I recently had the chance to board NCL’s brand new flagship the Norwegian Bliss and I took the opportunity to photograph the ship for a comprehensive tour. This review will cover the public areas and staterooms.
I had commented on twitter that the ship even smells brand new. The interiors were absolutely stunning. The Bliss just started sailing this year in April.
The ship is technically in the Breakaway Plus-class of vessels but more closely resembles her older sister Norwegian Joy. She’s 168,028gt and has an LOA of 1,094ft. At double occupancy she carries just over 4,000 pax.
Let’s start the tour with our noted obligatory photos:
Obligatory hallway photo
Obligatory carpet photo
Obligatory stairwell photo
The bottom-most deck normally accessed by the public contains inside and outside cabins in the front. Running down the middle is a long corridor between both stairwells. Off of this hallway is the children’s areas.
Deck 6 is where the public areas start. At the very front is the Bliss Theater. It’s really only accessible from the deck above as it’s just one story and you enter from the top-down.
Behind that is the Q Texas Smokehouse. This is the lines first BBQ place.
Behind that is a small passageway on the starboard that contains meeting rooms, the card room/library, and a photo studio.
Those open up to the main atrium. This is where the guest services desks are.
As the ship is built for the west coast, and homeported in Seattle, it’s only fitting that there be a full service Starbucks there.
As you exit the forward atrium, you emerge to the larger midships atrium.
Off the main atrium are several venues.
After you exit the atrium, there’s a narrow passageway aft that the is surrounded by the art gallery.
Then you emerge at the aft stairwell. Around that area is the MIXX bar and off of that are two complementary restaurants, Taste and Savor.
Deck 7 starts with the main entrance to the Bliss theater at the bow. As you exit the theater, you are at the Box Office where you can book tickets to the main shows, such as Jersey Boys.
As you exit the theater, you’re at the top floor of the forward atrium. Around that is the Local Bar & Grill. This replaces O’Sheehans on the former Breakaway ships (as Kevin Sheehan is no longer with the company).
Exiting the Atrium, you are at the very large Bliss Casino. Her identical sister, Norwegian Joy, is designed for the Chinese market. As a result, the Joy has a very large casino. They’ve decided to use that layout for the Bliss.
Towards the back of the casino is the Skyline bar
At the very back of the deck is the Manhattan room. One of the striking rooms onboard these class of ships.
The forward part of deck 8 is balcony cabins and inside cabins. About a quarter of the way back, the Waterfront outside promenade starts. It’s directly above the lifeboats and sticks out from the side of the ship. This creates an outdoor promenade where you can walk down the side, around the stern, and back up the opposite side.
Right after the cabins, the public areas start. On the port side, there’s the District Brewhouse.
On the starboard side is the Food Republic which serves what’s described as a global fusion cuisine.
Walking past those and through the forward elevator bank there’s a grouping of several bars and restaurants.
Back inside, opposite the Cavern Club is the Maltings whiskey bar
Heading aft you’re at the top floor of the midships atrium. Surrounding it are the Mojito bar and the Ocean Blue seafood restaurant.
Back indoors, walking aft, there’s the Tradewinds duty free shops.
At the back of the deck are some food venues. Towards the corder on the starboard side is the bake shop and gelato shop.
At the back of the deck are two restaurants with a bar in between.
A really neat area I stumbled upon is outside at the very back of deck 08. There’s this neat outdoor platform with a glass floor.
