites for a single night exceeded our college monthly
budget. One of my professors at Boalt Hall told me, "You'll know when you've
made it when you are sitting at a cruise ship bar, drinking mojitos". There was no
Haven then. More of my cabin pictures of these suites can be found at Cruisedeck plans.
 

[rockfsh]

22 minutes ago, Mr and Mrs C said:

Are those smokin drinks only available at the Haven bar?

 

Yes, unfortunately

[rockfsh]

1 hour ago, NEW2THESEA said:

Best review, ever!  Thank you!

 

I have one question-I went thru the dailies but couldn't find anything on Port Valet. Is it offered for this port?

 

Not sure

[rockfsh]

The Haven Restaurant host is also named "Noreen". She is now one of
my Facebook friends. The restaurant manager is named "Gautam". I called him
"Batman". He laughed.

[rockfsh]

If you have not already done so, check out LincolnLog's excellent review of this cruise.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2595235-a-not-so-brief-review-of-our-bliss-mexican-riviera-cruise-oct-5-13/

[rockfsh]