We recently had an opportunity to go on Norwegian’s brand new ship the Bliss.  There is so much I could write about this ship, but to keep it manageable and readable, I’m going to break this into 2 posts.  The first post I’m going to talk about Food and Entertainment (shows).  The second Post we will review things to do on-board and accommodations.  Let me throw one disclaimer out there.  This was an Inaugural cruise where they actually christened the ship.  So, we were kinda a big deal.  Not really us, but more the Norwegian Execs, press and all the other travel agents on-board.  So keep that in mind, everyone was really putting their best foot forward to impress.  It definitely worked.

Let’s talk food.  Our first meal was at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.  Now, I’m a huge Buffet fan but, this was the one exception on-board.  The food was mediocre and the service was very slow.  Heaven help you if you need a refill, but not to worry, the drinks are so sugary I doubt there was room for alcohol.  We actually gave them another shot  a day later, but no improvement.  Ok, now that we got that out of the way.  The rest of the food was great.

Let’s start at the Garden Café buffet.  The food on a daily basis was really good with enough options to please everyone.  The seafood buffet was amazing.  Unlimited King Crab legs, shrimp, lobster, you name it they had it.  They even had cool carved ice sculptures.  Fun story, the first day we went in the afternoon for a snack and sat towards the back which is open to the observation deck.  There was a band playing “Wild Thing” and I said to Carrie, that sounds just like Tone Loc.  They are really spot on.  Next thing I know they are like “Thank you Tone Loc”, yep it was him.  Special guest so don’t get too excited.  He will probably not be on your cruise, same as Gloria Gaynor, Train, Pit Bull, and Smashmouth likely will not be making appearances.   Pit Bull gave a motivational speech.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Apparently he was supposed to perform the first night but had a little too much fun so decided to give a motivational lecture, and I have to give credit where credit is do, was fantastic.  Like I said, this was pretty crazy.

We also ate at the Savor Main dining room.  It was very good.  We had apps from Los Lobos the Mexican option, great.  If you are a whiskey fan, check out Maltings Whiskey Bar.  A lot of options there, but you will have to pay a little extra for them.  There are a lot more specialty dining options on board which we will look forward to checking out on our next voyage on the Bliss but did not get to on this one.  Only so much time.

The Entertainment on board, is AMAZING.  The cast of Jersey Boys was great.  The Havana show was pretty good, but could have been better.  There is a Beatles cover band that was spot on.  They play the Cavern Club and it was absolutely packed for each show.  They do an “Early Beatles” show and a “Late Beatles” show where they highlight songs from both eras of their career.  You absolutely need to check this out.  There are other acts on-board that are really good.

The Social has nightly silent discos.  If you have never been to a silent disco, it is definitely something you need to experience to get the full appreciation.  You are given headphones when you walk in, there is no loud music blaring, in fact, without the headphones on, all you can hear are the squeaking of shoes, and people singing, which is plenty entertaining in and of itself because they are often singing different songs.  That is one of the great parts of this is that you can go dance and pick your own music.  There are multiple channels playing different songs.  So if you like to groove to rock, pick that station.  See someone doing the “YMCA” push a button and join in.

At night Q the Texas BBQ restaurant clears space for a dance floor and has a great house country band.  They also have what I call “plants” or people from the cruise line that encourage people to dance.  They are out there leading line dances and generally having a good time.  Our new friends the Nile’s taught us how to 2 step (thank you Kevin and Sarah).  Lot’s of fun!

There is so much to do on the ship we barely scratched the surface, even though we barely slept.  For more pictures of the Bliss check out one of our albums on Facebook.

Bliss Day 1
Bliss Day 2
Bliss Day 3