Bliss - 12/26 Mexican Riviera Review

[trevorwh]

While this was still fresh and it's been a few years since I did an NCL cruise, thought it was worth posting a quick review. For context, we were in the Haven, also guests of Casinos at Sea, and booked an aft penthouse (13906). Rather then focus on every restaurant / activity review, I'll stick to things here where I think I might add some value 😁

 

tl:dr - Overall, highly enjoyed the experience. Ship was at approx ~2800 pax, but felt very empty most of the time. COVID weighed pretty heavily on a lot of the activities and decision making we did, so we focused a lot on enjoying activities where we could have space and not have extra risk of Omicron (personal decision, still was great).

 

Now, onto the details...

 

COVID Testing, Embarkation, and Day 1

The first thing that stood out to me is that the signage at the Port of Los Angeles is not super clear once you've parked, so we actually headed in the wrong direction to drop our baggage (the terminals are separate between where COVID testing happens and where you actually check-in and board the ship, and there's a shuttle between them). A nice gentleman stopped us along the way and said we should go to the other terminal, but basically, make sure you don't go to the one where people are coming out of (go to the other one!) If you take an Uber / Lyft / Bus, not a big deal, but if you drive, it's a decent walk to drag the bags, so something to keep in mind.

 

We arrived for COVID testing around 10:30 - our appointments were 11 & 11:30 (they weren't together, which was odd and semi-annoying) but it was no worries and they took us early without any issues. Of note, there's no separate Haven line for COVID testing - everyone is together, which was totally fine, but would have been a nice luxury because it was a long process. Highly recommend printing the Eurofins barcodes before you arrive, makes check-in easier and they just scan them and you are off. All-in-all, it took about 30 minutes to work our way through the line and get the tests completed, and you are then instructed to wait for a text. This was, for obvious reasons, a fairly tense period, and seemed to not be particularly organized (tons of people were seated together with little distancing, one guy who was amusing but very loud kept shouting "we have a winner" every time someone got their test result, and the text doesn't actually tell you that you are negative, it just says "go to the next step". I'm not really sure why, but go to the next step in this case did in fact mean you were negative. It took 25-30 minutes to get the test results, as mentioned, felt like the longest 25-30 minutes of our lives, but once we got the negative result, good to go 🙂. It was another 15-30 minutes to get on the shuttle and get through security (which was chaotic - the metal detector went off for me, but no one actually checked anything and they told me to keep going 🤔 - whatever). 

 

The Haven check-in was seamless as usual, which landed us in the Haven boarding area around 11:50 (an hour and 20 minutes after we arrived at the port). The Haven area was fine, snacks and drinks, but definitely not enough space to have any sort of distancing or really be comfortable, honestly. They did mention that they were delayed boarding (we started about 12:15) so that may have contributed to it. Not a dealbreaker by any means, but past waiting areas have felt more spacious and relaxing on NCL than this one did.

 

As everyone has mentioned, you board by muster station (A, E, G) IIRC - G boarded last, which was our category since we were on the aft of the ship. Once onboard, they allowed us to duck out of the "Haven tour" to go to guest services to purchase a Vibe cabana (since there were only 4-5 and general boarding had began, I wanted to nab this quickly - more on the Vibe a bit later). Got Cabana #3 on the Vibe, cost definitely went up, as the last cruise it was $400 and this one was $675, which included $100 in OBC. Wait was only a few minutes at guest services which was nice.

 

Had lunch in the Haven restaurant, wonderful as usual, and best of all they still had my favorite french dip sandwich from the last cruise, so that was great. Here's where things went off the rails a bit - after lunch, we went to the concierge to get added to a couple of shore excursions where there was only available online. Once I actually got to the front of the line, there were a few interesting notes - but the fairly gnarly part was that there was only a single concierge who could assist with shore excursions, dining, or any other activity reservations (besides the spa). This was a disaster, and meant it took almost an hour to talk to someone, even with just 3-4 people in line ahead of me. And, there was no guidance around "perhaps go to shore excursion desk instead, or go to the spa". This also resulted in a few people trying to discuss a week's worth of activities in those minutes, with various combinations of "if i do x at this time, y at this time, then when will I do z?". Certainly not efficient, but I would have expected some acknowledgement of the wait or other options or bringing another person or two in to assist for the first time. Now to booking the shore excursions and spa appointments themselves: 

 

1. There was a Spa representative in the Haven who was available to answer questions, help book appointments, etc. The only problem? She couldn't actually get through to the Spa to book anything for over a half hour while my better half stood around. She finally got through, but I got the impression it was better to just go to the spa directly, which negates some of the value of the Haven concierge / experience.
2. The NCL representative on the phone completely misinformed me about the ATV adventure we did in Cabo. She claimed we would need to buy 2 seats for the two of us, but this was totally incorrect - we only needed one, and therefore didn't need to add a second person.
3. Both the dolphin adventure in Puerto Vallarta and the Ziplining in Mazatlan didn't have availability to be added on the ship - and the concierge needed to call the shore excursion desk instead of being able to do anything directly. Not a huge deal, but probably would have just been easier to go to the desk. We did end up getting the Ziplining +1 addition later in the tour, no luck on the Dolphin adventure, but then they were like, well maybe just go try at the dock (I opted not to, but it was a weird conversation)

 

The remainder of day 1 we spent in the Vibe and it was every bit as good as I remembered. Drink service & hospitality was excellent - hot tubs were nice, and it's right next door (and actually connected by a nice little door) to the Haven sundeck, so you can go back and forth 🎉

 

The Vibe vs. Haven Sundeck

OK, so some of you are probably wondering why the heck we got the Vibe Cabana if the Haven sundeck is right next door (and, as it turns out, also has cabanas). Well, a couple things:

 

1. The Haven Sundeck doesn't have a bar, and when we spent time there, it turns out that drink service is actually very slow (as in, they maybe came around 1x/hour, and food service also took at least an hour to receive). While not the end of the world, getting things like water, etc. was very convenient in the Vibe, and something we really enjoyed. We also had the Premium Plus Beverage Package, which was great. Worth every penny in my view, but we consumed quite a few drinks and definitely got our money's worth!
2. The Haven Sundeck also doesn't have the concept of reserved Cabanas. This was less of an issue this trip, but on other trips where things were crowded, this could definitely be a thing. YMMV if it bothers you - I suspect for most people #1 would be more of a thing.

 

Because the Haven and Vibe are connected on the bliss by a door, the staff is actually really happy to let you go between them as often as you'd like, and they can open it from Vibe -> Haven with a key (and you can unlock the door and then let yourself back in). It was convenient as well if the hot tubs on one side or the other were full as well.

 

Day 3 - Cabo San Lucas - ATV Adventure Excursion (2 seater)

This excursion was absolutely fantastic and a lot of fun, especially if you like to drive fast and don't mind getting dirty (note: you will get very dirty, we immediately sent everything we had for laundry, you are warned) There's also a water component to the ATV adventure that's pretty fun and allows you to go generally as fast as you want or get as wet as you want (I personally soaked our entire ATV gunning it through a large puddle, everyone just laughed). They also take photos along the way which is pretty nice. Highly recommend if you do this that you pay attention to the ordering - because we were right behind the guide, we had a significantly better experience (you can drive faster and aren't stuck behind the other ATV's) then if you are near the back, so pay attention to ordering. The only other note on the ATV tour is that it definitely feels like you are just driving an ATV on man-made trails setup solely for the excursion, as opposed to a lot of natural beauty or trails. Still fun, but we definitely didn't feel like we got to experience a lot of "natural cabo beauty" on this particular excursion.

 

Day 4 - Puerto Vallarta - Dolphin Encounter

I decided to stay on the ship for this day, but my SO did the Dolphin Experience and greatly enjoyed it (minus the $60 for the picture they take of you - that seems a little extreme...) The one note is that she did mention there's a couple different versions of the actual experience - one involves swimming with them (an upsell essentially) versus just meeting them. The other note is that the tour is almost 3 hours, but the actual water time is ~15 minutes, so keep that in mind.

 

Day 5 - Mazatlan - Hana Coa Canopy (Ziplining)

Everyone really enjoyed the zip lining through the canopy (in the group we were in and in general). If you enjoy zip lining, you'll generally enjoy this (and the mini-rappel at the end of the tour is a fun way to end). With that said, the excursion itself was not well setup - because you need to wait for the ENTIRE group of 80+ people to finish zip lining before you go back to the bus or enjoy some food. This took almost an hour of standing around (we were the first tour group) in an uncomfortable harness that wasn't necessary. As it turns out, we were only a 10 minute walk away from where we started, but no one told us that until the very end! Also, of note, there was no tequila tasting, despite mention of it in the tour description. We were pretty sick of tequila, but if you are looking forward to that be away. Oh, lastly, they give you a little tour around Mazatlan at the end, which is fun and they are clearly proud of their city, but in all honesty we just wanted to get back to the ship and there was a TON of traffic. We were back at the ship about 25 minutes before all-aboard, so not a ton of time to look around before getting back on due to the extra tour time. I would have rather this have been a 3 hour excursion that was more efficiently run, but it's not the end of the world.

 

Day 6 - At Sea (NYE)

Only a couple of comments about New Years Eve - almost everyone on the ship was fancy, and we really enjoyed that part. However, we also really avoided any of the large gathering spots (and this was the one night it felt like they were everywhere). Mask enforcement was so/so and there was no distancing outside - this obviously didn't bother a large number of people, but with Omicron we felt more comfortable celebrating on the balcony 🍾

 

Day 7 - Ensenada (New Years Day)

No excursions this day - the SO popped off the ship for a bit to get some souvenirs, I would generally recommend getting them at other ports if the option allows (mostly because it's a long walk to shopping in Ensenada, not right there like in some other ports). YMMV clearly on this one, but something to keep in mind.

 

Other Thoughts & Musings

 

The Stateroom

This is the first time I've done an aft stateroom - it was truly gorgeous and we really appreciated the separate living room. Tons of space, felt very much at home. One tiny issue is that because of the separate living room, the bedroom area is quite small (and in particular the clearance between the bed and the TV / living room separator). If you are on the side of the bed that is closest to the balcony, this becomes a fairly hilarious trick in the middle of the night to navigate. You have to avoid accidentally touching the other persons feet while you navigate, and when the ship is rocking (it was a lot) it results in some fairly hilarious encounters. For reference, I did this at least 3 times. 😂

 

The vibration in this cabin was very real. At one point it felt so strong that it was as if an earthquake was happening in the cabin (and it occurred around 3am in the morning). No comment on how typical this is as it only occurred once where it was that strong and another time where it was slightly less, but something to be aware of. 

 

The balcony on the cabin was great - plenty of space for multiple folks, really wonderful for sea days - for port days, the views were generally awful. I'm not really sure why or if it's just the ports, but no one seemed to be spending much time out there enjoying a glass of wine for the view.

 

The Casino (Game of Choice - Blackjack)

I didn't get a lot of information on Blackjack and the casino that was recent before I left, so I thought it was worth posting some here for those of you that play. All $10 tables have poor rules (6:5 / hit on soft 17). Some $15 paid 3:2, but be careful, because I saw at least one that paid 6:5 just like Vegas where it can be a mix. All tables up through $25 use CSM, $50 & high-limit used 6-deck shoes hand-shuffled. High limit ($100 min bet) stayed on soft 17, but didn't allow surrender (despite them originally saying it did), so be aware. Also, no limit on number of hands you can play (I played 3, but you may have been able to go to 4 if necessary) - no doubling of the bet required to play, which was nice as well.

 

Drink card was in the room when I arrived for basic drinks (not sure if this is standard or was because we booked via total rewards), but didn't matter as we just used the Premium Plus beverage package instead.

 

Because NCL has a 3% surcharge now on withdrawals (annoying, yes I know it's waived at higher levels, but still) I wired front money to the Casino. This was fairly uncommon, but worked quite well. Only downside to be aware of is that for some reason they can't transfer back your winnings, only the original amount you sent them via wire (so they paid the rest in cash, not a lot of fun). No issues with withdrawing markers, also be aware $2k max withdrawal per day if you want cash (not chips)

 

OK, so the last thought on the Casino - I was shocked at how bad the points are for table players. Avg bet was $75/hand, total play time of 25 hours. That resulted in 3,400 points. Or, put another way, no increase in status from Jade and $34 in comps for OBC. I know it's not Vegas, but HOLY MOLY it struck me as a very small number. Will be interesting to see what happens in terms of Casinos at Sea offers for future cruises (this was my first with significant play)

 

The Wine

While we aren't huge wine drinkers, we were fairly unimpressed with the current selections of wine, especially Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. For Sauvignon Blanc, they were out of the only bottle you were eligible for as part of premium plus (and they couldn't substitute anything) and for Pinot they had an Isabel Mondavi but it wasn't particularly stunning. Perhaps bring and pay the corkage fee if you want to enjoy a nice bottle.

 

Cagney's

Cagney's was not as good as I remembered, both in terms of the service and the cook and quality of the meat. It wasn't bad, but in many cases we felt like our best meals were consistently in the Haven Restaurant as opposed to the speciality restaurants, which felt fairly odd. There was also a gentleman next to us who was extremely upset that his steak wasn't cooked correctly, and it took them so long to get it right they comped the meal. Fairly strange experience.

 

Food Republic

We really enjoyed the meal here, and it was very reasonably priced. The only note that hilarious and really awful is that they are testing out a new system of iPad ordering in this restaurant. It was inefficient at best, and just seemed to frustrate the servers more than it actually was useful. Especially because you can't order drinks on it. Someone in NCL management needs to get that feedback 😆🙂

 

Masks

We wore them. It wasn't fun. We survived. In terms of enforcement - everyone takes the off the minute you sit down for a meal, and they stay off for the duration. It's fine - we didn't spend much time in nightclubs or anything like that, so I can't speak to that, but most people if they had a drink in their hand and were walking didn't have a mask on. I will say, the policy seemed pretty reasonable and I would take mine off if I was in an empty hallway (though, would be quick to put it back on if someone emerged). Almost everyone wore them in the elevator except for an occasional bad actor - the staff did ask folks who weren't wearing them to mask up when they saw it, but in practice, the elevators were the biggest problem area.

 

The Weather

I've done mostly caribbean cruises in the winter, and this was my first one down the Mexican Riviera. Weather is never a guarantee, but was certainly colder then the caribbean, so it's just something to keep in mind. There was some grousing in the hot tub and at least one of the days it was so windy that all upper decks were closed (this was the NYE sea day, so that was unfortunate). Vibe / Haven / Everything was strapped down and not usable.

 

Ultimate Dining Package

We used our two included dinners at Teppenayki and Cagney's (I'm not going to bother to fix the spelling, ya'll get the point). Everything else we generally felt like we probably wouldn't have gotten as much value out of adding meals to the dining package, because the al-la-carte wasn't that expensive. Most meals were under $40 for the two of us - just something to keep in mind depending on how much you do multiple courses, etc.

 

The Haven Concierge

The last note on the concierge - I wasn't as impressed this trip - in the past I've been utterly blown away by the service and felt like they truly went above and beyond. We had several instances this cruise where we asked for follow ups or help and got limited responses (including some help tipping the correct staff members in the Vibe - they basically said, nothing we can do to help you). And, when asked to track down some photos from our first tour, instead of them reaching out to the company, we just got a website to go to (which I could have already googled). I recognize these aren't particularly usual requests, but to be honest, the Haven concierge is usually there for the unusual requests that they can really elevate your experience on. The last trip, I got a tour of the engine room which the concierge coordinated directly with the Chief Engineer. Now that was cool (2015).

 

I do hope this review is helpful to some of you - please let me know if there's anything I can answer or any relevant questions with everything going on in the world!

 

Cheers 🙂

[Hutcha]

Great review! Thanks a lot. I'm in the same cabin that you were, coming up at the end of Feb. Nice notes on that. Did your CAS offer include that cabin, or did you upgrade to it? Good points on the casino also. BJ is also my game, and I've noticed the poor rating system that they have implemented. The drink card, in the cabin, comes when you book through CAS. Nothing in addition to premium plus, but over the regular drink package, it gives you bottled water and energy drinks at the casino bar.

[ElizaSTN]

Great review thank you!  Did they do the cocktail reception with officers for Haven guests?

 

And did you see any difference with butler service being aft?

 

TIA!

[phillygwm]

11 hours ago, trevorwh said:

The Casino (Game of Choice - Blackjack)

I didn't get a lot of information on Blackjack and the casino that was recent before I left, so I thought it was worth posting some here for those of you that play. All $10 tables have poor rules (6:5 / hit on soft 17). Some $15 paid 3:2, but be careful, because I saw at least one that paid 6:5 just like Vegas where it can be a mix. All tables up through $25 use CSM, $50 & high-limit used 6-deck shoes hand-shuffled. High limit ($100 min bet) stayed on soft 17, but didn't allow surrender (despite them originally saying it did), so be aware. Also, no limit on number of hands you can play (I played 3, but you may have been able to go to 4 if necessary) - no doubling of the bet required to play, which was nice as well.

 

Drink card was in the room when I arrived for basic drinks (not sure if this is standard or was because we booked via total rewards), but didn't matter as we just used the Premium Plus beverage package instead.

 

Because NCL has a 3% surcharge now on withdrawals (annoying, yes I know it's waived at higher levels, but still) I wired front money to the Casino. This was fairly uncommon, but worked quite well. Only downside to be aware of is that for some reason they can't transfer back your winnings, only the original amount you sent them via wire (so they paid the rest in cash, not a lot of fun). No issues with withdrawing markers, also be aware $2k max withdrawal per day if you want cash (not chips)

 

OK, so the last thought on the Casino - I was shocked at how bad the points are for table players. Avg bet was $75/hand, total play time of 25 hours. That resulted in 3,400 points. Or, put another way, no increase in status from Jade and $34 in comps for OBC. I know it's not Vegas, but HOLY MOLY it struck me as a very small number. Will be interesting to see what happens in terms of Casinos at Sea offers for future cruises (this was my first with significant play)

 

Cagney's

Cagney's was not as good as I remembered, both in terms of the service and the cook and quality of the meat. It wasn't bad, but in many cases we felt like our best meals were consistently in the Haven Restaurant as opposed to the speciality restaurants, which felt fairly odd. There was also a gentleman next to us who was extremely upset that his steak wasn't cooked correctly, and it took them so long to get it right they comped the meal. Fairly strange experience.

 

 

I'll comment on these points because they were our shared experiences.  I cruised 12/12-19.

 

I play blackjack but, if I'm bored or on a cold streak, I'll switch to slots.  I accumulated more points on slots than I did at the table, despite playing much more at the table.  I played almost exclusively at the $50 game.  I played varying amounts from $50 to several hundred.

 

The other thing I found annoying:  I had a line of credit established but sometimes just took an ATM withdrawal.  I wound up depositing a good portion of my winnings as "front money" because you're limited to the amount of chips you can cash when you have a line.  No problem there, but at the end of a cruise, instead of wiring funds back (or giving me a check, as they'd done in the past) all amounts <$10K were distributed in cash.  I didn't want to carry that amount in cash but no matter, them's the rules.

 

As for Cagney's, I agreed it wasn't up to par.  We enjoyed Ocean Blue and, especially, Le Bistro.  I'm not Haven so went 7 specialty dinners.  I actually cancelled my last night at Cagney's in favor of Le Bistro.

 

[julie3fan]

Very nice review, and fun to read less than a week from my own cruise on the Bliss!

 

Do you recall which MDR was serving lunch on embarkation day?  I so much prefer that over the Zoo, aka buffet!

[LadyCruising]

Thank you so much for the review. We are planning on this same cruise in March and have been trying to decide if the Vibe is worth it. I've heard it can be quite windy and cold during the sea days during this time of year, as you mentioned. Other than NYE when everything was shutdown, did you find it comfortable enough to layout in the sun? It sounds like most of the value was more in the bar and service which I would appreciate too but if it is freezing up there I'm not sure I would want to stay. 

[trevorwh]

12 hours ago, Hutcha said:

Great review! Thanks a lot. I'm in the same cabin that you were, coming up at the end of Feb. Nice notes on that. Did your CAS offer include that cabin, or did you upgrade to it? Good points on the casino also. BJ is also my game, and I've noticed the poor rating system that they have implemented. The drink card, in the cabin, comes when you book through CAS. Nothing in addition to premium plus, but over the regular drink package, it gives you bottled water and energy drinks at the casino bar.

Nope, we booked it directly with Casinos at Sea without an upgrade (I had no status with them, only status with Caesars, so wanted the discount but not necessarily try and book then upgrade)

[trevorwh]

11 hours ago, ElizaSTN said:

Great review thank you!  Did they do the cocktail reception with officers for Haven guests?

 

And did you see any difference with butler service being aft?

 

TIA!

No Haven cocktail reception - all group gatherings on the ship were stopped the day after we boarded due to COVID (including the latitudes reception party as well). 

 

No difference with the butler service being aft - was still quite good (if anything, the butler felt like he was always around 😆), but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

[trevorwh]

10 hours ago, julie3fan said:

Very nice review, and fun to read less than a week from my own cruise on the Bliss!

 

Do you recall which MDR was serving lunch on embarkation day?  I so much prefer that over the Zoo, aka buffet!

IIRC, I don't think any of the main dining rooms were open - but, I could simply be misremembering because we headed directly for the Haven. I know the American diner and a few other places were open, but I don't think the main rooms were for lunch (at least when we boarded at noon).

[trevorwh]

9 hours ago, LadyCruising said:

Thank you so much for the review. We are planning on this same cruise in March and have been trying to decide if the Vibe is worth it. I've heard it can be quite windy and cold during the sea days during this time of year, as you mentioned. Other than NYE when everything was shutdown, did you find it comfortable enough to layout in the sun? It sounds like most of the value was more in the bar and service which I would appreciate too but if it is freezing up there I'm not sure I would want to stay. 

If the sun isn't out, it's brutal and uncomfortable unless you are in the hot tub (depends on if you enjoy that or not). Even on the windiest day we found the hot tub comfortable (hold on that drink though!). But, if the sun is out I always found it to be pleasant and warm, even when the outside temp was listed at ~65 degrees. It's also worth noting they do provide blankets, and quite a few guests in the Vibe took advantage of them. I'm also a bit of a polar bear so the cold doesn't bother me, but unless it's 80+ might not be worth it if you tend to get a bit colder.

[trevorwh]

11 hours ago, phillygwm said:

I'll comment on these points because they were our shared experiences.  I cruised 12/12-19.

 

I play blackjack but, if I'm bored or on a cold streak, I'll switch to slots.  I accumulated more points on slots than I did at the table, despite playing much more at the table.  I played almost exclusively at the $50 game.  I played varying amounts from $50 to several hundred.

 

The other thing I found annoying:  I had a line of credit established but sometimes just took an ATM withdrawal.  I wound up depositing a good portion of my winnings as "front money" because you're limited to the amount of chips you can cash when you have a line.  No problem there, but at the end of a cruise, instead of wiring funds back (or giving me a check, as they'd done in the past) all amounts <$10K were distributed in cash.  I didn't want to carry that amount in cash but no matter, them's the rules.

 

As for Cagney's, I agreed it wasn't up to par.  We enjoyed Ocean Blue and, especially, Le Bistro.  I'm not Haven so went 7 specialty dinners.  I actually cancelled my last night at Cagney's in favor of Le Bistro.

 

Yeah, I really don't understand this policy to be honest. It seems very silly and is a huge pain to carry that much cash off the boat (including the security and transport risk). I'd probably think twice about gambling at such high blackjack amounts with so few comps, unless Casinos At Sea ends up sending offers that drastically differ from the actual status (which again, doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but let's see what happens).

[Mikial]

Any chance that you have the dailies from this itinerary?

[trevorwh]

13 minutes ago, Mikial said:

Any chance that you have the dailies from this itinerary?

Unfortunately not. I thought about it since I knew someone would ask, but I ended up losing most of them because I always used the app on my iPhone instead. Hopefully someone else does!

[Mikial]

2 hours ago, trevorwh said:

Unfortunately not. I thought about it since I knew someone would ask, but I ended up losing most of them because I always used the app on my iPhone instead. Hopefully someone else does!

Thank you for the quick response!  Hopefully someone out there posts them.  Thank you for the review.

[BamaCruiser39]

@trevorwh I was on the first Gem sailing out of the US in August '21 and gambled way heavier than normal (both in total amount/average bet playing probably 90% table games split between baccarat/roulette/blackjack and 10% slots) with higher losses than before the pandemic and my comps after were an absolute joke.

 

I much prefer NCL to other lines for a number of reasons but the CAS comps were so bad that I'm now taking a few comp cruises on Celeb/RCL after a short Celeb cruise where I played (and lost) significantly less but received better comp offers. 

Edited January 4, 2022 by BamaCruiser39

[n4w]

7 hours ago, Mikial said:

Thank you for the quick response!  Hopefully someone out there posts them.  Thank you for the review.

 

[trevorwh]

2 hours ago, BamaCruiser39 said:

@trevorwh I was on the first Gem sailing out of the US in August '21 and gambled way heavier than normal (both in total amount/average bet playing probably 90% table games split between baccarat/roulette/blackjack and 10% slots) with higher losses than before the pandemic and my comps after were an absolute joke.

 

I much prefer NCL to other lines for a number of reasons but the CAS comps were so bad that I'm now taking a few comp cruises on Celeb/RCL after a short Celeb cruise where I played (and lost) significantly less but received better comp offers. 

That's certainly unfortunate to hear, and it sounds like CAS has probably given up a bit on table players. I'll probably just reset exceptions for future cruises and not plan to gamble much (outside of a little fun here and there), as it isn't worth it at a potentially high loss number.

[KAYKAY121]

8 hours ago, Mikial said:

Thank you for the quick response!  Hopefully someone out there posts them.  Thank you for the review.

I didn't save the dailies to post because of the number of activities that were nonexistent due to cancellations. They wouldn't be accurate and are changing every week from the ones I have seen. 

[Stacy-b]

Hi!  We are on the Bliss Haven soon.  Do you remember the name of the Concierge?  I am trying to plan some bigger events for my group!  Thanks!

[phillygwm]

15 hours ago, trevorwh said:

Yeah, I really don't understand this policy to be honest. It seems very silly and is a huge pain to carry that much cash off the boat (including the security and transport risk). I'd probably think twice about gambling at such high blackjack amounts with so few comps, unless Casinos At Sea ends up sending offers that drastically differ from the actual status (which again, doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but let's see what happens).

I've spoken to a number of CAS reps over the years and it seems they rate your play in two different ways:  1) Imputed loss, so if I played for X hours at an average of $Y per hand, over the long haul I should have lost $Z.  If you come out ahead, this is the calculation they use; 2) Actual loss, so if someone lost $50K in 15 minutes they'd get some nice offers even if they never set foot in the casino after that 🙂

 

That leads me to believe that the whole points thing is primarily for slot players and your offers would not necessarily corrolate to the number of points you've accumulated.

[Mikial]

On 1/4/2022 at 8:43 AM, KAYKAY121 said:

I didn't save the dailies to post because of the number of activities that were nonexistent due to cancellations. They wouldn't be accurate and are changing every week from the ones I have seen. 

The joys of cruising in 2021-2022, eh?

[julie3fan]

13 hours ago, Mikial said:

The joys of cruising in 2021-2022, eh?

 

I'm on the Bliss right now, and one of the joys of cruising in 2022 is the reduced passenger count.  She holds 4,004 passengers, and there's only 1,396 of us currently on board!  The GM told me in his 2 decades of sailing, it's the first time he's ever seen more crew (1,500) than passengers!