tx121

Day 6 Freestyle Daily

22 minutes ago, cruisinwmom said:

This is best review.  Enjoyed following. Thank you for taking the time to do this and post picture and answer questions.

 

Is there a regular size hairdryer in the cabin?

Yes it is regular size and located under the desk in the room. 

42 minutes ago, NoobCroozer said:

Wheel of Fortune FTW.......ugh a dolla a pull.

 

I'm going to be in the poor house......

 

Thanks for the informative review!

 

 

 

I think there may be some wheel of fortune machines with different denominations. I just took random photos of different areas. Hopefully there are 25 cent wheel of fortune machines for you!

Our final stop tomorrow is Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas.

Since Great Stirrup Cay is a tender port, you need to reserve a spot if you want to go ashore before 1pm. 

Now I just noticed in the Day 3 Freestyle Daily -San Juan that you can reserve tickets on the TV or the touch screens around the ship.

Luckily people don't read these things and all times were still available for when I reserved it this morning on the TV. I bet there will be a lot of people by the touch screens tomorrow morning!

To reserve, turn on the TV and select the tendering option. Select the time and you are all set! They use your room key card as your ticket.

15 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

@tx121 you’re wayyyyy too nice. And I dont mind the casino smoking area in small doses when I want to cut loose, so I’m always interested in the machines there. There were a few machines in the Joy smoking section which were not available in gen pop. 

 

Thanks for all this info. 

For all you casino slot players, here are some of the games you will see on the Encore. The casino has many machines. There are some machines in the smoking section that you won't find in the non smoking section. There are also many Asian themed games as well.

First is the Non Smoking section

Here are some machines you will find in the smoking section.

Day 5- St Thomas

Today was more of a day to relax by the pool and enjoy the empty ship while most guests went ashore. Because of this, I apologize if there isnt anything informative or exciting in this post.

Our day started by going up to the Waterfront Deck to take in the beautiful views of St Thomas.

One day I plan to own one of these yachts and travel the world! 🤣

It has become a tradition in St Thomas for me to stop by and get a slice of pizza from Pizza Amore. It is located right across the street from the Havensight Mall entrance where the cruise ship docks. So we got off the ship for an hour to look around the shops in the Havensight mall and get pizza. 

This pizza is just Yum! 

On our way back to the ship, I took a picture of the taxi prices which includes popular destinations of St Thomas. Usually if I plan a beach day, I would goto Meagans Bay or Emerald Beach. Prices are one way.

There is also free wifi in the port area where you show your ID to get back to the ship.

Heading back to the ship, I took a picture of the Hull Art on the Encore. Now usually I am a fan of the artwork on NCL ships, but this one.....do I need to say more? Lol!

What a Glorious sight!! I really enjoyed having this time on the pool deck without the chaos and having space to spread out! I love a empty ship! 

As the crowds started to come back in, poolside activities started. Watching the Queen of the Seven Seas was hilarious! Again, you never know what people will do!

After spending most of the day around the pool deck, we went back to the room after sail away to rest. 

We had dinner at The Local before going to the Encore Theater to see Kinky Boots! I have seen Kinky Boots on Broadway 2 times. The cast did well for a cruise ship performance and it was entertaining. It was a 90 minute show without intermission, so some scenes were cut and the show felt a little rushed in parts. But overall it was good. Not as good as Choir of Man, but that would be hard to top! 

Again the entertainment on this ship has just been amazing! The GLOW party is coming up and the crowd is already forming. Its gonna be a good night! 👍

One hour back tonight! 

24 minutes ago, ottoflash said:

I agree with others...you are way too nice to do all this while you are on vacation !!  I think NCL should pay you for answering everyone's questions!  ☺️  I certainly wouldn't have the patience!

 

We are going on the Encore in October to Fla and the Bahamas...our 3rd time there, but first time on Encore.  I normally like the smaller ships - the Dawn is one of my favorites, but hubby is SUPER SUPER SUPER excited about the go-kart track!  I have been on the Breakaway 4 times and enjoyed that EXCEPT for the crowds.  But it sounds like there are enough areas on the Encore to get away from them!  And we are not big on shore excursions, so we usually stay on board on port days.

 

I agree about Teppanyaki - the best meal I've had on a cruise ship...

 

The stage for the Choir of Man (?) looks almost identical set-up wise to Rock of Ages on the Breakaway!  

 

Thanks again!   Denise

I also think NCL should pay me or just send me on cruises for free so I can be their live correspondent for questions. Lol! We all know the people who work in the call centers sometimes have no clue about the ships and read from a script. So this solves the problem. Sign me up! Lol.

Yes I also enjoy the small ships when I want to wind down and relax. The Encore does a good job spreading people out, except at the pool deck where everyone is looking for space in the sun on sea days. I have been either going to the pool deck later in the afternoon or when I get back from the ports and have no trouble finding loungers. Since you stay on the ship or come back early from a port, you will have enough loungers to choose from. 👍

5 hours ago, ahoyle77 said:

More a general question, but do they allow door decor?  Ive seen some things online about it being banned on certain ships?  

I am not sure if door decor is banned on this ship. I've been keeping my eye out to see if anyone has any decorations on their door, but I have not seen any. Will let you know if I do. 

53 minutes ago, marktwothousand said:

did you book online? USUALLY agents are able to switch out perks if you call on the phone and they manually do it thru Norwegian. That is what I usually do with another agent for someone who doesn't drink, as their package automatically includes beverage, and the person usually wants dining instead. Thanks so much for the updates and keep them coming. Especially if you know anything about the following:

- The nighttime outdoor deck parties.

- Party nights at the social

- How is the cruise director and their staff

- Does Encore have interesting slot machines or is it mostly the usual? When I was on Joy, they had such a narrow selection of machines and way too many with an oriental theme.

Yes we booked online and then called the travel agency to apply the credit to the reservation in the morning. I never thought of asking them if we had the option to switch to a different perk. Good thing to know in the future. 👍

We went to the 80s outdoor deck party. It was fun but not many people attended as I thought. The social has a better scene and more 20s-40s group there. The silent disco at the social was packed. Tonight is the GLOW party outside which is usually a huge turn out, so we will see how it goes.

The cruise director Ricardo and his staff are upbeat and gets the crowd for the pool activities.  

There are still a lot of Asian type games in the casino but probably more variety than the Joy which was launched in Asia. I'll take some pictures. I havent gone in the smoking area in the casino yet so I'll check that out as well.

15 hours ago, mdchachi said:

 

Oh wow, thanks again.  If so I'm leaning on getting the arcade pass. $160 is a lot of money but there's six of us so I think we could get our money's worth. 

I just noticed in that sign I posted it said that the SR3 Radical VR experience is not included in the $8 rate. Do you happen to know how much that one is?

The SR3 Radical is $20/ride. 2 people can fit in the car at a time.

Just now, marktwothousand said:

Oh my god, could you explain why you went this route and if it was economical? The Corks and Caps package would have been about $600 for the week per person, whereas had you just added the regular beverage package, it would have been only the cost of gratuities, and you could have paid for your specialty dining out of pocket. Surely that would have been significantly cheaper?

 

You'd be saving almost the cost of an entire cruise!

Yes if we went through NCL, we would have done the beverage package. We went with cruise dot com. Their promotion was an interior room with a specialty dining package or $50 shore excursion credit for another $10pp. There was no beverage option. We also had a credit from a past cruise with the travel agency and we had to use it, so we booked with them.

If we booked higher than a interior , then we could've gotten 2 or more perks- drink package as options. Oceanview guarantee cabins were only available and no perks came with them. The price between the interior and balcony was significant enough where we said we will just purchase the Corks and Cap package onboard, instead of upgrading to a balcony which would of cost us more. 

Again we booked this in January as a last minute deal, so many options were not available. 

I would also think this guy has to be out of his mind for choosing the specialty dining over the beverage package as a perk! Basically we factored in the credit from the travel agency to pay for the Corks and Cap package. 

1 hour ago, worktocruise610 said:

I'm loving your review & pictures & thanks again for the spa specials! Sorry if I missed it but can I ask what type of cabin you have? 

Youre welcome! We have a inside cabin.

1 hour ago, Lanic24 said:

Do you remember the time of your specialty dinner that night? How was the timing to the forts/back? Did you tour the whole thing or just take pictures?

Just trying to see the timing if we got off to see the forts when we would be back on the ship to make a reservation for dinner 

We had a 8pm reservation so we had enough time to walk to the fort which was about 25 minutes. We did not go inside the fort, just around the area. We had time to go for drinks and a quick bite before heading to the ship for dinner.

18 minutes ago, XuGator said:

The beverage package flyer that I downloaded from NCL says grey goose is part of the beverage package that is included as a perk. (not the premium). Is that not accurate? Is grey goose really not included? Also I thought the package was drinks up to 15 dollars and your post said goose was 15 a shot?

I'm sorry I should of clarified that the drink package we have only includes soft drinks, wine and beer. We only had 1 perk since we are staying in a inside cabin. We chose the specialty dining as our perk and booked the Beer and Wine package.

Day 5 Menu

Freestyle Daily -Day 5

5 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

Great review!  Will be on the Encore in 2 weeks and was planning on going to Cane Garden Beach...your pictures have convinced me this is the right choice.  I appreciate the photo of the food menu also.  Do you know if they only took cash or were credit cards accepted for the food and drinks?  Just want to be prepared either way. Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

I'm glad you are enjoying the review! 

The menu I posted was for the beach bar and grill. They only accepted cash. 

Even though it's the British Virgin Islands, they use the US dollar.

The restaurant in the picture is called Pusser's at Myett. They serve local island food and pizza.

4 hours ago, mdchachi said:

 

Did you know that your itinerary would be different than the normal one (which is St Thomas before Tortola) when you booked?  Did they say why they did that?  I assume you won't be going to Great Stirrup Cay?

I chose this itinerary because it stopped in Tortola for the full day. Also the pricing was better for this cruise than other weeks around this time. 

I have been to St Thomas many times, so I didnt mind if it was only half a day. 

Yes we will be going to Great Stirrup Cay as well on Day 7 8am-5pm

I will check the pricing for you today for the VR game.

Day 4- Tortola, BVI

We were very excited to visit a new port today, Tortola! There were many places that we considered going to in the BVI like the Virgin Gorda, The Baths, Jost Van Dyke, etc.

We decided to wing it and see what was available at the pier. There were several options offered by the taxi services:

1) 2 hour Island Tour - $20pp

2) 3 hour Island Tour with Beach- $25pp

3) Cane Garden Bay Beach- $16pp round trip

4)Long Bay Beach -$24pp round trip

Since we have never been to the BVI, we decided on doing the 3 hour island tour with beach stop at Cane Garden Bay. For $25, I thought this was a great deal. We hopped in to a open air safari style truck and started the tour by driving around downtown. Our driver/tour guide gave us information about the island, its history, its residents, etc. If you decide to do this tour, sit on the left side as there are more photo opportunities than sitting on the right side. Unfortunately we were sitting on the right side but we were still able to get some nice pictures. 

After about 1.5 hour drive, we arrived at Cane Garden Bay Beach. It is a nice beach area that has some amenities like restaurants, bars, rest rooms and changing areas. Beach chairs and umbrellas are available for $10 per person. We had 1 hour at the beach but if you wanted more time, you could let the driver know and then make it back to the ship on another taxi for an extra $8 per person. 

Cane Garden Bay is a nice beach. It does not feel too over crowded and you dont have to deal with people coming up to you to buy things. It was a pleasant beach, a little touristy but fine.

When it was time to go, we hopped in the truck and headed back to the pier. It was a very nice day and we thought that the Island Tour with beach was exactly what we were looking for for our first visit. When we arrived back at the pier, we talked with someone who went to Long Bay Beach. They said it was beautiful and not crowded at all. So if you are looking for a quieter beach day, Long Bay will be your best bet. 

We went straight back to the ship for lunch and then headed to the pool deck for some more sun and swimming. 

We watched the sailaway and then headed back to the room to get cleaned up and take a nap after a nice day in port. 

Tonight for dinner we went to Teppanyaki. We thoroughly enjoyed the show and the food was amazing! We had the filet and shrimp combination. It came with fried rice, vegetables, miso soup and seaweed salad. It was all delicious! Best meal we have had on the ship so far! 

We stopped by the Silent Disco which was fun! It is a must do activity. Too bad it was only scheduled for 45 minutes. 

Well tomorrow we will be in St Thomas! Stay tuned!

35 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

   I have read others’ reports on CC about passengers sleeping on the couches in the Observation Lounge during the day. 

Have you noticed people laying on the couches taking a day time nap there ?

Yes there are some people who do end up falling asleep in the Observation Lounge. You will hear the occasional loud snore but it is then silenced by someone nudging their companion. 🤣

6 hours ago, worktocruise610 said:

@tx121Thank you so much for the spa daily deals!!!!! I am so enjoying reading along on your trip & appreciate you taking the time to pass these on to me. Looks like you're having a great time, I can't wait to board in 3 months (feels like forever!!) Enjoy the remainder of your cruise, and again, thanks for taking us along & helping out with the info 😊

You're so welcome! Glad you are enjoying. I know how you feel.Your cruise cant come soon enough! Lol!

Here are the spa specials in St Thomas

6 minutes ago, liene said:

So are the buffets back to usual self-serve across the NCL fleet or just Encore??? Leaving in 2 days and would love for it all to be back to normal!!! We'll be on Getaway.

I dont know if other ships have suspended the self service ban as well. We thought it was silly that they would serve the food but not serve the drinks if they really wanted to take precautions. It was kind of counter productive. 

I agree with you. It is much better to serve yourself. Hopefully it goes back to normal for your cruise. 

2 hours ago, mdchachi said:

 

Thank you. !

I just realized there are more games at the Local Pub area. There are actually 8 more games there with the green light. So there are 20 games total.Here are some of the games at the Local.

3 hours ago, crusintime123 said:

 

Hi,

 

Do you know if cigars are allowed in this area?

 

Thanks.

I asked the bartender across from this area if cigars are allowed. He said no but I have seen people smoke cigars there as well. I guess it is not enforced. It seems like this section is now open all day.

4 hours ago, mdchachi said:

If you get a chance could you give a rough count on the green tag machines in the arcade? And maybe a picture or two of the area. These are the ones that are covered by the $160 arcade pass. I’m just trying to figure out if it’s worth getting. 
 

Also if you happen to meet anybody who did the escape room I’m interested to hear their feedback. Early reports said there were some technical issues but I haven’t heard anything recently. 
 

Thank you!

There are a total of 12 games with green light. Most of them being simulator rides or shooting games. The other games that are not included are games where you win prizes