Loyal Princess Cruiser Tries NCL - And it Was BLISS!

[Redwing55]

Great review.  I guess it's just the way things have to be on the largest ship, but like the OP, I'm no fan of having to book ship activities ahead of time.  I'm good with excursions and port things, but when I'm on the ship, I really want the freedom to decide then... even more so with folks other than us 2.  Same goes with meals.  I'm good if I have to book one, but really I like the option of having to choose as close to dinner as I'd like.. or at least that day.  But I don't know how that can be on the largest of ships.

It does sound like a fun ship though.  I suspect I'll be sailing on one of these larger ships eventually, so thanks again for sharing your experiences.

[need2cruisesoon]

We did the Regal in October '17 and the Bliss last year PC.

We preferred the Bliss because of the entertainment, Observation deck and Go Cart venue.

 

Edited August 6, 2019 by need2cruisesoon

[Sanz]

11 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

 

 

 

my criteria  for cruising is a local drive to NYC or baltimore. and this year may try a christmas cruise. this leaves me with anthem of the seas. grandeur. pride, or bliss. 

 

 

 

i know bliss has 1000 more pax than regal and im expecting the same crowds on bliss that were on the BA. things i hated about the BA were the organization of the buffet. regal has them beat hands down there. also the elevators suck on BA but that cannot stop me from taking a cruise. i loved the space of the piazza on regal and i know the atrium on bliss is just a big closet

 

i know all christmas cruises will be at least 33% or more kids so i'm ok with that. but just wondering how you felt going from princess to NCL in general. id prefer a princess ship im sure but no way can i do christmas airfares to get to one. those are insane. i can park for 280 in manhattan  which is cheap compared to flights /hotel nite etc. 

 

 

Have you considered that Bliss does not have any indoor pools? One reason why we have not cruised on NCL from the North East is that their ships do not have an indoor pool.  We have spent 45 days on  RCC Anthem, most of them in January.  The ship has a lot of indoor spaces to swim and play. Depending on your itinerary in December,  you can have a day and 1/2 each way before you have relatively warm weather. Someone on one of my January Anthem cruises described her Breakaway cruise as very nice.  However, she added an addendum about the first two and last two days on board.  She said that they all sat around the pool bundled up and stared at each other lol. 

[ceilidh1]

12 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

i'm glad i found this review. thanks for all the input!  i'm hoping to find more input if there is any regarding princess vs bliss

 

my history is my 1st two cruises were on the Breakaway and my next 2 were on the Regal to canada. I was spoiled 1st cruise by the haven but then did a balcony next time. princess i had a  mini but 2nd trip i got upsell to the suite at the front of the ship and i was spoiled.

 

my criteria  for cruising is a local drive to NYC or baltimore. and this year may try a christmas cruise. this leaves me with anthem of the seas. grandeur. pride, or bliss. 

 

i checked out the reviews and their statistics  and i usually try to see how many poor ones there are. of course reading some of that stuff is scary. 

 

i know bliss has 1000 more pax than regal and im expecting the same crowds on bliss that were on the BA. things i hated about the BA were the organization of the buffet. regal has them beat hands down there. also the elevators suck on BA but that cannot stop me from taking a cruise. i loved the space of the piazza on regal and i know the atrium on bliss is just a big closet

 

i know all christmas cruises will be at least 33% or more kids so i'm ok with that. but just wondering how you felt going from princess to NCL in general. id prefer a princess ship im sure but no way can i do christmas airfares to get to one. those are insane. i can park for 280 in manhattan  which is cheap compared to flights /hotel nite etc. 

 

my feelings going from NCL to princess were very laid back. much older crowd. more elegant. the BA had narrow public halls for such a large ship and i felt squeezed in the middle. i know bliss is the same design. but my gf hasnt been on NCL so this would be all new to her. 

It’s tough to say which line I prefer since each cruise can have pros and cons depending on the sailing! In March we did Royal Princess to Mexico and had lots of problems and not great service. What was amazing about the trip was the cruise director and his team - we are currently back on Royal right now and booked the ship solely to sail with Matt O again! Luckily, all the glitches and issues we had in March are sorted and it is awesome! 

 

We will also be sailing Bliss again at the end of September. I loved the experience on the Bliss last year and my kids are more into the bells and whistles now that they are getting older and have done everything Princess kids programming offers many times over!

 

I usually look for price and Vancouver departures (or at least west coast) and then narrow down to ship. Itinerary is not important- I would be just as happy sailing in circles in the harbour! Lol

[majorjan]

On 10/8/2018 at 12:09 AM, ceilidh1 said:

The Market Place: I mention this only because I never discovered what it was actually for! It was an area on the open deck with a big sign and lots of counter space. But it was always empty. Anyone know???

 

On NCL, the marketplace is an outdoor venue for merchandise sales, T shirts, hats, sunglasses, etc. A lot of sale items. 

I found it was only open during certain hours, when I went on the NCL Getaway. 

 

 

[TrixieBel]

Thanks for this. I found it interesting because we’ve only done two cruises so far - both on NCL. And our next cruise is in March 2020 with Princess.

 

We LOVED both of our NCL cruises (balcony around Hawaii, and The Haven to the BAHamas our of NYC) and I’m a bit nervous that our Asia cruise on Princess (aft balcony) won’t measure up. 

 

Your comparison son has given me hope that well like Princess.  👍