New to Norwegian Questions - Sailing on Bliss

[nae418]

Hello:

I'm new to Norweigan, sailing on Bliss.  Can anyone answer a few questions?

 

1. Does the NCL Bliss have bed configurations where the bed is either next to the bathroom or next to the balcony? 

I prefer my bed to be next to the balcony.  I'm in cabin 13144 on Bliss, does anyone know if the bed is near the balcony?  My sister is in cabin 13160, is her bed near the balcony? 

 

2. Freestyle dining will be a first for me.  Is there any free food available between 10 pm-12 midnight?  If so, what is it?

 

3. How is the muster drill handled?

 

4. Are cabins cleaned once a day or twice a day? 

 

5. How late is the race track open?

 

 

Any help with these questions will be greatly appreciated.    Thank you. 🙂 

 

 

 

[NW Pacific]

2.  Yes, the name escapes me, but it is an  almost 24 hour sit down Pub like restaurant, the buffet only has a limited few desserts late evening??

3.  NCL back to muster drill online watching a video.  then when you board you go to your station and your card is swiped.  No more gathering at 3pm with hundreds of other passengers.  Of course this is subject to change.

4. Unless in the Haven cleaning now done once a day

5.  I would only guess, probably the latest 7pm

 

You can look most it not all of your questions online at NCL, except maybe the bed configuration, but always glad to try to help out as others are.

[NW Pacific]

Think 24 hr eatery is called the Local now

[drumming cruisers]

Just off the Bliss yesterday. Buffett is only open until 9:30 PM.

Local is open late night. Limited menu,

fish and chips, chili bowl, Rueben sandwich, hot dog, cobb salad, chicken wings, 

raspberry swirl cheesecake brownie, apple pie with ice cream, carrot cake. Maybe a couple other items. 

Your keycard will have a letter on it. Ours was A. went to where A station was scanned card and that was it. 

[Two Wheels Only]

2 hours ago, nae418 said:

Does the NCL Bliss have bed configurations where the bed is either next to the bathroom or next to the balcony?

 

Yes, depending on stateroom type. 

 

The pattern isn't exactly set in stone. Sometimes, two similar stateroom bed configurations are back-to-back and the pattern starts from there in both directions. Also, a wheelchair accessible stateroom can break up the pattern and start again with either configuration. 

 

2 hours ago, nae418 said:

I prefer my bed to be next to the balcony.  I'm in cabin 13144 on Bliss, does anyone know if the bed is near the balcony?

 

I don't have a visual confirmation on 13144. 

13140 is bed near closet.

13152 is bed near closet.

If the pattern is consistent, I would guess that 13144 is also bed near closet.  

 

2 hours ago, nae418 said:

My sister is in cabin 13160, is her bed near the balcony?

 

Again, without a photo/video, it would be a guess that it is near closet.

 

One thing that is true for the standard balcony and Club Balcony staterooms on the side of the ship is that if it sleeps 4, the bed is near the balcony. If it sleeps 3, the bed can be either near the balcony or near the closet. The vast majority of "sleeps 3" are bed near the closet.

 

When the deck plan has a symbol and it is a standard balcony or Club Balcony, the bed is near the balcony. Unfortunately, when there is no symbol for a group of staterooms, it is difficult to know what is where. Also, if there is a group with a symbol, they all sleep 3 but it isn't possible to know which are bed near balcony or bed near closet without confirmation. I don't like guessing. 

 

What many people do during the booking phase is they enter 4 passengers when looking to see which balcony/Club Balcony staterooms are available. Once some numbers are available as options, the person can call and request a specific stateroom. The booking engine will sometimes not show a "sleeps 4" unless the person is trying to book a "sleeps 4" with 4 passengers. A phone rep can put you there when the booking engine won't let you. Some people get lucky when booking 2 or 3 passengers and get the configuration that you want if they get a sleeps 3 that is bed near balcony. 

 

The above doesn't apply to actual suites nor does it apply to aft-facing balcony/Club Balcony staterooms. There are different sets of rules for those. 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Two Wheels Only

[nae418]

Thank you all! 🙂   I'm excited, I've read so many nice things about Norweigan and Free-Style cruising.  Happy Sailing! 

[hallux]

The Bliss was my first NCL experience in 2019.  Liked it so much I went back 6 months later for a second and now I have my 3rd cruise (a 15 night cruise!) on her booked next year.  It's a beautiful ship, but so were the Joy and Escape.