Some cruises are about the ship. Some cruises are about the ports. And some cruises are about realizing that a trip does not have to be long, expensive, or packed with paid excursions to feel like a really good travel decision. Our 5-night Norwegian Bliss repositioning cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver in April 2026…
Cruise specialty dining sounds simple until you actually have to decide where to use the credit. Do you go familiar? Do you pick the steakhouse? Or do you try something a little outside your comfort zone? On our April 2026 Norwegian Bliss repositioning cruise, we finally tried Le Bistro for the first time. Since we…
Norwegian Cruise Line’s “Free at Sea” offer sounds simple: pick a few perks, get more value, enjoy your cruise. But like most things in travel, the real value depends on how you use it. We’ve sailed Norwegian multiple times — including our recent Norwegian Bliss repositioning cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver — and we’ve…
Planning a cruise comes with a lot of decisions. What ship should you choose?What should you pack?Should you book excursions or explore on your own? But one thing we didn’t expect to become part of the entertainment was simply walking down the hallway and looking at everyone’s cabin doors. Because once you start noticing cruise…
CCruise excursions are one of the biggest upsells you’ll see when planning a cruise. As soon as you book, they start showing up everywhere: And for a lot of travelers, booking excursions through the cruise line feels like the default move. But for us? It often isn’t. We do book excursions sometimes. In fact, some…
On a Norwegian Bliss sailing, the daily Freestyle Daily is the best way to see everything happening onboard—from activities and entertainment to dining hours and venue schedules. For this cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver, we saved each day’s schedule and reviewed them after the trip to get a clearer picture of what was actually…
We’re heading back on the Norwegian Bliss — this time on a repositioning cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver — and we’re doing something we’ve done before… But we’re doing it better. On past cruises — including: We shared a lot of real-time content and answered questions along the way. And honestly? That ended up…
I thought I’d hate cruising — I was wrong. Melanie had been on several cruises before.Jon? Never. I had officially labeled myself a non-cruiser — and I was pretty confident I’d stay that way. But with Melanie’s 50th birthday coming up, I decided it was time to do something big. Something meaningful. Something that mattered…
Embarkation day isn’t just “getting on the ship.” For us, it’s the official start of the trip — and over time, we’ve realized that how you approach this day can completely shape the rest of your cruise. After multiple cruises (and a few trial-and-error experiences), we’ve settled into a routine that works really well for…
Booking a cruise months (or even a year) in advance is the “normal” way to plan a trip. But that’s not always how we do it. Some of our best cruise deals — and some of our most fun trips — have come from booking much closer to sail date. That’s where Norwegian Cruise Line’s…
