Everything... Norwegian ENCORE! Launch Nov 2019

[Cruisercl]

1 hour ago, neffqueen said:

As for the older cruise passengers with no young kids, NCL might be drifting away from you but for us it is getting better. My husband is a tech gamer and avid D&D player. This type of added space is a dream to him. I will probably will not see a lot of him during our cruise as he plans to be there with our son. The younger generation are avid game players and just the popularity of "fortnite" has been huge that a lot of shows on TV make reference to this game played online. I have kids ages 8, 31, and 33. My husband is 49. They are all avid gamers. When i told him of the galaxy pavilion and the better version of laser tag, all of them were excited.

I can tell you that on the Bliss, the laser tag location had a lot of issues and i can see why it was moved. The wind was affecting the game a lot. It also needed internet connection wifi to work and the location was been affected a lot lacking reception so the game had to be stop several times. My husband had it booked and once there, the system was down due to poor reception and the wind on the front of the ship was affecting the whole area.  

I can see the NCL is moving to what is popular at this time with folks under 40 and keeping up with trends and understand how the seasoned cruiser might not like to have such prime location taken but my family and others do welcome it.

 

I agree with you. As long as NCL fills these ships they will continue with this concept. However, it is not just the older cruisers that are not looking for this type of cruising experience.

It will be interesting to see who their customer focus will be on the Leonardo design ships. 

Safe sailing! 

[Steff79]

is the day light good for playing laser tag? thougt it is more fun at night? so wonder why it has to be at the top deck and they can´t find a space at a lower deck inside for that.

H2O at Bliss is smaller then the other away ships.the race trek needs now more space at Encore, maybe the area is now to small for H2O and they changed it.

 

i like the H2O, great place for sail away.

[RMS Olympic]

Gee, as an old cruiser maybe I’m too old to go to sea. As a gym rat that spends 2 hours in the gym every day onboard, does the water slides I’m anything but sedentary. All shore excursions selected envolve physical activity not to mention power walks before breakfast. 

Gee I wonder if the observation lounge was designed for us over 40.....😀😀😀

[SAmome]

1 hour ago, TheDougOut said:

 

For everything announced during the initial reveal... I’ve seen nothing that couldn’t be replicated (or done better) by doing it on land.  The ropes course was brilliant in this regard.  It wasn’t fun because “it was a ropes course”.  It was fun because it exposed new views & thrills of sitting 18+ decks above the ocean.  Not to mention... it had a large & continuous capacity, and was complimentary.

  

This is really a good point.  I haven't sailed Bliss yet but I'd be inclided to recommend Escape over Bliss to my friends with kids/teens because there are more things they can do without a parent or reservation.  Ropes course can be sort of new each time do it with a different friend or go a different more challenging route, etc.  

 

Escape has ropes course and bocce ball and basketball courts (sometimes used for soccer and other activities and almost always "open").

[FreestyleNovice]

16 hours ago, Cruiser Bruiser said:

Except, I shifted from mostly sailing on NCL to mostly sailing on Holland America, which builds ships designed to appeal to adults. I have one final NCL cruise booked for May, and then I'm done. 

 

Sad to see you leaving NCL but understandable, safe sailings CB!

[gatorchinsky]

2 hours ago, SAmome said:

This is really a good point.  I haven't sailed Bliss yet but I'd be inclided to recommend Escape over Bliss to my friends with kids/teens because there are more things they can do without a parent or reservation.  Ropes course can be sort of new each time do it with a different friend or go a different more challenging route, etc.  

 

Escape has ropes course and bocce ball and basketball courts (sometimes used for soccer and other activities and almost always "open").

 

We were on the Bliss Thanksgiving cruise and have a very active (athletic) teen boy.  While he did have a good time, he much preferred the Escape for the ropes course and basketball court.  He did the go karts but he didn’t like that he had to make reservations for the week as soon as we boarded.  Every time he went there was always some smaller child having difficulty  and they would have to stop or go super slow for a couple of laps.  We had the Encore booked for next Thanksgiving but he asked if we could do the Escape again so I switched.  After seeing all the extra fee activities that will be on the Encore I’m sure we’ll save a lot of money.

[Dr. Cocktail]

5 hours ago, TheDougOut said:

 

My only counter-argument is that some things can be made “more special” by placing them on a cruise ship.  They can augment the “at sea” experience that drew us all to cruising in the first place.

 

For everything announced during the initial reveal... I’ve seen nothing that couldn’t be replicated (or done better) by doing it on land.  The ropes course was brilliant in this regard.  It wasn’t fun because “it was a ropes course”.  It was fun because it exposed new views & thrills of sitting 18+ decks above the ocean.  Not to mention... it had a large & continuous capacity, and was complimentary.

 

If you’re going to dedicate nearly 1/3 of prime top-deck real estate to this, at least put something on there that takes advantage of what makes that real estate prime in the first place.  But no, they’re strapping low-visibility helmets onto kart riders and now virtual reality headsets on laser taggers.  I’d actually consider these decisions comical if I hadn’t already tied up $$$ onto cruising on her.

 

Will these activities be fun?  Probably.  But during my 2nd voyage on the Bliss, I never went near either activity.  It’s probably a one-and-done kind of thing.  And now we’ll have 4 years of the fleet’s 3 newest ships floating around with one-and-done activities.  And none of them add to the “at-sea” experience.  

 

Greetings from across the lake!

 

I am semi-lurker and have always enjoyed your posts! Unfortunately for NCL, you are THE definitive product booster and when you have reservations, there's a REAL problem.

 

I completely agree  with anything that you have said.  It's extremely obvious that NCL is going after that increasingly elusive first-time cruiser to lure them into booking.  However, this strategy has a huge number of holes in it.

 

The first one is that the "average" first time cruiser, not in The Haven, not *gasp* reading these boards will never have a rodent's-posterior chance of ever snagging a Go-Kart booking.  So ... their disappointment will be off the charts and they will likely ignore all of the other NCL amenities. Secondly, for those of us who love NCL and cruising, these "signature" attractions that take up a LOT of deck space for something that we'll never do again will cause some hesitation when we go to book again. It's the same with iFly and the North Star on RCI.

 

I think that they all have  great marketing department but have never spent time on a ship!

 

 

Edited December 2, 2018 by Dr. Cocktail

[Carderman]

10 hours ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

 

Greetings from across the lake!

 

I am semi-lurker and have always enjoyed your posts! Unfortunately for NCL, you are THE definitive product booster and when you have reservations, there's a REAL problem.

 

I completely agree  with anything that you have said.  It's extremely obvious that NCL is going after that increasingly elusive first-time cruiser to lure them into booking.  However, this strategy has a huge number of holes in it.

 

The first one is that the "average" first time cruiser, not in The Haven, not *gasp* reading these boards will never have a rodent's-posterior chance of ever snagging a Go-Kart booking.  So ... their disappointment will be off the charts and they will likely ignore all of the other NCL amenities. Secondly, for those of us who love NCL and cruising, these "signature" attractions that take up a LOT of deck space for something that we'll never do again will cause some hesitation when we go to book again. It's the same with iFly and the North Star on RCI.

 

I think that they all have  great marketing department but have never spent time on a ship!

 

 

What do you mean by ""the "average" first time cruiser, not in The Haven, not *gasp* reading these boards will never have a rodent's-posterior chance of ever snagging a Go-Kart booking""

[TheDougOut]

Updated web cam shot.  It appears the go-kart track has a new feature that allows you to jump through the air and onto the Meyer Werft rooftop.

 

 

[Dr. Cocktail]

1 hour ago, Carderman said:

What do you mean by ""the "average" first time cruiser, not in The Haven, not *gasp* reading these boards will never have a rodent's-posterior chance of ever snagging a Go-Kart booking""

 

From what I've read, it's almost impossible to snag a booking on the Go-Karts unless you're super organized and know what to to. (aka - following CruiseCritic!)

 

Here's a sample thread of the problems that people have had:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2554531-ncl-bliss-race-track-problem-on-june-9-16-alaska-cruise/

 

[Carderman]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

 

From what I've read, it's almost impossible to snag a booking on the Go-Karts unless you're super organized and know what to to. (aka - following CruiseCritic!)

 

Here's a sample thread of the problems that people have had:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2554531-ncl-bliss-race-track-problem-on-june-9-16-alaska-cruise/

 

Ok Thanks alot! Looks like i wont using the Go-Karts then!

[gatorchinsky]

28 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

 

From what I've read, it's almost impossible to snag a booking on the Go-Karts unless you're super organized and know what to to. (aka - following CruiseCritic!)

 

Here's a sample thread of the problems that people have had:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2554531-ncl-bliss-race-track-problem-on-june-9-16-alaska-cruise/

 

 

On the Thanksgiving sailing we talked to several people who did not know they had to book go kart and laser tag as soon as they boarded so when they decided to make reservations it was all sold out.  They all were very disappointed.

[Carderman]

Our Bridge!

[Cruiser Bruiser]

19 hours ago, FreestyleNovice said:

 

Sad to see you leaving NCL but understandable, safe sailings CB!

That is kind of you to say. Never say never, right? But Encore has no appeal (does it even have a thermal suite?) Maybe Leonardo-class will lure me back. I'll still be lurking on the boards.

[rtkenmore]

31 minutes ago, Cruiser Bruiser said:

That is kind of you to say. Never say never, right? But Encore has no appeal (does it even have a thermal suite?) Maybe Leonardo-class will lure me back. I'll still be lurking on the boards.

 

They better have a thermal suite considering we're booked in a Spa Balcony room. 

[david_sobe]

6 hours ago, rtkenmore said:

 

They better have a thermal suite considering we're booked in a Spa Balcony room. 

Ha ha.  You're right 

[TheDougOut]

A couple of juicy visitor photos from today’s tour...

[TheDougOut]

SingleCruiser found our first glimpse of Encore’s Observation Lounge, sitting atop the bridge.  I can only imagine how many steelworkers are asleep in there.

 

 

[willsears94]

On 12/3/2018 at 9:24 AM, Cruiser Bruiser said:

That is kind of you to say. Never say never, right? But Encore has no appeal (does it even have a thermal suite?) Maybe Leonardo-class will lure me back. I'll still be lurking on the boards.

 

I am right there with you. With no HATM or Spice H20 (not as big of a deal as we sail Spa Balcony) on Bliss or Encore and the 'carnival' attractions on both ships, I have no interest in sailing on either. Good luck competing with clown companies like Carnival and Royal. I hope NCL can meet their market, but even as a late 20s couple who enjoys a good time, this is not the fun we were looking to have while at sea. 

 

Hopefully, the Leonardo class gets better. Until then, we'll stick to switching between Breakaway, Escape, and Celebrity's Edge and Solstice class. 

[TheDougOut]

That font is my excuse to drink tonight.  Thanks for the assist!

[willsears94]

That is what happens when cruise critic gives you so many options!🍺

Edited December 9, 2018 by willsears94

[TheDougOut]

[TheDougOut]

[TheDougOut]

Not much to see on the updated webcam shots.  It appears the outside block is starting to see the go kart viewing platform, and the inside block has the Garden Cafe loft in view. 

[TheDougOut]

Encore’s bow block...