Jan 30, 2022 Encore + First-Time Haven Review

[SplashOfWater]

This is going to be a multi-part review. Please bear with me as it will be posted in pieces over the next few days. We did not get off the ship at any of the ports. It was our choice to stay on the ship and enjoy the quiet. Sorry, no port reviews. The ship did go to all the ports on our itinerary. There were no changes.

 

This was the first time my husband and I sailed in the Haven. We usually book an Oceanview (OA) cabin. It’s a good compromise between value and still having some natural light in the room. We typically don’t spend a lot of time in our cabin, but prefer to hang-out in the public spaces on the ship. When we booked this cruise the difference between the Oceanview (OA) and Balcony (BA) was only $100 total. No-brainer…we booked the balcony. Upgrade bids opened up shortly after final payment. We bid on an upgrade to the Haven, but we focused our bids only on the staterooms within the Haven complex. Our offer for a Haven Courtyard Penthouse with Large Balcony (HE) was accepted about four or five days before sailing! We did a happy dance.

 

Day 1 - Port Testing & Embarkation

We had a 9-9:30AM check-in time so we arrived at the Port of Miami parking garage by 8:45AM. The testing area is located at the far end of the NCL terminal. When you first enter, you go through wand security. You then show your Covid card and passport and are told to wait in one of two lines for testing. The lines don’t move until testing starts at 9AM. Make sure you have your CVS barcode with you (printed or on phone). If you don’t, you’ll be sent outside to register. The line moves fairly quickly once they start testing. You’ll be sent to a numbered station/desk for your test. The staffer will give you a short cotton swab and direct you to self-swab your nose (5 twirls in each nostril). You put the swab back into a tube and you’re given a card with a time 20 minutes from now when you should expect your results. You’re directed to sit in a large waiting area. (About 10 minutes into our waiting time, we noticed that most of the testing stations were empty. I think they got through the initial rush of people when they opened.) Your results will be texted to you. But once the time gets to be within a minute of the one on the card, you can go to the results area. They’ll look up your results. If you get a thumbs-up, you get a pink wristband and you’re directed outside. 

 

Now you have to walk all the way back to the other side of the terminal to the passenger check-in entrance. Show them your wristband and you do the x-ray scanner and metal detector security. Once through security, you can head to check-in. If you are in the Haven, go to the left toward the Haven check-in area. The main check-in area is to the right. After our Haven check-in, we headed upstairs to the Haven waiting area. They had comfy chairs, coffee, juice, ice water, pastries, muffins and some light bites. At 11:30AM, we were escorted onto the ship.
 

[SplashOfWater]

Day 1 - Haven 

Once on board, we were escorted to elevators and brought up to Deck 17, The Haven. We were escorted into the Haven, past the Concierge Desk and through the Lounge and Bar. There were already a few passengers at the bar. We continued through the Courtyard to the Horizon Lounge,  where there were some light bites. We waited for the rest of the Haven passengers to arrive. Once we were all there, Sanja (the Concierge) informed us that we could have lunch in either the Haven Restaurant or in the American Diner (free today for lunch for Haven passengers). She also let us know that many of the rooms were not yet ready but we could drop off our hand luggage there anyway. So, we went to our cabin and dropped off our luggage. The cabin was mostly ready. They were just dropping off the fresh flowers and a few other finishing touches. Off we went to the Haven Restaurant for our first meal!

 

The Haven Restaurant is a beautiful, bright, quiet place to eat. It is essentially a specialty restaurant reserved for Haven guests. You can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner there every day. There is also an outdoor area for dining. Even though the Haven was at 100% occupancy, it never felt crowded in the restaurant. The menus are fixed for the entire cruise. There were no daily or nightly specials. 

 

After lunch we went back to the cabin and found that the butler had dropped off a fruit bowl, chocolate covered strawberries and canapes. Trust me, this was only the beginning of the food onslaught! We unpacked and headed to the bar lounge for a couple of drinks. We sat in the lounge and service was great. I don’t remember how long we stayed there or if we went into the Horizon Lounge for a bit.

 

We went to the Haven Restaurant for dinner in the evening. I had the surf & turf and my husband had the pancetta wrapped lamb. Both were so good!

 

A little more time in the bar, then back to the cabin for the evening. Tonight we set our clocks back an hour. Tomorrow is a sea day.

 

We looked through some of the paperwork that had been dropped off…

 

Concierge Desk Hours:  8:00AM to 8:00PM daily

 

Haven Restaurant
Breakfast: Sea Days 7:00AM to 10:00AM, Port Days 7:00AM to 10:00AM, Tortola 6:00AM to 9:00AM, Miami 6:00AM to 9:00AM
Lunch: 12:00PM to 2:00PM
Dinner: 5:30PM to 10:00PM

 

Entertainment
No Kinky Boots on our cruise, but we did have Choir of Man. They performed shows on both sea days, 7:30PM and 10:00PM. The show ran about 75 minutes. It was fantastic! One of the best shows I’ve seen at sea. It’s “not to be missed”. Reservations were not necessary. The roped-off Haven section was available.

 

Latitudes
The following Latitudes gatherings/benefits were suspended: Cocktail Party, Behind-the-Scenes Tour, Dinner with Officers and Wines Around the World Tastings.
 

[Sand and Seas]

Great start and looking forward to more!   We will be on Encore in April.

Thanks for posting😎

[AKR2011]

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to the rest 👍

[SplashOfWater]

Day 2 - Sea Day
After losing an hour of sleep last night (due to the time change) a cup of coffee was required to start the day. The Nespresso machine in the suite is great (a bit noisy though). We wound up using it every day. There is an instruction card on how to use it. There were three types of pods available: Volluto Decaffeinato, Tokyo Lungo and Insprazione Ristretto. There was a selection of teas too. 

 

We had breakfast in the Haven Restaurant. In addition to the breakfast menu, they have a buffet area available with some pastries, yogurt parfaits, muffins, fruits, and smoked meats. They have the french press coffee, also available in decaf. Over the course of the cruise I tried the three-egg omelet, egg white frittata, and scrambled eggs. All were yummy, but I was most impressed by the scrambled eggs because I was used to the watery ones you get in the buffet. These were so much better. 

 

After breakfast we headed to the Horizon Lounge with our tablets. I had downloaded some audio books so the lounge was the perfect spot to sit and listen. The staff keeps some light bites available in the lounge all day (I think). They clear the breakfast items out at 10AM and bring out lunch bites. I don’t know if the variety changes later in the day. There is iced water available and a specialty coffee maker. This coffee is complimentary. It has both regular and decaf beans. I headed here daily for a cafe latte. There is also hot water and specialty teas. My favorite Earl Grey was there.

 

At about noon we went up to the restaurant for lunch. I ordered the Shrimp Scampi entree. It was very good, but for me a lot of food for lunch. We went back to the cabin to find that our butler had left small BLT and egg salad sandwiches and chocolates. My husband and I looked at each other and wondered when we were supposed to eat all of this. We ended up putting the sandwiches in the mini-fridge and ate them for dinner.

 

We spent some time in the casino on this cruise. It never got really crowded in the casino. We were always able to sit at a favorite machine. We liked that the casino was no-smoking. By the end of the cruise we actually made a little money.

 

We went to see Choir of Man tonight. As I mentioned in a previous post, this was a great show. There were no pauses for set changes or cast changes. It keeps you engaged the entire 75 minutes. My only complaint is that folks were walking in after the show had started, some half-way through the show.

 

We stopped by the bar and chatted a bit with the bartender. We learned that there were only 1300 passengers on this cruise. Now we understood why reservations weren’t necessary for the theater show. The bartenders for our cruise were Carlo and Veronica. Veronica’s contract was ending with this cruise, so she was very excited to be going home. 
 

[vacation44]

Thank you so much for detailing your trip---especially the procedures at the Port of Miami.   As we sail this Saturday, I will re-read it a few times each day until then.  Looking forward to reading more.

[WAHMto5]

Thank you for the great review!  Can’t wait to read the rest. 

[SplashOfWater]

Day 3 - Puerto Plata
It was rainy and cloudy most of the day.  In the afternoon, Latalino (our butler) delivered ham & cheese and chicken salad sandwiches, and chocolate chip COOKIES!

 

For some reason I didn’t take many notes today, so I’ll just give you some of our overall comments and observations on the Haven.

 

Most of the staff that we spoke to had been on the ship for 7 months and they had not been able to get off at any of the ports. This was for their safety. Quite a few of the staff were nearing the end of their contracts and were scheduled to go home over the next few weeks. They were very happy to be seeing their families again. A few had their contracts extended by 1-2 weeks or even 1 month. These extensions are involuntary. They may be in positions that NCL is finding hard to fill. During the lockdown, some of the staff were able to continue their education or pick up small jobs. A lot had to use up their savings because jobs were scarce.

 

The staff in the Haven are absolutely wonderful. I consider them the best at what they do. They are eager to assist you…all you need to do is ASK. 

Most times when I headed down the hallway to my cabin I would hear a voice saying “Hello Miss Anne”. It was Bradley (our room attendant) way down at the other end of the hallway. He would see me before I saw him. When we left for breakfast each morning we would set our cabin’s “Make Up Room” switch and remove the keycard that keeps the lights on. This makes it so much easier for your room attendant to know that your cabin is ready to be made up. We would try to do the same in the evenings when we left for dinner, so he could come in for turn-down service. We never had to wait for our cabin to be serviced.

 

We saw Latalino (our butler) several times in the hallways too. He would always greet us by name and urge us to enjoy our day. We did not use him to the full extent that we could have. We are typically very low maintenance guests. Latalino had just started his contract. It was the first time he had been back in 2 years.

 

We didn’t really use the Concierge either. But you can use them for anything you would normally do at Guest Services in the Atrium. They can handle your dining and show reservations and your excursions. Near the end of the cruise, they will have Hero cards out on the counter, as well as small envelopes.

 

For the most part we had the same server in the Haven restaurant for all of our meals (unless she was off for that meal or running food from the kitchen). Our server was Mylene and she was the sweetest person. She always greeted us and knew what beverages we wanted. At the end of the meal she would ask if we'd be back for the next meal. We were very surprised by how nice and talkative the staff were. We started to feel like we were part of their family.

 

The Horizon Lounge is the Haven’s private Observation Lounge. It’s a great place to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet (if that’s what you’re looking for). As I mentioned in a previous post, there are some nibbles there as well as coffee and ice water. A bar server will circulate if there are enough people in the lounge. Otherwise, there is a staff member stationed by the food/beverage area. All you need to do is ask them to get you something from the bar.

 

The 3-story Courtyard is beautiful. There are loungers and chairs on the pool deck, as well as one indoor hot tub. There is additional seating on the third floor. This area was NEVER crowded. In fact, on several days when we walked through there, there was nobody there. The most crowded day was our last sea day when (including the two of us) there were six people there. This is also a quiet place. There is no music blaring like on the main pool deck. The Haven is all about quiet and relaxation.

 

We only walked up to the Sun Deck (on deck 19) one day. There are two hot tubs along with many loungers and daybeds. 

 

The Haven Bar is the place to be in the evenings. It’s a great place to meet your fellow Haven guests. Most of the folks we talked to were very friendly and down-to-earth. 

[SplashOfWater]

Day 4 - St. Thomas
Finally we see the sun! What a beautiful day. Not too warm or humid. We enjoyed some time out on our balcony today.

 

The treats delivered to our cabin today were: chocolate covered strawberries, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and MORE cookies (this time oatmeal raisin, and chocolate chocolate chip). We still had sandwiches and cookies left from yesterday. We feel bad for wasting some of this food, but there is no way we can eat it all. The treats today arrived later in the afternoon. We figured out that they seem to arrive around lunchtime (or when guests typically return after morning excursions). 

 

We had lunch in the Haven restaurant. To keep our food consumption down, we only ordered appetizers for lunch. My husband enjoyed the Mushroom & Cheese Flatbread. I had the Mozzarella & Prosciutto Salad. Both hit the spot without making us feel overfull. Besides, we needed to save room for our specialty dinner tonight.

 

We had a 5:30pm dinner reservation at Cagney’s. This was one of our Sapphire Latitudes meals. We sat out on the Waterfront. There was one other couple out there when we were seated (and no one inside the restaurant). It was a beautiful night. For our entree, my husband and I ordered our favorite cut of meat…the ribeye, medium rare. As always, it was delicious. Followed by one Seven Layer Chocolate Cake, which we shared. Yum!

 

I forgot to mention earlier about information we received early in the cruise from the Concierge about Ports of Call Priority Disembarkation. It instructed Haven guests that wanted to take advantage of priority disembarkation to meet Sanja (the Concierge) at the Concierge Desk, 5 minutes before the ship’s arrival time. She would escort guests down to the gangways. We did not utilize this service, so I cannot further comment on it.

[SplashOfWater]

Day 5 - Tortola
Another sunny day! 

 

The in-cabin treats today were turkey & cheese and tuna sandwiches and a platter with grapes, crackers, cheese and walnuts. 

 

My husband and I took advantage of the empty ship and went down to one of the main pool bars for a couple of drinks. He had his usual Bud Light. I had a pina colada with Kraken rum. Boy, is that yummy! Two pina coladas is my limit for the afternoon. My husband wanted to go to the District Brewhouse. We went there on the NCL Joy in September 2019 and he liked the beer selection. So, I went back to the Horizon Lounge in the Haven with my tablet and he was off to the Brewhouse.

 

My husband said the Brewhouse was pretty empty. He said they were out of about half of their beers. The bartender told him that previous guests have complained about that. Availability of the beers is just not fully back yet. After a couple of beers, my husband left a cash tip for the bartender who said to my husband that it was the first cash tip he received on this cruise. I’ll talk a little more about tipping in a later post.

 

A couple of other comments on the Haven Restaurant. Jenice was the hostess for our cruise. When she saw us coming up to the podium she would always call us by name and welcome us back. She would also let us know if our server, Mylene, was not there or if she was serving outside. A few times during the cruise May (the maitre d’) would stop by our table and see how everything was. It was always perfect. If there was anything special you wanted, you just need to talk to May ahead of time to get it. One day at lunch (the first sea day), the table next to us requested the fish from the main dining room and I think the soup too. No problem…done!

 

That evening we sat at the Haven Bar. It’s so much more fun to sit right at the bar. It’s much more lively. You can watch the bartenders make special drinks. They have so many unusual ingredients at the bar that you don’t see at the other bars on the ship. 

 

Woo hoo! We get to set the clocks back one hour tonight and gain back that hour of sleep we lost earlier in the cruise.

[SplashOfWater]

Day 6 - Sea Day
The treats today were two BLT sandwiches and chocolates. By the way, each sandwich is cut into four triangles with the crusts removed. It reminds me of tea time.

 

I headed down to the Atrium for a Future Cruises talk. I was a bit late, but there were plenty of seats available. We never saw any crowds at any of the public areas we visited outside of the Haven. We walked through The Local several times on our way to the casino. There was never a crowd at the bar or the chairs that look down into the Atrium. On our first sea day, we spent some time in the main Observation Lounge on Deck 15. It was not very crowded there either. They also provide light bites throughout the day, and they have a full bar there.

 

My husband was at the Haven Bar in the afternoon. A guest from the Horizon Lounge came in and complained that he had been waiting over an hour in there for service. The bar staff explained to him that there were only a few people in the lounge and it wasn’t a good use of their staff to have servers continuously circulating in there. Especially when there were more guests up on the Sun Deck. The bar staff also explained that in the Haven they are not going to walk around yelling “bar service”. The guest was informed that he could ask any one of the other staff in the Horizon Lounge to get him a drink. The bartender mentioned to my husband later that some guests don’t understand why some liquors and wines aren’t available. There are supply chain issues and shutdowns which have impacted availability.

 

We ate in the Garden Cafe tonight. Every day the Freestyle Daily would list the theme in the buffet for lunch and dinner. It would also list the special in The Local. Tonight was an Asian theme in the buffet, with roast duck at the carving station. One of our favorites. Now, we probably could have talke to May earlier in the day and had the roast duck served to us in the Haven Restaurant. But we are low maintenance and don’t need a fuss made over us. We wanted to check out the buffet anyway. We got there about 5:30pm. There was hardly anyone there. It was eerie. We enjoyed our duck and had a small soft-serve cone for dessert.

 

Later that evening, I was at the bar when a guest asked for the wine list. Veronica informed him that they were out of most of those wines, but if he mentions one she could recommend something. The guest went through about four wines on the list before he found one they had. He was quite ok with it and not upset at all. Same for my husband when he grabbed a Bailey’s for a nightcap. They didn’t have Bailey’s, but some other brand. Be prepared to be flexible. The good news is that there was a full bottle of Louis XIII Cognac sitting there all week. I don’t think anyone had any.

 

Tomorrow is Great Stirrup Cay, which is the only tender port on this cruise. For Haven guests there is no need for tender tickets and waiting for your group to be called. You just need to meet in the lounge area (by the Concierge Desk) between 9AM and 11AM, and you will be escorted to the tender boats. We did not take advantage of this service, so I can’t comment on it.

 

We received disembarkation information from the Concierge. 

 

If you are able to carry off ALL of your own luggage, then the Easy Walk Off is an option. Meet at the Concierge Desk as early as 7:15am to be escorted to the gangway.

 

We were also given two Priority luggage tags if we wanted to leave our luggage out the final night and take advantage of Priority Disembarkation the next morning. Meet at the Concierge Desk between 8am and 9am to be escorted to the gangway.

 

The disembarkation information also informed the guests which staff members share in the daily service charge and which ones don’t. 

[SplashOfWater]

Day 7 - Great Stirrup Cay
This was our last full day on the ship. You couldn’t ask for a better day. Calm seas, no wind. Believe it or not, they opened up the retractable roof in the Courtyard! It was a very quiet day in the Haven today.

 

We spent part of the day in the Horizon Lounge. I took the opportunity to fill out Hero cards. They were available at the Concierge Desk. I also made out a few “thank you” notes for some of the staff and grabbed some of the envelopes at the Concierge Desk. We moved into the Courtyard for a bit to enjoy the open roof and fresh air.

 

The treats in our cabin today were egg salad and chicken salad sandwiches, and canapes.

 

We had dinner in the Haven Restaurant. It seemed a little more crowded tonight. Many new faces. I ordered two lobster tails and a side of rice pilaf. My husband had one last surf & turf. We finished off with a shared lemon sorbet. Mylene added some mini m&ms for eyes. It was so cute!

 

Tomorrow we disembark in Miami. We don’t have much luggage so we will do the “easy walk off”. One last night…one (or two) more cookies to enjoy!

 

Tipping
We handed out all of our tips today. Tipping is a very personal thing so I’m not going to say how much we tipped. We base our tips on the service WE receive. 

 

We always tip our bartenders and bar servers $1-$2 per drink as we go, then provide an additional tip at the end of the cruise for those we feel offered us superb service. 

 

Even though we didn’t ask for anything special from our butler, he did perform a daily service for us. We tipped based on that. Same for the Concierge. We took advantage of a few of the perks the Concierge offered but didn’t ask for any reservations or excursions.

 

We also identified other staff members that made our cruise experience special and tipped them as well. This included staff in the restaurant and our stateroom attendant.

[SplashOfWater]

Day 8 - Disembarkation
This is always a sad day for us. We love being on a cruise ship and we always feel a little down when we have to leave.

 

NCL is trying to go paperless, so they will email your invoice rather than leave a paper copy. I would suggest requesting a copy from the Concierge the morning you leave. By the time you receive the email, you could already be off the ship and it will be more difficult to resolve any issues.

 

Breakfast options for this morning are the Haven Restaurant from 6am-9am or lighter fare in the Horizon Lounge. We were driving home and planning on meeting friends about 1.5hrs north of Miami, so we opted for some pastries and fruit from the Horizon Lounge. We brought it back to our cabin and made our last cup or two of Nespresso. Our butler kept our coffee supply well-stocked throughout the cruise. 

 

We finished packing a few items and headed out to the lounge by the Concierge Desk a little after 7am. There were a few other folks waiting when Sanja told us at 7:20am that we could depart. She led us to a service elevator that took us straight down to Deck 7 for departure. I think we were the first ones off the ship.

 

The Encore was using a facial recognition system for disembarkation. We just needed to pull our masks down and then we headed down the ramp toward customs. We walked through the customs area and out to the parking garage. We didn’t need to show our passports to anyone.

 

Well that’s it. I hope this review was helpful. I apologize for the length and not including any photos. I’ve never done one of these before, but I’ve read quite a few of them. This is my way of giving back for all of the great advice I’ve received from everyone on Cruise Critic. If you have any questions, I’d be more than happy to answer if I can.

 

--Anne

[Booboochase]

Nice review! What did you think of the Courtyard Penthouse with Large Balcony? I have it booked and hoping we like it! Thanks 🙂 

[SplashOfWater]

1 hour ago, Booboochase said:

Nice review! What did you think of the Courtyard Penthouse with Large Balcony? I have it booked and hoping we like it! Thanks 🙂 

We bid on an upgrade and were assigned to 17124. It is an accessible cabin, so it is larger than the other HE cabins on Deck 17. The bathroom is quite different too, to accommodate a wheelchair. I believe all of the Courtyard Penthouse cabins have a small dining table and chairs. We really enjoyed the deeper balcony. You will like it. The cabin is definitely larger than a regular Balcony (BA) cabin.

[worktocruise610]

Thank you so much for this honest, well thought out, review. Sounds like you had a great time and I’m glad you came on to tell us about it.

[mafig]

Really enjoyed reading your review.  Thank you.!

[KellyFcruising]

This is not the first review recently that mentioned wines not being available. I have noticed that there are already few options that are $15 and under to be included in the drink package. When people were asking for wines they did not have did you happen to hear whether they were charging the additional amount still if the available wine was over the $15 limit? 

[SplashOfWater]

12 minutes ago, KellyFcruising said:

This is not the first review recently that mentioned wines not being available. I have noticed that there are already few options that are $15 and under to be included in the drink package. When people were asking for wines they did not have did you happen to hear whether they were charging the additional amount still if the available wine was over the $15 limit? 

Unfortunately I did not hear. I think a good number of Haven guests upgrade to the Premium Plus Beverage Package, which includes the wines above $15.

[SplashOfWater]

I have posted photos of cabin 17124 in the Cabin Information topic:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1981007-ncl-cabin-information-compilation-no-cabin-questions-posted-here-please/?do=findComment&comment=62610385

 

This is an accessible HE cabin, and is convenient to the main Haven entrance as well as all areas within the Haven. There is an elevator in the bar lounge for access to Decks 17-19. 

[Newfun4me]

Thanks!  Great review!  We are booked in the Haven to Alaska in October.  I really appreciate the details!!!

[SplashOfWater]

4 hours ago, Newfun4me said:

Thanks!  Great review!  We are booked in the Haven to Alaska in October.  I really appreciate the details!!!

You will enjoy it! The cruise lines should be back to full capacity by then. The Haven will be your escape from the crowds.

[Kirk2121]

"There was hardly anyone there. It was eerie." 

 

I know right! Nice having access to everything but also be nice to get back to normal! 

 

Gf n i went out to Vegas months back.  Was weird how few people walking around.  & mcdonalds was out of any beef! Crazy

 

Back to back Jan2nd & jan9th gf n i on encore.  That ship so cool.  We got lucky & saw choir of man before they quarantined.  Try "alexa play Choir of man!" 

 

Crazy amounts of food in haven.  & so delicious.  We're off to cagneys in a few. 

 

Cruise well. 🙂

 

Edit & hopefully masks gone SOON.  our crew n us still wearing them.  Not as fun communicating. 

E🙂pan widget

Edited March 5, 2022 by Kirk2121

[SplashOfWater]

2 hours ago, Kirk2121 said:

Crazy amounts of food in haven.  & so delicious.  We're off to cagneys in a few. 

 

Cruise well. 🙂

I've enjoyed reading about your trip! Sounds like your having a great time!

[Ingnacious]

We were upgraded to Haven forward facing suite outside of the courtyard. It will be our first time utilizing the Haven, so the information is very helpful. Thanks!