Semi-live from the Bliss | June 17-24, 2023 | Alaska ho!

[OrcaGirl]

Hey everyone,

 

It’s ridiculously early in the morning and I’m about to head over to Vancouver’s Pacific Central train station to start the journey down to Seattle, where I’ll be boarding the Norwegian Bliss for its 7-day sailing to Alaska, with stops in Sitka, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan and Victoria, and scenic cruising up Endicott Arm to Dawes Glacier.

 

 

This was a relatively last-minute booking for me. I was on another cruise to Alaska aboard the Discovery Princess several weeks ago when a friend (hereafter referred to as the Fox) texted me and asked if I’d help her pick a good cruise for her and her 8-year-old son (let’s call him the Cub). Apparently, a year or so ago, he’d mentioned out of the blue that he wanted to go on a cruise, which he considered to be like a ferry ride but with a waterpark onboard. And then once I made my suggestions, she asked if I wanted to tag along. Yes. Yes, I did.

 

This will be my third sailing on the Bliss, and fourth cruise to Alaska. I’ve been to all of these ports before, but it’ll be my first time to Endicott Arm. And this will be my first time sailing with a child – they’re not usually my favourite people to hang around, but I make an except for the Fox and her Cub.

 

I’ll try to post 2-3 times each day with what we’re up to, though my particular focus will usually be food, cocktails, onboard entertainment and in-port adventures. (I’ll also be posting lots of photos over on Instagram Stories; look for erin_braincandy if you just want all the photos and none of the commentary. And new this cruise, I’m going to try posting daily Shorts on YouTube, where I go by the name ratherbecamping…)

 

 

Background reading

 

My prior semi-live from… threads:

 

Discovery Princess | April 2023 | Alaska

 

 

Celebrity Edge | February 2023 | Caribbean

 

 

Celebrity Solstice | October 2022 | Mexican Riviera (and the first cruise for the Fox)

 

 

Norwegian Bliss | December 2021 | Mexican Riviera

 

 

[georgegarlowjr]

Following along...we cruise on the July 8th Bliss to Alaska. We would love to see pics of the Freestyle Dailies if you have time! 😀

[ChiefMateJRK]

If you like good music, don't miss Siglo.  The Heartbreakers and Steven in the Brewhouse are also excellent.  I'll be following along.  I love the Bliss and AK! 😎

[OrcaGirl]

The train ride down to Seattle was uneventful, and only delayed about 20 minutes total due to a broken-down freight train on shared tracks.

 

 

We arrived at Seattle’s King Street Station just after 11am. Grabbed a Lyft and had a great driver (thanks Jamal!) drop us off at Pier 66. 
 

 

Easily dropped off our luggage, and entered the check-in line at 11:27. (We had picked 11:30am as our check-in time.)

 

The initial check, security line, and actual check-in took about 30 minutes, and we were on the ship by 12:08.

 

We quickly popped up one deck to our muster station at Los Lobos and had our cards scanned. (Sooooo glad they’ve stuck with the new style of muster.)

 

We tried for a table at The Local but it was a 30 min wait and I was starving by this point, having skipped breakfast in order to make the train. (A Nature Valley blueberry bar, though delicious, is not a filling grab-and-go choice.)

 

So to the Garden Cafe. We lucked into a table above the Observation Lounge, and filled our plates.

 

 

Random observations:

 

I got an email once we were already onboard the train that my upgrade bid (for the train) was unsuccessful. Oh well.

 

We got a surprisingly chipper US border control agent doing the on-train customs and passport check at the Peace Arch. Very perfunctory.

 

At check-in, when the agent went through the medical questionnaire and asked “will anyone be 24 weeks pregnant by the end of the cruise” and the Fox and I replied in unison “God I hope not.” 🤣

 

Wildlife count: several eagles flying right by the train, a few heron along the shore, and way too many Canada geese (the sociopaths of the sky).

[OrcaGirl]

After lunch, we were all fading but the rooms still weren’t ready so we decided to head down to the Splash Academy to get the Cub registered. It was a loooooooong wait and being around this many children is not my natural environment. 🤣

 

 

It was neat to see the Splash Academy space, but it wasn’t actually an engaging process for the kids and everyone was a bit frazzled. “This is soooooo boring” was a common refrain among the kids. It took us an hour to get the Cub registered and then to take a quick tour of the space.

 

 

 

Once that was taken care of, we continued to tour the ship.

 

The arcade was a bit disappointing, as any prize-giving games weren’t included in the arcade pass and the remaining games didn’t appeal too much to the Cub.

 

We finished touring 678 and settled in for a sit and a mojito at the Sugarcane bar. The ‘rooms ready’ announcement came around 2:45pm and the cheer was heard throughout the land. Or the bar.

 

 

 

Random observations:

 

This is definitely the fullest ship I’ve been on since the restart. I miss the reduced capacity cruises.

 

They announced that hand luggage could be left at Q until rooms were ready. (There’s a separate thread about this topic on the Joy, I think.)

[toyotamom]

11 hours ago, georgegarlowjr said:

Following along...we cruise on the July 8th Bliss to Alaska. We would love to see pics of the Freestyle Dailies if you have time! 😀

We will be joining you.  I am interested to see pics and comments in the week ahead.

[OrcaGirl]

After finishing our mojitos, we headed to our cabin to drop off our backpacks. We’re in a BB cabin on deck 10, towards the aft. It’s a bit of a tighter squeeze with two adults and a child, but it’ll be fine.

 

 

 

We demolished the chocolate-covered strawberries immediately but none of us drink red wine so the bottle of Merlot will be left for the steward to take away.

 

 

After a quick call to housekeeping to request the queen bed to be split into two twins, we decided it was pool time. 

 

The rain had stopped by this point but it was still a bit chilly so we hopped in the pool instead of sticking to the kids aqua park. The pool is salt water, and was surprisingly warm (relative to the air at least).

 

 

 

We tried for the hot tubs but they were full, so we headed back to the room to dry off and warm up.

 

For dinner tonight we went to Taste. Or was it Savor? Not sure.

 

The chicken piccata wasn’t quite as good as last time; the sauce was lovely but the chicken itself was rubbery. I regret not ordering the pork loin, as the Fox did.

 

 

The honey crème brûlée was very good, if a touch too sweet.

 

 

After dinner, we headed up to the Garden Cafe in search of chocolate milk for the Cub. A staff member brought it promptly, and — as is tradition — was floored that I thanked him in Indonesian. 

 

We headed back to the room and spent a few minutes getting unpacked.

 

The Fox and the Cub were ready for bed, and I wandered out to Maltings for an Eastern Legacy while making a goodnight call to the husband back home.

 

 

It’s now 9pm and I’m turning in for the night.

 

 

Random observations:

 

The Fox tells me that a child fox is a kit, not a cub. But I’m still gonna use Cub.

 

98% positive that the outdoor Waterfront area immediately in front of the cigar lounge is NOT a permitted cigar smoking area, no matter what really drunk cigar smoking dude and his slightly less drunk but still wrong buddy thought. 

 

The ship is rocking so I’m trying the old towel on the hangers trick.

 

[OrcaGirl]

Attempting to post the day one dailies… 

 

pdf document.pdf

[cruiservictor]

3 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

Attempting to post the day one dailies… 

 

pdf document.pdf 1.41 MB · 1 download

Worked perfectly. Thank you. I see Dan Dan is your cruise director. We had him many times on the Breakaway out of NY. He has been on the Bliss now for quite a while. 
 

Looking forward to your posts this week. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

32 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

Attempting to post the day one dailies… 

 

pdf document.pdf 1.41 MB · 6 downloads

You have Siglo, Oana, Heartbreakers and Stephen.  I am officially 110% jealous.  I had all four of them on my B2B in April and can't wait to enjoy them all again.  Siglo is fantastic.  Their Pink Floyd stuff is great, along with many other rock classics.  As I've shared here before, one of their newest songs is Purple Rain.  Great rendition.  Ask Oana for some Bach.  She loves to play that classic stuff.  The Heartbreakers?  I talked to them after one gig and they agreed to dig into their Elvis archive.  They came back a day or two later with Suspicious Minds.  Ask them!  Stephen plays absolutely everything.  A bit higher energy at times, but always fun.  You are VERY fortunate with these talented performers. 😎

[ZachIsHere]

Going on the Bliss to Alaska in September and really looking forward to it. Have a blast and thanks for the good info!

[quack2]

9 hours ago, OrcaGirl said:

Attempting to post the day one dailies… 

 

pdf document.pdf 1.41 MB · 20 downloads

Thanks for posting as a pdf.  Much easier to read for us geezers.

[georgegarlowjr]

10 hours ago, OrcaGirl said:

Attempting to post the day one dailies… 

 

pdf document.pdf 1.41 MB · 23 downloads

Thanks so much. This is perfect!!

[OrcaGirl]

Good morning from off the coast of Vancouver Island.

 

Not sure if it’s a hangover from the Eastern Legacy or the lingering smoke from the Cameron Bluffs wildfire on Vancouver Island, but I woke up with a headache.

 

So, to Starbucks… the fixer of all ills. I really miss sailing on half-full ships when there was no Starbucks line and the staff remembered me and my usual order.

 

Up to the buffet for breakfast. Alas, I didn’t see a single hash brown this morning!

 

Après breakfast, we dropped off the Cub at Splash Academy and then the Fox and I continued to explore the areas of the ship we didn’t get to yesterday.

 

We did some shop browsing, and then settled in for some bingo. I purchased the three card package, but we also redeemed our two free cards each for booking the cruise via C*****. (Enough people had booked that way that they had a whole separate line with a multi-page list of names.)

 

We played, the Fox got close, but we lost. But they gave out free green cards for the afternoon bingo game so we’ll be back for that.

 

After picking up the Cub, we headed to one of the MDRs for lunch. In all my cruises, I don’t think I’ve ever gone MDR for lunch before. 🤷‍♀️ 

 

The monte cristo sandwich was very yummy (my only point of comparison is the Disneyland version).

 

But oh the tiramisu was divine. I’ve had so many fancy deconstructed tiramisu on cruise ships but this was classic and creamy and perfect.

 

Random observations:

 

My wifi keeps dropping. And uploading photos is taking for freaking ever so they’ll come separately.

 

I thought COVID taught us all to NOT cough directly into our hands and then touch all the things, but apparently not.

 

Interesting that the captain referred to passing Graham Island this afternoon; the Fox and I had to look it up, and were like “oooooh why not just say Haida Gwaii?”

 

I miss Captain Tasos from the Edge.

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

14 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

Up to the buffet for breakfast. Alas, I didn’t see a single hash brown this morning!

Despite having multiple stations for many things, in April the hash browns were only in a single spot each morning.  It was the main Port-Starboard aisle in the middle of the buffet, closer to the port side.  Good luck!

[www3traveler]

When you can, could you please post a list of both the Bridge and Hotel Senior Officers?

Thank you

Have a wonderful cruise

[OrcaGirl]

Missing photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 18, 2023 by OrcaGirl
Spacing

[OrcaGirl]

Day 2 (sea day) dailies

 

Day 2.pdf

[OrcaGirl]

After lunch, the Fox and Cub headed back to the cabin for some downtime. I headed to the Atrium for Deal or No Deal but it was PACKED and I couldn’t find a perch so I moseyed on out of there.

 

 

Popped into the spa to inquire about thermal suite daily passes, and was told that they weren’t sure yet, come back tomorrow to see if they were going to offer them or not.

 

Did a walkthrough of the Observation Lounge; again, very full and couldn’t find a seat. Will have to return another time for my required espresso martini…

 

 

By then the Fox texted me that it was pool time, so I hustled back to the cabin and we changed into swimsuits.

 

The kids aqua park was closed (due to the rocky conditions?) so we stuck to the kids pool. Did I mention it was salt water? Can’t remember. The pool was rockin’ but it was fun.

 

Once again, tried to hot tub but they were all full (mostly of kids). The ‘adult’ pool was empty.

 

 

Back to the room again to warm up and dry off. We decided to head to bingo to use our free green bonus cards and hey we don’t want to just sit there for one game so sure we’ll buy another set of cards. And a couple of cocktails. So yeah, smart of NCL.

 

 

 

But we still didn’t win anything. Boo. But there was a hilarious bongo when a woman called bingo in the last game, but still had five missing numbers. And then on the next number called, a guy called bingo… and it was also a false alarm. 🤣 

 

Then back to the room to rest up and get ready for dinner.

 

Random observations:

 

Surprised that the kids pool is so deep. 5’7” so I can’t even touch the bottom.

 

Decided to skip the latitudes party tonight since I don’t feel like dressing up, even for free drinks.

[OrcaGirl]

Dinner was had in the Garden Cafe buffet. I do appreciate that NCL hasn’t (yet) cut back their dinner buffet to next to nothing. (Looking at you Celebrity.)

 

 

After dropping off the Cub for the evening Splash Academy session, the Fox and I headed to the atrium to listen to some music and maybe have a cocktail. Or at least that was the plan.

 

 

We looked at the time… SIX was going to start in SIX minutes. So we hightail it to the theatre, get there right before they close the doors (no waitlist at this point) and grab the first two seats we see.

 

I’m really genuinely sad that NCL is dropping Six and so many of their other Broadway shows. Six was literally a huge part of the reason the Fox picked Norwegian Bliss out of the options I presented her. And I’ve loved seeing Six, Kinky Boots and Priscilla on various NCL ships. The replacement playlist productions that most other cruiselines offer are just sooooo generic.

 

 

 

So yeah, the show is amazing, we loved it, and we’re still gonna see Six again tomorrow, with our original reservations.

 

The Fox and I each got $25 free slot play with our booking, so we stopped in the casino to put a little dent in it. Unfortunately we were less lucky tonight than on our last cruise together. (On the Celebrity Solstice, the Fox turned $5 free play into $77 within a few minutes.) No big wins tonight but we each have a few bucks left for later in the cruise.

 

 

After that, we picked up the Cub and retired for the evening, annoying him by singing Six songs all the way back to the cabin.

 

Random observations:

 

All passengers were required to complete a Canadian customs form and return it to the steward tonight.

 

After seeing the long line for guest services earlier, I tried joining the virtual queue in the NCL app. When I joined around 6pm, I was 39th in line. At 6:52pm, when the in-person line had all but disappeared, I was 37th. At 9:25pm, I was 32nd. There is something screwy with this system.

 

 

We are setting our clocks back tonight to be on Alaska time. Time is a construct.

 

Macgyvering a better towel-based solution to banging hangers.

 

[adam3313]

Don't Lose Ur Head is such a banger from the Six show!  

 

Heading to Alaska in a few weeks on the Encore, so definitely following along!

 

Enjoy your trip!!

[OrcaGirl]

Day 3 (Sitka) dailies

Day 3 Sitka.pdf

 

Wifi is being horrendous this morning. Did the upload work?

Edited June 19, 2023 by OrcaGirl

[georgegarlowjr]

5 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

Day 3 (Sitka) dailies

Day 3 Sitka.pdf 1.5 MB · 1 download

 

Wifi is being horrendous this morning. Did the upload work?

Yes the upload worked perfect! Thank you!

[OrcaGirl]

Good morning from a fog bank off of Baranof Island. We’ll be in Sitka today from 11am to 6pm, and I’m especially looking forward to the sail into port as I was asleep for it on the last cruise. Hoping the sun comes out as promised once we’re in Sitka proper.

 

 

Starbucks ho! As discussed many times, you can use your Starbucks card/app to pay for drinks and earn points.

 

After a little caffeinating time back in the room, we headed out in search of breakfast. To the Local!

 

 

After breakfast, we had an hour to kill before it was time to drop off the Cub for some more Splash Academy fun so we popped up for a quick walk through the Observation Lounge.

 

 

Then back to the cabin to watch our slow approach into Sitka. As soon as we emerged from the fog bank, the sun and the mountains presented themselves. Absolutely gorgeous. We decided to forgo any activities and just chill on the balcony and soak up the sunshine and scenery.

 

 

 

Our plans for the rest of the day are to grab an early lunch at Local, then take the free shuttle into downtown Sitka and do some DIY exploring.

[quack2]

Great town to explore in.