Norwegian bliss: open for (very expensive) bookings

[suffield12]

Had the call yesterday from NCL trying to flog a cruise on the bliss. I've been waiting patiently for the opportunity but WOW I wasn't expecting the fancy prices to go with fancy vessel! A 2 bed family villa is double the price of 7nts in the same cabin on the escape. I know Alaska is a much more interesting itinerary than the Bahamas but £13k for 7 nights excluding flights seems a bit crazy!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[www3traveler]

I booked her first Panama Cruise (15 day) in a studio with, shore excursions, Daily Service Charges, port fees and taxes plus insurance for price that my travel agent and I think was fantastic ($2400).

[brookie848]

Prices for Caribbean are beyond crazy. We've been up in the air on whether or not we would do our normal Caribbean cruise in 2019 and at these prices, the answer is most definitely "no" for the Bliss.

 

I expect prices to go up from year-to-year...but not by over $3,000/person (we sail in an H4).

 

I will spend that money elsewhere -- whether it will be another NCL cruise or another destination.

Edited January 11, 2017 by brookie848

[SeahawkSiren]

Yes, it is more expensive than I was anticipating. I am pricing balcony cabins for the inaugural Seattle to Alaska cruise on June 2, 2018. The prices for balcony cabins (for a 1 week cruise) are almost as expensive as what I am paying for a balcony cabin on a 2 week Mediterranean cruise on the Spirit coming up here in May.

 

But there is only a $30.00 price difference between mid-ship balcony and aft balcony. $2,139 per person for mid-ship and $2,169 per person for aft.

 

Interestingly enough, I checked the Pearl aft balconies for that same weekend (it leaves the day after the Bliss) and the prices for those aft balconies are higher at $2,389. Go figure.

 

Happy (expensive) Bliss shopping everyone!

[KeithJenner]

We are doing Hawaii next year and had a vague plan that we would go to Alaska first.

 

We started to struggle a bit with fitting everything in (there are some other places we want to go as well), but looking at Alaska pricing a couple of weeks ago was the deciding factor for us.

 

The price to cruise in Alaska at the moment is crazy compared to other destinations (a 7 day on the Pearl is about the same price as our 15 day Iceland cruise on the Jade this year).

 

I assume that Bliss will be even more expensive, but we aren't even looking. Hawaii and some extra time on the land part of the holiday for us instead. Our return to Alaska can wait.

[derek005]

Just booked Bliss for the inaugural cruise out of London for $1800 per person. I believe this is a great deal.

[june123]

Hopefully the prices will settle down a bit after a while . We would love to cruise her but not at these prices .

[NHL Philly Fan]

Supply < Demand = High Prices. Very basic economics.

[Sissaaaaaa]

The balcony cabins are very reasonably priced. The Haven is just absurd.

[dexddd]

I haven't looked close enough to see if they added any more Haven cabins, but I did see they have 2 less DOS and 0 (loss of 4) OS on the Bliss vs. Escape. Doing some very rough math that is a loss of $3.5 million a year. I was wondering where they'd make that up from.

 

I think I have found the answer.

[CleverFirst]

$5200 for a spa balcony. Ouch.

 

 

I am a first time NCL cruiser, been with RCI twice before (I'm only 25, I've got a long way to being a seasoned cruiser!) But my other two megaships Allure and Anthem for caribbean trips were about 3000 for each trip, Balcony rooms for each.

 

 

All the cruise critic info says the best time to book for great prices is as soon as they go on sale, or after final payment. Well if $5200 is the best pricing I'm not impressed.

 

Does NCL follow their competitors great example and honor lower fares if you bring it to their attention in the future?

[oteixeira]

I just mocked up a 7-day mini-with large balcony. As long as I don't go on the first Eastern Caribbean(I chose 11/24/18 as sailing date) and it is actually CHEAPER then the same category was for me in 10/16 on the Escape. $1399 per before any extra costs on the Escape last year, $1149 on the Bliss.

 

I guess this is more about what room you pick, and the destination, but what I just did was apples to apples and the Bliss is actually cheaper today.

[phillyguy31]

Just booked the Miami to LA in May and when you take it into consideration that it is a 15 day cruise as opposed to a 7 day cruise it isnt much higher per day than our cruise on the GA next month.

 

Sent from my SM-G530T using Tapatalk

[ready2cruzagain]

I have looked at several online TA's and NCL and don't see any prices for the Bliss. What am I doing wrong?

[littlelulu01]

In looking at the prices for the Alaska and Panama Canal sailings I thought the prices very reasonable. The two categories I think they overpriced were the ocean views and the spa balconies/spa minisuites. The aft balconies seem very fair priced and think they will be the first to sell out or see a price increase. Would also expect the Haven for Panama Canal sailings to sell out but not so sure about Alaska.

[ginger123snaps]

when ncl escape came out they had incredible deals! This ship same room/same timeframe is $14,000 for the room vs $6200 what I paid on the escape!

 

Craziness! Good for them that they can sell those cabins at those prices!

[littlelulu01]

when ncl escape came out they had incredible deals! This ship same room/same timeframe is $14,000 for the room vs $6200 what I paid on the escape!

 

Craziness! Good for them that they can sell those cabins at those prices!

 

I think a key difference is the Escape was not sailing to Alaska and Panama Canal new locks. If you are talking Caribbean pricing there's no way I would pay those prices with the glut of mega ships but for Alaska it's a different ball game price wise.

[KeithJenner]

Just booked Bliss for the inaugural cruise out of London for $1800 per person. I believe this is a great deal.

 

 

 

Out of interest, I just looked at the transatlantic and compared it to the Escape.

 

For the same cabin, the 12 day crossing on the Bliss is just over double the price I paid for 10 days on the Escape.

[JC5240]

I went ahead and booked an aft facing balcony for the Eastern Caribbean the week after Thanksgiving (Nov 24 - Dec 1 2018), and it came to $1,019. Now THAT is a fantastic deal IMO!

 

I did the same itinerary on the Getaway in 2015 when the ship was a year old, and it was $1,249 PP for an aft-facing balcony, and that was in May. I'm sure seasonality played a role in it being significantly cheaper, though.

 

So excited! I can't wait to see what's in store for the ship. I watched the Breakaway being built when I booked my first cruise, and it was so exciting. I can't wait to do it again with Bliss!

[Georgie562]

Booked LA to MIA panama for $1299 per person.

Same cruise this year on the older Norwegian Star same price $1299 per person. That's a no brainer for me.

[ginger123snaps]

nope these are prices for the carribean.

[ginger123snaps]

I think a key difference is the Escape was not sailing to Alaska and Panama Canal new locks. If you are talking Caribbean pricing there's no way I would pay those prices with the glut of mega ships but for Alaska it's a different ball game price wise.

 

Nope these prices are for eastern carribean...exact same ports that we travelled to on escape.

[gknep]

Took a quick look at the Mexico cruises and those prices didn't seem so bad. Looked at Alaska and they were a bit on the ridiculous side.

[Nator72]

Well I was just happy to see prices. When I checked first thing this morning, I saw that almost all June Seattle-Alaska sailings were "sold out." Hoping it was a computer glitch, I just checked again. Sticker shock!!!! I priced a mini suite large balcony for 3 and it was $5900. I thought there were supposed to be amazing deals for those who book while the ship is being built?

[ilovetotravel1977]

I went ahead and booked an aft facing balcony for the Eastern Caribbean the week after Thanksgiving (Nov 24 - Dec 1 2018), and it came to $1,019. Now THAT is a fantastic deal IMO!

 

How many people in your cabin?