PATRLR

You can move the steering wheel closer but I think that was the only adjustment. The loading crew were very helpful so I'm sure they would make sure you're comfortable before you drive off.

The pedals also adjust.

We will be traveling on Bliss in July trying to start a packing list, no idea what to bring will be going to Seattle for 3 days then cruise. What is necessary to bring and what did you forget that you wish you had packed. Do people dress up in evening or is it too cold.

Thanks in advance for any and all advise

I found this cruise to be the least formal of any I've been on. Seemed like very few were getting dressed up.

The tough part is outdoor wear, you have to plan on layers. We were doing a small boat whale watch and the Tracy Arm excursion, so, knew we'd be outside on the water for extended periods. We had base layers, fleeces and water proof shells, hats and gloves.

Thanks for the update! I’m sailing July 10th and am thinking we, too, will be able to make it in if you did (tho we’re on Celebrity). I have a balcony cabin and am traveling with a 10 year old so I’m wondering what you all think the pro’s and con’s are to booking excursion vs. staying on balcony. All this assuming the ship has access like you did. What will we miss (sounds like stopping for wildlife) if we choose to stay on ship? Will we see/hear calving? Not worried about price, just the 5hr trip and daughter possibly getting bored. Advice please!

Just because they got in last week doesn't mean they will get in next week. It all depends on conditions which are changing all the time.

IMO, if you have the wherewithal to do the excursion, then do it. It's hard to imagine how the excursion wouldn't be a superior experience. As I said above, look at the pictures in reply #10 above.

The pictures in post 10 say it all, IMO. If you really want to experience the glaciers, the small boat is the way to do it. One advantage the small boats have that no one mentioned is the small boat captain can and will stop for wildlife. We saw a bear that, had the captain not stopped, I suspect no one would have seen. He also stopped for some whale watching (saw one breach), and other wildlife along the way. If you stay on the big ship, they can't stop like that, you have to just hope you see it.

We did one June 5, couldn't get into Tracy Arm, went up Endicott Arm to Dawes glacier. Absolutely the best excursion I've ever been on, anywhere, ever.

If the "freebies" hold no value for you, you might want to consider booking the bare bones fare and pay for only the things you do want. It may be less expensive in the end.

Especially if you don't care to pick your cabin, check out the "guaranteed" categories, they often times don't include the specials and if they are significantly cheaper, go that route.

This is a ridiculous comment. And you know it. We are Talking about people leaving personal items on a chair to hold it. Not the Rolex on the ground. Do not touch anyone’s personal property.

And that is a ridiculous comment and you know it. For some items, there is no way to distinguish between forgotten/lost and intentionally left behind. If it looks lost, do the right thing which is to turn it in so it doesn't get stolen.

Good point. People getting worked up over a possible non-issue.

As someone who was on the Bliss and spent time in the OL, I agree based on my observations. However, others who were also there had different observations. And we've seen pictures from the TA of classic chair hogging (towels on the loungers). So, I don't think it's accurate to call it a non-issue.

I'm not sure when you last cruised but in March of this year on the Getaway you were charged for extra apps and deserts.

In June of this year on the Bliss in La Cucina and Cagneys we were not charged.

And to complete the picture, let's say after enjoying all three of those restaurants you decided you wanted to go back to Cagneys again becuase it was just oh-so-good. Becuase you used your 3 SDP choices already, you would then pay the ala-carte prices that you will see on the menu. That's what the ala-carte means.

It sounds like the boat you were on went ahead of the ship? Did you see it the whole way going to the glacier or just part of the way??

We didn't see the ship until the very end of our excursion when the Captain announced that we'd be heading back to meet it. That was the first time I saw it since we'd left it.

We just returned from our cruise. We didn’t have teens, but the whale watching tour was awesome. We booked independently with Alaska Humpback Adentures. It’s a small boat so the ride out is fun. We saw a lot of whales and the Captain, Steve, took us to an area where there were 50+ sea lions all talking to each other. I have four sons and they all would have thought it was super cool. I recommend him very highly.

I second the recommendation of Steve and Alaska Humpback Adventures. We were out with him last week and found him to be a wonderful person, very knowledgeable, the boat was clean and well kept and he went out of his way to show us a lot. Boat only holds 6 people so it will be a very personal experience.

A lot of excursions in Skagway include a stop at "Caribou Crossing". I'd recommend some of the other excursions. Caribou Crossing is a tourist trap that probably was invented to serve the cruise industry. All it has is small petting zoo, a room with a bunch of taxidermy, a smaller room that is a museum to the Candian mounted patrol, a lousy lunch (piece of chicken, cole slaw, bread and doughnuts) and an opportunity to have sled dogs drag you around a dirt track on a wheeled cart (for an extra fee).

Great video!

Was this Tuesday last week (the 5th)? We caught what looked like the same pod just outside the harbor area first thing Tuesday morning.

I want to go on the Alaskan cruise, just for this excursion!! That sounds like an amazing experience, being so close to the water while the ship maneuvers

The best thing about that excursion was the ability to stop - the Allen Marine crew were great and they stopped a few different times to view wildlife.

We even got to see a humpback breach which is pure luck, but would never happen if we hadn't been stopped to watch them. Stopping for the bear was like looking for a needle in a haystack - I have no idea how the captain saw him - it took binoculars or zoom lens to really see that it was a bear. The captain could have buzzed right by and no one would have known. We stopped alongside a big piece of ice, close enough that we could almost touch it. Might sound boring, after all, it's just ice, but, until you pull up alongside it, you really don't appreciate how big some these ice floats are and how dense they are.

Yeah, I would most definitely recommend that excursion. Worth every penny.

Was the ship doing the turn for cruisers to see the glacier?

Do you need to request the port valet papers or are they in your stateroom? We would like to use this on our Pearl cruise in 2 weeks. I’m reading so many different posts. Thanks for your help:)

It appears you should get it very early in the cruise. If you don't get it by the 2nd day, I'd suggest going down to Guest Services.

To answer my own question, I can't imagine there is much benefit or value to Vibe on Bliss in Alaska. Considering the weather and the beautiful indoor space (OL in particular) I never wished for space outside such as Vibe.

However, I admit that I didn't purchase access and it was sold out on the June 2 cruise, so some people must have felt there was value.

I'm with the others that say no.

However, maybe you have experience traveling with your parents. Do the 4 of you frequently travel together sharing a hotel room? Cut that hotel room in half. Could you still do it?

Unless you have experience sharing a room with them for an extended period of time, I wouldn't do it. Let them go and have a good time without you.

I was wondering if you could let me know the timing of the trip to Sawyer Glacier after leaving Juneau. I know we leave Juneau at 1:30 pm. About what time should we plan to eat dinner that night so we do not miss any of the sights? What time is the best viewing from your balcony or observation lounge? Thanks.

I think there are too many variables involved here. Do they go to Sawyer or Dawes? How much ice and how far up can they go? Time of year you are going. We were on the excursion boat and it was 7-ish that we got back on the Bliss which was at least 30 minutes after our scheduled return. And even after we were back on board, the Bliss stayed there for a bit and did a pirouette and then it needed to ride out of Endicott Arm and the ride out was nice too.

My recommendation would be to make absolutely no plans for dinner that night if you don't have to. Freestyle cruising after all :). If for some reason you have to make plans for that night, I'd make them late.

Shuttles to the airport cost $20 per person and leave frequently as soon as they fill a bus.

We were planning to take an Uber for 3 of us - about $40. As we walked out of the terminal, we were asked if we wanted the bus, we told them we planned on Uber, the gentleman said we could do 3 people on the bus for $40. So we did. A couple behind us got rather upset at the price discrepancy and we heard the operators tell the couple they will discount the rice for larger groups. Apparently "3" is a larger group :D:D

So the point is, if you are 3 or more, you can haggle price with them.

Just wondering where you met for this tour. On Bliss (like in theater) or on docks? Trying to plan our morning and wondering if we have time for a morning tour. Booked Harv & Marvs for 7:30. Also trying to decide if we want to do both or just one. Thanks for all of your help & pics. We are on the July 14th sailing.

Becuase of where the Bliss docks, there really isn't time to get in any Juneau shopping.

I am so happy we did both the whale watch and the Tracy Arm excursion - I highly recommend that to anyone for their Juneau day.

Checkin ran out of boarding group cards, so the late comers were all swarming the boarding line before the early arrivers. There are 4700 passengers on this cruise (vs 4000 capacity).

We got to the curb at 11:15 AM. We were on the ship in about 30 minutes. The only place we waited in a line was at the security screening and that was only because the one person ahead of us was slow. No line to check-in, and then walked right on the ship.

So, it sounds like between 10:45 and 11:15, they processed whatever boarding groups they had. Obviously, I don't know about the rest of the day, but I was shocked at how smooth, quick and easy it was to get through the terminal and on the ship.

There is no solution required. Chairs are always available.

If you are referring to chairs anywhere on the boat, then you are correct but way off topic. If you are referring to deck chairs, then chairs in areas you want to sit, are not always available. For example, people like me who need shade. Or families with small children who have a legitimate need to have a seat very near to the pool.

Just because this isn't a problem to you doesn't give you the arrogant right to dismiss it as a problem for others.

The problem is not people hogging chairs. The problem is that too many people think they have to have a chair right next to the pool, and unfortunately there is a finite amount of deck space near the pool. You can always find seats to lay out that are a bit removed from the pool.

Its set so that the stewards don't have to drag overweight cases around the ship. Why people need to bring more than 40 lbs of clothes on a cruise is always a mind bender for me, especially on Norwegian because there is no need for fancy clothes.

Why people make such judgemental comments to anything that is different from what they would do, is a mind bender to me.

You do need to make reservations - easily done once you are on the ship, use the same screens as you might reserve anything else.

We raced Friday morning before we got into Victoria. I race karts frequently (it's a "thing" my company does when we travel) and I expected the karts on the Bliss to be somewhat disappointing. While they are not as fast as for example the K1 karts, they are fast enough to give a great experience and the curviness of the track enhances it.

Negatives were what I thought were the inefficiencies of how they moved people through it. We showed up at 12:00 noon, the start of our reserved time and there were about 10 people in front of us and we still didn't actually get into our karts until 1:30. In the meantime, they'd sent one guy and his grandson out alone (in a 2 person kart), and a few groups of 5 (I am pretty sure they can send out 10 at once, we went out with 8). They could have easily grabbed us (a group of 3) and added us to either of the 5s (jut like any other track would do) I think one of the problems is they only had one 2 person kart out and available. They have more than one, it's just that the others are not on the track, but off to the side. They should have pulled out another 2 person kart.

One last tip - dress warm, you will be waiting in a windy area for an hour or more.

By the way - I won!!! (for those that don't know, the winner is not the first person to cross the finish line or the person who passes the most other racers, the winner is the person with the fastest individual lap time)

I don’t think you can truly appreciate the OL until you’ve seen it for yourself. On the TA we saw people sleeping for hours with blankets and towels with plates and glasses piled up.

I agree, you have to see it and I agree these people who are camped out are the problem. And there is a difference between the guy who fell asleep while reading or whatever and the people who laid out across a couch.

We were never able to get a seat by the windows and we were in the middle of the Atlantic with nothing but sea for miles.

Do you mean the windows up front or any window? On a TA I can see where this would happen. I assume the weather wasn't conducive to being outside, so, I understand people would want to hang out in the OL. I expect I would want to spend a large chunk of my day there, it's a gorgeous space. It's really no different than a warm weather cruise and people finding a spot they like outside and spending a good part of the day there