**Not Live** Bliss Alaska sailing May 13-20

[Goldenknight]

My review will disappoint.  .  .   I don't have a laundry list of grievances to share.  Thankfully, there are other posters on CC that can fill in that gap.

 

A few highlights (out of many):

**  Outstanding cabin steward, a whiz at maintaining our cabin early morning each day, but a NICE person, above all else.

**  Hilarious and upbeat MDR waiters, especially at breakfast.  They are engaging and fun, whilst providing excellent service, no matter how busy.

**  Those pastry girls!  Saw them in both the buffet and in the MDR.  If a song was requested, they obliged, to appreciative applause from the room.

**  The assistant maitre d at the buffet always stepped in to help the buffet workers clear tables.  Most revealing remark:  she said "we're a TEAM."  

     (Where I live, supervisors and the maitre d are apt to point to what needs to be done, rather than just do it).

** Exemplary service from buffet station chefs (we ate the buffet at least once, if not twice, a day).  I hesitate to name just one, but a small example is 

    one chef at the Indian food station, who personally made us poori (puri) any time, and brought it to our table.  Yes, please.

**  Those senior officers (different group than on our March Bliss sailing) - - - always accessible and pleasant (just like the March officers).

**  A vice president from NCL Holdings was on board this week, whom I randomly met in our deck hallway . . . she remembered me because of 

     questions we asked at a cruise Q & A meeting.  We learned this V.P. of Fleet Operations is on board about every three months.

** Absolutely fabulous weather.  Sunny, blue skies, all week.  Very different than our Alaska cruise last September, which was rainy and gray skies.

 

In sum, we appreciate the opportunity to cruise, the gorgeous Bliss, and the wonderful, engaging crew.   Lucky us.  

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

Nice!!  I appreciate a positive review once in a while.  Did you enjoy the various musical acts?  Any favorites?

[BingoBoy]

Just did the Bliss in April. Both Jersey Boys and Six are amazing. Jersey Boys equaled a tour performance we saw a few years ago. Knew almost nothing about Six, but thoroughly enjoyed the story about the six wives of Henry the XIII. The one tip I have is to read the lyrics for the Six songs before the show. The music moves pretty quickly and it helps that you understand the context. Having said that, our friends didn't do that and they also enjoyed the show. 

We did see one lame comedian the social comedy and night club. Just not funny. 

[janpa70]

We sailed the 20-27 in the haven and had a fabulous time. The weather was great and only had a little bit of rain in Icy strait point. We didn't need heavy clothes or our rain ponchos. The staff was unbeleivable. The food was great and we ate way to much. We walked alot. Alaska Fudge in Junuea is terrific. Got the chocolate with peanut butter in between and wish we would of gotten more of it, got some donuts at Jellyfish donuts in Ketichan and they were the best. We hope to get back to Alaska again in the future.

[Goldenknight]

13 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Nice!!  I appreciate a positive review once in a while.  Did you enjoy the various musical acts?  Any favorites?

We've attended the Broadway performances of both Jersey Boys (years ago), and Six (last year).  IMHO, the Bliss shows were equally good in talent.  

We especially enjoyed the band, Siglo, who played both the Atrium and the Cavern.  We like them more than the Beatles Experience.  The four guys in Siglo have great showmanship, nice voices, and a set-list variety that changes with the venue.

 

 

[Goldenknight]

11 hours ago, BingoBoy said:

Just did the Bliss in April. Both Jersey Boys and Six are amazing. Jersey Boys equaled a tour performance we saw a few years ago.

 

+1

 

Incidentally, when we were on the Bliss in March (this year), the Jersey Boys cast told us  they were at the end of their contract, so a new group of talent started in April.  But, at least two of the cast members from March were still in the May show.  

[ChiefMateJRK]

11 hours ago, Goldenknight said:

We especially enjoyed the band, Siglo, who played both the Atrium and the Cavern.  We like them more than the Beatles Experience.  The four guys in Siglo have great showmanship, nice voices, and a set-list variety that changes with the venue.

Absolutely.  We did a B2B on the Bliss in April and probably attended all but one or two of Siglo's sets over both weeks.  We were on a first name basis with them by the second week and they even dedicated a song to DW and I (their first ever public performance of Purple Rain).  Randy (guitar player) had been working on it for a while and Junior (drummer/lead vocal) told me in the hall one night that they would try to perform it before the end of our second week.  They did a great job and I think I heard them perform it two more times before the cruise ended.  My favorites are their outstanding performances of Pink Floyd songs, but they do a great job on so many classic rock songs that I can't even remember them all.  Junior told me that his first album ever was Jackson Browne Running on Empty, and that kind of set him on the path, which I also listened to back in the day.  Fun stuff! 😎

 

Beatles?  I never listened to them much in the sixties and seventies and really am not a big fan.  I really like a couple of their songs, but that's about it.  We listened to them in the theater one afternoon, and that was enough.  There were four other performers on the Bliss that I liked better.

Edited May 30, 2023 by ChiefMateJRK

[Goldenknight]

Drummer/lead singer in Siglo is named Jun.   Not Junior.  🙂

[kenmyfam]

My husband and I will be on the June 10 cruise...we can't wait to see Siglo again...it's been over 5 years since we've seen them and rocked out with them on Epic in the Mediterranean. They are a very talented group of performers that's for sure.

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, Goldenknight said:

Drummer/lead singer in Siglo is named Jun.   Not Junior.  🙂

Well, he told me in our one on one discussion that his name is Jose (that's what his nametag says), but that I should call him Junior.  Certainly, some might shorten that to "Jun" (have you seen the Sopranos?).  Do you really need to poke at this?  What's your point?

Edited May 31, 2023 by ChiefMateJRK

[Goldenknight]

Well, his business card says:  "Jun ________"   . . .  and his email.   

 

 🙂

 

Tagalog gives his name that meaning.  Thanks.  ☺️

[ChiefMateJRK]

25 minutes ago, Goldenknight said:

Well, his business card says:  "Jun ________"   . . .  and his email.   

 

 🙂

 

Tagalog gives his name that meaning.  Thanks.  ☺️

I'm confused, but that's okay.  I just know that I liked him and the other band members and we had a great time with them.  If I added an extra syllable to his name, then that's okay.  We all had a lot of fun and at the end of the cruise nobody cares.😎

[Goldenknight]

On 5/30/2023 at 9:22 PM, ChiefMateJRK said:

I'm confused, but that's okay.  I just know that I liked him and the other band members and we had a great time with them.  If I added an extra syllable to his name, then that's okay.  We all had a lot of fun and at the end of the cruise nobody cares.😎

I didn't intend to be stroppy in noting that the Siglo drummer's name is Jun.  I think my spouse and I are just overly aware of the significance of names in other cultures.  We live in a city where many of our neighbors are Filipino-American.  We try out our Tagalog with the Filipino crew often, and they are graciously patient and correct us as necessary.  Hence, in speaking with Jun, we knew his name had meaning, but that it's Jun. 

 

Funny story (maybe just to my spouse and me):  there are many Indonesian crew.  If they are from Bali, their names have significant meaning:  typically, named according to birth order.  So, there are many crew named "Gede".  That means a first born boy (can also be called Wayan).  At the "How to Run a Floating Hotel", DanDan asked for any positives from the audience.  One guest said she wanted to thank Gede for his excellent service in the MDR.  Dan politely thanked her.  

Later, in the MDR, we mentioned this to our lovely waiter.  He laughed uproariously.  He said if a supervisor asked to speak to Gede, 100 crew members would raise their hand

Edited June 8, 2023 by Goldenknight

[ChiefMateJRK]

42 minutes ago, Goldenknight said:

I didn't intend to be stroppy in noting that the Siglo drummer's name is Jun.  I think my spouse and I are just overly aware of the significance of names in other cultures.  We live in a city where many of our neighbors are Filipino-American.  We try out our Tagalog with the Filipino crew often, and they are graciously patient and correct us as necessary.  Hence, in speaking with Jun, we knew his name had meaning, but that it's Jun. 

 

Funny story (maybe just to my spouse and me):  there are many Indonesian crew.  If they are from Bali, their names have significant meaning:  typically, named according to birth order.  So, there are many crew named "Gede".  That means a first born boy (can also be called Wayan).  At the "How to Run a Floating Hotel", DanDan asked for any positives from the audience.  One guest said she wanted to thank Gede for his excellent service in the MDR.  Dan politely thanked her.  

Later, in the MDR, we mentioned this to our lovely waiter.  He laughed uproariously.  He said if a supervisor asked to speak to Gede, 100 crew members would raise their hand

That's all interesting.  Thanks for sharing it.  I'm from a world where it's enough for people to make an honest effort to be kind and respectful to others without having to learn all about different cultures.  If I make an honest mistake, I'm not going to apologize for being less than perfect.  I only answer to my Lord and the guy in the mirror for my intentions.  If anybody has an issue with that, that's on them. 😎

 

All that said, I had a lot of fun with those guys and I have reason to believe that they had a lot of fun with me and DW.  I really hope to cruise with them again.