First Haven experience to Alaska on the Bliss

How would you compare Bliss Haven to Escape Haven? I have only sailed once on NCL and it was in the Escape Haven. Have a great cruise!

Thanks for all the wonderful info so far! We are sailing in August 2019! We will be staying at the Marriott Waterfront as well. I was curious to know if you are able to cross the street right at the hotel to the cruise port or do you have to go to the bridge and then cross to the terminal? Thanks

Dumb question - which Marriott? I was rethinking where we will stay but can't figure out which of the Marriotts you mean. Residence Inn shows 0.8 miles away but you said it's right across the street?

Dumb question - which Marriott? I was rethinking where we will stay but can't figure out which of the Marriotts you mean. Residence Inn shows 0.8 miles away but you said it's right across the street?

Its the Marriott Waterfront

2100 Alasakan Way

Thanks for all the wonderful info so far! We are sailing in August 2019! We will be staying at the Marriott Waterfront as well. I was curious to know if you are able to cross the street right at the hotel to the cruise port or do you have to go to the bridge and then cross to the terminal? Thanks

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Thanks so much!

Its the Marriott Waterfront

2100 Alasakan Way

Thanks

Thank you for the updates! Will be on the Bliss in a Haven 2BR family suite this August! I'm curious about the 16+ age restriction area. One of my kids is younger than 16. Are there plenty of other spaces in the Haven to be as a family for observing or will we only be able to be as a family in the observation lounge? Also, is it too cold to swim in the pools?

As it stands right now all outdoor portions of the Haven are for 16+. The sign is on the door leading out to the outdoor section

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As it stands right now all outdoor portions of the Haven are for 16+. The sign is on the door leading out to the outdoor section

 

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That stinks! :mad:

Cyclops, if you enjoy cocktails, go to the Haven bar. Look for Emer behind the bar (black eye glasses). Try the famous Smoked Old Fashion and tell him Cruise Critic sent you. This drink is only available in the Haven. He will get a kick out of this, but it is best to order when the bar is not swamped. It is awesome and the smoking process is really fun - have a camera ready. I saw it on a post from the Transatlantic (or Panama) cruise and I ordered it on the June 9 Alaska sailing.

Cyclops, if you enjoy cocktails, go to the Haven bar. Look for Emer behind the bar (black eye glasses). Try the famous Smoked Old Fashion and tell him Cruise Critic sent you. This drink is only available in the Haven. He will get a kick out of this, but it is best to order when the bar is not swamped. It is awesome and the smoking process is really fun - have a camera ready. I saw it on a post from the Transatlantic (or Panama) cruise and I ordered it on the June 9 Alaska sailing.

Got a pic to share? I’m dying to see it!

Wow! Thanks

Emir is awesome !!

Thanks. I actually saw those pictures from one of the prior cruise.

Today was pretty cool. Had our first meal in the Bliss Haven restaurant. The first thing I saw that was new to me was the water glasses. It was actually stainless steel. I ended up getting the filet and eggs. Was great and the steak was cooked exactly to what I requested.

After breakfast we sat in the atrium and watched some of the things going on there one was talking about how they operate a hotel at see. One picture below show how much Hard Ice Cream they use on a week cruise. It also show some of the other crew area I have never seen before. One.of which is the crew bar at the very front of the ship. Many photos show the covering but not what is under it. They also explained that the Bliss now has 70% single person rooms with a Jack and Jill bath. They said they serveyed all of there crews and Sharing a room was the largest complaint so the design the Bliss this way. Also there now is only a single mess that the captain all the way to the lowest level crew all share and they like that

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After lunch we stopped by the cabin and there were chocolate covered strawberries, cookies and potato chips waitting. I did get a picture of that as I was walking around a bit and the family had most of it gone.

I wanted to check and see how crowded the Haven observation lounge was. As you can see in the photos the top level had no one and looking down there where open seats. My sister however said she walked threw later and there was one person upstairs and all the front chairs were taken, so it may be hit or miss but so far does not appear to have a bunch of chair hogs.

We went to Ocean Blue for dinner tonight. My youngest (9) loves mussels and claim chowder he loved them. Big and tasty. The had Rock fish as a special. Sorry but I didn't think of taking photos of it. DW took photos of the deserts. One was a draw and white chocolate dessert and the other was a lemon type of dessert.

My oldest got a little sea sick this afternoon when the ship was rocking a bit so I brought him back to the cabin while DW and DS went to Havana. When we got back our steward was just finishing up the room for the night. We had chocolate chip cookies waitting our towel animal (did not get one yesterday for some reason). I also have not seen the bunk bed setup in the Haven Two bedroom so I grabbed a shot of it.

Opps. Almost forgot about the race track. Since the youngest was only about 50 inches tall he had to ride the two person. He was happy until he got in and learned everything on the right side is disconnected. He could spin the wheel but nothing happens. So it was just a ride alone. This made him very sad.

I raced about an hour later with my older son. I noticed they had two lines. Haven and everyone else. We were the only on red in that lane so we got in the first race for that hour. I loved it. I was in first for a while and lapped my son twice [emoji1]. I then got stuck behi d the slow pack for the last 4 laps and two others were able to beat my time so I got third. My son hit a wall a bit hard and it scared him a bit so he actually pitted early. The stopped the race for about 15 seconds as he exited. And we started up again. I did learn the trick to the cars though but that's my secret until my last race later this week.

Laser tag is due up next so will see how that goes. Hoping the youngest feels better so he can join in.

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Emir is awesome !!

I sat down at the bar and asked if it was open.

Emir: "No, closed."

Me: "OK, I will wait. When do you open?"

Emir: "Tomorrow"

Me: "Oh.......well, can I get a drink while I wait?"

Emir actually cracked a smile and bought me a Martini (no UBP for me). Dry sense of humor; funny. Excellent Mixologist.

Next day I go in and ask Emir for a Miller Lite.

Emir: "What's wrong?"

Sidebar on restaurants. IMO, the Haven is the best of all the restaurants in terms of overall experience. The King Crab night is NOT to be missed. Big fat legs that arrive perfectly split in half; just dig in and enjoy. On the June 9 cruise, we noticed that the speed of specialty restaurant service seems to have been ramped up to satisfy demand (just a guess). We were booked at Cagney's for 90 minutes (not the usual 120) and were actually pushed out in about 40 minutes! Way too fast to enjoy it.

Not looking to highjack your thread, Cyclops. Good pics! Different from previous posters. Thanks.

I sat down at the bar and asked if it was open.

Emir: "No, closed."

Me: "OK, I will wait. When do you open?"

Emir: "Tomorrow"

Me: "Oh.......well, can I get a drink while I wait?"

Emir actually cracked a smile and bought me a Martini (no UBP for me). Dry sense of humor; funny. Excellent Mixologist.

 

Next day I go in and ask Emir for a Miller Lite.

Emir: "What's wrong?"

 

Sidebar on restaurants. IMO, the Haven is the best of all the restaurants in terms of overall experience. The King Crab night is NOT to be missed. Big fat legs that arrive perfectly split in half; just dig in and enjoy. On the June 9 cruise, we noticed that the speed of specialty restaurant service seems to have been ramped up to satisfy demand (just a guess). We were booked at Cagney's for 90 minutes (not the usual 120) and were actually pushed out in about 40 minutes! Way too fast to enjoy it.

 

Not looking to highjack your thread, Cyclops. Good pics! Different from previous posters. Thanks.

Is the king crab night in Haven or buffet? I think I saw that was buffet?

Just fi I shed checking in. We called for a bellman at 9:15 since we had a ton of luggage. If you only have a few pieces it is basically across the street. Maybe 500 feet from hotel door to bag drop-off.

 

It appears people started in to security at 9 am. We where in the Haven waiting area but 9:35. Very fast through security. As soon as you get to the top of the escalator there is a sign to the Haven with Doble doors. That's the Haven waiting area. Both pictures are from inside the waiting area.

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Is there a separate line for security for Haven or does that start after security? Thank you so much for posting this. We are going on July 21 and have not seen much about the Haven

Is the king crab night in Haven or buffet? I think I saw that was buffet?

We had King crab in the Haven on the Thursday night of the trip. It was very sweet and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It is super super expensive at all of the port restaurants in Alaska. If you are in the Haven, make it a point not to miss.

I think the Garden Cafe served Snow crab earlier in the trip.

We had King crab in the Haven on the Thursday night of the trip. It was very sweet and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It is super super expensive at all of the port restaurants in Alaska. If you are in the Haven, make it a point not to miss.

 

I think the Garden Cafe served Snow crab earlier in the trip.

I think I need to change my dinner reservations...

I think I need to change my dinner reservations...

Ask Chef Nicoloas to confirm when the Chef''s Special Crab legs will be served (he will be happy to hear his food has been complimented on CC)

Is there a separate line for security for Haven or does that start after security? Thank you so much for posting this. We are going on July 21 and have not seen much about the Haven

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Is there a separate line for security for Haven or does that start after security? Thank you so much for posting this. We are going on July 21 and have not seen much about the Haven

general security is the same...then off to separate room for haven check in

just got back from alaska on the bliss and it was awesome