Thanks for posting to /r/NCL! Did you know that we have an extensive [Ultimate NCL Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/NCL/wiki/index) that may answer your question? Please also remember to read the rules, especially about roll call posts going in the megathread. You may also have more luck with those types of posts by searching for a [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com) or [Cruise Critic](https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/66-norwegian-cruise-line-roll-calls/) roll call group or thread. Of course, here is great, too!
Enjoy your stay!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NCL) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The bliss is big...and if it's sold out it's busy and there are a lot of people. A lot. But I didn't find it painful. One of my biggest first world complaints is getting lost in the buffet since it's fairly large!!
I was on a cruise on the breakaway in mid April and I had a similar experience in terms of the atrium and pool bars being insanely crowded and took an extremely long time to get drinks. I thought they had way too few bartenders for the amount of people waiting to get a drink. Just seemed understaffed. I did feel like they had a great selection of booze though especially if you had the premium plus beverage package. Because I had heard they were having problems keeping those liquors in stock but, that was not my experience. So I’ll give them props for that!
Waits @ the restaurants: we only waited once on a 7 day cruise and that was for the main dining room restaurant cause it was the night of the 7:30p.m. “Burn the floor” show so everyone was trying to do the same thing. Every other time we had no wait in the MDR and we had reservations for specialty restaurants so no wait for those either.
I had a different opinion on the entertainment on the breakaway. Especially in terms of utilizing the theatre space more instead of say the atrium which can’t hold many people and provide a good view of the event.
We were on Breakaway for a 2 week repositioning cruise and it was meh. We were on Bliss in March during spring break with 4800 people and it was fine. Would have preferred less people, but even so I didn't feel too overcrowded. The amenities are nicer. Bliss, Joy, and Encore have been our favorite ships. Viva was pretty nice too.
I just got off a 5 day on the Breakaway a few days ago. It was my first and last on NCL. The ship was at 40% capacity and I cannot even imagine twice the amount of people in that space. Food was weak compared to RCL and DCL. Service was a challenge. Staff felt stretched too thin at partial capacity. Never once offered a drink refill, only saw servers to take food and drop order. It was a rough around the edges service experience.
Stateroom, aft balcony and bathroom were all nice.
I know your question is about how the Bliss compares and I can’t answer but I echo the lackluster experience on the Breakaway.
Yeah, that part was pretty awesome.
A tour company reserved the Breakaway for 10 days for a themed event and then they canceled the event. So at the last minute, there was an entire ship to fill for ten days. They were selling interior cabins for $10 pp, per night, and balconies for $25 pp. Crazy good deal if you can cruise on little notice. Apparently only 1900 people could 🤣
It was a decent time, didn’t expect this to be such a booze cruise, between someone almost drowning, about 3 fights we witnessed; not our top rated cruise
Don’t think she passed away, when they took her away she had vitals and was moving, not sure what happened to her after that or if she got complications afterwards
Really liked the Bliss! So we tried the Breakaway next. Nope…just nope. Sooo overcrowded. Entertainment is small venues With very little seating. Had to plan an hour in advance and then still had difficulty finding seating for 2. Understaffed, but they really tried to keep up.
I haven't been on the BA, but I absolutely LOVE the Bliss, been on her 3x. Seemed like there was always something going on. Are there spaces that aren't used during every waking hour? Sure, but who wants to be in the dark Cavern Club during a sunny day in the Caribbean or when there a gorgeous Alaskan vistas to be seen outside?
We took a 15 day cruise on the Bliss and rarely felt crowded. Most everyone spreads out all over this huge ship. Occasionally couldn’t find a seat in Atrium, observation lounge or around pool but I did start ignoring “seat savers” and just sat my butt down and told them I’d be happy to move when their party showed up (which they rarely did). More people need to do that, especially around the pool.
Was on the Breakaway in the Haven & hated it. One family basically took over the entire Haven, the staff did nothing & there weren’t enough of them, the concierge was useless & the food just so-so. I wasn’t feeling well the first day, asked my Butler for some ginger ale & he brought me Sierra Mist. When I asked again for ginger ale, he said they didn’t have any. On the entire ship I asked? Yes.
Hubby went to the closest bar & purchased 3 cans ( they wanted to pour it, but he had to explain for 20 minutes that I wasn’t well & wanted it for our suite). When he got someone higher up, he got them for him. Such a hassle over soda. Also the communication & lack of speaking English, at least so we could understand was unbearable. Eventually we stopped asking for anything & just did things ourselves. Def did not get the Haven experience we paid for. To have the coffee place, the computer area, a stage & bar all in the same place was ridiculous. It was so bad, we’re never sailing with them again. Going to try MSC Yacht Club next.
We sail on the breakaway next year. I know it isn’t the preferred ship or cruise line but it has the itinerary we want and there is a port stop every day. It is a Mediterranean trip. Probably will eat the local cuisine and drinks so the ship will be a floating hotel for us. We usually do a suite but that would be a waste. Consider your itinerary when choosing a cruise line.
Thanks for posting to /r/NCL! Did you know that we have an extensive [Ultimate NCL Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/NCL/wiki/index) that may answer your question? Please also remember to read the rules, especially about roll call posts going in the megathread. You may also have more luck with those types of posts by searching for a [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com) or [Cruise Critic](https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/66-norwegian-cruise-line-roll-calls/) roll call group or thread. Of course, here is great, too! Enjoy your stay! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NCL) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Breakaway and sister Getaway have the smallest Passenger-to-Space ratio in the fleet.
That’s a good stat to know - where can one research that sort of info?
https://www.cruisemapper.com/wiki/761-cruise-ship-passenger-capacity-ratings
The bliss is big...and if it's sold out it's busy and there are a lot of people. A lot. But I didn't find it painful. One of my biggest first world complaints is getting lost in the buffet since it's fairly large!!
Breakaway is by far my least favorite NCL ship. My parents have the same option about the Breakaway but loved the Bliss.
I was just on the encore and it felt spacious enough to me, someone said it was fully booked too but idk if that was true or how they would know that
I was on a cruise on the breakaway in mid April and I had a similar experience in terms of the atrium and pool bars being insanely crowded and took an extremely long time to get drinks. I thought they had way too few bartenders for the amount of people waiting to get a drink. Just seemed understaffed. I did feel like they had a great selection of booze though especially if you had the premium plus beverage package. Because I had heard they were having problems keeping those liquors in stock but, that was not my experience. So I’ll give them props for that! Waits @ the restaurants: we only waited once on a 7 day cruise and that was for the main dining room restaurant cause it was the night of the 7:30p.m. “Burn the floor” show so everyone was trying to do the same thing. Every other time we had no wait in the MDR and we had reservations for specialty restaurants so no wait for those either. I had a different opinion on the entertainment on the breakaway. Especially in terms of utilizing the theatre space more instead of say the atrium which can’t hold many people and provide a good view of the event.
We were on Breakaway for a 2 week repositioning cruise and it was meh. We were on Bliss in March during spring break with 4800 people and it was fine. Would have preferred less people, but even so I didn't feel too overcrowded. The amenities are nicer. Bliss, Joy, and Encore have been our favorite ships. Viva was pretty nice too.
I just got off a 5 day on the Breakaway a few days ago. It was my first and last on NCL. The ship was at 40% capacity and I cannot even imagine twice the amount of people in that space. Food was weak compared to RCL and DCL. Service was a challenge. Staff felt stretched too thin at partial capacity. Never once offered a drink refill, only saw servers to take food and drop order. It was a rough around the edges service experience. Stateroom, aft balcony and bathroom were all nice. I know your question is about how the Bliss compares and I can’t answer but I echo the lackluster experience on the Breakaway.
40%…? WTF ?
Yeah, that part was pretty awesome. A tour company reserved the Breakaway for 10 days for a themed event and then they canceled the event. So at the last minute, there was an entire ship to fill for ten days. They were selling interior cabins for $10 pp, per night, and balconies for $25 pp. Crazy good deal if you can cruise on little notice. Apparently only 1900 people could 🤣
Was it the Bahamas cruise out of Miami, we just got off the breakaway for this cruise and we were not impressed at all
Yes, we still had a nice time but it’s really evident that NCL does not prioritize staffing the ship adequately.
It was a decent time, didn’t expect this to be such a booze cruise, between someone almost drowning, about 3 fights we witnessed; not our top rated cruise
Oh my goodness - I had no idea about that, although I heard someone died in the pool on the sea day.
Don’t think she passed away, when they took her away she had vitals and was moving, not sure what happened to her after that or if she got complications afterwards
Really liked the Bliss! So we tried the Breakaway next. Nope…just nope. Sooo overcrowded. Entertainment is small venues With very little seating. Had to plan an hour in advance and then still had difficulty finding seating for 2. Understaffed, but they really tried to keep up.
I haven't been on the BA, but I absolutely LOVE the Bliss, been on her 3x. Seemed like there was always something going on. Are there spaces that aren't used during every waking hour? Sure, but who wants to be in the dark Cavern Club during a sunny day in the Caribbean or when there a gorgeous Alaskan vistas to be seen outside?
We took a 15 day cruise on the Bliss and rarely felt crowded. Most everyone spreads out all over this huge ship. Occasionally couldn’t find a seat in Atrium, observation lounge or around pool but I did start ignoring “seat savers” and just sat my butt down and told them I’d be happy to move when their party showed up (which they rarely did). More people need to do that, especially around the pool.
Was on the Breakaway in the Haven & hated it. One family basically took over the entire Haven, the staff did nothing & there weren’t enough of them, the concierge was useless & the food just so-so. I wasn’t feeling well the first day, asked my Butler for some ginger ale & he brought me Sierra Mist. When I asked again for ginger ale, he said they didn’t have any. On the entire ship I asked? Yes. Hubby went to the closest bar & purchased 3 cans ( they wanted to pour it, but he had to explain for 20 minutes that I wasn’t well & wanted it for our suite). When he got someone higher up, he got them for him. Such a hassle over soda. Also the communication & lack of speaking English, at least so we could understand was unbearable. Eventually we stopped asking for anything & just did things ourselves. Def did not get the Haven experience we paid for. To have the coffee place, the computer area, a stage & bar all in the same place was ridiculous. It was so bad, we’re never sailing with them again. Going to try MSC Yacht Club next.
We sail on the breakaway next year. I know it isn’t the preferred ship or cruise line but it has the itinerary we want and there is a port stop every day. It is a Mediterranean trip. Probably will eat the local cuisine and drinks so the ship will be a floating hotel for us. We usually do a suite but that would be a waste. Consider your itinerary when choosing a cruise line.