Twocoasts

I have used Rome Cabs for years. Always reliable, on time and professional. https://www.romecabs.com

Can you bring hard alcohol on board? The only thing they mention on the website is wine. My husband would love to bring a bottle of bourbon.

It’s been 10 years since my last Oceania cruise so forgive the basic question. For European excursions that are listed as “a private vehicle for your party” is the price listed per person or per vehicle? The prices are quite high— between $700 and $1k. But it’s not clear what that fee covers. Thank you!

On the Bliss to Alaska in August two women got into a fist fight at the bar in the casino. Broken glass hit other passengers. Two guys broke it up. Took security forever to get there. Good times. 🙄

We were on the Bliss in August. We had a Club Balcony. My sister-in-law was in Haven. I would 100% upgrade to the Haven on this ship. It is the only way you will have a meal without waiting in line, or a drink without pushing past a ton of people. We've done Club Balcony on Epic and Sky without any issues but the Bliss has so many passengers that it's crowded everywhere. Haven will give you a chance to get away from the madness.

5 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I’d go with the Bliss for the Observation Lounge (OL) alone.  The OL offers a 270º panoramic view  in a comfortable environment of the amazing views of Alaska.  Plus, it’s a newer ship.

 

If you’re looking for activities, you’d be hard pressed not to find something to do every minute of every day on the Bliss.

 

Jersey Boys is the main show and is excellent.  But, while you have to wait in line, the band in Syd Norman’s offers some of the best entertainment I’ve ever witnessed at sea.

 

I’ve sailed the Solstice and The Edge.  Like both of them.  Probably give the “edge” to the EDGE as it has the huge windows aft of the ship and has the “Magic Carpet” would be ideal to see Alaska while in the ship.

The problem with the Bliss is that you can't get a seat in the Observation Lounge--it's filled with the people who normally hog pool chairs who camp out for the day. We were on the Bliss in August and found it to be poorly designed to handle the number of people. There were crowds everywhere. I've never seen anything like it on other NCL ships. 

23 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

You won’t have this problem if you do it right. 

Agree! We had absolutely no problem getting and finding our Uber, despite the crowds. It may cost a bit more than a shuttle but by the time we finish a cruise, we are happy to be away from busses.

15 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Any other perks, like priority embarkation, tendering, etc.?

 

Yes--Priority Check in at the Pier; Priority Boarding, tendering, I think you get sparkling wine (we never drink it), disembarking and a $50 per person spa credit that can only be used on port days.

12 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Thank you, @bkrickles1! We also got some OBC courtesy of our TA, so we'll probably use some of that to buy breakfast one morning.

 

Thank you for this. I don't see Priority Access as being offered on our upcoming cruise, so I don't know if that's been phased out or only offered selectively.

It's offered when you check in. I don't know why you can't buy it sooner.

We sailed a week ago and it was $4.95. But...if you pay for their Priority Access boarding pass, you get free breakfast delivery. It actually came on time the two times we ordered prior to early excursions. 

2 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

This is too bad as iwas planning a trip on the bliss to mexico. Just curious to people find the small ships less busy then these big ships%?

We were on Sky over Thanksgiving and it was busy but nothing like the Bliss. Definitely more pleasant for us to stay with smaller ships from now on. Especially because we don't care about things like go-karts or laser tag. 

1 minute ago, RocketMan275 said:

I doubt wife and I can eat more than six items.  Hate to waste the other two.

We just used one dining credit and decided that if we wanted more we would pay ala carte for the extras. But by the time we finished the first four we were done. 

As others have said, you get 4 items. That was more than enough food for my DH and I, and he's a big guy with a big appetite. 

3 minutes ago, RickKane said:

What time was your check in window?  We scheduled 9:30-10 for next week and i'm expecting it to be chaos.  

We arrived between 10:30 and 11. The curb and the Security lines were the worst part. 

1 minute ago, chefchick said:

To the OP/Twocoasts -how was embarkation at pier 66 as far as drop off (via Uber, taxi, etc)?  As a local, I know there is a TON of construction going on at the waterfront and some of the regular open streets (Alaska way, Bell st., etc) can be blocked to thru traffic?  Did you have any problems with that?  And, same with disembarkation….were taxi lined up at the pier or somewhere down the street?  Boarding the Encore this weekend so would love a heads up…thanks.

It was a zoo. Our Uber had to drop us off pretty far down the street. We had better luck with our Uber pick up because a spot at the curb opened up, but you're right--the construction is a mess.

21 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Does anyone know if there is a benefit to this if you are Platinum? @BirdTravels I consider you an expert on knowing the ins and outs of Latitudes perks and such. Are you able to comment on this? Thx. 😊

I'm not sure. We're lowly Bronze so don't know about perks for the other levels.

1 minute ago, hallux said:

I guess you missed The Waterfront on deck 8?

 

Sorry to hear of your experience - I've had great cruises on the Bliss, Joy and Escape (very similar ships) and even have another cruise on the Bliss booked.

You're right--There was some nice outside seating on 8 at the Waterfront. But it too was extremely crowded. It could have been the time of year (late August before school is back in session) and the destination. I know lots of people love the Bliss--it just doesn't fit us.

Not sure what it will be like when you sail, but for us in May 2022 we arrived at the port at 11 a.m. and there was no one in the Security line, no one in the check in line. Took us all of about 10 minutes from curb to boarding the ship. We were on the Epic and it was the split itinerary where half the passengers board in Rome and the other half in Barcelona so that may have had something to do with it. It was a breeze!

Background: Third NCL cruise in a year--Med on Epic and Bahamas on Sky. We are not frequent cruisers (though it might seem like it) and only booked this trip because my awesome sister-in-law was comped a Haven suite plus another free interior cabin and all we had to do was pay to upgrade to our preferred Club Balcony. And, my DH has never been to Alaska so it made sense for us. We have enjoyed our past NCL cruises, but my favorite cruises were on Oceania and Windstar (e.g. small ships) which is what we will probably said next after sailing on Bliss.

Check-in in Seattle was a mess. I had heard horror stories about Miami but it was an absolute breeze compared to Seattle. We had purchased Priority boarding but were ushered through the same security line with everyone else (including Haven). We did get to the counter relatively quickly but the crowds were crazy. And the "Priority" waiting area consisted of some folding chairs --about 30% of the amount they needed. After about an hour the area was so over-flowing that they took us through the Haven entrance to clear the space, which was much appreciated. Muster was super easy--go to your check point, and that's it. We then went to Savor (or Taste--I get them confused since they are across from each other with the same menu) for lunch. Cabins were ready around 2.

Club Balcony on Bliss has a great bathroom with an amazing shower. The cabin overall was nice but the storage was lacking. Much more storage on the Epic ( I know people hate the Epic bathroom). We requested a coffee maker and got it pretty quickly.

For those who want to skip to the bottom line, the Bliss is just not a ship for us. It is a gorgeous ship. But, the crowds were literally everywhere. There is no place on the ship to get away and relax, other than your cabin. The spa was so crowded that there wasn't any place for half of us with appointments to sit and wait. The elevators were the worst we've seen on any NCL ship. Garden cafe was huge, noisy and you had to stalk tables to get a seat. The lines for Savor and Taste were long every day. The Local, which is a great place to get away on the Epic, is above the atrium. It's so loud you literally have to shout your order to the servers, who still manage to get it wrong every time. On both Epic and Sky we enjoyed having a drink above the atrium so we could see what was happening below, but still hear ourselves think. The Observation Lounge was lovely--if you could get in. Forget it on a sea day. And every bar tender seemed cranky with the exception of the ones in the casino.

The noise level on the ship overall was terrible. We had dinner in Q the first night (SIL's choice) and the duo performing was so loud we had to use hand signals to pass the salt and pepper. Only about 8 tables were occupied but the volume was for a crowd of a thousand. Food was good--not great but not bad at all.

We did the Beatles show that evening and it was wonderful. Really great performers. We also saw Sixx and Jersey Boys (my fourth time) and all of the entertainment was great. We had no problem booking shows ahead of boarding and also got all the dinner reservations we wanted ahead of time too. Our favorite specialty restaurant was Food Republic. Thanks to this board, we used one dining credit and four items was more than enough for DH and I (and he's a big guy with a big appetite). Cagney's was good--huge steaks! I took leftover stead back to the cabin and it became part of our breakfast the next two days.  And one slice of the chocolate cake lasted us three days! Least favorite was La Cucina. My gnoochi were like lead. Pizza, however, was really good. Food at Teppanyaki was good too--but we hated that meal because again, it was insanely loud to the point that you couldn't have any conversation at all. I don't like screaming through my meal.

Excursions were good. The helicopter to the Mendenhall Glacier was fantastic! And whale watching was awesome too. So many hump back whales! We also did the Crab Feast and while the food and service at the lodge were excellent, and the boat tour wonderful, the guide tour bus ride didn't happen. I don't think the driver even said hello to anyone and he definitely did not provide the guided tour of Ketchican. 

The Priority access was a huge plus for departure day. They had a special exit for us, and we were off the boat in about 15 minutes with our luggage waiting for us. Getting on and off at ports was slow because they didn't use facial recognition--you had to show your card every time. 

We had room service breakfast a couple of days due to early excursions and it was delivered on time. Not correct or complete but we didn't starve. 

The crew overall was wonderful and working so hard. But they are clearly short staffed. Our cruise had 4500+ guests and they just are not equipped to handle that many people.

It definitely seemed like more of a Carnival cruise than NCL--or at least what we previously experienced on NCL. More rude guests. People dressed like slobs in the specialty restaurants. Not a ton of kids but some exceptionally poorly behaved ones (and a few really lovely children). 

People have mentioned previously that the port stops were short--and they were. We would have liked more time in Juneau. And we stayed on the ship in Victoria because it just didn't seem worth it to tour the city at night. 

Would we do another Alaska cruise? Yes! Will we ever go on another ship that has a 4,000+ capacity? That's a big NO for us. 

Happy to answer any questions.

Another vote for Rome Cabs. They are incredibly reliable and professional.

22 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Don’t believe everything on the internet. There is no sliced deli turkey on a ship. And NCL will celebrate the holiday (which is very specific to the US versus Christmas and New Year). 
 

Some like to get dressed up and got to a restaurant and be served what the cruise line thinks is a good dinner. That’s not what we do at home. We have a table full of food and family eat what they want, as much as they want…. And where do you do that on a ship… the buffet. 
 

Some ships even try to make the buffet more classy with tablecloths. The menu is carved turkey, ham and all of the fixings. They also have international foods to go with traditional thanksgiving (which is also what we have at home). 
 

 

 

Having seen these pics before our Thanksgiving 2022 cruise, that's what we were expecting. But on our cruise there were no ice sculpture, no cute Thanksgiving display, and a very underwhelming meal in the dining room. 

We were on a very different itinerary last Thanksgiving--the Sky to the Bahamas. But we were hugely disappointed at the complete lack of anything Thanksgiving. We thought they might do something in the buffet, but it was meager at best. I think the main dining rooms had a turkey/dressing option but it was not good at all. They didn't even acknowledge Thanksgiving in the Daily. 

It's not a free-standing sofa. It's built in and has storage in it. 

I can't remember if it was on the Sky or the Epic, but La Cucina was right next to the Garden Cafe and you could get pizza from there at lunch time. It was pretty good. I don't think I'd use a specialty dining credit though.

We did this cruise out of Rome last year. Having two embarkation ports was great because it reduces the number of people boarding. I think it took us less than 30 minutes from security to being on board.