Solo trip for this teacher getting out of town during Spring Break / on Easter Sunday! I loved this one-way sailing from Los Angeles to Vancouver and will book it again in the next year or two. 5 nights was a great length, too -- short enough that it didn't take up all of Spring Break but longer and more relaxing than a weekend booze cruise!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Luggage check was easy at the curb on this Easter Sunday embarkation. I purposely selected the LAST time slot for check-in, so there were only five people in line when I got inside. At this time (Easter Sunday 2022) I still had to show a negative test result but no masks were required onboard like my previous sailing. I love the new "just go straight to your muster station as you board" plan; it's so efficient and you can just get right on to whatever your afternoon plans are! This one-way sailing was half-empty (Los Angeles to Vancouver) so when I went straight up to the pool, I was shocked how many empty deck chairs there were! What a way to start this solo trip!
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Several things were noticeably fresher than my previous sailing on the Bliss (fall 2021). I only went to the buffet once because I much prefer to go to the main dining rooms -- including breakfast! I really enjoy the sit-down breakfast in Taste or Savor (only one side was open on this sailing due to the ship being half-empty).
I used my 1 premium-dining meal at Le Bistro -- the beef tenderloin, medium rare, is delicious. At Le Bistro they make the martinis slightly differently than the other bars, somehow nicer? Le Bistro also had bleu cheese stuffed olives which really seals the deal for me and a martini!
At The Local 24 hour cafe, I got the Wings a few times this trip. Ask for the sauce on the side, I liked the Korean BBQ sauce best.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
I attended a few of the dorky Atrium activities like trivia and slideshows but mostly I'm a live-entertainment person. I did enjoy the pool for a few solid hours as soon as I boarded Easter Sunday afternoon, and a bit on the first sea day, but as we continued further north it got a bit too cool for me to be on the pool deck (I live in the desert).
One other random activity I had was a Walking Ship Tour, on embarkation day. I was the only person who showed up for it, so I essentially got a 1-on-1 guided tour. Nice! I had been on the Bliss before but had not been up to the Vibe area or the "secret" hot tub/bar area adjacent to it. It's a bit hard to find, so it was delightfully empty up there!
Entertainment
4 out of 5
"Jersey Boys" was cancelled on this sailing. I assume due to COVID among the cast? Bummer. A quick replacement was an extra night of a cabaret performance by Brianna Faulk who was on America's Got Talent or one of the other "singing" shows. She was enjoyable, but it was just a soloist in a spotlight not a "show." At least it was something? There was also no Beatles cover band this sailing either, but there was a very good funk/soul band playing in The Cavern Club instead! And the guy at the piano in The District Brewhouse was AWESOME. Live jazz piano and even taking requests for guests who wanted to sing along, like live karaoke!! I only discovered him the second-to-last night when some other passengers were talking about it; wish I'd known sooner, and clearly there were several folks who had been going back EVERY night to see him perform multiple sets.
Children's Programs
n/a -- no kids here!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Service great as always. Bartenders start to recognize you after the second day which is pleasant. (or maybe it means I was there too often?) I enjoy The Waterfront area especially the Sail & Sustain bar which is usually pretty empty, so the bartender there is usually just the same one or two people the whole sailing.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
I really like the Bliss design with the Observation Lounge. It's probably the place I spend the most time onboard! There were always people at the bar, in the lounge chairs, reading books along the side corridors, enjoying the view out the floor-to-ceiling windows, and I brought my laptop over a couple times to do some work myself!
This was my first time on a "cold" weather cruise as we headed north from Los Angeles to Vancouver, so each day gradually got cooler but it didn't really get "cold" as I expected.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
First time staying in an Inside cabin on NCL, and first time staying on a low deck -- I previously stayed in a Balcony on the Bliss, Breakaway, and a Studio on the Epic. I booked the Inside because it was actually cheaper than a Studio cabin!
I ended up liking the cabin location a lot -- a short walk from the forward stairs and obviously deck 5 was easily walkable to decks 6-7-8 Ocean Place / atrium area / dining rooms. If I had been up on the pool deck every day or going up to the buffet often I might have been annoyed by the ups and downs, but this actually worked out fine! I didn't bid for the Balcony upgrade because this was only a 5-night sailing and I would've had to pay double anyway.
If I had been sharing the room it would probably have been okay. I can't imagine having three and certainly not four people in this Inside cabin, though -- the closet space was nearly filled up with just my stuff! Four stars instead of 5 due to the storage/closet space, fine for one person, borderline for 2 people, definitely not enough for 3 or 4 people.
Ship tip
Enjoy the Observation Lounge! Enjoy a sit-down breakfast in the Taste/Savor dining rooms not just the buffet. If you're LGBTQ or an Ally, go to the Friends of Dorothy meetup and say hello to others!
Sailing underneath the Golden Gate Bridge was fantastic, twice: going in about 12pm and departing about 10pm. There was only a 30-foot clearance between the bridge and the top of the Bliss -- very cool to see the bridge pass over your head while up on the sun deck / Vibe / laser tag area.
The port area is very clean and you can immediately get on one of the rail streetcars, walk west toward Fisherman's Wharf, or hop on a local bus route. I did not book an excursion because I planned to visit friends in the city. We lucked out with mostly-sunny weather, too!
I loved having an OVERNIGHT stop here! We had to arrive at a specific time Thursday afternoon because the Bliss ONLY fits under the Lions Gate Bridge at the lowest of low tides. It was even closer to the top of the ship than the Golden Gate Bridge was, maybe 20 feet of clearance? Very cool!
Anyway, the city -- did not book an excursion, just went wandering around with two new friends I made onboard. Walked through parts of Gastown (pretty!), Chinatown (WOW there were a few scary blocks full of homeless and drug users), the Creekside Park/BC Place (pretty!), Plaza of Nations (empty?), then a Lyft to Davie Street the gayborhood. Davie Street was pretty cool, and since the ship was docked overnight we didn't have a curfew to be back onboard! It was very cool to be able to enjoy nightlife, bar-hop and walk along Davie Street rather than racing to be back on the ship. Friends and I got back on at about 2am and the security folks said there were about 30 others still off the ship. No problem! We just weren't able to put our luggage out for nighttime pickup since we got home so late, and we knew we would have to self-carry our luggage.
FAST! The ship was half-empty so they were actually ahead of the estimated disembarkation times. Even though I picked the last time slot / colored tags they were already calling the groups a half hour sooner than estimated. ArriveCAN for Canadian Customs was no problem but there were some people nearby who had missed a detail or two on their apps or paper forms and needed to take longer. This trip I rolled my own luggage off the ship (see previous comment about Vancouver night out) which was no problem. After exiting the customs area, it was only about 50 steps away to find my QuickShuttle bus ride from Vancouver across the border to Bellingham, Washington -- I flew home on Southwest from there. It was much cheaper than flying from Vancouver since I was using my Southwest points.
I enjoy one way cruises as well. My first two were return loops. My last one way my first one way and I love ending my vacation in my home state; where it's just one 1-2 hour flight back home to Tampa.
It was first time on Bliss and it was awesome. I thought they were back to full capacity.. But I guess not.
Glad you had a great time.
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