12/24 to 12/31 Bliss to Mexican Riviera - Thoughts and dailies

[Bridgetocaptain]

Happy New Year cruisers! Just got off the Dec 24 - 31 Bliss sailing to the Mexican Riviera and wanted to share my experience in case it might be helpful.

 

 A little about me to start: My husband and I are in our early 40s. We traveled without kids or any other family. This was my second cruise — my first was on the Bliss to Alaska back in October. 

 

Overall: I had a good time, enjoyed the ports, and have a very favorable opinion of NCL. But I would probably never do a Christmas or holiday cruise ever again. It was incredibly crowded (4970 passengers) and there were way too many kids (a crew member told me that it was about 1/3). To be fair, I expected this going in, but what I underestimated was just how many inconsiderate parents there are out there. I tried to adjust my schedule to things that I assumed would be more adult and this mostly worked, but it was still a little more than I bargained for. It was not uncommon, for example, for kids to be  running up and down the cabin hallways late at night, or in the theater before presentations. There was even one lady who tried to have her preteen kids sit front row at an adult comedy show. (Multiple staff asked her to leave, but she didn’t budge until she was shamed by multiple passengers!)

 

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’ll tell you a bit more about various aspects of the trip, if you’re still interested. 🙂 (Will also post the dailies in a bit.)

 

Embarkation

I expected embarkation to be a nightmare because we didn’t have luggage tags or boarding passes (lesson learned: edocs stop being available 72 hours before sail!). We got to the port at 950 because we weren’t sure how much of a problem this would be. Turns out it wasn’t- they had a table out for those who didn’t have tags, and the security person was able to look up our name to get us past the checkpoint. Overall, it probably took us an extra 5 minutes. The waiting area had lots of seats, and once they started boarding, it moved quickly. We were on board and enjoying drinks shortly after 11am despite not having any priority status.
 

As for the port itself, the surrounding area was very clean, and the parking felt safe ( not like the Seattle port where we came back to see that multiple cars had their windows smashed). We got a spot two minutes from the luggage area and it was $20/night.

 

TBC…

[Bridgetocaptain]

Freestyle Daily - Day 1

[valleyvillage]

It is so generous of you to share with us, and so quickly, too!

[Molokai-Chuck]

Bridgetocaptain ...

A BIG thanks to you for your posting. And the Paper also. We board the Bliss next Sunday ... so following your posting close for sure.

molokai-chuck

[Bridgetocaptain]

Dining

despite the full ship, I chose not to book dining reservations right away because I wanted to see each night’s entertainment options first. This left us mostly eating at the buffet or the local. While I would have liked to have had a few more formal meals, we found enough options that we liked at both places to keep us happy. I also liked that we were able to get in and out of those places relatively quickly…I was able to get into taste one night at 845 without a reservation (all the other times there were long lines to get in). Three courses took about an hour, which is reasonable, but a family of four sitting next to us supposedly had waited much longer. They made a big stink and demanded to take their food to go, but had to be told by multiple managers that this was not allowed before someone finally caved in. 😬

 

For specialty dining, the only places with same day reservations seemed to be Q, Los Lobos, and Food Republic. We ate at Los Lobos for our first meal, and all the food was incredible. Highly recommend the shrimp skewer and the tres leches cake! We also went to Food Republic twice. Tip: Use one dining credit for two people- unless you really need a three course meal, this is more than enough food, as you can order 4 items with one credit. Favorites there include the pork belly bao, pad Thai (you can ask for them to spice it up), rock shrimp roll, and the crispy salmon skin roll.

[ChiefMateJRK]

42 minutes ago, Bridgetocaptain said:

I chose not to book dining reservations right away because I wanted to see each night’s entertainment options first.

Many will go ahead and book and then make/attempt changes as schedule demands.  You may wish to try this in the future.

[Bridgetocaptain]

10 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Many will go ahead and book and then make/attempt changes as schedule demands.  You may wish to try this in the future.

Yes, will probably do this next time. Can you cancel from your tv or do you have to make changes in person?

[Bridgetocaptain]

Entertainment

 

Saw Jersey Boys again after seeing it on the Alaska cruise a couple months back. It was a different cast, but just as enjoyable and fun as the first time. I chose to skip Six this time around. If you’re into history, or “herstory” rather, it’s worth a watch, but I don’t think it’s the type of show that most people would want to see again and again. 🤔 

 

Beatles revolution was the other hot ticket on the ship. You don’t need reservations to see them, but if you want a seat in the cavern club, get there early. I got there 45 minutes to an hour early for two shows and found that the place filled up within about 15 minutes. They also played twice in the larger theater if you don’t want to wait, but the sound quality in the club setting is much better. The set and costumes (including silly wigs!) were different each time, so it never got old…

 

Aside from this, the bliss theater also featured one holiday show Christmas Eve and another show called Ebony and Ivory, but those did not repeat and I missed them….

 

The comedy and lounge acts were hit or miss…mostly miss. Omid Singh (comedy), JC (piano/lounge), and temperature band (soul/ r and b) were better than the rest. For country, on this cruise and the previous one, they had a band that seemed technically talented, but wasn’t all that entertaining. I think having bands play in Q just doesn’t work because you have to sit so far away from the band if you’re not dining that you don’t feel the energy, and the band doesn’t either. (Curious if anyone has ever had a good time watching a band in q?)

 

Late night, karaoke in the cavern club was the place to be, but again you have to get there early or be prepared to squeeze yourself uncomfortably into the corner.

 

As for events hosted by cruise staff, I highly recommend all the dance classes, even if you’re not mobile and can only watch. Also don’t miss the How to run a cruise ship presentation where you can hear fun facts about the ship and meet the captain and other officers!

[ChiefMateJRK]

15 minutes ago, Bridgetocaptain said:

Yes, will probably do this next time. Can you cancel from your tv or do you have to make changes in person?

If you just eat somewhere else, they will cancel your reservation when you check in.  You can also ask, for example, when checking in for lunch that they cancel your dinner reservation at xyz.

[ChiefMateJRK]

14 minutes ago, Bridgetocaptain said:

I think having bands play in Q just doesn’t work because you have to sit so far away from the band if you’re not dining that you don’t feel the energy, and the band doesn’t either. (Curious if anyone has ever had a good time watching a band in q?)

Been there.  It's REALLY stupid.  There was about 10% occupancy at the dinning tables, but I couldn't go down and sit there until Q closed at whenever.

[Nclcruise1415]

Appreciate the in depth reviews. We board in 5 weeks. 

[schmoopie17]

19 hours ago, Bridgetocaptain said:

 

 (Curious if anyone has ever had a good time watching a band in q?)

We've never had a good time doing anything at Q. Tried it twice...band was meh and the food was even meher (if that's even a word). Won't waste a SP credit there ever again.

[ChiefMateJRK]

11 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

We've never had a good time doing anything at Q. Tried it twice...band was meh and the food was even meher (if that's even a word). Won't waste a SP credit there ever again.

Yep. We used a SD credit there exactly one time (never again).  That food was absolute 💩.  Actually, I got that sampler platter that gave you a taste of four of their main items, so it was 💩💩💩💩.  The band was good though! 😎

[L1211]

Thank you so much!  How about ports?  Cruising the Bliss and west coast for first time in March.  Thanks! 

[spotfish]

We were also on this cruise look forward to the rest of your review. we went to see Six and were not impressed it's a one and done for us (along with everyone else we talked to on the ship) Jersey boys was GREAT!

[Wink87]

Was there a party one night where everyone was encouraged to wear white?

[fresh35]

I was on the same sailing as a solo passenger and I had similar concerns about kids and crowding, but a pretty different experience. The solo cabins were super quiet as there were no families and I generally didn’t have too long of a wait for anything. I did avoid the buffet most of the time.

And that incident with the mother and young kids at the comedy show was the talk of the cruise as everyone seemed to have heard about it at one point or another.

[Wink87]

On 12/31/2023 at 2:17 PM, Bridgetocaptain said:

Happy New Year cruisers! Just got off the Dec 24 - 31 Bliss sailing to the Mexican Riviera and wanted to share my experience in case it might be helpful.

 

 A little about me to start: My husband and I are in our early 40s. We traveled without kids or any other family. This was my second cruise — my first was on the Bliss to Alaska back in October. 

 

Overall: I had a good time, enjoyed the ports, and have a very favorable opinion of NCL. But I would probably never do a Christmas or holiday cruise ever again. It was incredibly crowded (4970 passengers) and there were way too many kids (a crew member told me that it was about 1/3). To be fair, I expected this going in, but what I underestimated was just how many inconsiderate parents there are out there. I tried to adjust my schedule to things that I assumed would be more adult and this mostly worked, but it was still a little more than I bargained for. It was not uncommon, for example, for kids to be  running up and down the cabin hallways late at night, or in the theater before presentations. There was even one lady who tried to have her preteen kids sit front row at an adult comedy show. (Multiple staff asked her to leave, but she didn’t budge until she was shamed by multiple passengers!)

 

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’ll tell you a bit more about various aspects of the trip, if you’re still interested. 🙂 (Will also post the dailies in a bit.)

 

Embarkation

I expected embarkation to be a nightmare because we didn’t have luggage tags or boarding passes (lesson learned: edocs stop being available 72 hours before sail!). We got to the port at 950 because we weren’t sure how much of a problem this would be. Turns out it wasn’t- they had a table out for those who didn’t have tags, and the security person was able to look up our name to get us past the checkpoint. Overall, it probably took us an extra 5 minutes. The waiting area had lots of seats, and once they started boarding, it moved quickly. We were on board and enjoying drinks shortly after 11am despite not having any priority status.
 

As for the port itself, the surrounding area was very clean, and the parking felt safe ( not like the Seattle port where we came back to see that multiple cars had their windows smashed). We got a spot two minutes from the luggage area and it was $20/night.

 

TBC…

Was there a glow party on this cruise? If yes, do you remember which night? Thanks

[Bridgetocaptain]

3 hours ago, Wink87 said:

Was there a glow party on this cruise? If yes, do you remember which night? Thanks

There was a glow Caliente party on day 4. Uploading the dailies now… I did not attend. Is this fun?

Edited January 10 by Bridgetocaptain

[Bridgetocaptain]

Dailies for Day 2

[Bridgetocaptain]

Dailies for day 3

[Bridgetocaptain]

Dailies for Day 4

[Bridgetocaptain]

Dailies Day 5

[Bridgetocaptain]

I misplaced day 6. Here is day 7

[Bridgetocaptain]

On 1/1/2024 at 3:25 PM, L1211 said:

Thank you so much!  How about ports?  Cruising the Bliss and west coast for first time in March.  

 

Below I’ve added commentary on Cabo. Will add more later this week. I hope you have a great time and let me know if you have any more questions!

 

1. Cabo

the daily from the day before we arrived in Cabo suggested reserving tender tickets in advance, but I tried this and none were available. I was worried that this would mean we wouldn’t get off for hours, but since we were the only ship in port that day, it only took about 45 minutes. We waited by the maltings whiskey bar after they started calling groups with tickets. There were crew there on walkie talkies trying to fill the tenders as fast as possible. We were ready to go, so they escorted us to the tender even though they hadn’t yet gotten to general boarding…

The tender was about a 10 minute ride. It was a bit of a rough ride, but very beautiful and there were seals  that swam alongside us! 

 

I had originally contemplated taking a water taxi to see the arch and the nearby beaches, but it didn’t seem necessary after we got there. We had a good view of the arch coming in to port, and it felt silly to go from the ship to the tender to yet another boat, so we opted to walk through the city instead. 

 

the entire marina and waterfront area is beautiful, but be prepared to be accosted by many persistent vendors the entire time you’re there! our first stop was Cabo wabo, which we knew would be cheesy, but was something we wanted to try at least once. During the day, this place was underwhelming to say the least. We paid nearly 1000 pesos for two small drinks, an appetizer, and tip! I suppose it might have been fun at night with entertainment, but without it, it just felt like a very expensive bathroom stop. 😂 From Cabo wabo, it was a 3 minute walk to Tacos Guss, a humble but very delicious taco spot. We shared 4 tacos and each had a beer for slightly more than what one drink cost at CW.

 

From Tacos Guss it’s about a 15 minute walk to Medano Beach. There are lots of lively bars and beach clubs, but most of the better looking places did not have beachfront seating despite the fact that there was only one ship in port that day. We tried to get into The Office but the wait was over 30 minutes, so we just walked along the beach which was beautiful but again, very hectic. We ended up at Baja Brewing, a relatively hidden gem on the 7th floor of the Corazon resort. The view of the beach was amazing. The beer was decent, and the smoked Marlin empanadas were even better! 

 

We walked around a bit more near the marina before heading back to the pier about an hour and a half before all aboard time. Already the line for tenders was very long, but it only took about 30 minutes before we were back on the Bliss.

 

Overall, I think Cabo was the most beautiful and scenic of all the ports we visited, but I also found it to be the most inundated with vendors. I’d love to go again, but next time I’d look into shore excursions that take you outside of town or look into reserving a day pass at a beach resort outside of medano beach. If you all have recommendations for me, would love to hear them!