Semi-live from the Bliss - Mexican Riviera - Feb 11-18

[OrcaGirl]

Hola everyone! Currently sitting at Vancouver International Airport, waiting to meet up with my travel party and get this vacay started.

 

We’ll be heading out on the Norwegian Bliss, for the 7-day cruise of the Mexican Riviera, with stops in Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo san Lucas.

 

 

The cruise was originally supposed to include a stop in Ensenada as well, but that port was removed and the itinerary rejigged several weeks ago due to “fuel efficiencies.”

 

 

I will try to post 2-3 times each day with what we’re up to; my particular focus is usually cocktails, food, entertainment, and excursion adventures. (I’ll also be posting lots of photos over on Instagram Stories; look for erin_braincandy if you just want photos/videos without all of the commentary.)

 

A little about the travel party

 

I’m a frequent cruiser on NCL, and hit Platinum last summer thanks to a Latitude triple-points offer on an Alaska sailing of the Bliss. For this cruise, I’m travelling with Mom (mid-70s, has cruised twice before to Alaska on Princess, but this will be her first warm-weather cruise and first time on NCL) and Red (late 50s, first-time cruiser, my mom’s neighbour and my childhood friend - growing up, she was like the big sister I never had.)

 

Also on this cruise will be the Fox (last seen on my most recent Alaska cruise) and her friend K (new to cruising). A couple of months back, the Fox asked for my recommendations for a good cruise to take a first-timer on, and lo and behold, the dates for this Bliss sailing worked perfectly. Yay! 

 

Today’s travel plan

 

Mom and Red live up in the Great Frozen North 🥶, so they’re flying down to Vancouver this morning and then I’ll meet them in the airport and we’ll continue together through US Customs and Immigration.

 

We’ve got a 3-hour flight to Los Angeles, and then we’ll be spending the night at a Best Western relatively near the port. Fingers crossed for a smooth travel day. 🤞

 

Past Semi-Live from CC threads…

 

If you’re interested in some of my past “semi-live from…” threads:

 

June 2023 | Alaska on the NCL Bliss with the Fox and her Cub:

 

 

April 2023 | Alaska on the Discovery Princess with Mom:

 

 

October 2022 | Mexican Riviera on the Celebrity Solstice with the Fox: 

 

 

December 2021 | Mexican Riviera on the Bliss with the husband:

 

 

 

[drumming cruisers]

I am looking forward to your posts! We are going on this cruise in a couple of weeks. Our cruise is sold out, going to be a crowd!

have a wonderful time!

Edited February 10 by drumming cruisers

[drumming cruisers]

Could you check this out for us? At Cruise Port, is there a sign for Haven to go through security or do we get into the long line in the tent that I have seen on YouTube?

 

TIA

[cruiser2015]

18 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

Hola everyone! Currently sitting at Vancouver International Airport, waiting to meet up with my travel party and get this vacay started.

 

We’ll be heading out on the Norwegian Bliss, for the 7-day cruise of the Mexican Riviera, with stops in Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo san Lucas.

 

 

The cruise was originally supposed to include a stop in Ensenada as well, but that port was removed and the itinerary rejigged several weeks ago due to “fuel efficiencies.”

 

 

I will try to post 2-3 times each day with what we’re up to; my particular focus is usually cocktails, food, entertainment, and excursion adventures. (I’ll also be posting lots of photos over on Instagram Stories; look for erin_braincandy if you just want photos/videos without all of the commentary.)

 

A little about the travel party

 

I’m a frequent cruiser on NCL, and hit Platinum last summer thanks to a Latitude triple-points offer on an Alaska sailing of the Bliss. For this cruise, I’m travelling with Mom (mid-70s, has cruised twice before to Alaska on Princess, but this will be her first warm-weather cruise and first time on NCL) and Red (late 50s, first-time cruiser, my mom’s neighbour and my childhood friend - growing up, she was like the big sister I never had.)

 

Also on this cruise will be the Fox (last seen on my most recent Alaska cruise) and her friend K (new to cruising). A couple of months back, the Fox asked for my recommendations for a good cruise to take a first-timer on, and lo and behold, the dates for this Bliss sailing worked perfectly. Yay! 

 

Today’s travel plan

 

Mom and Red live up in the Great Frozen North 🥶, so they’re flying down to Vancouver this morning and then I’ll meet them in the airport and we’ll continue together through US Customs and Immigration.

 

We’ve got a 3-hour flight to Los Angeles, and then we’ll be spending the night at a Best Western relatively near the port. Fingers crossed for a smooth travel day. 🤞

 

Past Semi-Live from CC threads…

 

If you’re interested in some of my past “semi-live from…” threads:

 

June 2023 | Alaska on the NCL Bliss with the Fox and her Cub:

 

 

April 2023 | Alaska on the Discovery Princess with Mom:

 

 

October 2022 | Mexican Riviera on the Celebrity Solstice with the Fox: 

 

 

December 2021 | Mexican Riviera on the Bliss with the husband:

 

 

 

If you are the BW Worldport, be cautious - I checked this area out on google and it looks like kind of a not great neighborhood. Right next to the freeway. Nothing around it except for the Denny's next door and a gas station.

Sailed last month; I'm a BW guy. Chose the one in Torrance instead  - exactly half way between LAX and the port.

Should be alright for the overnight, I suppose. When I offered these 2 and one other to my DW, she rejected this one.

[OrcaGirl]

11 minutes ago, drumming cruisers said:

Could you check this out for us? At Cruise Port, is there a sign for Haven to go through security or do we get into the long line in the tent that I have seen on YouTube?

 

TIA

I’ll report back tomorrow but usually there’s been a separate security line for Haven whenever I’ve cruised out of LA.

[hallux]

@OrcaGirl I'll tell you right now that the captain is doing what he can to ensure an on time arrival in LA.  There was a medical emergency 45 minutes after leaving Cabo yesterday, lost 2 hours or so returning and transferring the patient for critical medical care.  His noon report today was that we're 'running flat out' (confirmed with a GPS app that we're doing 25-26 mph right now).  I can't speak for others, but I know that myself and those I've befriended on board don't plan on trying to extend our vacation to the detriment of yours.

[OrcaGirl]

1 hour ago, hallux said:

@OrcaGirl I'll tell you right now that the captain is doing what he can to ensure an on time arrival in LA.  There was a medical emergency 45 minutes after leaving Cabo yesterday, lost 2 hours or so returning and transferring the patient for critical medical care.  His noon report today was that we're 'running flat out' (confirmed with a GPS app that we're doing 25-26 mph right now).  I can't speak for others, but I know that myself and those I've befriended on board don't plan on trying to extend our vacation to the detriment of yours.

Yikes! Hope the person with the medical emergency is okay.

 

Thanks for the update, we will have a leisurely breakfast instead of rushing to the port in the morning.

 

Hope you had a great cruise.

[Destaw71835]

I’m looking forward to your review. I will be on Bliss in December 2024 (Western Caribbean) but I am also very interested in the Mexican Riviera itineraries.

[doubledown_58]

Thanks for the live. We will be on the Bliss end of March. Let us now if the great cookie scandal is true on the Bliss.

[OrcaGirl]

Whew, that was a long day. Or at least it felt like one.

 

Once I met up with my mom and Red post-US Customs, we grabbed a bite to eat and some pre-cruise cocktails at the Canucks Bar & Grill. And almost immediately as soon as we sat down, I got a text message that our flight was delayed by about an hour.

 

 

 

So we had a leisurely meal instead of a rushed one, and before too long it was time to board. I did grab some Tim Horton’s donuts before boarding as a mid-flight snack, knowing it would probably be late by the time we got to have dinner.

 

The flight itself was uneventful.

 

 

 

Had a not-so-brief 20 min of panic when my Find My Phone app showed my mom’s luggage AirTag as being at LAX but my luggage AirTag as still being in Vancouver. Fortunately it turned out to just be a looooong delay in updating… all luggage is presented and accounted for.

 

Rather than try to wrangle Mom and Red and all of our bags onto the LAX-IT shuttle, I ordered a Lyft Black to pick us up at the terminal.

 

Despite Google Maps saying it was a 45 minute ride to our hotel, it was a mere 18 minutes! The final bill with tip came out to $121USD.

 

We were still pretty full from lunch + plane donuts, but having a balanced and healthy dinner seemed like the smart thing to do… so I ordered Shake Shack via Uber Eats. 🤣

 

 

We’re now all tucked into bed, watching Frozen, which neither Mom nor Red have ever seen!

 

 

Tomorrow, we cruise!

 

 

Random observations:

 

The flight at the gate next to ours at YVR was headed to Vegas, and presumably everyone was in a Superb Owl party mood. 🦉 

 

I saw one Broncos jersey and two Taylor Swift’s boyfriend’s team’s jerseys.

 

Airplanes are LOUD. I just got noise-cancelling headphones for Christmas and I don’t know how I ever travelled without them.

[spotfish]

We did this cruise over Christmas and had great time! Beautiful weather and even though the ship was sold out we didn’t have any issues. Enjoy

[decrepit old man]

Who or what is "Red"

[cruiser2015]

13 hours ago, doubledown_58 said:

Thanks for the live. We will be on the Bliss end of March. Let us now if the great cookie scandal is true on the Bliss.

If you read that thread, you should have seen my post there.

We were on the Bliss 2 weeks ago.

The only cookies seen the entire cruise were as one of the cabin treats in our Club Balcony.

Never in the buffet.

Not even in the Observation Lounge - though i did not check there every single day, or all day. The lounge did feature some items not seen, or rarely, in the buffet. (certain sandwiches, pretzel rolls (daily), golden delicious apples come to mind)

[destar]

Thank you for posting, have a great cruise.

[OrcaGirl]

10 hours ago, spotfish said:

We did this cruise over Christmas and had great time! Beautiful weather and even though the ship was sold out we didn’t have any issues. Enjoy

I previously sailed the Mexican Riviera on the Bliss two or three Christmases ago, although very much not sold out as it was the first Christmas cruise of the restart and there were almost zero children onboard; that was a great cruise. 🤣

[OrcaGirl]

14 hours ago, doubledown_58 said:

Thanks for the live. We will be on the Bliss end of March. Let us now if the great cookie scandal is true on the Bliss.

I will certainly keep my eye on both the cookie situation as well as the hashbrown situation. 🤣

[OrcaGirl]

9 hours ago, decrepit old man said:

Who or what is "Red"

As noted in my first post, Red is a family friend and our guest on this cruise.

[Panhandle Couple]

18 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

I will certainly keep my eye on both the cookie situation as well as the hashbrown situation. 🤣

You can ask for cookies at the scoop ice cream station in the buffet.  You will get 2 or 3 per request.

 

Hashbrowns are stubbornly holding out for more pay, and better health benefits.

[ozziebound]

I’ll be on the bliss right after you! 
eager to hear what you think of the shows…

 

also will you check out the thermal suite? Trying to decide if $299 for the week is worth it! (Maybe since the cruise will be quite full with tons of kids (including ours!) it’ll be a good place to get away…

[cruiser2015]

22 minutes ago, Panhandle Couple said:

You can ask for cookies at the scoop ice cream station in the buffet.  You will get 2 or 3 per request.

 

Hashbrowns are stubbornly holding out for more pay, and better health benefits.

What ship was that on?

Never saw a cookie there on the Bliss. If they were there, it was a really BIG secret.

[OrcaGirl]

23 minutes ago, ozziebound said:

I’ll be on the bliss right after you! 
eager to hear what you think of the shows…

 

also will you check out the thermal suite? Trying to decide if $299 for the week is worth it! (Maybe since the cruise will be quite full with tons of kids (including ours!) it’ll be a good place to get away…

Yes, we’ve all got thermal spa passes. My mom loved the thermal spa on the Discovery Princess, so I sold her on this cruise by promising her that the Bliss thermal spa was twice as big and twice as awesome.

[OrcaGirl]

Good morning!

 

Just finished up breakfast, and about to order a rideshare over to the port.

 

 

Looks like the Bliss arrived about an hour late, so we know to expect a wait before boarding.

 

[Panhandle Couple]

1 hour ago, cruiser2015 said:

What ship was that on?

Never saw a cookie there on the Bliss. If they were there, it was a really BIG secret.

The Bliss and Breakaway, both in December.

 

As I stated, you had to request them, they weren't just sitting out in plain sight.

Edited February 11 by Panhandle Couple

[OrcaGirl]

Currently sitting in the terminal, awaiting the start of boarding.

 

We took a Lyft from the hotel to the port, very quick except for the long wait to actually turn into the port itself. People were still coming off the ship, so the luggage drop area was pretty hectic. 

 

 

Security was perfunctory and quick, and check-in was as fast as I’ve ever had. Yay for being Platinum. 

 

 

It’s currently 11am and we’re sitting and reading the dailies while we await Group A to be called.

 

 

 

Random observations

Red is very excited about the free charm offer at the jewelry shop. 🤣

 

We met some lovely people at breakfast and look forward to hanging out with them on board. I think things might get a little crazy.

 

Lots more jerseys and footbally shirts spotted in the terminal. Hopefully people watching the game means empty hot tubs during sailaway?

 

 

Haven signage outside the terminal security tent:

 

[drumming cruisers]

33 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

Currently sitting in the terminal, awaiting the start of boarding.

 

We took a Lyft from the hotel to the port, very quick except for the long wait to actually turn into the port itself. People were still coming off the ship, so the luggage drop area was pretty hectic. 

 

 

Security was perfunctory and quick, and check-in was as fast as I’ve ever had. Yay for being Platinum. 

 

 

It’s currently 11am and we’re sitting and reading the dailies while we await Group A to be called.

 

 

 

Random observations

Red is very excited about the free charm offer at the jewelry shop. 🤣

 

We met some lovely people at breakfast and look forward to hanging out with them on board. I think things might get a little crazy.

 

Lots more jerseys and footbally shirts spotted in the terminal. Hopefully people watching the game means empty hot tubs during sailaway?

 

 

Haven signage outside the terminal security tent:

 

Thank you for posting this!!!