BLISS Go Carts

[aceparty]

We will be on the BLISS for 14 nights and are looking to see what the cost is. I've heard $15 per time and I also heard $199 for a weekly pass.

[waterjock]

That is correct but know they will have more two people cars on the track if a lot of kids are on board.

[Roadsofa]

So do you think it will be $398 for the two week cruise for a full cruise pass?

[marktwothousand]

Trust me, don’t bother with the pass. Don’t bother with the pass. 

[Hotspring]

It's a novelty.    

Even if you really wanted to stand in line about an hour for a 5 minute drive, it does cut into your drinking time. (you cannot drinik and drive).   Plus there is no guarantee the track will be open, it can be closed down by weather conditions.   

[tallnthensome]

Dual cart racing with your kids is a separate scheduled time. It was fun but I felt the one ride I took on our 15 day Bliss Cruise was enough. I’d never pay for the pass ....ever. ..... Standing in line in the Panama heat and then being forced to wear this fireproof cloth hood and Nascar helmet is over the top and ruins it. You want to pass out from the heat stroke going on above your shoulders. Also if they observe awful drivers that are messing up everyone else that have no business being out there the track monitors will slow the karts to a crawl because someone can’t drive. The Bliss karts are waste of space on these ships ...... But to NCL it’s all about money.

Edited December 12, 2019 by tallnthensome

[aceparty]

I feel I'll like to do it maybe couple/few times just to try it.

[hallux]

9 hours ago, waterjock said:

That is correct but know they will have more two people cars on the track if a lot of kids are on board.

They run singles and duals at different times.  I suppose they may run more sessions of dual karts if it's determined it's needed.

[snoozcroozr]

We were on the Bliss for 12 days and it seems that the daily/weekly pass is arbitrary.  On our 12 day cruise on the Bliss, they didn't have daily or weekly rate, which they said they never decided what to charge.

 

I don't think that is a nomex fireproof hood, but just a head sock so you don't end up with a helmet with accumulated sweat from previous drivers.

 

As for slow drivers, I kind of look forward to it, it gives you the incentive to pass them, but that depends on the race marshall, which might give you a verbal warning if did something illegal and touched the other car.  I've had times on the track where most people won't pass a slow driver and all I am doing is time attack on an empty track, and that is not that exciting.  They also don't observe racing rule of respecting space when parts of the cars are overlapped, thus the car in front usually crushes the one in the rear into the barrier and the rear car is penalized.  As for the really slow, some marshall will constantly tell them to move over to the right, while others let them crawl along, which causes a huge traffic jam (which would be your chance to pass one by one until you pass that slowpoke).  The worse type of driver is the relatively slow ones that takes the whole width of the track, where you can't pass on the on either outside or inside of the turn because they will push you into the barrier (I think I eventually passed by doing an early apex and finished the turn on the inside and passed on the inside.  I did the kart racing 3x and got called out for doing those all those kind of tactics.  I've also seen others get a verbal warning (and eventually kicked out) for trying an inside pass at the tightest corner at full speed.

[snoozcroozr]

Booking of kart racing also fills up fast, although on most of the races, it is never have the max of 10 drivers.  Sometimes, there are only 4.  They also officially don't take standbys or allow you to change schedules, or even book the same day, but that all depends on who is in charge of the entrance area.  I've tried to reschedule and was told that I can enter right away except I had flip flops on, and when I went for a quick change of shoes, encountered another staff and was told they can't change schedule, take walk-ins even though I saw 5 people ready to proceed to the next race, and was shown their booking for all the races up to my scheduled race time consisted of 12-16 bookings.  I am not sure why it would be so overbooked given that their policy is to  incur a 50% penalty if less than 24 hours were given for cancellations.

[BirdTravels]

On 12/11/2019 at 10:05 PM, waterjock said:

That is correct but know they will have more two people cars on the track if a lot of kids are on board.

They don’t mix single and double cars. There are separate times. There may be longer double times. And there are fewer double cars on the tack at the same time. 
 

I have not seen daily passes. It is usually individual roses or the full cruise pass. 

[bob brown]

I tried it on the 10th, and was stuck behind a slow driver that blocked me from passing.  Finally, a very aggressive  driver passed me and pushed past the slow driver, causing a five car pile up.  This resulted in our losing one of our 8 laps, while they untangled everyone.

 

I am glad that I tried it, just for the unique experience, but would not do it again for the price.

I think I enjoyed the bumpercar experience just as much on the Anthem of the Seas, and it was free...😎

[hallux]

32 minutes ago, bob brown said:

the bumpercar experience just as much on the Anthem of the Seas, and it was free

I'm not sure which is worse - the limited reservations for the go-karts or the INSANE line for the bumper cars with kids stationing friends in the line so they can get off and jump right back in for another go.   I wasn't even 1/4 of the way around the "arena" from where the gate was and it took over an hour.

[bob brown]

That’s one of the reasons that cruiselines charge for certain activities...

not just to raise additional revenue (although it helps), but more to control demand for a limited accommodation.

[snoozcroozr]

3 hours ago, bob brown said:

I tried it on the 10th, and was stuck behind a slow driver that blocked me from passing.  Finally, a very aggressive  driver passed me and pushed past the slow driver, causing a five car pile up.  This resulted in our losing one of our 8 laps, while they untangled everyone.

 

I am glad that I tried it, just for the unique experience, but would not do it again for the price.

I think I enjoyed the bumpercar experience just as much on the Anthem of the Seas, and it was free...😎

Ha, I drove on the 10th, hope that wasn't me.  From the videos of my race, anyone I passed, they are still somewhat behind me a lap later, so I know nobody crashed.  I know when I have a slow car ahead with another one trying to pass, both ahead of me, I would stay behind the car holding us up while the other car goes to the other lane in trying to pass, and on turn 2, the slow car with its wide turn, will force the other driver back while I will go on the inside in trying to pass the slow driver in the front before turn 6.  It works sometimes, while other times, I get squeezed into the side rail when they don't respect my space.

[tumblew467]

If anyone  has  sailed on the BLiss lately---Have  the go carts sold out on the Bliss on all sailings?  Like Ive seen on the Encore reviews. And can you reserve the carts on the interactive screen or your room  TV  or do you have to go to the social ( I believe that is what it is called) to reserve?

[HowardK]

On 12/11/2019 at 10:42 PM, marktwothousand said:

Trust me, don’t bother with the pass. Don’t bother with the pass. 

Did you get the pass? I was considering it until I did more reading on here- 

It one has the pass would they still need to reserve times in advance? 

Now, come to think of it (since I just went through flu season) - would I really want to wear a headsock that other people have worn? 

[hallux]

3 hours ago, tumblew467 said:

And can you reserve the carts on the interactive screen or your room  TV  or do you have to go to the social ( I believe that is what it is called) to reserve?

Interactive TV in the stateroom, the long line at The Social once you embark or on the TVs by the elevators.

[bob brown]

On my cruise  on 1 December, the daylight times sold out first...but 5 or 6 PM slots were still available...