We travelled on NCL Encore on 29.12.2019 for a seven night cruise from Miami to the Caribbean and were very excited to join the latest in NCL's fleet, Boarding the ship was very efficient and we did not have any huge queues to wait in.

We have cruised with NCL five times previously so were looking forward to experiencing the same or improved standard of service and attention to detail that we’ve been became accustomed to, however there were many things about the ship’s design or level of service that we felt a little disappointing or that could have been so much better.

The main attraction on the ship for many of the people we met was the “Speedway” or go kart experience, however many of the cruisers we met were very disappointed that they could not get to use them as they had all been pre booked before the cruise started. We were fortunate enough to reserve slots soon after embarkation for the first night at 9.30 pm but, we were advised these were some of the last available slots. Also when it rained the go karts could not be used and over the duration of the cruise, rain showers were frequent. This would no doubt have added to the disappointment of our fellow cruisers and their children. We were surprised to learn that despite the apparent shortage of racing slots and the amount of rain stoppages that NCL did not make any attempt to soften the blow by opening the track for longer durations. Read more