Norwegian Encore Review

Very nice ship with some downfalls

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Encore
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RacerBC
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jan 2020
Cabin: Mid-ship Mini-Suite with Balcony

Was excited to book a cruise on this brand new ship. It has ALL the bells and whistles and then some but on the other-hand does have some areas that need improvement and some areas don't know how they are going to fix them. Let's start with the lack of pool deck space, or should I say lack of. Since the kart track and laser tag area take up so much real estate on the ship the lounging area was sacrificed. On the sunny/hot days the pool area was packed. The lounge chairs were arranged so tight that there was maybe a 6 inch wide rows between them. So close than many people were banging up their toes. The main pool was also small. The jogging track is basically non-existent during on these days as well as the lounge chairs are basically covering half the track 3/4's of the way around. The amount of wait staff was not good. During the days there were at most 4-5 waiters walking the pool area. The water slides also had very long lines and they were not keeping up with the scheduled times of when they were open or were closed. The "15 minute" vacant lounge chair was not enforced even though the policy was on the huge screen all the time. But then again, if you got up to take a ride on the water slides you could be standing in line for 30-45 minutes for each. Now to get around all this you could spend an additional $209 per person for a weekly pass to the new and improved, but limited, VIBE area which is the only adults only area. Since NCL eliminated Spice H20 which is on most of their other ships which is he adults only section, they enlarged the VIBE area and also increased the price which many regular NCL customers were not too happy about, especially me. PLUS, if you don;t rush down to the Q Steakhouse as soon as you board the ship, you are S.O.L getting a VIBE pass because they are limited and sell out fast. So what's so special about VIBE? well only the fact that you are guaranteed a nice lounge chair or cabana chair, if you get there earlier enough, they have their own bar and hot tubs and the wait staff comes around with fruit every now and then. And the pool?? well sorry no pool but you do get a "misting station". Next. The two biggest attractions are the go-karts and laser tag. The go-karts, $15 per race which last about 10 minutes. You can purchase an unlimited pass for $199 per person for the week, but after I did them twice, that was enough for me. You can get stuck behind a slow person and it takes all the fun out of it. They are supposed to stay to the right and allow people to pass but...... Also they do close the track down for weather and this week it was shut down due to "computer" problems on two occasions for a few hours which then throws off the entire reservation times. The laser tag area. Cost $9.95 per person per game. I would have thought this would have been more popular then what I saw because even though they recommended you make reservations, people were having no problem just walking up, paying then playing. A lot of fun though. best to play this at night!. Finally the food and entertainment.. EXCELLENT! except you better make reservations for the shows or specialty dining or you risk the chance of not getting into either. A lot of people were complaining about that. Best to make these reservations prior to boarding or at the 120 day prior to embark date through the NCL app. I HIGHLY recommend Le Bistro as one of your picks for the specialty restaurants. Breakfast buffet was basically the same thing every morning. If you want to have a better breakfast go to either SAVOR or TASTE which are both complimentary restaurants. The lunch and dinner buffets they did change up however. The ship did seem to be a little short handed in the complimentary dining rooms for dinner. Things move kinda slow when your waiter or waitress are also busing the table... The American diner was ALWAYS dead.. Food was just ok.. The Local. good food, noisy, but try the chili dog and chicken wings. both very good. Cagney's was average Teppanyaki restaurant ALWAYS a lot of fun and very good. Went to Q Smokehouse was OK but nothing special. Did not eat at Los Lobos or the sushi restaurants so can't tell you about those places. Don't miss Choir of Man! Best show I've ever seen on a cruise and I've been on almost 30 cruises, but get there 15-20 minutes before the show starts for FREE beer! Kinky Boots, very good, very entertaining with a very talented cast. The Beatles cover bad was very good but you really need to get to the Cavern at least 20 minutes before they go on stage or you might not get in because the place fills up and you can not make reservations. Make reservations to see Levity the comedy show, you will laugh your butt off.. This is a 18+ comedy show. Embark. was a little bit of a cluster! hey said it was because the ship did not clear customs when they expected so everything got backed up where normally you can start getting on the ship around 10:30am, we did start until around 11:15am. Disembark was a lot smoother. We did self carry and was off the ship by 8:10am To sum it all up. Great ship, there is definitely room for improvement, but if you've never cruised before you would not notice them. I don't care for the "nickle and dimming" between the go-karts, laser tag, the Galaxy Pavilion which is also a costly venue on the ship where there are even more up-charges on some attractions up and beyond the cost to use many of the VR rides. Be prepared to lay out some bucks and budget yourself accordingly. When all said and done, without taken any of the ship's excursions I spent an additional $375 per person just playing around in these areas. I had a mid-ship mini-suite which was comfortable and tight. The bed was only inches away from the closet which makes it hard to squeeze between the two. The bathroom is great the shower is awesome. I would recommend this ship with no problem but would I sail on it again, probably not. and FINALLY... DON'T miss "GLOW NIGHT" which is on day 5 at night on the pool deck. The BEST party on the open seas! Hope this revue was helpful and informative. You'll love the Encore, just be aware of all the extra charges... Happy Sailing!!!

Cabin Review

Mid-ship Mini-Suite with Balcony

Comfortable but tight! I would recommend that while you are booking you ask for a room that has the bed near the balcony instead of the closet. If you get a room where the bed is next to the closet you will find it difficult to get between the two.

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