ImpressedCruiser

Day 7 - Victoria; also attaching important disembarkation information for those who are interested.

Uploading Day 6 - Ketchikan! The ship had an estimated arrival time of 7am, but the announcement said we were all cleared by 6:30am 🙂 We were sharing the dock with Regent Seven Seas, pretty cool pictures of both side by side.

Ah, you're right. So sorry! Confirming that they do have 'Alaskan theme' dinners still in the Garden Cafe. I meant to say that they don't have crab/seafood night anymore.. I think due to cost cutting.

Also sharing pictures from the White Pass Railway Excursion from our time in Skagway. Pro tip: Book from the actual website (https://wpyr.com) as it's cheaper and you board a separate train car versus the cruise passengers opting to purchase through NCL. We had access to both sides of the car during the entire ride and it was more than half empty (picture attached). We passed two other trains and those were completely full (with cruise guests), so if you want an optimal experience, I'd recommend booking from their website.

It's been amazing so far ! Apologies for the delayed posts - been enjoying a really fun trip so far! Sharing a couple photos from our day in Glacier Bay. Saw a few humpback whales, and harbour seals / otters. The park rangers boarded the boat but advised that it's quite early in the season so we wouldn't see too many whales or orcas. Regarding the weather, it has been absolutely spectacular - in fact, exceptionally breathtaking. Not a rainy day on this trip so far, and clear skies when we cruised through Glacier Bay. The captain took us right up to Margerie Glacier area, did a 360 with the ship, and then turned around. The process took around an hour or so as they manoeuvred very slowly, and everyone managed to get a great view.

Day 5 - Glacier Bay! Also attaching the Park Ranger schedule if anyone is interested.

Don't think they have an Alaskan theme dinner anymore, as they are now doing daily specialities (i.e., one day it was salmon, one day it was roast pig, etc.). I will update this post if I see otherwise!

Day 4 - Skagway - Full day; dock time was approximately at 6:45am, and all aboard time will be 7:45pm tonight. Yesterday we shared a port day in Juneau with Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam, and someone said that they had to extend their stay in Juneau as they weren't able to dock at Skagway. Not sure what happened there, but we were able to dock just fine.

Sorry - should've clarified! They held a Q/A with the housekeeping staff and they said it was about 4600 cruisers on the Encore + approximately 1700 crew, totalling approximately ~6300. Although I could have misheard. 🙂

Juneau - Day 3 below. There is a time difference and we all were sent a reminder to turn our clocks back 1 hour!

It is indeed complementary for the food items! Only thing that isn't are the milkshakes which are $7 😞

We were part of Free at Sea where you get 150 free minutes per person, and we waited until 12:01am on 'Day 2' to activate our internet. When you try to set the internet up, you'll be prompted with an upgrade notice with the option of swapping your 150 minutes to unlimited. The difference starts at $79.94 ($179.94 - $100 credit from swapping the FAS 150 minutes) if you activate on Day 2. We are from Canada and had the ability to use our Canadian plan in the US for free. We found that we had good reception on AT&T or T-Mobile for our data for most of the night on as we were pretty close to land and had no issue waiting until 12:01am to activate the plan for our offers. If you don't have an internet package, I believe there is also a discount if you wait until Day 2 to sign up. Hope this helps!

Amazing! You'll be very pleased with the Encore, and I hope you have a great time as we are! My recommendation would be to: 1. Get to the Pier early. Seattle's Pier 66 is quite big and it can be hectic (traffic, people, etc.). They started letting people on around 11:30a,m (ADA, followed by Priority/Statusholders, followed by normal Boarding Groups). We had a check in time of 9:30am-10:00am, were part of boarding group 6, and were on the cruise by about 12:15pm. Contrast this with the time indicated on your e-docs "boarding begins at 12:00pm" - it moves quicker than you'd think. 2. Go check out the status of your room after you eat somewhere for lunch. Online posts have said rooms were not ready till 2, even sometimes 3pm. We checked out the room after the lunch (approx 1pm) and it was ready (our room was deck 14) ! 3. Reserve your specialty dining and Choir of Man in advance. There are approximately 4600 people on board our sailing (1700 crew). Reservations go fast. 4. Buy items to combat motion sickness. The outer passage is very rocky as you have full exposure to the Pacific Ocean and its currents. I am from Canada and they don't sell Dramamine. I arrived a day before to a hotel and ordered via Amazon, but you can pick it up at CVS, etc. if you're already in the US. 5. Buy or pack binoculars. The ship spends a good 8 hours in Glacier Bay, so it's worth having it on hand to observe any wildlife in the area. If I think of anything else as the trip goes, I will update this post 🙂

I believe It is still on board! I did ask when I went to the Galaxy Pavilion and they did seem to indicate they still had it. I will go back and double check, if I get a more specific location I will update this post 🙂

Day 2 - Sea Day - the 'outer passage' via Pacific Ocean that Encore takes is proving to be quite rocky. The boat is moving back and forth quite a bit, and I anticipate it to be like that all the way up to Juneau (day 3). Recommend buying Dramamine or getting your hands on some seasickness meds prior to embarkation. Side note, I am not sure if the room service rates have changed? It appears that ordering hot food is now $9.95 (I've seen menus where they are $10.95), and all hot food including omelettes are included in the $4.95 breakfast room service fee. Happy to answer any questions!