Almost Live …. NCL Bliss through the Panama Canal (Dec 4 to 19) Miami to LA

[9tee2Sea]

I hope the last show of Six will be something special.  Going to make sure to see it on my Jan 27 cruise.  

[hallux]

1 hour ago, 9tee2Sea said:

Going to make sure to see it on my Jan 27 cruise.  

I might see you in the theater.  I missed my chance last time to pull out my phone and record, you can bet that my phone will be at the ready for much of the show!!!

[HBCcruiser]

On 12/5/2023 at 7:50 PM, EganFire said:

Day 2 Recap - Dec 5 - At Sea

Today started out with an amazing sunrise at sea. Honestly, I am sure 95% of sunrises at sea are amazing just strictly due to the fact it is 'at sea". 

 

I grabbed some breakfast at the Garden Cafe and made the mistake of leaving my key in the room. Since you have to insert your room card to activate the lights and AC, I simply forgot. After getting a new card, I then added a bright green post it note on the back of my room door: "TAKE KEY!"

 

I attended the latitudes award behind the scenes tour. I have attended this before on different ships, and always learn something new. As we cruise on this floating city, it is sheer amazing to find that we have an entire town under the city keeping the city going 24 hours and 7 days a week. It is a quite impressive area.

 

Today, I learned a few things. Today we spotted them creating the gingerbread houses and decorative items that will soon be on display when the ship decorates for Christmas. 

 

We also learned that all of the laundry, guest laundry, sheets, towels, and crew is all done by 25 employees. The process is amazing and it was quite warm. Laundry is located on decks 4 and 5 at the forward of the ship.

 

Can you imagine trying to do that much laundry at home?  The sheer amount of items waiting to be cleaned and folded was overwhelming.

 

Some areas we were restricted in taking pictures, but there is a corridor that runs the entire length of the ship, like a major road. It is called "I-95" and many think it relates to Interstate 95 on the East coast. It is also the name of the immigration form that is mandatory for all cruise line employees: Form I95. 

 

We also learned just how important two items area. First, the "vacation Heroes" cards. These are available at guest services and you can identify when someone does something amazing for you. These cards are shared directly with the crew and many of them keep all of them. They advised us while working a 9 month (or more) contract they may run into a rough patch and they read these cards to help remind them of the good they do to help them.

 

The second, is identifying them in the Survey you receive after the cruise. We learned the crew may not hear these remarks; however, having the company management team hearing how great someone is certainly is not bad for their career.  

 

We toured the backstage area of the main stage, and it is something to see how they fit everything in the wings behind the stage. Six, one of the two main shows on board, has a new cast starting on this cruise. This group will be the last of the cast for Six on Bliss. The show is being replaced by a game show afterwards. The game show: Wheel of Fortune. 

 

The Cruise Critic Meet & Greet was this morning. It was great to meet some of the head officers on board. They shared their direct cell phone numbers so that fi any of us from Cruise Critic have an issue while on board we can contact them directly. 52 Cruise Critic members were present for today's meeting. 

 

I spent some time in the Spa exploring all that is included with the spa pass. It was enjoyable; and surprisingly not as busy at I thought it would be.  Then I spent some hours at the Vibe Beach Club enjoying the weather and fresh air. Today was beautiful. Smooth seas and not too warm either.

 

The day ended with a sunset over the mountains of Cuba.

 

I had dinner at Ocean Blue, and as expected it was excellent. Great service all around. I had the Surf and Turf and highly recommend it. 

 

I listened to the Beatles perform in the Cavern, and every seat plus some was full, to a standing room only audience. 

 

After dinner it was time for 'Jersey Boys' and it did not disappoint. Great performance to a packed house. 

 

Tomorrow is another day at Sea, and here is the daily for today:

 

 

 

Do you happen to know which restaurant is open for lunch on sea days and embarkation? Thanks for this great review. 😃

[hallux]

9 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

embarkation

Taste and/or Savor (depending on need) for lunch on embarkation day, in addition to the buffet and The Local.

[schmoopie17]

We're in Antigua in February and NCL doesn't offer the Craft Beer excursion. Bummer...

[cruiser2015]

12 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

Do you happen to know which restaurant is open for lunch on sea days and embarkation? Thanks for this great review. 😃

Regarding sea days:

Check the daily schedule regarding open lunch venues (on any day).

At least one of the three MDR's will be open and possibly a specialty or two.

Obviously, the buffet and the Local.

[cruiser2015]

21 hours ago, EganFire said:

Day 9 - Recap - Dec 12 - At Sea

The sunrise was from behind the ship as we had turned West (later to be found that we were trying to head further out to sea to avoid some rough winds and sea).

 

Today started slightly windy and with gentle seas. After sunrise it started to build. I ate breakfast at the Local and while at breakfast we really started to feel things. I made my way to the Vibe and we were able to see several sea turtles, at least 15 and a shark.
 

I fell asleep too easily with the rolling seas and when I awoke from a good nap I missed the time period for lunch. Well, lunch at Savor or Taste as I had not yeti  tried that for lunch and wanted to today. 

 

The seas were now 15 ft and the wind was building as well. I noticed NCL placed these at every landing of each staircase.

I never did see what the worse height was but the ship was really moving today. The Captain did mention on his announcement today that we headed West to avoid the worse of it. If this was the avoided route, I am glad we did not experience the other. 

 

I had some wings from the Local for a late snack to hold me over for dinner. They were quite good. As I ate, the atrium was playing word scramble. 

 

I learned on a previous cruise to check your statement daily and address issues you find when you find them instead of waiting for the last night. I noticed two charges for the drinks I purchased to go into Guatemala that should not have been charged as I had the package. I went to the guest services desk and they agreed that I was charged wrong and took them off. 

 

While we were in port yesterday, the chefs assembled the ginger bread city in the center of the ship on deck 6, where it opens above to decks 7 and 8. This gave a great view from above of this piece of food art. (I will get better pictures tomorrow).

Tonight as reward for the rolling seas, the sun provided a beautiful sunset for our entertainment. 

Dinner was at Le Bistro. This was my first time to it on the Bliss. I honestly was very surprised it is on deck 17 in aft section. It has a nice view of the darkness at sea at night and then a view of the jogging deck. People were walking or jogging by as we ate. I also noticed that in one of the corners of the restaurant, a table of 5 high ranking ship officers were enjoying a nice dinner together, included was the head Chef and the Captain. 

 

After dinner I went to the late comedy show with comedian John Hastings. The place was packed, standing room packed. He mentioned he has been on many cruises and that for the first time, he too was affected by the high seas today and was sick earlier. He was feeling better and the show must go on. He was quite funny and the show ran late as he was just having too much fun with us. I really enjoy these two comedians, and will try to see both of them again while on board for sure.

 

Tomorrow a day at Sea (should have been Acapulco). Here is the daily:

 

 

 

 

Thanks for giving all of us fans your insights.

 

How's that internet been working for you?

There have been some nasty comments about the Bliss internet. I'm guessing they don't have the Starlink upgrade as yet.

[JamesIowa]

2 hours ago, cruiser2015 said:

Thanks for giving all of us fans your insights.

 

How's that internet been working for you?

There have been some nasty comments about the Bliss internet. I'm guessing they don't have the Starlink upgrade as yet.

Not op but on the bliss atm. No starlink, but found speeds to be ~6-13mps up, 2-7 down. Haven’t had a problem streaming football, Hulu+, etc. 

[EganFire]

20 hours ago, L1211 said:

Oh no!  Any idea what it is being replaced with?  I’m looking at March, 2024 booking.  

Per the Technical Manager on board it will be replaced with ‘Wheel of Fortune’ 

[EganFire]

3 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

We're in Antigua in February and NCL doesn't offer the Craft Beer excursion. Bummer...

Keep checking back. They often update them as you get closer to your cruise. Something else I learned recently: If you already have one booked in that port you also can’t see others. 

[EganFire]

2 hours ago, cruiser2015 said:

Thanks for giving all of us fans your insights.

 

How's that internet been working for you?

There have been some nasty comments about the Bliss internet. I'm guessing they don't have the Starlink upgrade as yet.

It all depends where you are on the ship. Most areas I am good. In the bathroom in my cabin no. Public areas have the best. Close to outside also works well. Deeper interior less so. Starling is not yet on board. No one on board can say when that will happen but eventually. 

[cruiser2015]

1 hour ago, EganFire said:

It all depends where you are on the ship. Most areas I am good. In the bathroom in my cabin no. Public areas have the best. Close to outside also works well. Deeper interior less so. Starling is not yet on board. No one on board can say when that will happen but eventually. 

So, no showering on the web.   🙄

Maybe it's implied in your reply, but how did the internet connection perform? i.e. smooth downloads, etc. Do you notice much variation at different times of the day? Some say that off hours yield better performance, while say, mid-day on a sea day will slow down due to heavy passenger usage.

[EganFire]

Day 10 - Recap - Dec 13 - At Sea (Originally Acapulco) 

Went to Garden Cafe for breakfast, it was not as busy as it has been on previous visits for breakfast. Then I headed to the Vibe for a couple of hours. 

 

I went to the Behind the Curtain Q&A in the atrium. I had a great seat in the Local on the glass looking down. Sadly, I did not take into account the newly placed Christmas Decorations. NCL Really should place these lower to not obstruct the view from these seats. Sure you can just lean over the glass; however, how the seats area arranged you will block everyone to your side. 

The technical manager and 3 cast members from Jersey Boys and 3 from Six attended and answered many questions from the audience. Most questions were quite good and the last one asked if it would be possible to hear an impromptu Christmas Song from them. Gabby Mack-Aragon from 'Six' obliged and sang a beautiful version of "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" for those who attended. 

After the show I had an opportunity to speak to Sarah McFarlane-Howard from Six and asked her when her contract is up as there has been some conflicting dates provided. She said that this cast ends on 25 FEBRUARY 2024. She does not know the last actual show date as they can change it slightly each week. For our 15 day cruise they performed two shows for two nights, a total of 4 opportunities to see it.

 

I decided to wonder the ship and take the time to really explore the areas instead of just see them. On deck 7, near the Theatre on the starboard side I went outside where the lifeboats are and found a great little place to look at the water. While enjoying this view I came across multiple dolphins in the water. At one point over 20 were swimming along side and I even caught these 4 jumping out of the water together.

Remember that ginger bread house I saw on the behind the scene tour?

I wanted to see how it looked now that the display is done, and here it is:

If you have never observed the power of a ship at sea, I recommend to visit the stern and watch. It is quite impressive. 

 

I went back to the Vibe and walked into those at the bar doing shot-o-clock and sat down for a few.

 

I spoke with two ladies on board from Ireland and learned that one of their significant others is reading this blog to keep up with the cruise. Hearing stories like this really help me to stay motivated to spend the time each day doing this. 

 

I remember learning many things from someone on a live on here years ago and always thought one day I will return the favor and do this for others. I honestly never thought of someone watching this to keep up with a friend or significant other who was on the same cruise. I have also met several others who someone recognized me from here and again, all of these interactions help to motivate this. Thank you to all who have reached out and shared those stories with me. 

 

The conversation at the Vibe was excellent and I did not want it to end; however, I wanted to see a few songs in Six before heading to dinner. So I stood in the back and watched the first 3-4 songs before heading to dinner. 

 

Dinner was at the Q - this is my third time on the Bliss and my first time eating dinner at Q. Here are my thoughts from dinner: Service was excellent. My server was very helpful and attentive. I had the Tortilla Soup and 1/4 Chicken meal. I also ordered the smoked peach margarita and really enjoyed that. I really liked the cups. They made them look like red solo cups and I am sure plenty of these are stolen every cruise as they really are nice. I did not take one for those wondering.

The soup was good. The jalapeño cornbread was amazing. The 1/4 smoked chicken was thighs and legs. I mention this as they are dark meat items on a chicken and were white as can be. I also noticed this chicken is NOT smoked as you can see. Smoked food leaves colored layers and as the skin looked and smelled to be smoked, I can only guess they use liquid smoke on the outside to give the appearance of smoked food. 

Desert was the banana pudding and it was very good. I also noticed as dinner service was finishing several entertainment cast were eating dinner in Q. The band took stage and started to play and they were good. The problem was the background music in the restaurant was also still playing. The band said they noticed that but could not turn it off. This is something that should be easy but I did not understand why they could not correct this. I listened to a few songs before heading to the comedy show. 

The comedy show was with Orlando Leyba and his first show was better. It was still a good show but not as good as I was expecting. 

 

As this show ended I looked at the time and realized the last show of Six for my cruise was still going on, so I went to listen to a few more songs. Between my before dinner watching the start of the early show and my now attending the end of the late show I ended up seeing all of 'Six' minus one song. So not a bad way to see it again.

Today was the peak of the Geminids Meteor shower, so I went to see what I could observe and the shy was cloudy and no stars were observable so I headed to bed.

 

Tomorrow is Manzanillo and here is the daily:

 

 

 

[EganFire]

30 minutes ago, cruiser2015 said:

So, no showering on the web.   🙄

Maybe it's implied in your reply, but how did the internet connection perform? i.e. smooth downloads, etc. Do you notice much variation at different times of the day? Some say that off hours yield better performance, while say, mid-day on a sea day will slow down due to heavy passenger usage.

I did not notice a difference on time of day or if at sea or in port.

[JamesIowa]

45 minutes ago, cruiser2015 said:

So, no showering on the web.   🙄

Maybe it's implied in your reply, but how did the internet connection perform? i.e. smooth downloads, etc. Do you notice much variation at different times of the day? Some say that off hours yield better performance, while say, mid-day on a sea day will slow down due to heavy passenger usage.

I’ve taken a few random speed tests on different days, times which may give you an idea of performance. These are all sea days I believe.

edit: grabbed the screen cap of the speed test results while on 5g, however all results were obtained while on bliss Wi-Fi 

Edited December 14, 2023 by JamesIowa

[alexgtp]

 

 

Any chance you are a slot player? If so can you verify they have ALL ABOARD slot machines.  It is towards the entrance to Casino (not sure if coming from the front or back of ship).

We are sailing her for NYE and that is one of our all time favorite slot's to pass the time. 🙂 

Thanks!! enjoying this live review!

Hope you enjoyed my home country of Guatemala. Antigua is such a picturesque city at the foot of an impressive volcano. You should see this place during Catholic holy week and weeks leading up to it! WOW.

[cruiser2015]

2 hours ago, EganFire said:

I did not notice a difference on time of day or if at sea or in port.

That's good news.

Thanks for the info.

Onward to Mexico!

[cruiser2015]

1 hour ago, JamesIowa said:

I’ve taken a few random speed tests on different days, times which may give you an idea of performance. These are all sea days I believe.

edit: grabbed the screen cap of the speed test results while on 5g, however all results were obtained while on bliss Wi-Fi 

Thanks, James.

[DominicAUS]

I’m loving this report and getting beyond excited for my trip in Jan. I hope I see some crocs 🐊 and some sharks 🦈. 
 

thanks for doing such a detail report. I’m seeing from some that Ensenada had been cancelled, haven’t got anything on my 5 day wonder if you will still stop. 
 

Enjoy the rest of your trip 

[cruiser2015]

11 minutes ago, DominicAUS said:

I’m loving this report and getting beyond excited for my trip in Jan. I hope I see some crocs 🐊 and some sharks 🦈. 
 

thanks for doing such a detail report. I’m seeing from some that Ensenada had been cancelled, haven’t got anything on my 5 day wonder if you will still stop. 
 

Enjoy the rest of your trip 

Ensenada is not a port on the Panama itineraries.

[JamesIowa]

1 hour ago, alexgtp said:

 

 

Any chance you are a slot player? If so can you verify they have ALL ABOARD slot machines.  It is towards the entrance to Casino (not sure if coming from the front or back of ship).

We are sailing her for NYE and that is one of our all time favorite slot's to pass the time. 🙂 

Thanks!! enjoying this live review!

Hope you enjoyed my home country of Guatemala. Antigua is such a picturesque city at the foot of an impressive volcano. You should see this place during Catholic holy week and weeks leading up to it! WOW.

Yep, located on the side of the casino near skyline and smoking area 

[DominicAUS]

42 minutes ago, cruiser2015 said:

Ensenada is not a port on the Panama itineraries.

My mistake. I thought I saw them stop there. No great loss either way hehe. 

[cruiser2015]

5 hours ago, DominicAUS said:

My mistake. I thought I saw them stop there. No great loss either way hehe. 

Apparently not.

[alexgtp]

16 hours ago, JamesIowa said:

Yep, located on the side of the casino near skyline and smoking area 

TY so much for the information!

[SingBill]

We have never sailed on Bliss, but board when you debark and will be sailing Dec 19-31, 2023, so your report has been very helpful.