Just off Thanksgiving Cruise on The Bliss

[onefishtwofish]

Just got off the Bliss yesterday after a fantastic Thanksgiving Family Cruise!  We are normally RCCL cruisers and although there is not that "wow" factor when you arrive (you walk onto the ship to a bank of elevators, so a little underwhelming and the lower ceilings, less "open" space took some getting used to for us ) we absolutely LOVED the ship and would sail her again!

 

Embarkation was a breeze - think we waited about 10 minutes to check in (we arrived around 12:15).  There is construction going on, so traffic patterns were a little confusing once at the port.  Bliss is at B and C - C is for even numbered decks.  We got a 1st level parking spot in parking garage C, so easy walk across the street to check in.

 

Once on board, it was easy to go to one of the digital screens for our teenagers to sign up for Laser Tag and the Race Track.  They had no problem finding times available to sign up for.  We also signed up for the Comedy show.  Cabins were ready right at 1:00, so checked out our balcony cabins and got settled in.  We hit Guest Services to get extra room keys and explored the ship.  Easy to get around, lots of nice artwork around the ship and liked the layout.  As I said, when used to the big RCCL ships, did take a little getting used to not having open multi level centrum, glass elevators, big open spaces and such but didn't take long to settle right into this ship!  There is a beautiful crystal chandelier that spans a number of decks through the casino area with glass stairways that is a beautiful area for pictures.  The atrium also open 2 decks and has a huge 2 story screen.   The upper level is The Local (a pub/sports bar type restaurant/bar that is open 24/7 for food which is nice if you want real food late) with downward viewing to the atrium area and of course the huge screen.  The layout of the ship seemed really well designed....lots of various types spaces in different areas of the ship so we never felt it was overcrowded (other than when a show let out of the theater).  There are lots of glass viewing areas all over the ship - definitely a great ship for the beauty of Alaska as well as the Caribbean!

 

Let's talk food.....overall my family felt it was better than RCCL by far.  My teenagers opinions were that everything tasted fresh, seemed to be freshly prepared and not mass produced and had much more flavor - both in specialty restaurants and in the complimentary restaurants.  And we agree!  We ate in 3 specialty restaurants (Cagney's, Teppanyaki and La Cucina), Garden Cafe Buffet, The Local, Taste and Savor.  We did not make it to The Manhattan.  We did lunch in the Observation Lounge (it's a lighter fare lunch) that was good too.  Note that Margaritaville has complimentary breakfast....we went there most days and never many people.  They had a great variety of breakfast items, so we were happy not to be fighting the crowd of the buffet in the mornings!  

 

Entertainment......we saw Havana - pretty good/some beautiful costumes and some really talented singers.  Jersey Boys were amazing!  Definitely don't miss it!  We are not Beatles fans and just didn't make it to any of the Beatles shows at The Cavern, but heard they were really good - we just had other things going on at those times, but heard it is worth going to.  Saw the Family Comedy show and it was really funny!  They did fill up fast, so sign up for a show quickly after you get on board.  Most of the bands/singers on board were really good and there are lots of opportunities to go listen to music/entertainers on the ship.  Kids had fun at the racetrack and laser tag.  They did the escape room but said it was just ok - that fills up very fast though.  They had fun doing the mini golf and the slides.  Pools were super crowded and they had 1 pool designated for kids and 1 for adults.  There is also an adults only sun area Spice H2O that has a bar and some cooling off fountains, hot tubs, but no pool.  They do other activities there in the evenings (dance parties and such). They had some pool games at the main pool area that were fun to watch and it's nice that the buffet was close to the pool so easy to go grab some food!  They had a lot of fun games and activities on the Bliss - some we had not seen before so that was good!  The cruise director Silas could be a bit obnoxious sometimes, but his staff was really good and they were full of energy!  

 

We liked the Waterfront to walk around and there is a lot of nice seating there.  Some of the restaurants have outside seating there as well, so really nice when having dinner.  The District Brew House is a great place to check out if you are a beer drinker or even just want to have some beautiful views in comfy seats.  If you like country music, check out the Q....the band Nashville Junction does some great Elvis, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks and such.  No contemporary artists that we heard though like Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean etc...We really liked the band Familiar Strangers as well - they played on the pool deck and Atrium - check them out!  Definitely go listen and enjoy  the entertainment around the ship!

 

On board shops/photo gallery - the shops were nice and they had 2 days of $10 sales and some raffles.  The photos are placed in folios and not on a wall display - your folio number is on your ship card.  They also have a photo book available you can do.  We have found that this is a good way to get a bunch of photos you like, have them all in 1 place and pay much less than paying for all the photos you like.  I believe the 8x10's are $24.99 and 6x8's are $15.99 (I think...).  The photo book is $249 and you put in 21 photos.  We also did our Christmas cards!  They have a lot of card choices, you choose the picture and add your personalized message and you approve the proof.  I usually do my own photo cards, but sure was nice to have them done and ready to go.  It was $19.99 for 25.

 

Ports......

St.Thomas - we went over to St. John and went to Maho Bay

Tortola - went to a cove area on the other side of the island where there is surfing and beautiful beaches

Nassau - been there a number of times, so stayed on the ship and enjoyed the pool, kids the slides and such without the crowds

 

This was one of the best cruise vacations we have done (and we have done a few!  LOL)  Loved the ship, food was outstanding, great entertainment for all.......

 

Feel free to ask any questions!!!!

 

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[onefishtwofish]

You're welcome! 😉

[mtns2sea]

Thanks for your review. We also normally cruise on RCCL but are really looking forward to being on the Bliss. Looking forward to the District Brew House. Do you remember what time the comedy shows started?

[need2cruisesoon]

We did the Bliss 14 days PC. (We were disembarking when you boarded)

Awesome ship. food in the most part was good.

 

Did you enjoy the Observation lounge?

[onefishtwofish]

8 minutes ago, mtns2sea said:

Thanks for your review. We also normally cruise on RCCL but are really looking forward to being on the Bliss. Looking forward to the District Brew House. Do you remember what time the comedy shows started?

The District Brew House has a huge selection and great views!  You will enjoy it!  The family comedy show was around 8-ish and the 18+ was around 10-ish....we weren't able to get in the 18+ as they were booked,, but the family one was really funny!  

[onefishtwofish]

1 minute ago, need2cruisesoon said:

We did the Bliss 14 days PC. (We were disembarking when you boarded)

Awesome ship. food in the most part was good.

 

Did you enjoy the Observation lounge?

Yes we did - it was so relaxing in there!  Alaska views must have been amazing from there!  Nice place to be when pulling into port as well!

[Nola26]

Did your teens miss  a sports court? Did they use the Teen Club, my nephew loves NCL Entourage clubs.

[gatorchinsky]

5 hours ago, Nola26 said:

Did your teens miss  a sports court? Did they use the Teen Club, my nephew loves NCL Entourage clubs.

 

We were also on this Thanksgiving Cruise and since I have a teen boy (14) I’ll give you his perspective.  My son is a very active, athletic kid.  Yes he really missed the sports court.  He missed going up there in the mornings after he ate breakfast or just to go up there and meet up with friends he made.  Entourage never opened until 11:00 so he just went back to cabin and watched a movie. He didn’t think the go carts were all that great and it was too short.  He only did it once but when he wanted to do another time all reservations were gone.   The very very small mini golf course was a joke.  It definitely was an after thought.

 

He enjoyed Entourage but all he really did there was play video games.

 

He did enjoy the cruise and he did meet some friends but he had a lot more fun on the Escape so we switched our Encore cruise to the Escape.

[Chesneygirl]

15 hours ago, onefishtwofish said:

Ports......

St.Thomas - we went over to St. John and went to Maho Bay

Tortola - went to a cove area on the other side of the island where there is surfing and beautiful beaches

Nassau - been there a number of times, so stayed on the ship and enjoyed the pool, kids the slides and such without the crowds

 

 

Feel free to ask any questions!!!!

 

 

Thanks for your review!

Did you go to St John on your own or an excursion? How was Maho Bay? 

Edited November 26, 2018 by Chesneygirl

[emilyreid09]

For the comedy shows did you book those also on the touch screens? 

[gatorchinsky]

1 hour ago, emilyreid09 said:

For the comedy shows did you book those also on the touch screens? 

 

We used the touch screens as soon as we boarded.  We just went up a deck where no one was and booked shows/activities.  The comedy shows sell out very fast.  I know you could also go in person to the Social and book things once you get onboard.

[onefishtwofish]

21 hours ago, Nola26 said:

Did your teens miss  a sports court? Did they use the Teen Club, my nephew loves NCL Entourage clubs.

No they actually did not miss the sports court!  They enjoyed the other activities on this ship!  Neither of my kids used the Club but heard kids who said they liked it!  

They did miss having a Flow Rider though - 1 loves to surf and 1 the boogie board!  

Edited November 27, 2018 by onefishtwofish

[onefishtwofish]

15 hours ago, Chesneygirl said:

 

Thanks for your review!

Did you go to St John on your own or an excursion? How was Maho Bay? 

We did the "St John on your own" excursion which is basically the ferry ride over and back and the assurance of being part of a ship excursion.  However, next time we would do it truly on our own taking the public ferry (you have to get a cab over to Red Hook to catch the ferry) because we could have spent more time on St John as the ferry runs all day. 

 

LOVED Maho Bay!  Not real crowded and mostly resort guests not ship guests.  We brought our own snorkeling gear and we saw at least a dozen sea turtles while there.  It is a beautiful beach, crystal clear water!  Would recommend!

[onefishtwofish]

10 hours ago, emilyreid09 said:

For the comedy shows did you book those also on the touch screens? 

Yes - do it quickly once on board because they booked up fast on our cruise!