7 Nights Alaska: Glacier Bay, Skagway & Juneau Cruise

A Bliss-full Alaskan cruise

This was our first cruise to Alaska. We sailed with NCL aboard the Encore previously- so we were already familiar with the amenities aboard the Bliss - an amazing cruise ship! Embarkation: Flawless. This was really the fastest, most efficient embarkation we experienced with NCL to date. From dropping off our luggage to boarding took maybe 20- 30 minutes. Very fast. Cabin: We had a balcony cabin and it was quite comfortable with amazing views. We usually choose inside staterooms but Alaska deserved a cabin upgrade. Entertainment: Non-stop. From live music, to shows, wine tastings, trivia, bingo, casino etc - there's never a dull moment. Dining: NCL dining venues are all very good. Buffets are not my favorite kind of venue but for breakfast the omelette station was my go to - delicious and made to order. I never have a bad meal on NCL - it's all good. You don't need to spend extra on specialty dining but if you do, Cagneys, Teppan-yaki, and Le Bistro are worth the splurge. Tip: you can order a Cagneys steak from the menu at Manhattan room, Taste, or Savor for a reasonable upcharge. Itinerary: We knew this going in- that the Bliss had short stays in each port including the obligatory stop in Victoria (to comply with a 100 year old law) from 8pm to midnight. Excursions: mostly expensive, We opted for a guided tour in Sitka, rented a car via Turo in Juneau, whale watching in Icy Strait, and a Seaplane excursion in Ketchikan that was canceled due to rainy weather. NCL has a very efficient way to get everybody back on board. In the past, chaos because it was a free for all with extremely long wait times for an elevator. Now NCL has dedicated express elevators manned with employees to quickly take passengers up. Very efficient. NCL also now offers "Port Valet" and will check your bags all the way to your return destination. This makes disembarkation very fast, easy, and convenient. You no longer need to drag your bags off the ship!

8 days/7 nights to Alaska

We really enjoyed our time on the NCL Bliss this past week. The ship is in great condition and we had no problem staying busy with the amount of activities going on while out at sea. We saw Icons, The Beatles Experience twice (this was just okay imo) Jersey Boys twice and otherwise spent a lot of time in the hot tubs despite the rather bad weather. Making reservations for Icons and Jersey Boys was easy but it was unfortunate that the shows were fully booked but a lot of empty seats were left after the shows started. We ate at all of the complementary restaurants at least once and our favorite was Manhattan Grill. Our least favorite was American Diner but it wasn’t bad, they just had odd hours and the food wasn’t the best quality. The buffet was fine. We mostly went or the crepes and pizza occasionally. (We didn’t eat at any of the specialty restaurants nor did we ever order room service). The ports were all pretty short so that was a disappointment. I could have skipped a port or two for longer port times in another port. Our favorite port was Ketchikan due to easy access to Tongass National Forest and our least favorite port was Sitka, the city seemed ran down and we were bored after a short time in town. Sitka NHP saved the day for sure. We saw dozens of coastal brown bears, mostly in Hoonah, a few black bears, dozens of eagles, dozens of humpback whales and several orca whales as well. The embarkation was super easy and doing your muster drill as you embark made the process a lot faster. We had our luggage by 1200. We chose self disembarkation so we were off the ship by 0715. We stayed in adjoining studios that had a common door between the two. Since I went with my girlfriend we used one studio as storage and slept in the other. The shower is in the room itself so keep this in mind if booking a studio. Our steward was great at taking care of our needs.

Great time for a first cruise

We just recently returned from the first Alaska cruise of the season on the Norwegian Bliss. Overall: this was my very first cruise, so judge accordingly, but I enjoyed it immensely. Some of the pros were definitely the food at most of the included restaurants like Taste, Savor and Manhattan, absolutely buy the drink package if you do drink, a balcony is a must if you can afford it, bring binoculars, a ton of entertainment, and the crew was very pleasant, friendly, and helpful. Some cons were being the first ship out about 80% of the stores etc at the destinations were still closed for the season or had hours that didn’t coincide with the ship arrival and some of the premium restaurants had food that was not as good as those included in the cruise and still cost extra. I would say the biggest let down was Cagney’s. I did read prior reviews here and they were correct. The steaks were not well seasoned, the lamb ordered was chewy, the menu read there were truffle mashed potatoes but when we received truffle fries instead and asked for the correct item we were told this was the only item not just that they didn’t have any more (and I did recheck the menu on the way out and both were offered). I was also missing the maitre’d butter that was the topper of the steak and received a small ramekin of it instead. The wait staff however were very good, did try to correct as much as they could, and were very apologetic. I personally felt that the steaks at the Manhattan and even at The Garden were better (lower expectations maybe?) The hibachi at Teppanyaki was good though and the atmosphere was fun and engaging. I was disappointed by how slow the service seemed and felt maybe they were overwhelmed. When we would request items they had to be requested several times. It seemed they took forever clearing the dishes and bringing the dessert as well. I ordered a second drink while the meal was still being served but didn’t receive it until after dessert. That all being said I would eat here again if given the opportunity, it was fun and the food was good. I was traveling with friends who luckily had a balcony room and will definitely make sure to get one in the future on a trip like this. Definitely necessary. Otherwise, the boat was fantastic and I would definitely cruise Norwegian again.