Alaska on the Bliss 5/2023

Norwegian Bliss Cruise Review

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 7

Overall rating:

3.9 out of 5
Norwegian Bliss

7 Night Alaska: Dawes Glacier Juneau & Ketchikan (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 20, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Bliss

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9252

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 11 months ago

Review summary

Overall, I would break this cruise a seven out of 10 We would’ve loved to go deeper into Dawes Glacier but there was ice… I wish the last 2 ports were better & yes, I’d go back to Alaska again but take a diff cruise into more areas like Denali. I am happy with this cruise.

Embarkation

3 out of 5
Pier 66 and Seattle was easy to access, the receiving personnel were very friendly, we were allowed to drop our luggage off 90 minutes early and were encouraged to go through the procedures for embarkation so we followed a crowd indoors. Upon entry there were two rooms with people waiting to take your information & process it so you could receive your cards. BUT, the wait to be allowed to enter the Ship was confusing as there were no loud speakers, there was no megaphone, and when the person spoke for each individual group, there were too many people speaking, and you could not hear your group being called. Also there were about 50 chairs that blocked the entranceway after your group was was called so it appeared that there was no way to enter once you were called to do so

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

The Manhattan Room - Main Dining Room

5 out of 5

The Manhattan room had the best meals that we got the entire time we were on the Bliss!! The service was phenomenal. We tipped extraordinarily well, because of such outstanding service not to mention that everything we ate there was very good and very tasty and promptly delivered and Exceeded our expectations especially for it to be a complementary meal Way to go Norwegian, the Manhattan room excelled

Savor Restaurant - Main Dining Room

4 out of 5

From the very first lunch on embarkation day, I thought the food was about an eight out of 10. It was tasty. The service was excellent, but nothing superior.

The Observation Lounge

4 out of 5

Every time we went upstairs to the observation bar and walked the entire distance around. There were so many snacks, and so many different things to eat that didn’t come from the Buffay or other areas and we liked that difference.

Ocean Blue

3 out of 5

This was a step above outback or red lobster as we ordered the lobster tails and paid 25 extra dollars for them. They were a little overdone and a little rubbery for my liking. The service was excellent. I would not go back or pay extra for it next time.

Cagney's Steakhouse

4 out of 5

Phenomenal prime rib at the filet mignon was lacking. Vegetables were good service was superior and attentive

Garden Café

3 out of 5

This buffet was a little below average. Breakfast was acceptable and coffee was good. Lunch was also below average and dinner was definitely below average. We only ate here when we didn’t have a reservation elsewhere.

Starbucks

4 out of 5

Being diabetic, it is a little hard to explain to someone what you want in your coffee that has to be absolutely sugar free, but to the best of their ability, they repeated back when I ordered and it was acceptable although I still think those coffees should be complementary.

The Local Bar & Grill

3 out of 5

We had a quick breakfast here on day two. It was acceptable.

Atrium Bar

3 out of 5

Average bar food but acceptable

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Bliss Casino

3 out of 5

The casino was accessible although on the first night, after four hours of delays, no one advised us that we had turned around and dropped a Medical person off and then that was the cause for the delay. It would’ve been nice to have known that so we could’ve left and come back.

Tradewinds Tax-and-Duty-Free Shops

2 out of 5

We were highly disappointed with this shop. The variety was slim to none. The pricing was about 30% higher than I expected and ultimately we only bought one thing and no souvenirs nor anything for ourselves.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Bliss Theater

3 out of 5

We really only saw jersey boys. I would give it a six out of 10. I also played bingo a few times and it is still ridiculously expensive but I do enjoy it.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
We said it every single day, but the people who work on that boat had to be the nicest, happiest, most entertaining and genuinely friendly people

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

I have two pieces of advice. The first is no one tells you how much you’re going to actually walk when you get into Port. We walked an average of 4 1/2 miles @ every port. I’m glad that I felt well enough to do so, because if I were restricted in movement, it would be disappointing not to know how much you need to get around. My second piece of information would be that no one mentioned how dry the climate is, nor that the altitude would cause nose bleeds. I am somewhat susceptible to them, especially in climate like Las Vegas as we live in the Ohio valley and it’s very humid here. I just wish it had been mentioned in some way so I could have prepared

Ports of call

KETCHIKAN (WARD COVE), ALASKA

1 out of 5
This port was a major disappointment. I get it is my responsibility to review port arrival times, but I did not realize that this ship would dock 25 mins outside of town & that there would be 4000 people waiting to get off this boat to catch one of maybe 5 shuttles into town on a rotation. Once you enter the Sitka warehouse with all the shopping then you find out how long the line is just to get onto one of the shuttles. Which took us 90 minutes!! Then you add the 30 minute drive!! We left the ship 30 minutes after the time we wanted to, but that wouldn’t of made any difference! Knowing we had only a few hours and that it would take a good 30 minutes to get back on the bus to get back to the ship. We simply walked maybe 15 minutes turned around and went back.

Sitka, Alaska

5 out of 5

Seattle, Washington

4 out of 5

Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska

4 out of 5
Best excursion ever was the Alaska Whale and drone adventure with Josh. Phenomenal day phenomenal view and what an exciting way to be able to see the wildlife.

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5

Victoria, British Columbia

1 out of 5
STUPID JONES ACT!! Who pulls into a town at 8 pm and leaves at 11 pm?? Worthless stop!!

CRUISE ENDICOTT ARM & DAWES GLACIER

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Super easy to disembark in Seattle as we were the last few people to leave the ship at about 10:30 AM. The process was seamless and thank you to the Buffay personnel who allowed us to sit and wait until the last minute to off board as that was very helpful.
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