Our first NCL cruise - pure BLISS!

[ohhbother]

We're sitting at LAX - just left the beautiful Norwegian Bliss. We're experienced cruisers, having sailed more than 20 times with Celebrity, Princess, RCCL and Disney. This five-day Pacific Coast cruise on the Bliss was our first experience with NCL, but it won't be our last.

 

First, the ship is beautiful. Stunning, really. Our BA stateroom, 11182, was fantastic with a large angled balcony. We booked a guarantee at a great rate, so we were thrilled to get this centrally located cabin with the lovely larger balcony.

 

Our biggest surprise on the ship had to be the food quality. We most recently cruised Princess (two-week European cruise in April) and found the food to be anywhere from mediocre to nearly inedible. Bliss was the exact opposite. From the Garden View cafe to all the specialty restaurants, the food was just fantastic. We particularly enjoyed La Cucina and Los Lobos. My husband remarked several times that the food was "restaurant quality" and not "banquet hall quality."

 

The other really nice surprise was how pleasant the crew was. People were just very friendly - a big departure from our most recent Princess experience. The "washy-washy" song is stuck in my head permanently, I fear.

 

We bought Thermal Suite passes beforehand and definitely got our money's worth. We spent hours every day enjoying the therapy pool, the sauna, the snow room and the heated loungers.

 

We didn't do any excursions -- just chose to enjoy the beautiful ship. We did walk around Victoria a bit just to explore on foot, but that was it.

 

We loved the waterslides! Didn't do go carts or Laser tag, but we plan to next time. We've already booked the Bliss to Alaska next May. And we're taking our entire extended family with us this time. We know they'll love this wonderful ship as much as we do!

 

Oh - and sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge twice was so cool. We got up at 6:30 am and sailed in under beautiful clear skies. We sailed out at 7 pm, and the fog was so thick you couldn't see the iconic bridge until we were basically directly underneath it. We were on the top deck for that, and it was quite the experience. Everyone cheered as we slipped right under the bridge, fog horn blaring and cutting through the dense fog. A spectacular memory!

 

If you have any questions, let me know. I'll do my best to answer.

[JamieLogical]

Thanks for the review! We are sailing on the Bliss in February (just made final payment this week!) and I am excited to read any new reviews. Glad to hear the food was great and the ship was beautiful. We love the Escape (sailing on her again in 9 days!) and I am so curious to see how the two ships compare. Everything I know about the Bliss makes me feel like it will be an improvement on the Escape, which is impressive. Glad you had such a great trip!

[NRWPA]

Thank you for your comments on the Bliss. I am scheduled for Alaska on Bliss in May also. I'd been reading some not so great reviews so I'm happy to know that someone loved the ship. Nancy

[YVRBassElectric]

We did the first 2 sailings of the Bliss, loved her so much we booked a multi generational trip for April 2019, while aboard in May 2018, decided I didn't want to wait that long to go back, so did Alaska in Sept 2018. She has an amazing crew, was incredibly impressed with how many remembered our names (and remembered DH hadn't been using a cane in May and asked what happened)

[shakeNbake]

Just booked the Bliss. Has been a few years since on NCl, being loyal to RCCL plus it is more convenient using Port Everglades for us. Are there still formal nights, and lobster? Do you make reservations for shows? Is there a charge for the go-carts? Thanks in advance.

[MamaToMany]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! We board Bliss in 5 days. Reviews like yours make me even more excited than I already was, and that's hard to do!

[Sauer-kraut]

Just booked the Bliss. Has been a few years since on NCl, being loyal to RCCL plus it is more convenient using Port Everglades for us. Are there still formal nights, and lobster? Do you make reservations for shows? Is there a charge for the go-carts? Thanks in advance.

No formal nights, NCL is casual, the most dressed up you need to be is long pants and a golf shirt (and that's only for the more dressy specialty restaurant). No lobster in MDR you might find it for an upcharge in a specialty restaurant.

[shakeNbake]

Thanks for your reply. Like the no formal nites, so do men wear jeans or shorts at dinner in MDR and around the ship at nite?

[Sauer-kraut]

Thanks for your reply. Like the no formal nites, so do men wear jeans or shorts at dinner in MDR and around the ship at nite?

Yes to shorts one MDR may not allow shorts but that will be listed in the Daily.