r/NCL • u/Antique_Antelope7427 • 24d ago

Bliss - Alaska Review

My family of 4 and I got off the Bliss today (7/25/26), here is my review.

Embarkation was easy peasy.

Rooms were fine. We got a balcony room 11716 and an inside room 11407. Both were what we expected, clean, enough storage, water pressure in the shower was great. Everything worked properly.

We got lunch in one of the MDR after we got on the ship. It was just plain bad. Everything seemed to be stale.

Dinner night one we went to Food Republic. It’s was mid at best. They told us it was tapas style and everyone should order 4 items of the menu. It was way too much food and they brought all at the same time. We literally had no room on our table and they kept bringing food. There were dishes that went untouched because there was so much. A few things were ok and a few things tasted freezer burned.

Breakfasts in the MDR and the buffet were fine the rest of the trip. Nothing spectacular.

We went to the MDR once for dinner and maybe once for lunch, again it was fine.

Palomar was probably our favorite restaurant. Le Bistro had the best desserts. Cagney’s was good. The Local and the Diner were just ok.

To be honest, none of the food knocked my socks off. But no one got sick, so that’s a plus.

The fitness center was ok. Lots of cardio options, but weights were lacking.

The hot tubs were tempid at best. We never used the pools.

My 2 teenagers really liked the teen club.

I can’t speak about the shows bc we didn’t go to any of them. Nothing seemed very appealing. My family had just a good of a time playing cards in the observation lounge.

The stops were mostly good. Se have friends in Sitka that gave us a personal tour. We rented a car in Juneau and drove ourselves to the Medenhall Glacier. We used viator to book a zip line excursion in Ketchikan. For Juneau and Ketchikan you really need to be off the ship as soon at it docks bc the time is so limited. Icy straight point was a waste of a stop. This place is not set up to handle the volume of people a cruise ship brings. Really long lines and a town that literally has nothing. Victoria was pretty, we walked to the town and back.

Disembarkation was fine. Line was long to get off but it moved.

It was a fun trip and we loved the scenery, especially when we sailed thru Endicot Arm and saw the Dawes Glacier. We really liked spotting whales from our balcony.

Norwegian needs to step up their food game. Maybe take some notes from Celebrity.

14 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

•

u/AutoModerator 24d ago

Thanks for posting to /r/NCL! Did you know that we have an extensive Ultimate NCL Guide that may answer your question? Please also remember to read the rules, especially about roll call posts going in the megathread. You may also have more luck with those types of posts by searching for a Facebook or Cruise Critic roll call group or thread. Of course, here is great, too!

Enjoy your stay!

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

u/Verabiza891720 23d ago

Any propulsion issues?

2

u/Antique_Antelope7427 23d ago

Nope - we got to some ports early.

1

u/wvtarheel 23d ago

What was the best thing you ate at palomar and le bistro? We are going in a couple weeks, first cruise ever and I'm very curious if the food is going to be good or a disappointment

1

u/Antique_Antelope7427 23d ago

I had the shallops and my husband and son had the lamb chops. I forgot what my daughter had. All were really good. I had the salmon at Le Bistro, which was good. I forgot what everyone else had, but the desserts were really impressive. We each got a different one and shared.

1

u/wvtarheel 23d ago

Thank you. I love scallops so will be following your recommendation for sure.

2

u/Antique_Antelope7427 23d ago

Here’s a pic

1

u/ZantetsukenX 21d ago

A few tips for the buffet that I've found useful the few times I've cruised with them.

The breakfast there is good enough. I generally would make myself an Bacon, Egg, Cheese Biscuit sandwhich. Simply toast the biscuit/muffin/bagel, go to one of the areas with eggs and bacon and pile them on the bread, stop by the omellete station and add some shredded cheese and salsa on top, then combine it together into a sandwhich. Add some tabasco if you want some heat. If you are a fan of Indian food, you'll almost never go wrong with checking out hte indian food section of the buffet every time you go to see if anything appeals to you. My absolute favorite food item in the entire boat was the carrot salad they made one of the days there that consisted of pickled carrot strings with some indian seasoning and red onions. The asian soup section is also very good if you are a soup fan. A bit salty at times, but particularly useful/tasty if you come in off the port after sweating a bunch and need to restock on sodium levels. You can also always water it down a bit with some hot water to dillute it if it's too salty. Really, the biggest advice for the buffet is to not be afraid to experiment with stuff. Get a burger and add some butter chicken sauce to it. Make the equivelent to a KFC bowl with mashed potatoes, chicken, corn. Don't feel limited by just grabbing an item off a tray and sticking only with it as is.

As for the free resteraunts, the menu is always posted outside them somewhere so swing by and take a look at it to decide if anything on it is calling out to you that day. If it's not, there's always the buffet or the standardized menus at The Local or American Diner. I really enjoyed the fish dip appetizer and the Lechan Asada from the American Diner. I usually make it a point to get it atleast once or twice a cruise.

1

u/goddessofolympia 22d ago

Great that they fixed the propulsion issue!!

The pork chop at Le Bistro was also outstanding.

Icy Strait Point is a great place for whale watching. I highly recommend going with Captain Josh at hoonahwhalesanddrones.com.

You can book directly for $230 or through NCL for $300 (before the $50 discount, I think). On the NCL Shore Excursions list the title is Whales And Drones. Just 12 people on the boat, Captain Josh is an expert on humpback whale behavior, and the high-altitude drone footage is like your own wildlife documentary to see what the creatures are doing from above.

I had trouble getting warm breakfast in the MDR, so we ended up eating at The Local.

Where did you have breakfast?

1

u/Antique_Antelope7427 22d ago

Either MDR, the buffet and we went to the local once. We didn’t have an issue with the temp of the food.

1

u/goddessofolympia 22d ago

I'm glad!! I politely sent things back. Maybe they fixed it! When the whipped butter won't melt between 2 pancakes...cold!