maryivo

man, does not surprise me at all.  i'm on the june 21st sailing out of nyc to bermuda.

16 hours ago, Lil Angels said:

FAKE NEWS - I called there and they have not cancelled.

It's actually up on their website

11 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

"Don't believe everything your read on the internet".

 

-  Abraham Lincoln.

omg, that's a good one 🙂

10 hours ago, deanimal said:

My husband and I were just discussing this. My son piped up and said, "then why don't people just fly to Canada and drive to the United States?" 

 

Five seconds. Thats all the time it took a ten year old to figure out a huge gap in this plan. A plan that's going to cause massive hardships and maybe tank the travel industry for a long time to come. 

 

This seems a bit crazy to me

 

I love children.  So smart.  They should solve all world problems 🙂 

14 hours ago, cincicruisers said:

Final thoughts

 

I found a DUCK!  In all my years of cruising I have never found one.  I was excited like a kid in a candy store.

 

We selected Pink luggage tags.  We waited in room for our tag to be called.  Was supposed to be called at 8:30, called at 8:15.

 

There was only two times the whole cruise I had to wait for elevator (Aft elevators).  I still can’t believe that there was no waiting.  I use a walker and folks would move over so I could get in.  Very polite and no issues at all with elevators.

 

Our buffet was self serve during the cruise.  I was hoping it would have changed to employees serving.

 

We wiped everything down with hospital grade wipes we got from friend who is nurse.  It still drives me nuts that folks don’t wash hands in restrooms.  We would re-clean our hands after touching serving utensils.  
 

We had a great time and would recommend the Escape.  

 

Thanks for your awesome review.  Nice to hear good feedback.  I am sailing the Encore in June.  Happy travels.

This whole thing is very scary and I wasn't nervous before but I'm starting to get nervous now!  We sail in June out of NYC....hopefully will be fine by then but you never know it could be worse! UGh! Thankfully NCL moved their final payment date so I'm still in the cancellation window without penalty.

5 minutes ago, Two Wheels Only said:

Service animal?  Yes.

"Pet in a vest"? No.

 

Just because a pet in a vest can fool the greeter at Walmart* doesn't mean that the pet can cruise with you.

 

 

 

*even certified service animals aren't allowed in the shopping cart unless there is a blanket or similar between the animal and cart.

i would imagine that NCL does it's due diligence and makes sure the service animal is legit.  I mean consider the fact that the animal will need to eliminate for 7 days days aboard a ship.  NCL would not take that lightly.  I can't imagine trying to get over on this policy.  My dog would be a nightmare on a ship...think Marly and Me.  I will miss her for sure but she's not a service animal.  I just think it's cool the way they put it in the daily.  I did not mean to spark debate as to whether or not they should be let on board.

On 2/28/2020 at 10:15 AM, siestatom said:

I'll be sailing soon with my 95 year old father.  There will be occasions where the time it takes to get food will be an important factor.  I'd love to get a sense of how long it takes to get food at the different dinning options.  Perhaps someone could attempt to rank places from fastest to slowest.  Or perhaps sharing your experience with average time to have a meal at the different locations.  I can appreciate that times could easily vary based on time of day, demand, etc. but any information will be helpful and appreciated.

i have read that the dining experience overall is very slow!  Like you can't have dinner and see a show after you'll never make it type slow.  But I haven't cruised in a long time. 

On 3/3/2020 at 12:17 PM, Newfun4me said:

So, we have two Haven cabins booked on the May 31 sailing from NYC to Bermuda.  Both of these cabins would now get $600 OBC.  Does anyone have experience getting that applied to a booking that is already past final payment?  Thanks!

if you call them they will add it for you

boy oh boy the negative replies!  i think it's a great thing that NCL informs other passengers.  i'm not sure of the exact policy but the law states people can have service animals everywhere they go.  doesn't bother me at all.  wow.

I found this on a different thread posted in the freestyle daily as an announcement to passengers and I thought it was pretty cool.  If you have a service animal this may be of interest to you.  It also serves as information to the general public as what to do when you encounter a service animal.  Thought this was interesting and a great thing for NCL to share. (it's from  a November sailing).

3 hours ago, Freckles_51 said:

Hope you have an awesome cruise!

 

If you go to the Video Game Arcade could you please check out approx cost for individual games, green swipe and otherwise?

We know they offer an Ultimate package for the week to play only the green swipe games. Just trying to decide if it is worth buying the package.

 
Also if you are able get the week’s schedule for Entourage teen activities and post it here that would be great. 

 

Thanks

 

Yes, i would love to have the teen schedule as my teens are on pins and needes!  

23 hours ago, david_sobe said:

Cagneys was delicious tonight.  One in my party got the upcharge $20 for the filet and lobster.  The lobster was so tiny but told it was good.  It literally looked like 4 bites.  However everyone's filet was cooked perfectly.

 

Did Laser tag with a bunch of teens tonight.  These kids have laser tag down to a science like a video game.   All the kids that seemed to not be around suddenly appeared tonight.  Maybe it was the teen pool party that brought them out.   Off to bed and hopefully sleep in for one last day.

 

Nite for Friday

theres a teen pool party?  my teens will be so happy to hear that!  we sail in june!  thanks for this great review!

On 2/25/2020 at 5:20 PM, Russiamomm said:

Yes, they are real coffee.  And very good, if you get the right brands.  I work from home and spend the day going from my office to the kitchen to hit that wonderful little button on the Nespresso machine.  🙂 I was dreading not having it on the ship.  But it sounds like the Senseo pods will work. 

 

Question:  Do the Senseo's get stale?  The Nespresso pods are in plastic so they stay pretty fresh.  I'm thinking I should wait a while to buy the Senseo's since I'm not leaving until April 18. 

 

What are Senseo bags?

My cruise fare dropped drasticly also.  We sail June 21st. I called and they offered my $315 which sounds about right.  I think mine went down about $1200.  def not half.  I'm happy with that.  That will buy my kids starbucks and gocarts etc... I have a really nice cabin b/c I booked early.   It is what it is at this point!

1 hour ago, Cookie002 said:

Every single beer is included in the regular drink package! You will love the craft brewery bar on board. There is a hilarious piano player who is there I think almost every night after 9 pm, singing good old drinking songs, insulting everyone he can (don’t get front seats unless you have a decent sense of humour)

 

grey goose is considered a ‘regular’ vodka and included in the package. I would not recommend you upgrading your package if you are doing beer, vodka, drink of the day, etc...

 

if you like decent wine, then I think you would be way better off just buying a couple of bottles on board, or bringing your own and paying the 15 dollar corkage fee.

 

one thing my daughter discovered, at the whiskey bar, Woodbridge reserve shot was not on the regular drinking plan, I think it was 34 dollars a shot.... but.... the old fashion they make at this particular bar is made with Woodbridge reserve, and it will knock your socks off... and that is part of the regular drinking plan.....

That is great to know and was exactly what I was wondering about.  I may just buy a few bottles of pino and pay the corkage fee like you suggested.  Thank you so very much!

On 2/25/2020 at 1:43 PM, Cookie002 said:

Hi there

 

I just wanted to post a different perspective on our Encore Sailing, Feb 15-23. I have cruised Disney three times, RCL once, Oceania Once, and NCL  in Hawaii previously.

 

I m not trying to say that anyone else’s perspective is wrong, I am just going to write what I loved about the ship and why, what worked for us, and what were the issues - because there definitely can be some. I will break it out by section, hopefully for easier reading. This is in no particular order....

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

Holy cow —- best entertainment aboard any ship I have been on. And not just one specific thing, it was across the freakin board.

Choir of Man was Outstanding, Beatles were Outstanding, the 5 piece band that goes on in the Q for country western was outstanding. Kinky boots was very good. The Jelly Beans that play by the Mojhito bar - amazing - she sang some patsy cline that might make you cry - her partner sounds just like Neil diamond, so good. The piano player in the atrium was great. Guns and Rojas were both good and great. Good with the rock and roll stuff. But great, amazing when they did the frank Sinatra set - the lead singer was dancing with the older ladies.

(hmm, I am only 54, you might think I am 80 with this review. But some songs just showcase voices, and boy, everybody who was a singer on that ship could SING.

 

ROOMS

 

Not too much exciting to say here. We had an aft balcony cabin. Rooms were typical, but there was great storage, especially in the bathroom. Shower was definitely bigger than on any of the other ships I had been on. Room steward was Mr Jingles- he was awesome. Very friendly, and always checking to see if we needed anything.

 

DINING

 

Buffet: on another thread someone was talking about the bad design of the buffet, and I agree. There is no rhyme or reason on the set up, and I wandered around constantly trying to find the salad bar. It was a zoo on most days, unless you dined at weird hours. It was a zoo on sea days, all day long. That said, food quality was good to very good. BUT.. the Indian food section was AMAZING. Perfectly spiced dishes that melt in your mouth. Did not discover this TIL day 5, as we tended to avoid the buffet

 

Food REpublic: amazing, above average to excellent food. It’s open on sea days during lunch with no reservation. I would suggest NOT using a dining credit for this place, but instead just share a few dishes ala cart. On the dining credit, you can pick 4 dishes, and if you can finish 4 dishes on your own, you are a better man than me. I LOVED the Pad Thai especially. My son thought the Ramen was sup par.

 

Ocean: we had some of the best and worst dishes of the cruise in this restaurant. My husband’s scallops appetizer was the best scallops he ever had, and he is born and bred Nova Scotian. My seafood pasta was wretched. Every single side dish we had, (and in our group of 6 we had almost all of them) were Ruth Chris quality or even better. Someone had a tuna steak that was way over cooked. 

 

Cagney: excellent. Excellent steak, excellent apps, excellent side dishes, excellent service. LOVED IT

 

ONDA; very good, everyone enjoyed, no huge stand out dish. But very good.

 

Regular dining rooms: Food was mostly good. Some appetizers were very bad. Steak was always decent. I would say the quality was equal to other cruise ships main dining rooms, but our servers bent over backwards to make sure we had everything. Service here was better than any on Disney (except perhaps Palo) and even Oceania. I see some people mentioning that they had long waits to get seated or served, and we did not experience that. However, we were all adults and dined a bit later, (8ish?) so maybe its busier at 6???

 

BARS

 

There are so many bars on this ship, and each one is unique. It’s like an adventure finding them. But, what made them special was the bar tenders. They were so skilled, and had such personality, it was a lot of fun just hanging out and watching them make drinks. We never had to wait to get a drink ever, but we never tried to get a drink at the main deck pool bar. More on this later. On the drinking plan, just the regular one, that comes “free” (uhhuh), was great for mixed drinks and party drinks. The wine, both red and white, that you can get on the regular drinking plan was gut rot. Awful. Pours were always super generous for anything, but I gave up on the wine and stuck to cocktails or vodka cran soda. 

Hmm, I am trying to convey how great each of these bars were individually, they all had a certain personality, from MIXX, to the fantastic Mojhito place, to the outdoor bar of the cavern,  to the whiskey bar, they were all so much fun. Really well done. At the whiskey bar, order an old fashion- you wont be disappointed.

 

SPA

 

We did a spa service (massage) one day. Overpriced, not great. Worse- I kinda did the service so we could access the thermal suites for the day, as usually when you use the spa on most ships, you can use their public rooms. Not so on the ENCORE - 60 bucks more. That was a disappointment.

 

SUNDECK

 

Now we get to the real issue of the ship. There is no where near enough room in the public areas of the ships sun deck for even a quarter of the passengers. What’s more, there is no free ‘adult only’ space on this ship, like there is on every other NCL ship. Instead, they gave that real estate to the vibe, and to the race track, and the virtual reality game. All three things are money makes for NCL. I knew this going in, because I read these boards. Sun tanning is important to me and my family, as we are from Canada, and a cruise means relaxing out in the sun for at least some of the time. And we picked a cruise that had 2 full sea days, plus one day that was a port day that started at 5 pm - so three sea days basically. AND ON OUR PARTICULAR CRUISE, THE SHIP COULD NOT TENDER AT GSC, - so there ended up being an unexpected sea day. But I knew this was going to be an issue, so I countered it by getting VIBE. I have a whole other thread speaking specifically about vibe, so I wont go into detail about it. But for us, totally worth it. Loved it.

I can absolutely see people not liking the ship because of the lack of public outdoor space for tanning, and the lack of adult only space. It was a zoo on deck 16. Would not have enjoyed it at all. Lounge chairs are jammed together side by side with no space in between, think of airplane seating, but laying down, hot, sweaty, oiled up in lotion, and rubbing elbows with people on both sides. If you did not know them when you sat down, you would know them by the time you got up.

 

OBSERVATION LOUNGE DECK 15: 

 

spectacular. Gorgeous. Interesting. Nice little snacks for breakfast or lunch. Amazing views. Mostly quiet. Great Bar. Loved it.

 

this post is long enough, I will leave it there. I just want to say in addition to all this, I never felt the ship was overcrowded, and never waited for anything. EXCEPT for of course, the buffet and deck 16 outdoor pool deck. But we avoided both, and that did not impact our trip.

 

One other criticism of this ship - other than the buffet or the local, there were no other places to easily grab a snack between meals, especially if you were dining late. After 5 pm, the observation lounge offers nothing. The main dining rooms were not conducive for grab and go, and not open all the time. It was really lacking a little pizza place, or some darn thing. And all the options for food were on the upper decks, except the local, which made it a pain in the butt to easily get something.

 

Dont know if anyone read this whole review, but I hope it helps out any fellow cruisers.

 

 

thank you so much for such a thorough review!  I am sailing with my family june 21st.  You mentioned the "free" drink package.  I have that and am constantly thinking about if i should upgrade.  I don't drink wine much so that's not a problem but how is the beer selection on the free beverage package?  We are mostly beer drinkers and my hubby like vodka and club.   I assume the beer is covered and there is plenty to choose from?  Thanks in advance!! ~mary

Hi Sid, I have a question for you or anyone who may have insight.  I booked during the free drink package so I have the basic one.  Should I upgrade to the premium plus?  Is it worth it?  What is included that I wouldn't normally get with the one that was given as a promo?  Thanks in advance.  

Wow, i hope I get an upgrade offer!!! These pics are amazing

Question for anyone really?  I'm sailing in June to Bermuda 7 night cruise.  I was able to get the free specialty dining plan but it does not specify how many nights that is for.  Does anyone know how that works?  Also, should I upgrade my two kids to the specialty dining plan?  They are teens but they are not big eaters and they are super active.  I have the feeling they are going to be running around the ship and may not even want to eat with us.  Thoughts? Thanks to all.

20 hours ago, sid_9169 said:

As the train was approaching my station, I could see my apartment building out the window, and I knew that I was home... A couple of seconds later, I could see my workplace out the window, and the post cruise depression really set in... As soon as I take a shower, I'm going to try to find something to eat, as I haven't had a bite nor a sip of anything since I was on the ship... I'll try to get to some final thoughts soon, but first I have to go work for a few hours at my part time job... Back to reality, indeed...

 

Thank you all for following along on my epic journey there and back again... When I get a chance, I'll tabulate all of the usernames of those who commented along the way, and I will personally thank every single one of you... You still have a chance to respond now, before I put the list together...

 

Again, thanks.........

Awe Sid! Thanks so much taking precious vacation time to review for us!  I loved experiencing the ship with you and now I too have vacation blues!   We are on the encore out of NYC next June and we are very excited!  We are motorhome travelers so this is a treat for us / me specifically since I do all the cooking!  Cannot wait to be pampered!  Thanks again, you rock!

50 minutes ago, JinxyB said:

55 inches 

thank you!

13 hours ago, OceanBlueWaters said:

LOL!  If you notice, this is a COUCH.  It is designed for multiple people to SIT on.  It is not a "chaise" (although the chaise clientele are disgusting as well). It is not a bed.

Sleeping on a "couch" that doesn't belong to you, is truly gross and self-absorbed.

If I ever sail on one of these ships, I would have no problem getting their attention and saying "Excuse me please, I would like to sit here".  Now that, would be a documentary in itself,  LOL!

Good grief...

JMO🙂

I could not agree more.  It is beyond rude to lay on a couch in public.  I can't imagine ever doing this is my life ever.  It would disturb me to see this so I hope we have no passengers like this when I sail next summer!!!  

On 12/6/2019 at 3:38 PM, JinxyB said:

Wonderful review as usual, Sid!  I’m not a fan of the Encore - it’s a gorgeous ship, but  don’t like the removal of deck space for the go carts and laser tag.  I had originally booked Encore for our thanksgiving cruise, but cancelled when I found out my child wouldn’t be tall enough to drive the carts...plus I don’t really want to spend extra money on laser tag and go carts and hear my kid beg to do them all the time 🤷🏻‍♀️.

 

I’ll stick to the Escape, Breakaway, and Getaway- we like the ropes course, rock wall, Spice H2O, etc.  Glad you are enjoying your trip- the ports look fabulous!!  Thank you for taking time out of your trip to give us this live report!

what is the height requirement?  

21 minutes ago, The_Portlandian said:

That's on the ship at Los Lobos.

Thank you!!! I was hoping so!  Will be on board June 21, 2020!  Looks delish!