Norwegian Encore Alaska Cruise Review: Day 1 – Chicago to Seattle to Portlandfeatured
(Ed note: This is a cruise we took in 2022 so keep that in mind for any references to COVID protocols! Better late than never, right?)
When we like things, like really, really like them, we tend to repeat them frequently (see: the number of times we’ve sailed on the Carnival Miracle, or to the ABC islands on the Carnival Breeze, or the sheer number of Mediterranean cruises we’ve sailed on over the past seven years or the number of shopping trips we’ve taken to Paris). We’re creatures of habit, and honestly, few things drive the endorphin rush as booking a trip that you just know you’re going to love.
It was a long summer. We kicked it off with nearly three weeks in Western Europe (most of that onboard the Carnival Pride) and it ended with my trip to the Maldives to burn some of my AA miles to try Qatar’s Q-Suites. Stephanie’s work had some pretty massive layoffs, which ended in the elimination of her role and what she then dubbed the Summer of Stephanie. The Summer of Stephanie ended with her landing a role at a company she was thrilled to work for.
To celebrate, she decided, we should take a trip before her start date, and she only really had one trip in mind: she wanted to re-experience the Alaska cruise we took on the Norwegian Encore the year prior. We called our Alaska cruise our “comfy cozy cruise.” We sailed the last week of Alaska season. It rained or snowed every day we were in port. It was freezing. We had a blast.
The only thing was, she had a very limited window to travel in before her new gig started, which meant we booked this trip less than three weeks from departure. Like, I came back from a whirlwind trip to the Maldives and just as soon as I got the sand cleaned out of my suitcase, I was pulling out my credit card and my fleece leggings.
Planning cruises for us is a sport at this point so the limited planning window didn’t scare me. The cost of airfare that late, though? Those prices were scary. And the craziness at airports? Also scary. But Stephanie wasn’t working until the end of the month and I worked (mostly) remote, so it all came together: we’d fly out on Wednesday, land in Seattle and drive to Portland, spend a few days eating our way through Portland and snapping pictures on the Oregon Coast (my favorite corner of the US!) and we’d drive back to Seattle on Sunday, drop off the car and Uber to the port. Easy peasy, right?
Except if you know one thing about us, it’s that misadventure is our middle names and Murphy’s Law always hits us in one way or another. Mom wasn’t traveling with us on this cruise, but two days before we were supposed to leave, she landed in the ER (nothing life threatening, but she was in a great deal of pain from some knee issues she’s been suffering from). We feared the worst and landed with the best and thought everything was back on track…until she landed back in the Orthopedic ER the next morning. When Norco doesn’t relieve your pain, you’ve got a problem. We thought we’d have to cancel our trip entirely, but a series of misdiagnoses landed her with a visit to an orthopedic who was able to diagnose her properly, prescribe some steroids and within hours, she was pain free and back on her feet in a way she hadn’t been for most of the summer. With all of the craziness and uncertainty, though, we didn’t want to leave until she was better. So we pushed out our flight by a day so we could make sure she was settled and on the mend before we left.
I have to give props, though: Alaska Airlines got us rebooked quickly and easily (and without change fees, thanks to my oneworld Emerald status) and Rocketmiles refunded a day of our hotel on a non-refundable reservation without any escalations (we had just called to tell them we’d be coming into our hotel a day late!). Murphy’s Law hits our family a lot, but sometimes I have to remind myself that the best case scenario can still come out of some scary or unideal situations.
So Wednesday, instead of flying to Seattle, we stayed with Mom, did some last minute packing (and, of course, I lost my passport and found it in the span of a very eventful 15 minutes — it is truly never a dull moment in our family!) and realigned our plans. And Thursday, we woke up with a new day, a fresh start, Mom feeling better than she has in months and an on time flight. I worked a half day and then we loaded up the car, made the obligatory pit stop at Superdawg for a quick pre-flight lunch and then made the short drive to O’Hare.
We almost always fly American, but for this trip, it just made out cheaper to fly Alaska on the way in. We’d never flown Alaska before, but as part of the oneworld alliance, I could credit my flight to American so I could get loyalty points and segments out of it, and all of my American benefits (like the three free pieces of checked luggage!) transferred over to Alaska. Alaska operates out of Terminal 2 in O’Hare, which is this weird Bermuda Triangle for random airlines that don’t consider Chicago a hub (Delta, JetBlue and Alaska). Because most travelers in Chicago will fly American or United (which both make hubs out of O’Hare), Terminal 2 had no lines to check bags, no lines through security, really no lines for anything. It was beautiful.
I’ve had so many misadventures on flights over the past seven years that I generally expect something to go wrong every time I fly — delays, maintenance issues, flight cancellations, lost baggage — it happens more times than it doesn’t. But our flight out? It all went right. We boarded on time. We left on time. We had a bit of a bumpy ride, but we had great service from the flight attendants onboard (who addressed us by name every time they checked in on us and made sure our glasses were always full!), a great meal service and we even landed 15 minutes early!
Landing in Seattle always feels a bit like coming home to me. I’ve spent so much time there for work that there aren’t many corners I haven’t explored, but I have some of the best memories in that city and every time we descend over the mountains, it just feels…blissful.
Once we landed, we made the long trek across SeaTac from our gate to baggage claim, where, much to Alaska Air’s claim and promise, our bags were delivered in less than 20 minutes from when we arrived. We hopped on the next shuttle to the rental car center, where for the first time that I can remember over the past few years, there were no lines. And then we began our drive to Portland, where we faced legitimately no traffic (despite the rush hour commute) and got into our hotel 20 minutes ahead of our estimated arrival time, after getting treated to the most stunning sunset as we entered Oregon. It’s very rarely that things come up SO well for us, but we certainly weren’t taking any of it for granted!
We usually stay on the Oregon Coast or in downtown Portland when we’re in Oregon, but there’s pluses and minuses to both. The coast is lovely but it’s much further away. Downtown Portland can be gritty and parking fees are outrageous ($50/night for most hotels!). I book just about all of my hotels through the American Airlines hotel portal because it counts towards my status qualification on American and I was determined to hit Executive Platinum this year (spoiler alert: mission accomplished), and that’s how I found The Inn at Northrop Station. It was just outside of downtown Portland in a much calmer area, with free breakfast, free parking and a fun kitschy boutique vibe — all things very much our speed. Our room had a full kitchenette and plenty of space for us and alllllllllll of the luggage that comes along with us. The staff were so helpful and kind at check in and we were very pleased with our choice! And, fun fact: it was featured during the Real World: Portland!
Our initial plan was to go to Cheese and Crack, a cheese and charcuterie snack shop that we’ve long been obsessed with, but Stephanie was starving after the long drive. Luckily, I maintain a robust list of pre-vetted dining spots covering just about any cuisine and we easily landed on Dough Zone, a dumpling spot with rave reviews. The location was perfect, just outside the Marquam Bridge and the interior was stunning — it almost reminded me of the Din Tai Fung in Las Vegas. And the FOOD, you guys. These dumplings were incredible (and, like, half the price of Din Tai Fung). We made an excellent choice.
After our late dinner, we made a series of wrong turns that doubled our drive time back to the hotel (because, of course we did!) and settled in for the night. Working remotely has it’s perks, but 6:00 AM wake up calls for 6:30 AM meetings? Probably not one of them. Oh, the things we do to travel more!
