We were on the Dec 8-15, 2018 Bliss Sailing from Miami for an Eastern Caribbean Cruise, it was myself & my adult son. For both of us, this was only our 2nd cruise ever, the first being on the Disney Dream in Dec 2015. The Dream was a great cruise, the the Bliss was OVER the top !!! LOVED it !!!!
To start off with, we were in Stateroom 8134, which was a mini suite with Large balcony. We LOVED this stateroom, the location was perfect, the room was huge, & the balcony was great for sitting on each morning & soaking in the beautiful ports. We also both added on a Thermal Suite Pass before sailing (did it online) & that was a huge plus for this cruise. We would book this room again in a heartbeat, but we have decided to book a spa mini suite for our Dec 12, 2020 sailing instead on the Encore because we do not want to risk them selling out the Thermal Spa passes, because for us, that was the highlight (of many) of this cruise !!
The embarkation process was seamless, we were told to arrive no earlier than 11:00 & time given was 12:00, we got there about 11:10 & we were on the ship within 15 mins.. VERY quick !!!! We did not use a credit card, we put down $800 cash at guest services as soon as we got on the ship & I had $140 left on the night before, which was returned to us at guest services. You can monitor your balance on the NCL App (which was GREAT) & also on your stateroom TV... I booked this trip myself, all thru the NCL App & online, & I have to say it was SO EASY to use before the trip to book our excursions, make payments to pay off the trip, book dining reservations, watch down countdown ticker, get directions to the port (from the app), & EVERYTHING !!! I highly recommend the NCL app & their website, I think it is much user friendly than some other cruise lines in booking & everything.. I checked out other websites for our next cruise & kept coming back to NCL for the food, service, ease of booking, & of course, the Thermal Spa !!!
Cabin 8134- mini suite with large balcony on deck 8.. GREAT location near Garden Cafe, the Waterfront, & the huge balcony was great to enjoy on mornings in ports. It is a bit too windy to enjoy at full sailing times, but the room was huge, the bathroom great with double sinks, huge shower, & there was plenty of space in the closet & drawers, we had plenty of space for two adults. We have booked a spa mini suite (with small balcony) for our next cruise, but just because we do not want to miss the spa passes selling out before sailing. Even though the thermal suite was at the rear of the ship & this room is at the front of the ship, we did not feel it was too long of a walk.