SOLO Review of the Norwegian Encore Inaugural Transatlantic #SFB

[Victorious8]

Wow - that was unreasonably hard to get that post up. So many glitches for who the heck knows why. I need to go to bed now. I am headed out of town for the weekend to relax so I am not sure how much I will be able to post. I was hoping to do a lot more today but the internet would not cooperate. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2019 by Victorious8

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

Thank you for taking the time to do this review, much appreciated 

[kathbril]

Thanks so much for the review!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

I am in the exact same position as you so really excited to read about your experience as young solo traveler! It's been on my mind for a while to do the same so thanks a lot for sharing your experience :) 

[sns1009]

I'm loving your review!  Thanks for taking the time to write it!  I lost my grandma a few months ago and I treasure the memories we made on travel too.

[Victorious8]

Most of the time when I travel I quickly lose my appetite. This is so prevalent with the friends that I travel with that there ends up being a lot of jokes about it. Knowing that not eating is quite bad for me I decided to make a conscious effort to keep up my caloric intake on this cruise. Before the trip I purchased the 6 meal dining package. 

Trying to stay true to my effort I decided to check out the main dining room for some lunch before the muster drill. This was my first experience that I can remember dining totally alone. It wasn’t awkward for me, but it clearly makes the staff and other guests a little uncomfortable. I went to either Taste or Savor, whichever is on the port side. I had tomato soup, Caesar salad, and a vegetarian risotto. Nothing was out of this world, but I also was a bit hungover and not particularly hungry. I think I was finishing my beer but also ordered a bloody.

 

 

 

 

I believe after this time I went back to my room to change and get a little more presentable for the day. I forgot a converted for my hair tools when I was in the UK so I was rocking a messy scrunchie bun for the last few days. 

 

A little while after we boarded we heard that we would not be sailing away until close to midnight. I had volunteered to plan the sail away party and at this point I was not sure what to do but people in the Facebook roll call were wanting some answers. I decided I would go to the Observation Lounge at the prior planned sail away time, I had brought 10lbs of Mardi Gras beads after all. 

 

Before heading to my muster station I tried to track down my room steward to see if he could help me find my luggage. I guessed it had been delivered to my old room but since it was in the Studio lounge I wasn’t sure how I would get up there to grab it. He said he would try and help me.

 

Muster drill went quickly, I was in the Local and only got in trouble once for being on my phone. When I went back to my room my bag still wasn’t there so I finally asked another steward who told me the studio lounge was currently open. I went up to the 12th floor and there my bag was waiting for me at my original room. I lugged it down the stairs back to the 11th floor. At that point it was time to head to the “sail away” party. 
 

[biguntx]

Thanks for the review 

[Oakman58]

I'm really enjoying your trip report.  Thanks for taking the time to write it.

[Victorious8]

I volunteered for the sail away party because I’m the type of person who feels weird if I am not in some way pitching in on whatever it is I am enjoying. Probably comes from being raised in the church where you always stayed after to clean and help others. While I am not religious anymore there were a few things that have stuck with me that I value (and others I don’t). 

 

I wasn’t sure how one would even plan for this event so I just decided to order a couple hundred mardi gras beads off of Amazon. Turns out I ordered 10lbs of beads. I took them in my carry on to save weight for my luggage. They apparently weirded out TSA enough that they made me open my bag to inspect it when I checked in at SFO.

 

Without the excitement of an actual sail away I wasn’t sure what to expect. I found an open section of tables on the starboard side of the lounge and decided to dump the beads on various tables so people sort of knew where we were and could begin to mingle. That was about the extent of my effort so I hope some people enjoyed it – not sure how you would even run one of these things in cold weather and with a delayed sail away. I took no pictures – oops! Most of the mardi gras beads were gone though so I call that a success.

 

At the conclusion of the event we started seeing the fireworks go off for All Saints Day. We made the joke that @thedougout had arranged the fireworks just for us. I promised everyone a rainbow on day 3. 

 

At that point a group of us decided to head to the Local for a quick and easy dinner. The reports on Local or O’Sheehans is always sloooowwwww service. We had the opposite of that on this visit. I think we had all of our food in less than 20 minutes of sitting down. Just looked at pictures and my menu picture was taken at 6:59, first food picture was at 7:17. 

 

Another interesting thing at dinner was the discovery of spiked seltzer waters. Being a basic girl I spent my summer hydrating on White Claws. NCL is now carrying Truly, there was also another brand listed on the menu but they did not have it in stock for our crossing.

 

 

 

The food was mediocre but served it’s purpose. A quick way to pile in some carbs to help with drinking. I got some pretzel bites, nachos, and a chicken salad sandwich. I ate as much as I could stomach and then excused myself to go back to the room to change and get “cute” for the night. 

 

 

 

 

I babysat my drink all dinner because I wasn't feeling the best, plus my general anxiety was also bothering me. I figured I would need to make today and early night. 
 

[Victorious8]

 

 

I changed into more “going out” type clothes for the night. I stupidly brought with me way too many heeled shoes: one pair of wedges, a black strappy heel, a nude strappy heel, and my thigh high black boots. If I ever did wear any of those shoes on the trip it was for two hours max. I always ended up changing into my cole haan loafers or my chuck taylors before 11pm. 

 

I started the night out at District Brewhouse. I tried some fancy cocktail that was served in a tiny glass. I tried to chug it so I could catch up to everyone, I almost barfed. My friend Jake rubbed my back and helped me to recover. 

 

I wasn’t sure how I would make it through the night. I was feeling cute though as demonstrated through this selfie I took:

 

Jim Badger was the entertainment in DBH that night (and all other nights). I thought the first day was the best of his. His schtick is not at all recent, I do enjoy him when he actually sings and plays, it’s just when he talks more than he sings that he loses me. The main bartender in DBH is Yusuf he was the BEST!

 

After getting bored of DBH we decided to check out the band in Cavern Club. Here the band Guns and Rojas were playing. They were really good, and while I couldn’t drink too many drinks, I apparently was fine to do shots. Which I did, and convinced others to do so with me. We spent about an hour there and I had an incredible conversation with one new friend which is probably my favorite part about cruising. Sometimes you can just get deep with people out of nowhere. 

 

The ship finally left the port a little before midnight. I went to the Cavern Club waterfront bar for the first and only time of the cruise. It may have been open more but I never saw it. 

 

After the band finished we headed down to Social. They played mostly 80’s, Bruno Mars, and then Lizzo whenever I asked nice enough. I thought it would be an easy night, it ended up being a lot of shots night, which was my fault. There was also a lot of dancing, which was so much fun. I danced more than I drank so even though I didn’t get back to my room before 2pm, I knew I would be fine in the morning. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

[#55worktoplay]

Great start. Can’t wait for the continuation.  
 

It appears the weather woes left you pretty quickly but still sucked I’m sure.

 

Nana is having fun watching over you.

[Peachypooh]

Enjoying your review! Thanks for taking the time to post it. Did you ever find

out what was wrong with your original cabin? A relative of mine is thinking

of booking a solo cabin. Thanks.

[coastcat]

Thank you for the news about hard seltzers! Trying to avoid sugary booze is a challenge onboard and a gal can’t live on vodka sodas alone.  
 

You might have been projecting a little regarding dining alone. The staff on Bliss treated me with the same graciousness as they did the other diners, even though I was a party of one. (yes, even at Le Bistro - in fact, that was my best experience) If any fellow diners are judging you for dining alone, [bleep] them. 😎

 

Looking forward to the next installment of your review!

[PortFees45]

Dining alone does not make staff and other guests "uncomfortable." That's entirely in your head. I assure they're not even paying attention to you and couldn't care less. 

Edited November 18, 2019 by PortFees45

[FLAHAM]

On 11/17/2019 at 2:00 AM, Victorious8 said:

This was my first experience that I can remember dining totally alone. It wasn’t awkward for me, but it clearly makes the staff and other guests a little uncomfortable.

 

Nonsense. 

[PortFees45]

57 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

 

Nonsense. 

Exactly. Other pax do not care, and if anything the staff probably likes serving a 1-top. Less to do. 

[Deeliteful]

Never had any issues from staff or other diners when I dine alone.

[Peachypooh]

I enjoy eating alone but only at the buffet  It takes too long at the other restaurants. LOL

I have seen staff be wonderful to those dining alone so I don't think you need

to worry about anyone else feeling awkward.

 

[HowardK]

Great review so far- I ate at the specialty places a few times on my last cruise- (it was canada/ne) they weren't that full at 5 or 530 so no one really seemed to notice me. It was a change from my prior cruises where I always ate with people. I'll usually do breakfast and sometimes lunch alone but up until last cruise always did dinner with others.

[podgeandrodge]

On 11/13/2019 at 2:52 PM, bkrickles1 said:

How was wifi on Encore?

We have the free 250 minutes for our January sailing and I'm considering upgrading for my 19 yo daughter.

We always make do with the free minutes, going on every day for a little bit to check emails and social media, but my daughter will be mostly alone with us and our aunt and uncle and would probably like the freedom of unlimited.

TIA for any info on this.

And thanks for the review!

Go unlimited.  Don't use any of the 250 mins on first day and go to internet desk. They offered us $125 credit for those minutes (once untouched) makingnit great value to upgrade to unlimited.

 

It's utterly simple to change devices so everyone can take some time each as they like without minute watching.

[bkrickles1]

3 minutes ago, podgeandrodge said:

Go unlimited.  Don't use any of the 250 mins on first day and go to internet desk. They offered us $125 credit for those minutes (once untouched) makingnit great value to upgrade to unlimited.

 

It's utterly simple to change devices so everyone can take some time each as they like without minute watching.

So is it the same if I upgrade now? It looks like I can upgrade to unlimited for $84 right now or $119 for unlimited with streaming. It appears that ncl is providing the credit from the perk. The $125 I believe. 

Thanks 

[podgeandrodge]

Just now, bkrickles1 said:

So is it the same if I upgrade now? It looks like I can upgrade to unlimited for $84 right now or $119 for unlimited with streaming. It appears that ncl is providing the credit from the perk. The $125 I believe. 

Thanks 

I believe so. One thing to consider,  they allow you upgrade on the 2nd day of the cruise, and if you can go internet free between boarding on day 1 and the next morning (as you'll have your normal cellular data?), you'll save another $35 (streaming).  

[bkrickles1]

2 minutes ago, podgeandrodge said:

I believe so. One thing to consider,  they allow you upgrade on the 2nd day of the cruise, and if you can go internet free between boarding on day 1 and the next morning (as you'll have your normal cellular data?), you'll save another $35 (streaming).  

We could definitely do that and it's a great idea. Thanks again. We're sailing encore in January. 

[podgeandrodge]

Just now, bkrickles1 said:

We could definitely do that and it's a great idea. Thanks again. We're sailing encore in January. 

Encore is a beautiful ship. The Observation Lounge is amazing (on Escape at moment and miss it). 

[bkrickles1]

3 minutes ago, podgeandrodge said:

Encore is a beautiful ship. The Observation Lounge is amazing (on Escape at moment and miss it). 

We sailed Escape July, 2018 and had a great time. My daughter had 2 of her cousins with her on that sailing so we didn't upgrade the minutes. Nobody missed it much. 

And yes, I am so looking forward to the observation lounge. 

It's going to be our first stop on embarkation day for some drinks and snacks. And we'll meet our aunt and uncle their. 

[Victorious8]

11 hours ago, PortFees45 said:

Exactly. Other pax do not care, and if anything the staff probably likes serving a 1-top. Less to do. 

 

Uncomfortable maybe wasn't the correct word choice. But you definitely do get a few pity stares and extra glances your way. I also was always asked more than once if anyone else was joining me when I clearly asked for a table of one and I know that is what the host communicated to whomever sat me. Same thing when the served would then come later. When I went with groups I never heard them triple checking to make sure the entire party was there. It's subtle but it is there. Shoot I even had pity for another solo diner I saw who had this sad look to her, I am sure she just had a relaxed neutral face and was enjoying her meal - but it made me hyper aware of how my face looked and I found myself smiling for almost no reason. Lol - I did say I was an anxious person with an overactive mind so most of it is in my head 😄