Bliss / Live / Solo - March 2-9, 2019 ​

[ceilidh1]

19 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

I have officially patented and trademarked the title configuration of: Ship name / Live / Solo... Everything else is free game...

Hmmm...I think you should start charging for the "headless selfie in the mirror" shots, too. EganFire is going to owe you BIG time - you may even end up in Haven next cruise at this rate!

[EganFire]

Hmmm...I think you should start charging for the "headless selfie in the mirror" shots, too. EganFire is going to owe you BIG time - you may even end up in Haven next cruise at this rate!

Hey now. His are not headless. Just faceless. Mine was headless. I checked with a patent lawyer and I’m more that 7% different so I’m good on that one. [emoji41][emoji2957][emoji848]


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[alejorubi]

3 hours ago, EganFire said:

In an effort for probably several goals including the stopping or reducing of people reserving chairs and the cruise line losing money from towel thief’s. NCL has started to assign you towels in your cabin and a note says if not returned at the end of the cruise you will be charged $25. Also you can get towels at the pool but they are also added to your room by your card

I never bought or thought I needed towel chair clips but I will certainly after this cruise.



They come in a variety of styles and colors. I even saw one that looked like Nemo.

Not sure it’s reducing people holding chairs but the clips will certainly reduce your towel flying away in the wind causing you to run it down like a mad man. (Or so I have heard.... lol)

Amazon will be delivering clips to me on my return I am sure.


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In Bed Bath and Beyond you can find lovely ones I have some parrots, aligators and dolphins.  Excellent quality

[jakeawhite]

@EganFire Side note, how did you get TapTalk to work? I cannot get it to login!

[blarko]

6 minutes ago, jakeawhite said:

@EganFire Side note, how did you get TapTalk to work? I cannot get it to login!

Is TapaTalk the app (that I thought they got rid of)?

[EganFire]

To finish day 3 at sea I had dining reservations for Teppanyaki. I had eaten here before and the food is always amazing.

What makes this place extra special and unique each visit is first the chef and second your table mates.

The chef makes the show and the table interacts. Last night the chef was good (he had some very funny bits but the food was ok) and the table was ok. No individual party spoke to each other. And limited interaction with the chef.



I was hungry when the food was served so once again I forgot the before picture. This is/was Asuka (beef and shrimp) and it was good. The fried rice was just ok but he made up for it with the steak and shrimp for sure.



Once again I was full. And after dinner I went to the district brew house for some piano and comedy with Jim and then met the Solos for a viewing of Havana

No pictures were allowed. But it was a good production. Around 45 minutes. The stage is amazing. The music was good as well as the dancing. When the male dancers tore off their shirts I eagerly awaited the equal from the women. I was disappointed. LOL

The next day (today) I had to be up early for an excursion so I went to bed early.






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[EganFire]

[mention=1721246]EganFire[/mention] Side note, how did you get TapTalk to work? I cannot get it to login!

I remember having a glitch at first but eventually it worked.


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[EganFire]

Is TapaTalk the app (that I thought they got rid of)?

It is my understanding the cruise critic once had its own app and no longer does. Tapatalk is an app that can be used for multiple forums at the same time.


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[Von & John]

Sorry to hear you had a slight disappointment @ the Havana Club...

Maybe you need Sid along to experience the full exposure...

You can still tell all your friends what amazing dancers there were & they ripped their tops (shirts) off...

No need to specify which dancers...

[sid_9169]

On 3/4/2019 at 5:40 PM, EganFire said:

Hey now. His are not headless. Just faceless. Mine was headless. I checked with a patent lawyer and I’m more that 7% different so I’m good on that one.


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I officially endorse the headless selfie shot as sole property of EganFire...

[EganFire]

Day 4 - Tortola

 

I was up early for breakfast at 7. Off the ship just after 8 to meet the excursion I booked at 815.

 

 

 

I booked the snorkel bath experience. They take us on about a 40 minute ferry ride to the baths. I recognized one of the other Solos on board and we ended up talking most of the trip.

 

 

These giant granite boulders look like they have been dropped from outer space. I will post more pictures once I get them off the water proof camera I used.

 

Some of the formations are amazing. We snorkeled. Then hiked to the baths. Took a trail through the boulders. Swam in caves created by them. Absolutely just cool stuff. If you get to Tortola I highly recommend this.

 

(More pics will come I promise)

 

The guides on the boat were great. They engaged all of us into singing and dancing and handed out some rum drinks on the way back to the Bliss.

 

One of the guides also is a BVI firefighter. And entertained the ladies (and some men) with Dances in his gear. It really was funny.

 

 

Once back to the port I wanted to pay a visit to Pusser’s. It is where one of my favorite cruise drinks was originated. The Pain Killer.

 

 

 

I of course had to have one (ok maybe two) pain killers.

 

And then I wanted to pay a special homage to[mention=1108210]Sid_9169[/mention]. This one is for you:

 

 

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[EganFire]

Once back on the Bliss I went to the Vibe and took a nap for about an hour (accidentally) on one of the lounge chairs. I guess the snorkel rum drinks, snorkeling and hiking, and then a couple of pain killers was enough for me.

I met up with the Solos for the 5 PM meeting. Attendance was way down tonight.

Then I went to the spa for a 90 minute stone massage. Oh my goodness. This was what I needed. Maybe that nap earlier was good as I almost fell asleep a few times during the massage but I resisted.

Now I’m off to drink lots of water and rest some (post massage instructions) before grabbing a few more drinks.


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[Von & John]

Can you hear me laughing @ your homage to Sid...

   😛  

[sid_9169]

46 minutes ago, EganFire said:

Day 4 - Tortola

 

I was up early for breakfast at 7. Off the ship just after 8 to meet the excursion I booked at 815.

 

 

 

I booked the snorkel bath experience. They take us on about a 40 minute ferry ride to the baths. I recognized one of the other Solos on board and we ended up talking most of the trip.

 

 

These giant granite boulders look like they have been dropped from outer space. I will post more pictures once I get them off the water proof camera I used.

 

Some of the formations are amazing. We snorkeled. Then hiked to the baths. Took a trail through the boulders. Swam in caves created by them. Absolutely just cool stuff. If you get to Tortola I highly recommend this.

 

(More pics will come I promise)

 

The guides on the boat were great. They engaged all of us into singing and dancing and handed out some rum drinks on the way back to the Bliss.

 

One of the guides also is a BVI firefighter. And entertained the ladies (and some men) with Dances in his gear. It really was funny.

 

 

Once back to the port I wanted to pay a visit to Pusser’s. It is where one of my favorite cruise drinks was originated. The Pain Killer.

 

 

 

I of course had to have one (ok maybe two) pain killers.

 

And then I wanted to pay a special homage to[mention=1108210]Sid_9169[/mention]. This one is for you:

 

 

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Right now is the proudest moment in my Cruise Critic posting career... An official homage...

[EganFire]

Here are pictures from the waterproof camera I brought. 

 

 

I will post more from the excursion in additonal post(s).....

[EganFire]

After snorkeling for about 40 minutes we went up on the beach and hiked through a trail.

 

This is one of many little caves made from the boulders. This is inside looking out to the ocean ...

 

More little pools made by them... the boulders are surely something to see. These are massive. 

 

The only access to some areas was to crawl through small openings or swim through some. 

 

Sometimes the trail was really narrow where you had to walk with one foot in front of the other, other times you had to navigate over rocks, under trees... this was not an easy walk for all 

 

At the end, we spent some time on the beach, and a small establishment sold drinks and snacks. They do accept wet money - as we were snorkeling and do not accept any credit cards... so wet money it is.

 

After the beach, we swam back a different way to the ship. This was a great excursion. 

[jakeawhite]

11 hours ago, EganFire said:

More little pools made by them... the boulders are surely something to see. These are massive. 

It's not just a boulder.... it's a rock. The pioneers used to ride those babies for miles!

 

(this may be the wrong crowd! Lol)

 

[EganFire]

Day 5 -St Thomas

I hoped to get off the boat right after they cleared us at 8. I did not read the time right and we actually were clear at 7. So I finished up my standard cruise breakfast and made my way down.



Off the boat at 745 and found a taxi. They do shared taxi service. You get bundled with people going to similar locations.

Coki point beach was the first stop and a few people got off.
Then red hook passing margaritaville time share property. Taxi left the ship around 8 and arrived around 835 at the ferry terminal.
$13 trip. Cash only.

The ferry to Cruz Bay is $16.30 round trip. It’s leaves from both locations on the hour and takes about 20 minutes. Highly recommend buying the round trip to avoid the line on the return.

Very few places take credit card. The ferry did but drink stand across from the counter did not.

The ferry is a commuter ferry. No frills but it gets you there. Great views along the way but I was on the wrong side. Sir on the left out and the right back.



They have a ferry for vehicles also.

Taxi to trunk bay $6 from the ferry. It’s a shared ride also. It took about 20 minutes.

No food or drink. They do have snorkel rentals. Left side quite right side busy. This beach is absolutely heaven. Wow. The pictures do not do it justice.







The return trip will be another post.




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[EganFire]

The reason I saved the return trip for another post is not to ruin those beautiful pictures with this story.

 

The trip cost me roughly $67 with tips but I also could have easily missed the boat. If I had taken one of the excursions and paid more I would not have had this concern.

 

First my return plan. Leave the beach around 11:15 to catch the 12 ferry. To be back to St Thomas at 1220 catch a taxi and be back to the port by 1 to visit a shop and a brewery. Thank goodness I afforded myself the extra time. The ship departs at 230

 

The taxi back from the beach was great. Retired police officer driver who went to school in NY.

 

Then I grabbed a beer on St John. Got on the ferry (sat on the wrong side again.-left out right back is what you want)

 

Then I go to the taxi dispatcher. And tell him where I need to go. And he says blue van. Well there were two. So I go back to him and verify. He points to the one on the right. I go to that driver and say my destination he says ok. I hear people going to the airport are on mine also so I ask the driver again and he says yup.

 

So I climb in the back of a 12 passenger van. All of the taxis so far were open air. This is a van. Great should have AC. We get under way.

 

No AC for the rear. And the windows don’t open.

 

I’m tired for the day and it’s now hot as an oven. This driver is driving badly causing a lot of bouncing and motion. I figured it’s just best to close my eyes and rest.

 

I wake up to a near collision. Literally flying out of the seat. And gather myself and look around. I notice the cruise ships are now way behind us.

 

I call out to the driver and say are you taking me to the cruise ship. A female passenger laughs. I say no I’m serious. This guy said he would take me to the cruise ship.

 

The other passengers now are concerned. They have flights to catch and I have a ship to catch in the opposite direction. I tell the cab driver a little fib and that the ship leaves at 2.

 

He literally goes oh crap I forgot about you.

 

So we go all the way to the airport. Drop off the others and then if I thought this guys driving was bad before it’s worse now as he is racing a clock.

 

I moved to the front row so now I am at least getting some air

 

He is cutting through alleys. Side streets. And the small cruise ship gets a little bigger with every glimpse I see of it.

 

We pull in the port at 1:58. If the ship really was leaving at 2 we would have just made it. Remember I was supposed to have an hour and a half pad time to shop and drink

 

Well then he charges me full fare still. I have him a look paid and left.

 

The ship did leave two guests behind. It was the talk of the ship afterwards.

 

Everyone was saying it is the guests own fault and I normally would have agreed before my taxi ride.

 

 

This was us pulling into the port. The Bliss was at the end of it.

 

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[lonzwinery]

Thanks, @EganFire!

 

Couple of quick questions...

 

Is there a fee to enter the beach at Trunk Bay? I heard there was at one point in time.

 

Also, thought I read somewhere that there was a small place on Trunk Bay that serves food and drinks, however, maybe that place is no longer there, due to the recent hurricane?

 

Thanks!

Edited March 7, 2019 by lonzwinery

[EganFire]

After that experience I went and had a few drinks. I then did something I have never done before. Tried acupuncture. It was an interesting experience. I’m not sure I’ll try it again but time will tell.

Then I attended the Solo meeting. We had some trespassers in the lounge on our arrival. It’s a little annoying to be honest. This lounge is something the Solo travelers pay a premium for and it’s rather annoying when people are in there but especially annoying with loud kids.



Then I had dinner reservations at La Cucina. This was my first time. I sat outside and watched a beautiful sunset as I ate.



The food was ok the service was excellent.








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[EganFire]

Thanks, @EganFire!
 
Couple of quick questions...
 
Is there a fee to enter the beach at Trunk Bay? I heard there was at one point in time.
 
Also, thought I read somewhere that there was a small place on Trunk Bay that serves food and drinks, however, maybe that place is no longer there, due to the recent hurricane?
 
Thanks!

No fee. They have a rental hut for chairs. Fins. Masks. I did not see food or drink options.

They also have bathrooms and showers.


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[BullyLvr]

OMG I can’t beleive how close you came to being left behind. You must’ve been almost freaking out.......I would’ve!  

[BullyLvr]

OMG I can’t beleive how close you came to being left behind. You must’ve been almost freaking out.......I would’ve!  

[FLJIM]

2 hours ago, BullyLvr said:

OMG I can’t beleive how close you came to being left behind. You must’ve been almost freaking out.......I would’ve!  

You can say that again.