We picked this cruise as we were celebrating our 20 year anniversary. This particular cruise included our very favorite islands, as it's probably the main reason why we chose this one. We have cruised with many different lines and never tried NCL - we thought it would be a great experience with one of their newest ships. Sadly, we were wrong! Our room was a spa room - typically on ships these are away from noise and near the spa. Not on the Bliss. I kept hearing constant noises above our room. Come to find out the workout room was directly above us. My husband walked the steps and sure enough it was the weights people were lifting and dropping. Over a SPA ROOM. We brought this to the front desk multiple times and were brushed off. The ship is very much designed for Alaska with many beautiful inside areas. Not so much if you're cruising the Caribbean and want to be outside. Pool chairs anywhere are limited. We went to the front desk and inquired and we were told about Vibe - the weekly passes were gone, but a cabana was open for $359. We decided to go for it to have a place to stay and not worry about people reserving chairs at 7a - only to come back and use for 30 minutes later. We made it up to Vibe - wonderful area and staff. Only to find out that the hot tub had been taken over by a loud crude group. Playing music on their personal speakers and ignoring the sign hanging - Quiet Area. The hot tub sits in front of the start of the 6 cabanas, so it was not really relaxing. We brought this up to front desk and they didn't seem to care. The free drinks are a joke. 2-3 bartenders per bar with many people waiting to get a drink. Not many bar staff members in areas such as pool or casino to order drinks from. Food was below average. It was difficult to follow the limited hours of the free places - for example on sea days the sit down dining rooms closed at 9:30a. Most people are on vacation and not setting early alarms to eat. Restaurants were ok - Le Bistro, Japanese, and Steak place were the ones we tried. Japanese was by far the best! Staff was rude and left really bad impressions. The spa and Vibe were the exceptions. Think again before you book on this ship! Read Less

I chose this due to timing with my children being off of college & the ports we would see w/ great weather. Everything pre-cruise was a nightmare trying to contact anyone. I had over 9 hours of hold time and no call backs & the supervisor did not help. Could not get dinner or show reservations I had previously booked. My kids got stuck on the “awesome water slide” & has to wait in a hatch until they were let out (they weigh almost 150# & should be able to make the turn), the race track is slow and costs $9 for 4 laps. The kiosks did not work to book shows on a “new” ship and you had to wait in long “guest service “ lines. There are no chairs available at the pool. The staff were not very friendly. We got sick on oysters at the steak restaurant. No one seems to care at all about our experience. I tried to contact nick but it says that page took a permanent vacation after I was again on hold for over 30 minutes to get that site info! Beware of ncl! The “freestyle “ allows you to hold up reservations & not show w/no consequences while leaving empty seats for food enters. Terrible program! Read Less

Did this cruise with a group of 26 people. While the ship was overall beautiful and the food and drinks were great, the price was way too high for what you got. We got the unlimited drink package and the 4 night specialty dining option. While the food and drinks were amazing, the service in 2 of the main dining halls (The Manhattan Room and Taste) were terrible. Took over 2 hours just to get our food and we were seated right when they opened. If you didn't book a reservation for any of the other specialty restaurants or the 3 main dinning halls when you first got on and had to be right when they start boarding, you had to wait to eat a nice dinner at almost 8-9 pm or go eat in the buffet. The one comedy show I was able to see had some very funny comedians and Jersey Boys was awesome but trying to get into these shows was terrible. They put you in a stand by line if you don't have reservations and if people show up 10-15 mins late, they still let these groups in. Wasn't fair in my opinion to those that were there 10-15 mins prior to showtime to get a seat waiting in stand by. Same with the Go-Karts and Laser Tag. The Go-Karts were fun but not worth the extra $10 in my opinion. The staff at the go-kart track was terrible and they let young kids (8-9 yrs old) race that cant even see over the steering wheel, barely reaching the pedals, are not staying over in the right lane so you end up running into them if they can't make the turn. They also get mad if you accidently bump into someone who crashed or cut right in front of you. They also don't even have a standby line for any solo racers so they would let 8 karts go in one and then send out 5 in the next group. Also, you would book a time for 3pm but wouldn't even race until almost and hour later. Also good luck if it rains because if so, they cancel your race without being able to rebook and just give you back your money. Not really fair in my opinion. Both activities they just show you a video and then let you go. Overall the reservation system is total garbage. Outside of those, the Cabin/stateroom is very nice and the staff take very good care of your room and your belongings. Overall, its nice if you just want a getaway but not worth the extra money they nickel and dime you for. Would much rather be back on Carnival next time. Read Less

This was our first cruise and planned for over a year for Christmas week 2018. Boarded in Miami and cruised St.Thomas, Tortola, and Bahamas. After exploring the ship on boarding day and eating at the buffet I thought we were in for a week of our lives. On Sunday morning we woke fairly early to have our first pool day, to my disbelief there was barely a chair to be found. We found a couple chairs eventually in a shaded area far from the one pool. Yes, that is correct they have ONE pool! They advertise two but the second has toddlers in diapers connected to water park area for toddlers. So unless you have little ones or like to swim in diapers its not for you. The first pool I mentioned is about the same size as the pool in my backyard! There's no easy entrance to the pool, no swim up bar, but plenty of salt if you bring your margarita! I literally swam once in the entire week. The two slides are flawed as it takes 45 minutes in line to ride them. The extreme ride was designed so poorly that many riders actually don't make the apex and slide helplessly backward and need to be extracted by personnel. Needless to say I did not attempt this nor my two children as the wait and failure rate just didn't seem worth it. I will finish with this regarding the pool area, on day two I woke early to mark four chairs for my family with towels and clips and bags, as this is how it's done on cruises. Upon arrival later that morning my chairs were now down to two, my bag was missing, and I almost got into a fight. Wow! what a cruise dream! They have go carts and laser tag for kids if you can sign up in time. I'll be honest I still don't know what that means because we never had a chance to sign up because it was full every time someone tried! Yes, we spent 7 days on a cruise ship with two teens and they barely swam, used one slide twice, and never saw go carts or laser tag. In my opinion they should have left the carts and tag off the ship and build some real pools. On the positive side the food and drinks were very good. The three shows we saw were also very well done. The room was decent size and always clean. The employees do an amazing job and are always friendly. Unfortunately for us this was designed around my kids and nephews who left highly disappointed. I would not recommend this ship to anyone with children, actually I would not recommend this ship to anyone as the pool deck experience is horrific! Read Less

We have gone on two previous cruises but both on Royal Caribbean. We did the Allure in the Caribbean and a smaller ship I can't remember the name of in the Mediterranean last year. This time we wanted to try something different and we took our whole family of 10 with us! We were excited to be on the new Bliss with a go kart track and laser tag! The whole family was looking forward to it for months! Plus we were spending a pretty penny! Early on I had a clue that NCL was not so great when I ran into issues with their customer service and booking. I actually wanted to cancel but I was too deep and would lose too much money. I decided to put the issues aside and was sure the ship and experience would be grand just like it is with Royal Caribbean. For starters, The staff on the ship are "indifferent" heck even the people who check you in at the port are passive aggressive. The words that come out of their mouth are polite but the attitude and disinterest far over power the vocabulary. This is such a contrast to Royal where we are hugging out wait staff and room attendants when the trip was ending. On NCL every time we dined it would take at least 10 to 15 minutes to get water and acknowledged. If you didn't like a meal they didn't care. Frankly they got you your order, dropped it off and NEVER asked you how you liked the food. Not one single meal were any of us asked if we needed anything else. They literally do the bare minimum to get by. I suspect NCL must treat their staff terribly because they are virtually all miserable and frankly it ruined our experience. Let me also tell you that the Ultimate beverage package is not for wine drinkers. Their wine selection is terrible on the ship and the wines by the glass that are included in your package are $10 bottles at home. Anything of any decent caliber is of course only sold by the bottle. I caved and bought a bottle because my beverage package had a 20% discount BUT they add a 25% service charge automatically! Normally this is fine but there is no service so what am I paying for? Even mixed drinks at the Mojito bar conveniently starting at $10.95 when your beverage package is only up to $10 per drink. So after you are nickeled and dimed on the drinks keep in mind the go cart track is $10 per ride. Now this is IF you can get a spot because it's reservation only so hurry up! Same with laser tag and the Prohibition musical. Jersey boys was great and free but again make sure you book it early to get your seat! Lastly the layout of the ship was terrible and there was one small pool for 4000 people. Ridiculous! The only good thing is the rooms are very nice and bathrooms are larger but certainly not enough of a plus to override the experience. I could go on and on but I will end here by saying NCL will never get a dime of my money again and there were ALOT of other people on the ship who were feeling the same way. Think long and hard before choosing NCL... heed my advice and go with Royal Carribean! I heard from others Carnival is great service too! Heck I would do anyone BUT NCL! Read Less

We have taken many cruises in the past but this was our first with Norwegian (I should say first and last). It’s a very large ship with not enough staff to provide quality customer service and the staff we encountered were not very friendly nor attentive to anyones needs. We hoped to take advantage of the shows, the specialty dining, the spa, the onboard racetrack. All of which required reservations in advance but you could not reserve in advance online. The only option was to book the onboard activities when you boarded. Well by the second day everything was booked and we could not take advantage of anything we had planned. Our family who joined us had a three year old with them and while they expected not to have much available for a child this age, the”Guppies” program that Norwegian advertises is a joke. A couple of toys and some coloring pages and not a staff in sight. Since there was nothing else to do, we ended up spending numerous hours in the casino where the machines were old and again no staff in sight to ask if we needed a drink. We had to leave the machine we were playing to go to the bar and get our own drinks where the staff made you feel like you were bothering them. The food was mediocre at best. The one specialty restaurant we were able to get into lacked the quality we expected from a “specialty” restaurant. The food was no better than what was served at the buffet. The cabin was smaller than I expected, but that was not the problem. The problem was that it was not as clean as it could’ve been. When the sun shined on the closet doors, you could see the splatter marks of god knows what. We could not even say anything to the cabin person because we never saw her/him. The air conditioning kept shutting down and all night long we had to keep getting up to turn it back on and no instructions on how to use it. You always had to keep your key in a slot by the door in order for the lights to work. If you didn’t, you would have no light in the cabin so you had to be mindful not to lock yourself out when you left the cabin. Absolutely the worst cruise we have ever taken. We met many other passengers on this cruise who felt the same way about it and so we knew it was not just us. Read Less

Due to medical needs, we were allowed to have priority boarding. While embarking on the ship, we noticed people literally running by us. Two quite large young woman literally pushed me out of their way (I wear an ankle brace due to recent bone graft surgery). Then we saw another couple sprinting up the gangway. We had wanted to buy passes for Vibe Beach Club and once we got to the area and were 8th in line, we were told that we did not have a number therefore we could not purchase the pass (no one was giving out numbers). The large women that pushed me out of the way were already there right in front of us and had numbers. We were also told that they only sold 15-20 passes and that everything else was sold out. My understanding is that they have somewhere near 70 passes to sell. Its impossible that they sold 50-60 passes when we were one of the first passengers on the ship.. Something was not right. We have always gotten the Vibe passes and have sailed numerous times on Norwegian Cruise Line. We did report this to the higher ups and let them know that this has become a very volatile, dangerous situation. It was like a stampede. We have never seen this on either Epic, Getaway, Escape or any other ship for that matter. We told Wade (the guy selling the passes) that if we could not get passes then we would be getting off the ship. He put us on a waiting list and I told him that I would be back in touch with him in an hour. Fortunately, we were able to get the passes. I must say that the Vibe Beach Club is usually almost empty so I do not understand where all the passes go because the people do not show up. I don't remember exactly how many cabanas there were (5 or 6 I think) and only 3 of them were taken and we were told that the other are reserved for high ranking officers. I don't understand why these officers can't go to Haven. It's always empty over there. This cruise line really needs to get their act together in my opinion. Now to move on to the casino. The ventilation is not very good. As soon as you get off the elevator the smell of smoke almost chokes you. They also have a very large smoking area which makes the non-smoking area much smaller than their other ships. Specialty restaurants - Not so special. They were better on Getaway and Escape. The first dinner at Cagneys was horrible, but in their defense, they gave us another night to make up for it and the food was much better. Cagneys had always been our favorite specialty restaurant. Keisha was great and was able to redeem the restaurant. LaCucina was not good at all and the service was terrible. It took over 2 hours and we missed the show that night. We also missed the show the first night due to the Cagney fiasco. It seemed that many of the guests were also having issues. We were told it was because hundreds of crew members were switched at Miami. So, needless to say, we were not having such a great experience this trip. This was going to be our last cruise for awhile due to upcoming intense medical treatments, so to say we were disappointed would be an understatement. In closing, unless NCL does something different about getting the passes for Vibe Beach Club and their embarkment procedures, we will most likely sail on other cruise lines. I am not going to risk getting hurt by passengers who have no manners and will push, shove and almost trample other passengers to get the passes. I have never seen anything like it in all my years of cruising. It's shameful for a cruise line to allow this to happen. Read Less

Choose this cruise because the Norwegian Bliss is a new ship with excellent reviews. My daughter and I being bitten by bed bugs, having to go to the doctor twice, receiving 4 medications, including 2 for itching and 1 for pain, transferred to another cabin, having all our clothes,belongings, luggage taken away, steamed with hot water, shrunk, destroyed, some never returned turned an otherwise positive happy experience into an nightmare. Not only was our cruise miserable but it also effected our after cruise stay in Miami. At first everything was great, embarking was relatively fast and smooth. Our cabin was great, large picture window on Deck 5. The food is excellent, kitchen staff assigned to assist with prevention of germs (washi-washi), cabin steward great. The ship is beautiful. On the third day we asked how the couch let out. ..laid on couch later at dinner started itching daughter had red bite marks on arm me on face. Went to sleep in cabin awaken by biting bugs. When I sat up the bug crawled over your shoulder. I knicked it off, landed on table and we trapped it under a glass. I had red welts and bites on neck arms chest thighs and feet. we called Guest Services they came out and a ship staff inspected the bug and said yes it was a bed bug. What happened next is above. It was horrible and sad and totally PREVENTABLE. they should check for bugs daily! We still haven't brought our luggage into the house. Read Less

This is a smokers alert- Norwegian Bliss Nov. 3rd Panama Canal cruise. Prior to booking I was advised I could smoke on Deck 17 at the Spice Bar, In the humidor lounge, and somewhere at the pool area. I smoke mini cigars which are slightly larger than a cigarette. Arrival at LAS airport and awaiting transfer (prepaid) of the shuttle. We waited and waited and after an hour finally saw a woman with a blue scarf (no signage just a blue scarf) a gentlemen advised me he too was waiting an that I should speak to the woman with the blue scarf. I was advised that we were waiting for one more couple and the shuttle bus had been called. An hour after that I was told there were more customers arriving on different flights and that the bus had been called. Three and a half hours later – you read that right – a bus finally arrived and we were told it would be about a thirty minute drive to the port. The ride was uneventful but the three and a half hour wait started telling me this isn't right. Chaos upon arrival- no one tells you what is going on. Where are the bags, do they take them, do I, or where to check in. Checking in wasn't bad except there is no information available. Cabin #14796, Balcony; OK room, shower could use an enlargement but was acceptable. Room was fine, midships, except for at night the band playing at the pool area was loud in the room. Cleaning staff was excellent, friendly, and always asking if there was anything he could do. “Z “ Bags don't arrive till late at night the first night- wasn't use to that type of service. This is probably due to it being a large ship with 4000 guests. With no luggage to unpack it was time for lunch and a snack. Learned where the Cafe is, front of ship. Had an acceptable meal and headed off for a smoke at the rear of the ship. It's a long walk when you are unfamiliar with the ship. You get used to it! Upon arrival I was advised that I could only smoke cigars in the Humidor. I promptly went to guest services and asked for a complete refund at the first port. After a discussion I was advised that I could also smoke at the Spice Bar on deck 17 by guest services but there is no smoking at the pool area. I thought I would be ok with that until the arrival at the spice bar located behind Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville. I asked for a Bailys coffee at the bar. No! They don't have coffee at the bar. They advised to go to Buffets and get a coffee and then bring it to the bar. (I should do that?) Yes! Drink in hand I was further told I could only smoke on the Starboard side of the ship in an area no bigger than 12' x 35'. I thought I would be ok with that until other smokers showed up. I went to sit at a small table approx 24” in diameter and there were about 5 tables there each with about 5 chairs at each. Note- when we started the first day there were three umbrellas in this area. Three days into the cruise there were only two umbrellas. There is a covered area in which to smoke approx 12'x20' the rest is open or semi covered by umbrellas. Note- remember there are 4000 people on this ship. Another problem is that the starboard side railing is covered by sheets of glass or plastic with spaces in between them so that wind blows extremely forceful through the slats. ( hmmmm- creating cigarette ash to blow off a lit cigarette....fire hazard....naaaahhhhh! This ship was designed for Alaska waters and I don't think it would be pleasant to smoke in a cold climate with no wind protection. At the table the four ashtrays on the table were full of cigarettes. I complained to guest services that I don't clean ashtrays- this was taken care of and was acceptable for the rest of the cruise with one exception which I'll mention later. It got crowded as people learned where you can smoke- Humidor, Spice and the CASINO!!! Casino- smoking of cigarettes is allowed. Cigars-NO. People complained that if you didn't have money in a machine you couldn't smoke.-I don't know! I do find it odd that you couldn't smoke in the casino if the casino was closed-all ashtrays removed while in ports after all it is a smoking area but I guess you have to pay money to smoke there. The spice area holds approx 40 people maximum and they couldn't open up the entire deck area for some unknown reason. Rumor was it's a rule-Captain doesn't like smokers- Seems to me the non smokers have numerous bars they can attend but smokers are herded to an area the size of a cabin. On top of that the non smokers utilized the smokers rest room- It was comical watching some of them hold their nose as they walked by to open the rest room door- PS there is a bathroom on the non smoking side but they didn't use that one!!! I think you get the idea so far. It is now standing room only. A person of authority assured me the reason for the small smoking area was to prevent fire hazards. A travel agent aboard stated that all cruise lines are doing away with smoking. Appears so! I would say it is a beautiful ship except for all the walking one has to do especially since the elevators are always on the wrong floor and when you do get one it was usually full- to the stariways. What I found odd was that since it is a new ship what was a lot of the paneling on the walls coming buckling- front of the Cave/Cavern by the humidor. In the humidor and numerous other places. I guess someone didn't tag out the ship before taking possession from the factory. Guest speaker for canal trip was good- however on his first day the theater was packed full. Went to the atrium and you have to hear people complaining at guest services a few feet away from the speaker----- this also works in reverse- speaking to guest services you can't hear employees due to they always have music or show going on in the atrium area. Need sound walls installed. At guest services I stated this noise wouldn't be a problem if the speaker was on the TV in the rooms. The next day it was on the TV- problem solved. Back to the cafe- another design flaw- no where near enough seats. You get your food in a line and people are picking a piece of food and tasting it in front of the serving area. I was shown an area that is not crowded. Get your food and take it to the table towards the pool area. Set your food down and go way back to get a beverage, etc. Food is edible but I noticed that the India cafe area is hardly used. Manhattan room- excellent service the first night- then it went downhill from slow to bad. Food quality was fine. No charge. La cucina Italian? I don't think so- no lasagna, no eggplant $$ Cagneys steakhouse excellent. $$ This was a repositioning cruise- the ports were the worst. We always docked in the commercial parts of the ports. They charge for a bus ride to the towns. Seems petty to me- I your taking me somewhere at least have some service available. Due to 4000 people NCL needs a lot of work in this area. If you can't handle it hire more people or get out of the business. Even people that paid for tours advised that it was so disorganized that they got refunds. NCL- this is not good business sense. At Puntenaras we had to pay $15 PP to get to town. The HAL docked about 100' from where our bus dropped us off. Hmmmmm! THE OTHER SHOE DROPS- So I finish dinner and go to smoke on deck 17 in what I was now calling the CAGE! I am told that the area is closing in 15 minutes for a special party. OK- where do I smoke! Told to go to deck 19 top of the ship behind to smokestacks. I go to deck 19- couldn't find an elevator with 19 on it but finally did – there is only one elevator to 19. Talk about an unsafe area to smoke- on deck 19 the wind is howling. There is no wind protection, the bar is closed, no ashtrays, and no cover-overhead. There is however an NCL rep standing there that didn't have a clue about anything. Back to guest services- The complaint is written down a refunds due. I had it with NCL.... I was told that the bar did open- it was too windy- and ash trays were on hand after my complaining. Should never have happened. None of this was in the brochure. I suggest that any smokers avoid this ship. I have numerous cruises with NCL and this one has caused me to seek other cruise lines. As for non smokers who like large crowds, lines at dining areas, unavailable show tickets, disorganization of the highest level from getting to the ship and from the ship, terrible fill in ports with no transportation unless you $$$$. I further suggest that NCL reads this article- It could help but then again, maybe not! Read Less

We had planned to go to the Mexican Rivera, we had planned for over a year to take this dream vacation. Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) knew before we left port that the ship would need to change destination ports do to a Hurricane Willa heading for Mazatlán. We should have been given the opportunity to opt out or get the cruise at a reduced cost. NCL did not inform us of the change until we had set sail and got out to international waters. The food was only average except for in the specialty restaurants. Most of the bartenders did not know how to make a proper drink. The Bliss being a brand new whip was beautiful The entertainment was OK, nothing spectacular. My wife and I are in our 70’s and this was to be one of our items on our bucket list to have wonderful memories of being on a cruise with my son, daughter in-law, grandson and our in-laws. We are highly disappointed in the cruise and now have no good memoirs of the time we spent together. Read Less