Norwegian Bliss Live Blog – Day 2

Today, we are back with more from our second day onboard the new Norwegian Bliss Inaugural Cruise where we put the ship’s signature features and venues to the test. If you haven’t already, follow along with our adventures here and on all social media as we recount our three days on this innovative new ship.

Need to catch up? Check out yesterday’s post from our first day of the cruise.

Or, you can jump ahead to the final day of this inaugural voyage with our stop in Victoria, British Columbia.

Norwegian Bliss Live Blog

Day 2

Our first day on the ship was a non-stop whirl wind, and Day 2 was set to be even more action-packed. Our group of social media influencers was scheduled to meet for breakfast at 9 am in the Local Bar and Grill. Knowing we had to get plenty accomplished during the day, we set the alarm for 6:30 am.

As the Princess got ready, I spent about an hour roaming the ship taking pictures. Sundeck, pool deck, indoors and outdoors, I left no part of the vessel uncaptured. It’s a good thing most cruisers were either asleep or elsewhere because I was able to get some good shots of the popular public venues. In between the stops, I collected several bottles of water for the room as the previous “late night” had left us both a bit parched.

I finally descended to Deck 6 to get Starbucks around 8 am. Now I knew where everyone was on the ship! Getting into the long queue, it felt like I was at our regular Starbucks back on land. Luckily, the staff at the restaurant was fast and efficient.

Meeting our partners at the Local Bar and Grill in a small private area, breakfast was rather quick, with the food being on par with the typical menu from O’Sheehan’s on other Norwegian Cruise Line ships.

Finishing up by 9:45 am, we had a few minutes to grab our things and meet at the race track for 10 am. Our entire party was over 20 people, which meant we had to go in two groups. Currently, only ten racers are allowed on the track at one time. Making a game-day decision, the Princess and I decided to race separately so that we could snap photos of each other on the track. Of course, I got “volunteered” to go first.

Watching the instructional video and gearing up for the race took longer than anticipated. These are some serious go karts, reaching speeds of 30MPH. The whole experience took about 30 minutes per race. It was a lot of fun and something we will definitely do again when we are on the ship at the end of the summer. The going rate will be $9.95 for 8 laps around the track.

Switching spots, I got to take pictures of the Princess zooming along the track. We don’t need to discuss who had the faster time or better overall ranking. You know I would never try to compete with the speed demon.

As a special treat, we got to meet Anthony Vega, a celebrity custom car designer who designed two special go-karts for this track. He gave us a demonstration of how to really race these go-karts with a closed track and tore it up with his fast-paced, precision driving.

It was already after 11 am, and we were late for the next scheduled event, laser tag. Most of the influencers were willing to try it out, so we were divided into two teams. Tip: Pay attention to the directions for the laser tag as it is a bit confusing. There are several different shooting modes, shield protection, and different strategies other than just point and shoot.

The entire match is a few minutes long, and the whole experience is a lot of fun. Again, we would highly recommend this experience. The current up-charge of $5 includes two games. Again, I do not need to document which Blue team member had the second highest score. No one wants to read about that anyway!

From laser tag, it was onto lunch at the new Q Texas Smokehouse. This lunch would be the only chance we would have to test out the venue. Good thing the social media director was willing to wait in line to reserve us a bunch of tables while we were playing laser tag.

Even though it was lunch, we ordered some starters, entrees, and desserts. Hey, it was in the name of research! Of the food we sampled so far on the cruise, the Southern-influenced BBQ dishes at Q rank as our favorites.

The beef ribs were so tender and smoky, and even more mouthwatering when I topped them off with just a hint of the Carolina barbecue sauce on the table. The Princess’ smoked turkey was equally pleasing, as were the pecan pie and the banana pudding for dessert.

Back to the room for around 1:30 pm, we had just enough time to do some social media and blogging. Next up for the day was the ship tour at 2:30 pm. Even though we had already taken some self-guided tours, getting some of the behind the scenes information during this tour gave us a bit more insight into this ship. The more we got to experience NCL Bliss, the more we were falling in love with the ship. We are very grateful that we will be sailing on the ship for a full week later this summer as there is only so much you can get done in 3 days.

The tour ended around 4:00 pm with us getting a guided tour of the main public areas and the Haven. While it is true that Pitbull was onboard this sailing, we did not have the opportunity to hear his speech.

Back in the room, the Princess was working on social media and the blog while I got us some coffees and pictures of additional venues, including the two main dining rooms. Not wanting to be late to dinner, I hopped in the shower and were out the door to Teppanyaki for just about 6 pm. As usual, the food and the lively culinary entertainment was excellent.

This specialty restaurant is one of the venues we regularly enjoy on an NCL cruise and will be returning with our friends when we cruise on this ship in August. Given Teppanyaki’s limited choices for desserts, we all decided to pass on this course at the restaurant as there were more attractive options nearby.

On top of the Princess’ list was getting dessert at Coco’s, the new for-fee ice cream and milkshake shop onboard Norwegian Bliss. We both tried one of the ice cream treats which were quite tasty.

Finishing our dessert by 8 pm, we found time to squeeze in a mojito at the Sugarcane Mojito bar. There was no way that we were going to go the whole cruise without the Princess getting her favorite Raspberry Guava Mojito.

By 9:30 pm, we said goodbye to the group gathered at the bar to get seats at the theater for our scheduled showing of Jersey Boys. Surprisingly, the theater was not as crowded as we expected upon arrival but did fill in closer to showtime.

The full production of the Broadway show Jersey Boys tells the story of the formation of the Four Seasons from the individual perspectives of each member of the original band. For the most part, the nearly 2 hour production was entertaining though the beginning did feel a little rushed to set the stage.

By the time we exited the show and were at the Atrium, it was about 11:45pm. Headlining the venue was Siglo, the rock band that was one of the best musical acts on the NCL Epic cruise we took a few months back. To our surprise, the venue was virtually empty. So, we each grabbed a drink and listened to a couple of songs. When the band took a break around midnight, that was our cue to exit.

Back to the room, we did some blogging and social media before bed. To our dismay, there was not a new towel animal to greet us in our room. The same furry friend from the night before still occupied the foot of our bed.

Comments

Do you have a cruise booked on Norwegian Bliss? What do you look forward to trying on this new ship? Drop us an anchor below to share your thoughts on NCL’s latest vessel.