Royal Princess of NCL Bliss

[Katwoman007]

We are scheduled to be on NCL Joy next March for spring break with our kids. We HAD to go with NCL because as a family of 5, Princess could not accommodate us in one room. We would have to book 2 rooms, find 2 rooms that actually connected and it ended up being so much more for the same dang cruise (7 day Mexican Rivera, same week too). I hate that I cannot keep with Princess, but at least they have splash pad for the kids. We also got some perks such as hubby and I get 3 specialty dinners free and free drinks always make it more fun. Plus 2 kids were FREE, also making Princess' rates easy to beat. I am not looking forward to change, but I tried my hardest to get on princess for next years trip.

So, that is another reason more families take to NCL. Princess just has a few ships that even offer "family suites" I found out and they fill fast. Once our May cruise is done, I will be checking out what is going on over on the NCL boards. 

 

[4cats4me]

5 hours ago, oskidunker said:

Celebrity will match Elite status on Princess, according to my travel agent. Worth a look. 

No, they won’t.

Weve traveled with Celebrity for years and also with Princess and the two companies do not have status reciprocity.  

 

MSC will do a status match for all the main cruise lines though, so we could enter at their highest level with our Princess Elite should we decide to sail with them. 

 

Celebrity will do status match with Royal Caribbean though, since they are the same company.  

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 3/3/2019 at 1:56 AM, ceilidh1 said:

I was surprised at the pricing, too. I had expected NCL to be far lower than Princess but not so (maybe this is ship/itinerary specific). I don't have pictures from the MDR but can tell you that food quality was easily comparable to Princess - service not so much (it was sooooo slow) but consider it's equivalent to anytime dining all the time!!!!!!

having been on 3 Princess cruises and on 1.3 NCL cruises, I wholeheartedly disagree about NCL MDR or buffet food quality being comparable to Princess. NOT EVEN CLOSE!

NCL was below average....

And the smoke smell everywhere on the NCL ships (even inside) was very off putting. 

Edited March 4, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Thrak]

46 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

And the smoke smell everywhere on the NCL ships (even inside) was very off putting.

 

Smoke smell? Do they allow smoking inside the ship? In the cabins? Having to smell cigarette (or cigar) smoke on everything would ruin it for me.

[Loreni]

My understanding is that the Bliss design offers several improvements including no smoking on the Waterfront and no smoking in the casino except for a glassed-in area.

 

As far as food goes, some of it looks good and some not so good.  I think overall the food would be acceptable especially since Princess food is declining.

 

We are considered Bliss for Alaska.  Unlike Royal Princess, Bliss allows forward viewing to non-suite guests both on the Waterfront and in the Observation Lounge which has seating for 500 people.  I don’t know if Bliss allows any other forward viewing from the open deck, but Royal doesn’t allow ANY.

 

And Bliss goes to Glacier Bay!

[ceilidh1]

22 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Smoke smell? Do they allow smoking inside the ship? In the cabins? Having to smell cigarette (or cigar) smoke on everything would ruin it for me.

I did notice a slight smell of smoke on Bliss walking through the casino (i am a non-smoker so likely more sensitive than most) but nowhere else around the ship at all. On the flip side, the smell of smoke on Princess ships that have the casino behind guest services is far more noticeable and unpleasant to me!

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

having been on 3 Princess cruises and on 1.3 NCL cruises, I wholeheartedly disagree about NCL MDR or buffet food quality being comparable to Princess. NOT EVEN CLOSE!

NCL was below average....

 

Opinions on food will always be subjective. I have been on 26 Princess cruises and only 1 NCL. That 1 NCL cruise, in my opinion, definitely had food being on par or better than Princess. Pre 2015 or so, I likely wouldn't have said this as, in my opinion, Princess had the best food at sea. This has steadily declined - quality, portions, choice, flavour, all seem to be going down a little more each time I sail with them.

 

This is not an attempt to "bash" Princess - I will still sail with them (in fact I am on Royal on March 23rd) but simply an effort to answer OPs question about two particular ships and how they compare.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

50 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Smoke smell? Do they allow smoking inside the ship? In the cabins? Having to smell cigarette (or cigar) smoke on everything would ruin it for me.

On Jade and Getaway smoking is allowed in the casino, but ship's design allows the smoke to travel and contaminate a lot more than the casino. We were unable to use any of the free specialty restaurants because the area simply stunk. We are not the only ones....

Also, the inconsiderate neighbors smoked on the balconies and we couldn't open the balcony door without getting a room full of smoke smell or enjoy sitting on the balcony.

Edited March 4, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[disneyochem]

Have sailed with NCL a number of times (Breakaway and Jewel class).  I need to have a gluten-free diet and NCL does a great job of accommodating special diets.  I was assigned a dedicated waiter for the entire cruise.  He met with me the first day, talked to me about my needs, took me to the buffet and showed me the gluten-free options and what I need to be careful of.  NCL had gluten-free pancakes, waffles, muffins, hash browns, cereal in addition to other foods.  I just needed to tell the staff that I was gluten-free and they would prepare omelets/eggs in a special pan or go back and get the items.  They would ask me if I wanted them to change gloves and they do so readily.

 

I ate primarily at specialty restaurants and the MDRs.  My person would come by my table during dinner to make sure that I was getting gluten-free, he would give me the menu for the next day and then I would order gluten-free meals.  Some meals were easy to prepare--NCL had gluten free pasta, rice and pizza dough.  I had a great Chicken Tikka Masala in the MDR.  Then I would just show up for dinner (MDR or specialty restaurant), the staff would call my person who would come by to see me.

 

Desserts for the most part were terrible--mainly fruit and puddings.  My dedicated waiter actually brought me packages of dry gluten-free cereal (since they tended to run out at the buffet) for me to store in my room in addition to gluten-free cookies and snacks.  Had no problems at all on board NCL (I was worried  since I was diagnosed just two weeks before we left on our cruise..)