(Norwegian Bliss arriving one May morning in 2022, photographed by Stewart L.)

Love them or hate them, cruise ships are on their way to Seattle for another season. The first scheduled cruise this year starts Saturday (April 15th), when Norwegian Bliss – capacity 4,004 passengers and 1,716 crew – will head out on a weeklong cruise to Alaska. It’s scheduled to dock at Pier 66 on the central downtown waterfront while here. It’s the first of about 300 cruise-ship calls scheduled for Piers 66 and 91 (in Magnolia) this summer and fall, with the season not ending until the final departure on the day before Halloween. Here’s the schedule, which the port warns is subject to change.

P.S. Related to a topic featured here earlier today – Pier 66 is not yet shore-power-capable; it’s supposed to be before next year’s season. (Pier 91 already is.)