Hotspring

15 minutes ago, Kfamilycruise said:

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking with school out there might be.

 

I'm also looking at the Joy and at RCL Ovation of the Seas. It's a hard choice, but with my favorite ship to date being the Escape, it's especially hard choosing between the Bliss & the Joy. 

Joy does not have the Spa that the Bliss has,  something to enjoy on chilly Alaskan days.   But Joy has more teenage stuff such as virtual reality and bumper cars that take up the space of the Spa.   Matter of priorities.

3 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

Did you look closely at the port times of the Bliss  ?  Will those times work for your planned activities?

  

Esp Ketchikan .... it may dock at 6am but realistically what time will you be off the ship ? then back on board by 12:30pm.   So maybe 4 hrs total in town.  And Juneau ... maybe disembarking around 3pm.

 

But consider the longer daylight hours in Alaska versus the rest of country, particularly the south.   Plenty of time.

15 hours ago, cdnsteelman said:

What exactly do you mean by this? Most reports I've read here indicate the internet managers deem the free at sea wifi perq to have no value and won't provide partial credit to an unlimited plan. I take it your experience has been different?

Check out the recently opened Internet Packages thread here.    The BirdTravels person knows their stuff and affirms that you are offered that upgrade.   I vaguely recall having that choice on our last cruise but wanted to test the speed first.   It was decent so on our next one I am definitely trading in the 250' for the unlimited.

14 hours ago, cdnsteelman said:

What exactly do you mean by this? Most reports I've read here indicate the internet managers deem the free at sea wifi perq to have no value and won't provide partial credit to an unlimited plan. I take it your experience has been different?

Interesting, I found out about the ability to trade the 250 Minutes Free At Sea perk for half the $34.99 daily cost of unlimited wifi on this site.  Or was it the Facebook site.   Enough folks affirmed that what they did to suggest that was the way to go.  The only qualification that might be needed was do to it as early as possible after you board.    I guess the jury is out again.

On ‎10‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 11:25 PM, Hotspring said:

When will it end?   NCL has been running a Free Airfare + Free WiFi since 10.1.18.    It was supposed to thankfully expire on 10.16.18, but they have extended the miserable thing.

 IMO totally worthless. 

We can easily trade in their Free at Sea WiFi choice for half the cost of purchasing Unlimited WiFi anyway.   Really not much of a savings and forthgoing an existing perk for suite passengers.

We have absolutely no control over what flights, number of stops, seats or even the ability to sit a group together on a flight.   Then there is the possibility that they will find a last week  flight for the two free passengers eligible that will have absolutely no additional seats for other passengers in the stateroom or be outrageously priced to offset any price break NCL negotiates with the airlines.   Even if the NCL guarantee ensures you will make your boarding, it might be on an exhausting red eye arriving too early in the morning but too late to check into a hotel for nap.

We are anxiously waiting for a Free Onboard Spend promotion to come back.   We had a miscommunication with our TA when the last one expired without warning on 9.30.18 and lost out on the $500 OBC promotion running then.   Really want to get our mindset going on reserving a cruise but not with restoration of a promotion that has almost as much value to us as the $500 OBC that we lost.

 

Any projections when this horrible promotion will end and a worthwhile one will roll out?   OBC, prepaid DSC, ???

 

Thanks for any projections.

 

Found an workable answer to my quest in the following site.  Appears OBC should be seasonally showing up again shortly.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNA6M2AvBZ-Dr_cgnVLG-Zo8ltTNB6OOMNccAmhKAvNd8ryeT9GeoOLFSTBf-ycGg?key=S3NzZlRFekJiUVpJX3lVTjF1VGtkNUtYYWpQaW13

54 minutes ago, Newleno said:

Probably got sick from the edible not the maryjane 

That's a possibility, but while it is known Cannabis cannot really permanent damage one, it can be overwhelming when you have had too much.   Just like when one drinks too much they may puke it out, the body many give those that partake in to much of the edibles the urge to expel it from their systems.   Unlike smoking or vaping, the edibles can take several hours to even provide a buzz,  in the meantime one expecting a quick buzz will likely over indulge in triplicate to try and attain the same effect.  I enjoy a variety of chemicals from the 70's but never had a bad trip until  recently tried a "legal" edible brownie, did not fill the effect and tried another.    This after being clean for decades.   I did not think I would live through the night with my only hope knowing that Cannabis has never been know to hurt one.  

You spent money for the cruise, enjoy it, why through away 12 to 18 hours having an overdose of Cannabis blow your mind.  Try the Cannabis when you get back home or visit a state on land that has already legalized it.

Cannot say I know about the Escape's Studios but I know my DS set of the alarm taking a steamy shower in 16100, the Spa stateroom that is actually set to occupy 4.   She left the bathroom door open.   We even had both sliders open at the time, but since we had to detectors in the cabin, it took awhile for security to figure out which one to have the bridge turn off.

So if possible, shut or curtain off your room where the detectors before your shower.   Be sure to keep a towel nearby in case Security needs to crash in looking for a fire.

When will it end?   NCL has been running a Free Airfare + Free WiFi since 10.1.18.    It was supposed to thankfully expire on 10.16.18, but they have extended the miserable thing.

 IMO totally worthless. 

We can easily trade in their Free at Sea WiFi choice for half the cost of purchasing Unlimited WiFi anyway.   Really not much of a savings and forthgoing an existing perk for suite passengers.

We have absolutely no control over what flights, number of stops, seats or even the ability to sit a group together on a flight.   Then there is the possibility that they will find a last week  flight for the two free passengers eligible that will have absolutely no additional seats for other passengers in the stateroom or be outrageously priced to offset any price break NCL negotiates with the airlines.   Even if the NCL guarantee ensures you will make your boarding, it might be on an exhausting red eye arriving too early in the morning but too late to check into a hotel for nap.

We are anxiously waiting for a Free Onboard Spend promotion to come back.   We had a miscommunication with our TA when the last one expired without warning on 9.30.18 and lost out on the $500 OBC promotion running then.   Really want to get our mindset going on reserving a cruise but not with restoration of a promotion that has almost as much value to us as the $500 OBC that we lost.

Any projections when this horrible promotion will end and a worthwhile one will roll out?   OBC, prepaid DSC, ???

Thanks for any projections.

I have not cruised in a suite/haven before, but why doesn't the extra service fee (difference between service charge in regular rooms vs suites/haven) go directly to the bulters/concierge? What's the difference in fees for (is it really for the room size)? I am not being snarky and looking for a realistic answer so I know how much I want to tip. TY

For the suites it likely because of the larger room size and additional places to clean, such as the bath tub rather than just a shower. However, for the Haven you are getting the larger and nicer room and furnishing, but you are getting a much friendlier and interactive staff. Eating in the Haven restaurant and using the Haven Bar are a far different experience than the bars and restaurants attended by the the steerage. They recognize you, anticipate your needs, meet your needs and wants, make you feel as special as you are, and offer special services such as extra towel animals for kids bed.

We are considering booking a stateroom on deck 15 on the Joy. However, reading elsewhere and past experience on other cruise lines , there is the possibility that we are going to hear deck and dining chairs throughout the day and night. Does anyone know if the Breakaway Plus ships (Bliss, Escape, Joy) fixed this problem or should we be seeking a stateroom elsewhere if we do not want to hear chairs scuffling above us at all hours.

We know we never have heard even jumping or footsteps in floor above us when we have stayed under other cabins with carpeting.

That must have changed quite recently. We got one in our cabin in May.? Or maybe it was a different party I am thinking of. I do know we had an invitation in our cabin. Oh well, guess I am thinking of something else?

Yes, as of last week, Haven guest received personalized invitations in their staterooms with the date and times for both parties. But then again, NCL does have some systemic inconsistencies, for example are stateroom did not have any letter or even instructions for access our 250 minutes of free internet time.

I write on the bottom of the form they have you fill out that I'm not interested in purchasing any products and would appreciate no sales pitch. It has worked for me so far. Also, if you are platinum, you get 25% off spa treatments when in port. We usually schedule them for the afternoon when we'll be back on board.

 

Also, you can tell them on your form what kind of pressure you want - light, medium or firm and, if it seems too hard, just tell them back off a bit. I love the bamboo massage - I feel like a giant piece of pie crust :) I like the rolling motion it gives rather than the more digging/poking of a regular massage. My one wish about their spa services is that they did aromatherapy, I love the smell of lavender with a massage. Very relaxing.

All the massages had aromatherapy using those electronic vases with a visible fog coming out. They even had orchids as well.

Would love to hear what buzz words need to be used to get a rolling effect with a bamboo cane. Again, I thought they were attempting to use the stone or bamboo cane to raze my skin off like they used to do to Bison out on the plains. The grunting in applying pressure did not help at all either. Maybe we have to train the therapist as well. In retrospect one of my stone massages was supposed to be Bamboo, the paperwork confirmed that, but she went for stone---maybe she did not know how to do Bamboo yet and I did not know the difference until afterwards (they make sure your eyes are covered for most of the session). Thanks.

Thank you! so, it means even we can use this credit on disembarkation day "Hop on Hop off in Miami?" Good to know!

While you should get the credit for disembarkation day, we found that we had to contact NCL to get it and they cheerfully agreed to have it reserved on our account for our next sailing as a OBC rather then credit our card. They will not give the shore excursion credit until after the excursion is over, likely avoid crediting folks cancelling at the last moment.

I find it odd (and wasteful) that people buy/use bottled water at all (excepting extreme situations like Flint, MI).

Just keep in mind that it is far, far healthier than purchasing soda pop which they likely were purchasing in prior decades. Consequently it helps keep your health insurance down. The soda pop comes in a bottle as well so it a 1:1 match to damaging our eco system.

That said we do the refill the bottle with ship water trick.

Just wondering if it would be worth it? Considering that we already have the H8 which is a pretty nice room but smaller balcony.

 

The H4 is bigger room and should have a bigger balcony but not by much and is in Haven compound.

 

Thoughts?

Having just stayed in the H8, I would say go for it even if you do not score a larger balcony. You will still have the king size bed and having two bathrooms and space for 6 folks for just the two of you will be a pleasure. We enjoyed the H8 except for the partial coverage of the H8 balcony, but wished the master bedroom could see out the window at nights---blinds had to be closed to avoid glaring out the bridge.

Regarding the ship missing the Glacier, that's unfortunate. I feel for you all.

 

Do you know if the Tracy Arm excursion small boat was able to get up to see the glacier?

Yes, I know, it did not. It was supposed to be the center highpoint of our trip. Having done two trips to Alaska previously and having a 50/50 chance of seeing a calving glacier 2 miles out, we definitely were looking forward small boat excursion leaving the ship at 1:15PM and getting with a 1/4 mile of the glacier plus the possibility of seeing whales and wildlife up close.

We went to check in and where cheerfully told that due to equipment failures that the excursion was cancelled and that our fares were refunded "just now". We would still be able to see the glacier though. Right, we thought from our previous experience---and as you see in this thread the ship's tour of the glacier was a bust as well. So disappointed.

I do wonder about why the captain did not turn back once the skies cleared after we sailed away from the glacier a little bit, surely he could have made up the time.

you'll save a bit when the ship is in port.

 

teh worst part tho is the hard product sell at the end. the massages are very good (i like the hot stone one!) but all relaxation goes away at the end wehn they want to sell you crap.

Agree the sales pitch at the end is a pain, but watch out when getting the stone or bamboo massages.

Instead of therapist feeling your body and muscles they use the stones and bamboos as a weapon to forcefully dig into your body, particularly stabbing the instruments again your bones. It was more like a slow motion flogging. My shoulder blades and knee caps are still tingling in pain 5 days later. They definitely were not indulgences. My spouse says I should have said something about the intense painful pressure but I assumed that they knew what they were doing.

I have had hot stone massages elsewhere and all they did was use the hot stones resting on the body rather than being weaponized. I guess make sure you are aware of what you are getting into before taking advantage of the 10-20-30 program with exotic sounding massages.

It was a regular Starbucks. And they automatically add a 20% tip. I didn’t use my Starbucks card/app because I figured I needed to have internet access to pull it up? So I missed a star. Oh well. :)

 

 

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I thought that all regular corporate Starbucks offered free wi-fi, only the licensed Starbucks like you find in some grocery stores do not. While internet access was not part of the shipboard Starbucks it did offer fast and dependable wi-fi access to the app. (Of course, Starbucks wi-fi access is already established on all of our phones---even in airplane mode). We did not detect the 20% tip added on but that may be because we are used to a 10 to 11% sales tax added on in Washington State. No taxes on the ship. In fact, for the same beverage and size purchased near Seattle today, we paid less on the ship per the order history I am looking at right now. Yes, oh well, but lesson learned for everyone else.

When I ate at the Teppanyaki restaurant, they never uttered a word, just handed us the pictures. Is it now different, do they actually try to sell them to you?

How long ago was that? Now you either pay for them at over $25/picture or give them back. Did you walk out without paying?

I am sure this may already be out there, but I can't find the answer.....Do they or do they not take Starbucks branded/ real plastic (not "e") "gift cards" as payment. I have about $50 worth but if they don't accept them I will leave them at home.:confused:

Yeah, definitely place your gift card balances into the Starbucks app so that you can earn your free drink rewards while you are spending them down. The app worked seamlessly when we paid for our comparable shore priced beverages. The only issue we had was pulling up the order history to pay the tip, but so be it.

To think I sent my poor husband all

Over the ship at 11 pm to fetch me a glass of wine.

 

I better not tell him 😝😝

.

No, if you are on the free drink package your husband likely would have a fit to find out you had to pay full price plus gratuity plus the daily butler tip to have wine or other drinks delivered to the Haven room. Our butler made it clear that outside of food stocking the fridge with milk that any drinks she bought to the room would be outside free drink package.

I generally made two trips a night for myself and my wife gathering our 'two drinks at a time' drink order to fully leverage the value of the free drink package.

Hi everyone,

 

I have downloaded the new app and want to get feed back on anyone that has used it on the ship. Will I be able to text another passenger that has the app also? We are on the Bliss to Alaska in 21 DAYS! So excited. It is such a large ship, I am hoping to stay in touch with our group.

 

Thanks in advance!

Once you are on the ship you can make reservations and check your account balance. At least with the Android version, when we looked at the daily vacation summary we saw some reservations (specialty restaurants, go carts, etc) but not all, but did see the correct total number of reservations (including spa). However, you cannot use it to book future cruises. As far as texting or messaging other passengers on the ship, there is a $9.95/device upgrade fee for the sailing to do that. Probably worth it, we were in Haven and had free mobile phone service on the ship.

Ship - Bliss

Deck - 11

Stateroom # - 11106

Stateroom Category – H8

Starboard or Port Side - Port

Quiet Stateroom? – Quiet

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - Yes, but did not use as a connecting stateroom. Did not ever hear the occupants on the other side of the double connecting door.

Balcony View - Decent enough forward to port side view, though part of the balcony is view is obstructed by the forward ship size.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Smaller for Haven but apparently the largest for the H8 category on the Bliss. Could handle 3 Haven quality sitting chairs but it was crowded having 2 of them with a requested lounger.

Was wind a problem? - Not really, with the partial enclosure of the balcony one could sit without wind and still enjoy the sounds and sights of the ocean.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? - NA

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Since the cabin is below the bridge, be aware that the master bedroom blinds must be pulled down at night to prevent glare from hindering the ship's navigation.

While diagrams of the ship suggest that the forward elevators and stairs are in the front third of the ship, they actually are closer to just in front of mid-ship. Consequently, be prepared to walk well over 120 yards from the nearest stairwell or elevator with drinks, snacks, or to retrieve forgotten items. Then, of course the trip back. We were hoping that the ship hadsecret forward stairwell but that was not case. Only the crew had forward elevators that were nearby but we enjoyed them only once as Haven cruisers returning from an excursion. Also, a portion of the Solo group of inside cabins is accessed from this floor so there is additional traffic for the first 30 yards of the walk from the elevator or stair bay. Sure the walk is healthy but it takes time. We found that we were doing over 16,000 steps a day going to or from the cabin and other sections of the ship on sea days. (Remember, to use the aft elevators when ever plausible since they are less crowded, even though they are over 550 yards from this fore cabin.

Any other comments?

NCL has not posted the floor plans, but it does resemble the H7 floor plans that can be found on some other NCL ships. Only modification is that there is the connecting door right beside the entry door and the dry bar is facing the sliding doors rather than being against the side wall across from the sofa. Google Bliss Stateroom 11106 to see photos of this stateroom.

Oversized bathroom with tub and luxury shower. Toilet raised to senior level (4YO and younger boys may need a booster step for #1)

Spacious cabin as described. Do get the feeling that is it at least 420 square feet plus the balcony. One TV in master bedroom, one Tv in the living room. Full size sofa can be opened to one or two occupants. (Do ask the on shore concierge to set it up with egg crate ahead of time).

Abundance of storage space throughout the cabin, in fact once we settled in the cabin steward stored the mini bar and extra linens and toiletries in the cabinets and drawers we did not need.

While the cabin was Haven quality and have a butler, the steward was assigned regular cabins as well. We had to work with the butler to encourage her o provide the extras that one expects from the steward in the Haven (extra towel animals for the kids bed, more timely make up or cleaning the room,etc).

We're in 9106 and also looking for pics.

Google Bliss 11106 or 11706 and you will find some interior pictures, in one of the other cruise review sites. It does generally appear to be the H7 floor layout with the connecting door. Other comments on this site suggests that the connecting door is actually two doors, one on each side, so no noise.

On this site, I have seen similar comments that the H8 balconies on deck 11 are the largest of the 3 decks they are on.

Tip this if you think the concierge deserves a million dollars a year.

 

Taken from pcakes post on another thread, so credit to them for the math:

 

As someone recently posted on another thread, butlers usually service between 12-14 cabins (my recent Jade butler told me he & my room steward were covering 14 cabins.) So, if people are tipping what is suggested as "normal" above, then let's do the math for a 7-day cruise:

 

Butler = $140/cruise per person ($20/pp) x double occupancy = $280 per cabin x 14 cabins = $3,920 in CASH tips per week in ADDITION to salary.

 

Concierge = $70/cruise per person x double occupancy x ALL SUITES & HAVEN (let's say average 100 suites) = $14,000 CASH tips per week in ADDITION to salary.

 

Room steward = $70/cruise per person = $140 per cabin x 14 cabins = $1,960 in CASH tips per week in ADDITION to salary.

 

That is NOT happening. These are NOT the "normal" tip amounts. Please just use your own good judgement and don't pay attention to made-up guidelines.

 

PS Let me also add that the butler and concierge are NOT included in the DSC because they don't service all guests - but their SALARY is HIGHER to compensate for that. NCL is not leaving it up to the suite guests to compensate for the lack of DSC. A tip is just that. An acknowledgement of excellent service. NOT a salary.

Excellent analysis. It only fails to consider that frequently there are 3 or 4 or more people in a cabin.

On our last cruise the butler only provided afternoon snacks, one breakfast delivery, and maybe maintained the coffee supply. Probably taking no more than of 2 hours of labor specific to our cabin for the week. I felt bad tipping him only $150 for the three of us versus the recommended guidelines until I realized how little effort he put in. Was he worth $75/hour? Measure that against the cabin steward and assistant that we know provided at least 8 hours of labor to clean and maintain the cabin for the week, a much harder job. They are only sharing a portion of the DSC with the rest of the eligible ship staff. (Of course, we tipped them more).

If Glassdoor suggests a butler makes 57K/annually that is about $27/hour. Maybe multiply that rate times the amount of time the butler does things for you to arrive at a tip---excluding the base salary he already receives and the higher fare you paid to cover that base salary.

The $10-$15 pp per day probably should be just $10-$15 per day.