AK Cruise in 1st Season for Full Capacity Ships
Norwegian Bliss Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 17
7 Night Alaska: Glacier Bay Skagway & Juneau (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 29, 2023
Ship: Norwegian Bliss
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 12669
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 1 year ago
Review summary
There have been noticeable changes since the restart of cruising at full capacity. I'm an avid cruiser and have about 30 cruises under my belt since starting around 2005. Our family generally cruises with NCL with a sprinkle of other cruiselines here and there. The "free style" or "cruise your way" marketing that I associate with the NCL brand was a *miss* on this trip. Trip highlight for me was hot tubbing as we took in the beauty and landscape of Alaska 🤩 This was our first cruise on Alaska itinerary and since return to 100% capacity. This time our group was two adult couples, as we introduced our cousins to cruising on this trip. We were on the Bliss in Dec-2021 out of San Pedro/Port of Los Angeles for a Mexican Riviera Christmas cruise at about 75% capacity. Last big NCL ship we were.on before this was the Getaway in 2019 (full capacity), and there are stark differences from both of those sailings compared to this one. All in all, it's nothing that'll deter me from cruising again. I know food portion sizes are smaller and other offerings are limited based on staffing... and staffing impacts all areas of service. I think I'll continue to be a sun chasing cruiser, and might only do an AK cruise again with my Mom as this seemed much more her pace. SHIP/ITINERARY: Alaska cruise itinerary seems to be more relaxed. Wish there was more time in some of the ports and some of the port staff (Skagway, Juneau and Victoria) seemed just straight up unhelpful or disinterested in providing customer service. When asked for directions or info, some just gave incomplete info or were just snarky. Glad these were not tender ports or it could have gotten outright ugly. And whoever thought arriving in Victoria BC after most shops were closed was ok was WRONG! Fan Tan Alley was locked up and couldn't even walk through it. Luckily it was a clear and dry night so made for good pics, but that's all it had going for it. And I've been to that port before so was really looking forward to it again. Glacier Bay was magnificent and such a beautiful day for it. It was crisp and dry so easy to make it to the decks for viewing. Glad to have seen the glaciers up close and personal even without the dramatic calving. Then also so much wildlife- badgers, eagles, porpoises, whales and a ton of frolicking otters. Did see a polar bear, though it was in a glass box and a relic from 1964 that was caught by an Inuit or Yupik hunter. Still cool though, at 9 feet tall and about 1400 pounds. It was quite a specimen. FOOD/DRINK: The food, while plentiful, seems to have dropped slightly in quality. We had Savor, Taste, Teppanyaki, The Local, Manhattan Room, and Garden Cafe. Normally, O'Sheehan's/The Local is a favorite for a quick bite like hot wings and an adult bevvy, but this time our orders were mostly incomplete and the service mostly seemed hurried and disjointed. Teppanyaki and Cagney's are also other faves but after Teppanyaki not hitting it out the park per usual we opted out of the steakhouse dining. The quantity is still as generous as we remember. Usually the beef filets are great quality and melt in your mouth but the time the beef was tough and chewy. Didn't finish our food. And our poor Teppanyaki chef seemed pretty tired and kinda low energy, but was trying on earnest. For Garden Cafe, it's still all the things I remember and I loved having scooped ice cream there. My favorites were Macadamia Brittle and Butter Pecan. Nice variety of food for the the pickiest of eaters to those willing to be adventurous and try something new. Staff were always pleasant and accommodating. Washy washy folks were always so welcoming and great energy with their greeting! Sit down dining in Savor, Taste, and Manhattan seemed to take longer than usual, and unlike in the past, only had one server assigned. It was fine, but sometimes required adjusting plans around that. Bartenders and beverage servers all throughout the ship were great! Did a good job of keeping track of people and orders. Kept the flow of drinks nice and steady. Had a tasty variety of wine, cocktails, straight spirits and non-alcoholic beverages... all served with a smile or joke! ENTERTAINMENT: There seemed to be less variety than what I remember, but what we did/saw was good, and maybe since it's a cold weather itinerary the use of the outside/lido deck contributed to the feeling of less. Was glad to have caught SIX and Jersey Boys. I thought those productions were well done. Was really loooking forward to SIX because I saw it had a run in Vegas and it piqued my interest. We also saw Siglo and Heartbreakers bands, game shows, and comedy by Jeff Harms which were good. Watched Karaoke Superstar in the Cavern but acoustics in there is meh, but it was a good crowd so still fun. Went to Latin dance sessions for cha cha, merengue, and bacahata which were a fun way to burn some of the extra calories consumed. Kinda wished there was a morning and afternoon session of dance since it was so good. Then got to practice those steps to the music of Duo Estrella in Sugarcane bar then rehydrate with excellent drinks made by Marcial and Alejandro! DanDan and his entertainment crew were a blast at their themed "parties" and I enjoy their energy. Usually came for their party then stayed to dance the night away. Casino layout is a bit weird for me, and I appreciate that they have an enclosed room for gamers who smoke. Payouts don't seem to be as generous or often as other lines and I definitely don't get the same type or frequency of offers from NCL Casinos at Sea like other lines. But again, I make adjustments as needed. Really hoping that this was just an outlier/exception to our cruising experience rather than an indication of things to come.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Richel, our room attendant, kept our room spotless and was always very accommodating for any of our needs or questions.
Accessibility Note: The post right outside/between neighboring cabin doors can make it a tight squeeze if you're above average in size, have a stroller, or walker.
Tip: if only 2 occupants in "king" bed, swing ladders sideways to stow large luggage under bed.
Ship tip
Do all the things your budget, time, and ability allows you to... it's a big ship. Take it all in!
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
Super short time there. Arrived in the evening (about 1930/1945 hrs) and held for ship clearance. Port hours were 2000 - 2330 hrs. 2 other ships in port. No clear signage about transportation options for folks not on NCL excursions. Port staff were terse and snarky when asked for info.
Opted to walk to downtown from cruise port (1/2 mile one way) and then rode shuttle back to port. Cost for one way fare was $10 CAD or $8 USD per person. Bus stop for return trip is across from The Empress.
Most all the shops and dining venues were closed upon our arrival, except for pubs and a smattering of gift shops. Walked to Chinatown gateway and then Fan Tan Alley. Only to find Fan Tan Alley gated and closed.
Port staff seemed tone deaf to what customer service is, plus logistics inexperience and poor communication only compounded the problem. This contributed to folks line jumping/cutting and those needing special assistance due to mobility or other needs getting forgotten or waiting much longer than necessary as they were pushed to the fringes by workers or throngs of other passengers who didn't care about line etiquette or common courtesy.
Getting dropped off at this, our home port, is chaptic to say the least. Seattle waterfront area has undergone lots of changes in the last few years. One of the original changes to the area was supposed to be a new cruise port terminal, but Covid and lack of cruise revenue for a few seasons made that impossible. So cruisers are stuck trying to navigate where to drop bags, how to enter facility to get checked in, where specific modes of transportation can drop off/pick-up, etc. Pier 66 is right on the waterfront and has only four lanes of traffic in front of it, plus all the normal tourist pedestrian foot traffic converging through here. It's not great.
Port facilities at Pier 66 is small for the volume of cruisers it receives on ships like Encore and Bliss. Selected specific boarding time, but even when arriving at port at appointed time for check-in we were held to wait about 1.5 hrs before being allowed to embark. This is where facilities matter... it was stuffy and overcrowded. And they just kept checking folks in and cramming them in like sardines in a can!
Port staff were unhelpful and disorganized. This led to line jumpers and the creation of 2 lines... it was chaotic and the young, inexperienced staff had no sense of organization, logistics, or any semblance of order. Saw people needing special assistance due to mobility and other needs getting forgotten in the wings and having to wait unreasonably long due to lack of communication amongst staff.
Out of all the AK ports, this one was the most organized and well managed in terms of ground transportation. They used school buses to shuttle passengers to/from Ward Cove. It was about a 10 min ride from port to town. Even with better experienced port staff and bigger and more shuttle busses, the lines and waits were crazy long.
Rangers were great wealth of information. 360° degree viewing of glacier was cool. Our group made the most of our active selves and visited full all of the viewing points, indoors and out. Lots of great photos and it was a beautiful day to boot! No glacier calving, but was still magnificent scenery.