Norwegian Bliss Review
Rating by category
Additional details
I recently completed a 7-day Alaska cruise onboard Norwegian Bliss. In fact, this was the second cruise to Alaska for this ship. I have been on several NCL cruises, and look forward to the excellent level of service, high quality dining, and great entertainment. While I understand that no cruise is perfect and minor things come up from time to time, I encountered a high number of issues. The press and others that follow the cruise industry game this ship very high marks on the preview voyages. It appears that the Norwegian Bliss is experiencing a lot of issues in its first weeks of taking fare paying passengers. I detail my experiences and observations below.
Embarkation
Considering this was the second embarkation of this ship, I was expecting quite a long and lengthy process to checkin and board the ship. I arrived at Pier 66 around 10am. Check-in was extremely smooth and efficient. The layout of the terminal was somewhat confusing (a lot of twists and turns, down corridors, etc.) to get to the waiting area. However, there was staff stationed along the way. I completed checkin and was sitting in the waiting room shortly before 11:00am and was in boarding group 3. Embarkation started around 11:30am. I was on the ship by 12:00pm.
Cabin Review
Studio Stateroom
I stayed in a studio cabin on Deck 10. I have been in the studio cabins on the other Breakaway class ships, and the layout is similar. The walls have a light woodgrain finish to break up the all white cabinetry. Replacing the one-way mirror/window from the other Breakaway class studio cabins is a virtual window. This has been done on other cruise ships, but this is a first for NCL. The virtual window gives you a live look outside the ship anytime day or night. I was blown away by the quality of the picture. You could also lower a shade which would turn off the virtual window monitor.
The layout of the studio cabins on the Bliss remains unchanged from her sister ships. The only exception was a smaller width bed. The beds in the studio cabins on the other Breakaway Class ships are full size, and the Bliss has a bed that is somewhere between a full and a twin. Personally, I appreciated the smaller width bed and the increased floor space. The stateroom television and interactive features were a significant improvement compared to her sister ships. The only downside was the sleep timer on the television did not function. I called guest services to inquire about this--they seemed confused about my request. After explaining what a sleep timer was to the guest services staff, they said they would send someone down. The ship was unable to get this resolved while onboard.
Housekeeping services were top notch on my sailing. My stateroom steward, Leslie, did a fantastic job!
Port Reviews
Victoria
Our final port of call was in Victoria, British Columbia. We had a late arrival (4:00pm) to port. The pier used is about a 20 minute walk to downtown. A shuttle bus is available for $13 round trip. Our group opted to walk to downtown. The walk is relatively flat and nice. I didn’t participate in any organized excursions in Victoria. I just walked around the city, enjoyed dinner with friends, and took pictures. The port area offers great places to take pictures of the cruise ships.