dave_gx Posted October 2, 2018 #1 Share Posted October 2, 2018 Hi, My wife, son (12yrs) and I spent our holidays in West Coast Canada & USA in August 2018, including an Alaskan Cruise aboard the NCL Bliss. It was our first "West Coast and Alaskan" holiday and because it was a long way from home in the UK, we tried to include as much as possible during our time there, it made it expensive, but worth it :). We had a whale (literally !) of a time, and are now trying to work out when we can get back to do some (or all) of it again. The following links take you to some of our photos from the trip : Vancouver (3 days) - stayed in the Pan Pacific and amongst other things we did the Capilano Suspension Bridge, a couple of food tours, Granville Island and Stanley Park - https://spark.adobe.com/page/KUrQK58JqEI0l/ Knight Inlet Lodge (4 days) - possibly our favourite part of the whole trip and we definitely want to go back !!! - https://spark.adobe.com/page/3sVMN02d39vEF/ Seattle (3 days) – some of the main attractions including the Space Needle, Boeing Factory and Pike Place Market - https://spark.adobe.com/page/HAip7CbTY0rdL/ NCL Bliss (Aug 18-25) - although there are photos of our time on the Bliss, I think it’s already been covered in detail by others, so the focus is more on the excursions we did - https://spark.adobe.com/page/83EA9SROXxLw2/ Cruise Excursions - Including Lumberjacks, helicopters, dog sleds, boats, glaciers, and whales - https://spark.adobe.com/page/wrgmJRyJT5I2N/Hope it helps someone who's currently planning their trip and I'm happy to answer any questions if I can. Thanks for looking Dave Ps, if you’re using a smart phone or tablet, they are best held in landscape mode otherwise the images don’t open up to full screen if you click on them ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morning Thoughts Posted October 2, 2018 #2 Share Posted October 2, 2018 Spectacular photos! I so enjoyed paging through them - I felt like I'd been on holiday with you! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvdod Posted October 3, 2018 #3 Share Posted October 3, 2018 Amazing and stunning photos....thanks for sharing your beautiful vacation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afto Posted October 3, 2018 #4 Share Posted October 3, 2018 Great photos! Glad you saw plenty of bears and other wildlife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggieq Posted October 6, 2018 #5 Share Posted October 6, 2018 Thank you for posting this and your pictures are beautiful. I am looking at the holland America NA and the NCL Bliss for next May. It is much easier for us to get direct flights to Seattle. However, wondering if a smaller ship and going out of Vancouver would be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_gx Posted October 6, 2018 Author #6 Share Posted October 6, 2018 (edited) Thank you for posting this and your pictures are beautiful. I am looking at the holland America NA and the NCL Bliss for next May. It is much easier for us to get direct flights to Seattle. However, wondering if a smaller ship and going out of Vancouver would be better. Maggieq, Thanks for you comments re the photos, glad you liked them. With regards to the ship, we booked the Bliss because : i) we had sailed on the NCL Epic previously, followed by a couple of MSC cruises and wanted to retry the NCL experience, ii) we like the relaxed style of NCL, dress code, anytime dining etc, iii) the Bliss was a brand new ship and iv) the appeal of the go karts for our son (and me ;)). As the majority of other reviewers have said elsewhere, the Bliss is great and Alaska is phenomenal. Having done this trip, we have absolutely no regrets in choosing the ship or itinerary. It was our first time to Alaska so we had nothing to compare it with, however if (fingers crossed), we get to visit Alaska again, we would do it differently next time, either as a round trip out of Vancouver taking in the inside passage, or as a North to South trip ending up in Vancouver. For info, one recommendation I would make would be that if you did book the Bliss (or any other ship that offers it), the small boat tour of Endicott Arm / Dawes Glacier is worth every penny / cent, the difference that the extra few miles closer to the glacier that the small boat gets you is incredible as shown if you compare my photo of Dawes Glacier with the one I took as we got back onto the Bliss. Edited October 6, 2018 by dave_gx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggieq Posted October 6, 2018 #7 Share Posted October 6, 2018 Thanks so much for the feedback. A couple of questions, if you don’t mind... Smoking - how bad was it around the casino and decks close to it Entertainment - what did you think of it? Did you book shows ahead of time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_gx Posted October 7, 2018 Author #8 Share Posted October 7, 2018 Thanks so much for the feedback. A couple of questions, if you don’t mind... Smoking - how bad was it around the casino and decks close to it Entertainment - what did you think of it? Did you book shows ahead of time? No problem with answering questions, we gathered a lot of info here pre holiday so its good to give something back :) With regards to smoking, we didn't spend any time in the casino, but I can say that we didn't notice any cigarette smells when passing through the area. Our cabin was on deck 14 and there were a couple of occasions where people were smoking on balconies whilst in port, but the smell outdoors wasn't enough to be a problem. We booked Jersey Boys and Havana online at the 90(?) day before sailing point, but could only get the 10:30 show for Jersey Boys. A few weeks later slots became available for the 7:30 shows but by then we had a reservation for Cagneys so we had to phone NCL to change the Cagneys booking in order to release that slot for Jersey Boys. It was a bit messy, no idea why they didn't release all the show timeslots in one go, but NCL sorted it all out for us without any problems. Both shows were really good, especially Jersey Boys. We didn't see the Beatles or Prohibition so can't comment on them. There were game shows (eg "Mr & Mrs" type shows) in the atrium each night which attracted big crowds and were funny at times. There were also various singers, music etc in the bar areas which were quite good. The only other 'entertainment' we booked was the GoKarts and Laser Tag which we booked as soon as we got onboard via the screens near the lifts. Tip: when you get onboard the lifts were very busy, but we walked up to the next floor and it was quiet and we logged straight into a screen to make the bookings. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coopster Posted February 26, 2019 #9 Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) 1 Edited February 26, 2019 by coopster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coopster Posted February 26, 2019 #10 Share Posted February 26, 2019 On 10/2/2018 at 12:32 PM, dave_gx said: Hi, My wife, son (12yrs) and I spent our holidays in West Coast Canada & USA in August 2018, including an Alaskan Cruise aboard the NCL Bliss. It was our first "West Coast and Alaskan" holiday and because it was a long way from home in the UK, we tried to include as much as possible during our time there, it made it expensive, but worth it :). We had a whale (literally !) of a time, and are now trying to work out when we can get back to do some (or all) of it again. The following links take you to some of our photos from the trip : Vancouver (3 days) - stayed in the Pan Pacific and amongst other things we did the Capilano Suspension Bridge, a couple of food tours, Granville Island and Stanley Park - https://spark.adobe.com/page/KUrQK58JqEI0l/ Knight Inlet Lodge (4 days) - possibly our favourite part of the whole trip and we definitely want to go back !!! - https://spark.adobe.com/page/3sVMN02d39vEF/ Seattle (3 days) – some of the main attractions including the Space Needle, Boeing Factory and Pike Place Market - https://spark.adobe.com/page/HAip7CbTY0rdL/ NCL Bliss (Aug 18-25) - although there are photos of our time on the Bliss, I think it’s already been covered in detail by others, so the focus is more on the excursions we did - https://spark.adobe.com/page/83EA9SROXxLw2/ Cruise Excursions - Including Lumberjacks, helicopters, dog sleds, boats, glaciers, and whales - https://spark.adobe.com/page/wrgmJRyJT5I2N/ Hope it helps someone who's currently planning their trip and I'm happy to answer any questions if I can. Thanks for looking Dave Ps, if you’re using a smart phone or tablet, they are best held in landscape mode otherwise the images don’t open up to full screen if you click on them 😉 was the dog sledding worth the super high price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_gx Posted February 26, 2019 Author #11 Share Posted February 26, 2019 11 hours ago, coopster said: was the dog sledding worth the super high price? Hi, as you said the helicopter-sledding is eyewateringly expensive. Having said that, we have no regrets at having paid out for it, we were just glad we got the opportunity to go because as soon as we got to Vancouver (10 days or so before the cruise) we started hearing reports of dog sledding excursions being cancelled because of the warm weather but luckily the Juneau camp was still operational when we got there. I would say the helicopter flight alone made the cost worthwhile because the scenery is breathtaking, so from our experience we would recommend it without hesitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coopster Posted February 27, 2019 #12 Share Posted February 27, 2019 thanks we just booked it with coastal . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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