Cathyd696

No specialty coffees are available on a drink package on any NCL ship. A la carte on all ships. The Bliss has a Starbucks. Here's the menu https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=56223867&postcount=116

If your a passenger from Europe specialty coffee is included , we have “premium all inclusive “ it includes specialty coffees at meal times only in all restaurants except Starbucks coffee shop ironically .

As said only European and uk passengers get offered this .

I always carry a hard copy of my ESTA with me whenever I am travelling to the US. As stated above, it is not for the US authorities, but on a couple of occasions (when travelling by ship) it has been required in order to be allowed to board and having a copy has saved the time and effort of printing a copy.

 

It has never been required for flight (and it would be a surprise if it ever was), but it doesn’t hurt to have a copy just in case.

 

 

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Thanks all , I’ll be sure to print ESTA before hand .

As noted above, SF is where you will be processed for US immigration. There are already quite a few posts on this over on the roll call for that Bliss cruise, but in short expect to potentially stand around for hours in SF - much smaller ships than Bliss take 3+ hours to be processed as the pier is small, CBP are only allocated there for the rare occasions per year when SF is a terminus or immigration port of call, so they don't get much of a chance to get used to the port setup, and the vast majority of cruisers will be US & Canadian citizens. There will almost certainly be just one officer responsible for processing all the non-US/Canucks onboard - if there are unexpectedly few other foreign passport holders you may actually get sorted faster than the locals but it's simply too random to know!

 

Key advice (apart from have a bottle of water on you) is do not book a morning excursion in SF the day you arrive. We've done exactly this situation - Van to Vic then to SF, on a ship with ~2000 people instead of the ~4000 you'll have. We got lucky, among the first folks off, so it didn't really strike us as an issue that only 3 or 4 CBP guys were working. Then we heard the horror stories afterward of people not getting onto the pier until after noon...

 

I hope that SF have learned from this and other debacles over recent years - while there is no space on the pier for more desks, CBP can board a vessel and set up extra screening points onboard and this is something that does get done on some cruises. More staff means more cost to be billed to NCL though, who are not big spenders, so I would personally HOPE that there's extra screening onboard but PLAN for the worst - everyone filtering through one small room with just a handful of CBP!

Well that’s is not good news , I’ve a tour booked for 11 am , there’s is no afternoon tour left that day , I guess we’ll have to see what happens hopefully we’ll get off the ship quickly or we’ll be stuffed with our tour .

The airport, train station, and port in Vancouver all have US-pre-clearance. That means if your going to the US, we will go through US boarder control in Vancouver before you get on your ship/train/aircraft. It is then treated as a domestic arrival in the US.

 

The exception would be if your cruise is doing another stop in Canada before going to the US.

Thank you I was worried it would take a long time in San Francisco and would take time off out visit there. We are in Victoria, Vancouver island after departing Vancouver .

Your ESTA is not a Visa. It gives you authority to travel to the US only. The UK is part of the Visa Waiver Program so no Visa is required. At Immigration you will have to stand by a booth and will have your fingerprints and retina scan registered, your passport will be checked and you may be asked a few questions. Once the border guard is happy they will stamp your passport and you will be allowed to continue on your journey.

 

It can be quite intimidating, just remember to be civil and answer all questions. Don't try to joke or behave in a frivolous manner. Most border guards I have had to deal with have been great and they know you're going to be a little nervous, even when you have nothing to hide.

 

Enjoy your cruise. The Bliss is lovely.

Thank you and will happen in San Francisco

?

Glad it is not only me that gets nervous at the border security questions , always do they make me nervous for some reason . So looking forward to getting on the bliss , thanks for your help .

Now the major problems in the port will be people without an ESTA who need one for the States or with no paper copy on hand AND/OR those who have the wrong or no visa for a country to be visited.

 

We have been held up at different ports waiting for people to sort out these problems.

Hi I have an ESTA visa I know it’s done electronically I’ve flown into USA many times and not needed to print it out , is it different for the cruise ? Will they need to see we have the ESTA

.?

Hi , I’m sailing Vancouver to LA on the bliss 30/09/18 our first USA stop will be San Francisco I’m from uk and have my ESTA visa , can anyone tell me what the process is on arrival ?

What happens how long it takes etc ?

TIA.

I was on deck 14 in stateroom 14110 and could hear absolutely no noise from the Observation Lounge above.

Thats great news .

Your cabin was kinda across the hall , was the cabin , ship rocky at all ? Since it’s kinda near the front ?

No, there was no late night parties there. At most, people sitting with a cup of coffee and enjoying the alaskan views. And, the lounge is carpeted, so you don't get any of the chair dragging noises you do when you are under the pool deck.

Ah excellent news thanks .ill Start getting excited now :D

We were directly BELOW the bridge on deck 13 last week. No noise ever came from the bridge. The only noise we ever noticed was when we were parking into ports. As far as Observation Lounge noise, we spent a lot of time in there, but was pretty quiet where we stayed (on the sides closest to large model of the Bliss enclosed in glass). We found the forward area of the OL where the bar is to be more busy/lively and rightfully so. But I don't think at night/early morning it would be an issue to you, in my opinion.

Thanks that’s great to hear I’m ok with a bit of noise through the day just not people partying all night :D

Hi ,I’m booked on the bliss soon and I am on deck 14 , cabin 14415 looking at the deck plans my cabin is directly under the observation lounge and very close to the bridge ,

Has anybody stayed in this cabin or would know if there’s a lot of noise from the bridge or above in the lounge , hoping to get a good nights sleep with no doors banging scraping of chairs etc

.

Have you booked them on the screens ? NCL told me over phone to go up to race track direct and book in person . So many mixed messages about the race track , I’m hoping we get a chance to use them , it seems strange to me they are selling a unlimited ride on them , how can they do that if people are struggling to get one ride on them ? :confused:

On the top deck ? I didn’t think they were open all day ? Others have said on the screens or guest services , so confusing, be running around the whole ship trying to book things lol :')

Yes, the package applies in the restaurants.

Great , thanks , I was going swerve the margaritaville as I thought we had to pay lol thanks for that ;)

Thanks , does that include fee paying restaurants though ? Like margaritaville on bliss ?

hi all , so we’re travelling from the UK , we have an all inclusive package which includes UBP I know we can have drinks up to the value of $15 a drink ,

My question is this ,

If we dine at a specialty restaurant Q for excample I know we would have to pay for the food , but would the drinks be free .? ( included in the UBP )

Same goes for margaritavile . TIA

Excellent question. It says on the web site , Lavazza Coffee Served at meal times in restaurants, it does say not room service Bars or in lobby etc , I’m sailing on the bliss in 46 days , they serve Starbucks on that ship so I’m assuming we can have the coffee at all meal times breakfast included as long as it is in a restaurant , Sheehan’s should serve it for free as they do have a coffee machine in there .

Maybe someone can give a more up to date reply .

Thanks for

Info I’ll be sure do do that ! Just hope we get on race track main reason we booked this cruise haha

Hey, guys. I am sailing in 15 days(!), and I just had a couple questions about reserving the laser tag and go karts. If I have the app, can I get into it and make reservations from the train into Seattle? Or does it have to be on the ship's touch screens? How early am I able to start making reservations for these activities on disembarkation day?

 

I have been reading the reviews and it seems like everything gets booked up even before onboarding is complete. This makes me nervous because we scheduled our onboarding for 2:30, and my soon-to-be-husband wanted this ship for these cool features.

 

Any Bliss insight, tips, or advice is appreciated so much!

Hi hope you enjoyed your cruise ,

I’m sailing on bliss soon

I have same questions about booking go carts etc on board , any tips I would be greatly appreciative :cool:

Boarding was the easiest and quickest We have ever experience. This was our 8th cruise. First out of Seattle, most from Florida. The time that was available for embarkation was 12:30pm. We got to the port at 11:27am and had a drink in my hand on board before 11:50am. Very easy. We walked right on the ship. No waiting whatsoever. We never received a boarding number nor was there a line for security. There was no line to do the paperwork. They don’t take photos for your keycard anymore. They use the photo from your passport.

 

After that we walked right on. I recommend booking dinners/shows online. And go straight to the booking area on deck 6 in the Social for the dinners if you don’t see your time available online. They fill fast and prepare to wait in lines there. Be patient, your already on the ship instead of waiting in the lobby to board. I believe NCL only opens 20% of dinning times online before the cruise.

 

Also if your traveling with someone maybe have them go to Q and book Go Carts, Laser, and Prohibition, and the other shows if you didn’t get them booked online.

 

The Beatles shows are first come seats. I recommend getting there 45 min early, Cavern Club is small and fills fast. Don’t sit in back, people will stand in front of you. Plus front row is better.

 

We also got to the main shows about 30 min early. And we’re always able to get good seats. We like isle seats.

 

Remember to be patient. Elevators can get crowded but if you are capable of using the stairs, I would. Specially if your going down or up only a couple flights. We are a younger couple and always try to use the stairs. I saw many people push their way on when someone with a scooter or broken foot was waiting and were not able to get on because people jumped in front of them. Specially little the kids.

 

Let me know if you have anymore questions. Safe travels. Enjoy!! It was one of out favorite cruises.

 

 

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Hi, thanks for information, regarding booking the go carts etc , where do you book that ? At guest services in the lobby or elsewhere? Also did you manage to get try go carts laser tag etc ?

:)Thank you very much

Hi , does the I concerige app work on bliss ?

I’m looking for the app that lets you book activities on board ,let you check your account etc the other Ncl app is Just like the desk top site , no use to me for what I need it for . TIA

:)Thanks so much .

Thanks very much , I’ll try figure out where to sell them now.

Does anyone know if you can sell on your cruise next coupons ?