Norwegian Bliss
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Norwegian Bliss
The Norwegian Bliss is a Norwegian Cruise Line ship offering cruise itineraries in Alaska, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and across transatlantic routes. It is based on the Freestyle Cruising concept, providing a modern cruise experience with all-inclusive style options suited to both families and adults. The ship features a variety of cabin categories, diverse dining options, onboard entertainment, and a wide range of activities. Its itineraries include vacation cruises and ocean routes with organized shore excursions at ports of call. This ship is well suited for travelers seeking a flexible cruise experience focused on Alaska itineraries, the Freestyle concept, and a complete onboard offering.
Itineraries of the Norwegian Bliss
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.
decks plans
Deck - 20
Aqua racer, Laser tag
Deck - 19
Sun deck, hot tubs, mini golf, race track
Deck - 18
Staterooms, restaurants, race track
Deck - 17
sun deck, restaurants, hot tubs, staterooms
Deck - 16
Pool, spa, fitness center, aqua park, bar, café
Deck - 15
Obesrvation lounge, staterooms
Deck - 14
Staterooms
Deck - 13
Staterooms
Deck - 12
Staterooms
Deck - 11
Staterooms
Deck - 10
Staterooms
Deck - 9
Staterooms
Deck - 8
staterooms, restaurants, photo gallery, bar
Deck - 7
Casino
Deck - 6
Bar, art gallery, restaurant
Deck - 5
staterooms, video arcade
Deck 4
Crew
Deck 3
Crew
Deck 2
Crew
Deck 1
Crew
Ship's attributes
Services And Amenities
- Elevators
- Self-service laundry room
- Casino
- Jacuzzi
- Pool
- Beauty salon
- Spa & body care
Specific needs
- Wheelchair accessible staterooms
Technical specifications
- Classe: Breakaway Plus Class
- Tonnage: 168000
- Passengers: 4004
- Decks: 20
- Length: 326 m
- Width: 42 m
History
- 2018: Année de construction
- 2021: Année de rénovation
Frequently Asked Questions
She measures 168,028 gross tons, 333.5 metres long, 41.5 metres wide, with a 9-metre draught, across 20 decks of which 16 are open to guests. Meyer Werft delivered her on 21 April 2018 as the third Breakaway Plus-class ship after Escape and Joy. She was christened in Seattle on 30 May 2018 at the Bell Street terminal, making her the largest ship ever named in that city. She carries roughly 2,069 staterooms and 1,716 crew.
The christening release quoted 4,004 guests at double occupancy, ncl.com shows 4,010 and CruiseMapper 4,056, but real capacity climbs to 4,981 once every pullman berth and family cabin is filled. That gap of nearly a thousand people shows up mostly during the American school holidays in July, at the height of the Alaska season. Aboard, it means queues at the Garden Café around noon and a full Observation Lounge by mid-morning on glacier days. Go early or go late, never in between.
She was the first cruise ship designed explicitly for Alaska, and it shows in the glass-walled Observation Lounge on deck 15 with its 180-degree forward views. Her Bliss Speedway go-kart track, two levels on decks 19 and 20, was the second ever built at sea after Joy's, and she keeps the deck 20 laser tag arena that Encore lost in 2024. The January 2025 drydock at Brest added the open-air Horizon Park, replaced Ocean Blue with Palomar, expanded Cagney's into the old Los Lobos and Teppanyaki into the old Coco's. Her Haven, spread across decks 17 and 18, covers roughly twice the floor area of Escape's even though it holds 80 suites rather than 95.
She runs Alaska out of Seattle, not Vancouver and not Whittier, and that distinction changes everything for a traveller from Québec. Her seven-night Inside Passage loops leave from Pier 66, the downtown Bell Street terminal, from 25 April through the final 3 October 2026 departure, calling at Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, a full glacier-viewing day and a late-evening stop in Victoria that satisfies the US requirement for a foreign port. On 13 October 2026 she leaves Los Angeles through the Panama Canal, 16 nights to Miami or 19 nights to New York depending on the package. From Montréal, Air Canada flies nonstop to Seattle in about six hours on an Airbus A220, and the Bell Street terminal is roughly thirty minutes from the airport.
Here is the headline of this page: she spends the 2026-2027 winter in New York, with departures starting 1 November 2026. Two formats alternate from Manhattan, either eight nights to the Bahamas via Port Canaveral, Great Stirrup Cay and Nassau, or twelve nights through the Eastern Caribbean via Puerto Plata, San Juan, Basseterre, Tortola, Philipsburg and St. Thomas. From late April to September 2027 she returns to Alaska from Seattle's Pier 66 on seven-night weeks departing Friday, Saturday and Sunday, then leaves Los Angeles on 19 October 2027 for New York over 20 nights through the Panama Canal. For a Montréal client that New York winter is hard to beat: a 90-minute flight to LaGuardia, Newark or Kennedy, or a six-hour drive to the Manhattan cruise terminal, with no mandatory pre-cruise hotel night.
For Alaska a balcony is the right buy: you watch the glacier from your own cabin, bundled up, without fighting for deck space. The Haven holds 80 suites on decks 17 and 18, with a retractable-roof courtyard, pool, four whirlpools, sauna, private restaurant, Haven Lounge and its own two-storey observation lounge, which is the best possible answer to rain in Ketchikan. Solo travellers get 82 studios on decks 10, 11 and 12, with a virtual window and keycard access to the Studio Lounge where meeting other solos is easy. The 28 spa balcony cabins next to the Mandara include thermal suite access and are worth a look on a cold-weather itinerary.
Included dining is at Savor, Taste, the Manhattan Room, the Garden Café, the American Diner and the 24-hour Local Bar & Grill. Specialty venues carrying a charge include Cagney's Steakhouse, Q Texas Smokehouse, Palomar, Food Republic, Teppanyaki, La Cucina and Le Bistro. For bars there is the deck 15 Observation Lounge, the Beatles-themed Cavern Club, the Maltings Whiskey Bar, the Sugarcane Mojito Bar, The Cellars, The District Brew House, the A-List Bar and the adults-only Vibe Beach Club. Attractions cover the Bliss Speedway on decks 19 and 20, deck 20 laser tag, the Ocean Loops and Aqua Racer slides, mini-golf, the 678 Ocean Place complex, the deck 8 Waterfront promenade and The Choir of Man at the Bliss Theater.
The Observation Lounge lost part of its floor area during the January 2025 drydock, converted into 24 balcony and 2 club balcony cabins, and what remains fills up before six in the morning on glacier days. There is no indoor pool outside The Haven, which costs you dearly in Alaska when it rains three days running. Port calls are short, under four hours in Victoria, and the ship berths away from downtown in both Ketchikan and Juneau, with shuttle waits that sometimes pass ninety minutes. Add that the go-karts, the laser tag and the thermal suite all carry a fee, and that the Galaxy Pavilion found on Joy and Encore does not exist here.
Included: meals at Savor, Taste, the Manhattan Room, the Garden Café and the Local, drip coffee, tea, shows at the Bliss Theater, the pools, the Ocean Loops and Aqua Racer slides, the deck 15 Observation Lounge and the Pulse fitness centre. Charged separately: Cagney's, Palomar, Q Texas Smokehouse, Teppanyaki, alcohol, Starbucks, the Bliss Speedway, laser tag, the Mandara thermal suite, the Vibe Beach Club, shore excursions, Wi-Fi and the daily service charges. In Alaska, whale watching out of Juneau and the White Pass railway at Skagway are among the most requested tours, and they sell out well ahead. An advisor can build the real budget with you at 1-866-628-6241.
No. A daily per-person service charge posts automatically to your onboard account, at a higher rate if you stay in one of the 80 Haven suites on decks 17 and 18. It applies from age three, so every child travelling with you counts, and it can be prepaid. Service charges also apply to every drink at the Cavern Club or Maltings and to every meal at Palomar or Q Texas Smokehouse. Over an Alaska week for a family of four, this line belongs in the budget from the very start.
It is not. The complimentary open bar carries a mandatory daily service charge for every guest 21 and over, so two people in a studio or a balcony each pay it for every night of the sailing. Only the first two guests in the stateroom qualify; third and fourth occupants get no equivalent. The Free at Sea Plus tier adds Starbucks drinks, a wider spirits selection, bottled waters and uncapped streaming Wi-Fi, and it absorbs the package service charge. Premium bottles and room service stay billed separately.
Yes, over Starlink. The base promotion normally includes 150 minutes per stateroom, enough for email and sending photos, while streaming requires the Free at Sea Plus tier. Alaska brings its own problem: between the mountains of the Inside Passage, inside the narrow glacier arms and on the approach to Skagway, both cellular and satellite signal weaken. Tell family not to worry about a day without news, that is geography rather than the ship.
Yes, it is one of her strengths, and probably the best Norwegian ship for a teenager in Alaska. Splash Academy covers ages 3 to 12 on deck 5, Entourage ages 13 to 17, and Guppies offers parent-supervised play from 6 months to 3 years. The Bliss Speedway and the deck 20 laser tag keep older kids busy, while the Ocean Loops and Aqua Racer slides, mini-golf and the toddler splash park handle the younger ones. Pack warm, waterproof layers: the karting and laser tag are outdoors, and it rains often on the Inside Passage.
Yes. Each night aboard earns one point, two if you stay in a suite or in The Haven. The programme runs seven tiers from Bronze to Ambassador, with Silver at 20 points, Gold at 45 and Platinum at 75, so a 20-night Panama Canal crossing in October 2027 booked in a suite moves you enormously in one go. The useful perks begin at Gold and Platinum with priority embarkation, a laundry bag, a dinner with wine and earlier specialty dining reservations. At the Manhattan terminal on a November Sunday, priority embarkation saves a solid hour.
Not often, especially in Alaska. At 168,028 gross tons with stabilizers she is very steady, and the Inside Passage runs in sheltered water behind the islands. The two stretches to watch are the long Panama Canal repositionings in autumn and the mid-winter sea days between New York and the Antilles, which can be rougher. Book midship on a lower deck, start medication before you sail if you are prone to it, and remember that the deck 15 Observation Lounge, right forward, is the worst place on the ship when she moves.
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