Motegi

Starting a NCL Bliss Travelogue for its first Alaska cruise.

Flew in to Seattle on Weds 6/30 and had a nice view of Mt Ranier on the flight in.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2UzFQ3m8k7w5sUyY6

Update: There have been some concerns raised recently over these full face masks and carbon dioxide buildup due to the increased dead space compared to a traditional snorkel. The key is apparently a nice tight fit over the nose and mouth, with the exhaled air being pushed out the sides, and a functioning snorkel valve that prevents exhaled CO2 buildup in the system. Experts recommend wearing the mask for a period of time out of the water to make sure that it is functioning properly and to take full deep breaths that are greater than the dead space within the snorkel.

Yes...

 

That’s wonderful. Are the Nespresso capsules provided free of charge? Or are they charged with the minibar items?

I read in another thread that they appear to have lost some port time to Royal Caribbean. There is only limited space for these ships in Havana and it appears that Royal wanted to bring their ship earlier in the afternoon than they originally had planned. I’m sure that there were some financial dealings that resulted in Cuba giving Royal an earlier time and shortening NCL`s.

We just did a back to back on NCL followed by Carnival in February from Miami. We disembarked and re-embarked on the same day and the ships were at adjacent terminals.

It worked out great and I’d love to do it again.

We actually met a couple on the NCL cruise who were doing 4 back to back sailings and had just done two on the same Carnival ship that we were set to go on.

We packed two different suitcases. One for each cruise. After the first cruise we dropped off the first suitcase at our car and grabbed the second suitcase. That way we didn’t have to haul excess clothing onto each ship.

Bring your FAA registration certificate. Make sure the registration number is clearly labeled on the aircraft.

Contact the appropriate civil

aviation authorities for each port of call in advance of your cruise for authorization to bring them into the country. Obtain written copies of the authorizations and bring them with you to each of the ports of call.

Be aware of the UAV laws for each country and the proximities to the no fly zones.

Following the above rules I have been able to bring drones on the last 4 cruises I’ve taken in the past year.

If you only occasionally have a soda then it may be cheaper for you to purchase them a la carte.

Also like the others have mentioned be aware that EACH bottle of wine that you bring for consumption aboard will incur a MANDATORY $15 corkage fee.

Wow. Didn’t know that they had raised the prices in the Caribbean...

The Alaska excursions for our cruise in June were quite pricey but I expected that going in so we went with third party tours for a few of them. Actually the third party excursions are quite pricey in Alaska too compared to what we’ve had elsewhere in the world.

Does anyone know if the other cruise lines and/or the independent tour operators in the Caribbean have also raised their prices?

I am one who does not appreciate scalding hot food being served. I find that almost all of the meals I’ve had in the MDRs on NCL have been served at appropriate temperatures.

Some restaurants serve food that is so hot that you need to allow time for it to cool before consuming. Case in point a local cajun restaurant that Pam and I went to this evening. It was a sandwich but it was too hot to hold in my hands to eat.

If the food is too hot I find that I will burn my tongue or the roof of my mouth and will ruin the enjoyment of the remainder of the meal.

Of course, undercooked food is something else entirely.

That was a time-lapse video. ;p

OMG! I thought it was made of LEGO blocks... ;p

Curious about Crabs and Tings... sounds like our kind of place. Do they have beach lounge chairs or just dining chairs? We are hoping to lay in the sun, have lunch and drink. :)

 

 

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I think they had a couple of beach lounge chairs. We sat at a table on the beach to enjoy our food. But we remember the couple next to us that were on the Breakaway (?). It’s pretty open on that end of the beach so maybe you could bring a towel and lay out on the sand too.

Start to Finish

Thanks for posting that! Fantastic video. It's absolutely incredible how they are able to build such a massive structure so quickly.

We are super excited to see the Bliss in person in June!!!

After coming back from Japan and experiencing their rush hour on the trains, Americans expect wayyy too much "personal" space.

Been there. Done that.

Could you imagine if that happened here?

If there is room in the elevator then they should people let in. Particularly those times when there is a rush such as port day afternoons and disembarkation day.

But, on the other hand, if the elevator is clearly already full then people shouldnt try to cram in.

The Bliss has arrived in Bremerhaven. The hand over ceremony is scheduled for noon.

 

Some people boarded already yesterday in Eemshaven. The rest will board today. I´m on my way...

 

steamboats

Have a safe trip! Looking forward to your updates.

Pam and I are really big fans of the Sky and have been on it many times over the past several years. We like the smaller size and the always enthusiastic Cruise Director Staff.

That being said we haven’t seen much of a difference in the passengers from before it became an “open bar” ship.

Nowadays other than the Pride

Of America I believe all of NCLs ships offer the beverage package as one of the Feel Free offerings so technically all of the ships can be open bar if you choose that perk when you book.

I own 4 different 3-axis gimbals.

I started with the Lanparte HHG-01. It was one of the original 3-axis iPhone/GoPro gimbals on the market and I paid $350 for it. But it's large and heavy with very few features compared to the more recent offerings. It has the tendency to go haywire if you tilt the gimbal beyond a certain range.

Next I got the Z1 Smooth C. This is very lightweight and has buttons for panning vertically. It's a nice barebones gimbal.

Next I bought the Zhiyun Smooth Q. This one features a smartphone app that allows you to adjust a variety of settings and has a smart follow mode where you can select a subject and have the gimbal track it.

The problem with all of the above is that they are not easy to transport inside a camera bag due to the three axis gimbal arm design. They end up being quite "tall" and cumbersome with the way that the arms are dangling. Most come with pouches or carrying cases that I don't want to haul around with me on excursions separate from my camera bag. Just having to take the gimbal out of the bag, mount and balance the phone, and turn the gimbal on just to capture a brief video clip is tedious especially if you are using a different camera for stills.

So just yesterday I got a Snoppa M1. This is a vastly different design from pretty much all of the other gimbals on the market. It folds up to be very compact, has an optional app with many of the advanced features, has a smart standby mode, and will fit easily in most camera bags. Plus it's super cheap at under $100. The reviews on YouTube seem very favorable too.

Here is a photo of the above from left to right:

The Bliss will be christened in downtown Seattle, Washington, Bell Street Terminal on Saturday June 2nd.

I had heard it was scheduled for May 30th. Followed by a short promotional cruise for the media.

Motegi, did you get permission prior to embarkation for the drone? I was under the impression they would confiscate it at check in. I am cruising Hawaii in Feb on NCL and really wanted to take my drone but decided not to because of the restrictions. I am fine having it locked up while on board if that is what is required.

From my experience with the Mavic Air and Mavic Pro I’ve only had security question me once. And in that situation they just asked me to keep it in my cabin and not use it onboard. Otherwise I’ve had no issues taking it off the ship on port days.

In foreign ports I have obtained local government authorization from each country prior to the cruise. I bring all of those printed authorization letters as well as my FAA UAV registrations onboard.

The best footage I’ve been able to get so far was in Hawaii.

Hub is for communicating with other passengers on the ship using the Hub text messaging service.

Social media is for accessing your social media services while onboard.

If you already bought the social media package then you can use Facebook messenger to communicate with each other and not have to pay for the Hub service.

We were on the Pride of America last April. We attended the theatre shows every night. The theater entertainment included Polynesian/Hawaiian shows, a magician, a comedian, and musical shows with the production cast.

I recommend going to the theater show on the first night as it will probably be a variety show where you can get a taste of what is going to be presented during the rest of the cruise.

You do not need to reserve seating but should show up 15 minutes early if you want a good seat.

Is this ship one of the prior American Hawaii Cruises ships?

It was one of two ships originally ordered by a company called American Classic Voyages. Construction first began in 2000 at a shipyard in Mississippi but production was halted when the cruise line went bankrupt in 2001. Norwegian purchased the unfinished ship and sent it to Germany for completion. Christened in 2005 it’s the only ship registered under the Norwegian subsidiary NCL America. Presently it’s also the only US registered cruise ship serving the Hawaiian market.

I'm Silver on NCL, got Silver 2100 pts. On MSC

 

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I was silver on NCL. They only gave me Classic on my match last year before I cruised on Divina

What you mean by "real eggs"? :)

I think they were referencing reconstituted powdered eggs that you find in cafeteria lines listed as scrambled eggs. I think if you order your eggs sunny side up or over easy or anything other than scrambled then you will be getting “real eggs“.

https://goo.gl/images/rfS3Ch

We don’t routinely book balcony because we don’t spend much time in our cabin. On a cruise we are usually on shore on an excursion when in port or in a lounge on the ship participating in an activity when at sea. This is fine for us when there is nothing but ocean to see such as in the Caribbean.

However for certain destinations when the scenery is one of the highlights we WILL spend the extra for a balcony.

On our Hawaiian cruise last year on the NCL Pride of America we spent the extra for an aft balcony suite. The wraparound balcony at the back corner of the ship gave us the most incredible views of the islands. And since the ship had two overnights during the cruise we got to see sunrises and sunsets over the volcanic peaks.

This year for our Alaskan cruise on the NCL Bliss we booked a balcony again for this reason.

I was gonna say it would probably be best for you to post this in the Roll Call section of the forum... but it looks like you already found it!

Have a great time! We’ll be on the Seaside in September!