NCL Bliss Review_ Celebrity Cruiser goes on the Cheatin Side of Town, My .02

[Tommy3putts]

 

 

Hello everyone,  My wife just returned from our first cruise on NCL.  We had a wonderful week on the NCL Bliss and are glad we tried NCL.  What follows is our thoughts on the cruise.  

 

DISCLAIMER:  Admittedly My wife and I are RCCL fans.  Our first choice is always Celebrity but we also have sailed several times on RCI ships.  I’ve been intrigued by the NCL Breakaway class ever since it debuted several years ago and wanted to try it.  We finally did it this year.  The views are from the perspective of a grumpy horizontally challenged, bald fifty something, with no kids.  Admittedly, my views may be biased.  I naturally do a periodic comparison with our experiences on RCCL ships, so feel free to take my observations with a grain of salt.  

 

We sailed on the Bliss on February 2-9, 2019.  Overall we really enjoyed NCL Bliss.  She is a great ship with many outdoor venues that appealed to us.   However, while I would sail on NCL again if the the itinerary, ship, timing and price was right (Alaska??),  I think I’ve scratched my NCL itch for now and it’s time to go back to where we belong....Celebrity.  I’ll go into more detail below but to best summarize our view of the overall cruise experience I’d say it was a 3 beers (🍺🍺🍺) out of 5.   We found it a bit too noisy and crowded for our liking (ironically there was not a  lot of kids on this cruise).  The overall flow in most of the public areas just didn’t suit us.  That and the legendary “nickel and diming” stuff and NCL’s failure to address the finer details greatly lessened our overall NCL experience.  

 

Embarkation 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺. One of the highlights of the cruise.  Very easy and quick check in.  Not too crowded.  I liked the “assigned group card” boarding process.  

 

Disembarkation 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺.   Another highlight.  We left the ship around 0930.  I loved clearing border entry check (facial recognition) on board while leaving the ship.  Once we were off, getting our luggage and catching a cab was a breeze. 

 

Itinerary 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺. I really liked the E. Caribbean Itinerary (Tortola, St Thomas and Nassau).  We like sea days and the three port itinerary with a mid afternoon departure really made it feel like we had 4 days at sea.

 

OVERALL SHIP CRUISE EXPERIENCE 🍺🍺🍺 

 

The Bliss 🍺🍺🍺.   Overall like the open air spaces and their access/connection with the ocean.  So many of the big new ships (like RCI’s Oasis class) have plenty of open  outdoor space but block the views and access to the ocean with lifeboats, walls and water slides.  But that’s not the case with the Bliss, plenty of space to sit and enjoy the ocean views.  The furnishings and decor were for the most part pleasing and comfortable.  We had smooth sailing and felt very little ship movement.  The outside lounging areas on deck 8 were our main areas to retreat to at night.  Unfortunately, a huge bad thing is that there were many areas of the ship that are regularly crowded and noisy.

 

The Waterfront 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺  This was our favorite feature of ship.  NCL really did this well and clearly outshines RCI and Celebrity.  I wish the RCI Oasis class ships had evening outdoor sea view venues like the Bliss.  I love the return to the open outdoor promenade deck.  The Waterfront restaurants, bars and lounging al fresco areas were great!  It was a wonderful place to escape the noise and crowds in the other public areas of the ship, especially at night after dinner.  I wish there was maybe one or two more bars out there towards the back of the ship.

 

Spice H20 🍺🍺🍺🍺  This is where I spent the majority of the time on the ship.  It was a great adults only retreat with beautiful views and a great bar staff.  It reminded me a great deal of Celebrity’s Sunset Bar (but not as nice).  The covered bar area was great, there was plenty of sports on TV, beer and sea breezes. The big knock for me were the stationary bar stools. They are far too close to the bar for a big fat guy like me.  I hit my knee countless times...annoying.  Also It did get over crowded at times during the day with lounge chairs.   It was another nice evening outdoor venue if you were looking for music, dancing and overall good time.

 

Observation Deck 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺 A great venue.  My wife’s favorite.  A great place to escape and get a cocktail, snack and great views.  Perfect for an Alaska or other bad weather cruise.  Also a great spot to grab an early morning cup of coffee.

 

Bars 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺 I really liked the variety of bars and lounge spaces on the Bliss.  Wine, Scotch, Mojito, Cavern Club, H2O, Observation Lounge are just a few examples.  I think NCL overall has done a great job.....except for the Jimmy Buffet venue.  That’s a head scratcher.  

 

Specialty Restaurants 🍺🍺🍺 🍺.   We had the 3 night dining package.   La Cucina, Teppanyaki and Cagney’s.   Cagney’s was fabulous.  I think I had one of the best steaks I’ve ever had on a cruise ship.  The service was excellent.  La Cucina and Teppanyaki were both solid choices.  Good food and good service, but not as good as Cagney’s.  We also did a fourth night at “Food Republic”.  This was probably my least favorite.  The food and concept was good, but the service was not great and the “electronic menu” system was overly complicated and did not work. 

 

The Local 🍺🍺 1/2.  Sooo much promise yet doesn’t deliver.  Overall disappointed.  To me this venue is not a pub or a sports bar.  It’s just a restaurant venue with a few TVs and a bar over on the side.  The Casino Bar, Outdoor Cavern Club Bar and H2O are much better spots to watch sports.  Had wings the first day and they were great!  But the breakfast on the third morning  was just “so-so.”  Trying to be a food venue and a bar venue just doesn’t work smoothly in my mind.  It ended up being a crowded noisy central meeting point for most guests.  I never went back after the third morning breakfast.

 

Buffet 🍺🍺🍺 1/2.  We ate breakfast and lunch most days.  Great selections and usually didn’t have problems finding at table.  We especially enjoyed the outdoor seating.  The main disappointment was the inconsistent times that they opened for breakfast.  Some mornings it was 0700 and others it was 0730.  It caused a lot of confusion among the passengers.

 

MDR.  🍺🍺 1/2.  We ate at Savor twice.  The food was “okay” (not great), but service was very disappointing.  The timing of food service was rarely coordinated (my wife finished her first course before mine was delivered).  Also crowded and noisy for the space.  

 

Pool deck areas  (decks 16&17) 🍺🍺 Probably the most disappointing asepct of the ship for us.  The flow on both decks was the worst I’ve experienced on sea days.  Crowded and loungers moved everywhere.  It was almost impossible to get from one end of the ship to another.  The pool area is too small and desperately needs a third pool and extra deck space.  The water slides and that race track are the culprits and an annoyance for my purposes.  Thank goodness for the H2O retreat 

 

The running track is a joke, and for the most part useless, even in the mornings.  

 

Elevators 🍺.  Wow! Awful.  poorly positioned and crowded at almost all times of the day.  The waiting areas for an elevator made the experience even worse.

 

Public bathrooms 🍺.  The good news is there are a lot of them.  The bad news is most of them are too small and have one or two undersized stalls.  The smallest stalls I ever experienced on a cruise ship (old or new).  Most of the bathrooms did not have automatic door openers and they wanted guest to use paper towels to open the heavy steel doors.  Yet most of the paper towels dispensers didn’t work or were always empty.  Seems like an area, NCL intentionally cut corners on to me.  

 

Cabins 🍺🍺🍺🍺.   #14160, Mini Suite.   I thought the NCL Bliss cabins were great, well thought out and had a few nice touches.  The bathroom had a lot of space for a cabin this size.  With the exception of the unmarked main light switches and absence of a night light in the bathroom the electronics were well done.  Plenty of outlets and USB Ports.  The bed was disappointing for my taste (too firm and uncomfortable), but my wife liked it.

 

Entertainment 🍺🍺🍺.   This rating may admittedly be unfair.  Didn’t do much here and we skipped Jersey Boys.   The pool band wasn’t the best I’ve heard.  I think the lead singer was having a bad cruise.

 

SHIP GUEST AMENITIES AND SERVICES 🍺🍺 1/2

 

Internet 🍺🍺 Overall a huge disappointment.  Here NCL woefully is far behind RCCL.  The value for the price paid is ridiculous.  I got the premium high speed package and felt it was a ripoff.  Sporadic streaming and almost not ability to do live video.  Also iMessage quit working halfway through the cruise and the IT staff just blaimed in on Apple.  For normal email, social media and surfing, it was fine.  BUT NOT WORTH THE HIGH PRICES.  All of the different pacakges offered by NCL are really overpriced for the service provided.  

 

NCL ship App 🍺🍺 1/2.  “Meh.”  Without going into too much detail I like RCI/X’s Apps better.  NCL’s was harder to set up at the start and the features were less refined that RCCL’s.  I did like having access to my onboard account.  But the App went weird halfway through the cruise.  I think this is the culprit of the iMessage issue above, but the NCL IT experts blamed Apple.

 

Beverage Package 🍺.  Probably my biggest example to provide of NCL’s cost cutting and nickel and diming.  One of the highest per day prices for the “Ultimate Beverage Package” (UDP) (ours was included in the original booking) and delivers the least as far as I’m concerned.   The biggest shock and ripoff is the fact that water and sodas are not included in the “Ultimate” package.  So unlike RCCL, one is left to getting a soda or tap water in a plastic disposable cup from a bartender.   Additionally on the booze side, most of the premium liquors that are included in RCCL packages are outside the pricing that would make them included in the NCL package.  So the choices are fewer in the NCL package.  

 

Overall Bar Experience 🍺🍺🍺 1/2.  Most of the Bar and Lounge venues were great.  There is a wide variety.  The bartenders were all great (🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺).  Fantastic speedy service and fun to get to know.  We especially enjoyed the bartenders at H2O (Bryant from “south philly,” “Idaho” and Sam) that really made my afternoons in H2O fun.   The bad thing about the outdoor bar service is NCL’s policy of using plastic disposable cups for mixed drinks.  It greatly lessened the experience, when they should have been using Acrylic glassware.    (Also sticking this comment here, the disposable coffee cups are a joke.  You have to ask for them and the are small Dixie cup type cups.  Bring and insulated travel mug for hot and cold beverages)

 

Room Steward 🍺🍺🍺🍺.  Was okay.  Started off great, but I was disappointed when he clearly became less attentive as the cruise went on, especially the last 24 hours.   

 

So, Let me sum-up.  No doubt in my mind Bliss is a wonderful ship and we had a great cruise.  Depending on the cruising wants and needs of the individual I would recommend sailing on the Bliss (or a Breakaway class ship).  I really like NCL’s ship design of bringing the outdoor promenade experience to life.  I wish RCI would incorporate these types of venues in their new ships and go back to a fully open Promenade deck.  To me the Waterfront and the H2O areas are the main attractions of the Breakaway class ships.   But then there are the NCL detractors: cutting corners, crowds, pool deck organization/flow, noise and most of all those elevators!  

 

As older DINKS we are not huge fans of “family oriented venues.”  We want outdoor spaces to enjoy drinks, warm weather and the ocean. The focus of NCL on on placing family venues like watersides and a racetrack in a manner that interupts peaceful enjoyment in the upper open deck areas is something that will likely prevent us from doing more regular NCL cruises.  For us NCL will just be an option to look at for future cruises, but our first choice will continue to be Celebrity. 

 

Cheers

 

Tom

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2019 by Tommy3putts
Word misuse

[tallnthensome]

Thanks for your detailed review! Sailing her next month for 15 days. 

[cincicruisers]

I was under the impression that soda was included  beverage package??

[cheersforbeers]

7 minutes ago, cincicruisers said:

I was under the impression that soda was included  beverage package??

Soda is included with the UBP, bottled water and speciality coffee is not

[Tommy3putts]

True, you can get soft drinks from a bar.  

[Decpl]

Thanks for the review, the reasons you mentioned is one reason we never went back to NCL after one cruise.

K and J

[Sand and Seas]

Thanks for sharing your review!  It's been years since we sailed on RCI  and have never sailed Celebrity so very interesting to see your comparisons.   We love this particular itinerary too and will be visiting the same islands on the Bliss and then the Breakaway in the next 3 months. 

Also love that Waterfront

[WAHMto5]

Thanks for the review! 

[Muushka]

Thanks OP.  Nice comparison, fair and balanced, my favorite!

 

NCL is not on our top list for next cruise but we are open to seeing what X cruisers think.

[OceanBlueWaters]

Thanks for review!

DINKs may not enjoy a cruise on NCL Breakaway +.  LOL!  Race cars, Laser Tag, etc. is not inviting to me and I agree with your observation.  It is all personal choice of course. 🙂

The Jogging Track is a joke on all ships.  People from overseas travel in pods, and have no consideration for others who are serious.  They trek along in slippers!  That is the culture they grew up in and we have to pacify them? AGH and Why?!  Those are the same people who have no respect entering elevators and push/shove getting into elevators and also hold up buffets.  Burping loud and hard is a compliment in their world.  Me...not so much.

I need to be PC and don't want to offend anyone. This is all JMO (Disclaimer for everyone who wants to fire back).

I am seriously looking into "The Scarlet Lady"...

All JMO 🙂

 

[need2cruisesoon]

I disagree on the adult pool, we found it relaxing and enjoyable. 

[Tommy3putts]

[Ginnyfyr]

Thanks for a great review! Hubby and I were on Celebrity Equinox the same dates (Feb 2-9) and were wowed by Bliss as we passed by on sail away. Sounds like a great ship if you're in their target market. We've only done one NCL cruise on Breakaway and we enjoyed it, but our bid into the Haven was also accepted and that definitely had a huge impact on our experience...I don't think we would ever sail them in less than a Haven cabin again. I guess it's safe to say welcome back to Celebrity! 🙂 

[tony0aces]

Thanks for the review, did you happen to try your luck in the Bliss casino, if so can you share your thoughts? 

[ourfamilylovescruising]

great review!

Celebrity is our favorite too when it is just my husband and myself but with the kids NCL is our favorite it give us a little of both we have done RCCL about 6 times and still end up saying we like NCL better.

The oasis class ship are amazing  but never seeing the ocean view really was a disappoint for me.

where the water front on the away class ship is really my favorite thing from any ship.

[Tommy3putts]

7 hours ago, tony0aces said:

Thanks for the review, did you happen to try your luck in the Bliss casino, if so can you share your thoughts? 

I ventured through the Casino several times but did not stop and play (While I love to play poker, craps and Blackjack I don’t gamble much if at all on cruises. My beverage package usually puts me at a higher risk of losing).  The Casino is nice and one of the bigger ones I’ve seen for a ship this size.  I like hte idea of a separate room for smokers.  The casino at night was always busy when I walked through.  I liked the bar.  I’d give the Casino 🍺🍺🍺🍺

[Tommy3putts]

7 hours ago, Ginnyfyr said:

Thanks for a great review! Hubby and I were on Celebrity Equinox the same dates (Feb 2-9) and were wowed by Bliss as we passed by on sail away. Sounds like a great ship if you're in their target market. We've only done one NCL cruise on Breakaway and we enjoyed it, but our bid into the Haven was also accepted and that definitely had a huge impact on our experience...I don't think we would ever sail them in less than a Haven cabin again. I guess it's safe to say welcome back to Celebrity! 🙂 

 

I loved the Equinox.  We sailed her last year.  The Sunset bar on celebrity is probably my favorite venue of any cruise ships.  We thought about bidding for a Haven upgrade but decided not to.  I wanted to experience my first NCL in a regular areas.  If I were going to do an NCL cruise in the near future, it would have to be in the Haven.

 

Cheers.

 

Tom

[Tommy3putts]

15 minutes ago, ourfamilylovescruising said:

great review!

Celebrity is our favorite too when it is just my husband and myself but with the kids NCL is our favorite it give us a little of both we have done RCCL about 6 times and still end up saying we like NCL better.

The oasis class ship are amazing  but never seeing the ocean view really was a disappoint for me.

where the water front on the away class ship is really my favorite thing from any ship.

 

We’ve done two Oasis class cruises (Allure 7nt and The Symphony 12nt TA). I agree they are amazing ships, especially when you consider the amount of passengers and crew they are carrying.  It never seems crowded on that ship.  Everything is well thought out and the service is amazing.  I really like the Central Park area.  However, as you and I point out all the sea views are blocked.  There is really no outdoors space (bars or lounges) to sit and enjoy an cocktail and experience the ocean, especially at  night.  That is a huge detractor for me.  Contrast that with Celebrity’s Sunset bar at the back of the ship.  That’s my favorite spot at night to enjoy the moon and the ocean.  If Royal could do something similar to the NCL Breakaway class and somehow move those life boats and open up deck 5 or 6 there’d be so much space for folks to sit and have contact with the ocean.  

Edited February 16, 2019 by Tommy3putts

[donsuej]

We were on this same cruise on the 14th deck aft.  I thought it was very rocky back there.  So much so that the only time I felt good was in a port or the night between Tortola and St. Thomas (since we basically floated all night).  We loved Le Bistro and Los Lobos.  Cagneys and Teppanyaki were both good.  Never ate in the main dining room.  Having been on 17 NCL cruises this ship was just ok for me.  I could care less about race tracks and laser tag.  Spice H20 is smaller on this ship compared to the others.    I thought the 3 bands (Beatles, Familiar Strangers, and Siglo) were all fantastic.  I hate that you have to go over an hour early to get a seat in the Cavern club to see a band.  Jersey Boys and Havana were both wonderful.  While I think the Observation lounge if perfect for Alaska it's really underused in the Caribbean.  A large, large area too.  Would I sail the Bliss again?  Probably not.  The Escape is my favorite.  

[jjlen11]

Sailed the Bliss 9/30 from Vancouver on a repositioning cruise and found it awesome! Everyone has different opinions and standards, as well favorite cruise lines.....after a 30 yr hiatus from cruising LOL and twenty four trips to Vegas, it was time for a change....glad we did it and sailing April 7 on the Dawn...…….the nickle dime stuff yes is crazy......I strongly used the beverage pacakage and was pleased! Cagneys wasn't good for us-----the buffet was like Old Country Buffet but hey you ate , right? We met some folks who ate there every meal---I couldn't.Cabin steward was bad...room great.