So Disappointed with Bliss

[gmbhardy]

4 hours ago, PATRLR said:

Bird & Trimone both offered their opinions only, neither made any "attempt to justify his comments" (whatever that actually means in the context of someone offering their opinion).  Bot posts were equally "useless" (your word again, not mine).  

However you went out of your way to be sarcastically critical of one but not the other.  You additional comments about Bird prove my implicit point that those who comment frequently and positively about NCL get a free pass around here.

For the record, I've been around these boards a hell of a lot longer than you have gmbhardy and I am well aware of Bird's posting record.  Bird has some fantastic reviews and is very helpful to many, myself included but of course I wasn't being critical of Bird, I was simply pointing out two similar, but opposite posts and your unbalanced commentary.

 

 

Good point! Merry Christmas and happy cruising in 2019.

[e2011]

11 minutes ago, ClaireAndMike said:

I could be wrong, but I want to say that I read in another recent review that the contract for many of the staff just ended so maybe this was a largely new crew on your sailing?  Might explain part of it?  I'm on it this Saturday so I'll soon experience it for myself.      

That is true and may have been part of the problem. Our crew had just started their contracts.  

[e2011]

One more thing....the internet situation is tricky.  If you take the 250 free minutes package you get the lowest level of service which means WiFi calling, video streaming and a few other things are blocked and the data speed is very slow. If you need to have a more robust package like RCCL Ultimate Internet at Sea offers, you need to go down and have them give you credit for the 250 free plan and then buy the top level service. It costs more but if you use your phone for work it is worth it. However you must make this decision on the first day.

Edited December 24, 2018 by e2011

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, PATRLR said:

Bird & Trimone both offered their opinions only, neither made any "attempt to justify his comments" (whatever that actually means in the context of someone offering their opinion).  Bot posts were equally "useless" (your word again, not mine).  

However you went out of your way to be sarcastically critical of one but not the other.  You additional comments about Bird prove my implicit point that those who comment frequently and positively about NCL get a free pass around here.

For the record, I've been around these boards a hell of a lot longer than you have gmbhardy and I am well aware of Bird's posting record.  Bird has some fantastic reviews and is very helpful to many, myself included but of course I wasn't being critical of Bird, I was simply pointing out two similar, but opposite posts and your unbalanced commentary.

 

Dude. Chill. 

 

I have a 15 page live post from the Bliss for which we devoted many hours of our cruise posting and answering questions in real time (many of which required scavenger hunts on the ship to get information for people). And I published a review of our cruise here on CC. 

 

We we loved the ship. We loved the observation lounge especially. And based on a very positive opinion on the latest Breakaway Plus configuration have already booked rooms near the Observation Lounge on the Joy and Encore in 2019. 

[dam64]

I totally agree with you. Last cruise we did in the Haven was the Escape and the food in the haven restaurant was not fresh and the salads were always brown. Throughout the ship we saw lots of cutbacks compared to the 13 other NCL cruises we have done. Food in the buffet has hardly any options anymore. Half the buffet was closed in the afternoons and evenings. Speciality restaurants have become tasteless and smaller portions. Staff not as friendly as they used to be. We wrote a letter to guest relations about our last 2 cruises with them how we were not happy and service and food has declined, they gave us a credit towards another cruise which expires in a few days. We won't be using it. We have tried other cruise lines and will likely be doing a different cruise line for our next one.

[PATRLR]

19 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Dude. Chill. 

 

I have a 15 page live post from the Bliss for which we devoted many hours of our cruise posting and answering questions in real time (many of which required scavenger hunts on the ship to get information for people). And I published a review of our cruise here on CC. 

 

We we loved the ship. We loved the observation lounge especially. And based on a very positive opinion on the latest Breakaway Plus configuration have already booked rooms near the Observation Lounge on the Joy and Encore in 2019. 

Actually Bird, you ought to think about chilling.  

I was on that Bliss cruise with you, I know all about your review (very well done, thank you), but that all has absolutely nothing to do with my point.

[Trimone]

Without criticism things will never get better, anyone that thinks NCL are getting better has an agenda, things are getting spread wider with the bigger ships and standards are dropping, I shall be sticking to the small ships where care and attention are foremost 

[thunter1224]

On 12/22/2018 at 8:38 PM, yankees111 said:

I doubt NCL would kick someone off the ship for aggressive driving of the go-Karts. Too bad they don’t have separate times for kids to ride the go-Karts.

.

 

Edited January 22, 2019 by thunter1224
already received a response to this post.

[AmyJA]

Two people on the same cruise can have very different opinions.

My 2 cents on our time sailing on the Bliss?

 

Food was mostly good.  Some wonderful (LA Bistro)l. Some not so (Cagney's).  Didn't like the feel of the buffet area.

LOVED the Observation lounge.  And nope, we were not on an Alaskan cruise. Was the repo, bringing the ship south.

The BEST cabin steward that we have ever have.  And the rest of the staff?  ALL were nice and knew their job.

But then again...even the people on the ship (clients) were nice.  Only ran into one pooh.

 

[derek005]

On ‎12‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 7:30 PM, gmbhardy said:

 

Great post. You’ve assisted a lot of people.

You can't speak for others since their review was what they thought. They believe the food and drinks were cheap, but what do they like food-wise and drink-wise? People who make a laundry list of negatives are pretty much the same people you can't please most of the time. I cruise often and of course there are some things I may not like, but I make the most out of my cruise or vacation.

Edited January 23, 2019 by derek005
edit

[newmexicoNita]

On 12/22/2018 at 4:09 PM, BirdTravels said:

Sorry you were disappointed with the Bliss. 

 

We are platinum plus members and loved the Bliss and have booked her again. 

our daughter who also is plat plus absolutely love the Bliss. She and hubby were on her about 3 months ago; thought it was one of the best ships she had taken and enjoyed the entertainment, food,, beauty of the ship and the service. I guess this is why we have so many choices, what one likes, another will not. I am sure you and daughter would share the same positives about the ship. It is too bad the OP was so disappointed. 

[newmexicoNita]

On 12/24/2018 at 2:16 PM, Trimone said:

Without criticism things will never get better, anyone that thinks NCL are getting better has an agenda, things are getting spread wider with the bigger ships and standards are dropping, I shall be sticking to the small ships where care and attention are foremost 

mega ships are not for all of us: we are among those who are not fans and prefer smaller ships, but if you think it is just NCL, think again. It has been our experience that, the larger the ship the more service seems to suffer. We found this on Princess as well, but that is just our experience. Others see it differently. 

When you mention small ships, are you talking about the 2000 passenger types or the truly small ships? if you are talking small ships, you are also talking big bucks. I would expect much better everything if I were paying twice the amount. 

[SeaShark]

On 12/22/2018 at 5:04 PM, e2011 said:

Asking questions of staff in the main hotel would yield different answers for the same question.  

 

 

I know that the post is a month old at this point, but I'm honestly confused on this statement.

 

Could you please provide some explanation and/or context behind why you would be asking the same question of different staff members? Is this done as a test to see if they all give the exact same answer? Is this done to fish for the desired answer? I don't see why, once a question is asked and answered, a person would repeatedly ask the same question...

[Son of a son of a ...]

And folks wonder why the boards are dying.  The same posters beating the crap out of anyone who shares a bad experience is driving people away.  

[e2011]

10 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

 

I know that the post is a month old at this point, but I'm honestly confused on this statement.

 

Could you please provide some explanation and/or context behind why you would be asking the same question of different staff members? Is this done as a test to see if they all give the exact same answer? Is this done to fish for the desired answer? I don't see why, once a question is asked and answered, a person would repeatedly ask the same question...

Of course I would be happy to accommodate you with an explanation. Here is one example. On the second day we were trying to find the Latitudes desk to find out why we did not get out vouchers for the free specialty dining. The first crew member I asked told us the Latitudes desk was next to the camera shop. It was not. So while at the camera shop we asked another crew member and she said it was next to the internet cafe. When we got there we could not see a Latitudes sign so we asked a 3rd crew member. She could not speak english.  Finally we found a 4th crew member who knew the correct answer and it turns out Latitudes does not have their own desk but rather they share the desk with port shopping so there was no signage.

[SeaShark]

49 minutes ago, e2011 said:

Of course I would be happy to accommodate you with an explanation. Here is one example. On the second day we were trying to find the Latitudes desk to find out why we did not get out vouchers for the free specialty dining. The first crew member I asked told us the Latitudes desk was next to the camera shop. It was not. So while at the camera shop we asked another crew member and she said it was next to the internet cafe. When we got there we could not see a Latitudes sign so we asked a 3rd crew member. She could not speak english.  Finally we found a 4th crew member who knew the correct answer and it turns out Latitudes does not have their own desk but rather they share the desk with port shopping so there was no signage.

 

That makes more sense. The original statement didn't indicate that it was a one-off situation.

 

FWIW, the Latitudes reps have a number of functions on the ships...including CruiseNext and Port Shopping. The Latitudes stuff is almost a side job...they are far more focused on the other duties.

 

Their desk...in the ship's atrium, is well marked with the appropriate signage (which, btw, does not say anything about port shopping).

 

[e2011]

2 hours ago, SeaShark said:

 

That makes more sense. The original statement didn't indicate that it was a one-off situation.

 

FWIW, the Latitudes reps have a number of functions on the ships...including CruiseNext and Port Shopping. The Latitudes stuff is almost a side job...they are far more focused on the other duties.

 

Their desk...in the ship's atrium, is well marked with the appropriate signage (which, btw, does not say anything about port shopping). 

 

Yes, as you can see from this photo there is no Latitudes sign. Not marked at all.  And I must correct my previous post...The Latitudes people were at the Cruise Next desk...not Port Shopping. 

 

Quote

 

 

Edited January 23, 2019 by e2011

[SeaShark]

4 minutes ago, e2011 said:

 

Yes, as you can see from this photo there is no Latitudes sign. Not marked at all.  And I must correct my previous post...The Latitudes people were at the Cruise Next desk...not Port Shopping. 

 

 

 

Let me try again and I'll apologize for being blunt...

 

Latitudes reps ARE the CruiseNext reps. They are one and the same. CruiseNext is their primary function, Latitudes is secondary. There is an appropriate sign posted.

[e2011]

I did not know that information. Thank you for clarifying. It would have been nice if we had been told that on the ship.  The other two instances of getting different answers to the same question would indicate to me there was a disconnecte somewhere on that cruise.