glenviewky Cruise Review on Norwegian Bliss on Sep 15, 2018

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 24

Review summary

We sailed on the Bliss from September 15-22. Having been on the Escape in the Haven in January, we were hooked on having both a larger ship for food, bar, spa, and entertainment options while wanting the feel and higher touch service of a smaller ship. The Itinerary: We did the northern route — Ketchikan, glaciers (skipped due to medical emergency), Juneau, Skagway, Victoria. The Room: On our most recent NCL trip, aboard the Escape, we were in an H3 (Owners Suite), but because those were eliminated on the Bliss, we decided on an H5 (Courtyard Penthouse) figuring that with the number of ports and excursions, we would not be in our room much (mostly true). The H5 was fine for us. We mostly missed the half bath and the larger closet in the H3 but those were minor quibbles for a 7 day cruise. We strongly feel (as we did on the Escape) that having a Haven-class cabin located inside the Haven vs outside (forward, aft, spa) is advantageous both for service/attentiveness and having the crew get to know us better. Our butler, Charlie, and Steward, Michael, were responsive and friendly. We try to be low effort passengers but always welcome the small touches done to make vacation as effortless as possible for us. They exceeded expectationsin that regard and overall. Embarkation: Seattle was not as smooth an operation as Miami but overall efficient. From curbside drop off to getting to the Haven Lounge was ~30 mins. The security team (SMS?) in Seattle was obnoxious and we discussed with NCL staff and they addressed the matter to our satisfaction. Disembarkations: No issues given priority and express elevator to the lower decks. The priority benefit was particularly notable on the final disembarkation where the lines were long and slow getting off the ship. We went from our cabin, through luggage pickup and customs, and to a Lyft in under 30 minutes. Only complaint is the luggage pickup in Seattle terminal is a mess with no direction given. Priority luggage is hidden around a corner so it took tracking it down, but otherwise fine. Can’t stress enough how helpful it is to get a porter and not deal with luggage (they meet you after customs). Food: we ended up dining in the Haven restaurant more than planned. Below is our planned week with skipped restaurants noted: Saturday Lunch - Margaritaville. Good comfort food (volcano nachos, of course) and service. Margaritas are a strong way to start our vacation. Saturday Dinner - Food Republic. Excellent! We were concerned that choices and quality might have taken a hit with the loss of the Pub Group partnership since we last sailed on the Escape, but that’s not the case. Haven Restaurant lunches - Always good and a nice option to enjoy our first sea day. No the menu doesn’t change, but we never felt it was a problem to try different items. Haven Restaurant dinners - Particularly excellent this trip. Sea bass, lamb, everything was outstanding. As was the service. Gautam and team executed superbly. Cagney’s. Very good as always. DW had the ribeye and I had the filet. Cooked to requested temperature and sides were good as well. Le Bistro — we loved the location on Deck 17 and the tiered layout of the restaurant. Le Bistro on the other breakaway ships felt cramped with tables crammed next to one another. On the Bliss, there is tons of room and each table felt intimate and by itself. The food and service were also excellent. La Cucina - we had sworn off returning after a dismal dinner here on the Escape. We decided to give it another go and we’re rewarded with a complete turnaround. The pastas were cooked perfectly, service was great, and we will return on our next trip. Excursions We were concerned about the size of the ship and how close to any glaciers we might be able to get. As it turned out, that was prescient since we had to skip sailing them to get to Juneau due to a medical emergency. Juneau - We booked a helicopter tour of the glaciers through the ship (could do direct through Temsco if you prefer). Trip of a lifetime. How many times can you say you’ve landed on glaciers and drank glacier water. Extraordinary and highly recommend Seaplane Bear watch - it looked bleak as we didn’t see any bears and our guide gave us the five minute warning we had to soon leave. And with that, a bear lumbered out, snagged a salmon from the creek and hauled it back to the shore to eat. We saw more on the trip back as well. Klondike Bicycle Tour - low impact/effort but enjoyable. The operator was well organized, safe, and thoughtful. Overall — NCL did well with the Bliss. The Horizon Lounge is huge for the number of Haven passengers, and we appreciated the space. The Haven staff were all accommodating and thoughtful. Our room was nice though admittedly we missed the extra space in the H3. We didn’t end up doing the go karts or laser tag. We continue to swear by the Haven and would rather cruise less often there than more frequently elsewhere. That said, the pricing is starting to move out of being competitive. We assess it relative to comparable like the Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton resort properties on a per night basis. At $1.5k/night food/drink/tipping included, it’s pretty competitive. NCL needs to be careful and weigh additional increases as we may have to look elsewhere as much as we wouldn’t like to.