Disappointing

Norwegian Bliss Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

heidivail

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 64

Overall rating:

2.6 out of 5

Verified Review

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

Sail date: July 08, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Bliss

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 10734

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

The Sitka tour to the raptor center, the bears, and catermaran to see otters was Ok. The bird center was small. A few birds in cages..though they are doing good things for the injured birds. We did see two Rafts of otters way off in a distance. The bears are enclosed in a large concrete structure. There certainly was lots of stuff to purchase in both places and on the catamaran. The whale watching tour in Juneau was fantastic!!! Saw a double breach! And many other whales. Great photo ops. The highlight of the trip for me. The icy straight is not really anything but a tiny cruise built tourist stop. You have to take a tram to a tiny spot to shop, then a shuttle to another tiny town to shop. The zip line was $250 each but not available when we arrived. There were kayaks to paddle around a small bay but they too were not available. The ropes course for the kids was closed. The restaurant offering crab bloody Mary’s was open. $51 for two drinks. So were all the shops. Plenty of places to spend money.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

No problem

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

The food quality was ok. Never could find a table in garden buffet. During meal times. For all ten of us. My husband is in a wheelchair and no one ever offered to help. The handicap seats were always occupied by people without handicaps. No reservations available in any of the dining rooms for our family of ten By our second day all reservations were taken for large groups in ALL specialty restaurants for every day. We waited for a table one night in Taste and we were able to sit together but dinner service took three hours. Way too long for our four kids 7-12.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

We tried to play ping pong on four occasions but there was never paddles and balls. I finally asked and was told they would be available tomorrow… The lazer tag is only open 7 to 9pm not convenient for our family. We eat then. The race track is by reservations only and they are limited. We booked the only slot available at 6:30 one night. Planned dinner around it. We had four kids 7-12 on the ship. The splash academy was full by the time we went to check it out so they mostly wondered around the ship. I told them to go enjoy the arcade. In less than 24 hours they spent $1100 in the arcade and the local arcade games. So that had to stop. They enjoyed one of the slides. The other had a weight minimum of 125 pounds so they couldn’t go on it. There was one pool that kids were allowed in. On the three sunny occasions it was jam packed with kids. The other pool that at one point was for families was now only for adults. Since the other pool was only for Haven guests there was no place to be in the pool as a family.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Very nice

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

By the end of the first day the kids club was booked to capacity.

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Cabin Stewart kept telling us how busy he was how many rooms he had to clean and why he could only come once. I prepaid gratuities $500 and gave him an extra $50 but it didn’t seem to help. He said he was off at 6:00. That was that. Never heard a word from him. We had to call each night to have the bunk pulled down and made up. If we forgot to call housekeeping the beds were not pulled down or made up for the kids. Beds in our balcony room was very hard. Pull downs almost unsleepable. No extras unless you pay extra. You have to go down and get luggage tags unless you pay extra for porter service.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Very clean

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Small but except-able.

Ship tip

Don’t go in the summer to crowded.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

4 out of 5

Sitka, Alaska

3 out of 5

Juneau, Alaska

4 out of 5

CRUISE ENDICOTT ARM & DAWES GLACIER

4 out of 5

Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska

1 out of 5

KETCHIKAN (WARD COVE), ALASKA

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

No problem

5 Comments

Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing.

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Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

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javawoody 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your experience

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Dumfy75 1 year ago

It’s communicated in your booking info that reservations for speciality dining and MDRs open 120 days before the cruise. Leaving it until the second day of the cruise and expecting to get bookings wherever you want for 10 people together wasn’t very realistic. Neither was expecting to get buffet tables to sit 10. Overall your review sounds like you just wanted to find negatives everywhere, shame.

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cruising2004 1 year ago

Sorry you were disappointed with your Alaska cruise. So beautiful there!

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