Cyclops32

On the Bliss for door entry to your stateroom you do not put in your card, you scan the card (it's sensored). anything else shops, bars, guest services they will need to swipe unless they manually punch it in.

I am on the Bliss now and the only time we need to get the card swiped is at the restaurants. Bars, go tracks, laser tags, cabin access, Haven access, and boarding or leaving the Bliss they have used the near field readers which works without taking the card out of the pouch on my landard.

 

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Is there a separate line for security for Haven or does that start after security? Thank you so much for posting this. We are going on July 21 and have not seen much about the Haven

I am not a hundred percent on this but when we dropped of the luggage there was a door that said Haven and was the start of Security. I know non-Haven were using it too. I chatted with people at the meet and greet and did find out that there were other security lines as well. Be advised some staff were not very knowledge about about the Haven. They tried directing us to other area but if you keep an eye out for the Haven signs you will be fine

 

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I was wondering what people think is the best way to use your OBC on the Bliss if you already have the free beverage package and 3 night specialty dining? We received quite a bit of OBC from both the cruise line, our travel agent as well as our NCL world points. Thanks.

I used mine on upgrading my 250 mins of wifi to the unlimited plan which killed about $120 of it. We also ate at food Republic which is not on the dining plan, and booked things like the prohibition show, lasted tag and the go carts. That atleast a start

 

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You can only reserve once you get onboard, cannot be booked before hand.

I am one the Bliss now and had our first races today. Like they said above book early. First stop is Check in. We waited maybe 15mins there. We then got let in to sit for maybe 5-10 minutes. From there we got lined up behind the group in front of us who were the last two person carts. Once they moved they asked for are cards again and assigned us our cars and hot out head covering. From there a 5 min briefing and finally after the other cars pitted we were let in. Start the race as soon as everyone was in.

 

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The Bliss has the same sign. Have not been back up there since yesterday but at the time there were only 4 people up there sitting in the smoking section of the Haven. I really hate it because when. We are near the glaziers both my wife and I would love to be up there but can't because our kids are stuck below. Really messes up a Alaskan cruise

 

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After lunch we stopped by the cabin and there were chocolate covered strawberries, cookies and potato chips waitting. I did get a picture of that as I was walking around a bit and the family had most of it gone.

 

I wanted to check and see how crowded the Haven observation lounge was. As you can see in the photos the top level had no one and looking down there where open seats. My sister however said she walked threw later and there was one person upstairs and all the front chairs were taken, so it may be hit or miss but so far does not appear to have a bunch of chair hogs.

 

We went to Ocean Blue for dinner tonight. My youngest (9) loves mussels and claim chowder he loved them. Big and tasty. The had Rock fish as a special. Sorry but I didn't think of taking photos of it. DW took photos of the deserts. One was a draw and white chocolate dessert and the other was a lemon type of dessert.

 

My oldest got a little sea sick this afternoon when the ship was rocking a bit so I brought him back to the cabin while DW and DS went to Havana. When we got back our steward was just finishing up the room for the night. We had chocolate chip cookies waitting our towel animal (did not get one yesterday for some reason). I also have not seen the bunk bed setup in the Haven Two bedroom so I grabbed a shot of it.

 

Opps. Almost forgot about the race track. Since the youngest was only about 50 inches tall he had to ride the two person. He was happy until he got in and learned everything on the right side is disconnected. He could spin the wheel but nothing happens. So it was just a ride alone. This made him very sad.

 

I raced about an hour later with my older son. I noticed they had two lines. Haven and everyone else. We were the only on red in that lane so we got in the first race for that hour. I loved it. I was in first for a while and lapped my son twice [emoji1]. I then got stuck behi d the slow pack for the last 4 laps and two others were able to beat my time so I got third. My son hit a wall a bit hard and it scared him a bit so he actually pitted early. The stopped the race for about 15 seconds as he exited. And we started up again. I did learn the trick to the cars though but that's my secret until my last race later this week.

 

Laser tag is due up next so will see how that goes. Hoping the youngest feels better so he can join in.

 

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Thanks. I actually saw those pictures from one of the prior cruise.

 

Today was pretty cool. Had our first meal in the Bliss Haven restaurant. The first thing I saw that was new to me was the water glasses. It was actually stainless steel. I ended up getting the filet and eggs. Was great and the steak was cooked exactly to what I requested.

 

After breakfast we sat in the atrium and watched some of the things going on there one was talking about how they operate a hotel at see. One picture below show how much Hard Ice Cream they use on a week cruise. It also show some of the other crew area I have never seen before. One.of which is the crew bar at the very front of the ship. Many photos show the covering but not what is under it. They also explained that the Bliss now has 70% single person rooms with a Jack and Jill bath. They said they serveyed all of there crews and Sharing a room was the largest complaint so the design the Bliss this way. Also there now is only a single mess that the captain all the way to the lowest level crew all share and they like that

 

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As it stands right now all outdoor portions of the Haven are for 16+. The sign is on the door leading out to the outdoor section

 

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Hey we checked in early and they only had some of the turnstyle things open to security, so I am wondering if they directed you to a different spot. Right after x-ray we turned right and I saw a bank of elevators but as I got closer I saw the escalator which was working when we boarded

 

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Thanks for all the wonderful info so far! We are sailing in August 2019! We will be staying at the Marriott Waterfront as well. I was curious to know if you are able to cross the street right at the hotel to the cruise port or do you have to go to the bridge and then cross to the terminal? Thanks

The Marriott has a crosswalk right at the front door. May be tonight I can get some of the other photos from the big camera that should show it

 

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Well the day has ended for use with such an early start today. The second half of the day we stopped my our cabin before the muster drill and had a few snacks from the captain. We then were assigned C5 as out muster station. Was a bit surprised with having a family 2 bedroom. Was expecting the theater. The C location is in the local. And C5 sign is my the last row of tables going back to the bowling ally. Heard many people complain that there are almost no seats and it was hot standing there for almost 30 minutes.

 

After the drill my sister who is traveling with us wanted to watch the sail way from our balony so she went there with our boys. DW and I headed to the spa for the raffle. Only about 60 people were there and you had to be present to win. They gave a few 75 and 100 dollar and a single $150 spa credit. Was fun. If you won then you had to do a dance. Surprising about 3 peoples names got called but were not there so they drew again. They had a small sales pitch before each name was drawn.

 

After that we went to Food Republic since Haven guests got 1/2 the first night. It was great. Food was great but maybe only 3 or 4 tables had anyone there. The waiter Allan did some magic with our kids and then taught the tricks to them.

 

The kids went off the splash after dinner a d they found out Joker who is one sons favorite staff members is on board.

 

Finished off the night watching the line dancing and played majority rules. Which was a blast

 

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Most likely, why the policy was changed.

It appears to be across the line. May ask about it but everyone was busy today just trying to get everything booked for everyone.

 

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So now I have to wonder.....Will BA/GA/Encore implement the same 16+ policy for the Haven sundeck?

 

What I would do is (don't hate me :cool:) have the Haven take the forward facing sundeck on all the BA/BA Plus ships but split it into all ages on one side and 18+ on the other. This could eliminate Haven guests going for VIBE passes....if the Haven adult half has built-in VIBE access, of course.

I would have no issues if the forward facing had half as 18+ but atleast leave some of it open. My wife loves to take photos with her camera and there will be parts of the cruise we want our kids to see and being outside forward would be the best for our family with no glass in front of us

 

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Our cruise is next week. Staying at the same hotel. Thank you for reporting on how close it is to the Marriott. How was the hotel?

The hotel was nice. For a corner room and the price it was a bit small. On kid slept on a rollaway that was not the best but over all happy with it. We also at in the hotel the night before and the clam chowder was great. Breakfast was expensive $30 for the buffet which none of us got but even at that 4 adult breakfasts and a kids was still $135 including tip.

 

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What time did you drop off luggage? Board? We’re staying by the airport the night before we sail and thought we’d get to port early, drop luggage and explore a bit but not sure how to time it.

We dropped off luggage at about 9:30 and boarded a little after 11

 

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They brought out some snacks in the Haven waitting area about 10 o'clock and we ended up boarding shortly after 11. They took us to the Haven Observation Lounge and offered virgin mojita or fruit punch along with a few snacks. After about 5 mins they gave us the standard Haven briefing. And as was talked about in another thread the outside sun deck is only for those 16+ which I am not happy about because we would love to see some of the outside forward views with our kids.

 

After the briefing I did some of our bookings that we could not do before the cruise. For some reason they said laser tags was only in the evenings even though a waiter at lunch was surprised to hear that. They also stated that kids between 48 & 58 had to do the two person go karts. So we are split up that our youngest will ride with one of us and the older one will race with the other parent in the race following.

 

After that we went to our cabin just to drop out carry-on off and left a note for our butler.

 

From there it was off to splash academy and checked the boys in and the up to Margaritaville for the free Haven lunch. We were at a table by 12:30. I then headed down to upgrade my 250 mins of WiFi to the unlimited. Surprisingly compared to our Escape cruise last year there was no line. I also found out that I could upgrade to the unlimited plan myself using the icafe app I had from last year. Just choosed the plan I wanted. It did char e the $245 but then looked and saw it credited my $125 for the 250 mins I not used.

 

Going to explore a little bit before Muster Drill

 

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Following. Dying to know if the haven pool is swimmable without freezing!

My boys will surely test out the pools so will let you know.

 

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Just fi I shed checking in. We called for a bellman at 9:15 since we had a ton of luggage. If you only have a few pieces it is basically across the street. Maybe 500 feet from hotel door to bag drop-off.

 

It appears people started in to security at 9 am. We where in the Haven waiting area but 9:35. Very fast through security. As soon as you get to the top of the escalator there is a sign to the Haven with Doble doors. That's the Haven waiting area. Both pictures are from inside the waiting area.

 

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I have been following the Bliss for quite some time but have not see anyone who was in the Haven on the Bliss Alaskan cruise, so I will be posting on some of the things we are doing on the trip as well as highlighting some of the Ha en differences.

 

We flew in from St Louis on Friday and are staying at the Marriott right across the street. I have watched the web cams the prior weeks and have seen the Bliss docking around 5am so I started watching for it at 4:30. It came into sight about 5am and was docked at 5:30. Saw my first people off the ship at about 6:50. Here are some of the photos from our room

 

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Some of you make it sound like taking a vacation requires a course in how to properly enjoy it. If I pay for a premium suite, I expect a top notch experience. Same with a suite in a hotel or a first class ticket on an airplane. And $9.95 to use a ship amenity when you are paying that kind of money? Please. Extensive “research” should not be required.

 

I do not fault the OP whatsoever for spending that kind of money and not receiving the best of the best, and especially the nickel and dime with the Go Karts. What a joke.

Any trip should be researched by yourself or a travel agent you trust. I for one would hate a premium cruise line even though many people would say it is more top notch the a Haven suite. I would pay more for a Haven suite then traveling on one of those other lines because it fits me more. Even the simple thing that I do not want to dress up when I am on vacation is just one example of what thing I learned by researching before I chose my trip.

 

Not everyone enjoy the same thing. Don't research then do not complain that it was bad because it was different then what you assumed it to be

 

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If I spent 10K on the Haven I would want a free turn on the go carts....just saying..... LOL

We will be in the Haven on the Bliss and I have no issue with paying for the go carts.

 

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The walk to the Haven has not been an issue for me. I have mobility issues that slow me down but even I made it from an aft cabin to the Haven in 2 Mins. So not sure why the OP said 10 mins. Also like others stated there are a ton of bars between the two.

 

The $10 for the go carts are not a concern for me either. Keeps it more limited otherwise good luck getting a chance. If free I could see the same people book 20 or 30 rides per cruise. To me it's better then the $5 to bowl

 

The soot issue could be caused by weather too. Get the right conditions and that could happen on any ship built

 

To me I would still prefer an Aft Haven cabin on any ship

 

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Is this an extra charge item? If so, what is the cost per person?

 

Thanks.

 

MARAPRINCE

It was free when we did it, but book it as soon as you can when you get on board

 

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Thanks! So what does it mean if there are not a lot of porters at the curb? That you have to go to a table?

 

And hopefully Cyclops will report on getting from the Marriott to the pier.

I will. So far I have not seen any reports from Haven guests on the Bliss with Alaska ports. Unless someone posts stuff this week then I plan on posting our experience as we go. At least the pictures should get uploaded through out the week. Will have to see about any videos. I have a new 360 video camera and plan on using it for some of the excursion and those files can be huge so videos may have to wait.

 

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You get to the pier. Baggage drop off is on the right. There is a table setup for luggage tagging if you need it.

After you drop off your luggage, you walk left down the block to just before Anthony’s restaurant. Almost a small plaza with the ship directly in front, restaurant on left and then you will turn right. Once in the building, Haven goes right, others go left and from there you are further directed.

 

Sorry I wasn’t more explicit earlier.

Thanks. Since you said you were on the 6/9 as well, do you remember when they started letting people thru security and when they finally started to board. I heard the 6/2 was quick but that could be because the prior cruise had a lot fewer people to get off.

 

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