For those of you that have been on a cruise before you can relate to the feeling of waking up the day you are about to embark, head to the port of call, and getting the first glimpse of the ship you’ll call home for a week. It is such an exciting time while you anticipate all the amazing opportunities that lie ahead. This day always seems like it takes forever to come and when it finally does you just want things to slow down a little more so you can absorb everything about the experience. For Megan and I this was only our second cruise, but one we’ve been planning for a couple of years, and the time has finally come to sail North to Alaska.

As I stated in the previous post we both woke up early and got all packed up, checked out of our hotel, and made our way over to Pier 66 where our ship the Norwegian Bliss was waiting for us to embark.

The embarkation process was super smooth and rather quick. We checked in, filled out our forms, went through security and boarded the Bliss in about an hour right before lunch time. We spent the first couple of hours exploring the ship and getting our bearings on where everything is located. We ended booking room 15176 which is located on the port side just down the hallway from the entrance to the Observation Lounge. We selected this specifically because of the position of the ship when navigating through Alaska’s inside passage to ensure we had an awesome view of the mainland. Additionally, we enjoy being a little higher on the ship’s deck because we knew we’d spend a lot of time in the Observation Lounge (We were correct.)

Once we were able to access room which was a mini-suite we dropped our bags and headed to the Observation Lounge to grab something to drink, mingle a bit and enjoy the view before we had to attend the muster drill. For those that aren’t familiar with muster drills it is a mandatory safety drill that usually takes 30-40 minutes and is similar to when you are about to take off in an airplane to ensure everyone knows what to do in the event of an emergency.

After the muster drill we took the stairs to deck 8 to the Waterfront and all the way stern for sail away at around 6PM and watch the Seattle skyline disappear into the distance.

After enjoying sail away it was time to get cleaned up and head to dinner at Los Lobos which we had heard from several cruisers that it was one of the best speciality restaurants on the ship. We ordered several delicious things, but the highlight was definitely the guacamole.

After dinner, we needed to burn off all the great food we just enjoyed and had booked go-carts (Yes this ship has go-carts on deck 19) and laser tag which is on deck 20. By this time at night, it has gotten pretty windy and quite cold, but that didn’t stop us from having a blast.

We continued for another day through from Seattle to make it all the way up to Juneau, AK before making our way back down through the inside passage. During this time of the year, we were told the seas could be rough at times and it definitely was. The whole two days the boat rocked pretty good, but luckily it didn't affect either one of us too much.

Some recommendations for anyone who may be sensitive to sea sickness would be to always book a room mid-ship and somewhere in the middle of the decks. Also, you could try using sea-bands or other various OTC options that are available at your local drug store.

Our next day we spent in Juneau which was a pretty packed day. We started early in the morning disembarking and meeting up with our small group to go whale watching (This was incredible) and then the afternoon we took a nature and photography hike to the Mendenhall glacier. Stay Tuned…