Diana68

I was wondering about that too. I will be on the June 2 Alaska sailing and Wyland will be onboard that cruise. If there is not currently any of his art in the shops I wonder if some will be brought onboard the June 2 cruise? Either way, I hope he will do some kind of presentation onboard. That would really be something special.

I will also be on the June 2nd sailing.

He'll definitely be doing some kind of presentation. He sounds really excited about it. This is a long podcast from him a few days ago. Watch what he says at the 15 min. and the 1:08 min. marks and tell me what you think. He says that he'll have lots of surprises for us.

It sounds to me like Guy Harvey might be onboard with us too. Did you hear at the 15 min where he says that he'll be seeing Guy on his ship,...then goes on to talk about the Bliss. Am I reading too much into that comment??

What I'm really hoping for is an announcement that the two of them are collaborating on the hull work for the Encore.

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Love all the artwork and the dominant color being blue. Regarding artwork, with Wyland Artwork on the Hull, is there any of Wyland art on the Interior or in the shops by chance?

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As long as you have the booking numbers for all 5 cabins, you should be able to book over the phone. I've never had to book a group that large though, so I'm not positive that all restaurants will be able to seat you at one table.

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You will love that location and I hope you have Damian as your room steward - he was awesome!

 

 

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We do have Damian, but we haven't met him yet.

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Hi all -

 

Currently waiting for my turn to disembark after a great week on Oasis and though I’d give a review, as so many others have helped me over the years. I will try to hit on some of the more popular topics and then give a summary at the end.

 

Who: myself, DH (both recently turned 50 [emoji15]), my daughter and her friend (both 15). This is our 3rd cruise on RC (7th cruise overall) and our first on a “mega ship”.

 

Embarkation: we drove down the day before (we live in NC) and stayed overnight at the Residence Inn right near the port. The hotel was fine for a night’s stay - lots of cruisers there. We arrived at the port around 11am, off-loaded the luggage with the porters, parked, went through security, got Sea Pass cards and were onboard a little before noon. Very smooth process. We didn’t have any priority for this cruise other than being Gold C&A members (that and $5 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks on the Promenade [emoji3]).

 

Cabin: we had two Central Park balcony room on deck 11 (11195 & 11197). This was our first time not having an ocean view balcony of some sort and I wasn’t sure how everyone would feel about it. I loved Central Park and didn’t miss the ocean view. The rest of my party missed the view. I loved being able to sit on my balcony at night and listen to the music below, look up and see the stars from above. The cabins themselves seemed tight. God bless those who fit 3 or 4 people in these cabins. It was tight with 2 people.

 

The closet was large with more than enough hanging room, but the only other storage consisted of shelves in the closet and two very small drawers at the vanity. The bathroom was small but adequate with shelves for storage. Shower is similar to a space capsule. Dropping something in there leads to an interesting predicament [emoji38]

 

The cabin stayed cool for the whole week as long as the balcony door was latched and the curtains were closed. Depending on the day, our side of the ship had sun on the balcony which made it too hot to sit out there until after dark. With the balcony door closed, we could hear very faint noise from below. Our cabin location and deck was really perfect - a quick walk to the forward elevators and I could be down to Starbucks on deck 5, or ground zero on the pool deck on 15. It was a little bit longer to get to the MDR, but not by much. When picking a Central Park balcony, I think decks 10 or 11 are your best bet - far enough from Central Park and the pool deck so noise is not an issue.

 

Food: we ate at 3 of the specialty restaurants- Giovanni’s (First Night Done Right), Chops and Sabor. All were delicious. The other nights we had MTD. After reading many negative reviews about the MDR food and the slow service, I was nervous. I didn’t need to be, as everything we had in the MDR was delicious (except for a piece of salmon that was a bit “fishy”). We actually looked forward to eating there! The service was outstanding and quick! We were pleasantly surprised and declared this to be the best MDR experience we’ve had on a cruise!

 

Taking a break to make sure my crew is up and getting ready to leave this great ship, but I will continue my review with entertainment, ports of call and an overall view of Oasis...thanks for reading [emoji4]

 

 

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A bunch of us are taking masks, and there is a crew member on the Bliss 'page' that says there will be Mask making onboard.

 

We are getting a bit of inside info.

 

Just like its encouraged to dress 20s Flapper for the Prohibition show to join in on the spirit of the show.

I thought that they might. On Princess they let us pick either a white or purple plastic mask, and then gave everyone three mixed color bags; feathers, rhinestone, and sequins. If you wanted a certain color scheme, you had to trade with your neighbors. I made a mask, but didn't end up wearing it. There weren't many on the dance floor that had them on.

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Many lines, including NCL, use facial recognition in their security video systems. They know who everyone is out and about in the public areas on their video monitoring screens. (Remember they take your photo at check in)

Masks would mess this up.

 

Policies could be change, but in this case it is being advertised by NCL. In your example it was a party planned by the group taking a charter.

It will be interesting to see if Masquerade sticks around or is cut down the road.

 

 

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Once you get the status match, is it only good for your first cruise with MSC, or do you get to keep the level permanently?

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If you go on the Royal Caribbean App, it will show you the daily program for your sailing about three weeks early.

I can now see what movies we will have next week on my sailing.

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I've just returned from the Royal Princess, and found the opposite to be true.

We hadn't sailed Princess in six years. We had previously done 14 days on the Grand, and 29 days on the Sea, but have chosen other lines because we felt the entertainment was better...and the beds were horrible on Princess. I've been on 49 cruises total.

We got a crazy good deal, so we booked, even though I wasn't expecting a great trip. Matt O and his team were one of the best cruise staff that we've ever had! They were everywhere around the ship, and had activities all day long. The shows in the theater have improved (still not as good as the Broadway shows on Royal or NCL), and the food is better than most other lines. The beds are fine now too.

We didn't book the beverage package, but I think both do need to buy it. I don't think they have non refundable fares like Royal.

I would give them another try if I were you.

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We are on the Inaugural Alaskan sailing on June 2nd. Like I said we were told Teppanyaki.

 

 

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Yes. We are on the inaugural and they are offering Teppanyaki in place of Moderno.

 

 

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Does anyone have a feel for what specialty restaurant will replace Moderno for the complimentary Platinum dinner? Only 2 weeks out from being able to book dining reservations and have been unable to find information on the NCL website. Thanks

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... those whales in New York or anywhere away fom Arctic might look a tad out of place ...no?

Humpbacks aren't just in Alaska. They do migrate to warm waters in the winter to have their young, so you can see them in the places the Bliss will be sailing, even the Atlantic coast, and Caribbean.

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New commercial!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RGZodkbKlu0&feature=share

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Yes, but only during the D hours (typically 4:30-8 on Oasis).

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Are you asking about the drinks that Diamond members get loaded on their Seapasses? As Diamond members you will have three free drinks loaded on your Seapass card every day to be used during the time that Happy Hour is occurring in the Diamond lounge. The drinks do not have to be gotten in the lounge however, they can be ordered at any bay bar on the ship. The drinks are available only during Happy Hour and do not carry over from one day to the next.

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Say I had $100 in OBC, and wanted to buy a $250 cruise next deposit while onboard.

 

Assuming I hadn't used up the OBC on anything else, would it reduce the actual charge for the deposit to $150?

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Thanks for the info. I don’t think I’ve had the privilege to meet any of them, but they sound like a great group. I can’t wait to hear the official announcement on the staff. A while back we’d seen reports that Tyler the CD from the Escape was moving to the Bliss, so I guess that news - like many things - is always subject to change. [emoji846]

 

 

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They may be rotating Silas and Tyler, but Silas said he should be there for the Canal.

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We are just back from 22 days on the Getaway. Many of the staff onboard have learned that they will be on the Bliss, including Silas the Cruise Director( my favorite!!) and Carolina the Cruise Next Manager. We had dinner with the second staff captain (third in line after Captain and Staff Captain), and he was getting ready to go to Germany to help prepare the ship. He's getting married on his vacation in March, but will be back on board for the first Panama Canal sailing (probably with his new wife, a former singer/dancer). He told us who the Staff Captain will be also, but I forgot his name too. He said the Staff Captain will be retiring soon, so he hopes to get his job and remain on the Bliss.

Hopefully NCL will make a public anouncement soon listing the senior officers, since the decisions have been made, and my memory is poor.

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Just booked for June 2 to Alaska. Now to find the roll call:D

No roll call yet.

401 days. . . . . I can wait.

We booked a mini-suite large balcony on deck 8. Here's hoping Distrct Brew House will be on board.

We received a $140 on board credit.

The agent on the phone said that we are on the starboard side and that will be facing away from the port in Ketchican and Juneau.

There is a roll call for June 2nd.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2442432

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Keep in mind that she was talking with customer service, and she wanted a return call from "senior management", not just escalation, but senior management. That takes a bit of time to pass notification and for that person to make the call. If she wanted normal escalation she probably would have been passed to the depart that handles abnormal situation (reconciliation department I think Princess calls it). It is not like senior management is waiting to make calls after escalation from the folks that normally handle such things.

I never asked to speak to upper management, I didn't even ask to talk to anyone else. I just asked if they knew why I had been sent a second confirmation. They put me on hold to try to get an answer. When they returned, they told me that I would get the call back. I raised no stink, just said ok...even the second day that I called. When senior management called me back, I simply said that I didn't think I would take that offer, and she told me to think about it until Friday.

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Is it possible that Cruise Critic made the typo?

No. I went to the Princess website, and the pricing was there. I, and others, booked,paid deposits, and got confirmations at this price.

I often find good deals on cruises, my upcoming October trip is $229pp w/ free unlimited beverage package(normally $70 per day), so this deal was not as unbelievable as some have commented.

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Diana68: Good points. And thanks for being even-keeled when you're unhappy about something. Not all of us can do that. You're right that the cruise line has a lot more control over the presentation of its price than the local grocer who turns over the copy to the Daily Bugle and hopes for the best.

 

I was mostly trying to pass along the concept of a price being too good to be true.

 

Jim

It's not something to get overheated about(although if I had booked airfare I'd be more upset), but I definitely think that Princess is in the wrong here...even if it wouldn't have been my booking.

On the other hand, this will definitely change my opinion and recommendations of Princess. We cruise a lot, and my husband just retired last month, so we will be cruising more. People always ask our favorite cruise line, and in the past I've said that Princess was my husbands second favorite, that they have great itinerarys, and good food,...but the beds are too hard for me. Now when people ask, they will hear this story!

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Hahaha. We both basically typed the same response at the same time!

Awesome! I hope to sail with you sometime!

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