tripleboom

Decided to try out the zoom on my little point & shoot Sony camera. Not bad!

Do you see what I see?

Just to the left of the taller building in the photo above...

Yup!  The Sony could zoom to 40x and read the ship's name from 5 miles away.  Not bad for a $60 Craigslist pickup about 5-6 years ago!

With the clock ticking toward 2:30, we gathered our belongings and headed back toward the bus, dropping our towels off along the way.  When we got up front, Erika looked very distressed.  She had said to meet at 2:30 so the bus could leave by 3:00, but apparently we were the last ones back to the bus and they were getting ready to leave.  So, as a word of caution, I either misheard or misunderstood the timing expectations for the day. I pride myself on making sure I'm not "that guy," so I'm not sure what happened, but I'll put it on me regardless.

Anyway, we loaded up, and started our trek back to the ship.  We still had time to detour through the old town area of Mazatlan as well as stop for some photos along the side of the main seaside road.

In the end, we did make it back to the ship about 45 minutes to an hour before final boarding.  Still enough time to hop off the shuttle cart, grab a photo, and re-board.

Just behind the beach chairs there was a large pool with a swim up bar, waterfalls, and abundant seating all around it, but it was pretty over run with kids.  At least when we were there, it appeared to mostly be vacationing Mexican natives that were at this resort. Not sure if that's normally this resort's primary clientele, or if it was just because it was the offseason, but there were a healthy number of kids around and in the primary pool during our visit.

That said, this was NOT an issue. We found one of the hot tubs (ok, lukewarm tubs) up a set of stairs that beautifully overlooked the resort.

There would be a few more people in and out of this hot tub while we chilled in here, but for the most part it was a great place to hang and relax for our last little bit of time left.

When we got off the bus at the resort, we were each issued a perforated ticket with a lunch coupon and two drink coupons.  So we grabbed our bags and headed up the stairs to the outdoor seating area near the buffet.  A couple of flowers caught my eye on the way there.

Once we were seated, we cashed in our coupons for some much needed water, and then headed off to the buffet.  It was full of some basic Mexican fare. While it wasn't overly flavorful, it at least hit the spot.

Couldn't beat the views from our seats either.

Based on the map/placemat at the table, it appeared that there were something like 14 different pools or hot tubs scattered around the property, so after fully enjoying the beach in the morning, we decided to play it cool and hit the pools/hot tubs for the afternoon.

Did I mention that timing the waves could be tricky sometimes? I started off this video clip standing next to Stacy, Joe, and Sandi. That's not where I finished. 

I thought this one was pretty funny.  Basically, after getting absolutely destroyed by one wave, I decided to head right back into the crashing chaos of the next. Unfortunately, this one destroyed me AND Stacy and left me directly underneath her as she struggled to get back to her feet.  Fortunately I had more than enough breath for her to be able to get her bearings and get off of me before I was able to surface myself.

While this isn't a calm, toes in the water, leisurely day at the beach, it was a lot of fun playing in the waves for a good hour or two!

After working up an appetite in the water we headed back to shore, toweled off (the resort does provide towels so you don't have to bring yours from the ship), and headed off to lunch.

After a good night's rest, Joe was feeling much better, so our excursion for the day was a go for all four of us.  We headed to the theater, waited for our excursion number to be called, then headed down to disembark.

For today we chose the "Beach Resort Getaway," a $95/person day pass to a local resort hotel, Hotel Playa Mazatlán.  The cost included lunch and two drinks during our stay at the resort.  Once we made it down to the pier we met with our tour host, Erika. Shortly thereafter we were escorted to the bus that took us out of the port area and brought us the beach club.  While the immediate area of the port was very industrial, the drive along Avenue Del Mar on the way to the hotel was quite pretty.

After the roughly twenty minute bus ride, we arrived at the resort and piled out.  Erika announced that we would need to be back out front by 2:30 to catch the bus back to the port, but otherwise we would have the run of the facility for the day.  We headed straight out toward the beach to claim some chairs and a palapa.  

The resort does have free wifi, so we connected for a bit to check in at home.  The night before had been the night when my parents left, and Stacy's mom (I know.. Please don't sing the song) arrived, so it was nicely timed to catch up with her, be sure the transition had gone smoothly, and rub it in that we were on a beach while she was in Iowa where it was 36°.

With that done, we slathered on the sunscreen and headed out to the water.

After a bit of just standing at the water's edge I retrieved my GoPro and we all headed out into the water.  The waves intermittently would be lapping gently and other times crashing hard several times in a row. Nothing resembling significant undertow hit us while we were out there, but you can get knocked around pretty good if you fail to time the duck under the waves just right!

1 hour ago, Wulfwyn said:

Was the ship dressed  up in Christmas  Cheer 

Not for this cruise (Nov. 14 - 21).  I suspect they would have started putting it up maybe the week after ours or certainly by the week after that since Thanksgiving would have passed.

On 12/3/2021 at 10:02 PM, nhtravels said:

I am truly enjoying your review Tripleboom!  It looks like you, Stacy, Joe and Sandi had a wonderful time on the Bliss!  DH and I are sailing on her in early February for 16 days.  Until then, I'm traveling vicariously through you!    (DH and I are considering the Jeep excursion thanks to your pictures and review of the day.  How was the cafe tequila, btw?)

We so enjoyed the Jeep excursion. Full disclosure, the image stabilization on the GoPro is great but really underplays just how rough and bumpy the trip is. So fun, but a very rough ride if anyone gets carsick easily.  And, oh my word. The café tequila was SOOOO good.  At a mere 18% ABV it's not going to get you as tipsy as a standard tequila, but it just tasted so good without being over the top sugary.  The peach flavored one was very good also, but the Café was too good not to bring home with us!

Day 5 - Mazatlán

Unlike every other port stop on this itinerary, Mazatlán was an early morning arrival, slated for 7 AM.  Because of this, Stacy and I put out a door hanger the night before for a room service delivery for 6:00 AM. Since we had to be to the theater by 7:30, we just didn't feel like trying to make it to any restaurant or the buffet for that early of a breakfast.  The food order arrived on time, and thanks to the spacious aft balcony, we were able to enjoy breakfast AND the sunrise.

Apparently we were greeted by some rogue pterodactyls?

Nope, just some harbor birds making their morning rounds.

If you've ordered a new Nissan Rogue and are wondering where it is, I think I found it...

What does every good city need?  

Water...

Church...

And beer...

I've always wondered how on earth they haul those giant ropes in to moor the ship at each port, and on this morning I was up early enough to witness it. Weighted balls on the end of a much smaller rope are tossed ashore, and then the guys on the dock use those smaller ropes to haul in the larger mooring lines. Pretty cool process!

3 hours ago, AuntLucky said:

Thank you so much for this cruise report! I am having so much fun reading about your adventures, it inspired me to pay for my Bliss cruise in full last night! I'll be sailing Feb 27, 2022! I was on the fence about taking it, as I've only cruised on smaller NCL ships, but now I'm super stoked for the adventures to come. 

Gotta tell you I have cabin envy with that aft balcony of yours. I only cruised once in an aft balcony and loved it. I'm traveling solo and am in a regular balcony cabin, but I sure love those views. 

Can't wait for more and thanks again for making me "take the plunge". 

Well that's about the best thing I've read in a long time!  First off, thanks for following along!  Second, you are going to have an absolute BLAST on the Bliss! I'm so glad you took the plunge! I can't wait to get back on the Bliss again sometime down the road!

After dinner, Stacy and I headed back to the room to grab a couple of items.  After writing a note to Andi, he was kind enough to make towel animals for us so we could show the boys when we got home.  They sure do love them!

Then we headed down to The Waterfront for a bit. The wind was whipping pretty good along the rail, but back under cover it was relatively calm. Nice to kick back for a while and just relax after an active day!

We decided to go check out the comedy show in the theater, which unfortunately turned out to be a bit of a dud. 

The comedian who came on first was just really un-funny. It wasn't even that she was overly crude or anything like that; I just didn't find much that made me laugh, and I'm a pushover for laughing.  The second comedian was better, but I've certainly seen better than either of these two on cruises before. Fortunately, the show was relatively short, so we didn't feel like we had wasted a bunch of time on board.  One mildly amusing thing occurred as we filed out.  An gentleman behind us remakred, "I thought she was better tonight than her earlier show. I'd move it up to a C+."  If I just watcher her C+ material, I don't regret missing any of the earlier shows!

After the show we checked out our photos to date and picked out a keeper among them.

We grabbed some buffet snacks, called it a night, and turned in ahead of our early call the next morning in Mazatlan.

After a full day riding around in a bouncy Jeep, up, down, around, and over the hills of Mexico, Joe was feeling a little under the weather. Say it with me, cruisers: MECLAZINE!

With an early wake up call scheduled for the next day, he and Sandi decided to turn in early to try to let Joe sleep off the ickiness, so Stacy and I had the evening just to ourselves.

We chose to head for Taste (or Savor? Does anyone really check which one they're going into? 😂) and were seated along a window.  Stacy chose a baked, stuffed cornbread appetizer. I didn't get a photo of it, but it looked large enough to be an entrée!  I went with the ravioli in lobster sauce. Super good!

Soon after the main courses arrived.  Stacy went with the baked ziti. Not the best pic, but it was definitely one of Stacy's favorite meals of the cruise.

I opted for the chicken cordon blue which was also quite good!

Our waiter for the evening was kind enough to take a photo for us as well!  Cruddy camera phone pictures, but Santa's bringing me an upgrade thankfully. 🙂

Quick PSA...

Bill... If you're out there... if you're dining two full tables away from me, and I can hear your conversation as plain as day, then I'm not really eavesdropping.  Furthermore, Bill, in regards to your significant other's planned attire for later in the evening, the word that you were struggling to come up with... for the strappy things attached to her teddy... those are called garters. 👀😂

Moving on!

Lots of good dessert options for this evening!  None as good as Bill's, but pretty good!

I took the cannoli (and left the gun).

And Stacy went with the  Chocolate Espresso Cake

Once we were dropped back off shipside, we took some time to look around the shops near the ship.  We had to be sure to bring our boys home a souvenir of course.  Fortunately we came across Glass Design Rosas, a booth specializing in beautiful glass pieces.

After much debate, we finally settled on these little guys at $10 each.

Just look at the colors threaded through these! So beautiful!

Of course Stacy couldn't very well leave without one of her own as well. 😄

By the time we got back on board, through security, went through the liquor confiscation process, and finally got back to our room, the sun had nearly completely set.  Another stunner.

Oh, sure.  THERE'S a pirate ship. 😄

The pirates ducked out ahead of us.

But we were underway shortly after that and got an impressive send off from Puerto Vallarta!

19 hours ago, mkcurran said:

 

Thanks for the shout out, MK!

After working our way back toward the port we met some of that heavy traffic near the port again. Not a lot of fun, but again we managed to time lights pretty well and stuck together.

After another couple of miles we pulled into the parking lot of the Grand Venetian.  Pepe started to lead us toward the public beach, but first we stopped at a curious little structure near the beach.  

All those little markers in there mark buried sea turtle eggs!  Apparently when they are laid anywhere on the beach, the conservationists will collect the eggs and bring them to this enclosure for safekeeping until they hatch.  Fortunately for us, they had had a few hatch earlier that day, so we got to see some babies up close & personal before they would be released.

After that, Pepe directed us to the public beach near the port, and we had a little over an hour of free time before we had to report back.  The beach was nothing terribly special, so don't book this "Jeep  Safari & Beach Adventure" if you're hoping for luxurious and/or abundant beach time.  That said, I'd still highly recommend this excursion because it packed so much fun into our day!

Joe and I spent about 10 minutes in the water, but we could see that the ladies were getting bombarded by peddlers on the beach, so we packed it in and headed back to where Pepe was waiting for us.  

We met him at a little beach side restaurant called El Oasis Del Holi. We snagged a table, ordered a couple of much needed bottles of water, and just enjoyed the sunset while waiting for the group to all show up.

Once everyone showed up, we all hopped back in the Jeeps one last time, and drove the handful of blocks back to Chedraui, which is apparently a Mexican Big Box chain. Here we dropped the Jeeps, and it got a little hairy from here. Pepe said this is where we would part ways, and we only had to make the short walk back to the port ourselves.  Now, I'm pretty directionally gifted, so I knew the direction I had to go, but I wasn't 100% confident (especially after the maze of express lanes, local lanes, and u-turns that we had made) as to just how far from the port we were yet.  Pepe gave us some rather half-🍑 instructions, and we all started walking in the general direction of the port.

After a missed turn off, we found ourselves in front of the aft portion of the ship, but still on the wrong side of the fences.  Eventually a kind officer walked us the poorly marked entrance to the port's shopping area.  Eventually signs in there led us to the exit and to the electric shuttles that would drive us over to the Bliss.  I was never really sweating it, but after such a great day it left a bad taste to be pointed in a direction and told "good luck."  Really odd for an NCL excursion I thought.

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

UFC as in Ultimate Fighting Championship?  Who knew that was a big enough business that its CEO is paid enough to have 200,000,000 in disposable income to buy some boats.

You got it.  Lorenzo Fertitta is the owner, and the former CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship.  Apparently he and his brother sold UFC in 2016 for $4,000,000,000, so I guess there's some yacht money in there somewhere! 😆

Thanks for following along!  Hope you're enjoying the review half as much as I'm enjoying recounting it! Fun to relive the trip in this format.

As I mentioned before, when we first arrived I made note of one of the vendors.  Stacy and I have made it a habit now to always pick up a piece of art from a local vendor on our cruise trips, and then we display them at home on a wall dedicated to our cruise memories.

Before we started the tequila tour, Stacy and I picked out a couple of pieces together, and the vendor then packaged everything up for us nicely for a safe trip home.  

After the tour we returned to pick up our items from the artist, Patricia.  Our particular pieces were already packaged, but I did have her pose with one of her other finger painted tile paintings.

And here's the two we actually brought home with us.

With our art secured, we then headed off to lunch. Notice the sign on the wall. 😄

The tacos weren't quite as delicious as yesterday, but still awfully tasty. Pepe tried to warn me away from the habanero hot sauce, but I couldn't be dissuaded. Very good if you like spicy!

Stacy and Sandi each ordered a margarita ($5 or $6 I think?), and to our surprise we got to keep the glasses! Nice!

After lunch we all piled back into the Jeeps to head off toward our last stop of the day.

After getting an education on each of the tequilas offered, we were offered samples one by one.

Salud!

As the DD for our trip I kept my intake pretty low, but there were six...

I'm sorry, how many, Queens?

That right, SIX different tequilas to choose from.  Blanco, Reposado, and Añejo were the standards, followed by three infusion options: Durazno (peach), Almendra (almond), and Café (coffee).  While they all were very smooth and pleasant tasting, Stacy and I chose a bottle of the Café to take home with us. Quite delicious!

Following the tour and tasting, and since taking six shots of tequila and IMMEDIATELY hopping back in the Jeeps seems like a terrible idea, we were off to a quick lunch on site next.

Upon our arrival we were led through a shopping corridor, then through the small restaurant on site, and out into the courtyard where some refreshments were waiting.

More importantly there were also restrooms waiting!

While waiting for the rest of our crew to finish... taking care of business... I took a look at some of the wares for sale and found one that I was definitely going to return to!  More on that in a bit.  Eventually Pepe corralled us all again and led us through the courtyard toward the entrance to the tequila tour.

The brief tour included an overview of the laborious methods used to be make tequila back in the day as well as the modern techniques.

After the tour it was time for what we all really came for.  The tasting room. 😁

Once we were loaded up, we started our convoy to the next destination. There certainly were some pretty views along the way.

Eventually we made it back to hard surface roads.

And to our next stop, Doña Engracia Hacienda, for some refreshments, food, and of course... Tequila!

El Canton was a simple, but beautiful little village. We arrived in the central courtyard in town where the school was located. 

Along with a very nice basketball court.

Pepe talked to us in the courtyard pavilion about the village for a short while before allowing us to wander a bit. Joe snagged some Mexican Cokes at a nearby villager's stand and we just stretched our legs for a bit.

After a few minutes, Pepe herded us all toward a side street in the village. Once we got about a block away, the smells in the air could have led us the rest of the way.

Carlito's Panaderia (Bakery) was amazing!  I wouldn't have believed something so good could come out of such a simple operation.  The baked goods sold within were 2 for $1, and I paid more than that simply because they were worth so much more than that!

The ovens inside the building were still pumping out tons of heat, so it was clear that the day's baking was not yet complete.  It seemed to be a family operation with Grandfather at the oven, daughter working the till, and several more family members in the adjacent room either tending to the kiddos running around or preparing more baked goods.

I chose two chocolate filled pastries and two cinnamon flavored concha.  They were so fluffy, delicate, and warm!  SOOOO good!

Shortly after, Pepe called for us to head back to the Jeeps to head out to our next destination.  

I'll admit, when we first pulled up to this little village, I was fully prepared to be heartily underwhelmed. But the warmth of the people of the village, the baked goods, my full stomach... This would turn out to be one of the best moments of our whole trip; and that's saying something!

After getting our tour # called from inside the theater, we were led down to disembark, and pointed in the direction of our tour guide.  Pepe was a great guy and quickly led us through the small marketplace area set up inside the secure terminal zone. From there we were herded onto buses and out of the port area.  With a quick pass back past the bow of the ship... 

And then quickly made a u-turn to get us back on the correct side of the street.  Soon after we pulled into an incredibly exotic locale!

I didn't remember clicking my heels three times, but suddenly it felt like home!

Actually, it just so happened that our tour operator apparently had a special arrangement to park our vehicles for the day in the parking lot so they were close to the pier and ready for us!  Today would be a day spent on a Jeep tour of Puerto Vallarta and the surrounding area.  If you consider this tour (Jeep Safari & Beach Adventure; $89/adult, $59/kid before any Free at Sea discounts), you should know that all the Jeeps are all 5-speed manual transmissions.  Frankly, this was half the reason I was excited for this tour!  It's been a number of years since I drove stick, but it all came back like riding a bike!

That said, I won't lie. The process of getting us all out of the port area traffic was more than a little chaotic.  Fortunately, Pepe up in the lead Jeep would pull over to the shoulder if a portion of our convoy (maybe a dozen or so Jeeps?) got caught at a red light. I didn't know that before we got going, so I admittedly drove a little more aggressively than I would have had I known. Oh well!

Before too long we found our way onto more open and picturesque roads and we headed off into the hills around Puerto Vallarta.

We even came across a group of mountain bikers (presumably Princess cruisers?) at one point.  Again, I won't yuck their yum, but I much preferred our Jeep ride to their brand of fun! 😄

After about a 30 minute drive on hard surface roads, we started to offroad a bit on some of the side roads, evenutally landing in the village of El Cantón, Jalisco.

Day 4 - Puerto Vallarta

Sorry for the delay in posting! The life of a claims adjuster is never boring!  Nothing like a pipe break on the 3rd floor (with ensuing water damage to all levels) of an assisted care facility to start your day!

We had a fairly late start to the day in Puerto Vallarta, with only an 11:30 AM show time in the theater to go to our NCL excursion for the day.  So we met up, snagged some breakfast in the Garden Café, and watched as the Bliss pulled into port.

Our port buddy for the day was the Majestic Princess

Before we had to head out, I had to go and exchange some towels up on the pool deck, so as long as I was up there I traipsed all the way up to Deck 20 where the entrance to the Laser Tag facility is located to snap a photo from the tip top of the ship.

The picture made the trip worth it, but what was even better was discovering a little hidden gem.  If you go up to Deck 19 forward, on the port (left when facing forward) side of the ship, there's basically a more luxurious sun deck just outside of the entrance to the Vibe Beach Club.  This was one of those moments where I REALLY missed the research period for this cruise and ship. Had I had my year or so to research I'd have already known about this and would have been camped out there for the first sea day!  So now you get to know what I already should have. 🙂

With couples' loungers, a hot tub, and its own bar, this place was AMAZING!

28 minutes ago, Wulfwyn said:

How many passengers  were on board  for this sailing 

 

I asked a few members of the crew during the week and the consensus seemed to be right around 1,800.  We never had trouble finding places to sit in the bars/lounges, rarely rode the elevator with anyone else, walked up and got into any show.  So basically, as close to paradise as you can get.

Stacy's hair takes JUST a bit longer than mine, so while she was working to get all beautified for the evening, I ran down to check about a wait time at Teppanyaki.  I was unable to make a reservation before 8 PM from the app, but I checked in with the hostess who got me a reservation for 6:00 without any issue.

Pitstop on the way back to the room.  Have I mentioned I like the chandeliers?

I know I haven't specified it yet, but it's pretty clear.  I married up.  Like, way up.

Joe and Sandi snagged a pic with one of the ship's photographers.  The fact that Sandi was photobombed by the Starbucks sign is really perfect. There's no bigger Starbucks junkie than her!

Teppanyaki was as fun and delicious as ever!

Classic.

After a very full day, we were all tuckered out, full of filet mignon and shrimp, and knew we had a full day ahead of us.  So after some shopping in the stores on board, we decided to turn in to get some good rest.  Puerto Vallarta was waiting for us tomorrow!

While the Cabo Escape wasn't what we signed up for, we definitely had an enjoyable time.  If you're in the mood for a fun crew, party atmosphere, abundant drinks (of questionable alcohol concentration 😄), good, quick grub, and some snorkeling for good measure I'd definitely still recommend it. It's just got fewer pirates, peg legs, and parrots than I had anticipated for our day!

We arrived back into the marina in plenty of time to make the last tender back to the ship, but we were still on the wrong side of the marina. So we snagged a $20 water taxi back over to the correct side of the marina, buzzed through a quick photo op...

.. checked out a couple of shops, and then hopped a tender back to the Bliss.  Which I took more photos of because... well because I just had to, ok?

Tender operations are just the coolest. Also, that was the HAL MS Koningsdam in port with us in the right of the photo below.

Watching sunset from the Bridge Cam in the cabin while we clean up and prepare for the night back on board.