Motegi

Day 1 - Evening

For dinner we decided to check out the Manhattan main dining room. Boy were we glad that we did! The maitre’d gave us a “romantic table” by the window with a sunset view. Our server was Roy. He was brilliant and the food was amazing! We will definitely be asking for his section when we go back!

Day 1 - Afternoon

In the afternoon our bags arrived in a staggered fashion. All were at the room by 6 PM.

The muster drill announcements began around 3:30. We headed from the observation deck to our station, A, which was located in the main theatre. We appreciated that they had the stations in the public areas and lounges rather than on the promenade deck.

We had a reservation for the Go Kart experience at 6 PM and made our way to the track 10 minutes before our scheduled time as they had requested. We chose to do the Karting on Day 1 as it is still warmer near Seattle than in Alaska and we were told they would shut down the track if it is raining (which it could in Alaska). Be aware that it is quite windy by the track and can be cold.

Everyone on the track needs to wear closed toed athletic shoes and no handbags are allowed. Long hair must be pulled up.

We checked in with the track attendants at the track and were given balaclavas to wear under our helmets. There was a mandatory safety video prior to going on track.

Then we were off to the races:

Balcony

The balcony is decently sized with two sitting chairs and a small table. There is a large glass panel under the railing providing a mostly unobstructed view of the scenery from the cabin. Pam finds that at 5’1 the railing was just at the level of the horizon and was quite distracting to her.

The balcony’s sliding door is very heavy and the locking mechanism is quite stiff requiring a decent amount of force to open. There is a locking button placed high up on the side that needs to be pressed before swinging the handle downward to release the door. Beware that when the balcony door is open and the cabin hallway door is open simultaneously it will produce a strong wind tunnel effect and can forcibly slam the hallway door shut.

DAY 2 Freestyle Daily is up!

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=56217672#post56217672

JUNE 3, 2018

DAY 2 - At sea.

Highlights include:

Dress Up or Not Night

Captain Photos

Cruise Critic Meet and Greet

This is a very interesting service. Has anybody used it before? What is the catch (if any)?

Were those self-service wine stations at the buffet!?!?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Why yes they were!

Unfortunately there is a label that says that those wines are NOT included with the ultimate beverage package (UBP).

However there are servers walking through the buffet that will take bar drink orders.

There is a good selection of wines by the glass that ARE included with the UBP.

Very, very, very nice of you!!!! Thank you! I'm so excited to see your adventures here!

 

Can I ask one more favor of you? I have seen pictures of the coffee pots in the cabins - WILL you pretty please post a picture of the coffee pods or packs that you use with them? I think they are the same that the Hamilton Beach single serve uses - but I want to make sure. We are coffee addicts and I want to bring some with us in the flavor we like? Thank you in advance!

Ask and you shall receive!

Here are detailed photos of the coffee maker (it IS a Hamilton Beach).

Closet

The closet is situated on the other side of the bathroom wall and faces the side of the bed. Therefore the space between the closet and the bed is quite narrow. There are sliding doors to access each side. One half is configured as shelves including one shelf with a standard sized cruise ship electronic safe. The other half has a clothes hanger bar with more than a dozen hangers included. However I find that the clothes hanging side is a bit too shallow meaning that the sleeves of my dress shirts often stick out beyond the door thus preventing it from sliding closed.

There are also multiple other storage compartments throughout the cabin. Two large drawers under the sofa/single bed. One of those contains the pillows and bedding for the sofa.

There are two storage cabinets with shelving under the desk and one cabinet with the minibar refrigerator (ours was locked).

Bedroom

There is a king sized bed (or two twins) with two pillows on each side. There are tiny end tables on either side with open shelving.

Wall switches beside the closet control the overhead llight and also the ambient lighting system that runs along the perimeter of the headboard.

Also there are sconces mounted on either side of the headboard with both a standard lamp as well as a very bright LED reading light that can be individually activated.

As an added bonus, both of the sconces include USB jacks to allow you to charge your phone or other personal electronic device at your nightstand.

The hairdryer is located under the “desk” in the main room.

There is a small Hamilton Beach coffeemaker at the desk with four packets of coffee (2 regular, 2 decaf), two mugs, tea, creamer, and sweetener. The coffee maker is a single cup machine with circular filter packets.

Of note, there is plenty of space under the bed to store all of your empty suitcases. We put two full sized suitcases plus a large rolling garment bag underneath with room to spare.

The Bathroom

The bathroom includes a glass enclosed shower with shampoo and body wash dispensers as well as some trays for holding other personal products.

There is a single sink with a cabinet underneath for storage as well as shelving under the counter for additional items. NCL includes a bar of soap as well as a small lemongrass body lotion.

There is a liquid hand soap dispenser beside the sink. There are four cup holders beside the sink as well.

There are two towel hooks on inside of the door and a clothes drying line inside the shower.

The Cabin - Deck 13 Midship Balcony

Hallway View

Each cabin door along this section is recessed in pairs from the hall. Each door opens outward into the hall. The room number plaque incorporates a signal system activated by switches inside the room that notify your steward if you want the room cleaned or don’t wish to be disturbed.

The room electrical system requires the insertion of your cruise card into a slot immediately inside the cabin. We were not sure if “any” card would work or whether only the cruise card would activate the system. I am happy to report that we also used a regular business card in the slot and it worked.

There is a small thermostat also on the wall beside the bathroom door.

The view of the cabin from the foot of the bed:

Great threat!! What tour company did you use in Seattle? Looks like a great one.

Also what was the cost?

Pam got it through her credit card rewards benefit so it was “free”. But you can book it through toursofseattle.com. The tour is called the “Snoqualmie Falls and Winery Tour”. The cost is just under $100 per person. Ask for Cory. The wine tastings and lunch is extra. There are a variety of tasting options available. At the Chateau there is a free tasting included with the tour.

———-

Next we made our way up to the Garden Cafe buffet on deck 16 for some lunch. WOW! What a selection. And they were serving prime rib for lunch. Although our favorite was the baked salmon. The Asian made to order noodle And they had a special celebratory vanilla cake with blueberry that was delicious!

The buffet:

Finally it is boarding day!!!

In the morning we woke up early and walked to the post office to send off some of the gifts we had bought in Seattle. Pam figured there was no need to lug them all out to Alaska when we could just send them back home in a USPS Flat Rate box!

Next at around 10:30 we walked our luggage from the ArtHouse apartment to the Bliss at Pier 66. It was literally a 5 minute walk with an elevator bringing us down to dockside.

They had large BLISS lettering outside and a banner celebrating the Inaugural Alaskan cruise!

Check in was the smoothest we’ve ever experienced in all of our cruises this far. From walking up to the entrance to getting onboard took all of 10 minutes! The security guys were super friendly and we had a nice chat about our mutual addiction to wristwatches. We even recommended that he looks into the Invicta Cruise scheduled for Feb 2019! I think he is going to go!

The Cabins were not ready yet so we went to the Social on deck 6 to make specialty dinner reservation adjustments.

Then we made our way up to deck 7 and the box office to make reservations for the shows and the activities (go kart, laser tag).

One thing to note is that they no longer punch the keycards because they say that there is an embedded chip that will be damaged. So I guess cardholder lanyards would be the way to go.

Following - Me and family will be on this ship exactly 1 year from today - Will you please post the dailey's for each day to give us all an idea? Sounds like the itinerary is a bit different 1 year from now. Ours will be cruising Glacier Bay (unless they change it on us). I enjoyed your trip in Seattle - we are flying in 3 nights prior to the cruise to site see! I'm so excited for you! Have a great trip!!!

I’ve started a separate thread for the Freestyle Dailies for you!!

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=56213213&posted=1#post56213213

Embarkation Day Clothes Pressing service:

Water package

I’m starting a thread for the Freestyle Dailies for the 2018 Bliss 7-day Alaska itinerary.

June 2, 2018 Day 1

Oooh!!!

Pam and I love the Sky!

The cruises are short but definitely high energy and exciting!

Enjoy!

So that pretty much wraps up our last full day in Seattle. We are both so excited to finally be able to board the Bliss tomorrow after all of our anticipation and planning. We look forward to meeting many of you onboard!

The final stop on the tour was the Boehm’s Chocolate Factory. According to the tour guide, the Edelweiss Chalet was the first Swiss Chalet built in the state. We all donned some snazzy paper caps for a tour of the factory and a sampling of their sweet confections.

To be honest after all the wine and chocolate the tour bus ride home turned into a much needed nap for me. Before I knew it we were back in Seattle.

The next stop on the tour was the Snoqualmie Falls with the picturesque 270 foot waterfall and historic Salish Lodge perched at the edge. As a National Historic Registered site we could see why it is one of the most famous attractions for visitors to Seattle. The weather was ideal yet the crowds were minimal during our short visit and I was able to take a few photos with my variable neutral density filter.

Back on the road we spotted an extremely rare herd of wild marshmallows.

This herd seems to be lining up for a migration:

And in a town called Carnation we were honored to behold a monument to one of their famous bovine citizens:

Further along the way our guide spotted one of the first cherry stands for the season so we decided to make a pit stop and grab a few baskets for the road.

Now THATS a bottle!