This was my first experience on a Norwegian cruise and was unsure what to expect after reading the negative reviews on this site. Although I was somewhat concerned about the negative reviews, my inclination was to consider that the Bliss was a brand new ship and there might have been some kinks to work out during the initial voyages. Perhaps these travelers who did not have a good experience with this ship were unfortunate not to have waited until the crew was familiar with the new vessel.

The Bad (or what some see as the bad):

The first thing to address is the elevator situation. Yes, it is true that there were certain times (e.g. 6:00 p.m., 8:30 a.m., or just before or after arriving at a port) when it could be a challenge to get an elevator that was not completely filled. That said, we never waited more than two or three elevator cars before we were able to find one that was not unreasonably crowded. If you plan your trips to the upper decks or the disembarkation deck with the knowledge that there are 4,000 other passengers on-board, you can avoid most of the trouble with the elevators as described by others. Another trick was to use the aft elevators, which were usually much less crowded than those at mid-ship. You should be aware that, at least on deck 10 where our cabin was located, not all of the decks allow access to both elevator banks from the staterooms. Thus, whenever we were going to or from our stateroom, we were limited to only the mid-ship elevators. I would consider this a minor inconvenience at worst and definitely not such a problem that I would not consider a future cruise on the Bliss. Read more