Everything... Norwegian ENCORE! Launch Nov 2019

[LuvsTheCaribbean]

On 10/10/2019 at 12:20 PM, CazV said:

I'm on the first Caribbean sailing out of Miami for paying passengers... ie probably the first fully booked sailing in the sun. I will post photos.

I was on this cruise - well the original one! But it got canceled, and now your week is the first Miami week instead.  I can't wait to see photos! Can you please post the Odna menu? I'm dying to see what that is like.  Thanks! Enjoy!

[UFMOM]

9 hours ago, eroller said:

 

 

 

Great pic ... but I still can't believe the lack of deck space on this ship.  If you don't pay for Vibe or the Haven you're pretty much screwed.  I think it's going to be a disaster in the Caribbean.  

 

Wow! That picture kind of brings it home. Glad I don’t do pool deck anymore. But neither do I do Laser Tag or Go Karts. The VR games might be a bit interesting, I shall see, but that could have easily been somewhere else on the ship. Happy they left my Spa and Waterfront pretty much intact. The non Vibe sun worshipers are not going to be happy campers, er cruisers. We will be in the Caribbean and I anticipate increased acrimony over lounges  and the hogging of them. It will be interesting and may actually bring me onto the pool deck to check it out.  Perhaps NCL could institute a Lounge Lottery for those who didn’t win the Vibe race. For only a dollar a ticket you can have the chance to win the use of a pool lounge chair for the entire day. You can do anything you want with it all day. If you want to leave just one flip flop on it for hours while you have lunch and do other activities, no problem, it’s all yours. A new revenue stream for Norwegian. I loved the Bliss and am very excited to be on Encore. I’m sure I will have a wonderful cruise, but then like I said, I don’t do pool deck. If you do pool deck then ymmv.

 

Mary Ann

[eroller]

6 minutes ago, UFMOM said:

 

Wow! That picture kind of brings it home. Glad I don’t do pool deck anymore. But neither do I do Laser Tag or Go Karts. The VR games might be a bit interesting, I shall see, but that could have easily been somewhere else on the ship. Happy they left my Spa and Waterfront pretty much intact. The non Vibe sun worshipers are not going to be happy campers, er cruisers. We will be in the Caribbean and I anticipate increased acrimony over lounges  and the hogging of them. It will be interesting and may actually bring me onto the pool deck to check it out.  Perhaps NCL could institute a Lounge Lottery for those who didn’t win the Vibe race. For only a dollar a ticket you can have the chance to win the use of a pool lounge chair for the entire day. You can do anything you want with it all day. If you want to leave just one flip flop on it for hours while you have lunch and do other activities, no problem, it’s all yours. A new revenue stream for Norwegian. I loved the Bliss and am very excited to be on Encore. I’m sure I will have a wonderful cruise, but then like I said, I don’t do pool deck. If you do pool deck then ymmv.

 

Mary Ann

 

 

I still enjoy the pool deck, which is why the Breakaway Class is generally disappointing, and especially the ENCORE.  The pools are not great and the deck space is limited.  I like the slides and attractions, but generally it's a one and done.  I would gladly trade them for some dedicated deck space.  

 

I'm glad you enjoyed BLISS.  Although I have not sailed on her, to me she looks like the best of the Breakaway/Plus class.  A nice balance of attractions and (free) deck space, upgraded decor, and the wonderful observation lounge.  ENCORE is off-balanced IMO, but if you want a top deck amusement park you found your ship! 

[Cruising89143]

52 minutes ago, eroller said:

 

 

I still enjoy the pool deck, which is why the Breakaway Class is generally disappointing, and especially the ENCORE.  The pools are not great and the deck space is limited.  I like the slides and attractions, but generally it's a one and done.  I would gladly trade them for some dedicated deck space.  

 

I'm glad you enjoyed BLISS.  Although I have not sailed on her, to me she looks like the best of the Breakaway/Plus class.  A nice balance of attractions and (free) deck space, upgraded decor, and the wonderful observation lounge.  ENCORE is off-balanced IMO, but if you want a top deck amusement park you found your ship! 

We just returned yesterday from the Bliss. First NCL cruise in ten years and first time on an “Away” class ship. We were in the Haven but I went by the mid ship pool deck a few times and it was packed. Far too small for the size ship IMHO. I don’t do pools or spas on ships but it looked uncomfortable. Chairs were literally butted up next to one another with no space in between them. Spice H2O was nice but they had a smoking area and smoke drifted around. What I’m seeing in the above photo is ridiculous and I feel it will come back to bite NCL in the rear end. No where near enough open deck space.

 

We enjoyed the Bliss. The NCL product felt very close to that of RCI but nothing beats the Oasis class for design in our book. Other than that I saw little difference between the two lines including service. Thought specialty dining was actually better on NCL. I do have to admit that the Haven is really nice. Takes it up several notches. It will be interesting to read comments on the Encore once she homeports in Miami.

[eroller]

32 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

We just returned yesterday from the Bliss. First NCL cruise in ten years and first time on an “Away” class ship. We were in the Haven but I went by the mid ship pool deck a few times and it was packed. Far too small for the size ship IMHO. I don’t do pools or spas on ships but it looked uncomfortable. Chairs were literally butted up next to one another with no space in between them. Spice H2O was nice but they had a smoking area and smoke drifted around. What I’m seeing in the above photo is ridiculous and I feel it will come back to bite NCL in the rear end. No where near enough open deck space.

 

We enjoyed the Bliss. The NCL product felt very close to that of RCI but nothing beats the Oasis class for design in our book. Other than that I saw little difference between the two lines including service. Thought specialty dining was actually better on NCL. I do have to admit that the Haven is really nice. Takes it up several notches. It will be interesting to read comments on the Encore once she homeports in Miami.

 

 

Glad you enjoyed BLISS and of course I agree with you 100% about the Oasis Class.  All those people but an amazing use of space with great pools and tons of deck space.  I feel NCL tries to cram too much into the Breakaway Class ships.  They are lacking decent deck space and a good secondary lounge.  Using the atrium for everything creates tons of traffic jams.  Not sure if you experienced that on BLISS?  Maybe having that wonderful observation lounge helps?  

 

I'm actually considering booking MSC MERAVIGLIA in December.  I love trying out new classes of ships, plus it's some new destinations for me including their new private island Ocean Cay.  And the price is right!  

[shof515]

11 minutes ago, eroller said:

  Using the atrium for everything creates tons of traffic jams. 

 

that is one thing i hate about the away class ships. I hated it when i sailed on the Breakaway twice and i hated it on the Escape last year and i am kinda of dreading it again next year on the Encore. The Escape was the worse of the worse because of the background noise at  osheehans was louder then the PA system making it hard to hear what was going on when they had events at the atrium. These classes of ship do need another better location for the shows and other events they have going on

[Cruising89143]

15 minutes ago, eroller said:

 

 

Glad you enjoyed BLISS and of course I agree with you 100% about the Oasis Class.  All those people but an amazing use of space with great pools and tons of deck space.  I feel NCL tries to cram too much into the Breakaway Class ships.  They are lacking decent deck space and a good secondary lounge.  Using the atrium for everything creates tons of traffic jams.  Not sure if you experienced that on BLISS?  Maybe having that wonderful observation lounge helps?  

 

I'm actually considering booking MSC MERAVIGLIA in December.  I love trying out new classes of ships, plus it's some new destinations for me including their new private island Ocean Cay.  And the price is right!  

We avoided the atrium area. Busy even with no shows. The Local was very loud. The atrium did not help.
 

We’re booked on the MSC Grandiosa for spring out of Barcelona and yesterday I booked us on the Seaside for late October. Both are in the YC but the cost was outstanding. Especially compared to NCL’s Haven. Something new for us. No longer loyal to one cruise line. If you decide to cruise on the Meraviglia I will look forward to your review and photos. 🙂

[eroller]

15 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

We avoided the atrium area. Busy even with no shows. The Local was very loud. The atrium did not help.
 

We’re booked on the MSC Grandiosa for spring out of Barcelona and yesterday I booked us on the Seaside for late October. Both are in the YC but the cost was outstanding. Especially compared to NCL’s Haven. Something new for us. No longer loyal to one cruise line. If you decide to cruise on the Meraviglia I will look forward to your review and photos. 🙂

 

 

I really enjoyed YC on SEASIDE.  I've also enjoyed the Haven on NCL.  They are very comparable in many respects, with each having their strong points and areas of opportunity.  SEASIDE has a wonderful YC outdoor pool area, and I loved the outdoor seating in front of the YC lounge.  I also liked that the lounge and restaurant were basically the same space, with the restaurant on the balcony.  Great views!  Food was better on NCL for sure.  That is the main disappointment I had with MSC, even in the YC. SEASIDE though is just a really cool ship with an interesting layout and wonderful promenade deck.  The spa is fantastic too.  Plus great deck space and multiple pools.  

 

I've heard MERAVIGLIA and that class of ship is not as nice as SEASIDE, but I would like to find out first hand.  As a pool and deck space lover, MERAVIGLIA looks like a winner.  Plenty of both from what I can tell.  

 

I'll go back to NCL for sure, but I think I'll wait for the Leonardo Class of ships.  They are actually the same basic design as SEASIDE, but a little smaller and of course customized for NCL.  I just hope NCL doesn't muck it up by putting too much crap on the upper decks.  Then it will be a no-go.  I don't mind the attractions but not when they dominate pretty much the entire top deck like on ENCORE.  

 

 

[Steff79]

https://www.ncl.com/shipcams/encorecam/fullsize.jpg

 

saw the link in an other board. Not sure if they test it or webcam is now online. 

[Two Wheels Only]

2 hours ago, eroller said:

I really enjoyed YC on SEASIDE.  I've also enjoyed the Haven on NCL.  They are very comparable in many respects, with each having their strong points and areas of opportunity.

 

I agree 100%.

[KAYKAY121]

I am so concerned with deck space with the number of sea days on the itinerary. Sailing Dec 8th and spend most of our sea days on the deck. Guess we have to find a seat at the bar somewhere in the sun. When we were on the Escape, we love Spice H20 in the evening but it was almost empty during the day. We have friends traveling who don't want to spend the $$ on vibe but I am still working on that. I think it is necessary. I am hoping with the sailing date that kids will be in school not on this ship. I'm not a kid hater just thinking from past cruises that this deck space is small for a lot of them. I don't think they truly designed this ship for sunny warm weather seeking poolside cruisers.  I know I will have a great time BUT that deck space....

Edited October 15, 2019 by KAYKAY121

[prbffd28]

I'm not sure if this is the correct thread to use for this but since it's "Everything Encore" I figured why not try. Yesterday I noticed on the NCL website that Entertainment and some Dining options appeared to be available to reserve. So I tried it and was able to book Choir of a Man and received confirmation. Then went to Dining, selected the venue, went through the drop downs, and chose "add to Cart" then nothing. Tried a different venue, same process, nothing again. This went on several times until I finally gave up and figured I would try today and attributed it to new ship and all the options not being online yet. Then low and behold I received 2 email confirmations, one for the Entertainment I booked and the other for the 3 dining options I orginally chose, very strange but at least I have the confirmation email.

Even stranger I checked my account today and the only thing that shows up that's new is the Choir of a Man booking. Anyone else experiencing this hiccup with their Encore bookings?

[kayteecat]

12 minutes ago, prbffd28 said:

I'm not sure if this is the correct thread to use for this but since it's "Everything Encore" I figured why not try. Yesterday I noticed on the NCL website that Entertainment and some Dining options appeared to be available to reserve. So I tried it and was able to book Choir of a Man and received confirmation. Then went to Dining, selected the venue, went through the drop downs, and chose "add to Cart" then nothing. Tried a different venue, same process, nothing again. This went on several times until I finally gave up and figured I would try today and attributed it to new ship and all the options not being online yet. Then low and behold I received 2 email confirmations, one for the Entertainment I booked and the other for the 3 dining options I orginally chose, very strange but at least I have the confirmation email.

Even stranger I checked my account today and the only thing that shows up that's new is the Choir of a Man booking. Anyone else experiencing this hiccup with their Encore bookings?

I did not have the same issue as you, but had something similar with my December 8th Encore booking. Others on my roll call reported not being able to book dining for quite awhile, when it was finally opened up they were able to book but I simply had the option to add my preferred date, time, and party size to my cart. When I went to my cart, it would tell me "some items have been removed from your cart as they are now unavailable", and yet I would continue to have the option to book the same restaurant, date, time, and party size. I figured it was a glitch and decided to call NCL and make my bookings that way. Of course, by the time all of this happened, about 10 days had passed and I was only able to get 5:30 bookings for dinner. We prefer to eat later on cruises (around 8 PM), so I will likely end up rebooking for our preferred times once we get onboard. 

 

Choir of Man wasn't at all available for me to book online, but I was able to call NCL and book through one of their agents. I know people report mixed results with calling NCL, but I have to say each time I've been on hold for a reasonable amount of time and gotten perfectly friendly service with the results I called to achieve. I think it may be worth giving them a call to give yourself the peace of mind.

[RNRcruisers]

1 hour ago, KAYKAY121 said:

I am so concerned with deck space with the number of sea days on the itinerary. Sailing Dec 8th and spend most of our sea days on the deck. Guess we have to find a seat at the bar somewhere in the sun. When we were on the Escape, we love Spice H20 in the evening but it was almost empty during the day. We have friends traveling who don't want to spend the $$ on vibe but I am still working on that. I think it is necessary. I am hoping with the sailing date that kids will be in school not on this ship. I'm not a kid hater just thinking from past cruises that this deck space is small for a lot of them. I don't think they truly designed this ship for sunny warm weather seeking poolside cruisers.  I know I will have a great time BUT that deck space....

I agree. I am on the ship in January and, while we don't hang out at the pool deck a lot, we enjoy being outside to read and relax. I will probably try to for a Vibe pass but it sounds like they can be hard to get. Anyone have other ideas? The Waterfront? How crowded does it get and are there loungers? I have been on NCL 3 times before but always on older, smaller ships that had a promenade deck instead of the Waterfront.

[TheDougOut]

Out at Meyer Werft today, Aida revealed some previews of their latest design (Cosma).  It certainly demonstrates a difference in direction...

 

 

Edited October 15, 2019 by TheDougOut

[Steff79]

At Halloween they can use the Laser Tag Area for a Halloween Party 😉😊

( looks a little bit at that at the pic )

 

Aida will do there Pool Parties, there is a Stage in Front of the Screen for Bands and the white egg in the middle is a place for a DJ.

looks like a great H2O.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Steff79

[LrgPizza]

1 hour ago, RNRcruisers said:

I agree. I am on the ship in January and, while we don't hang out at the pool deck a lot, we enjoy being outside to read and relax. I will probably try to for a Vibe pass but it sounds like they can be hard to get. Anyone have other ideas? The Waterfront? How crowded does it get and are there loungers? I have been on NCL 3 times before but always on older, smaller ships that had a promenade deck instead of the Waterfront.

 

If I was specifically planning a trip on which I intended to hang out on the pool deck, I would never book this ship.

[Barker16]

2 hours ago, LrgPizza said:

 

If I was specifically planning a trip on which I intended to hang out on the pool deck, I would never book this ship.

I booked and am really regretting it. Leaving the Canadian snow and having to fight more than normal for a piece of outdoor space is going to be painful. I pity the employees on that pool deck there are going to be a lot of unhappy people.

[awinte2]

It is so sad to hear all the negative already and the ship has not even had its maiden voyage yet. 

I am booked for Feb 2 and am trying to thin of all the positive things like being on vacation on a beautiful new ship. Have been on smaller ships , mid size, and big ones and all have their issues but in the end we were still on a fabulous cruise ship getting waited on and having a great time where there are some that can only dream about it.

Stay positive everyone and enjoy your upcoming holiday on a gorgeous new ship.

[SailBreakaway]

On 10/14/2019 at 11:31 PM, cruisingator2 said:

We’re booked on the MSC Grandiosa for spring out of Barcelona and yesterday I booked us on the Seaside for late October. Both are in the YC but the cost was outstanding. Especially compared to NCL’s Haven. Something new for us. No longer loyal to one cruise line. If you decide to cruise on the Meraviglia I will look forward to your review and photos. 🙂

 

Welcome to the club, this will be our last NCL cruise until things change over there, we have become loyal MSC clients with 3 more booked for 2019 and 2020.  Seaside and Meraviglia are both impressive designs in their own respects, each has something to offer the other doesn't.  We sailed SS and loved it.  We book YC and were loyal Haveners.  It's not a bad product at all, however they have priced themselves out of my market, and well into some others (I cruise 2.5 times on MSC for what I can cruise once for in Haven).

 

My only gripe of Meraviglia is the didn't make the front Top Sail Lounge windows two stories to connect with the restaurant like SS and Bliss/Encore.  Interestingly, Bella and Grandi they fixed their mistake and they indeed have two stories of windows.

 

That's all from here for now.  See you all on the Encore Inaugural TA posts from Southampton! It's my farewell to the Breakaway class, and some great memories.

[smplybcause]

On 10/15/2019 at 1:07 PM, RNRcruisers said:

I agree. I am on the ship in January and, while we don't hang out at the pool deck a lot, we enjoy being outside to read and relax. I will probably try to for a Vibe pass but it sounds like they can be hard to get. Anyone have other ideas? The Waterfront? How crowded does it get and are there loungers? I have been on NCL 3 times before but always on older, smaller ships that had a promenade deck instead of the Waterfront.

 

The problem with asking how crowded the Waterfront is is that the other ships have Spice and more deck space so it just won't be comparable. I think the observation lounge will draw a lot of people that on the older BA ships went to the Waterfront, but I think the lack of space up top will drive a lot more people down. 

 

And it's not loungers like the ones by the pool, but it has patio furniture - so some chairs and couches etc. But it's not a huge amount of them as a decent chunk of the waterfront is some of the specialty restaurants. On Escape and Getaway in the Caribbean it was probably 50/50 of whether I could find a seat when I went to the waterfront. 

[TheDougOut]

3 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

The problem with asking how crowded the Waterfront is is that the other ships have Spice and more deck space so it just won't be comparable.

 

Plus... some of the waterfront will also be displaced by an apparent smoking section. 

[RNRcruisers]

19 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

The problem with asking how crowded the Waterfront is is that the other ships have Spice and more deck space so it just won't be comparable. I think the observation lounge will draw a lot of people that on the older BA ships went to the Waterfront, but I think the lack of space up top will drive a lot more people down. 

 

And it's not loungers like the ones by the pool, but it has patio furniture - so some chairs and couches etc. But it's not a huge amount of them as a decent chunk of the waterfront is some of the specialty restaurants. On Escape and Getaway in the Caribbean it was probably 50/50 of whether I could find a seat when I went to the waterfront. 

 

That is what I'm afraid of. Where will we go on sea days?

[Steff79]

Encore has left Eemshaven, webcam is online but dark now.

Edited October 17, 2019 by Steff79

[PRgymnast]

On 12/3/2018 at 7:12 AM, gatorchinsky said:

 

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.

I know I'm replying to an old message (I'm only on pg 36 of this 107 pg monster LOL) but I was on Bliss for Thanksgiving 2018 and I waited until the 2nd to last day of the cruise and there were plenty of slots to choose for the last day of the cruise.