Simply the Best! Better than all the rest!

[NYFirstTimeCruiser]

Just got off the Bliss from a 7 day Mexican Riviera.  As I was disembarking, I was thinking of how to describe NCL Bliss.

Tina Turner's some came to mind... Simply the best! Better than all the Rest!

 

I've been on Breakaway, Getaway, Escape and now the Bliss. The Bliss is the first redesigned ship and it seems like they were

listening to Cruise critic complaints.... too crowded and too smoky from smokers.

 

Crowding - got fixed by moving the restaurants on front and back of the ships. 
It didn't feel crowded at all.  I've even rode the elevators 3-4 times and I'm the only one.

Smoking - the dreaded smoke from the mid ship Casino solved. They simply

enclosed the smoking section. Great Idea!

It made a big difference in comfot

I hope they continue with the enclosed smoking area on the Leonardo ships.

 

The cons in MY opinion.....

the race track is nice but it took away precious space for sun worshippers.

It's  pushing people to pay for The Vibe.

 

Food Republic - they got rid of the Wasabi sushi bar and the noodle shop put it into

the Food Republic but triple the price.  Om the Wasabi bar, you can get a roll for $3.50

Rolls. At Food Republic, it's $12. Soups and noodles as well were outrageous pricing.

Food is good.  I would go here once and that's it. This is the nickel and dime restaurant

on Bliss. Other alacarte restaurants had decent pricing. Just as a sample,

Me and wifey shared a meal (soup, sushi and an appetizer) and it came out to more than

$50. 

 

Margaritaville - moved from ala carte to a fixed $18 pricing for appetizer, main course

and dessert. Priced right for $18 but too much food for 1 person.  They don't allow sharing

so you'll end up taking ot back to your room or stuff it all and have your gut deal with trying

to digest all that food.

 

Manhattan Room - this used to have a different menu than Taste or Savor but now all 3

comp dinings have same menu. Cost cutting at the bottom line. I didn't mind this at all.

It just takes away planning of eating at Taste then Manhattan on a different day just to

try a different menu. All the same now so we just went where it's less crowded.

 

They are now repositioning the ship to NYC.  I recommend CC'ers from the east coast

to try the Bliss. Simply the best.

 

Overall Bliss,  in my opinion, is the best out of all the Breakaway Class ships.

Encore will be the last one and they'll start making smaller ships after Encore.

 

I've read this before but it seems like it's true. The crowd from this cruise out

of LA is much nicer than NY crowd. I'm a native NYer and used to little outburts every

once in a while but non on this cruise.  All nice! Passengers smiling, saying good morning

to each other and saying sorry when you get bumped. Made for a more enjoyable cruise.

maybe that's the norm outside of NY. Just not used to it. Insert smiley face here.

 

Sidenote......

 

 

 

[TFLG]

We also just got off the ship.  Overall we had another great Halloween cruise on the Bliss.  But there was a HUGE difference from last year in some areas.  Last year the only gripe I had was they could not seem to make a cup of coffee to save their lives.  This year much better at making coffee. However the service in the main dining rooms was horrible compared to last year.  They messed our orders up nearly 100% of the time.  It took 3 or 4 times asking people to get things before we got it. (creamer, refills on wine or coffee etc).  And the food is not what it was last year in the MDRs.  The specialty dining was fine, the local was good and the buffet was pretty good too.  Not sure what's going on in the MDRs.  I agree on Food Republic, ridiculous prices for basically gas station quality sushi rolls.

I also found it kinda funny that this year they couldn't seem to make a decent Moscow Mule (they were fine last year).  I tried several bars and they all screwed up a mule (how it's 2 ingredients and a splash of lime).  Everyone I got tasted like a glass of lime juice.  I finally started ordering them without the lime (problem solved).  

overall it was great cruise though and we are back on the Bliss for the Panama Canal next November 🙂

 

Edited November 3, 2019 by TFLG

[drumming cruisers]

8 minutes ago, TFLG said:

We also just got off the ship.  Overall we had another great Halloween cruise on the Bliss.  But there was a HUGE difference from last year in some areas.  Last year the only gripe I had was they could not seem to make a cup of coffee to save their lives.  This year much better at making coffee. However the service in the main dining rooms was horrible compared to last year.  They messed our orders up nearly 100% of the time.  It took 3 or 4 times asking people to get things before we got it. (creamer, refills on wine or coffee etc).  And the food is not what it was last year in the MDRs.  The specialty dining was fine, the local was good and the buffet was pretty good too.  Not sure what's going on in the MDRs.  I agree on Food Republic, ridiculous prices for basically gas station quality sushi rolls.

I also found it kinda funny that this year they couldn't seem to make a decent Moscow Mule (they were fine last year).  I tried several bars and they all screwed up a mule (how it's 2 ingredients and a splash of lime).  Everyone I got tasted like a glass of lime juice.  I finally started ordering them without the lime (problem solved).  

overall it was great cruise though and we are back on the Bliss for the Panama Canal next November 🙂

 

The experienced crew all went to the Encore. Most everyone on Bliss just started after the Alaska cruises ended in Sept. 

[FLAHAM]

I ate at Food Republic and liked it a lot.  I thought it had the most interesting menu on the ship.  The waiter recommended the small plates and said our dining credit (my cabin mate and I) entitled us to eight.  After four (and a couple of drinks) we felt comfortably full and started to leave.  Our waiter and the restaurant manger rushed over to tell us that they would make certain our account reflected we were entitled to the remaining four on a future visit.  So once again, later in the cruise, we had a very good meal there--our fifth specialty dining meals on four-meal plans. 

Edited November 3, 2019 by FLAHAM

[KeithJenner]

57 minutes ago, NYFirstTimeCruiser said:

Manhattan Room - this used to have a different menu than Taste or Savor but now all 3

comp dinings have same menu. Cost cutting at the bottom line. I didn't mind this at all.

It just takes away planning of eating at Taste then Manhattan on a different day just to

try a different menu. All the same now so we just went where it's less crowded.

When were your previous experiences?

 

In my experience, the menus have been the same in all the MDRs for years now.

[mjkacmom]

16 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

When were your previous experiences?

 

In my experience, the menus have been the same in all the MDRs for years now.

The menus were the same on our previous NCL cruises, 4 different ships.

[hallux]

On 11/3/2019 at 2:49 PM, TFLG said:

However the service in the main dining rooms was horrible compared to last year.  They messed our orders up nearly 100% of the time.  It took 3 or 4 times asking people to get things before we got it. (creamer, refills on wine or coffee etc).  And the food is not what it was last year in the MDRs.

I was also on the just-ended final Mexican Riviera cruise for the year (on the Bliss) but somehow I don't think we were on the same cruise.  We didn't eat in the Manhattan room (I actually had a similar experience to the one above when I sailed the Bliss in April), when we didn't eat dinner in a specialty it was in Taste or Savor and didn't have a bad experience any night.

 

Activities-wise - the best cruise of my 4 so far.  The entertainment staff were GREAT with special shout-outs to Una, Tefi, Rod, and Lucy.  The Cruise Director, Jake, was not just a figurehead - he PARTICIPATED!  In fact - we saw Jake more than the Assistant CD - Alex.

 

The crowd on board seemed a little subdued to start off, but that may have been due to the delayed embarkation (the much-hated surprise CG "inspection").

 

When they welcome you on board, they welcome you on board "the Beautiful Norwegian Bliss", they're not just saying things...

[newmexicoNita]

On 11/3/2019 at 1:22 PM, NYFirstTimeCruiser said:

Just got off the Bliss from a 7 day Mexican Riviera.  As I was disembarking, I was thinking of how to describe NCL Bliss.

Tina Turner's some came to mind... Simply the best! Better than all the Rest!

 

I've been on Breakaway, Getaway, Escape and now the Bliss. The Bliss is the first redesigned ship and it seems like they were

listening to Cruise critic complaints.... too crowded and too smoky from smokers.

 

Crowding - got fixed by moving the restaurants on front and back of the ships. 
It didn't feel crowded at all.  I've even rode the elevators 3-4 times and I'm the only one.

Smoking - the dreaded smoke from the mid ship Casino solved. They simply

enclosed the smoking section. Great Idea!

It made a big difference in comfot

I hope they continue with the enclosed smoking area on the Leonardo ships.

 

The cons in MY opinion.....

the race track is nice but it took away precious space for sun worshippers.

It's  pushing people to pay for The Vibe.

 

Food Republic - they got rid of the Wasabi sushi bar and the noodle shop put it into

the Food Republic but triple the price.  Om the Wasabi bar, you can get a roll for $3.50

Rolls. At Food Republic, it's $12. Soups and noodles as well were outrageous pricing.

Food is good.  I would go here once and that's it. This is the nickel and dime restaurant

on Bliss. Other alacarte restaurants had decent pricing. Just as a sample,

Me and wifey shared a meal (soup, sushi and an appetizer) and it came out to more than

$50. 

 

Margaritaville - moved from ala carte to a fixed $18 pricing for appetizer, main course

and dessert. Priced right for $18 but too much food for 1 person.  They don't allow sharing

so you'll end up taking ot back to your room or stuff it all and have your gut deal with trying

to digest all that food.

 

Manhattan Room - this used to have a different menu than Taste or Savor but now all 3

comp dinings have same menu. Cost cutting at the bottom line. I didn't mind this at all.

It just takes away planning of eating at Taste then Manhattan on a different day just to

try a different menu. All the same now so we just went where it's less crowded.

 

They are now repositioning the ship to NYC.  I recommend CC'ers from the east coast

to try the Bliss. Simply the best.

 

Overall Bliss,  in my opinion, is the best out of all the Breakaway Class ships.

Encore will be the last one and they'll start making smaller ships after Encore.

 

I've read this before but it seems like it's true. The crowd from this cruise out

of LA is much nicer than NY crowd. I'm a native NYer and used to little outburts every

once in a while but non on this cruise.  All nice! Passengers smiling, saying good morning

to each other and saying sorry when you get bumped. Made for a more enjoyable cruise.

maybe that's the norm outside of NY. Just not used to it. Insert smiley face here.

 

Sidenote......

 

 

 

Glad you enjoyed your experience. I do have one comment: you mentioned the Manhattan Room having the same menu as Savor or Taste. I don't know where I have been for so many years, but I have always thought the menu was exactly and you say it didn't used to be the same.

[CP3o]

On 11/3/2019 at 2:22 PM, NYFirstTimeCruiser said:

Just got off the Bliss from a 7 day Mexican Riviera.  As I was disembarking, I was thinking of how to describe NCL Bliss.

Tina Turner's some came to mind... Simply the best! Better than all the Rest!

 

I've been on Breakaway, Getaway, Escape and now the Bliss. The Bliss is the first redesigned ship and it seems like they were

listening to Cruise critic complaints.... too crowded and too smoky from smokers.

 

 

 

Thanks for your review.  Was it materially better than the Escape?  Aside from casino smoke advantage, I was considering doing Escape again instead of Bliss b/c didn't need the race track or laser tag, one and done there.  The enclosed area in the front of the ship was very nice but almost seemed like a waste of space based on usage on our caribbean cruise (I can see it handy for Alaska).  

[beerman2]

43 minutes ago, CP3o said:

Thanks for your review.  Was it materially better than the Escape?  Aside from casino smoke advantage, I was considering doing Escape again instead of Bliss b/c didn't need the race track or laser tag, one and done there.  The enclosed area in the front of the ship was very nice but almost seemed like a waste of space based on usage on our caribbean cruise (I can see it handy for Alaska).  

If you like Howl at the Moon, Bliss doesn't have it. Loved it on the Escape.

 

Observation Lounge (Bliss) is great even when not sailing Alaska. It was really convenient having that down the hall from Cabin.

[hallux]

23 minutes ago, beerman2 said:

If you like Howl at the Moon, Bliss doesn't have it

Correct, they have Caliente instead.  They showed video from that party during the crew talent show on the last day of my Mexican Riviera cruise (October 27-Nov. 3), it didn't look very well attended...

[beerman2]

20 minutes ago, hallux said:

Correct, they have Caliente instead.  They showed video from that party during the crew talent show on the last day of my Mexican Riviera cruise (October 27-Nov. 3), it didn't look very well attended...

Hard to compare HATM with Caliente, 2 entirely different types of entertainment.