Norwegian Bliss - Unexpected Stateroom Assignment

[Chicago Voyager]

Hello Friends . . .

 

I am excited about my upcoming Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Bliss. The stateroom booked is a Mid-Ship Mini-Suite (Category MC) with a total size of 249 sq. ft. and a 42-sq. ft. balcony.

 

When I received my eDocuments, the assigned stateroom is described exactly as what I booked. However, when I located my room on the deck plan, I was surprised that the colour (orange) is different from Category MC (light blue). On further inspection, I discovered that orange translates to a Sail Away Mini-Suite (Category MX) with a total size of 308-361 sq. ft. and an 84-101-sq. ft. balcony. In addition, the "square" symbol indicates our room to be accessible, even though no one in our party has special needs. Here is a link to the deck plan, where you can see the two orange rooms located aft: https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/bliss/deck-plans#dsr5.

 

It appears there are only four (4) MX staterooms on the entire ship: two on Deck 10 (accessible) and two on Deck 8 (not accessible). The photos use the same stock images as the MC suites, although I would assume the layout might be different.

 

Are there any downsides to my room assignment, or should I just be happy that the space is larger than expected? Would appreciate your thoughts!

 

Thank you!

[YVRBassElectric]

There are some great discussion threads about accessible cabins, upside they are bigger, downside less furniture, bathroom layout will be different, if someone needs an ADA compliant cabin you can be bumped from it (has happened during a cruise)

[BirdTravels]

Once assigned, a cabin won’t be reassigned.

 

Have a great cruise! We are always elated when assigned an accessible room.

[fourofakind]

Wow I would say you got extremely lucky! That's a great room assignment.

[Dorset Cruiser]

Hello Friends . . .

 

 

 

I am excited about my upcoming Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Bliss. The stateroom booked is a Mid-Ship Mini-Suite (Category MC) with a total size of 249 sq. ft. and a 42-sq. ft. balcony.

 

 

 

When I received my eDocuments, the assigned stateroom is described exactly as what I booked. However, when I located my room on the deck plan, I was surprised that the colour (orange) is different from Category MC (light blue). On further inspection, I discovered that orange translates to a Sail Away Mini-Suite (Category MX) with a total size of 308-361 sq. ft. and an 84-101-sq. ft. balcony. In addition, the "square" symbol indicates our room to be accessible, even though no one in our party has special needs. Here is a link to the deck plan, where you can see the two orange rooms located aft: https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/bliss/deck-plans#dsr5.

 

 

 

It appears there are only four (4) MX staterooms on the entire ship: two on Deck 10 (accessible) and two on Deck 8 (not accessible). The photos use the same stock images as the MC suites, although I would assume the layout might be different.

 

 

 

Are there any downsides to my room assignment, or should I just be happy that the space is larger than expected? Would appreciate your thoughts!

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

We have had accessible cabins allocated on two recent cruises - one with MSC and one with Princess. We were pleased with both of them - huge cabins but the bathrooms took a little getting used to as did the balcony door which had a wheelchair ‘ramp’. On the first cruise we felt a little self conscious when entering or leaving the cabin as we did not require an accessible cabin but were assured that no-one else needed the cabins.

 

 

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[Chicago Voyager]

Thank you for the replies! Reports about other Norwegian ships seem to indicate that the sleeper sofa might be replaced by a chair and that the shower is larger, so perhaps this is true of the Bliss.

 

If it turns out another party requires accessible accommodations, I will be a good neighbour and switch, as I believe these travellers should be given priority for limited facilities. I'm making a leap of faith that there were no parties with special needs at the time of my room assignment.

 

One remaining point of curiosity pertains to the "white space" between the aft MX rooms (orange) and the BF balcony rooms (green) immediately forward: https://www.ncl.com/cruise-ship/bliss/deck-plans#dsr5 . I wonder if this might be some structural feature of the ship or perhaps a storage closet. I doubt it is unused space. In any event, I guess I should feel lucky to have a bit extra space. :)

[Son of a son of a ...]

We got the BX on Breakaway. Deep and wide balcony. Underway, the balcony was very windy. We were also under the bridge wing, which was neutral for us, but be dressed decently (clothes all on) if walking out toward the rail :) Also, the above decks can look down on the seaward half of the balcony. Not sure of Bliss.

 

As the cabin was forward, it was a bit of a walk to the center and aft of the ship, which is where most of the activities happen. Twice in rough seas, the hallway ping-ponged us as we walked to the cabin. It was likely rough on all decks, tho.

 

A slight complaint, at least on the Breakaway and with BX, the cabin was located next to the crew door that lead out to where the crew could smoke outdoors. The door was constantly being opened and the crew/hall smelled like smoke at times.

 

All in all, a decent cabin with a large balcony located in a less than desirable location. I hope your experience on the Bliss with an MX is fun!

[Chicago Voyager]

Good observations! I will take note of our balcony visibility in relation to upper decks. While we're pretty far aft, I look forward to getting my exercise!

[tarps14]

Chicago Voyager-one other heads up with these cabins is the main door in and out of the cabin is automatic. What these means is when you tap your card to open the door, it will open automatically and it takes about 45 seconds for it to then close. You can't push it closed or it has a tendency to open up again and go thru the whole process again. The slow closing door can be an issue if someone is in the room when the door is opened and doesn't want to be seen from the hall. We solved this issue by purchasing a cheap, lightweight shower curtain (Walmart, TJ Maxx, Marshall's all have cheapos) and a set of magnetic hooks, (these are the ones we have)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FJ9Y9GW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The ceiling is metal so attach the hooks evenly spaced in front of the inside of the door and hang the shower curtain. This provides a curtain of sorts that will block anyone from the hall being able to see into the cabin.

[martinchem]

We've been assigned these rooms twice, accepted only the first time. I really felt uncomfortable with the bathroom. One large room with slightly sloped floor for the shower from the toilet area.

[littlelulu01]

We were just in 10290 on the bliss. A sail away guarantee mini suite. It’s the exact same room as the balcony stateroom next door to it. Not sure why one is labeled as a mini suite and one is classified a balcony because both are identical in every way. The space in between the two rooms is a supply closet roughly the size of a regular stateroom. The deckplan shows the balcony as smaller than the mini suite which isn’t accurate. Both rooms are the same size and roughly 1.5 of a regular stateroom with each balcony being twice the size of a regular balcony.

 

No noise issues. Very quiet hallway and zero ship movement. I honestly couldn’t tell we were at sea there was so little movement. An occasional slight vibration as ship was docking. We had one sea day and folks lower decks and forward location were really complaining about not sleeping well due to ship movement. We didn’t feel a thing.

 

The big upside is the location. It’s an excellent location close to aft elevators and spa. Also great for anything forward. Just take the aft elevators to the deck you want and then proceed forward. Very minimal aft elevator wAit. If you prefer the stairs, lots of dining venues are just up or down a few flights.

 

Yes there’s more space in the room but it’s not functional extra space unless you’re in need of handicap.

 

The balcony is very large and for warm weather you could ask steward for extra deck chairs or a lounger.

 

There’s only one armless chair in room. We asked for a chair and steward had us a comfortable chair within a minute so I assume they keep one on hand because even if you were handicapped I would think you would want a place to sit other than a foot stool.

 

I wasn’t too impressed with the decor of the room. It’s big and institutional. Counters are narrow so no real function. Blank walls. From the outside it looks as if the room has two sliding doors however one is actually boxed in with fake wood paneling so from the inside it’s just a blank wall box.

 

I’d have preferred a regular mini suite but price and the room location made up for the cold institutional feeling of the room. You can’t change assignment on the sail Away rate. I asked and was told no. I suppose they could change it for you if someone needs at the last moment but it’s unlikely.

 

The bed is awesome. It feels really hard but it provides an excellent sleep. It’s two twin beds put together. You could ask for a foam topper but we didn’t need one. Crazy amount of storage. Which is overkill for most travelers. Three outlets on the desk and one outlet on wall behind door. Only way to open stateroom door is automatically. The sliding door to balcony was terribly noisy. I put some coconut oil in the track and fixed the issue because the screeching noise was enough to drive me mad the first night when I was sleeping and husband went out to balcony.

 

One other quirk. If someone rings the doorbell or calls the room strobe lights come on In case you’re deaf. I was asleep at 10:30 pm and all of a sudden I hear the doorbell ringing and awoke to the crazy strobe light show. I was panicked thinking it was some sort of emergency evacuation or a fire. It was room service delivery of the chocolate strawberry latitude perk.

 

They really went out of their way to make sure the room was bare bones appearance and functionality but once I got over that, I really enjoyed the room.

Edited October 1, 2018 by littlelulu01

[Chicago Voyager]

littlelulu01, what a small world! In fact, 10290 is our assigned stateroom, so your information is GREATLY appreciated. :cool:

 

It certainly sounds like there are some tradeoffs. However, I think I would definitely appreciate the larger balcony, as well as the convenient location near the aft elevators. Also, thank you for the tip about requesting an extra chair, if needed. We are accustomed to a firm foam mattress, so it's nice to know that mattress toppers are available.

 

We're excited about our vacation, so it's nice to know what to expect in this unusual room.

[littlelulu01]

littlelulu01, what a small world! In fact, 10290 is our assigned stateroom, so your information is GREATLY appreciated. :cool:

 

It certainly sounds like there are some tradeoffs. However, I think I would definitely appreciate the larger balcony, as well as the convenient location near the aft elevators. Also, thank you for the tip about requesting an extra chair, if needed. We are accustomed to a firm foam mattress, so it's nice to know that mattress toppers are available.

 

We're excited about our vacation, so it's nice to know what to expect in this unusual room.

 

You’re really going to love the location and the big balcony. Idk if this makes sense but balcony is a true twice the length of regular stateroom. Inside the room however it’s not as big due to the supply closet in between the two accessible staterooms (thus the odd box built around the second slider)

 

I have tons of pictures but don’t know how to upload. File size is too large.

 

Previous poster’s suggestion on shower curtain is genius. I counted 10 seconds before the self closing door shuts. If you pull it open just very slightly and only enough for just your body to slink out sideways and very quickly, you can bypass the 10 second stay open rule which can be an excruciating amount of time if someone is walking down hall talking and your partner is fast asleep a few feet away. Slinking out the sideways fast way you can also control the force of door closure so it doesn’t slam shut.

[Chicago Voyager]

As a new member of this site, I’m just amazed at all of the thoughtful observations and helpful suggestions!

 

I hope to be able to help others after my cruise.

 

Merçi beaucoup!

[littlelulu01]

 

Here’s a link to a video of a Bliss accessible balcony stateroom. The mini suite 10290 is the exact same layout and size as the balcony room in this video. The chair our room steward got us fit on the side of bed by balcony. Pretty sure the chair was stored in the supply closet in between the two accessible rooms because steward got it so quickly. The supply closet is used by the two room stewards in that section of the ship. I noticed they’re very considerate not to be talking loud or banging around in there.

[Bcinny]

I have cabin # 10290 on the Encore next December.  A sail away rate assignment.  Thanks for all the info.