Our Breakaway... Err... Joy... Umm.. Escape... Nope! November Bliss 2021 Review!

[tripleboom]

Hi, all you fellow cruise lovers!  It's been a long-time coming, but I've finally taken another cruise, and am ready to share a review with you all accordingly! 

 

First off, it's always good to introduce oneself before getting too far into the weeds. My wife and I reside in the great state of Iowa where we're raising two boys.  I'm employed in the insurance industry, while my wife, a Clinical Laboratory Scientist, runs the lab in a health clinic.  We've been married for 14+ years, and have enjoyed four NCL cruises prior to this one (Sky 2011, Sky 2015, Escape 2017, Breakaway 2019).  Pictured is a family photo I took (thanks camera timer!) from last December taken outside of our home in the country.

 

 

With that out of the way, let's get to the fun stuff!  Ironically, we had actually booked our 2020 cruise even before our 2019 Breakaway cruise with our boys (Previous review here).  For 2020 we were choosing to sail with my wife's aunt & uncle, and leaving the boys at home this go round.  Following our 2019 experience, we were excited to sail the Breakaway again in 2020.

 

Spoiler alert: That didn't happen.

 

Like a healthy chunk of you, we found our May 2020 sailing cancelled.  Ever the optimists in the face of a global pandemic, we re-booked for the Joy in October 2020.  Nope.  So for the next re-booking we decided to bump the cruise out far enough that we could feel confident that it wouldn't get COVID-cancelled again.

 

We were right!  Well, right-ish.  In November 2020 we chose to re-book for the Norwegian Encore's November 14, 2021 Eastern Caribbean sailing.  We had more than a year to plan every detail, and plan we did!  Flights, hotels, rental car, pre-cruise escape room, jetboat tour, nail salon appointments, and meals all carefully planned out and tucked away.  We also had to contend with carefully arranging care for our boys while we were gone, with time being split between two incredible sets of grandparents!  Our boys are plenty active, so organizer/planner that I am, of course there was a color coded spreadsheet to help family keep it all straight while we were gone!

 

 

With all that planning, and with over 1,000 days having passed since we first booked the Breakaway, we were packed, excited, and on Wednesday, November 10th we were sitting in a Walgreens drive thru to get our pre-trip COVID testing taken care of.  After our noses were swabbed, but while we were waiting for a different prescription to get filled, I got the email about 2,000 other people did.  On four day's notice, our Encore sailing had just been cancelled.

 

I know there are plenty who, at this point, would have thrown up their hands and say it wasn't meant to be, but that's just not me.  After sitting in stunned silence for a not insignificant period of time, and after consulting with our traveling companions, I set to work to see about quickly booking a new cruise on short notice.  After about 6-7 hours of phone calls, emails, rebooked flights, hotels, checking with family, etc. we went from an 11/14 sailing out of Miami to an 11/14 sailing out of Los Angeles aboard the Bliss!  By the time we were done with all the required finagling, we were just 36 hours out from our flight time.  All of the careful planning and coordination (child care, pet care, household care, vacation time, etc.) would not have to have gone to waste!

 

Hats off to American and Radisson Hotel groups who made our cross-country, flip-flop incredibly painless.  As for communication with NCL, that was far more difficult, but I also understood the position their staff was in.  Asking them to make clarifications on a policy that had been drafted just a few hours earlier was going to be difficult, but like so many of my fellow-Encore cruisers, we HAD to have good information upon which to make decisions.  In the end, despite several previous FCCs being wrapped up in our Encore payment thanks to our multiple prior booking cancellations, we should be getting a full refund of every dime we paid from 2019 until now toward all of our multiple cancellations.  Booking the Bliss would not have been an option if I wasn't confident that the money previously spent would be coming back to us in order to cover the cost of the Bliss booking.

 

So... With the back story finished, let's (FINALLY!) take a vacation together!

 

[tripleboom]

Friday, November 12 - Travel Day

 

With both of our work days wrapped up the day before, Friday brought a travel day for us!  I brought our oldest to school at 0-dark something for weight lifting, then came home and got our youngest on the bus.  That allowed Stacy (the aforementioned wifey) and I to get some last household tasks done before my parents arrived to take care of the house and kiddos while we were gone.  Once they arrived, we went over the schedule, household routines, how best to ignore our dog's constant begging for treats, etc., and headed to the airport.

 

Leaving the upper Midwest in November is always a treat.  Despite the sub-freezing temperatures and snow flurries, both of us refused to bring a coat with us to the airport!  We parked, shivered our way onto the shuttle bus, wound our way through security, and found ourselves ready to fly to L.A.  But since nothing is ever easy, we were going west by flying east.  Out of Omaha and onward to Chicago!

 

 

After a thorough de-icing of course.  The Midwest wasn't going to let us out of its icy grip that easily!

 

 

There's something so satisfying about climbing above gray, wintry skies into the clear blue (about 1:00 into the video).  Maybe it's just the aviation nerd in me, but it's always one of my favorite travel moments.

 

 

 

After a bumpy downwind leg that took us out over Lake Michigan, we turned final and headed back toward Chicago and O'Hare itself.

 

 

After landing in Chicago, we had just enough time to grab a snack at Starbucks, hustle one terminal over, have one last good look at cold weather...

 

 

And grabbed our 4-hour flight to SNA, John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana.

 

I have to admit, the simple addition of a cell phone tray with an adjacent USB port made my day.  I'm a simple man. 😁

 

 

With the rare middle seat empty between us, the long flight was at least a bit more comfortable than it otherwise could have been.  One more de-ice, a long taxi, and we were on our way!

 

[PhillyTravelBug]

Loving this so far. Entertaining reading.

[nhtravels]

So happy that you and Stacy. were able to turn those lemons into a nice limoncello!

[Oakman58]

I’m following your trip report.  We will be doing the same cruise on Dec 5th.

 

Not wearing a coat to the airport was my philosophy too until we came back home a day after an ice storm.  Trying to get into a car frozen in ice and temps in the lower 20’s without a coat is not fun.  For cruises during cold weather months I now pack a flannel shirt, a hoodie, and GLOVES.

[AKR2011]

Your cruising attitude is so inspiring. I'm a glass half full kinda girl myself, but you handled everything like a pro! I loved your last review and am really looking forward to this one. Thanks so much for sharing your adventure with us!

[EllieinNJ]

Great report so far.  Following.

[basicprincess24]

Following along! Can't wait to read all about your trip 😁

[tripleboom]

3 hours ago, AKR2011 said:

Your cruising attitude is so inspiring. I'm a glass half full kinda girl myself, but you handled everything like a pro! I loved your last review and am really looking forward to this one. Thanks so much for sharing your adventure with us!

 

Believe me, I had a pretty foul attitude for an hour or two on that Wednesday afternoon! 😂 So grateful the alternative plans came together as nicely as they did!

 

5 hours ago, nhtravels said:

So happy that you and Stacy were able to turn those lemons into a nice limoncello!

 

And into a few vodka lemonades, some lemon pound cake, and some lemon water too.  Gotta watch my figure. 😁

[tripleboom]

We landed at SNA a little late, but thankfully both of our checked bags made their connection.  We were able to quickly collect the bags and head out to the curb, and into the balmy 70's.  Snow and leaves on the ground at home; clear skies and palm trees here. Gotta love it.

 

 

Because our traveling partners arrived into L.A. before us, Joe (of the soon to be introduced Joe & Sandi) arranged for shuttle transportation for us.  Prime Time Shuttle sent an Escalade to shuttle us from SNA to our hotel for the next two nights. 

 

 

Much more on this tomorrow, but the Radisson Blu Anaheim was an AMAZING place to spend our time before Sunday's sail date.  But for tonight, it was a quick bite to eat at the California Pizza Kitchen, and an early bedtime after a VERY long day of travel.

[vacation44]

Great start!  Thank you for taking the time to share your vacation.

[Acruzaholic]

I am so HAPPY for the 2 of you. I feel your original pain that fateful Wednesday! My DW and I were also booked for the same 11/14/21 Encore cruise. We also planed everything over a year in advance and also felt SO DEPRESSED when we also received  the same cancellation email that Wednesday evening.  Like you, I was determined to make lemonade out of lemons-already re-booked Encore for 12/5/21-same trip out of Miami. I am looking forward to your travel experiences.

Cruise well my friends!!!  

[jimbri]

Great report and photos.

[LaCal]

We want more. We want more 🤣🤣

[tripleboom]

After basically hitting the pillow and immediately falling asleep, we were up bright and early the next day to enjoy our single, full day in Anaheim.  I was broken hearted to know that it was going to be 90°, while back home it was only going to reach a high of 43°. Just crushed. 😆

 

 

We were checked into an 11th floor family suite. Normally my status with Radisson would get us an upgrade, but there were none to be had this weekend.  Seemed as though the hotel was pretty full with Disney guests and travel basketball teams. No worries! The accommodations were extraordinarily nice no matter where we stayed.  The views of Disneyland and California Adventure were very nice and promised a good view of the evening's fireworks.

 

 

Pixar Pal-A-Round Ferris Wheel

 

Incredicoaster (fka Claifornia Screamin')

 

Space Mountain

 

The Matterhorn

[tripleboom]

The room itself was very well appointed with a large TV, a good sized mini-fridge, a king bed, bunk beds (for the kids we didn't have with us), a small table with two chairs and a bench for dining, coffee maker, large wardrobe (containing two bathrobes), and a well-equipped bathroom.  The only complaints I read about the hotel ahead of time was the lack of a microwave in the room as some families would like to be able to prepare some rudimentary meals in there rather than eat out for every meal.

 

 

 

 

 

[tripleboom]

Joe & Sandi made a Starbucks run since they were up before us, and having spied the main pool area from our room...

 

 

We decided to make the trek downstairs to explore the hotel a bit.  We got photobombed by some of the locals, but then managed to find our way outside.

 

 

Lounge chairs were plentiful poolside at this hour, so we just relaxed for a while until Joe & Sandi could join us.

 

 

 

 

Not that we took advantage, but they had some pretty swanky cabanas you could reserve as well.

 

 

All in all, a very nice offering with a large circular pool, decent sized hot tub, and a lighted splash pad for the kiddos to enjoy, in addition to the plentiful lounge seating immediately around the pool and patio furniture throughout this pool/courtyard area.

[roger001]

Hurry!   More!!!   We'll be on the Bliss in a few weeks, and from South Bay Los Angeles originally.  

[tripleboom]

13 minutes ago, roger001 said:

Hurry!   More!!!   We'll be on the Bliss in a few weeks, and from South Bay Los Angeles originally.  

The dang return to work has sapped a lot of momentum for me! Haha!  Half day tomorrow though, so I'll be putting some work in. Maybe I'll actually get to the cruising portion of the trip soon! 😄

[tripleboom]

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we met up with Joe and Sandi and headed off to our first activity of the day.

Joe and Sandi live in the Kansas City area, and Sandi is my wife's, mom's sister.  They have three adult boys with the youngest being a sophomore at Mizzou.  Joe is a chemical engineer, and Sandi works for a nationally-known high school memorabilia company (think yearbooks, class rings, graduation stationery, etc. 

 

 

 

Joe and Sandi took a Princess cruise about 12-15 years ago, but haven't been cruising since. Ever since Stacy and I had gotten into cruising we had been after them to take a cruise with us.  Their experience with surviving the three cancellations was probably a poor second impression on the cruise industry, but they stuck through all the re-bookings with us, determined to make it work.

 

We've made trips down to K.C. on the regular for the last several years, and when we get together with them it's always a lot of laughs, good food, a new handbag purchase typically, and we almost always book an Escape Room!  We had booked an Escape Room in Miami, but that was obviously a bust, but to our great surprise, Sandi found an Escape Room about a 10 minute walk from the hotel!  Going into our trip to L.A. we were undefeated in Escape Rooms, and we were confident we could find another win.

 

On the way to the Escape Room, I found myself amused by the "camouflaged" utility boxes near the side of the hotel.  Not sure these would fool anyone, but kudos for trying!

 

 

Just a half mile from the hotel, the large outdoor mall/recreation/entertainment district called the Anaheim Gardenwalk included several nationally recognized restaurant chains, some cute boutiques, an AMC, a House of Blues, and a bowling alley among other things.

 

 

Also located there was Mission Escape Games.

 

 

Our challenge today would be the The Ultimate Bank Heist.  

 

 

Basically, we've got 60 minutes to solve a series of visual, mental, and written puzzles to find our way into the bank vault and to steal a valuable artifact within.  This one was super fun, the puzzles were challenging, the room(s) were super well designed, and it took us all working as a team and occasionally separately to solve the puzzles.  The good news?

 

Our undefeated streak lives on!  With 13 minutes to spare we made our escape, artifact in hand!

 

[roger001]

When you can, where drop off for porters, and then where for testing, and how far back to boarding. We’re like old.  Thanks.  

[julie3fan]

We have the Jan 9th 7 day and following 5 day Bliss cruises booked...can't wait until you get to the cruising part of your review!

 

Congrats on the escape room win!

[tripleboom]

After the Escape Room win, we had some very important business to attend to.  On the way out of the Anaheim Gardenwalk I noticed a familiar pattern in the fountain and surrounding patio.

 

 

We started hoofing it a mile or two further away from the hotel and across some pretty intersections.

 

 

The ladies couldn't very well board a cruise ship without a fresh mani-pedi, so we found a spot relatively close.  The striping shown in Stacy's nails here was somehow applied by using a magnet on the metallic flakes within the gel nail polish. I have no idea how it works, but it's way cool!

 

 

 

Joe and I opted for a slightly less expensive pampering.  Appetizers and some lemonade at a nearby Denny's. 😆

 

 

After the ladies were properly pampered, we snagged a $10 Uber and headed back to the hotel to enjoy some incredible rooftop amenities offered there.

[tripleboom]

Once we got back to the hotel we decided to go check out the rooftop, adults only pool area. Holy cow, you guys. This is what dreams are made of.

 

 

 

 

Once we realized that we had the whole area to ourselves we basically sprinted back to our rooms to change and head back up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We probably spent a good three hours up on the rooftop. The pool's water was pleasantly warm, though getting out of the hot tub and back into the pool was a bit more challenging. 🥶

 

We had enjoyed our stay to this point, but this truly sold us on the hotel. Worth every penny.  Well... Worth every point. 😄

[tripleboom]

After we finally managed to pull ourselves away from the pool, we headed back to our rooms to get ready to go out for supper.  Before heading out, we did checkout the other rooftop area adjacent to the pool.  This bar and patio area faced out toward the Disney parks and offered a great view for the fireworks later that night, but right around 6 PM the staff came out to shoo us away. Apparently this area is by reservation only in the evening and books up well in advance.  No biggie, but what a beautiful spot for a sunset.

 

 

 

 

Then we headed out of the lobby, past the swiss army generic candy bars...

 

 

And back to the Anaheim Gardenwalk.  The place is already decked out of Christmas, though on this evening there were a large number of vendor tents set up throughout.  Turns out if was the "Taste of Gardenwalk Music & Arts Festival. A good chunk of the vendors were anime related, and a healthy number of folks were walking around in costumes of varying levels of promiscuity. But hey, to each their own!  As my kids would say, "Don't 'yuck' their 'yum.'" 😆

 

 

 

After weaving our way through the crowd, we made it to "FiRE & iCE" (their spelling, not mine), a Mongolian style grill. Pretty good cocktails, decent grub, and we left with full stomachs.

 

 

We waddled our way back to the hotel and headed back to our rooms for the evening.  Fireworks at Disney were very easily viewed from our room...

 

 

After the fireworks, we made sure everything was organized and ready for our trip to the pier in San Pedro in the morning.  We drifted off to sleep with a questionable movie choice for the night before getting on a cruise ship. 😂