Bliss Pacific Coastal April 17th

[fastpitchdad]

[OrcaGirl]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

Did I miss anything regarding disembark tomorrow? I’m planning on doing walk off but need to be off asap so teen can get to school but I haven’t heard anything about how it will go.,,

did you not get this left in your cabin? It has all the details.

 

[ceilidh1]

18 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

did you not get this left in your cabin? It has all the details.

 

Nope. We get nothing in our cabin

[ceilidh1]

24 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

did you not get this left in your cabin? It has all the details.

 

Does it say what time self disembark is?

Were people even able to get off this evening? I got nothing about that either?

[ceilidh1]

Ugh. I literally just typed a whole thing and it disappeared! Basically, @sid_9169 you were pretty much on the money with the $100 estimate for drink taxes. Brutal. I also tip EVERY time $2 a drink, even though gratuity is included. My bar bill is way more than I banked on! I can’t even be bothered to type the rest of the stuff I typed and lost….maybe once I get home

[OrcaGirl]

8 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Does it say what time self disembark is?

Were people even able to get off this evening? I got nothing about that either?

Self-disembark starts at approximately 7am.

 

I got off the ship around 6:30pm once we got customs clearance; they read out a loooooooooong list of names over the PA to report to guest services so I guess those were the folks that didn’t fill out their customs form.

 

Met up with my husband outside Canada Place, walked a couple of minutes over into Gastown to grab one of the best burgers in Vancouver at the Pourhouse, and then gave him my backpack to take home so I only need to walk home with one bag in the morning.

 

Walked by a large group of tourists at the Gastown steamclock and really wanted to yell “it doesn’t actually run on steam!” And “it’s not actually historic, it’s literally one year older than me!” 😂 

 

[ceilidh1]

5 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

Self-disembark starts at approximately 7am.

 

I got off the ship around 6:30pm once we got customs clearance; they read out a loooooooooong list of names over the PA to report to guest services so I guess those were the folks that didn’t fill out their customs form.

 

Met up with my husband outside Canada Place, walked a couple of minutes over into Gastown to grab one of the best burgers in Vancouver at the Pourhouse, and then gave him my backpack to take home so I only need to walk home with one bag in the morning.

 

Walked by a large group of tourists at the Gastown steamclock and really wanted to yell “it doesn’t actually run on steam!” And “it’s not actually historic, it’s literally one year older than me!” 😂 

 

Lol! That clock is lame!

im at the observation lounge if you want to join me!

[OrcaGirl]

A few more pics from today’s approach to Vancouver…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ceilidh1]

I’ve never been much of a margarita gal but this cruise I’ve had a LOT of margaritas made with Patron Resposado or Don Julio Resposada. They were AMAZING! My other fave has been Dark n Stormy with Zacapa!

[hallux]

4 hours ago, OrcaGirl said:

 

I have a similar pic from my PC cruise on that ship, but it was later at night!

 

[karmamule]

I love reading cruise threads and hearing how people are enjoying their latest adventures, but when I start seeing the posts on disembarkation and 'last dinner at' this place and 'last night for' something else, I get a sympathetic sinking feeling in my stomach remembering what that felt like. Such delightful times it's sad they have to come to an end.

 

Thanks so much for everyone who shared photos and experiences on this thread! Always much appreciated 🙂

[FM]

Hope all is well. Nothing major but just read news that the Bliss has been placed on "orange status" by the CDC (when 0.3% or more of the total number of passengers and crew have tested positive for COVID-19)  

[ceilidh1]

Anyone know what deck to disembark and if they have started yet? No one seems to know anything this morning…

[OrcaGirl]

1 minute ago, ceilidh1 said:

Anyone know what deck to disembark and if they have started yet? No one seems to know anything this morning…

The haven’t started disembarkation yet, an announcement should come soon. It’ll be deck 7, same locations forward and aft that they used for San Francisco.

 

(P.S. there’s currently a bald eagle sitting atop one of the Canada Place sail peaks.)

[ceilidh1]

3 minutes ago, OrcaGirl said:

The haven’t started disembarkation yet, an announcement should come soon. It’ll be deck 7, same locations forward and aft that they used for San Francisco.

 

(P.S. there’s currently a bald eagle sitting atop one of the Canada Place sail peaks.)

Thanks!!!

[OrcaGirl]

And home! Left the ship around 7:15am using self-assist disembark. One facial recognition scan and that was it. No health check. No in-person immigration or customs. No mention of the ArriveCAN receipt. Just walked through the terminal and out into downtown Vancouver and then the few blocks home. (Personally I think that lack of caution is going to bite the cruise lines and Canada in the butt before long, but hey, that’s just me.)

Checked the mailbox and of course there was an NCL promo flyer waiting for me… 😂

 

 

 

 

[Montanagirlalways]

loved your pictures and review! We were on the Dawn over Easter. Your drinks look much better then ours did. And I didn't see any food art in our cafe. So your ship looked great!!! I am aware of taxes on food and drinks in some ports. In New Orleans it takes forever to get out of the taxed area!. We usually use Port Canaveral- no tax.

 

[ceilidh1]

Like @OrcaGirli left the ship at 7:10am and was home by 7:20am. Also surprised thee was no check/immigration/ nothing to greet us given that we missed Victoria yesterday. 

[SenatorsFan]

So facial recognition works for Canadians? Good to know. 😀

[hallux]

1 hour ago, OrcaGirl said:

One facial recognition scan and that was it. No health check. No in-person immigration or customs. No mention of the ArriveCAN receipt. Just walked through the terminal and out into downtown Vancouver and then the few blocks home. (Personally I think that lack of caution is going to bite the cruise lines and Canada in the butt before long, but hey, that’s just me.)

The exact same as disembarking in the US, and they've been doing it for months now.  If there was a problem I'm sure we'd have heard about it!

[ceilidh1]

Now that I'm having to make my own lunch and make my own bed, I thought I would share some final thoughts:

 

Embarkation: Well, this wasn't the best start to our vacation. Arrived at 9:30am (per our arrival time) and didn't start boarding until after 1:30pm. No communication but later found out it was a coast guard inspection. I get that NCL has no control over this, but it would have gone a long way to have some kind of announcement while we were all crammed together in the terminal. 

 

Entertainment: Hmmm, well there really wasn't any! Jersey Boys and Beatles shows were cancelled. The comedians were pretty much all 18+ (I think I saw two shows that were all ages but were at the same time as our dinner reservations). I did enjoy the bands - Duo Allegria and Familiar Strangers. The magician was quite funny and the kids liked him. Other than that, it was usual game show, trivia, a few family oriented games. Luckily, we have seen the Beatles show, Jersey Boys, and Six on previous sailings, so not the end of the world.

 

Food: Overall, the food was fabulous. I was a little disappointed with the tuna at Ocean Blue and would put this down to the "worst" meal. Teppanyaki, Cagneys, and Food Republic were outstanding. Buffet was self serve but seemed very well maintained. There didn't seem to be as many breakfast options as in the past but there was always food that we liked. The Local was as good as always and the little snacks in the Observation Lounge were great. Kids sampled the Bake Shop cupcakes (impossible to eat as there was so much frosting) and the paid ice cream, as well as Coco's. We ate some lunches, dinners, and breakfasts at Taste/Savour and all were great.

 

Kids Club: We knew ahead of time that Splash Academy would be closed. They provided "free play" for kids between under 13 at various times each day. This was not a drop off activity and took place in the teen lounge - this was an issue for my teen as it meant that she couldn't go to the teen lounge as often as she would have liked. I'm still not really sure why there was no Splash Academy - initially I thought it was because there were kids not vaccinated sailing, but then what sense would it make having them all (and parents) in the teen lounge to play? Maybe not enough staff?

 

Passengers: This sailing had just over 1200 passengers and the ship felt very empty. The majority of guests seemed to be either Canadian or American but we did meet some Brits! Some (including us) wore masks but most didn't. I didn't hear any coughing and everyone seemed happy and relaxed - I certainly never felt worried about Covid onboard. Having said that, someone on our FB group mentioned they got a call from the ship at 4am on the last day to inform them they were a close contact and would need to quarantine for 14 days. Not a good end to a vacation!

 

Crew: Outstanding (with the exception of our room steward - lol). There were far more crew than guests and every single one of them would greet us every time. I actually got tired of saying hello! Never any wait for dining or drinks. Bartenders got to know me and my drinks (though that could have had something to do with the upgraded drink package and my weird requests, and tipping) and I had some of the best drinks I have ever had in my life! 

 

Ports: Well, there was really only San Francisco since we skipped Victoria. Not an issue for us at all - we were there to cruise, not to visit ports. I had no intention of getting off in Vancouver, given that we live there, but I didn't actually see/hear any info about getting off either. Maybe if I had been planning on doing so I might have paid attention. 

 

Disembarkation: I had no idea of time/process as we never got the info from our room steward. I also never got the final bill delivered. Thankfully, @OrcaGirlposted it and kept me updated. We asked a few staff members if we were able to get off and they all said "not yet". We went to wait up on deck 7 and the security guy told us we could just leave. Hmmmm. Maybe we were just in the right place at the right time - I think we might have been first off as there was NO ONE around. I normally wouldn't be rushing off a ship, but my kids needed to get to school.

 

Conclusion: What started out as a "cheap getaway" turned into a pretty costly trip thanks to local taxes, upgraded drink/dining packages, manicure for the teen, and cruise next certificates. Despite this, we had a blast and it was so great to have the three of us back on a ship for the first time since October 2019. Next week, DS and I fly back to LA and do this exact same sailing on Discovery Princess - I am interested to see how they compare.

[ceilidh1]

In case you thought I was exaggerating about the drainage pipe on our balcony…this is the sound of the constant running water!

[Putter23]

15 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

In case you thought I was exaggerating about the drainage pipe on our balcony…this is the sound of the constant running water!

What room were you in?

[hallux]

39 minutes ago, Putter23 said:

What room were you in?

That was noted earlier in the thread.  I don't recall what room it was, I do know it was noted when the drain pipe was noticed.

Edited April 23, 2022 by hallux

[ceilidh1]

4 hours ago, Putter23 said:

What room were you in?

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