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It’s time for some Margaritas, NCL Bliss Mexican Riviera LIVE review, October 24th 2021

aubreyc1988

By aubreyc1988,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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aubreyc1988 Great Review Rare

aubreyc1988

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21 hours ago, LinnieRed said:

Fun review! We will be on the Bliss for this cruise in March. 
We just returned from a Princess cruise with the same itinerary, we thought we’d try something different. 
 

I will wait for the OP’s go ahead, but we did a Stone Island trip completely and easily on our own.  I can give details if anyone’s interested, but don’t want to hijack. 

you can give details, no worries

 

But disclaimer to everyone reading, in my recap that I will be posting tonight, I am recommending you do the NCL sponsored excursion. 

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LinnieRed

LinnieRed

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We recently took a Mexican Riviera cruise and went to Stone Island by ourselves. It was cheap and easy. Here is how it is done:

Get off the ship and exit the terminal. Turn left and follow that street all the way till it ends, maybe a third of a mile. Cross the street, down the dirt path. You will see a yellow building ahead. This is where you catch the small boat over to Stone Island. It costs 30 pesos per person, no fee to get back. The boat ride is about five minutes. 
 

Once you get off the boat, walk up to the road at the end of the boat launch and take a left. You do not need to worry about a taxi. You are facing about a five minute walk from here. Walk along the road for a very very short distance, maybe 1/8 of a mile, until you see the water on your right. Cut down to the water and walk along the beach until you find a place that you want to spend for the day.


We chose El Velero. They have chaise lounges under umbrellas and really good service. We went swimming, I bought a couple of Mexican dresses for $10 each from a vendor. The waiters spoke English. One of them was raised in the states. We ate and drank. It cost us about $30 US. Here is what we had:

grilled shrimp taco platter

big ceviche 

huge guacamole 

1 glass of wine

2 coke light

1 big bottle of water. 
 

 When we were done, we retraced our footsteps, walked back to the boat launch and took the boat back. Walked across the street and followed the road back to the terminal.When we were done, we replaced our footsteps, walked back to the boat launch and took the boat back. Walked across the street and follow the road back to the terminal.

 

We had an excellent day. Total travel time from the terminal to being seated in the chaise lounge, about 20 minutes. The second picture is what the boat launch ticket booth looks like from the water side. It’s the same yellow color on the land side. Take pesos for this do it yourself adventure.

 

it was an easy and wonderful day. 

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5D499ADB-3555-4F1A-8623-C423223979C5.jpeg

Edited by LinnieRed
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BENNETT531

BENNETT531

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On 10/31/2021 at 5:57 PM, greatestvalue said:

I thought they actually had 2 different cruises, one included Ensenada and 1 didn't.

 

Im on Dec 12 Mexican Riviera and no Ensenada.  

 

Did they change your itinerary BENNETT531 or did you always have the 4th port? 

 

 

I booked this cruise in June, and all 4 ports were on the itinerary. 

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brad0576

brad0576

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1 hour ago, BENNETT531 said:

I booked this cruise in June, and all 4 ports were on the itinerary. 

I think you may be confused  - I booked April 15 and the ports have never changed - a few of the cruises in December include Ensenada, but it's never been on the 12/5 or 12/12 agenda.

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Brickwood

Brickwood

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5 hours ago, LinnieRed said:

We recently took a Mexican Riviera cruise and went to Stone Island by ourselves. It was cheap and easy. Here is how it is done:

Nicely done - description and pictures.  Wish I would have taken a pic of the lunch we got on the NCL Stone Island tour - no comparison!  Still was fun though so for anyone hesitant to head out on their own is probably a good tour.

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aubreyc1988 Great Review Rare

aubreyc1988

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Cruise Recap

 

I’ll be breaking this up into categories and hopefully it will be easier to read that way! 

 

 

EMBARKATION: I took NCL transfers to the port, was fine. Some people had a lot of issues with it, but we did not.  There were some SERIOUS complainers on our bus though. Some people were complaining about having to walk 20 steps, then complaining that the bus ride was 25 minutes (I mean, that is just the distance it is to San Pedro), then complaining that the testing site was “too far from the check in site”. I had to put on headphones to keep my zen chill vibes. Overall, it was very smooth. I heard some people fussed about the lines, but we personally didn’t have to wait very long at all to get tested. Lots of little booths with Eurofins, WAY more than the Encore had in Seattle.  Especially since it was the first sailing, I have no complaints and I think it will only become even easier. 

 

PUERTO VALLARTA: A very nice port, was unfortunate that the visibility was poor in the ocean but I had a nice time. I liked the tour I did via the cruise line, but I do feel like it could have been a little more put together. I loved going to the waterfall, was so nice!  I will say this: the people on my tour were tightwads. I mean, if we are all going on a cruise, we all are very wealthy compared to most of the people we see while in port.  The people on my tour wouldn’t pay 1.00 for 10 pieces of candy on this waterfall tour. The tourguide eventually shelled out the money for some unique candies for us to try (I didn’t buy any because I left my money with my friend Jenna on the beach, so dumb of me AND I am allergic to nuts so I kind of steer clear from most candy). The people in PV are struggling for sure. My friend saw people at the beach eating the uneaten food off tourists plates that were left behind. Quite sad. I’m not saying to buy stuff you don’t want or need, but a dollar for candy is something we should just do. 

 

MAZATLAN: Again, nice port, but water visibility was even worse due to the red tide. It still was kind of neat to see the ocean looking that dark red color. We did Stone Island through Mazatlán Tours. I give them a C rating. When we got to the so-called meeting place, no one was there.  When I tried calling their offices, two numbers didn’t work and one was like a scam call center trying to sell me something.  Finally, some random tour operator found us and said that Mazatlán tours passed our tour to them because they couldn’t be bothered to show up. Two other people from the ship were on this tour, which was the only reason why I went along with this new plan. We did a little water tour in the beginning with some local people who were on our boat as well. Most of it was in Spanish so that was disappointing. The tour guide did a raffle for his friend who had cancer or something, I bought an entry for 3.00 and ended up winning…choice was bottle of tequila or t-shirt. Unfortunately, couldn’t take the tequila onboard so I just took the shirt. 

 Everything about this “All inclusive” place was just blah. Food was meh, drinks tasted like liquor and watered-down Tang. Beach was OK, we had a good time swimming in the water, Vendors galore here, but that wasn’t a huge deal breaker for me.  They included three “activities”. You could snorkel, kayak, horse carriage ride, or ride the horses. I did the riding the horses because I didn’t want to kayak and there was no way you could see anything in the water so no snorkeling.  The horses here HAVE to be mistreated. I never saw any of the horses get water and I just got the vibe that they were very unhappy. I felt bad contributing to their unhappiness. I did tell my house I was so sorry and gave him a few reassuring pats. Our tour guide told us we would head back to the ship at 2, but went back on his word and then was like 3 or 3:30. I was like NO WAY, so I asked him to figure something out or call us a cab and he “worked out a deal” with the cruiseline excursion to Stone Island. So we thought we were good. However when we were on the cruiseline transportation back, the tour guides there were confused and had to talk to our original tour guide before letting us “Stow away”.  IMHO, I’d just recommend doing the whole thing with the cruiseline. The cruiseline version was only 20.00 more than ours and for peace of mind I think it would have been worth it. 

 

CABO: We took a tour from a local vendor.  It did the arch and dropped off at beach of choice. My friend didn’t want to do a beach so we just did the 45 min tour of the arch and photo ops, although Pelican Beach looked fantastic and can’t wait to go back there.  Port times were too short, again I would say do a tour with NCL.

 

SEA DAYS: Of course, very relaxing. First day at sea was colder and the last day at sea was colder. Lots of game shows, trivia, and nightly parties. 

 

 

FOOD: Food was very good to excellent. I had Specialty Dining Plan + Platinum Dinners (Cagney’s, Le Bistro, Q, La Cucina), and I paid to eat at American Diner and Food Republic. Q, La Cucina, and American Diner were meh at best, but the rest were great!  Ate at Taste/Savor a few times, was excellent and felt like the desserts there were better than in Specialty restaurants.  Buffet was delish for breakfast (Only went for lunch one time) and I thought the pastries were especially good! The Local was just ok. I am not a fan of their menu. I know it was just revamped, but I think it needs a fresh set of eyes. We all want the mozzarella sticks back, as well as some boneless wings, chicken tenders, etc. The cheeseburger I had at the local was good, but the beer cheese that goes with the pretzels is god awful.  Would it kill them to add some sweet potato French fries? So many missed opportunities here. But the menu did keep me from eating too late at night which helped with my weight gain, so there is a positive. 

 

DRINKS: Drink service was great, I NEVER waited for a drink. All the drinks were really good quality, well made. Bartenders were friendly and fast. The only negative I can say here is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a coffee with baileys in it OR get a regular drip coffee at any bar.  The bartenders were very strange about it. My best friend tried all week to get baileys in her coffee but they only would do whiskey for her. And when I asked for a cup of drip coffee, it was like “Has to have whiskey in it, or you have to go to the local/buffet/observation lounge” This really pissed me off, so I spent like 30 bucks all week on coffee at Starbucks LOL. I will have to build that into my budget next trip. 


ENTERTAINMENT: We had SIX, Lyric, the Beatles, an illusionist, game shows, comedy shows, trivia, etc. I liked Six, also left during Lyric (Just not my thing). Beatles were good. Comedians were not funny imho, I also felt this way about the ones on Encore. I hope it is just the pandemic, and that in future sailings the comedians are better. Illusionist was OK, but entertaining (not the best I have seen, certainly not the worst)

STAFF: All of the staff were amazing, so friendly.  Cruise Director DanDan and staff were great, DanDan is one of the best NCL cruise directors I have had. He is so nice and talented, you can tell he gives it his all. Only negative I have is that my best friend had a 20.00 Le Bistro charge that was incorrect. We went to guest services to talk to them about taking it off and they agreed it was wrong and that they would remove it. Only they didn’t, so we ended up going to Guest Services 5 times to ask about it. On the last day, I was getting fed up about it and finally I saw it come off my account and not my friends…but at least it was credited somewhere. Then in the morning I saw 20.00 had been taken off her bill too for Le Bistro, so all is well that ends well haha. 5 times to go down there for 20.00 seemed excessive though.  

 

ROOM: We had room 9848, which was fine (bed by door, which isn’t my favorite) Our room steward was great and very hardworking. I do not hold the glasses mishap against him at all. He did a great job cleaning our room and went above and beyond what I expected him to do. He mopped our balcony, scrubbed our floors. Our room was SO clean I am sure we could have eaten off the floor. 

 

DISEMBARKATION: It was smooth. Did an airport ending tour, which was just ok, killed some time. Only waited maybe 20 minutes to get through immigration, and that was because there wasn’t very many agents working, nothing to do with NCL.  Our tour also left a little late because we were waiting on people who I guess didn’t get the memo about what time we were meeting in the theater.  

 

MISC: Casino was just ok, lost money of course but did get a few wins so that was fun. Shops seemed a little sparse in terms of NCL souvenirs to buy (my friend couldn’t find a long sleeve to buy there).  I also like the Bliss better than Encore. Like that there is Spice H2O, which Encore doesn’t have and the chandelier on Bliss isn’t an eyesore like on the Encore. Spa was dreadful, as you read in the review, which was shocking because my husband loves getting his hair cut there! I probably won’t step foot in there again, to be honest. Overall, a great cruise and hope to be sailing again soon!  I am trying to work out a Christmas cruise, but if that doesn’t pan out, I will definitely do something in Feb

 

Thank you all for reading along, I hope you enjoyed my review, feel free to ask any remaining questions you might have! I will be scanning the dailies and posting more photos tomorrow! I know when I was posting live, the pictures repeated themselves and such, but blame that on Chrome 😛
 

 

 

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alaska2008

alaska2008

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13 hours ago, LincolnLog said:

When you say the spa was dreadful and that you’ll never set foot in there again, is that just based on the haircut experience? Or did you spend time in there besides that? 

Yes, my question also. I’ve always had good experiences in NCL spas except for the usual upsell & products I don’t need. Did you purchase a day or weeklong pass? Did you use sauna, steam, pools, etc? Thanks for any insight. 😊

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aubreyc1988 Great Review Rare

aubreyc1988

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13 hours ago, LincolnLog said:

When you say the spa was dreadful and that you’ll never set foot in there again, is that just based on the haircut experience? Or did you spend time in there besides that? 

Based on haircut experience.  Even whenever I went in for the second time to get my haircut fixed, it was like they were clueless. Example: As I'm sitting down to have my hair fixed and you would *think* both the manager AND the new person cutting my hair would *know* not to talk about the other guy who had previous cut my hair, nope. They went on and on about how he was such a nice guy and hairdresser and I was like "Ok yeah I don't want to talk about this" Super awkward, I don't like talking bad about people, ESP to their friends, idk what they expected me to say. Then after my second hairdresser finally stopped talking about his friend from yesterday, it was a constant upsell for products, one that I got the previous day. Have a clue, I'm here to get my hair FIXED, I am probably not going to buy hair serum from you. Finally I just said "I didn't check a bag, so I couldn't buy it even if I wanted to" and the guy was like "Oh you just check a bag then".  Um, what, no! Even the second time getting my hair cut, they spent 10 minutes actually cutting my hair, the rest of the hour and a half blowing out my hair, which I told them I didn't want a blow out. 

 

After the second cut was finally over, he had the audacity to say "Room card for the charge?" and I was like "No I paid yesterday" and he was like "This is your second haircut" so I said "Bring out your manager, I want to talk to her" And remember, I am a people pleaser, I HATE having to "talk to the manager" so for me to do this, took a lot within myself.  Then whenever he came back, WITHOUT the manager, he was like "You are free to go". The manager didn't even come out with him. I felt like I was in some sort of torture chamber for hours the first two days. So yeah, I wouldn't do any sort of spa treatment again. I might do the thermal pass if I was in a spa cabin and if I wasn't hounded by people to buy stuff, but I am still going to need some time away  from the spa on future cruises. 

Edited by aubreyc1988
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Shellbelle28

Shellbelle28

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47 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

And remember, I am a people pleaser, I HATE having to "talk to the manager" so for me to do this, took a lot within myself.  Then whenever he came back, WITHOUT the manager, he was like "You are free to go". The manager didn't even come out with him. I felt like I was in some sort of torture chamber for hours the first two days. So yeah, I wouldn't do any sort of spa treatment again. I might do the thermal pass if I was in a spa cabin and if I wasn't hounded by people to buy stuff, but I am still going to need some time away  from the spa on future cruises. 

I thought the spa staff on the Bliss were a little strange. I had a week long pass for the spa area and on the Puerto Vallarta port day we went in to check it out and as I went in I stopped to talk to the woman at the desk (British, I think) and asked if there was anyone available to do a pedicure. The salon area was completely empty at the time. She said "Oh no, we are fully booked today." Full stop. No "I can book you tomorrow or any effort to get me to make an appointment." The spa space itself was very nice. 

Edited by Shellbelle28
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BENNETT531

BENNETT531

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On 11/1/2021 at 8:32 PM, brad0576 said:

I think you may be confused  - I booked April 15 and the ports have never changed - a few of the cruises in December include Ensenada, but it's never been on the 12/5 or 12/12 agenda.

I'm not confused.  We are saying the same thing.  There are 4 ports on the Dec 26th sailing (which is the one I am booked on.) It has been this way since at least June... only the times in port have changed.

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phillygwm

phillygwm

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8 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

I might do the thermal pass if I was in a spa cabin and if I wasn't hounded by people to buy stuff, but I am still going to need some time away  from the spa on future cruises. 

I have a Club Balcony for my December cruise and had a bid in for a spa upgrade.  Based on your review I withdrew it.  I'm happy with my current room and don't feel like spending money so I could have people try to upsell me.  

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coastcat

coastcat

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6 minutes ago, phillygwm said:

I have a Club Balcony for my December cruise and had a bid in for a spa upgrade.  Based on your review I withdrew it.  I'm happy with my current room and don't feel like spending money so I could have people try to upsell me.  

If you're getting the spa cabin or pass in order to access the Thermal Suite, stick with it! For the Thermal Suite they'll just check you in and out (you hand over your sail card when arriving. No upselling involved.

 

Fun tip: when the seas outside are rough, the thalassotherapy pool is an entertaining place to be, albeit slightly scary for someone of my height. Waves come in, waves go out. There might have been a good reason why I was the only one in there on the last night, but I enjoyed it!

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