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

[tripleboom]

Eventually we arrived at Chileno Bay Beach and anchored offshore.  The staff of the Cabo Escape broke us into two groups.  One group, issued mask, snorkel, flippers, and life vest, would take a longer snorkeling tour replete with about 500 yards of swimming.  And the rest of the group were issued mask, snorkel, and life vest only, sticking closer to the boat.

 

The snorkeling was pretty average with only a handful of distinct species of fish around, though the fish that were there were MORE than abundant.

 

 

 

 

 

Wondering why the fish were so abundant?  The staff of the Cabo Escape were busily diving down, and then pulling fist fulls of tortilla chips out of bags to attract the fish.  Unorthodox, but effective.

 

 

One little puffer fish spotted in the crowd!

 

 

[meatball_nyc]

Loving this review and your photographs. Thanks for taking us along!

Look forward to more...

 

 

[tripleboom]

After we got back on board, they had lunch ready to go for us! I'm sure it was the freely flowing drinks combined with the swimming, but these tacos were SOOOO good!

 

 

 

When we first pulled into Cabo in the morning I could see this yacht in the distance.

 

 

Yup.  That'd be a helicopter on the back.

 

 

On the way back after snorkeling I saw it again, this time out to sea and the helicopter gone.

 

 

So... It's a boat... with a boat IN it. Sure sure.

 

 

When I got home I did some research and found out that the yacht, called Hodor, is not really a yacht at all.  It's a SUPPORT SHIP FOR A BIGGER YACHT!  Basically, if you've got this kind of money, you have a support ship that holds all your toys while you live on the bigger yacht, the Lonian.

 

 

So yeah... A little different kind of cruising. 👀  Further research found that these yachts are owned by the former CEO of UFC.  The Hodor is valued around a mere $30,000,000 while the Lonian fetched $160,000,000.  That's a lot of cruises, folks.

[tripleboom]

With lunch complete, the "dance floor" was opened up, and thanks to the open bar, there were plenty willing!

 

 

Let's face it though. If the Cha Cha Slide or The Wobble come on, how can you NOT dance??  Cabo Pitbull got us all going!

 

 

Shenanigans continued from there with jello shots starting to make the rounds.  They cost extra in terms of money AND dignity as the hostess delivering the jello shots would squeeze it into their open mouths, pull the recipient in for a "motorboat," and then turn them around and thrust into their backside. 

 

I. Did. Not. Partake. 🤣  As our kids would say, I shouldn't "yuck their yum," but definitely not my thing!

 

There was also some unplanned karaoke for good measure. When AC/DC's Thunderstruck started to play, Howard grabbed the mic from Cabo Pitbull and started to sing along.  That's by no means an easy song to sing, but holy cow! Howard brought it!!

 

 

Some well deserved respect from his devoted fans/new BFFs!

 

 

Howard, I don't know if you're out there, but you are the man!

 

[tripleboom]

While the Cabo Escape wasn't what we signed up for, we definitely had an enjoyable time.  If you're in the mood for a fun crew, party atmosphere, abundant drinks (of questionable alcohol concentration 😄), good, quick grub, and some snorkeling for good measure I'd definitely still recommend it. It's just got fewer pirates, peg legs, and parrots than I had anticipated for our day!

 

We arrived back into the marina in plenty of time to make the last tender back to the ship, but we were still on the wrong side of the marina. So we snagged a $20 water taxi back over to the correct side of the marina, buzzed through a quick photo op...

 

 

 

.. checked out a couple of shops, and then hopped a tender back to the Bliss.  Which I took more photos of because... well because I just had to, ok?

 

 

 

Tender operations are just the coolest. Also, that was the HAL MS Koningsdam in port with us in the right of the photo below.

 

 

Watching sunset from the Bridge Cam in the cabin while we clean up and prepare for the night back on board. 

 

[Wulfwyn]

How many passengers  were on board  for this sailing 

 

[tripleboom]

Stacy's hair takes JUST a bit longer than mine, so while she was working to get all beautified for the evening, I ran down to check about a wait time at Teppanyaki.  I was unable to make a reservation before 8 PM from the app, but I checked in with the hostess who got me a reservation for 6:00 without any issue.

 

Pitstop on the way back to the room.  Have I mentioned I like the chandeliers?

 

 

 

I know I haven't specified it yet, but it's pretty clear.  I married up.  Like, way up.

 

 

 

 

 

Joe and Sandi snagged a pic with one of the ship's photographers.  The fact that Sandi was photobombed by the Starbucks sign is really perfect. There's no bigger Starbucks junkie than her!

 

 

Teppanyaki was as fun and delicious as ever!

 

 

 

Classic.

 

After a very full day, we were all tuckered out, full of filet mignon and shrimp, and knew we had a full day ahead of us.  So after some shopping in the stores on board, we decided to turn in to get some good rest.  Puerto Vallarta was waiting for us tomorrow!

[tripleboom]

28 minutes ago, Wulfwyn said:

How many passengers  were on board  for this sailing 

 

I asked a few members of the crew during the week and the consensus seemed to be right around 1,800.  We never had trouble finding places to sit in the bars/lounges, rarely rode the elevator with anyone else, walked up and got into any show.  So basically, as close to paradise as you can get.

[alaska2008]

Thank you so much for your extensive review and photos. We, and other family members, will be on the 12/19/21 sailing and can't wait. 

[Azulann]

Love your trip report and photos. 

I love Mexico and PV is my favorite city  for a beach vacation. 

have a great  day there. Easy to just walk around and explore , sit under a palapa at the beach ...

 

[tripleboom]

Day 4 - Puerto Vallarta

 

Sorry for the delay in posting! The life of a claims adjuster is never boring!  Nothing like a pipe break on the 3rd floor (with ensuing water damage to all levels) of an assisted care facility to start your day!

 

We had a fairly late start to the day in Puerto Vallarta, with only an 11:30 AM show time in the theater to go to our NCL excursion for the day.  So we met up, snagged some breakfast in the Garden Café, and watched as the Bliss pulled into port.

 

 

 

 

Our port buddy for the day was the Majestic Princess

 

 

Before we had to head out, I had to go and exchange some towels up on the pool deck, so as long as I was up there I traipsed all the way up to Deck 20 where the entrance to the Laser Tag facility is located to snap a photo from the tip top of the ship.

 

 

The picture made the trip worth it, but what was even better was discovering a little hidden gem.  If you go up to Deck 19 forward, on the port (left when facing forward) side of the ship, there's basically a more luxurious sun deck just outside of the entrance to the Vibe Beach Club.  This was one of those moments where I REALLY missed the research period for this cruise and ship. Had I had my year or so to research I'd have already known about this and would have been camped out there for the first sea day!  So now you get to know what I already should have. 🙂

 

 

With couples' loungers, a hot tub, and its own bar, this place was AMAZING!

 

 

 

[tripleboom]

After getting our tour # called from inside the theater, we were led down to disembark, and pointed in the direction of our tour guide.  Pepe was a great guy and quickly led us through the small marketplace area set up inside the secure terminal zone. From there we were herded onto buses and out of the port area.  With a quick pass back past the bow of the ship... 

 

 

And then quickly made a u-turn to get us back on the correct side of the street.  Soon after we pulled into an incredibly exotic locale!

 

 

I didn't remember clicking my heels three times, but suddenly it felt like home!

 

Actually, it just so happened that our tour operator apparently had a special arrangement to park our vehicles for the day in the parking lot so they were close to the pier and ready for us!  Today would be a day spent on a Jeep tour of Puerto Vallarta and the surrounding area.  If you consider this tour (Jeep Safari & Beach Adventure; $89/adult, $59/kid before any Free at Sea discounts), you should know that all the Jeeps are all 5-speed manual transmissions.  Frankly, this was half the reason I was excited for this tour!  It's been a number of years since I drove stick, but it all came back like riding a bike!

 

 

 

That said, I won't lie. The process of getting us all out of the port area traffic was more than a little chaotic.  Fortunately, Pepe up in the lead Jeep would pull over to the shoulder if a portion of our convoy (maybe a dozen or so Jeeps?) got caught at a red light. I didn't know that before we got going, so I admittedly drove a little more aggressively than I would have had I known. Oh well!

 

 

Before too long we found our way onto more open and picturesque roads and we headed off into the hills around Puerto Vallarta.

 

 

We even came across a group of mountain bikers (presumably Princess cruisers?) at one point.  Again, I won't yuck their yum, but I much preferred our Jeep ride to their brand of fun! 😄

 

 

After about a 30 minute drive on hard surface roads, we started to offroad a bit on some of the side roads, evenutally landing in the village of El Cantón, Jalisco.

 

 

[tripleboom]

El Canton was a simple, but beautiful little village. We arrived in the central courtyard in town where the school was located. 

 

 

Along with a very nice basketball court.

 

 

Pepe talked to us in the courtyard pavilion about the village for a short while before allowing us to wander a bit. Joe snagged some Mexican Cokes at a nearby villager's stand and we just stretched our legs for a bit.

 

 

 

 

After a few minutes, Pepe herded us all toward a side street in the village. Once we got about a block away, the smells in the air could have led us the rest of the way.

 

Carlito's Panaderia (Bakery) was amazing!  I wouldn't have believed something so good could come out of such a simple operation.  The baked goods sold within were 2 for $1, and I paid more than that simply because they were worth so much more than that!

 

 

The ovens inside the building were still pumping out tons of heat, so it was clear that the day's baking was not yet complete.  It seemed to be a family operation with Grandfather at the oven, daughter working the till, and several more family members in the adjacent room either tending to the kiddos running around or preparing more baked goods.

 

 

I chose two chocolate filled pastries and two cinnamon flavored concha.  They were so fluffy, delicate, and warm!  SOOOO good!

 

 

Shortly after, Pepe called for us to head back to the Jeeps to head out to our next destination.  

 

 

I'll admit, when we first pulled up to this little village, I was fully prepared to be heartily underwhelmed. But the warmth of the people of the village, the baked goods, my full stomach... This would turn out to be one of the best moments of our whole trip; and that's saying something!

[tripleboom]

Once we were loaded up, we started our convoy to the next destination. There certainly were some pretty views along the way.

 

 

 

Eventually we made it back to hard surface roads.

 

 

And to our next stop, Doña Engracia Hacienda, for some refreshments, food, and of course... Tequila!

 

[tripleboom]

 

 

 

Upon our arrival we were led through a shopping corridor, then through the small restaurant on site, and out into the courtyard where some refreshments were waiting.

 

 

More importantly there were also restrooms waiting!

 

 

While waiting for the rest of our crew to finish... taking care of business... I took a look at some of the wares for sale and found one that I was definitely going to return to!  More on that in a bit.  Eventually Pepe corralled us all again and led us through the courtyard toward the entrance to the tequila tour.

 

 

 

 

The brief tour included an overview of the laborious methods used to be make tequila back in the day as well as the modern techniques.

 

 

 

 

 

After the tour it was time for what we all really came for.  The tasting room. 😁

 

[tripleboom]

After getting an education on each of the tequilas offered, we were offered samples one by one.

 

 

Salud!

 

 

As the DD for our trip I kept my intake pretty low, but there were six...

 

I'm sorry, how many, Queens?

 

 

That right, SIX different tequilas to choose from.  Blanco, Reposado, and Añejo were the standards, followed by three infusion options: Durazno (peach), Almendra (almond), and Café (coffee).  While they all were very smooth and pleasant tasting, Stacy and I chose a bottle of the Café to take home with us. Quite delicious!

 

 

 

Following the tour and tasting, and since taking six shots of tequila and IMMEDIATELY hopping back in the Jeeps seems like a terrible idea, we were off to a quick lunch on site next.

[tripleboom]

As I mentioned before, when we first arrived I made note of one of the vendors.  Stacy and I have made it a habit now to always pick up a piece of art from a local vendor on our cruise trips, and then we display them at home on a wall dedicated to our cruise memories.

 

Before we started the tequila tour, Stacy and I picked out a couple of pieces together, and the vendor then packaged everything up for us nicely for a safe trip home.  

 

After the tour we returned to pick up our items from the artist, Patricia.  Our particular pieces were already packaged, but I did have her pose with one of her other finger painted tile paintings.

 

 

And here's the two we actually brought home with us.

 

 

With our art secured, we then headed off to lunch. Notice the sign on the wall. 😄

 

 

The tacos weren't quite as delicious as yesterday, but still awfully tasty. Pepe tried to warn me away from the habanero hot sauce, but I couldn't be dissuaded. Very good if you like spicy!

 

 

 

Stacy and Sandi each ordered a margarita ($5 or $6 I think?), and to our surprise we got to keep the glasses! Nice!

 

 

After lunch we all piled back into the Jeeps to head off toward our last stop of the day.

 

[quillwercruisers]

44 minutes ago, tripleboom said:

As I mentioned before, when we first arrived I made note of one of the vendors.  Stacy and I have made it a habit now to always pick up a piece of art from a local vendor on our cruise trips, and then we display them at home on a wall dedicated to our cruise memories.

 

Before we started the tequila tour, Stacy and I picked out a couple of pieces together, and the vendor then packaged everything up for us nicely for a safe trip home.  

 

After the tour we returned to pick up our items from the artist, Patricia.  Our particular pieces were already packaged, but I did have her pose with one of her other finger painted tile paintings.

 

 

And here's the two we actually brought home with us.

 

 

With our art secured, we then headed off to lunch. Notice the sign on the wall. 😄

 

 

The tacos weren't quite as delicious as yesterday, but still awfully tasty. Pepe tried to warn me away from the habanero hot sauce, but I couldn't be dissuaded. Very good if you like spicy!

 

 

 

Stacy and Sandi each ordered a margarita ($5 or $6 I think?), and to our surprise we got to keep the glasses! Nice!

 

 

After lunch we all piled back into the Jeeps to head off toward our last stop of the day.

 

We went to this same place on a different excursion back in 2017.  We got our glasses also.

[PATRLR]

On 11/30/2021 at 9:59 PM, tripleboom said:

 Further research found that these yachts are owned by the former CEO of UFC.  The Hodor is valued around a mere $30,000,000 while the Lonian fetched $160,000,000.  That's a lot of cruises, folks.

UFC as in Ultimate Fighting Championship?  Who knew that was a big enough business that its CEO is paid enough to have 200,000,000 in disposable income to buy some boats.  Wow.

Enjoying the report immensely.

[tripleboom]

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

UFC as in Ultimate Fighting Championship?  Who knew that was a big enough business that its CEO is paid enough to have 200,000,000 in disposable income to buy some boats.

 

You got it.  Lorenzo Fertitta is the owner, and the former CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship.  Apparently he and his brother sold UFC in 2016 for $4,000,000,000, so I guess there's some yacht money in there somewhere! 😆

 

Thanks for following along!  Hope you're enjoying the review half as much as I'm enjoying recounting it! Fun to relive the trip in this format.

[tripleboom]

After working our way back toward the port we met some of that heavy traffic near the port again. Not a lot of fun, but again we managed to time lights pretty well and stuck together.

 

 

After another couple of miles we pulled into the parking lot of the Grand Venetian.  Pepe started to lead us toward the public beach, but first we stopped at a curious little structure near the beach.  

 

 

All those little markers in there mark buried sea turtle eggs!  Apparently when they are laid anywhere on the beach, the conservationists will collect the eggs and bring them to this enclosure for safekeeping until they hatch.  Fortunately for us, they had had a few hatch earlier that day, so we got to see some babies up close & personal before they would be released.

 

 

 

After that, Pepe directed us to the public beach near the port, and we had a little over an hour of free time before we had to report back.  The beach was nothing terribly special, so don't book this "Jeep  Safari & Beach Adventure" if you're hoping for luxurious and/or abundant beach time.  That said, I'd still highly recommend this excursion because it packed so much fun into our day!

 

 

 

 

Joe and I spent about 10 minutes in the water, but we could see that the ladies were getting bombarded by peddlers on the beach, so we packed it in and headed back to where Pepe was waiting for us.  

We met him at a little beach side restaurant called El Oasis Del Holi. We snagged a table, ordered a couple of much needed bottles of water, and just enjoyed the sunset while waiting for the group to all show up.

 

 

 

Once everyone showed up, we all hopped back in the Jeeps one last time, and drove the handful of blocks back to Chedraui, which is apparently a Mexican Big Box chain. Here we dropped the Jeeps, and it got a little hairy from here. Pepe said this is where we would part ways, and we only had to make the short walk back to the port ourselves.  Now, I'm pretty directionally gifted, so I knew the direction I had to go, but I wasn't 100% confident (especially after the maze of express lanes, local lanes, and u-turns that we had made) as to just how far from the port we were yet.  Pepe gave us some rather half-🍑 instructions, and we all started walking in the general direction of the port.

 

After a missed turn off, we found ourselves in front of the aft portion of the ship, but still on the wrong side of the fences.  Eventually a kind officer walked us the poorly marked entrance to the port's shopping area.  Eventually signs in there led us to the exit and to the electric shuttles that would drive us over to the Bliss.  I was never really sweating it, but after such a great day it left a bad taste to be pointed in a direction and told "good luck."  Really odd for an NCL excursion I thought.

[tripleboom]

Once we were dropped back off shipside, we took some time to look around the shops near the ship.  We had to be sure to bring our boys home a souvenir of course.  Fortunately we came across Glass Design Rosas, a booth specializing in beautiful glass pieces.

 

 

 

 

After much debate, we finally settled on these little guys at $10 each.

 

 

Just look at the colors threaded through these! So beautiful!

 

 

Of course Stacy couldn't very well leave without one of her own as well. 😄

 

 

By the time we got back on board, through security, went through the liquor confiscation process, and finally got back to our room, the sun had nearly completely set.  Another stunner.

 

 

 

Oh, sure.  THERE'S a pirate ship. 😄

 

 

The pirates ducked out ahead of us.

 

 

But we were underway shortly after that and got an impressive send off from Puerto Vallarta!

 

 

[meatball_nyc]

Beautiful photos!!

 

[tripleboom]

After a full day riding around in a bouncy Jeep, up, down, around, and over the hills of Mexico, Joe was feeling a little under the weather. Say it with me, cruisers: MECLAZINE!

 

With an early wake up call scheduled for the next day, he and Sandi decided to turn in early to try to let Joe sleep off the ickiness, so Stacy and I had the evening just to ourselves.

 

We chose to head for Taste (or Savor? Does anyone really check which one they're going into? 😂) and were seated along a window.  Stacy chose a baked, stuffed cornbread appetizer. I didn't get a photo of it, but it looked large enough to be an entrée!  I went with the ravioli in lobster sauce. Super good!

 

 

Soon after the main courses arrived.  Stacy went with the baked ziti. Not the best pic, but it was definitely one of Stacy's favorite meals of the cruise.

 

 

I opted for the chicken cordon blue which was also quite good!

 

 

Our waiter for the evening was kind enough to take a photo for us as well!  Cruddy camera phone pictures, but Santa's bringing me an upgrade thankfully. 🙂

 

 

Quick PSA...

 

Bill... If you're out there... if you're dining two full tables away from me, and I can hear your conversation as plain as day, then I'm not really eavesdropping.  Furthermore, Bill, in regards to your significant other's planned attire for later in the evening, the word that you were struggling to come up with... for the strappy things attached to her teddy... those are called garters. 👀😂

 

Moving on!

 

Lots of good dessert options for this evening!  None as good as Bill's, but pretty good!

 

 

I took the cannoli (and left the gun).

 

 

And Stacy went with the  Chocolate Espresso Cake

 

 

 

[meatball_nyc]

Well played, tripleboom.