Encore Review - Aug 28th to Alaska

[Tippyton]

Same as my formal CC review with some bullet adds at the end....  All questions welcome.

 

Great ship.  This was our first time on a newer ship.  Liked the layout, the design, the decor.  All modern, with some smart features throughout.  Easy to navigate.  Even though it was a large ship, it did not seem big.  Granted, we were only about 70% full but it never seemed crowded.  Loved the observation lounge.  Gym was nice but not enough floor room for stretching, etc.  Atrium entertainment was great - all acts.  Did not go to a show except the comedic magician.  Pretty milquetoast stuff, a bit boring.  Saw one comedian 1st night in the main theater.  Did not like the limited seats at the comedy venue, but the adult game shows in the Atrium were plenty humerous.

 

Staff was great.  Always attentive, bussing tables and offering beverages.   At the same time, there were never intrusive or in your face.

Food was good.  Not "Wow", not yuck.  Lots of good, creative salads at the lunch buffet.  We ate in the main dining room every night (Manhattan) and had breakfast in one of the smaller satellite rooms once.    I could sit here and pick apart a lot of things but I won't.  We did find the desserts lacking in overall appeal - only ordered once - creme brulee.  The rest we went up to the buffet after some tummy settling and had ice cream.  I did like the fact they had real ice cream with revolving flavors.  All were good.  Breakfasts got boring in the end.  The pancakes need a lot of work.  Did like that they had muesli every day.  No bacon shortage either.  

 

Itinerary needs help due to port times.  Juneau you get in at 3:00 PM and leave at 11:00 PM.  If you do an excursion not much time to peruse the town in daylight.  We had to skip Skagway and did Icy Strait Point.  Way too long for the port - not  much there outside of some excursions.  We took advantage and relaxed.  Victoria is a joke.  We pulled in late, did not go off the ship (2.5 hours in port, arriving at 830 PM).  Others that did found not much open.  Ketchikan was the biggest joke.  Tied up at an industrial dock at 7:00 AM, last bus to town at 930 AM, and last bus to the ship at 1100 AM, leave port at 1:00 PM.   

 

Weather - one decent day at ISP.  Rain in the other ports. Our whale watching in Juneau it poured.  Prepare for it and its all no problem.

 

Covid and Masking - maybe 5% masking in the beginning pax and crew, perhaps less at the end.  One guy on the last sea day looked miserable - not sure what.  A couple of uncomfortable coughing pax on the bus to the airport.

 

Crowd - older crowd, a few kids and teens.  All well behaved for the most part.  Overall a decent bunch of passengers.  You still have your rail hogs, those who don't get elevator etiquette, etc. but what else to expect from a crowd of 2800 or so.

 

Food - again, buffet salads were interesting and good.  Lots of ethnic choices too.  Something for everybody.

 

Ports - FJB needs to use his pen for good use and fix the disaster that requires stops in Canada.  It benefits nobody and is archaic.  That results in these quirky and almost worthless port times.

 

Documents - nothing was scrutinized upon embarkation; could have used my neighbors vax card and covid test...  ArriveCan did what for us exactly?  Also had to fill out  a customs form on ship (hand written), not sure why since we had to do the ArriveCan.  

 

WiFi - if using internet minutes LOG OUT at LOGOUT.COM or your minutes will disappear.  Closing the app doesn't do it.  Throwing your phone in the ocean won't do it.  I went to guest services and they restored my unused minutes without objection which was nice.

 

Wildlife - lots of whales, porpoises, otters, seals, and bald eagles.  And a drunk couger or two. 🤣

[gknep]

I did my first Alaska cruise with NCL 20 years ago. Those were pretty much the port times even then (Juneau, Ketchikan, Victoria) In fact, those have been the port times every time I have done the round trip out of Seattle. The only difference back then was that we docked in Juneau and Ketchikan in town with no need for shuttles. The daylight situation in Juneau is better earlier in the season when you can do an excursion and still wander the town in daylight. We used to get off in Victoria but no longer do. Went last September after the restart when the Canada stop was not done and did not miss it. Going again in 3 weeks prepared for wet weather in Alaska and rough seas at the beginning and the end. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, Tippyton said:

You still have your rail hogs

What is a rail hog?  I've never heard of them.

[YVRteacher]

I think they are people who stand on deck at sailaways on sunny days and don’t make space for other people to stand at the railings. I didn’t notice any of this on the Encore last week though.  

[gerry1.10]

Hi YVR

Can you list the officers on board or get the picture where they are listed please?

 

thanks

[Tippyton]

7 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

I think they are people who stand on deck at sailaways on sunny days and don’t make space for other people to stand at the railings. I didn’t notice any of this on the Encore last week though.  

Glacier Bay also.  And those throwing jackets on the lounge chairs in the Observation Lounge.