Seafood Buffet @ Garden Cafe (NCL Bliss)

Typically, we rarely eat dinner at the buffet on cruises (except for breakfast).  Even though some of the same items at the main dining room are available at the buffet, the experience isn't quite the same.  Something about plated food served in a fairly elegant setting seems more appetizing than spooning this and that onto your own plate.  Hey, don't get me wrong, there are times when I want to eat a variety of food and pile up my plate with random stuff.  So that was our mentality when we decided to hit up the Garden Cafe on Seafood Night.  This was the second night of our cruise after a day at sea.

As much as the Garden Buffet was the hub of activity, such as embarkation and the breakfast prior to debarkation, there was always enough seats since there were tables outside near the pool area.  Often, the buffet was not too busy.  Back to the seafood buffet, if you were expecting things like lobster and crab, you would've been bitterly disappointed.  Rather, it was merely like any other night except with a seafood theme consisting mostly of fish and shrimp.  So for my first plate of food, I loaded up on Mussels, Cocktail Shrimp and Grilled Shrimp.  Everything was actually quite good with the mussels being the highlight.  As you can clearly see, they were large and plump.  The cocktail shrimp were textbook with a buttery cold-water crunch.  Grilled shrimp were meaty and well-seasoned.

Consisting much of the same ingredients, we found the Seafood Paella and the Cioppino prominently displayed at multiple food stations.  I wasn't expecting authentic paella and I'm glad that I didn't.  This was more like rice with some seafood.  It didn't taste like a paella nor did it look like one.  With that being said, I didn't mind it for what it was with lots of sausage, mussels and shrimp.  Rice was not overdone, but wasn't all that flavourful.  As for the cioppino, it sported mussels, calamari, baby scallops and fish.  It was somewhat briny with plenty of tomatoey flavor.  Seafood was prepared properly.  One of the more surprising items was the Spaghetti Vongole.  In addition to the bevy of fresh clams, the pasta was al dente and tasted pretty good with enough seasoning and brininess.  On the side, the Clam Chowder was more starchy than rich.  It was rather salty as well.

For my last dish, I moved somewhat away from seafood and went for a Sirloin Steak with veggies and polenta cake.  However, I did try the Seafood Pie and Salmon with Bearnaise as well.  Although it didn't look the part, the steak was actually tender and cooked to medium.  A total shock was the salmon as it was moist and flaky (very hard to achieve for a buffet).  I didn't care for the seafood pie as it was a mushy mess.  The veggies were good being vibrant and not salted much at all.  For Dessert, there was a selection of cakes, soft-serve and hard ice cream.  The picture of the station was from embarkation, but you get the idea of the selection.  I found them to be really hit and miss, but since it is a buffet, you can find something you like by trial and error.  So although some of the items were better than expected, this was not a comprehensive seafood buffet.  Good for those who don't like crab and lobster, otherwise, stick with the other choices if you were expecting more from "Seafood Buffet Night".

The Good:
- Better than expected (in terms of execution)
- Not overly busy (for the seafood buffet night)

The Bad:
- Not comprehensive in terms of seafood (but I get it, crab and lobster is expensive)
- Desserts are hit and miss

The Local (NCL Bliss)

Beyond the 3 main dining rooms that include Savor, Taste and the Manhattan Room as well as the Garden Cafe and Observatory, there is only one other complimentary restaurant aboard the NCL Bliss.  That would be The Local which is located in the middle of the ship overlooking the atrium.  At first glance, the place looks like a gastropub, although the menu is more traditional pub food.  Since I wanted to try as many venues as possible, we decided to try it for lunch on the first sea day.  

For our appies, we ended up sharing a few things including the Buffalo Chicken Wings and Pretzel Bites.  Served as a half-dozen, the wings were pretty large and plump.  Even though the skin was fried crispy, the meat itself stayed moist.  I would’ve liked to see the skin more rendered though, but that might’ve dried out the meat as well.  As for the buffalo sauce, it was much sweeter than we would’ve expected.  There wasn't the usual vinegary heat we normally associate with buffalo wings.  To be blunt, we really didn’t enjoy the pretzel bites as they were super dense and cold.  After one bite, we gave up on these.  On the side, there was a beer cheese fondue that was a bit thin and salty.

The Spinach & Artichoke Dip was barely any better.  There was plenty of spinach, but not a whole lot of artichoke.  As for that spinach, it needed to be cut into smaller pieces because we could’ve even pick it up with a chip.  The dip was far too watery and starchy rather than cheesy.  It was as if they used thickened milk rather than cheese.  At the very least, the tortilla chips were crispy.  For my main, I decided on the Blue Burger featuring blue cheese, spicy sweet tomato chutney, lettuce and tomato.  This was not bad compared to the previous 2 dishes.  The large beef patty was moist and juicy while the blue cheese really came through with sharpness.  Not sure if the chutney was actually spicy though.  Bun was toasted up nicely.

My daughter ended up with the Coney Island Hot Dog sporting melted cheese, chili and onions.  Nothing particularly complex here with a fairly large hot dog within a toasted bun.  The chili wasn't spicy, yet well-seasoned.  Tender morsels of meat made the hot dog rather robust and filling.  Side of fries were hot and crunchy.  Viv ordered the Turkey Pot Pie which was average at best.  It was not very thick which was good, but the viscosity was a bit off.  Rather than being creamy, the pot pie was starchy and sweet.  It was also short on ingredients.  The flaky pastry was pretty good though as it was super crispy and light.

My son went for the Baked Ziti with meatballs, tomato ricotta sauce and mozzarella cheese.  This was also just okay as the dish seemed slapped together rather than being cohesive.  The sauce wasn't very rich and the pasta seemed lonely with a lack of flavor and enough sauce adhering to it.  It could've stood to be baked a bit longer too for some charring of the cheese and drying out of the dish as a whole (there was water at the bottom).  As you can tell, we weren't that excited with the food we had at The Local.  Yes, it was complimentary, but then again, it further proved that the paid restaurants are a better choice.

The Good:
- No extra charge
- Good location near the Atrium
- Food comes out quick (not sure if that is a good thing though)

The Bad:
- Suspect fast food masquerading at pub food
- Servers were indifferent

Le Bistro (NCL Bliss)

Ever since our first NCL cruise, we’ve enjoyed good meals at Le Bistro.  This has been one of their longest standing specialty restaurants and in my opinion, one of their best.  As the name suggests, Le Bistro is NCL’s fine dining French option amongst their many Freestyle dining choices.  So on our first night aboard the Norwegian Bliss, we chose to skip the main dining rooms and start off with Le Bistro.  It certainly didn’t hurt that it was included with our 3-restaurant dining package that was part of our mini-suite.  We did, however, had to purchase the dining package for our kids though.

As per usual, we had a limit of 2 appetizers each and like we always do, we maxed it out.  I decided on the Salade Frisee with warm goat cheese and sautéed pancetta and the Escargots Bourguignonne.  Fresh and crisp, the salad was dressed in a vinaigrette that had enough acidity for brightness and to provide balance with the crispy salty pancetta.  The goat cheese was creamy and gamy where the flavor was impactful.  I found the escargots to be pretty textbook bathed in a garlicky herbed butter.  The mushrooms added some earthiness.  I found the escargots to be soft and tender.  I ended up soaking up the butter with the bread at the table.

Viv decided on the Salade de Crabe made with lump crab, horseradish and citrus sauce.  Wrapped in cabbage, the salad was essentially all crab with no filler.  As such, it ate hearty and fluffy.  The natural crab essence really came through while the horseradish was kept to a minimum where it didn’t overwhelm.  With the addition of citrus, there was brightness and freshness to the salad.  For her second appie, she was presented with a large portion of Moules Marinieres with mussels, shallots, white wine and parsley.  This was also pretty classic, albeit a bit short on broth (it was flavorful and aromatic though).  The mussels were not particularly meaty, but they were buttery and briny.

My son had the Coquilles Saint Jacques Provencal featuring seared scallops, eggplant, tomato, pine nuts and olive oil.  Although the scallops were rather small in size, they were prepared properly being buttery with an appealing rebound.  They were sweet on their own with some caramelization on the exterior.  The accompaniments added some more sweetness, tang and nuttiness.   He also had the Soup aux Quatre Champignons (as well as my daughter) which was plenty mushroomy.  It was earthy and full of umaminess.  I thought it was a bit too thick, but then again, it is a whole lot better than runny.  We enjoyed how it wasn’t overly salty.

The same couldn’t be said about my dad’s Soupe a L’oignon Gratinee (French Onion Soup) as it was really salty.  We realize that this soup can pack quite the punch in terms of saltiness and sweetness, but this was a little much.  On the other hand, it was full of deep onion flavor as well as the nuttiness from the Gruyere Cheese.  I tried a few spoonfuls and ended up eating a lot more as it was tasty to me.  In addition to her mushroom soup, my daughter had the Salade D’asperges Tiedes with oranges and smoked duck.  Originally, she was supposed to share some with me, but she ended up eating most of it.  The duck was tender and smoky while the asparagus was still crunchy.

For our entrees, my dad had the Sole Grenobloise featuring sautéed dover sole with lemon caper butter, croutons and potatoes.  Beautifully prepared, the generous portion of sole was buttery soft while still flaky.  The delicate fish was graced with a creamy butter sauce that had equal amounts of acidity from the lemon and saltiness from the capers.  My mom went for the Carre d’agneau roti or roasted rack of lamb with artichokes, blistered tomatoes, zucchini and green olive sauce.  Although it looked plenty rare from the outside, it was actually perfectly medium-rare being tender.  Although not plentiful, the olive sauce was impactful with a tangy saltiness.

For myself, I had the Medaillons de Veau with morel sauce, twice-baked potato cake and seasonal vegetables.  This ended up to be more a veal steak than medallions, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t good.  In fact, it was perfectly medium-rare and yes, tender.  Loved the morel sauce as you can imagine, it was super woodsy and full of umaminess.  It was also seasoned enough too where it flavored all of the veal.  Viv decided on the Parmentier de Canard with orange-braised carrots and microcress salad.  The “pulled duck” was soft with classic duck meatiness.  The sweet carrots provided the duck with another layer of flavor.  Portion size was a little lacking thought, but will of the appies, she was good.

My daughter ended up Filet de Loup de Mer with ratatouille sauce, fried chickpea semolina and tomato confit.  Featuring a beautifully prepared crispy well-seasoned skin, the branzino was delicate and flaky.  I thought the ratatouille sauce could’ve been more impactful and seasoned more aggressively though.  For my son, he stayed with his standby being beef.  The Filet de Boeuf featured a 5-peppercorn 8 oz beef tenderloin with light brandy sauce and Anna potatoes.  Prepared a proper medium-rare, the tenderloin was buttery soft.  Since tenderloin steaks can be rather mild-tasting, the combination of peppercorns and brandy sauce made up for it.

Onto dessert, I had the Fondue au Chocolat with fresh fruit and choux pastry.  I found the fondue to be fairly sweet and thick yet lacking in silkiness.  That wasn’t a big deal as the big chunks of fresh fruit were really good on their own.  This was especially true with the sweet pineapple and kiwi.  Not sure about the choux pastry as the pieces were too small and too firm.  Viv went for the Napoleon a la Noisette with praline crunch and gianduja cream.  This featured a layers of wafer like chocolate with dollops of hazelnut cream.  Texturally, this was fine, but it was far too sweet overwhelming the chocolate flavor.  It looked pretty though.

My daughter had the Profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce.  The sauce was actually served on the side, but was poured on top by our server.  We really should’ve asked for it to be left on the side as it became rather messy and too sweet.  On its own, the profiteroles were soft and airy with a somewhat icy ice cream in the middle.  They would’ve been better just like that without the sauce.  My dad decided on the Tarte Tatin with vanilla ice cream.  Sporting layers of tender caramelized apples, this was also sweet, but purposefully so.  The pastry was crispy and flaky while also plenty buttery.

Lastly, my mom opted for her favorite – Vanilla Creme Brulee with sable cookie and berry basket.  This featured a fairly sweet custard that was the right consistency neither too thick nor too runny.  The torched sugar topping was medium-thick and hard (which was a good thing).  Once again, Le Bistro didn't disappoint.  I know that NCL sometimes takes abuse over their average food.  That is a fair comment when referring to the main dining rooms.  However, I've always found their specialty dining to be good.  That sparks the debate that only the paid restaurants serve better food.  Well, that is across the board in the mainstream cruise industry (maybe except for Holland America).  If you do cruise NCL, make sure you try Le Bistro.

The Good:
- On point proteins
- Smaller venue, more carefully prepared food
- Excellent service

The Bad:
- Some desserts were too sweet
- Well, you have to pay for it

NCL Norwegian Bliss Alaska Cruise

Viv loves cruising.  From the very first time we took a cruise together, she was hooked.  However, she is indifferent about cruising to Alaska.  In fact, she may have stated that she will never do another Alaskan cruise (we've done 2).  So when the NCL Bliss started doing the Alaskan run from Seattle, I was afraid to ask her if she wanted to go or not.  You see, I really wanted to cruise on that ship...  She begrudgingly agreed after I sold her on the 18 different restaurants on board as well as the 2-deck go-kart track.  Oh and we booked a Mini-Suite, which included a full-sized shower and balcony.  Yep, let's travel in style, it really doesn't matter where we go!

Now about that Cabin, it was not really a "suite" as it was no bigger than the regular balcony cabin at 249 square feet.  As such, the cabin was pretty much what you'd find in any other cruise ship in that particular category.  Since we had the kids with us, the cabin was a quad where there was a pullman bed above the sofa bed.  Our 2 twins combined into a king.  We really enjoyed having USB ports at each side of the bed.  Still only one electrical outlet though at the base of the vanity.  Closet space was pretty limited located just to the left of the sofa bed.  It was enough, but barely.  The real highlight of the room (other than the balcony) was the large Washroom with full-sized shower.  Finally, I could move around and not hit my shoulder, head or butt into the wall or shower curtain.   Loved the multiple spray nozzles as it provided a full-body wash.  The double sinks also allowed for 2 people to get ready.  The fact that the toilet was not pushed up against anything was also a plus.

Although the NCL Bliss isn't as big as the Oasis class ships from RCCL (I've been on the Allure), it is still one of the larger cruise ships in the industry.  Although there were plenty of public areas, I found many of them rather crowded and with many bottlenecks when activities overlapped.  One of the worst locations was the Atrium (not pictured) where it seemed that they used for almost everything.  This included trivia, live shows and seminars.  Trying to get a seat would require one to stalk the previous session and hope people would leave.  There was not enough seating at times for the amount of people who wanted to attend/participate.  To further complicate the situation, the same area also contained guest services, Starbucks and the photo studio.  As a result, people just passing through would be stuck in the crowd around the atrium.  One of the ways to avoid this is to sit above in the Local Bar & Grill and look down into the atrium when there were are shows.  Whenever we wanted to grab a quick bite in a more tranquil setting, we headed over to the Observation Lounge.

Boasting 18 different restaurants, there was no need to worry where our next meal would be.  However, most came with a cover charge or a la carte pricing.  We ended up getting the 3-Restaurant dining package included with our cruise.  For the kids, we had to add 2 more packages to cover them since each cabin only comes with 2 free packages.  Even though one could pick any 3 restaurants, Ocean Blue required an extra $10.00 surcharge.  We decided on Cagney's, Le Bistro and La Cucina as our 3 specialty restaurants.  To ensure we sampled as many dining options as possible, we went a la carte at Food Republic and Q Smokehouse.  Moreover, we visited all 3 main dining rooms (complimentary) including The Manhattan Room, Savor and Taste as well as the Garden Cafe (buffet) and Observation Lounge (light buffet).  For lunch, we paid the cover charge for Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.  Other than Ocean Blue (focus on seafood), the other spots we didn't get to try were The District Brewhouse, Los Lobos (Mexican), Teppanyaki (we tried this on a the Pride of America) and The Haven Restaurant (only available to those staying in The Haven).  In the following days, I will address every restaurant we ate at as an individual post.

In addition to the many restaurants, we found the aforementioned Starbucks, Coco's, Dolce Gelato and The Bake Shop.  At Coco's, one could feast on desserts, milkshakes and custom sundaes.  Adjacent to each other, Dolce Gelato featured 8 flavors and The Bake Shop boasted an array of macarons (12 varieties) and other pastries.  These were all extra charge and I only got to try the macarons.  They weren't necessarily on the level of the finer macarons in the world (like Pierre Hermes), but they were still legit.  So all the food was a big part of the cruise and so it should be, yet, one cannot go aboard the NCL Bliss and not be aware of the 2-level Go-Kart track at the back of deck 19.  These were electric go-karts and were able to go pretty fast, but limited by the staff.  I found it to be quite fun albeit frustrating due to the variety of racers on the track.  Some clearly have never done go-karting and hence do not know how to drive nor move over when they are going slow.  This was an extra $10.95 per race.  If you want to book a time, do so immediately when you get on the ship at many of the touchscreens near the elevators.  Otherwise, you will be on standby.

Another one of their featured activities was the Laser Tag on deck 20.   This was also a $10.95 charge for 2 games.  With the purpose-built futuristic bio-hazard lab theme course, we were placed into 2 teams (we didn't have a choice which team and who to play with).  I think they did as good of a job as possible given the space available on the top level of the ship.  There seemed to be enough room to hide and move about.  Instead of wearing vests, the guns were also the target for the opposing team.  This made is it a bit confusing who was exactly on our team and also, it was hard to aim at an opponent when they could hide their gun at their side.  Whatever the case, this was still a fun experience and worth trying out while on board.  Nearby, the 2 Watersides were pretty impressive to look at, but for us, only one was working all cruise.  The wait for it wasn't actually that bad, but we had to walk quite a distance to go from the end of the slide back to the start.  It didn't go very fast, but again, worth a few runs.

In terms of entertainment, the one show we really loved was The Jersey Boys in the Main Theater.  The production quality as well as the talent was top notch.  For those who haven't seen the play, it is about the rise and fall of the Four Seasons.  In the cruise ship industry, we find full-length Broadway productions generally on larger cruise ships (and longer cruises).  I've watch Chicago on The Allure of the Seas before and The Jersey Boys was certainly on par.  To ensure you are guaranteed a seat to watch the show, you must book in online prior to your cruise or if still available, on one of the screens near the elevators (or your room too).  Another highlight was the cover band of the Beatles playing at the "Cavern Club".  Yes, they did a version of the original nightclub in Liverpool that the Beatles used to play at.  The musicians were really good and everyone always had a rockin' good time at all their shows.  We watched them twice!  We also caught them in the main theater for their final show of the cruise where they were dressed in their Sgt Pepper's unis.

Since this was our 3rd cruise to Alaska, the ports weren't as important as the ship itself.  However, we did try to enjoy each stop regardless.  We did noticed that in Juneau, they had moved the location of Tracy's Crab Shack into an actual B&M rather than a food stand.  Over in Skagway, the town has been built-up more, but we opted to go for a hike to Yakutania Point and Smuggler's Cove.  It was moderate and offered up some amazing views.  We didn't get too creative in Ketchikan, where we only wandered around the town.  Miraculously, this was our 3rd time here and it hadn't rained each time.  You see, Ketchikan sees only 100 days of sunshine a year!  And you thought Seattle and Vancouver had it rough...  Of course, probably the highlight of the cruise was cruising into Glacier Bay where the views were spectacular.  We've done this before, so it wasn't as awe-inspiring, but for those who haven't seen it, definitely get those cameras ready.  Honestly, Victoria was a throwaway stop (only 7:00pm to midnight) because it was only on the itinerary to satisfy the "international port" requirement so that they could have an international crew.  The fact this cruise was a return trip to Seattle, meant we would have to drive back up to Vancouver afterwards, but Seattle is a great destination in itself.

Similar to many other cruise lines, we chose our embarkation time and arrived within a 30-minute window.  This really cut down the lines and amount of people arriving at the docks at the same time.  However, the cruise terminal in Seattle wasn't the best for being dropped off as the street was narrow and parking was limited.  Once inside, it was a breeze to get on the ship.  Getting off the massive ship was another story though.  There were 2 lines to get off and one was definitely longer (which we were in).  That line snaked through the casino.  We really should've used the other line which was at the front of the ship.  This process took very long and according to our time, over an hour.  Not unusual though as it took some time on the Allure as well.  Overall, we enjoyed out cruise aboard The Bliss where the food at the specialty restaurants was good and the entertainment was top notch.  There was enough activities on board for the younger crowd and plenty of shows around.  However, we found that there could've been more things planned on our daily schedule.

The Good:
- New and modern cruise ship with all of the amenities
- Lots of dining options
- Unique activities such as go-karts and laser tag
- Top notch entertainment
- All the new technology

The Bad:
- Some bottlenecks with so many thing happening at once 
- Non-specialty restaurants are so-so
- Similar to other cruise lines, the best food comes with a surcharge
- Arriving in Juneau at 2:30pm limits the activities you would want to do
- Debarkation was very long