PHOTO REVIEW! Just off the Bliss to the Mexican Riviera.

[Bostonjetset]

Hi fellow cruisers.  I just returned from the Bliss's 5-night cruise to the Mexican Riviera and wanted to share my thoughts.  The trip left from Los Angeles and visited Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada.  We also spent two nights in Anaheim pre-cruise in order to visit Disneyland so I will include that in the review for those who are interested in perhaps doing something similar when sailing from San Pedro.  I usually post reviews in a diary style format so you can read my thoughts as I wrote them during the trip.

 

BACKGROUND:

I sailed on this trip with my husband.  I am 40 and he is 55.  I'd been to Cabo before on a Princess cruise with my mom several years ago but it was his first time; neither of us have been to Ensenada.  We've both been on many cruises but have not been on NCL in several years; my last time was on the Sky to Cuba back in 2018 and his last time was on the Breakaway in 2013.  We tend to sail with Holland America Line the most as we like the mid-size ships but are not married to any line and usually pick based on itinerary, cost, and dates.

[Bostonjetset]

Day 1: [Boston to LA/Anaheim], 10/29/2023 6.49pm

 

Our flight was scheduled to at at 7.35am this morning so it was an early day for us.  Of course it ended up being about 45 minutes last due to two passengers deciding to deplane AFTER the cabin doors had been closed.  It was also a very turbulent ride but at least we got a [cold] meal since we flew on American Airline's flagship A321 Transcon route.  Once at LAX we got an Uber to our hotel in Anaheim but of course it's Cali so it has to be complicated.  You can no longer get an Uber from the terminal but now have to take a shuttle bus to some central location to call your ride.  What a waste of time!  Our hotel, Holiday Inn Express and Suites is close [10 min walk] to Disneyland though so it's super convenient and we have a nice junior suite was ample space.  For dinner we ate at Ballast Point Brewery at Downtown Disney and my fish & chips were excellent.  DH got a poke bowl that he enjoyed and we both had some seasonal pumpkin beers.

 

 

 

 

[Bostonjetset]

Day 2: [Disneyland], 10/30/2023 11.36pm

 

Wow, what an amazing day!  It's crazy how much you can get done here when you rope drop and buy Genie+!!  We got there right in time for the 8am rope drop and walked right on the Matterhorn and Space Mtn. was down.  Then it was over to Big Thunder Mtn.  We used Genie+ for Indiana Jones after walking on Jungle Cruise and having a Dole Whip float.  Since the park is physically smaller and more densely packed than Magic Kingdom in FL, it's easy to criss-cross back and forth without exhaustion.  There are also SO many rides here that they don't have in Orlando!!  Favorites like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and Alice in Wonderland but also unique ones like Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin and Storybook Land Canal Boats.  And Matterhorn of course!!

 

For lunch we met up with my cousin and her husband and daughter at River Belle Terrace as they happened to be at Disney for the weekend and we leaving that afternoon.  They live in Northern CA so come down several times a year.  It was nice to have a quick catch-up.  We then took a break back at the hotel for a couple hours and headed back to the park around 5pm for our lightning lane at the Haunted Mansion with the cool Nightmare Before Christmas holiday overlay.  Dinner was amazing at Care Orleans; the Monte Cristo sandwich is so huge that even I couldn't finish it and I'm not a small guy.  The fireworks were cancelled due to wind so this is the 3rd time I've missed Disney fireworks in a row!  Last year at Epcot due to thunderstorms; last year at Magic Kingdom on a different trip due to Be Our Guest messing up our dinner reservations and seating us late; and now here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bostonjetset]

Day 3: [NCL Bliss Day 1 - Boarding Day], 10/31/2023 10.30pm

 

Boarding day!  Check-in was pretty fast and we were on the ship by 12.15pm.  The ship is absolutely massive!  It's very pretty but it's just so huge and only has two elevator banks. There are so many people and after sailing with Holland America Line for a while it's truly noticeable.  That said, the food in both the buffet and the main dining room has been good so far.  I wonder if they focus resources on these newer mega-ships because the food on the Sky a few years back was just mediocre.  MDR service tonight on the Manhattan Room was very good as well.  Friendly and efficient with no wait for a table.  Better than Koningsdam in August.  There are some cute Halloween decorations throughout the ship as well.  And I found a duck for the first time ever!! Took me over 20 cruises!

 

 

 

 

 

[Molokai-Chuck]

Hey Bostonjetset....

Thanks for your posting so far!

We are to sail on the Bliss in January on the same 5 day trip as you did. 

Did you happen to get/scan any of the Freestyle Daily papers from the trip?

Also, was the Jersey Boys show on? What nights did the offer up?

 

Looking forward to more postings.... Thanks.

 

Molokai-Chuck

[Bostonjetset]

4 minutes ago, Molokai-Chuck said:

Hey Bostonjetset....

Thanks for your posting so far!

We are to sail on the Bliss in January on the same 5 day trip as you did. 

Did you happen to get/scan any of the Freestyle Daily papers from the trip?

Also, was the Jersey Boys show on? What nights did the offer up?

 

Looking forward to more postings.... Thanks.

 

Molokai-Chuck

Hey. I will check the dailies when I get home for the times but Jersey Boys was definitely offered. I did not go as I’ve seen it live on land but I did go to SIX and it was amazing. 

[9tee2Sea]

I found a duck once, didn't know what bro do with it.  Gave it to some little kid ( I figured they would know).  Man those Disney pics.  Last time I was at Disney was when American Adventured opened

( and price was $59.00 for both parks).  I will be on the Bliss in Jan ( Panama Canal, Miami- LA)

[drumming cruisers]

Great review will be on Biss in Feb. 7 days.  Never thought to stay at DL before cruise. Will have to check prices. probably more than i paid for the cruise 😄

[Bostonjetset]

4 hours ago, Molokai-Chuck said:

Hey Bostonjetset....

Thanks for your posting so far!

We are to sail on the Bliss in January on the same 5 day trip as you did. 

Did you happen to get/scan any of the Freestyle Daily papers from the trip?

Also, was the Jersey Boys show on? What nights did the offer up?

 

Looking forward to more postings.... Thanks.

 

Molokai-Chuck

I just checked the Freestyle Daily sheets and Jersey Boys was on the first night [embarkation night] and the second night of our cruise.  SIX was on night 3 and night 4 but night 4 ended up getting cancelled and moved to night 5 [last night].

 

 

4 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

I found a duck once, didn't know what bro do with it.  Gave it to some little kid ( I figured they would know).  Man those Disney pics.  Last time I was at Disney was when American Adventured opened

( and price was $59.00 for both parks).  I will be on the Bliss in Jan ( Panama Canal, Miami- LA)

Honestly I don't have much use for the duck either and I would have re-hid it if it weren't for the fact that this was a Halloween-themed pumpkin duck.  Due to that fact I kept it and it will live with my other Halloween decor.

 

2 hours ago, drumming cruisers said:

Great review will be on Biss in Feb. 7 days.  Never thought to stay at DL before cruise. Will have to check prices. probably more than i paid for the cruise 😄

Thanks for reading.  Yes Disneyland is expensive for sure but it's still the happiest place on earth!  And when you break it down to an hourly price it's not that much different than other forms of entertainment if one stays in the park for the almost the entire day.  Also, I don't care much for LA as a city so figured staying in Anaheim was the best option.  On a past trip I stayed at the Queen Mary Hotel which was cool and right near the cruise port. Not sure if they have reopened yet though as I know they were having some repairs done.

[Bostonjetset]

Day 4: [NCL Bliss Day 2 - Sea Day], 11/01/2023 10.00pm

 

Today started a bit frustrating.  We wanted to use the hot tubs but both of the ones in Spice H2O, the quieter adult-only area, were close "for maintenance" and no one could say when they would reopen.  There are four more hot tubs by the main pool but with over 4,000 passengers that's clearly not enough and the were full.  In addition to the large volume of people, they were playing VERY loud country music by the main pool at the time I went so that made it even worse.  I retreated inside to find the library but of course they only allow checking out of books for 1 hour in the morning.  Luckily there was one paperback on the passenger exchange shelf that looked okay so I grabbed that.  It seems NCL makes anything included in the cruise very difficult or inconvenient to enjoy, thus pushing people to spend more money on uncharges.  You can't even watch a movie on demand in your stateroom unless you pay extra!  Not all is bad though.  The food had to be the one thing I was expecting disappointment from yet it's actually been pretty good.  The NY strip steak tonight was quite tasty.  And the daily Indian food on the lunch buffet has been great!

 

[Bostonjetset]

Day 5: [NCL Bliss Day 3 - Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico], 11/02/2023 9.30pm

 

Today's tendering process was an absolute s***-show!!  We were in Cabo from 11am - 7pm but we couldn't get a tender until 2pm.  They were very slow and unorganized.  We didn't actually get to shore until around 2.30pm.  Also, there were no beach towels in the stateroom so I asked our steward who said they give them at the gangway but that never happened either.  So much for a beach day!!  Not that we really had much time after the tender fiasco anyway.  Both HAL and Princess give passengers towels to use so this really surprised and annoyed me.

 

We ended up getting a local water taxi for a tour of El Arco for $45 which wasn't too bad as it was basically a private tour for most of it.  He picked up three people at the beach halfway though but still it was decent.  Then we went for a drink in the marina area and I got a fish taco and a churro as one must. After that it it was another long line that snaked all around the marina for 40 minutes to get a tender back to the ship!!

 

Dinner in the Manhattan Room was good as usual though.  I will give them credit for the food and dinner service quality on this ship.

 

 

 

 

 

[DominicAUS]

Thanks for the review so far. Doing this trip in Jan before a Panama Canal cruise. The pool deck give out towels and got them from there before getting off at Cabo, we did a ship tour so it was a seamless process. Sorry it wasn’t for you both. 
 

look forward to reading the rest of the review. 

[Bostonjetset]

7 hours ago, DominicAUS said:

Thanks for the review so far. Doing this trip in Jan before a Panama Canal cruise. The pool deck give out towels and got them from there before getting off at Cabo, we did a ship tour so it was a seamless process. Sorry it wasn’t for you both. 
 

look forward to reading the rest of the review. 

Yes I saw the towels on the pool deck but even that was made complicated with a system of "checking them out" with room numbers and returning them with a live person.  There was only one station that I knew of and having to trek all the way up there just to get towels to take on a tour is not really a convenient or customer-friendly practice.

 

I was saying to other passengers at the time how I wished we had booked an excursion in Cabo [we did in Ensenada] in order to get priority tender access and was informed that it only mattered for the very first tours of the day.  After those first groups, they got so backed up that even people on NCL excursions were delayed from leaving the ship and had their tours delayed [I heard some were even cancelled due to the tardiness but that is hearsay and I don't have firsthand experience of it].  I've been to Cabo on a Princess cruise and the tender operation was MUCH smoother so I was not anticipating such a fiasco.  It was likely a series of unfortunate events, some of which were out of NCL's control like tide levels/waves.etc, but the communication WAS in their control and it was completely lacking so they are not completely off the hook.  Stuff happens.  Life isn't perfect.  However, how a business handles it makes the difference between disappointed customers and angry customers; NCL handled this poorly and there were many angry customers.

[Bostonjetset]

Day 6: [NCL Bliss Day 4 - Sea Day], 11/03/2023 9.10pm

 

Just back from a soak in the hot tub since it seems 8.30pm is the only time one is available.  The two in Spice H20 have been closed all cruise so over 4,000 people have to share the 4 in the main pool area.  Ridiculous.  I had reservation for SIX: The Musical tonight but it was cancelled.  Allegedly one of the performers has an injury.  I guess they don't have understudies.  Just one more disappointment.  They said they will try for tomorrow to reschedule but aren't sure yet.

 

On a positive note, we had dinner in Los Lobos tonight and it was excellent!  The table side guac and the beef empanadas were both very good.  The carne asada was excellent!!  I can't fault the food food on this trip at all so at least that is one good thing.

 

 

 

 

[Bostonjetset]

Day 7: [NCL Bliss Day 5 - Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico], 11/04/2023 11.01pm

 

Just got back from Six: The Musical and WOW!  Just WOW!  What an incredible show with Broadway/West-End level talent.  I'm so happy it got reschedule as it was a highlight of this cruise.  When NCL gets it right they really get it right and they did with these Broadway shows.  I've heard they've started removing these types of shows from their ships which truly is a shame.  Six is allegedly leaving in March 2024; hopefully that's just a rumor.  

 

Our day in Ensenada was pleasant, with a visit to La Bufadora and a wine tasting at a local winery.  While not a city I would want to visit all the time, it was worth coming here at least once.  It definitely has a more "authentic" Mexican feel than places like Cabo though there are still plenty of tourist traps.  I got a cute silver ring with a mid-century feel to it and of course some fish tacos! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bostonjetset]

FINAL THOUGHTS

 

Now that I am home I can reflect on the cruise and the trip as a whole.  As with everything, there is good and bad, plusses and minuses.  I will admit that we felt the mega-ships may not be for us.  We liked the Breakaway when we sailed her to Bermuda in 2013 but we were 10 years younger then, didn't have to deal with tenders, were docked at one place for 3 days, and NCL was under different management at that time.  Things change; people change; that's life.  NCL will likely not be our first choice in the future unless we got a REALLY good deal or they had a really interesting itinerary.  Or we wanted to easily go to Bermuda again as they leave from both Boston and NYC.

 

The Good:

Six: The Musical was truly a wonderful way to spend the evening.  Being from the northeast, I get to see my fair share of high quality theatrical performances from opera to ballet to musical theatre and this was really well done.  I really hope NCL re-considers the removal of these types of shows from their ships as I would think it's a selling point.  I didn't see Jersey Boys but heard others enjoyed it.  Hopefully they will at least have one Broadway-style show on each ship even if they don't keep two.

 

Also, the food was pretty good as well; not gourmet but definitely adequate for the price paid. Everything was good whilst some things were really good; nothing we had was awful. The Indian luncheon buffet was excellent.  NCL does anytime-dining in the MDR really well and they manage to seat people at two-tops without a wait which is amazing on a ship of over 4000 people.  They have this down to a science and it shows.  Dinner service was friendly and efficient each night.  They also asked about food allergies at every dinner.  We don't have any but it's something to note for those who do; they will look out for you in that area.

 

The Bad:

Once-daily cabin service sucks.  Especially whilst charging the highest daily gratuities of any major cruise line.  Our steward was very friendly but twice of the 5 days he wanted to clean our room when we were in it and we had to tell him to come back in 30 min, freshen up, and leave so he could do so.  That includes the day we were in Ensenada on an NCL tour from 8am-2.30pm.  He knocks on the door at 3pm to clean the stateroom.  He couldn't do it when we were off the ship for 6.5 hours?!? And you don't want to miss it since there is no turndown service so if you skip the one service you won't get anything.  NOT COOL NCL!

 

Charging for on-demand movies in your stateroom.  Cheap!  On my HAL cruise this past August we could watch anything we wanted for free whenever we wanted.  

 

Charging for room service, even basic breakfast.  Again, on HAL we could order any meal from room service for free. They have upcharge items of course but there were items for any meal for free.  Even Carnival lets you get continental breakfast and coffee for free from room service!

 

The tiny pools for such a huge ship.  Only two small pools, and no quiet pool area, on a ship with over 4000 passengers.  The Rotterdam had similar sized pools and had at least 1200 less people on her.  Also, 6 hot tubs SHOULD be enough but when two of those are closed for an entire cruise it is not pleasant.

 

Not a dealbreaker or anything but they really should have three elevator banks on a ship of that size; having only two made for a lot of waiting.

 

The Ugly:

The tender situation in Cabo was really borderline inexcusable.  I understand that many things can go wrong when tendering and sometimes it is out of a cruiseline's control.  That said, communication is always within their control and just telling passengers "Sorry we haven't gotten to that group yet. We're still on group 6" or "It's taking longer than expected" is not really good communication.  There was a Carnival ship there as well that day and they had tenders going back and forth faster than we did.  They also had a better location in the bay, closer to land.  Maybe they paid more for a better anchoring spot?  Who knows but that wouldn't surprise me.  There were a lot of very angry passengers that day, especially people who booked NCL excursions and missed them due to the tender fiasco [later day excursions that then didn't have time due to the delays].

[Molokai-Chuck]

Thanks for a great review of your cruise!

 

Molokai-chuck

[Fisical1]

Great Review.  Thank you.   Im going with a group of 5 in December for the 5 day.   Booked a bit late so no real reservations available for the dining rooms.   What is the process when on board or do you just show up to the dining room?   Do you have to make reservations for the shows?

 

Thank you.

[Bostonjetset]

8 hours ago, Fisical1 said:

Great Review.  Thank you.   Im going with a group of 5 in December for the 5 day.   Booked a bit late so no real reservations available for the dining rooms.   What is the process when on board or do you just show up to the dining room?   Do you have to make reservations for the shows?

 

Thank you.

For the Manhattan room we just showed up each night and never had to wait. It was much more seamless than I was expecting though not sure how it would be for a table for 5. There were only two of us. We ate around 7-7.30 each night as well which is prime time in my mind so I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of the process. 
 

I did reserve tickets for Six online about a week before the cruise so you should still be able to do that. I highly recommend seeing it. It truly was excellent. 
 

Enjoy your cruise!  Bring your patience pants though haha. 

[marne-c]

A question for @Bostonjetset and any other recent Bliss pax from this Mexican Pacific cruise:  

 

How was the internet on your itinerary?

 

--Marne

[Bostonjetset]

46 minutes ago, marne-c said:

A question for @Bostonjetset and any other recent Bliss pax from this Mexican Pacific cruise:  

 

How was the internet on your itinerary?

 

--Marne

The internet was rather slow. I had the 75 minutes included with FAS and I was able to get a few posts on Instagram and get some iMessages sent to family and friends but things took a while. I was not able to check in for my flight home very easily. It turns out it did end up working but it seemed as though it didn’t as it kept freezing. 

[EganFire]

Thank you for sharing. I will be on the Bliss ending in LA and will be spending a few days in DL and CA before heading home. Your pictures have me excited for a change of scenery and a great getaway from work.

[Bostonjetset]

1 hour ago, EganFire said:

Thank you for sharing. I will be on the Bliss ending in LA and will be spending a few days in DL and CA before heading home. Your pictures have me excited for a change of scenery and a great getaway from work.

Enjoy your cruise and DL!! Thanks for reading.