littlelulu01

We just got off the bliss today. The crew are going do a little cleaning and a staff party prior to picking you guys up tomorrow. They were filming commercials during our sailing that affected access to certain areas but I think they will be done with that when you board. Aft elevator use or stairs instead of forward elevators REALLY helps with ease of getting around the ship. Forward elevators pretty packed. Beautiful ship and we enjoyed our first big ship experience. Found it very easy to get around onboard. We didn’t experience any issues getting race track ressies and specialty dining times. We really enjoyed speciality venues and the Local. Have a great time!

It does seem they are throwing out some pie in the sky prices to see if anything will stick. The sailings they have for jade med next year were initially really fair but have increased tremendously since initially offered and with many less perks now. Our Haven suite was not much more than the balcony prices now. They were likely selling too fast and so when they offered up the spirit they were priced higher. Sales don’t look as brisk but they still had some suite takers. Then they offered up the Pearl Europe sailings and the Haven prices were crazy. The ones I’m watching haven’t sold even one Haven room at those prices.

Regent and Oceania send me lots of glossy brochures for Europe sailings and their suites with airfare and everything included are priced considerably lower than the Pearl Europe Haven suites. In fact just about all room categories on Oceania Europe sailings are lower or equally priced compared to Ncl Europe current prices.

September 22 Bliss Alaska sailing. Got the decline notifications for all Haven suites yesterday around 11 am pst. Had, “strong” bids on Haven Penthouse, Haven spa. Mid good level on forward and aft Haven. Fair on the two bedroom Haven and a poor bid on the owners suite. They did award some bids even though the sailing showed sold out. Had we gone any higher with the bids (with the exception of the deluxe owners suite) it would have been a better deal to book outright prior to the staterooms selling out or being awarded. Not sure if they actually sold the staterooms at listed price. They had a good selection available with many disappearing the last 45 days. We originally had a sail away mini suite. We’re still excited to finally try out a big new ship and I’m going to the Apple store to get some new iPhones with some of the money Ncl didn’t want.

In the past have been awarded Haven bids further than 60 days on other ships when I placed the dial at just touching the, “good” mark. Went higher on the Bliss after getting a little scared about the reviews but the reviews lately look much better.

Congratulations on your upgrade acceptance.

If you don’t mind me asking, what was your bid level and when was it accepted? I’m on your sailing and put in a, “strong” level bid that wasn’t accepted for that category. We are in a sail away mini suite.

Have a wonderful vacation! Excited to finally try a big new ship.

One of the main reasons I book through the PCC is that she specifically told me the first time I booked through her (my second cruise) that if prices or perks change after I book, even after final payment, she might be able to help me out. Which she did with that OBC change. I don't know for sure if she gets me any better or worse deal up front with the initial booking than using a TA, but so far she's been pretty great to me... always returns my calls and emails and puts up with all my questions.

I think ymmv on adjustments. I also have a great pcc who’s been able to help me out in the past. Wasn’t so lucky with My recent booking. Booked the Bliss sail away rate Alaska. Mini suite gt. At a price I thought was reasonable about 60 days out $1399 pp. a few days later sail away price dropped to $1049 and $1249 for same category I was assigned with pick your perks. I asked if I could Just get the perks added to my booking. I was not able to because the new pricing on perk room was lower than what I had paid for same category sail away. Had it even been $1 more he’d have been able to switch me/get me perks. I even had him check with supervisor and it was a no. Not the end of the world. Room assigned in a good location and was a price i was comfortable with.

I’ve looked into this in the past wondering why different lines have different fee amounts. The taxes are the taxes and those don’t vary. Port fees do vary. Examples of why one line might be higher than another; a contract with say port of Seattle to build new facilities. One line might have a sweet heart deal because they’ve signed a contract for many years to come. Another line might be considerably higher because they have a different contract.

From that article that was posted this really stood out to me.

 

Del Rio also spoke about the success the company has seen since adjusting the due date of final payments… and suggested that cruisers might be asked to pony up even sooner. Last December, they changed from final payments being due at 90 days before sailing to them being collected a full 120 days in advance. “Skeptics said it was a mistake,” the exec told the travel agents, “but while I’m not saying we’re going to go to 150 days yet, people are willing to pay it.”

The most recent cruise I booked was already at 146 days until we would set sail. I would be very disappointed if they started requiring full payment at 150 days out. It was nice to have a couple of weeks to move money around, get a couple of extra paychecks and get things sorted before our full payment was due, which is in two days. I don't really care for booking super far in advance and with my work schedule I am not really able to do that.

I have been watching the prices on Alaska cruises as well because we live in Seattle and its super easy to get to the port. I refuse to sail to Alaska in an inside stateroom again but I also can't afford the current prices. Cruises may have to take a back seat to other vacations that we can do for less money. That makes me really sad.

Close out price for the last few Bliss sailings (August and September) was pretty inexpensive for Alaska.

Sail away balconies on the Bliss Alaska went as low as $799. Balconies with perks went to $1049. Mini suites with perks went to $1249. sail away minis as low as $1049. They sold to a certain point and then closed out all but inside at $449. No single supplements on some sailings too.

They’re always changing up the price dumping strategy (even week to week to keep us guessing) so it is tough to know when to buy.

I see they are really trying hard to fill the joy with free airfare obc...If not highly successful they should have some similar deals again next year on Bliss and Joy. They aren’t going to sail with empty staterooms just to protect price integrity. They can negate some price dumping with their upgrade bidding process but at some point this season they also had to highly discount their balconies and mini suites in order to fill up the ship.

90 days out can be tricky. We recently booked the Bliss Alaska at 60 days out. I would have been happy with any balcony or mini suite. The only MS pick your stateroom with perks at $1599 pp was a handicap one so I went with the sail away rate at $1399 pp. Was immediately assigned the same handicap room that I could have chosen with pick your stateroom and perks.

At the time of booking the balconies were running about the same cost as ms. Of course a few days after I booked my sail away ms dropped by $300 pp and the balcony sail away dropped to $899. The pick your perks same category I was assigned also dropped to below what I paid. Had it been a little higher $ I could have moved up but since it dropped by so much my pcc was not able to get me anything. Could have easily gone the other way so I wasn’t too bummed about it but pricing can go all over the board close in with bookings. I have to remember that I still got a price that was a lot less $ than had I booked way out. Never having sailed on the Bliss I’m fine with the aft ms location I received (close to spa) but since I was assigned a handicap room I think my stateroom assignment could possibly be changed even during sailing from what I’ve read.

If you can live without the perks the sail away rates can be great. Don’t think I’d risk sail away rate on a jewel class mini suite but I would not hesitate with jewel class balcony sail away or gt.

My family of 7 will be in a GV in the next couple of months. No, we will not be tipping 10-15 per person per day (70 to 105 per day) to the butler or anyone else. While we expect to use the services of both the concierge and the butler, we will not be "running them ragged." What we will do is use them for the services we understand they are employed to provide. This includes food delivery to the suite (not course by course, more family style), escort to shows and on and off the ship, adjustments to reservations etc. I am budgeting, assume good solid service with a smile, between 250 and 300 for the butler, about half that for the concierge, and between 50 and 100 each over the length of the cruise for the room stewards, bartenders (above the included service charge) and any others who provide exemplary service. FYI, it is a 7 day cruise. To me, this is reasonable. Feel free to disagree. It is what my family and I are comfortable with. Have a nice day.

Be prepared that With a garden villa you may find it’s a bit different than any other suite. When we sailed in the garden villa for two weeks we found that we didn’t use the ships other venues much. We felt comfortable with rewarding the exceptional gv services from the butler by tipping them considerably higher since we used him so much but it’s definitely a personal preference.

This cruise critic article was updated August, 2018. Gives a great overview of what is considered fair for the industry. $3-$5 pp pd seems the suggested amount for butler. Tipping more or less is personal preference but if you’re trying to gauge what a standard decent and acceptable cash tip is for exceptional service from various staff (above dsc), the article is of great value.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=132

I’m guessing your overall experience is going to be a better one. All staff will be on the best game so service will be top notch.

I was amazed how all of a sudden, at the end of a two week sailing in the garden villa, even the set up of our outdoor areas changed. The deck chairs, Haven chair towels, all got set up.... I asked why. Not that I minded, but I previously dragged chairs and chair pads out of the storage myself when needed. Answer from the kid who made the garden villa decks look picture perfect was they were getting inspected by some high ups.

Everyone got pretty serious about doing everything just so, including in dining venues.

The Bliss likely has their a list staff onboard already. A venue shut down for a meeting here and there shouldn’t be much an inconvenience.

Alaska is most definitely an unpredictable weather state. Our daughter is a scientist up there and their field work can only be done in the summer. I can’t tell you how often she’s delayed sometimes for days on end in the Aleutian islands or somewhere crazy remote due to weather, equipment....

Then when the planes do make it in they have to stop at several places to pick up/drop off someone’s cousin’s brother’s aunt... The tales of her mishaps and resulting once in a lifetime experiences are probably some of the most interesting and funny things I get to listen to. Hopefully your day was a success despite the weather/mechanical delays and resulting change in plans.

But can I get $106 credit? Still better deal!

You will get a $125 credit off the pkg pricing onboard. Just no way to use the credit to upgrade before sailing so no 15% discount. It can all be done on your phone with the app. But again not till you’re onboard. Very easy and no need to visit the Internet cafe.

Tried to buy unlimited internet pre-cruise so I could get the 15% discount - of course NCL wanted to sell that, but they said that I can’t get credit for my 250 min ‘free’ pkg because it was free. I know that’s nonsense and I can do it aboard Bliss—but has anyone been able to do it pre-sail? Thanks

My pcc explained to me the 250 internet pkg really only has a $106 value compared to purchasing ahead of time at a discount. You’ll still get $125 credit for upgrading to unlimited once onboard but it’s $125 off the onboard rate. No ability to apply pre cruise and get the 15% pre purchase discount.

Same thing applies to the longer sailings when you want more speciality dinners. The value of the perk goes down because you can’t apply the perk to the less $ per dinner pkgs.

So I uploaded the passport and sea pass photos and received an email confirmation that I had completed the process successfully, even though I had an error message when I uploaded the passport. The email also reminded me to make sure I brought the original documents..

 

The odd thing is now my edocs are screwed up. Our middle names are now on there twice. Once abbreviated and once full. Example: “A Ann”and “Christop Christopher”. I have the original doc downloaded with our initial correct booking names that match our passports just in case.

I called my pcc and he fixed my issue in less than a minute.

It was not a difficult process. The online checkin gives step by step instructions.

They aren’t asking for anything more than I already need to provide to get onboard so I don’t have an issue trying to make the process easier.

Strange. Perhaps it’s different for different ships? I’m on the Bliss Alaska and it definitely let me purchase just one. When I clicked on the arcade icon it had all passengers automatically selected just like it does for some other purchases but I just unclicked my name and proceeded to payment of $56. It now shows just husband having it in my summary. I highly doubt he’s going to break even but I know if he had to pay per use he’d not bother at all.

So I uploaded the passport and sea pass photos and received an email confirmation that I had completed the process successfully, even though I had an error message when I uploaded the passport. The email also reminded me to make sure I brought the original documents..

The odd thing is now my edocs are screwed up. Our middle names are now on there twice. Once abbreviated and once full. Example: “A Ann”and “Christop Christopher”. I have the original doc downloaded with our initial correct booking names that match our passports just in case.

I purchased for just one person in the stateroom in advance at $8/day. It was under gifts ... section.

The soda pkg also has the same wording that it has to be purchased for everyone in the stateroom but I always get it for just myself and the system allows it online.

You just click the boxes of which passengers you want the arcade pkg for and then check out/pay.

T-Mobile will use wifi signals to send texts and make phone calls; if your plan includes wifi calling you might be able to use the ship's wifi to make calls (if they don't block calls, that is; not sure if NCL does that). I have heard of people using Facebook calling over the ship's wifi.

Sorry. I think they might actually block WiFi calling. In Europe My Tmobile phone worked fine for calls (likely because it was using a land cell provider) but husbands Verizon didn’t. He had a google phone number and had to use that for WiFi calls on a tablet.

If you have Tmobile and the right plan and are comfortable knowing how to not use cellular at sea, the right Tmobile phone will automatically hook into whatever service provider is available. It’ll say, “welcome to cosmos Greece (or wherever). WiFi and texts free, calls .20/min.” If it says welcome to cellular at sea, don’t allow and turn to airplane mode unless you want enormous charges. If you’re out at sea the only time you’re likely to get signals is when you’re coming into port. Europe is different because the ship is often close to populated areas and so phone can pick up providers and Tmobile allows you to use just about any provider. Alaska isn’t very populated so even when you can see land, you might not be able to get a signal.

If you have to receive and make calls when the ship is underway, your best bet is to get the ship’s WiFi pkg and have a WiFi phone. I just prepurchased the premium pkg pre cruise for $204 (discount). I think it’s $25 more on board. If you have the internet free at sea perk it is a $125 discount but only off the onboard pricing so it is worth $100 Compared to pre cruise discount price just in case you’re debating switching perks.

If you can get by using the phone just for voice calls when you’re in port or close to port, then you should be ok with Tmobile and the right Tmobile plan that allows access to gci with capped data. The gci capped data for Tmobile users allows a very minimal amount of data use. Canada won’t cap your 4g data but they do have the .20/min talk.

Our daughter lives in Alaska and is sometimes in very remote areas. In these areas Tmobile will work using gci. Data gets capped by gci but works for calls. Phone is unlocked iPhone.

Regarding Tmobile working in Europe. It’s a little different. European use doesn’t cap data like they do in the USA. Our Tmobile phones work pretty much in every country we go to and also on the ship too but in Europe we get a text welcome to Greece, Iceland... where as in Alaska they don’t text you, “welcome to America please have free access to gci because we have terrible service up here in Alaska.”

The promos themselves are fairly standard with obc not always offered and tax free & dsc free rarely offered.

They don’t offer all the perks on all the sailings so just because you see tax free, obc... offered on the main page, it might not be an offer for your sailing. As the ship fills, the promo offerings on any particular sailing typically dwindles. They sweeten the pot with more promos, lower prices, latitude bonus or 50% off second passenger (some markets) as needed.

My October 2019 14 night med sailing initially didn’t have distinctive voyage credit or obc. Both were added for a short window AND had really reasonable prices. Since I booked, the extra perks and obc have been removed and pricing has gone way up. If pricing and perks sound reasonable, it’s likely a good time to book. I was on the fence about booking my kids a room and glad I did because their obstructed ocean view room has jumped over 1k pp and far less perks.

You also have to weigh the possibility of rebooking cost if perks offered. My 21 night pc sailing had obc offer added but with the increased dsc and slightly higher room price it wasn’t worth rebooking.

I doubt they will ever go to solely all inclusive. They will always have some sailings they need to dump prices on and it’s much less to give someone a room on the cheap vs a room on the cheap along with all inclusive. The big ships like the Bliss have a ton of rooms to fill. Even their biggest best new ship is price dumping (with and without perks) right now for remaining Alaska sailings. I think that next year with two big ships in Alaska, they’ll have some great deals on last minute bookings.

Just FYI: They're not gratuities. That money doesn't go directly to the workers. That money gets pocketed by NCL and then NCL uses part of that money to give workers "incentives". Just a point of clarification. It's not like when you go out to a restaurant and the 20% you put on the check goes directly to the waiter.

The dsc is a gratuity. Here’s a letter I received from Ncl explaining it. Staff are permitted to accept additional cash tips for exceptional service and certain positions are excluded from dsc as mentioned by previous posts.

My passport was issued in 2010 and I have lost 65 pounds since then. Hope the change does not cause me issues!

The directions on security photo they have you upload says it must be current and look like you.

Pretty sure your passport photo should also be a likeness of you though. I think I had to replace my kids a couple years early at one point because the likeness had changed so drastically.

I loaded pictures for the security and also for passport. It also had me enter the credit card information and ok for all passengers on same card. Instructions state if you don’t take the correct type of picture it will need to be redone at port. Will see if it speeds things up. Reports are the check in process is already very smooth. Perhaps it’s because of this.