This was our fourth cruise our first on Norwegian. I will start with the positive. The staff was very friendly and the ship was very clean and modern. The activity directors were friendly and very high energy, always trying to get everyone involved.
Now for the bad.
The entertainment was B rated at best. The smaller bar acts were better than their musical and magic show.
Their food ...
We chose this cruise as a small Celebration cruise to see Alaska for the 5th time after finally also we chose the Bliss as we have sailed with Norwegian they many global areas ! The Bliss being a new ship we thought WHY NOT !
Upon embarkation and our 1st meals we started to notice what is we suppose is to be Norwegian’s NEW Normal .
1. Lower quality Food , sub par, Low Grade Beef ...
Norwegian is by far our favorite cruise line for many reasons. Service, food, and open bar are the big 3. Service on this particular cruise was subpar. To start, the embarkation process was a nightmare. First alaskan cruise of the year for the port of Seattle and I think the embarkation crew were still hibernating for the winter. They passed out the boarding group numbers last minute, ...
We chose to cruise on the Bliss to Alaska mainly due to the newness of the ship, figuring it would have plenty of activities throughout the week. While the ship was beautiful and more modern than the typical (our stateroom bathroom was divine!), the activity schedule was sorely lacking. We’ve taken about 8 cruises so we aren’t new to cruising but previous cruises have been in warm water and on ...
After 26 years of marriage I finally talked my husband into a cruise. We chose NCL because of their covid procedures and that it required all passengers and staff to be fully vaccinated.
The entertainment on the Encore was top notch. Both The Choir of Man and Kinky Boots were available on our sailing and were fantastic, you do not want to miss these shows! We also saw one performance of The ...
On October 9-16, 2021, we went on a cruise to Alaska (family cruise). We had excursions planned at all three ports, Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Ketchikan. All three excursions were cancelled with no reasons provided (and with very short notice). At Icy Straits we were unable to go to the town due to Covid. I would think that Norwegian could have changed to another port. The other two ports we ...
Life on land is hard.... after returning home and crawling into bed I turned on the TV and was saddened to learn we no longer can view the bridge cam. This is the first of many disappointments since being ashore. I have yet to find a restaurant or bar that will accept my NCL Cruise card, hence paying for food and beverage again is a drag. I have had to cook for myself and my family, do dishes, ...
Let me summarize some of the basics.
Travel and embarkation. We had our flights booked by NCL and flew in the same day (I know not the best plan). Our flight was booked for 6:00 am landing at 9:00 am in Seattle. I checked the airline schedule, and there were at least 3 other flights that were leaving after ours that would have still been able to get us to Seattle in time, so I was confident ...
Cruising to Alaska in October was a new experience for my wife and I, so I thought I would share some of our experiences aboard the NCL Encore during the October 2 sailing. This was our 6th Alaska cruise with 4 of them on NCL (Jewel, Pearl, Bliss and now Encore).
Voyage: The seas were a bit rough on the first Sea Day and the final Sea Day, mainly due to wind. We were told at Icy Point Strait ...
We just returned from a terrific cruise on the Encore. We have taken many cruises on NCL but really felt that the Encore has raised the bar. It certainly helped that capacity on board was reduced to 2200 passengers with no young children. The passenger to crew ration was close to 1:1 which made for outstanding service. There were never any lines at the buffet or crowding anywhere. There was ...