Markj

Just off the Bliss and did the Karaoke and sang It's My Life by Bon Jovi better than he sings it these days. I don't think you'll need to worry. they have books with hundreds of pages by both artist and song title. I'm into Rock Music and the had stuff I had never seen before on a Karaoke by The Ramones, Iron Maiden, Led Zep, Sabbath and more One tip though, get there early as it was popular and people were getting the song requests in early too.q

Yes Jersey Boys is Sunday and Monday 630 and 930 Six is Wednesday and Thursday 700 and 915

You will love it. Anything else you need to know then just ask away

We left the ship at 9am. There was a group sitting in the Haven lounge who had a late flight to Boston and they said they were leaving at 930. I think that's the time everyone has to ashore. I don't know if you can stay any later. There are some bag drop places around Pike Place and I gave John the concierge the details so that may be an option. Or you can do an NCL Seattle tour that ends at the Airport I believe There is also an airline check in service for your bag to go directly to the airport but I didn't pay much attention to that as it was US Airlines only

Just to finish off the trip report - as this has now become!! Arrived back into Seattle at 6 and then Jack starts his bellowing at 7 am to get you off. Hahahaha. I know hes English but I have to say his announcements are the most annoying' of any Cruise Director Ive ever known!!! We had a nice light breakfast in the lounge and then took our own bags off the ship down the Haven lift and onto the portside - all nice and easy. Walked over to the Marriott and called an Uber to take us back to the Thompson in the city so we coudl store our bags for a few hours - found a phone in the Uber and luckily the lady who it belonged to was at The Edgewater - so we drove past her and she came out onto the sidewalk to get it back - she looked very relieved!!! Lunch at Place Pigalle - service and food was really good and portions not too big before getting our bags and Uber out to the airport - took 25 minutes and our flight back to the UK All in all a fab trip and looking to do Iceland/Norway i a couple of years. At least we wont get jet lag!! hahahaha

Im sorry but we didnt get onto the ship until about 3 - I think there was lunch in the Local and the Garden buffet but tbh we had had a nice brunch in Seattle and so didnt want any more food - even at the start of the cruise. Hahahaha

As has been mentioned- its all day until about 5pm. Mornings from 630 was a cold selection of hams, cheese, devilled eggs fruit, yoghurt, pastries and granola then from about 11 it was lunch with pinwheels, crudite, dips, dessert, chocolate lolly, doughnuts and yes giant fresh bake cookies. The range is pretty my much that but the flavours and ingredients change. We used to mix and match lunch and breakfast in the Haven Restaurant and the lounge depending on how full we were - and then theres afternoon snacks in yoru cabin along with gummi bears and M&M's - you honestly wont be short of food. And if you are starving one floor down is the Garden Buffet. We never used this but did have a tour round and have to say the buffet and the observation lounge and bar was excellent

I didnt get it in Seattle. I used a company called Qured and ordered it online. Then did a video call on Thursday morning so that it was "medically supervised" The results came by email within 5 minutes and I then used showed the PDF's on my phone They told us at the check in that you could get a test at the port and I saw this at some of the other ports of call but Im sorry I dont know if NCL charged or if you could just turn up and they would do it so I think its safer not to risk it and do the test 2 days before

The afternoon at sea on the way ro Victoria went fast. We did a trivia session then the Beatles Experience and they were top notch. After which there was a final goodbye from they cruise director, Jack and some of the staff. The asst cruise director sang --and was poor in comparison to the SIX girls-and the thing was cheese so we went the Atrium for a who wants to be a millionaire style quiz only to find the Theatre showbl being streamed onto the big screen Aggggggh! Hahahahaha Couple more quizzes then dinner in Ocean Blue - still our fave and excellent quality then back to the Haven bar for nightcap Final night of a wonderful cruise

Dinner in Cucina was very good again. I guess if uou compared the restaurants to the best of their type where you live then they score a good 8 or 9 out of 10. Saw SIX and really enjoyed it especially as we didn't know any of the music. Of course we know the history of it and it was well done and each of the singers was absolutely excellent. Rounded the evening off in the Atrium and listening to Natural Duo who are also good. Can't fault ant of the entertainers and going to watch the "Beatles" this afty in the main theatre as its basically a day at sea as we don't get to Victoria until 730 And that does seem a bit daft.The ship is currently at about 8knots and so could easily get there mid-afternoon and then there would be more time to wander round Ns have afternoon tea - more food yaaaay. So tonight staying on board and going to Ocean Blue. Apparently there's only one bar open one each deck a Canadian authorities don't want is getting hammered. What a silly rule. Hahahahah Nice relaxing day, today as we cruise to Victoria. Had breakfast from the lounge buffet and lunch in the Haven. My goodness the burger is a full half pounder. Hahaha

Did the Rainforest island tour which was really good and very entertaining with Nolan our tour guide. Had a good hike through the forest and learnt about the plants and trees in the forest and the slugs. Hahaha. It was very good. Back to the ship and drinks in the Haven Jacuzzi then onto our balcony as the sun was out and its. lovely warm evening. Tonight it's Six and dinner La Cucina

Had a good dinner in Cagneys then listened to Siglo in the Atrium before some karaoke in the Cavern. Arrived into Ketchikan at the 'new" terminal. Looks like a run down fish factory. Seems to be the way of cruise ships these days that they all end up docking away from the main port. Its a shame as. you miss the scenery of the arrival into the town. Hey ho.

They had said that recently 2 to 3 flights a week had been cancelled but weren't specific as to morning or afternoon

Wednesday and Icy Strait Point. Without doubt a cruise ship tourist construction with two gondola cable cars, purpose built bar and cafe and a zip wire Did a whale watch cruise and saw plenty of humpback as well as seals and Otters.This took a couple of hours then I did the zip wire. The instructions for this aren't clear so - check in at the zip wire reception next to the RED gondola. Then take th gondola up to the top. There is a time on the wristband they give you. Go to the zip wire access and then walk about 500 yards down the hill to the zip wire loading station. 6 people go at a time and each load takes about 10-15 mins as you have to wait for the harnesses to come back up. It's quite fast and it made my eyes water but great fun to do. They take 3 pictures as you approach thw bottom and you can purchase for $15 for 1 and $9 each for the others. At the bottom is a bar cafe and for us,gondola back to the ship Lunch in the Haven -excellent as always

Had the platter so much food but very tasty and the band played too so was a fab evening. Drinks back in the Haven Bar - those guys can make you anything and the quality of mixology is top notch

The Haven is fab. Of course there will always be debate as to value for money but that's the same with many things. It suits us and I love the whole experience. Have to say Endicott and Dawes wasn't great. I've done Endicott on Jewel and we got right up close with ice all around in the water but today we got nowhere near because of "ice". There were literally 3 chunks and IMHO they didn't attempt to get close enough. I've done Glacier Bay on Pearl back in 2011 and it was brilliant. We were so close and had a park ranger talk us through the whole bay. So if I was wanting to see a glacier up close either do a cruise with Glacier Bay or make sure you go to Mendenhall. Smokehouse for dinner at 830. More later

John DeSouza is the Head Concierge. I've had him on the Pearl previously and think he's very good Restaurant and bar staff are first rate too. Also worth mentioning the Haven Observation lounge has a running buffet all day too. Had booked helicopter and dogs too. Got to the heliport, in the copter, engine running.......then told the glacier and dog camp were in cloud and we couldn't go. It was disappointing but they can't affect the weather. So they took us back into Juneau where we had a stroll and A coffee. Refund was back on our account as we sat down for lunch. Which was in the Haven and was very good. I had Fritto Misto and French dip with coleslaw. Top quality. Into the lounge as we cruised out of Juneau as its good spot. Then as we entered Endicott up towards Dawes went to our room as we have a forward facing balcony and huge glass windows. Good to see passenger are allowed out on the front deck on deck 8 too to get a good view

Don't know if the ice cream shop family got their tests as I haven't seen them on board or on any tour. There's still time though Did the Otters, raptors and bears tour in Sitk today. John the concierge escorts you off the ship so no queues. (And they bring you baxk the same way, its a great perk). This was very good. Boat trip off the Dock, they have. small bar and serve free hot drinks and donuts. Saw a few whales, seals and sea Otters. Then onto a bus to the Bear sanctuary and 8 bears with 3 species. Finally the raptor rescue centre where they treat injured birds and get them back into the wild. This was also very good and you see Bald Eagle and other raptors up close. Then this evening dinner was at Los Lobos. Good quality Mexican food but just toooo much. We were stuffed and could have had 2 doggy bags!!! And we only ordered appetisers and mains!!!!! Then watched Siglo in the cavern club. They are an excellent covers rock band. And then back to the Haven Bar where there was no-one but us for a drink before bed.

The Haven is completely full and the ship is at 75% capacity. Our first time on Bliss and itsba lovely ship. Everything seems well laid out and the crew and staff have all been excellent. Had dinner so far in Ocean Blue and Le Bistro and they were both great quality. Saw the 930 Jersey Boys last night - didn't realise it had no interval so be prepared for nearly 2hours of sitting down! Hahaha

Boarded the Bliss on Saturday for a 7 night Alaskan cruise. Its our third one and there’s always so much to see and do. I thought I would just give a run through of the boarding process as I have always found the information and details from previous posts useful. For background we are from the UK and have booked The Haven cabin 18700 – have to say a large family could easily live in this room and the steward said it can accommodate 6 – there’s a 2nd bedroom which we will never use!!! There’s a fair bit of “admin” to do ahead of actually arriving at the cruise port so along with the NCL check in which is done online we also did the ArriveCan process (even though we don’t intend to get off in Victoria) an antigen Covid test two days ahead of the cruise (did ours on the Thursday morning), proof of vaccinations, and I actually printed out my ESTA document which I’ve never done before but it came in handy as you’ll read later. Had planned to arrive at the port between 2 and 230pm so got an Uber from the Thompson Hotel (brilliant location on 1st Avenue and such a fabulous hotel) that took about 10 minutes and when we arrived the bag drop off section was quiet. Gave our bags to a porter and tipped $2 and off they went. Nice and easy. Walked 100 yards down the sidewalk and saw the back of the line coming out of the entrance. For haven guests there is a separate line and a person with a Haven sign to direct you. Have to say the main guest line was long and thankfully we got to the first check with only one other couple ahead of us. They check your passport and boarding pass/Ticket at this point. Then into one line for security and bag check. There isn’t a separate Haven line but this moves quickly so maybe 5 minutes here. Then up a flight of stairs – there is an elevator too – and then haven guests go to a lounge on the right and other guests to the left. I only saw the back of the line in the guest check in but it did look crowded. In the Haven Lounge a representative runs through your booking, ArriveCan check, checks the Covid test, proof of vaccination, and passports and also wanted to see our ESTAS. As I mentioned earlier I have never printed these in over 30 trips to the US as I’ve never been asked for them at US immigration. But here they needed to see them. So to any UK guests make sure you have a hard copy. I do have all the above on my lap top but its just easier if everything is printed off. Then the representative said that all non-US or Canadian passports had to be check by the “ship executive”. So she took ours and the ESTA form away. This took 45minutes!!!!! So we sat in the lounge and had a coffee and a cookie. When she came back she said the check took about a minute but she had to wait in a line as there were all the passports from the other guests being checked too. I’ve never had this done before for a cruise and it seemed a but strange seeing as we were already in the USA!!! Anyway – this check was done and then we had our pictures taken and cruise key cards issued. Covid test – as a note – we did ours 2 days ahead of sailing as instructed by NCL, however the representative did say tests could be done at the port if you arrived there to board and hadn’t done one!! We actually met an American couple in Shugs Ice cream shop (definitely go here) and they hadn’t done theirs as they thought US guests didn’t need to do a test if they were vaccinated. So suggested they checked as I was sure they did – and they do!!! So all being well they got theirs and are onboard as I write!! Finally – a Haven team member took us to our cabin – and on the way to our muster point to we didn’t have to go back later - and then about 15minutes later our bags arrived. So other than the extended passport check the whole check in and boarding experience was really straightforward. Now at sea and about to go for breakfast on Day 2. If anyone has any questions then please ask away I’m sure I’ll post some updates as the cruise progresses.

Yes I put the cruise date when I ordered the kit. But don't worry too much because the kits come about 5 days after you order them and you can book your video call on the date and time you need to meet the NCL requirement of 2 days. We sail on Saturday so my video appt is Thursday morning at 8am US Pacific time

Indeed- We are on this cruise Saturday 16th Thank you

How spooky - we live in Warwickshire too. We are on the Bliss out of Seattle on 16th July but will be in the US from 12th. Ive ordered two Antigen kits coupled with a video call so that the test is "proctored". We will be in Portland on the Thursday before the cruise and have booked our video calls at 8am and 815am Pacific time. The company we are using is called Qured and I ordered the kits last week and have them now to take with me. They were £27 each including the video call. Its really straightforward There website is Covid-19 Fit to Fly Tests | PCR and Antigen | Qured If you have any questions let me know

Great tip Just ordered some

I initially thought the same! Hahahaha