Norwegian Bliss Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Awesome experience .... can’t wait to go again! This ship is the real deal... don’t get hung up on nit picking.... get hung up on something for everyone

This is a fantastic room for families. Largest one on ship as best I can determine. It did not have a pullman so only good for 4 people. Ship is beautiful and very clean/new. Elevators were not nearly what I was expecting. People moved arounded fairly easily. Peak times did get busy but aft elevators were much better. Loved the Local. Didn't love the buffet so only had snacks there. Kids loved Splash and Entourage. Didn't love that the pool area doesn't have a snack station so when kids were hungry after swimming at 3:30 and the buffet was closed (only coffee and pastry), they referred me down to deck 7 to Local for pizza. I was not going to leave kids in pool area alone. They need a snack station near kids area for quick kid snacks. San Fran was a disaster. Our deck didn't get called to after 11am and we exited the ship at 1:30. Missed 12:30 Alcatraz time but they let us go on willcall. NO apologies not acknowledgement by NCL of problem. Likely it is US Customs as they only have 8 wickets open but NCL could have handled this MUCH better. It was a wasted day and after waiting 2 hrs, kids were totally fed up and wanted back on the ship to go to pool. Super disappointed that there was not recognition to many guests who were impacted. Getting on in Vancouver was a breeze and we carried off our bags so super easy in LA as well. We will likely cruise again with NCL but will go back to a smaller size vessel. Just too big for our preferences. EVERYTHING costs extra now such as room service, certain food, so we did feel that we were constantly being upcharged. We would have purchased arcade pass for kids but everyone in cabin had to get so we passed?? $160 for 5 day cruise. Who decides this stuff for families? Overall it was 8/10 experience.

Cruise was great with the exception of Coast Guard/Customs in San Francisco. Already have another trip planned on the Bliss.

This was the worst cruise by far. I had high hopes though, as my first cruise was with Norwegian, which has been the bar in which I measure all cruises; it was very fantastic. This cruise was seemingly doomed from the get go. Getting on the ship was a pain, the porters were not helpful, the food was terrible, the wait staff was hit and miss, the stateroom was way too small for three people, the bathroom was too small for even one person, our toilet was broken the whole cruise, the service desk was slow to help, the service desk was further rude and unwilling to listen to complaints, the NCL reservation staff I spoke to at our first port was highly rude and unwilling to listen (instructed to wait till after the cruise to fill my complaints through their automated review process), the shows on board were terrible and far too few, there was little to do on the ship that didn’t require a reservation, some items such as laser tag and go carts had a cost and were not indicated as such at the time the reservations were made, the Wi-Fi service was terrible and barely worked, it cost additional to setup my online account after already paying for Wi-Fi access, the elevator access was terrible, there was no onboard self serve laundry, the on board laundry service was slow overall, was impossible to book reservations due to not knowing what was going on on the ship more than a few hours in advance, there was little instruction on disembarking the ship on the final day, getting off the ship was far slower than I have ever experienced. I could go on and on but this was horrible. I’m pretty sure I will never sail with Norwegian again.

We recently completed an Alaskan cruise with Norwegian on their new ship, the Bliss. It is a beautiful ship with a great crew and great food. All in all a very enjoyable trip. We did have a problem with customer service at the end of the cruise, however. We has purchased transportation to and from Sea Tac airport through Norwegian, informing them of our flight times and desire to spend the day in Seattle prior to our evening flight. We found out that our prepaid shuttle to the airport was not available after 10 a.m., leaving us with the choice of spending all day at the airport or getting alternate transportation. Deciding on the latter we were told we could leave our luggage with the Norwegian concierge. When we tried to do that we were told that since the ship was transitioning the concierge would not be available to hold our bags but we could get a hotel down the road to check them for a fee, which we did. Returning home I requested a refund for the shuttle fee on transport we could not use and reimbursement for money paid to the hotel for storing the bags. I was told to fill out a form online and they would take care of it. Weeks later I got an email offering an "amenity" on our next cruise with them. I contacted them saying this was not good enough. There has been no response. In the process I discovered that the Seattle light rail system goes to the airport from downtown and is both faster and much cheaper than the shuttle. Moral: Do not purchase airport transport from Norwegian and once off the ship, expect nothing from them.

Was so nice to do my first Alaskan cruise on the Bliss. Was a perfect combination. We had to ensure some rain in Ketchikan (expected in Alaska), but that didn't stop us from getting out and enjoying this cruise.

Crew, passengers went out of their way to assist this handicapped person. This was as friendly a cruise as I have been on and this our 4th cruise ,2nd or Norwegian , which we will sail again with. I had one person I saw was nasty and this person was nasty to everyone and I had to come up out of my chair and let things be known(they was nasty to someone else) But I felt terrible after I did it , but it sure helped cure situation.

Cruise #37 for me. What a wonderful cruise. I will give some tips in my review. Embarcation was the fastest ever. Beautiful ship but can be hard to get bearings. Tip: The fish printed on the carpet swim to the bow. Cabin location is important when booking. Our cabin location was perfect #14760. Very quiet. We didn't hear a thing around or outside. A few steps from the bow stairs and one floor up was observation deck for morning water, coffee and lite breakfast and above that was buffet dinning. Stern is spa and gym. We got a mini-suite with 2 free deals of unlimited alcohol drinks and 3 specialty dinning. Tip: For best deal join the cruise club at icruisesmart dot com. We ended up paying only $700 for all this because I'm a partner getting $200 Cruise Dollars for free each month because I referred 5 members and my wife is a member paying $100 and getting $200 CD's each month. So after 14 months we had enough CD's in our account to book this cruise with $0 out of pocket. This also included the 20% service fee they charged on the free packages at the time of booking. Fantastic deal. Tip: Since we're not normally drinkers if we didn't have that deal above I don't think the drink package was worth it because the 20% is $17 per day. Since that fee is at the time of booking we used our Cruise Dollars. We did enjoy the freedom of trying many drinks and having wine at dinner. Tip: Be sure to reserve your specialty dinning after you book. Cagney steak house and Teppanyaki is a must. You can always try standby and cancel. We did that for the shows too. We could only book for the late shows but got in earlier on standby. Tip: For the cabin the smoke stacks do work overtime and it was strange the they produced like rain on cloudy days. I heard a person at the service desk complain about their stern cabin. I would recommend a forward cabin. The Race Track is a must. If you know the weather will be nice then prebook. I had good luck and just got there at a scheduled time and someone didn't show. Tip: We way over packed. I didn't wear my suite, dress shirts, dress shoes or ties. Could have packed carry-ons which also allows you to get off the ship the earliest too. It did take us 1 1/2 hours to get off the ship after our color was called. So plan your transportation accordingly. Don't stress. This was really the only line. Oh also take the stairs as much as you can. It's good for you :) Tip for excursions: Alaska weather is unpredictable. We never prebook unless it is a must do bucket list where it is good rain or shine. When we got to Skagway it was beautiful and getting off the ship we saw the bus about to leave for Yukon and Train and was able to book right then. $258 per person plus the dog sled option was another $35pp later. So glad we did both. Because of our savings we also got the Spa room package which was around $250pp. So with cabin fee of $14.50 pp pd and these 2 extras our final bill was $1,300 on credit card. Our cabin with taxes and fees would have been $5,100 but because of the cruise club we only ended up paying $700. Wow! I know this was a different review and I hope you got something out of it. Join the cruise club for sure. Good for most any cruise. Huge savings even if you're just a member. icruisesmart dot com is a blog site I put together to promote it. This is our 2nd cruise using it.

Beautiful ship....great ports....excellent staff. For Canadians it’s not really cold ....only damp and rainy if you have a rain day! Allow lots of time to get off at ports as it seems a bit time consuming if you were trying to get off within the first hour of docking.

Very Disappointed! Just got off Bliss today! Beautiful ship but FREE STYLE Sucks! Also very unorganized for getting off!(2/3hours of utter chaos!!!) Only 2 Shows and they were terrible! Food was ok! Same things over/over! We had the absolute best weather! Every day ALASKA was gorgeous 60 & sunny.

Overall this was a beautiful ship with lots to do. Never felt the amount of people were really on the ship as there was. Staff was super friendly and always willing to help. The room was super spacious and very comfortable.

I am reviewing my Alaskan experience on the Bliss. This ship was built for Alaska with a beautiful observation lounge and hot tubs placed on the top decks to enjoy the views. The pool is small for warmer destinations though. The garden cafe is large and better than in most ships. The shows are good, but require advance reservations. There are a lot of unique bars and lounges you must try. The District Brew House, the Sugar Cane Mojito Bar, the Local overlooking the atrium to name a few. I loved the crew on this sailing as most started with the inaugural cruise and are the best of the best. Disembarkation in Seattle can be a nightmare, so get off the ship as early as possible. The food is good, but not great and it’s obvious they are making budget cuts in the dining room. NCL as a whole likes to charge for everything, so they are driving down the quality in all free venues. Alaska is breathtakingly beautiful. I will be back.

The good: It is a really nice new ship. Everything everywhere is immaculate. Small rooms, but clean. Our balcony was the smallest ever. Embarcation was quick and easy. Debarcation was a disaster. Maximum patience needed. Very disorganized. Everyone I talked to agreed that the food was just OK, nothing special, not as good as any other cruise they’d been on. BUT.... there are many “specialty” venue$ if you want. Didn’t try any so can’t comment. There was no lobster or crab night. No fillet mignon. No midnight buffet with the carvings. Nothing special except the up-sells. The evening shows were quite different than any we’ve ever seen. They had 2 big productions; Havana and Jersey Boys alternating throughout the week. Once you’ve seen both, the only other after dinner choices were very small, get there EARLY, overcrowded venues. Overall the impression was up-sell everything. From the website and app, it’s all about selling more more more. Then there is a 20% surcharge on EVERYTHING. NOW FOR THE BIG ITEM.... the ELEVATORS. By the end of the cruise everyone was sooooo sick of standing in line trying to get on already full elevators. Many resorted to getting on any elevator going the wrong way knowing eventually they’d get to their floor, which only compounded the problem. And it is a problem, a big one. This was our first NCL, having been on all the others, and it was our least favorite. Alaska was amazing, NCL Bliss, not so much.

We celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary last week on the Bliss. Our Balcony room MID SHIP was so spacious and clean. We loved having a balcony to whale watch. The Ship had a clean/new feel everywhere. The staff were all very friendly and accommodating. Some were even hilarious. They made the trip so much fun. We didn't get to see the Glacier because there was a medical emergency the night before and the captain decided to skip the Glacier viewing and get to Juneau as fast as he could. A lot of people were very upset. I totally understand why they were upset, and it was disappointing to us especially because we woke up early to view it from our balcony. Apparently a elderly person fell down the stairs. So sad. It is unfortunate about the glacier but my husband and I honestly loved having more time in Port. We spent the entire day in Juneau. The only complaint I have about our cruise is that it was very difficult for the chef and kitchen to plan for my dairy free meals. They advised me too give them notice a day before and I did that the first three days. But that didn't matter at all because every time I would go to dinner they didn't have my order and I had to reorder it at the table and that led to a longer wait time for dinner to come out. They didn't have any dairy-free dessert for me except for lemon sorbet. I was very disappointed that one dessert was the only thing they could offer me when we spent so much money on this cruise. It was even very difficult asking for the lemon sorbet because none of the staff seemed to know where it was if they had it or anything at all it was an ordeal every time I asked for it. I was very disappointed to say the least. I don't think that I will be cruising with Norwegian because of this sole reason. It didn't seem like their staff were knowledgeable at all about dairy-free food. I will say that they did make me a yummy dairy-free cake on my anniversary night but I had to pay over $30 for it and I had to jump through hoops to get it ordered. Despite this dairy free issue I had, everything else about the cruise was wonderful. We saw Jersey Boys on our anniversary night and it was a great show. Mature content definitely but amazing singing. there were many signs that children under 12 shouldn't be in there yet so many parents brought their children that were even 5 years old. That was really upsetting because there were many many curse words and women in lingerie. We didn't see the Northern Lights because every night seemed to be too foggy. Overall great trip great anniversary and lots of memories were made. Alaska was breathtaking next time we think we will fly into Anchorage and visit that area instead of the Inside passage.

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.

Got back on Saturday from our Alaskan Cruise. I really enjoyed the theater shows and entertainment. Jacky the cruise director was amazing and I don't know what happened the the Co director Dan Dan. He disappeared half way thru the cruise. No a Beetles fan but I watched Beetlemainia live. It was good if you grew up listening to them. Really enjoyed food republic and the MDR and the Garden Cafe... Q and Los lobos no so much. I want to return to alaska again on the NCL JOY. We had a mini suite, other than the shower I did not see a reason to upgrade. My only gripe was a critical medical emergency, but a decision was made not to airlift the passenger off of the ship. They decided to wait over 10 hours to get him medical attention and disrupt glacier cruising for everyone else. The early arrival in Juneau made up for it but I feel like critical emergencies require urgent attention.

Best Ever Cruise to Alaska on the NCL Bliss This was our 11th cruise to Alaska and first time with NCL, loved everything NCL did. Entertainment and Food was Great, Loved The Haven.

Beautiful ship! Entertainment was great! Food at buffet was alright. Specialty dining was awesome! Didn't do MDR. Alaska was the icing on the cake! Will reccomend this crusie and shil to everyone!

The service and food quality at the sea food restaurant was poor Cabin attendant was poor

Over all not a bad cruise but not our best adventure