Encore's low ratings

[dshefter]

1 hour ago, CruiserDan53 said:

I could be wrong but I'm almost positive you can. We were able to book them for our cruise last month.

Not available. We booked specialty restaurants but not main ones. Not worried about getting a table as we are just 3 people

[Sauer-kraut]

10 minutes ago, dshefter said:

Not available. We booked specialty restaurants but not main ones. Not worried about getting a table as we are just 3 people

MDR dining doesn't need to be booked.  Just show up when you're hungry.  Just like a land based restaurant you might have a small wait if the dining room is full.  Its not a big deal.   Have a super cruise.

[megansdad1]

Like some people have said, reviews needs to be taken with a grain of salt.  I was on the post dry dock cruise for the Dawn a few years ago.  I had an awesome time.  There were some minor issues with work still being done in some areas and some public toilets not working right.  I read reviews of that cruise and some people made it out to be a nightmare cruise.  

 

I will be sailing on the Encore in about 100 days.  I booked my shows for Choir of Man and Kinky boots 120 days out.  You can do so with specialty dinning.  Do a little bit of planning and have an open mind and you should have a great time.  

[RedwingHockeyFan]

11 hours ago, Sauer-kraut said:

MDR dining doesn't need to be booked.  Just show up when you're hungry.  Just like a land based restaurant you might have a small wait if the dining room is full.  Its not a big deal.   Have a super cruise.

It doesn't need to be but you can.  I have the Manhattan Room book on my upcoming cruise 1 FEB on one of the nights we are seeing SIX.  It's on the Breakaway but I doubt Encore would be any different. 

[bkrickles1]

18 hours ago, Apsalar said:

One of the recent reviews was either 4 or 5 stars, they said they had a great time (not perfect but great nonetheless) and they flat out said the people leaving the 1 star reviews must be extremely hard to please because they couldn't explain it. 

 

Many of those 1 star reviews have almost nothing good to say about the entire cruise. Room is too small, crew is unfriendly, food is bad, shows are impossible to get into, everything costs too much, yadda yadda yadda. When they can't find anything nice to say about a cruise, I am inclined not to take them too seriously. 

 

Most of the people leaving the good reviews are not crazy about the lack of deck space, but somehow it doesn't ruin their vacation. Some of the people leaving good reviews have teenagers who love the race track / laser tag and say this is the only way their kids would have had a good time. Granted this seems to be a minority, but I think this is exactly the type of customer NCL was hoping to attract to the Encore. The expanded Vibe seems to be no win for some people. Either NCL can keep Vibe the same size as on other ships, with low numbers of passes, leaving more demand than supply, or they can keep Vibe the same and sell more passes, making the area more crowded, or they can make it bigger and sell more passes. All of these options will leave some people complaining. 

 

We'll be on the Encore in 4.5 weeks and I'm very much looking forward to it. We won't be getting Vibe passes, we're not in the Haven, and I still have a couple of specialty restaurants I'll need to book once onboard. I'm pretty sure it will all be fine. 

I tend to agree with you.

I'll be sailing Encore in 3 days (yaaaaaaay!!!).

I have zero priority as it will only be my 3rd NCL cruise (and I'd never pay for priority access as I believe it's a total waste of $) so I'll get to the pier early and board with the "regular" passengers. I have been on many rccl and celebrity cruises so I'm not an inexperienced cruiser.

I, also will not be getting Vibe passes and I'm not in the Haven.

My family likes to be up on deck every day so we'll be there every day (probably deck 17 near the whirlpools). I'm not thrilled with the amount of sun deck space but every cruise I've been on had a crowded pool deck and we survived wonderfully.

When I board, I'll need to change one of my specialty dining reservations and I have to book the comedy shows. I'm certain I will get these things done within 45 minutes of boarding and will be sipping a cocktail in the OL immediately after.

If I had to do all of these things and was completely unprepared as to what to expect, it could become awfully frustrating.

But I've been reading these forums for many months now and I pretty much know how everything works (I also was on Escape 7/2018). I am prepared and my family will benefit as we'll enjoy a fantastic cruise as we always do.

My point is that I believe the bad reviews come from two kinds of people, the ones that can never be satisfied and the ones that don't know what to expect and are unprepared. 

I feel bad for those that don't do any research as all the info you need to have a successful vacation is right here on these forums. 25 years ago you didn't need to do the research. You could just board and let it all happen. It was a much simpler cruise experience and I preferred it but that's not the world we live in anymore.

As I said, I'm sailing Encore 1/19, and when I return I'll come back here and let you know how a non-vibe, non-haven, low level passenger survived the big bad Norwegian Encore. I have a regular balcony cabin on deck 14 aft with my wife and 19yo daughter. We've never been affected by motion but I'll try and pay attention to see if Encore is worse than other ships as some are saying on here.

If you have anything you want me to check out (and it doesn't interfere with my 7 day "Happy Hour" Lmao!), let me know and I'll do my best.

 

[Peachypooh]

So many different points of view and they all have some valid points. Having sailed the Encore

there was one thing that bothered us that yes, we could have seen coming. The overrun of kids in

the Haven pool. We had only sailed the Jewell class Haven and never had that problem. That one

is on us. However....the rocking, shaking and crashing noises were something we could not have

anticipated as we booked the ship before it had even set sail and I attributed the reports of this to the

poor weather during the transatlantic. Did not expect it during basically almost calm seas.

That said, the Encore is a beautiful ship with a fabulous crew, excellent food and entertainment.

I am thinking that people who say those who have some complaints are hard to please are not

taking into account that nothing is perfect and people will have a BETTER time if they know any

negatives ahead of time and plan to work around them. Our next cruise is on a Jewell class ship

and since we have been on them numerous times we know what to expect.

[dshefter]

55 minutes ago, Peachypooh said:

So many different points of view and they all have some valid points. Having sailed the Encore

there was one thing that bothered us that yes, we could have seen coming. The overrun of kids in

the Haven pool. We had only sailed the Jewell class Haven and never had that problem. That one

is on us. However....the rocking, shaking and crashing noises were something we could not have

anticipated as we booked the ship before it had even set sail and I attributed the reports of this to the

poor weather during the transatlantic. Did not expect it during basically almost calm seas.

That said, the Encore is a beautiful ship with a fabulous crew, excellent food and entertainment.

I am thinking that people who say those who have some complaints are hard to please are not

taking into account that nothing is perfect and people will have a BETTER time if they know any

negatives ahead of time and plan to work around them. Our next cruise is on a Jewell class ship

and since we have been on them numerous times we know what to expect.

Totally agree with that assessment. A lot of people just like to ***** and moan. Remember taking a Carnival cruise a few years ago and there was this one lady who was constantly complaining. It was a great cruise, but nothing could satisfy her. I live by the motto: Treat the Crew like you would treat your friends and they will give you a smile and good service. Are there outliers? Of course, but most are friendly and know you are on vacation. But I will provide a fully detailed review of the Encore after we debark on Jan. 26. We have Priority Boarding and plan to purchase Vibe passes as I like the peace and quiet away from the all the noise of the main pool area.

[EBRB]

I’m happy to read all of the positive comments here. In retrospect, we should probably have booked a different ship as we don’t care about the go carts, laser tag and VR. I’m really into aesthetics and how spaces feel so not too thrilled with the prospect of the small pool deck. That being said, we are looking forward to the spa, gym, shows, dining, bars/live music, ports of call and just general R&R. We’ve booked as much as we can in advance so we don’t miss out on what’s important to us. We’re still 70+ days out so looking forward to reading more tips and advice and will post mine here as well. Happy Sailing!

[ilovetotravel1977]

Didn't the Escape have bad reviews as well?

 

We really enjoyed our sailing on her!  

[worktocruise610]

@bkrickles1 you have a great attitude & make some good points. Looking forward to hearing what you think about her when you return, we sail in 100+ days. Have a great cruise!!!

[CruisingSince1982]

On 1/15/2020 at 2:48 PM, dshefter said:

You can't book the main dining rooms anymore prior to the cruise.

 

You can. I did for our March 1st cruise.

 

[PortFees45]

The Encore is a physical manifestation of NCL corporate's greed. It's a garbage ship. 

[psuboater]

It depends what you'd like to do. I did NCL in 2006 on the Spirit and loved it, but my next cruise on NCL (did a yearly cruise from 2007+ with RCCL or Celebrity) was in 2017 on the Breakway. For what me and my family like to do, it wasn't ideal. As we enjoy trivia daily, the atrium did not have the "pub" atmosphere of the smaller lounges that hold trivia that we're used to, and the entire ship to me felt dark and compartmentalized. However, when planning this year's trip to Bermuda, Celebrity didn't offer a 7 day at the time we needed to go and felt like we'd try the Encore.

 

I was nervous reading the deck plans and the negative reviews sealed it for us with the tiny amount of deckspace. My mom is in her 60s and I'm in my 30s - we don't have a need for Go Karts, Laser Tag, etc, and we both felt that we'd be confined to a lot of dark indoor space again, even more so on the Encore. We pulled our deposit and are going on the Empress of the Seas on RCCL. She also has mixed reviews because she is the smallest and one of the oldest of the RCCL fleets. But because of the way we like to vacation (read on deck, go to trivia, leisurely trips to the beach, etc, the Empress seemed more of a fit for *us*. 

 

However, the Encore, depending on what you want to do, could be more right for you. She certainly has a lot more entertainment and shows and I'm sure a younger crowd because of her amenities. Bermuda is an amazing country - my mom and I have visited most of the Caribbean and we now see no need to go anywhere else.  Relax, and have a great trip! 

[david_sobe]

 

[Two Wheels Only]

^^ I'm surprised that he didn't mention the Waterfront as an alternative for people who want to sightsee (no charge).

Edited January 16, 2020 by Two Wheels Only

[dshefter]

1 hour ago, Two Wheels Only said:

^^ I'm surprised that he didn't mention the Waterfront as an alternative for people who want to sightsee (no charge).

He also didn't mention any of the specialty restaurants.

[Broons77]

My view on the review issue is to not pay attention to what's posted to the review page. Those that post the bad reviews look to mostly have a grand total of that 1 posting.  I don't doubt that most of them had a bad experience, but unless the volumes of these people posting are in the thousands, I'll take it with a grain of salt.  Read the message boards if you want honest good and bad opinions from experienced cruisers who know what you do and don't get on a cruise.

 

That said, I rebooked my upcoming 7 days to Bermuda from Encore to the Gem out of Boston based partially on negative comments/opinions.  But let me explain.

 

Had it just been myself and my SO, we probably would have stayed with Encore.  But there are 7 of us and several in the group were not happy with a 'mega' ship and wanted something smaller.  In addition, it was proving difficult to get all 7 of us from MA to NY without it costing hundreds more dollars, either for pre-cruise hotels and transportation or parking for multiple vehicles.

 

The problem for me were the comments about the lack of public deck space, along with a boatload (pun intended!) of extra charges.  Even some of the folks that posted about how they had enjoyed it made mention of these things.  No one in our group really would use the VR arena or go karts so these are large portions of the boat that would just be wasted for us.

 

One could state that this is more of a fit issue, with the Gem being a better fit for my group and you probably would be correct.  However had there been less mentioned of these issues, I might have been more inclined to give it a shot.

[Two Wheels Only]

*double*

Edited January 17, 2020 by Two Wheels Only

[Two Wheels Only]

4 hours ago, dshefter said:

He also didn't mention any of the specialty restaurants.

 

I'm guessing that because they are "cost extra", he didn't mention them.

 

Was the Observation Lounge mentioned?

Edited January 17, 2020 by Two Wheels Only

[bkrickles1]

15 hours ago, david_sobe said:

 

Yeah, this review doesn't change anything for me.

His target audience for this review is pretty small.

Don is a 57 year old single guy who doesn't really drink and doesn't like Broadway type shows (although he does like the shows on Encore. Odd?). It appears he wasn't thrilled with the amount of bars on board. Every mega ship has a bar around every corner. Complaining about the decor in the hallway leading to his cabin? I haven't heard that before. Lmao!!

He had one good meal and one not so good? What about the rest? He didn't love the buffet because of amount of choices but I know there are a lot of choices. Odd?

He's not a go cart guy or laser tag guy. Ok, that I understand as I have zero plans of going near that stuff.

He is right about the activities costing $ compared to some other ships. On some rccl ships I've done bumper cars and ice skating and it was included. But I know this ahead of time and, as I said, I'm staying clear of these activities on Encore.

No mention of specialty dining, Observation Lounge or Waterfront. Odd?

What about the terrific musical entertainment in all the various lounges? Maybe Don is not a music guy either.

If you haven't watched his video, I'd say give it a pass. I don't think it's a real world review.

I'm sailing Encore in 2 days and I bet it's fantastic!

[CazV]

I refuse to watch anything from Don's channel... he's one of the worst cruise vloggers out there imo. 

[Peachypooh]

1 hour ago, CazV said:

I refuse to watch anything from Don's channel... he's one of the worst cruise vloggers out there imo. 

I was wondering why you have this opinion (not saying anything negative to you) as I watch all of

his videos. Maybe it is just I like him as a person but curious as to what vloggers you like better.

Maybe I will give them a try too.

[dshefter]

2 hours ago, bkrickles1 said:

Yeah, this review doesn't change anything for me.

His target audience for this review is pretty small.

Don is a 57 year old single guy who doesn't really drink and doesn't like Broadway type shows (although he does like the shows on Encore. Odd?). It appears he wasn't thrilled with the amount of bars on board. Every mega ship has a bar around every corner. Complaining about the decor in the hallway leading to his cabin? I haven't heard that before. Lmao!!

He had one good meal and one not so good? What about the rest? He didn't love the buffet because of amount of choices but I know there are a lot of choices. Odd?

He's not a go cart guy or laser tag guy. Ok, that I understand as I have zero plans of going near that stuff.

He is right about the activities costing $ compared to some other ships. On some rccl ships I've done bumper cars and ice skating and it was included. But I know this ahead of time and, as I said, I'm staying clear of these activities on Encore.

No mention of specialty dining, Observation Lounge or Waterfront. Odd?

What about the terrific musical entertainment in all the various lounges? Maybe Don is not a music guy either.

If you haven't watched his video, I'd say give it a pass. I don't think it's a real world review.

I'm sailing Encore in 2 days and I bet it's fantastic!

I thought his review was a little bit incomplete. Should have talked more about Specialty Dining. Should have discussed the Observation Lounge. Some of the ports. What meal did he like and didn't like? Doesn't specify what he ordered. Every ship I have been on  -- large or small -- always has a lot of bars. That is how the cruise ships bring in oodles of cash. Nobody says you have to drink on a cruise ship. You can get a soda package. Or just have water with dinner. Each to his own. How about the comedy shows? Cavern Club? Even the spa.

[david_sobe]

1 hour ago, dshefter said:

I thought his review was a little bit incomplete. Should have talked more about Specialty Dining. Should have discussed the Observation Lounge. Some of the ports. What meal did he like and didn't like? Doesn't specify what he ordered. Every ship I have been on  -- large or small -- always has a lot of bars. That is how the cruise ships bring in oodles of cash. Nobody says you have to drink on a cruise ship. You can get a soda package. Or just have water with dinner. Each to his own. How about the comedy shows? Cavern Club? Even the spa.

Did you watch the video?  He clearly states it was not a review and he will post a full review shortly.  The video is called "First Impressions."  He booked a "sail away rate" with no perks.
(this part not replying to you)

Good grief.  People who have not sailed Encore attacking those who have sailed Encore who call it a great ship but not liking some features and giving detailed reasons why.  Such extreme cheerleaders that they cant even allow any other point of view expressed without personal attacks or conspiracy theories against bloggers.
Calm down everyone.  I have not seen anyone bash the Encore.  Just because some people point out a few things they don't like about it is no reason to melt down.  Clearly some people have not watched the video.  Different ships are for different people.  I will be on Encore next month and enjoy everyone's experience both good and bad to assist me plan my vacation.

[CazV]

2 hours ago, Peachypooh said:

I was wondering why you have this opinion (not saying anything negative to you) as I watch all of

his videos. Maybe it is just I like him as a person but curious as to what vloggers you like better.

Maybe I will give them a try too.

He posted a video with completely wrong information last year and didn't take the video down or edit it when it was shown he was wrong... and the other few videos I watched were sensationalist and negative. The comments here tell me that this Encore review is negative and incomplete and that comes as no surprise to me.

 

I don't subscribe to any channels as I tend to search for specific content when researching. One of my favourites for accuracy and honesty though is @emmacruises