Live (ish) Bliss Apr 9-14 Coastal

[firstimecruiseronncl]

On 4/15/2023 at 11:53 AM, fastpitchdad said:

Yulia the Cellar Master was amazing, she was fun, entertaining, and informative. We did 4 tastings over the 5 day cruise (and stored our wine with her). She is transferring to the Dawn to be with her husband.

We did a wine tasting with Yulia on the Joy last May. She was the best! She was fun, informative and served better wines than the usual wine tasting wines. I was just raving about her on Prima. 

[periodic itinerant]

I was also on this cruise, and sometimes feel like I was on a completely different ship than most of the reviews and FB group comments I see. Maybe because I was solo and was able to change my plans on a whim and head a different direction when I encountered crowds?

 

I was in the group of people able to wait inside the tent for embarkation, and was prompted to board very quickly once it started. Went right to my muster station to check that off and then straight to the Local. I belled up to the bar and got very quick drink and food service. From there I did a bit of exploration to get my bearings.

 

I found what would become my "regular" bar at the outside Cavern bar on the Waterfront. The bartender Putu was my favorite on the ship. I spent a fair amount of time out there. In general, if you wanted nice lounging space for reading, relaxing, or chatting (with roaming bar servers) or an active and friendly bar scene, the Waterfront was the place to be. I guess this is where my lifetime as a PNWer comes in handy, since I would just put on a jacket and be perfectly comfortable with the temperatures. I expected to spend more time at a variety of venues (like the Brewhouse or seeing music), but had such a nice time with lovely people around those Waterfront spots I didn't want to leave most afternoons.

 

I was in a solo studio and my room attendant, Wilson, was regularly visible in the hallways and always greeted me. He also always had my cabin done late morning to early afternoon. My cabin was ready and luggage at my door quite a bit before they announced things were ready. Again, I feel like I really lucked out compared to what I heard from so many others on the ship.

 

I did not have a consistent eating schedule throughout the cruise, sometimes getting breakfast right when things opened up early in Taste or Savor (with again no wait) or just before breakfast service was going to end. This wasn't really a plan on my part, just the way things worked out. Or a really late breakfast at the Local one day at nearly 11 because I'd slept in... Same with dinner, occasionally very early at a specialty, or closer to 9 at Taste or Savor. At most, I only had about a 5-10 minute wait for any table, whether solo or with friends.

 

Most evenings were finished out with cocktails in the Observation Lounge at the bar, and those bartenders varied from excellent to just okay (huge variation in the quality of the Old Fashioneds I was served). But the service time was pretty consistent and I never felt I had an unreasonable wait for a drink there. 

 

I was able to make the entertainment reservations I wanted for Jersey Boys and Six and had good seat selection. Right up in the second row for Six and found several of the gold floaty things they drop at the end of the show in my cabin the next morning. 😄 They must have stuck to my clothes and shoes. 

 

I had a 10:00 shore excursion in Victoria and walked right off the ship with no line to meet it at that time. We went north up the island for some wine tasting. It was an enjoyable, if not the most exciting, excursion. The wineries and cidery were picturesque and we had really lovely weather. 

 

I got up early the final day to pack as I just couldn't make myself do it the night before after a rousing evening with new friends. The buffet was mostly empty when I headed up for my caffeine and bacon fix. I had also signed up for the Vancouver city tour on disembarkation day (mostly just for convenience since I've been to Van many, many times). It wasn't the most coordinated, but again kept us from waiting in long lines getting off the ship.

 

I was a bit frustrated by the number of kids literally running the halls, dodging and weaving through. Challenging each other about how many stairs they could jump down in one go. Also some (I assume unsupervised) kids were yelling and tossing things from the buffet off deck 16 and landing down on the Waterfront deck 8. At first I thought it had been some overboard vomit, but luckily just uneaten Indian food, including full pieces of naan and lots of chickpeas... I later learned that there was nowhere near the capacity needed in the kids club, but that doesn't make the rest of the ship a playground. 

 

All in all, I had a great time on this cruise and didn't experience many of the frustrations others had. But I do think I will pay more attention to school schedules in the future.

 

 

 

 

[ceilidh1]

4 hours ago, periodic itinerant said:

I was also on this cruise, and sometimes feel like I was on a completely different ship than most of the reviews and FB group comments I see. Maybe because I was solo and was able to change my plans on a whim and head a different direction when I encountered crowds?

 

I was in the group of people able to wait inside the tent for embarkation, and was prompted to board very quickly once it started. Went right to my muster station to check that off and then straight to the Local. I belled up to the bar and got very quick drink and food service. From there I did a bit of exploration to get my bearings.

 

I found what would become my "regular" bar at the outside Cavern bar on the Waterfront. The bartender Putu was my favorite on the ship. I spent a fair amount of time out there. In general, if you wanted nice lounging space for reading, relaxing, or chatting (with roaming bar servers) or an active and friendly bar scene, the Waterfront was the place to be. I guess this is where my lifetime as a PNWer comes in handy, since I would just put on a jacket and be perfectly comfortable with the temperatures. I expected to spend more time at a variety of venues (like the Brewhouse or seeing music), but had such a nice time with lovely people around those Waterfront spots I didn't want to leave most afternoons.

 

I was in a solo studio and my room attendant, Wilson, was regularly visible in the hallways and always greeted me. He also always had my cabin done late morning to early afternoon. My cabin was ready and luggage at my door quite a bit before they announced things were ready. Again, I feel like I really lucked out compared to what I heard from so many others on the ship.

 

I did not have a consistent eating schedule throughout the cruise, sometimes getting breakfast right when things opened up early in Taste or Savor (with again no wait) or just before breakfast service was going to end. This wasn't really a plan on my part, just the way things worked out. Or a really late breakfast at the Local one day at nearly 11 because I'd slept in... Same with dinner, occasionally very early at a specialty, or closer to 9 at Taste or Savor. At most, I only had about a 5-10 minute wait for any table, whether solo or with friends.

 

Most evenings were finished out with cocktails in the Observation Lounge at the bar, and those bartenders varied from excellent to just okay (huge variation in the quality of the Old Fashioneds I was served). But the service time was pretty consistent and I never felt I had an unreasonable wait for a drink there. 

 

I was able to make the entertainment reservations I wanted for Jersey Boys and Six and had good seat selection. Right up in the second row for Six and found several of the gold floaty things they drop at the end of the show in my cabin the next morning. 😄 They must have stuck to my clothes and shoes. 

 

I had a 10:00 shore excursion in Victoria and walked right off the ship with no line to meet it at that time. We went north up the island for some wine tasting. It was an enjoyable, if not the most exciting, excursion. The wineries and cidery were picturesque and we had really lovely weather. 

 

I got up early the final day to pack as I just couldn't make myself do it the night before after a rousing evening with new friends. The buffet was mostly empty when I headed up for my caffeine and bacon fix. I had also signed up for the Vancouver city tour on disembarkation day (mostly just for convenience since I've been to Van many, many times). It wasn't the most coordinated, but again kept us from waiting in long lines getting off the ship.

 

I was a bit frustrated by the number of kids literally running the halls, dodging and weaving through. Challenging each other about how many stairs they could jump down in one go. Also some (I assume unsupervised) kids were yelling and tossing things from the buffet off deck 16 and landing down on the Waterfront deck 8. At first I thought it had been some overboard vomit, but luckily just uneaten Indian food, including full pieces of naan and lots of chickpeas... I later learned that there was nowhere near the capacity needed in the kids club, but that doesn't make the rest of the ship a playground. 

 

All in all, I had a great time on this cruise and didn't experience many of the frustrations others had. But I do think I will pay more attention to school schedules in the future.

 

 

 

 

Curious - have you sailed NCL previously? I wonder if many (myself included) are comparing what it WAS to what it IS now? 

[periodic itinerant]

13 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Curious - have you sailed NCL previously? I wonder if many (myself included) are comparing what it WAS to what it IS now? 

 

Only sailed one time before on NCL, in October of 2021. That was at about 60% capacity and it was glorious. I know those times are over.

 

I think I may just be lucky in that I naturally gravitate to the less occupied spaces. I'm not really interested in the type of entertainment/activities usually taking place in the Atrium or things like that. I just like to relax in relative quiet while looking at the water, read some books, chat with random people over drinks, see a show or two, and eat when the mood strikes (which I guess is generally not at peak meal times?). Between the Waterfront and the Observation Lounge, most of my needs were met without venturing into the places with lines. Some of my crowd avoidance was intentional, but mostly just serendipity?

[ceilidh1]

2 minutes ago, periodic itinerant said:

 

Only sailed one time before on NCL, in October of 2021. That was at about 60% capacity and it was glorious. I know those times are over.

 

I think I may just be lucky in that I naturally gravitate to the less occupied spaces. I'm not really interested in the type of entertainment/activities usually taking place in the Atrium or things like that. I just like to relax in relative quiet while looking at the water, read some books, chat with random people over drinks, see a show or two, and eat when the mood strikes (which I guess is generally not at peak meal times?). Between the Waterfront and the Observation Lounge, most of my needs were met without venturing into the places with lines. Some of my crowd avoidance was intentional, but mostly just serendipity?

I was on this exact sailing a year ago with less than 1000 onboard. Definitely spolied. Lol. That being said, I have sailed Bliss full previously, too, but this was very different!

 

Curious - were you one of the folks at the Cavern Club outside when we descended with the bar crawl?

[periodic itinerant]

2 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

I was on this exact sailing a year ago with less than 1000 onboard. Definitely spolied. Lol. That being said, I have sailed Bliss full previously, too, but this was very different!

 

Curious - were you one of the folks at the Cavern Club outside when we descended with the bar crawl?

 

I was with you doing the bar crawl! Meghan from Seattle. 🙂 I definitely slipped Putu a $20 for being game for doing that huge line up of shots. He was such a wonderful and funny bartender, and he was personally having a bit of a rough time on this sailing as he'd just had his contract involuntarily extended and couldn't go home to see his family when he was supposed to.

[ceilidh1]

4 minutes ago, periodic itinerant said:

 

I was with you doing the bar crawl! Meghan from Seattle. 🙂 I definitely slipped Putu a $20 for being game for doing that huge line up of shots. He was such a wonderful and funny bartender, and he was personally having a bit of a rough time on this sailing as he'd just had his contract involuntarily extended and couldn't go home to see his family when he was supposed to.

Ha Ha! I left him a tip too! That was the best stop on the crawl...

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 4/10/2023 at 3:52 PM, YVRteacher said:

@ChiefMateJRK You will like Archie too!!

Thx.  We’re on the Bliss now. No sign of Archie.  Siglo is amazing. Stephen is good.   Piano player is really good.  I’ll watch her more tonight and remember her name. Something like Oana?

[www3traveler]

6 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Thx.  We’re on the Bliss now. No sign of Archie.  Siglo is amazing. Stephen is good.   Piano player is really good.  I’ll watch her more tonight and remember her name. Something like Oana?

Could you please post a list of the current Hotel Management staff?

I hope your cruise goes well.