Where is NCL Bliss now going on October 24th?

[austinLVFR]

I tried searching this and I thought someone here might already know.

 

We just got notified NCL Bliss canceling the October 24th Pacific coast cruise out of Vancouver.  We expected this since Canada is closed to cruise ships.  We were hoping NCL would just shift the departure port over to Seattle and keep a similar itinerary.  Unfortunately they canceled it outright and there appears to be news of a rerouting.   We'd really like to rebook on whatever Bliss is doing that week.   If you've never done a Pacific coast cruise, they are great itineraries.  The ports, being all in America, are easy and low stress.

[AdoraBelle]

Wonder if they're hoping to be able to do Caribbean for winter ...

[saltsandknit]

The Bliss does the Mexican Riviera for winter 

[coastcat]

Maybe they’ll cruise Seattle to LA with a PVSA stop in Ensenada? I cannot remember if that’s enough of a stop to be compliant since this would be a cruise between two U.S. ports and not just a return to the same port. Perhaps they could extend the cruise to visit Cabo before disembarking in LA. 

 

I’ve had three Pacific Coastals cancelled so far - going to wait until Canada re-opens before booking another!

[BSR]

1 hour ago, austinLVFR said:

I tried searching this and I thought someone here might already know.

 

We just got notified NCL Bliss canceling the October 24th Pacific coast cruise out of Vancouver.  We expected this since Canada is closed to cruise ships.  We were hoping NCL would just shift the departure port over to Seattle and keep a similar itinerary.  Unfortunately they canceled it outright and there appears to be news of a rerouting.   We'd really like to rebook on whatever Bliss is doing that week.   If you've never done a Pacific coast cruise, they are great itineraries.  The ports, being all in America, are easy and low stress.

I've done several Pacific Coast cruises and enjoyed them.  I'm hoping they will revise the itinerary and sail out of Seattle.

Edited May 27, 2021 by BSR

[YVRBassElectric]

Just checked last Bliss sailing disembarks in Seattle on Oct 23, doesn't start again until LA on Nov 7 - might be an interesting partial Panama or 2 short Pacific Coastal/Mexico or time to get Joy crew back?

Thanks for pointing this out, you have peaked my interest

 

Another note - I wanted to go on an Alaska cruise for our honeymoon in 2000 & no cruises were running that late, this year they are running to Oct 23! I'm cold just thinking about it 

[www3traveler]

I wonder if She is chartered for a couple of weeks??

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, coastcat said:

Maybe they’ll cruise Seattle to LA with a PVSA stop in Ensenada? I cannot remember if that’s enough of a stop to be compliant since this would be a cruise between two U.S. ports and not just a return to the same port. Perhaps they could extend the cruise to visit Cabo before disembarking in LA. 

 

Sorry, to be PVSA compliant, a cruise aboard a foreign-flagged carrier from one U.S. port to a different U.S. port must call at a "distant foreign port" (not just a "foreign port") and no port in Mexico qualifies as a "distant foreign port."    (Nor, for that matter, do the ports in Central America.  It's why Panama Canal cruises between East and West Coast U.S. ports call at Cartagena and/or one of the ABC islands.)

[nslatin]

 

16 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Sorry, to be PVSA compliant, a cruise aboard a foreign-flagged carrier from one U.S. port to a different U.S. port must call at a "distant foreign port" (not just a "foreign port") and no port in Mexico qualifies as a "distant foreign port."    (Nor, for that matter, do the ports in Central America.  It's why Panama Canal cruises between East and West Coast U.S. ports call at Cartagena and/or one of the ABC islands.)

This cruise was originally scheduled as starting in Vancouver and stopping in Victoria, San Francisco, Ensenada, San Diego and ending in LA.  If what you said is true then this cruise was never PVSA compliant. Your interpretation would also rule out any Alaska cruises.

 

I think that this cruise could not originate in Vancouver and could not stop in Victoria.  Originating in Seattle with no ports till San Francisco three days later would just have been  hard to sell.  We were booked on this trip and would have gone anyway, since we had a great deal and were also on the preceding Alaska cruise.

 

Neal.

[Turtles06]

5 minutes ago, nslatin said:

This cruise was originally scheduled as starting in Vancouver and stopping in Victoria, San Francisco, Ensenada, San Diego and ending in LA.  If what you said is true then this cruise was never PVSA compliant. Your interpretation would also rule out any Alaska cruises.

 

The PVSA regulates the transport of passengers between U.S. ports; it only applies to cruises that start and end in a U.S. port (whether round trip or different ports). Thus, it had no applicability to the Bliss's original itinerary, as the cruise began in Canada. 

 

I'm not sure what Alaska cruises you mean here, but roundtrip cruises from a U.S. port by foreign-flagged carriers need only call at a "foreign port" (not a "distant foreign port").

 

(And what I wrote in my earlier post was not my "interpretation" of the PVSA, it was a factual statement of how the PVSA operates.) 

[jy0ung1]

The Bliss gets in to SEA off and Alaska Cruise on 10/23 and doesn't sale again until Nov 7 out of LA for a 7 day Mexican Riviera Cruise.  I see weather limiting them in Alaska and I don't see them leaving the ship idle for two plus weeks.  I don't believe that they can do a Pacific Coast cruise even with the current temporary modification of the PVSA without going into a Canadian or Mexican port.  With Canada's current Covid restrictions, I don't see that happening in Canada.  What I would like to see is a Pacific Coast (repositioning) leaving from Seattle including Cabo and ending in LA.  

[CaptainWoody]

1 hour ago, jy0ung1 said:

The Bliss gets in to SEA off and Alaska Cruise on 10/23 and doesn't sale again until Nov 7 out of LA for a 7 day Mexican Riviera Cruise.  I see weather limiting them in Alaska and I don't see them leaving the ship idle for two plus weeks.  I don't believe that they can do a Pacific Coast cruise even with the current temporary modification of the PVSA without going into a Canadian or Mexican port.  With Canada's current Covid restrictions, I don't see that happening in Canada.  What I would like to see is a Pacific Coast (repositioning) leaving from Seattle including Cabo and ending in LA.  

Maybe they'll do an 11 day Seattle to Alaska to LA?  That would be fun!!

[SeaHunt]

3 hours ago, www3traveler said:

I wonder if She is chartered for a couple of weeks??

 

Well one of those weeks at least - I did find an Atlantis Halloween charter for October 31-November 7, 2021:

 

https://atlantisevents.com/Bliss-Halloween-Cruise

[coastcat]

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

The PVSA regulates the transport of passengers between U.S. ports; it only applies to cruises that start and end in a U.S. port (whether round trip or different ports). Thus, it had no applicability to the Bliss's original itinerary, as the cruise began in Canada. 

 

I'm not sure what Alaska cruises you mean here, but roundtrip cruises from a U.S. port by foreign-flagged carriers need only call at a "foreign port" (not a "distant foreign port").

 

(And what I wrote in my earlier post was not my "interpretation" of the PVSA, it was a factual statement of how the PVSA operates.) 

Okay, let me see if I understand this...

 

1. A cruise between Seattle and Los Angeles which stops at a Mexican port like Ensenada or Cabo is not compliant because the ship is transporting passengers from one U.S. port to another, and the Mexican ports do not count as distant foreign ports.

2. A roundtrip cruise out of Los Angeles which stops in Ensenada is compliant because it is returning passengers back to the same U.S. port in which they boarded, and thus did not transport them between ports.

 

Is that correct per the PVSA? If so, then it sounds like NCL will not be able to use a revenue sailing to move Bliss from Seattle to LA.

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by coastcat

[jy0ung1]

12 minutes ago, SeaHunt said:

 

Well one of those weeks at least - I did find an Atlantis Halloween charter for October 31-November 7, 2021:

 

https://atlantisevents.com/Bliss-Halloween-Cruise

Thanks. That accounts for just under half of the missing dates.  Will be interesting to see what happens to the Bliss 10/23 to 10/31.

[timf2001]

33 minutes ago, coastcat said:

Okay, let me see if I understand this...

 

1. A cruise between Seattle and Los Angeles which stops at a Mexican port like Ensenada or Cabo is not compliant because the ship is transporting passengers from one U.S. port to another, and the Mexican ports do not count as distant foreign ports.

2. A roundtrip cruise out of Los Angeles which stops in Ensenada is compliant because it is returning passengers back to the same U.S. port in which they boarded, and thus did not transport them between ports.

 

Is that correct per the PVSA? If so, then it sounds like NCL will not be able to use a revenue sailing to move Bliss from Seattle to LA.

 

Yes, that is how the law works.  The only way to legally sail from Seattle to a different U.S. port would be by stopping in South America, which would typically involve a Panama Canal transit ending on the east coast.  Without Canada, Pacific Coastals aren't possible.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, coastcat said:

Okay, let me see if I understand this...

 

1. A cruise between Seattle and Los Angeles which stops at a Mexican port like Ensenada or Cabo is not compliant because the ship is transporting passengers from one U.S. port to another, and the Mexican ports do not count as distant foreign ports.

2. A roundtrip cruise out of Los Angeles which stops in Ensenada is compliant because it is returning passengers back to the same U.S. port in which they boarded, and thus did not transport them between ports.

 

Is that correct per the PVSA? If so, then it sounds like NCL will not be able to use a revenue sailing to move Bliss from Seattle to LA.

 

Yes. That is why Pacific Costal cruises usually start or end in Canada. Not between two US cities. If they don't expect Canada to be reopened, they would sail her empty down the coast (similar to when they reposition ships between Miami and New York). The crew gets a few days without demanding passengers and there is normally a crew enrichment event (can you say deck party!)

[sshs]

We were on the 10/24 Bliss sailing too. Thanks for all the insights on why she's not sailing - especially the news about the Halloween charter. Interesting! We're planning to replace it with a short cruise out of LA (our closest cruise port), possibly on Princess. 

[austinLVFR]

Thank you everyone for the news and update on the Atlantis cruise.  Hopefully we’ll find out what is happening on 10/23-10/24 soon. I’ll post back if I find out. 

[davencl]

On 5/27/2021 at 6:24 PM, timf2001 said:

Yes, that is how the law works.  The only way to legally sail from Seattle to a different U.S. port would be by stopping in South America, which would typically involve a Panama Canal transit ending on the east coast.  Without Canada, Pacific Coastals aren't possible.

Now I am confused.   So how can all the previous Alaska cruises on a foreign flagged vessel like the Bliss start in Seattle and end in Seattle with a stop in Canada to comply?

Update:  OK I reread carefully.  I get it.  This is from the same port so it doesn't need to be a far foreign port.

Edited May 30, 2021 by davencl

[Ixtoras]

We're booked on the Nov 7th Mexican Riviera Cruise, and have been getting increasingly worried that it might be cancelled.  

 

It looks like the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act (which provides a workaround for the PVSA) is very specific, only covering Washington to Alaska sailings, and only to covered ships (including the Bliss). It doesn't cover Seattle to Los Angeles or any other cruise destinations.

 

Anyone know if the Bliss could make it from Seattle to Los Angeles in two days?  I know they normally have a sea day between Seattle and SF another on the way to LA, but don't know if it would even be possible...

 

I suppose if they could make it to LA in two or even days, they might be able to still spin up one of the 4-5 day itineraries - Like LA, Catalina, Ensenada.  Whether it would make sense to make those available or see if they could charter with only 4 months to fill cabins is another question entirely.

Edited May 30, 2021 by Ixtoras
Added note

[austinLVFR]

For those who were wondering NCL updated the Bliss itineraries.  Looks like she cruises empty from Seattle to LA on the night of the 23rd. She is doing another Mexican Riviera 7 night  the week of October 24 ending October 31. It’s a reverse of the normal itinerary. It hits Puerto Vallarta, then Mazatlan, and Cabo last.  We rebooked for that week.  Hopefully they do a Halloween party on 10/30. 

[CaptainWoody]

Just now, austinLVFR said:

For those who were wondering NCL updated the Bliss itineraries.  Looks like she cruises empty from Seattle to LA on the night of the 23rd. She is doing another Mexican Riviera 7 night  the week of October 24 ending October 31. It’s a reverse of the normal itinerary. It hits Puerto Vallarta, then Mazatlan, and Cabo last.  We rebooked for that week.  Hopefully they do a Halloween party on 10/30. 

Why will she be in Seattle?

[dobiemom]

Norwegian Encore replaced the Bliss for Alaskan cruises.  IF (big if) the Bliss was brought from Europe to do the Mexican Riviera cruises, I think she would go directly to LA.

 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2783210-encore-to-replace-the-bliss-for-2021-alaska-cruises/ 

I think the Encore will also replace the Bliss for MR cruises. 

[redsox1584]

On 5/27/2021 at 2:15 PM, austinLVFR said:

I tried searching this and I thought someone here might already know.

 

We just got notified NCL Bliss canceling the October 24th Pacific coast cruise out of Vancouver.  We expected this since Canada is closed to cruise ships.  We were hoping NCL would just shift the departure port over to Seattle and keep a similar itinerary.  Unfortunately they canceled it outright and there appears to be news of a rerouting.   We'd really like to rebook on whatever Bliss is doing that week.   If you've never done a Pacific coast cruise, they are great itineraries.  The ports, being all in America, are easy and low stress.

 

they announced today that Bliss will be doing a Mexican Riviera cruise 10/24 from Los Angeles

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/miami-based-norwegian-cruise-line-announces-more-u-s-voyages-resuming/2467426/?amp