SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 #1 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Hello everyone. This is a trip report of our 7 day Seattle to Alaska cruise on the NCL Bliss! An amazing vacation on an incredible, beautiful, new ship! BirdTravels and Motegi did wonderful and informative live threads. And I see Motegi even started a new thread containing the Alaska Freestyle Dailies. I am now going to share our vacation and give our perspective of the same cruise. Our itinerary was as follows: Cruise started in Seattle, WA At Sea Ketchikan, AK Juneau, AK Cruise Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier Skagway, AK At Sea Victoria, BC Cruise ended in Seattle, WA About us - married couple in our late 40’s with no children. This was our first cruise on a brand new ship, our first on a maiden voyage, and our first on a mega size ship! Three firsts! We chose to experience this ship on this particular cruise for a few reasons: 1. We did not want to miss out on the opportunity for all of these firsts! Really exciting that the west coast has a brand new ship which will home port in Seattle (born and raised Seattle native here) during the summer months and we also thought it would be really fun to experience the first Bliss cruise to Alaska! 2. It was very close to home. Our last two cruises, the Mediterranean and the Panama Canal, involved a lot of flying and traveling. No flying this time. 3. We have been on two other Alaska cruises already and were not going to be doing a lot of shore excursions this time around so we were going to have plenty of time to explore and enjoy this new ship (and we still did not see everything, so that means we have book another Bliss cruise)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #2 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Saturday, June 2. Home to Cruise Terminal and Embarkation in Seattle! We live across Puget Sound from Seattle (in Bremerton), just a ferry ride away and about a 20 minute walk to the cruise terminal from there. Gotta love that! The Bliss from our ferry ride to Seattle. Hello, beautiful Bliss! Almost there! For those that don’t already know or have not been to Seattle for an Alaska cruise in the last few years, the cruise terminal at Pier 66 has undergone some major renovations. NCL and the Port of Seattle entered into a 15-year agreement back in 2015 and split the cost of the approximate $30 million in renovations to the terminal. So NCL will continue to lease at Pier 66 through at least the year 2030 with an option to extend its lease to 2035. In other words, NCL is here to stay in Seattle for a long time. Yay! This was the quickest, most efficient boarding we have experienced on any cruise. I’m sure the fact that we arrived at the terminal fairly early, at 11:30 a.m, helped. We dropped off our luggage at 11:30 and walked into the terminal, through security, zero line at the check-in counter, and were onboard the beautiful Bliss within 20 minutes. Another great thing about this cruise? We made Platinum status with NCL after last year’s cruise so this was going to be our first cruise (yes, another first!) with Platinum status to enjoy some perks we were not eligible for prior to this cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #3 Share Posted June 11, 2018 After the initial booking in January 2017 it was finally time to board the Bliss! I've been waiting 17 months to see this sign! This was the first thing we saw upon boarding! Oh my! Since we were onboard so early, we had several hours to explore this beautiful, new ship! First drink onboard the ship, a mimosa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #4 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #5 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #6 Share Posted June 11, 2018 This looks like a sweet place to spend time on a warmer climate cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #7 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Cabins were ready before 1:00 so we went to check out our cabin. We splurged a little extra for an aft balcony cabin! Welcome to Deck 12, aft balcony cabin 12910. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #8 Share Posted June 11, 2018 The lounger chair was not already on our balcony, we had to ask for one. Awesome view from the balcony! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #9 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #10 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Storage drawers under the couch. USB ports above the nightstands. Yay! This was the provided hair dryer. Hamilton Beach coffee maker in the cabin. Brand of coffee provided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #11 Share Posted June 11, 2018 After spending a couple hours exploring the ship and our cabin, it was time for a quick lunch in the buffet. Nice view while eating lunch. After lunch it was time for more ship exploring before sail away! I never set foot in here the entire week. I see enough of these places around home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #12 Share Posted June 11, 2018 The huge screen by the pool was showing beautiful photos of Alaska scenery during various times throughout the cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #13 Share Posted June 11, 2018 The Observation Lounge on this ship is the most beautiful space we have ever seen on any ship! Hands down. The huge walls of windows, the furniture, the décor, the little nooks. Very, very nicely done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #14 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #15 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Looking down into the Atrium from The Local. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #16 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Random shots in the non-smoking casino. Skyline Bar in the casino. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #17 Share Posted June 11, 2018 After that round of more ship exploring we went back to the cabin for awhile to get ready for sail away. Our luggage was already there. Our chocolate covered strawberries had arrived too. I could stomach one glass of this complimentary champagne but that was it. Champagne, meet drain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #18 Share Posted June 11, 2018 The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for sail away. Sunny and mid 70’s! Goodbye, Seattle. See you in a week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #19 Share Posted June 11, 2018 We had the 3 night SDP and 2 night Platinum dinners so 5 of the 7 nights were in specialty restaurants. But we never book dinner reservations on the first night of any cruise so we just ate a late dinner in the buffet. Dusk falls near Port Angeles after we picked up the pilot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #20 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Sunday, June 3. At Sea. It was a busy morning on our first sea day. But priority number one - that morning cup of coffee on the balcony! Aaahhh... Our first breakfast onboard was at Savor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #21 Share Posted June 11, 2018 After breakfast it was time for more ship exploring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #22 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #23 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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SeahawkSiren Posted June 11, 2018 Author #25 Share Posted June 11, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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