Bliss Cruise 2015 Review

[GuyInMD79 1,500]

The inaugural sailing of the Bliss Cruise took place over November 29 - December 6, 2015. We thought it would be helpful to jot down our impressions from this vacation. Just so you know where we're coming from, experience-wise, this was our first lifestyle cruise vacation, though we have been to lifestyle resorts before. The last cruise we took was a Disney Cruise 18 years ago!

 

In a word, the Bliss Cruise was fantastic!

 

The Mrs. and I had a great time on the cruise. We met lots of fun, interesting, friendly people. And we played A LOT. This aspect of the cruise was the main reason we chose a swinger cruise over a trip to Desire for this vacation. We were looking for a more active play environment, and we certainly found it here! We played every day, and multiple rounds on most days. Between that and the late nights of partying, I (Mr. CoupleInMD) actually had to decline a couple of after-dinner play opportunities on the last two days, due to simple exhaustion. This is not like me! But it's an indicator of how busy we were. We left the ship very satisfied, exhausted, and happy, with several potential continuing friendships made, and plans to get together down the road!

 

This was billed as a partially clothing-optional cruise, and the outdoor decks were in fact clothing optional. Everyone had to cover up whenever they were in an interior portion of the ship, which made it impossible to just leave your clothes in your cabin and head out. This proved to be a little inconvenient, and meant that one had to plan ahead for being naked out on deck. Consequently, there were many people who chose to just keep their clothes on, which spoils the effect somewhat! For our part, we were happy to be naked on deck on several occasions, but did not make it a daily thing. Honestly, we didn't spend all that much time just hanging out on deck!

 

Another thing we didn't take full advantage of was the availability of playrooms. We used the main playroom once, and it was fine- though we heard that they ran low on condoms later in the week (big mistake!). There was a special playroom set aside for exclusive use by the elite-class cabin holders, of which we were not. I have to say that I reject the whole premise of an elite-class playroom-- once we're naked, we should all be equal! We intended on one occasion to use a 24-hour play area topside near the bow of the ship, but there were frankly a lot of non-playing people lurking around there and creating a bit of a creepy feeling for my play partner of the moment (I wouldn't have minded putting on a show, but she was not quite in the mood for that!). Also, that area of the ship is very breezy, and a little chilly on some days. No matter- we had plenty of sexy fun in people's cabins!

 

Although we were there mainly to meet the other people onboard, we also generally enjoyed the shore excursions. We did not go ashore in Casa de Campo (reports from others were that the town was not interesting enough to have been worth the trip to visit), but did go ashore at Samana for a horseback ride/hike to a secluded waterfall. The horses were not well tended to, and the trail was terribly muddy and rocky, but the waterfall was a spectacular destination.

 

At Labadee, we enjoyed kayaking and naked snorkeling, as well as a lunch ashore in the artificial "Haiti World" that the cruise lines have created there. The sense there was that we were in a constructed bubble, a Green Zone of comfort and safety, rather than in the real Haiti. And we got a small dose of what the real Haiti might have been like for us when we landed at a small spit of beach outside Haiti World during the kayaking excursion. The vendors who had their wares spread out on blankets on the beach were very aggressive, descending on us even before the kayaks hit the sand, guiding us to each of their "shops", picking up items and putting them in our hands, putting the items in a bag for us, and arguing amongst themselves over who got to shadow us and harangue us about the stuff on their blanket. All that said, the souvenirs were charming, if cookie-cutter, examples of local crafts. We felt a little guilty haggling on the prices, knowing that the outrageous prices they were initially offering were enough to provide a month's income to the average Haitian.

 

We are not experienced enough at cruising to comment expertly on the quality of the total experience compared to other cruises. We were a little disappointed at the fact that our expensive drink package did not include some non-alcoholic drinks that we prefer, but adjusted without giving it much thought. We occasionally struggled with the logistics of meeting up with particular people on a large and busy ship, but we figured that out pretty well. All in all, it was a busy, sexy, fun, deliciously-exhausting trip! And it was one we will repeat! We booked next year's cruise while we were onboard.

 

I hope that gives you a flavor of our experience. Come join us next year!

[edoycaro 28]

Thanks for your review! We are having our first LS cruise next April and we can't wait to be on board. Can you tell us more about your problems to meet people and how did you solve it?

Did the cruise have theme nights?

 

E & C

[kikonkrome 844]

yeah that was hot!!!

[GuyInMD79 1,500]

Thanks for your review! We are having our first LS cruise next april and we can't wait to be on board. Can you tell us more about your problems to meet people and how did you solve it?

That's a great question, and something that is important to figure out if you want to maximize your "social fun".

 

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, where the cruise sailed from, a couple of days early. This was partly in order to attend a series of pre-cruise talks given by people associated with the cruise. One of these talks was given by Jeff James, former porn star and current sex counselor (and body painter!). Some of what I'm going to mention is swiped from a talk he gave before the cruise.

 

Despite everything I said about having all those sexy swingers on board, many of them prancing around naked, it is still possible to go through the entire cruise without getting to know anybody, without playing with anybody. It takes a little bit of boldness to put yourself out there, and say hello to a complete stranger, but if you don't do it, you don't get very far in getting to know those sexy swingers!

 

An important skill to learn in a situation like the swinger cruise is the ability (and willingness) to introduce yourself to strangers. It's a bit outside of many people's comfort zones, but it's the way every social (and sexual) interaction has to start. So, be bold, wear a smile, be outgoing, and say hello! The rest will take care of itself! The Mrs. and I made a point of taking Jeff's advice and putting ourselves out there, looking for opportunities to talk to new people, introducing ourselves to people near us in the restaurant, and striking up conversations. We started off doing that even before we boarded the ship, as we struck up conversations with our neighbors in the long zig-zag line of people waiting to board. We ended up playing with several of the people we talked to in the line!

 

We also gave ourselves a big head start on meeting people by making many contacts in the weeks and months before the cruise. We found many fellow cruisers on SLS, where there was a page for people to indicate which cabin on the ship they were staying in, and find people by cabin number. We also joined a secret group on Facebook for people attending the Bliss cruise, "pre-meeting" and chatting with many friendly, attractive, interesting people who would be on the cruise. And although there is definitely a difference between chatting with somebody over Facebook and developing chemistry in person, the pre-meeting and online chats definitely helped to break the ice once we were face to face!

 

From the people we "pre-met" through SLS and Facebook, I developed a list of people that we would set out to meet in person. And between the friends we had on our list, and the "friends of friends" that some of them introduced us to, we stayed busy the whole week! In fact, there were a few people on our list that we regrettably did not get to spend much time with- but we will hopefully have next year to remedy that!

 

Now, I don't want to paint an overly-rosy picture from all this pre-meeting and Facebook chatting. There were some people on our list who we didn't click with once we met in person. That's to be expected- some people just don't mesh. But in those cases, we simply wished each other well, and moved on. We met so many fun people that we were not left wanting for company.

 

Did the cruise have theme nights?

They sure did! Let's see if I can recall the themes...

 

*Toga night (we missed that one- busy with friends)

*Roaring 20's/ Formal night (the Mrs. had a great flapper dress, and I wore a kilt with formal jacket and waistcoat, and per the plan, I got a good-looking woman to check for herself what a Scotsman wears under hid kilt!)

*Wild West night (we missed that one- busy with friends)

*Glow Party night (Mrs. in a hot pink dress with lots of slits and cutouts, me in fluorescent green tiny briefs, and both adorned with lots of glow sticks)

*Anti-formal and Anything But Clothes night (basically skipped this one, though I made a brief appearance in an electrical tape thong)

*Fetish Friday (Mrs. in a sexy leather corset, me in leather pants, with many accessories such as crops and a whip)

*Holiday Tease party (we both wore sexy Santa outfits, and later I changed my bottom to a skimpy long-nosed reindeer with a light-up nose)

[Ebonylehigh 254]

This was a wonderful review and just want to say that this is such a great couple. Although our cruise experience was the stuff of nightmares (hubby had medical issue that resulted in being airlifted off the ship early the second morning. I then had to wait 2 days until port to get off and fly to the Bahamas to get to him!)

While I was still on the ship they made sure to come and check on me and we both really appreciated that. A terrifying experience was made manageable by the amazing lifestyle friends we have made. We have lived in our area for 6 years and had not made a single friend, two years in the lifestyle we have a slew of friends, some play partners and some not. Such an amazing community of thoughtful and caring people.

 

But back to the cruise, we are due for a do-over!!

[D&K 23]

Ebonylehigh,

 

We were also on the cruise and saw the helicopter evacuation. Glad to hear all is well.

 

Best of luck on that do-over

 

D&K

[njbm 2,868]

So sorry to hear of this frightening event happening to our friends! Hope Mr. Ebonylehigh is back to 100 percent. Please accept our best wishes.

 

Many years ago, we were at a toga party. My wife passed out from heat exhaustion and she was not waking up. As they put her in the ambulance, a doctor took her pulse and told me he didn't think she was going to make it. A few minutes later, she popped up in the back of the ambulance and waved hello! The whole experience was just so scary.

[sunbuckus 3,567]

Eboneylehigh, what a scary ordeal for both of you to go through. I do hope your husband is in better condition now and that your next cruise will be a happy and healthy one!

[Fundamental Law 2,885]

Ebonylehigh--glad to hear that the medical issue was resolved. Your story should remind travelers to (1) understand how a tour operator handles the broad spectrum of emergencies that can pop up and (2) consider purchasing trip insurance as a hedge against the evacuation and medical costs as well as the 'lost vacation'.

 

njbm--your story was just as scary for different reasons--no one should be making pronouncements about 'not going to make it' without much more information. Certainly fainting from exhaustion and passing out from heat are fairly common and ordinarily reversible. While there are surely other severe things that can cause people to pass out, fainting is pretty common especially when heat and perhaps alcohol are involved. Glad to hear all worked out well.

[kikonkrome 844]

Wow sorry to hear about your husband EbonyLehigh...wish you guys the best!!

[Ebonylehigh 254]

Yes fundamental law we are the poster kids for travel insurance, it was a literal lifesaver!

 

Oh man Njbm, I know that was so scary, not being able to do anything for your spouse in distress is the most helpless feeling.

[lnw 145]

Ebonylehigh - we were on the cruise and saw the evac take place. We can only imagine what you went through until you were able to be by his side once again. We were happy to hear the announcement by the Captain on the last day that the gentleman airlifted earlier was doing just fine.

 

On the question earlier about meeting people and how to manage it. Good input given already but I would add the following based on the 5 LS cruises we have been on. We also work SLS for couples going on the cruise and seeing if there might be a reason to reach out to meet. Some couples like to "go with the flow" but we are not ones to leave things to chance either. We have found the best thing to do is to get cabin numbers of those you would like to meet PRIOR to boarding the ship. Once the ship leaves port, you will not have cell nor data service and would not be able to txt "where are you?". Some have mentioned on ship wifi and some other tech options but the feedback we have heard so far that it was marginal at best as way to get in touch.

 

Without a cabin number, imagine going into a village of 2,800 people to meet someone you only met on line but don't have their address or phone number. How in the world are you going to find them other than a chance of running into them someplace on the ship. So exchange cabin numbers with couples that you plan to meet before leaving port.

 

And finally, get business size cards made with your first names, profile names, and picture of both of you. Some include cabin numbers or email address. We choose not to add the cabin number but write it on the back so we can use the cards for future trips. But these cards are very handy to hand out to those you want to meet later or stay in touch with.

 

Looking forward to April Divina and November Bliss for this year!

[GuyInMD79 1,500]

lnw, thanks for adding those insights! You're right- the SLS widget for finding cabin numbers was valuable! And you're also spot on about the lack of cell or data service onboard the ship. Honestly, the best ways of getting in touch and coordinating were 1) voicemail in the cabins, and 2) the little whiteboards people put on their cabin doors.

 

I'm laughing a little about the cards. I actually think it's a great idea to have cards, with exactly the information you talked about on them! We had a pile of them printed up- and when we were at the airport waiting for our flight, I remembers that we had forgotten to pack them!! So I spent some time on the flight kicking myself for that mistake, but we managed all right with the post-its we'd brought in lieu of cards.

 

lnw, I'm sorry we never met onboard. But we have another chance- we'll be on the 2016 Bliss Cruise! In the meantime, have fun on the MSC Divina, and feel free to write up a review here afterwards!

[edoycaro 28]

Hi Ebonylehigh,

 

I just thought a lot about you!. We were on the Divina couples Cruise last week and had to disembark on the third night because Caro had a severe bleeding and the doctors were unabled to stopped it. We spent all the week inside a Puerto Rico hotel until she was ok to travel again to Miami by plane.

 

We were abled to get off the ship together, I guess that way is so much easy that what you experienced, even that, it was still some difficult hours.

 

We hope you're doing great and maybe we can meet on a future cruise!,

 

Edo y Caro

 

We hope you

[wanderer_1969 27]

Sounds amazing. appreciate all the detail gives us a real understanding of what to expect. We traveled to labadee last year on a cruise and know exactly what you're talking about. hope to see you there too

[GuyInMD79 1,500]

Thank you, wanderer! Are you coming on the 2016 Bliss Cruise? We'll be in Cabin 7135!

[wanderer_1969 27]

Will definitely try CoupleinMD....just came back for Hawaii this Summer do working on the budget...but hope you get lots of memories..and a few pics..lol

[GuyInMD79 1,500]

We have every intention of having a great time! We were just talking today about how we need some more recent pictures. The Mrs. has lost some weight since our current profil pictures were taken, and we need some "action shots" in our portfolio!

[wanderer_1969 27]

There you go CoupleinMD. I know when my wife had her "Mommy Makeover" she was more than willing to share the new and improved her with pics and "action shots" love that confidence