dreaming girl

Sorry I didn’t mean to cause such an uproar.  I was hoping to give some friendly advice without getting technical. I will repeat washing well for 20 seconds is the CDCs recommendation.  Hand sanitizers are not effective for some diarrhea illnesses. Do careful research. Don’t believe everything you read . Products can make misleading statements. We do not use our alcohol based hand sanitizers at the hospital for patients with diarrhea as it is not effective in killing the spores they produce. I would imagine hospitals would purchase and use any product effective in killing these spores. I don’t know of these other hand sanitizers others have mentioned. Without going in to a lot of detail. Good hand washing, wearing gloves and isolation gowns when having contact with a carrier. Then removing these items and hand washing after is basically the policy in hospitals. Hand sanitizers are removed to make sure people wash their hands.  
Now realize you may wash and do everything right. But someone who just touched those tongs, or countertop or handle or,  ... may not have and be infected .  You get my point.

I for one enjoy cruising. Catching a virus is a chance I take.  As I said goodbye to my coworkers I got comments of  “have a good time” and “don’t forget to wash”. The conversations of ineffectiveness of hand sanitizers had already occurred.

By the way the cruise was great!

35 minutes ago, mdchachi said:

Thanks for the VR ride reviews. Did you try the Radical SR3 also?  It is supposed to be cutting edge.

See:

 

No we didn’t try it. Sorry I can’t speak for that one.

With all the scare regarding spread of infection, I wanted to remind my cruise friends that hand sanitizers are not as effective as hand washing for 20 seconds. Hand sanitizers are not effective at all on some diarrhea illnesses. Norwegians newer cruise ships such as the Encore has sinks as you enter the buffet or observation area. I would highly recommend hand washing at the sinks versus the hand sanitizer washy washy. A little RN advice. 😊

On the second sea day we hit the galaxy pavilion. We did the $29 per person hour pass. We hadn’t planned on doing it at that time but decided to check  it out and found the place to be pretty empty. So we decided to give it a try. A lot of staff, but not much for explanations. We waited several times for assistance to get fitted for our VR experiences. We did the finger rollercoaster first and it was pretty lame. Next we did the race cars. It was a bumpy ride but fun. The vision seemed a bit off but I figured it was the VR stuff. When the ride was almost over I pushed the mask up and wow I could see!! About this time the watermelon I had for lunch was causing some serious indigestion. I did try to do the dinosaur Jeep ride but was becoming nauseated so I removed the VR googles and rode in the bouncy seat. For some reason the positioning was really weird. When I had the googles on it looked like I was beside and about to go under the Jeep wheel and when I looked behind me one of the passengers had no head. My son said the graphics were really bad. Reminded him of a 1995 video game. The guys did more VR games which they felt were on Par with a PS4 VR system. We had fun racing a couple more times but without the VR googles. Some of the staff raced too (without the googles). They said they never use the VR googles when they race. In hind sight I shouldn’t have gone after eating as I get nauseated with simulator rides. For the next two days I had issues with indigestion. Would we do it again? Probably not. But it was fun to try and a reasonable price. The one hour pass was just enough time to check it out.

I tried to post some responses but don’t see them. Sorry about all the misspells. I was in a hurry and didn’t proof read. Not used to typing on cell phone or posting. You do not need reservations for tender return. Looks like my post implied u did.

We were midship and my son was aft. It did seem a bit rockier but not bad. There were a lot of white caps the final night but it was ok. My son didn’t fell it was terribly rocky in the back either.  That reminds me. My head was next to the closet and the rocking was such that the hangers hit the wall or each other. It was an annoying noise that bugged me. After the first night I put a towel over the end of the hangers so the metal ends wouldn’t bang in the back The last night I put the hangers on the closet floor as I had no clothes on them and they kept banging. So yes it did rock. The first 2 and last 2 days were worse than the middle days.

Departed the Encore on Super Bowl Sunday and wanted to post some observations that others may find helpful. We had a great time and found the staff and experience very pleasant. Prior to the trip I was a bit uneasy after reading the negative reviews. I read up and felt I knew what to expect going in.

 Just a bit of background . We were 3 adults, my son early 30’s in an inner cabin and my husband and I in a balcony cabin. We are not  “joiners” nor does my husband or I drink. We tend to keep to ourselves and like to relax in the sun with a good book or do some adult coloring. We really enjoy the thermal suites with spa pool and have had spa balcony cabins in the past. In the past 3 adults in a spa balcony worked out well but was a bit tight. The cost had been reasonable with the third person free and the access to the thermal spa for 3 versus a standard balcony and paying for thermal spa passes. This time the cost difference didn’t work in our favor nor having 3 adults in one room. The promos did not save us money. We did a guarantee balcony and inner cabin and were happy with our cabins they assigned on deck 11. We did bid on upgrades for spa cabins but did not get. Our son bid on balcony and spa balcony and received the rejection about 48 hrs prior to sale. We never received an email. 

We boarded a little leery . We were friendly and courteous to all we met and they were in turn. We processed to sign up for the comedy shows and go carts at the kiosks near the elevators on deck 8. We were able to get the Tim’s and days we wanted. There are wall kiosks around the corner from the elevators on most decks. I never saw spa passes available online prior to boarding and decided not to purchase the $279 per person pass once on board. I had read they the encore didn’t offer day passes. However on the 5th day the daily announced day passes were available for $59 while they lasted. I was going to but no one else in my party wanted to get one. So I didn’t. Yes the pool deck was CROWDED. I did not enjoy it. We had purchased vibe passes on a previous cruise for $59 and found it a waste of our money. Prior to this cruise I couldn’t image paying $159 for a pass (I think that’s the going price). However if I were in an inner cabin And enjoy the sun I would suggest adding that to your budget. I was fine with our balcony.  The observation deck was great for some quiet time and had great snacks. Deck 8 was also nice to get some outdoor quieter time. I felt sorry for the smokers as they had a little enclosed hot box on the 8 th outer deck that they could smoke in or when open the casino smokers area. However towards the end of the cruise they did block off an open area on the pool deck for the smokers. Apparently there was quite an uproar about the suffocating smokers box on 8. 
 Someone posted the gocarts were $9.95 they are $14.95 per ride . We did it 3 times and enjoyed it.  Adequate ant of time. We can be a bit competitive and found some cars were faster than others . Boosters didn’t seem to do much and we were able to floor the cart the whole time. Great Stirrup Cay is a tender port which u need to sign up for ahead of time. We were not aware but I noticed it on tv screen. We signed up early.at the desk because of 2 separate cabins and wanted to tender together. The daily mentioned it on the 3rd or 4 th day.  The front desk gave us a heads up that had been arriving 2 hours early and tenders started earlier. Many people were not ready. So those that were ready could get right on the early tenders. The reservations needed on return. Food was only available on Great Stirrup Cay from 1130 until 2. We heard some angry people over this. Lots of loungers available further down the beach. Some with umbrellas. However if you wanted the umbrella open it cost $21. The zip line was not open and vehicles were working over on the new extra pay beach area.

We ate at Q. It was ok. Wouldn’t do it again. We actually enjoyed the buffet more! We also ate at The Local and Manhattan Dining room. We found the food the best we’ve had on Norwegian and better than princess or carnival (except for Guy’s Burgers)!!

Hope this helps make someone’s trip a bit easier!

I was trying to find some of the posts where I had found people saying they had to pay. Of course I can't find them. However I did find one of my favorite trip reports from Spaniel Lover when he stayed in a Haven Spa Suite which he states

He provides a lot of pictures of The Getaway including his spa suite and the thermal spa. Enjoy! And sorry if I provided wrong information.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2104396&highlight=getaway

Glad you did! Others have posted they had to pay and it made no sense to me!! Seemed really bizarre. I'm not a newbie I just read and don't post. I hope more people will post there experiences.

Sorry I meant the link that Son of a Son of a... provided.

Hi toodycat,

I do a lot of surfing and read posts of interest when planning an upcoming cruise. I have cruised in a spa balcony and spa mini suite before and highly recommend it for the complimentary spa access. Love the thermal loungers and plunge pool. I read some responses to your thread and am afraid you may have received some inaccurate information. I have never stayed in a Haven spa suite but have read that you do not have complimentary access to thermal spa suites. If you read the fine print of the link you provided it states "

That link states spa balconies and spa mini suites have "

In other words, I have read that Haven spa suite guests have to pay for access to the thermal suites. I know it doesn't make sense why. I just know that is what others have posted. Maybe someone will read and verify this. I do not know the going rate. Someone posted $200+ per person value. I believe we paid $250 per couple 10 years ago. That is for a spa pass for the duration of your cruise. They sell a limited number of these during a cruise. I hope this helps. Whatever you do. Do use the thermal spa. It is wonderful.