3Pelicans

I was on the Encore in 2022 and every time we ordered drinks they took our cards. If we were ordering for several people, we had to give them multiple cards. It seemed pretty regulated. As the cruise went on, and we got to know a couple of bartenders, they weren't as careful. We were all (9 of us) on the drink package so we never had to try to be sneaky.

I'm sailing with a large group next week and I made our reservations directly by calling NCL. They were very efficient and friendly. Booked Cagneys and Teppanyaki. I made reservations early enough so they wouldn't conflict with anyone else's plans. Plus eating at 5:30 on the cruise will feel like eating at 9:30 for most of us due to the time change. Enjoy your cruise.

I agree...we did have time and the resources to manage it. There is also a but of a sense of relief that I'm in control of my flight booking.

I am just here to vent so I can move on and enjoy my cruise. We have a multigenerational family cruise booked on the Encore in August. Six (of the nine cruising) are driving from MI to Chicago and then flying to Seattle for the cruise. We had purchased the package with flights included and paid the charge for us to fly together. Because of the drive as well as the age of our parents, and traveling with our adult son with autism, not flying together won't work. We received a letter from NCL saying they would no longer guarantee that we would fly together and would be refunding the $25 we paid per room. It also said if we needed to we could cancel our flights and book on our own. It recommended booking the flights before canceling. We chose to book our own flights at nearly $900 per person vs. $280 per person we had as part of the package. When my TA called NCL to cancel our flights, it took over 5 hours and she had to argue with multiple people as no one at NCL seemed to know about the letter. Currently we are being charged a cancellation penalty, which they are saying will be removed in the coming days. I know we will have a great time, I know that NCL can't control what is happening with the flights, but I still feel so disappointed in the entire process. It all feels very bait and switch. Getting a refund is fine, but it in no way makes up for the time, stress, cost or frustration that we have incurred because NCL made guarantees they couldn't uphold. First time cruising with NCL and it's truly a bucket list trip. This experience just took some of the shine out off of it.

We are traveling with 10 people and I had the same question. I called the reservation department and they confirmed they have tables of 12 on Encore for the Teppanyaki restaurant.

I had an issue today where my husband's b-day was wrong on his reservation. I was so stressed but on call and it was all fixed. Instead if being stressed just call. They will figure it out.