Bliss cruise thoughts 2/23 - 3/2

[cincicruisers]

I don’t have any pictures but I will share how our trip was.  First and foremost we had a great vacation onboard the Bliss.  It was me and my husband Greg both in our lower 50’s.

 

Flight/Hotel~~We flew in the Friday before our Saturday departure.  I was able to get a great price on first class by booking 6 months out.  We had to be willing to take the 5:30am flight from Nashville to Miami.  We landed at 11:15am in Miami.  We took the free shuttle to the hotel Hampton Inn, Blue Lagoon.  There was no wait as the shuttle pulled in as we were walking outside.  The hotel was great!  Very clean and nice rooms.  I had requested early check in when I booked the room several months ago.  I called the hotel the day before to make sure my request was on the reservation.  We were in luck as they had a room ready for us.  We took a nap because we were both tired from our early (2:30am) wake up.

 

When we got up we went looking for food.  The hotel is right across the street from a shopping center.  Publix was there and also a Mexican restaurant, an Italian restaurant, and a Cuban restaurant.  We decided on the Cuban place called Casa Juan.  It was yummy.  I ordered the Cuban sandwich and Greg got the Skirt Steak sandwich.  We liked them both but agreed the Cuban was the best.  Everything that came out of the kitchen looked delicious.

 

Make sure you get anything you need from Publix.  I wanted a candy bar for a snack.  At the hotel a Snicker bar was $3.00. Yikes

 

This hotel offers a free breakfast.  It was a nice setup with a good selection.  I had a waffle and some yogurt with fruit.  They kept it well stocked and fresh.  There was plenty of seats available.  We really liked this hotel and thought we got an ok price for this time of year.  We paid $224.

 

After getting our baggage together we called for UBER.  He was there 3 minutes later.  From hotel to the port was 22 plus tip.

 

Up next..Boarding

[cincicruisers]

Check in/Boarding/Reservations

 

We arrived at the port at 10:30.  We went to the check in for CAS.  It took maybe 1 minute to fill out health questions and show Passports.  We were directed to the gangway as they had started boarding for those with mobility issues.  I had my walker.  I did not order a scooter this time.  I was going to try just using the walker or cane.  I was not able to use the cane, but the walker I did ok with.

 

We were able to just walk on the ship.  No waiting at all.  We headed down to deck 6 to make our comedy, go cart, Prohibition show reservations.  We had decided not to get the Vibe passes because we didn’t want to freak out trying to get there.  When we got to The Social they were only on #18.  We went ahead and got the Vibe passes.

 

we then went to the kiosks and reserved our go-cart, comedy, and Prohibition tickets.  I didn’t like it that you don’t get a ticket or anything delivered to your room for the times you requested.

 

Our jobs complete we headed to the dining room for lunch.

 

More to come tomorrow....

[ohhbother]

Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to reading the rest! We sailed on the Bliss last fall and will be back on board in late May.

[cincicruisers]

Stateroom/Muster Drill

 

We had stateroom 14862.  It is a ADA cabin. Our room was very nice.  We sailed on the Epic last year and this cabin was set up much better.  There was plenty of room for my rollader walker without taking up all the floor space.  There was lots of storage for out things.  The bench in the shower was nice and better than the shower stool on the Epic.  

 

Our steward inside introduced himself and we requested ice 2x a day, extra coffee packets, and an extra beach towels.  We tipped him $20.  Certainly not required, but we like to do that.  We only saw him a few times during the cruise but he took good care of us.

 

our muster location was at Cagneys and it was over  quickly.  

 

We we went up to the Vibe area to check it out.  It was a nice area with padded chairs, a bar, hot tub, and a water mister.  We had a drink and watched our sail away from Miami.

 

We went to the Welcome Aboard show and had dinner at The Local.  The chicken wings, fish and chips,  and Rachel sandwich were good.  The comedian was funny and we enjoyed the show.

 

We headed to the casino and proceeded to make a donation on the slot machine.  We were there until late.  We ordered room service.  The turkey club was really good.  Greg got a supreme pizza (comes in a pizza box).  He enjoyed the pizza.  We ordered room service almost every night.  Everything as good. 

 

 

 

[cincicruisers]

Ugh just typed up the next installment and lost it.  Will be back later today to finish review

[kkelle17]

Thanks for posting, we are going on the 23rd, so I love hearing all the details! 

[cincicruisers]

Entertainment 

 

Fantastic band- Siglo. They played everyday and did songs everyone knows.

 

Tatiana- Singer and piano player.  She was very good.  She played in Atrium and Observatory.

 

Love and Marriage- Always fun and this did not disappoint.

 

Bandokee-  Karaoke with a band (Siglo).  Great fun.  We had some very talented cruisers.  One guy did Stand by Me to a standing ovation.

 

Jim Badger- OK not as good as others

 

Comedy- good for a few laughs 

 

Jersey Boys-  we loved this show.  They were very good and the show was very entertaining.

 

Havana- we did not see this show

 

Prohibition-  It was a cute show but I did not think it was worth $36 each.  They had no open bar but served 4 drinks, Moscow Mule, Old Fashioned, Mint Julio, and Whiskey Sour.  

 

Game me shows were fun.  55 seconds was very funny.

 

We wished that some of the most popular shows could be in the theater.  The Atrium was bursting at the seams.  All in all we thought the entertainment was varied and good.

[cincicruisers]

Final thoughts

 

Elevators- Our Babis was in the aft.  We never had to wait at all for an elevator.  We would take the elevator in the aft to our floor and then walk across to get to our destination.

 

Obveritory lounge- Large with comfortable seating, a bar, and a small snack set up.  People had their bare feet on couches.  (Eww). This venue would be fantastic for Alaska cruise when it’s cold outside.

 

Vibe-  It was $129 each.  We only went twice.  Truth be told there were always chair available, even with the chogs.  They could not open the umbrellas in the Vibe with the wind so it was hot and the sun was brutal.  We always got a chair in the shade.  Live and learn.

 

Casino- Very tight took money quickly 

 

 

 

 

[LisaLisa87]

Thank you for your review!

[cincicruisers]

Food

 

There was no shortage of foood on the ship-

 

Cagneys- Food was excellent.  Service was slow.  The shrimp cocktail was very good.

 

Q- We enjoyed this place but not as good as others.y

 

Le Bistro- Excellent.  I am not really a desert person but the deserts here are to die for.

 

Teppanyaki- Very good.  Had good tablemates and funny cook.  The signature drink was delicious.  I had two.

 

Room Service- We ordered quite a bit.  All good

 

Main din8ng room- We went twice for lunch.  It was ok.  We did not do dinner here.

 

The Local-Always good, went a couple of times

 

Starbucks-Very good but pricey 

 

Buffet- Good selections and food was the right temperature.  We are late risers (our room steward only had to do evening cabin refresh as we were still sleeping).  We were happy to see that the buffet still had one area you could get breakfast until 

11.  I had some Mongolian beef, beef with broccoli, and vegetable stir fry that were excellent.  

 

Ports of call- We did not get off the ship.  I was unable to do the long walk down the pier.  It worked out fine for us as we enjoyed the quiet time while folks were off the ship.

 

In Tortola we had pier runners.  We had already pushed away from the pier.  Another couple came running also.  I was shocked when the captain pulled back up to the pier to let these 4 people on board.  They were really lucky that the captain let them back on ship.

 

Balcony- We Love balconies.  We enjoyed reading and relaxing out there.  Especially at night.

 

Casino-  forgot to mention there is a smoking and non smoking casino.  If you play any machines near the door to smoking casino it will stink.  The smoking room had one of my favorite machines and it was not on the non smoking side.  I played it one night.  I had to shower and put those cloths in a bag.  I stunk!  I am very happy they separated smoking/non smoking.

 

Smoking in general-  Imdont know if we were just lucky but we never ran into smoke anywhere we went besides the casino.  Very happy we had no balcony smokers.

 

Leaving the ship- We took pink tags.  We were off the ship at 8:20 and at the airport by 9:15.  Very smooth 

 

Flights home were on time.  It was hard to go from mid 80’s and sunny to rain and 36 in Nashville.

 

We had a great time and would absolutely do this ship again.  

[mppap]

We were on this sailing also.  We had the best time.  I would go back in a minute!  Agreed with everything you experienced!

[NeurosurgeryNP]

Thanks for the review. We will be boarding the Bliss Saturday. 

[tony0aces]

Thanks for sharing.  

[FLAHAM]

A few years back, Casa Juan was mostly known for its rather gross failures of sanitation inspections.  Looks like they have cleaned up their act, somewhat.

[Sand and Seas]

We were at Hampton Inn Blue Lagoon and on the same cruise with you!

We stay here before each Miami cruise.  I always get some Maduros (sweet plantains) at the Cuban restaurant to go with our Deli sandwiches from Publix.   Might need to try that Cuban sandwich next time 🙂  We took the shuttle from Hamptons to the pier.  (Sign up at the desk, $10 per person) but sounds like your Uber worked well for you.

 

We ate twice at Los Lobos, twice at Cagney's and twice at Q.  Loved them all. 

Also enjoyed the light lunch available at the Observation Lounge.  Good salads and small sandwiches. 

 

Also loved the casino.  Very nice with the separated smoking section.  

Thanks for sharing your review with us!

[DCP]

We board her the end of the month for the Panama Canal cruise. We have always stayed at that same Hampton Inn, and eat at that same Cuban restaurant too! Always good for both places, we even like the mimosa's at breakfast at the Hampton - I know they're not made with high dollar stuff, but it always is the start of my cruise right there! Thank you for the review!