Semi Live Encore Haven to Alaska Sept 22-29

[firstmickey]

After lunch, I had a two hour nap.i wasn’t even aware I was that tired!  We woke up and saw two whale spouts but no actual whales. The crew says there may be whales as we near Victoria so I’m still hopeful to see one. I’ve seen eagles, two brown bears at Mt.Rainier, salmon running and the salmon ladder in Seattle, and seals and sea lions. I just need whales to complete my wildlife experience.

 

Tonight’s dinner was at Onda which was another new specialty restaurant for us. Dan thought it was his best meal on the ship. I’m not a big pasta lover but I also thought it was excellent.

bread service was yummy especially the roll.

 

 

 

i had the market salad, the mezzalune with roasted carrots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dan had the yellowtail crudo and the seafood pasta and spinach side.

 

 

 

 

For dessert, I had the caramel budino with chocolate gelato and he had the tiramisu.

 

 

Both the meal and the service were outstanding. Finally, we

had food that wasn’t over seasoned with salt. 
 

The comedienne didn’t interest us and we saw Choir of Man last night so we had a drink at the Haven bar and decided to call  it a night. My new drink is a pistachio martini made by Aggie! 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 28 by firstmickey
Typos

[firstmickey]

Last cruise day! We had a one hour forward time change and some rough seas overnight. Our closet doors kept sliding open and slamming closed so I stuffed a pillow in each of them.

 

We had a late breakfast in Haven and walked around the ship. All the games, sales, entertainment are early because we dock at Victoria at  8pm. I’m not sure I’m even getting off the ship tonight. 

We watched the art auction for a while. The whole thing fascinates me that people buy art on a cruise ship. It was pretty interesting to observe. 
 

After getting my coco loco mojito, we headed for the Beatles last show in the theater. 
 

it’s been a very relaxing cruise.

 

[firstmickey]

Nothing exciting to report yesterday. We docked late about 35 mins late at Victoria so we decided to stay on the ship and finish packing.

 

haven breakfast today then easy disembark. We have to stay one night in Seattle due to how our flights worked out. It’s been a great trip but I’m ready to go back to the Florida warmth.

 

thankfully we didn’t have any issues with the hurricane and my daughter was able to return home and did t experience issues either. 
 

I will probably do some type of wrap up but overall it was a great vacation. 

[ggTexasGal]

3 hours ago, firstmickey said:

thankfully we didn’t have any issues with the hurricane and my daughter was able to return home and did t experience issues either. 
 

I will probably do some type of wrap up but overall it was a great vacation. 

Enjoyed your posts . Wishing you safe travels home.

[firstmickey]

Wrapping up.......

 

This cruise was so different from any other cruise that we have taken due to many factors:  weather, Alaska!, our 6 day stay in Seattle pre-cruise, and the fact that we were both newly retired/unemployed.  🙂

 

Overall, we enjoy NCL but recognize that there have been cuts and changes since the pandemic.  The Encore is an extremely well run ship with good leadership from the top down which was evident. We noticed a leadership presence and mingling among all guests that we didn't notice on other ships we've sailed. 

 

The Haven service was outstanding as usual.  Dilip Lopes was the ultimate concierge who was frequently out and among the guests. You can tell how passionate he is about the guest experience and happiness.  He told me that he likes the Jewel class ships for the more personal touch but is happy on the Encore. He does not have any desire to go start any new ships. Geanina in the Haven restaurant must never sleep!  She is there every day and you can tell her sharp eye is on the staff. She is kind and attentive.  When Dan was seasick, she helped me walk food to the cabin personally. We were literally right across from the restaurant or we would have called our wonderful butler, Rey. 

The haven bartenders were fun and as always, it's our favorite place to hang out!

 

Our cabin was 18126. It was our first time staying in the Haven proper and we really liked that aspect.  We didn't have any noise from the open/closing of Haven door but we had noise from the pool deck when there was any kind of music.  I don't think I would like this cabin on a loud party all the time Caribbean cruise. We also had a huge spot of mold on the floor in the bathroom which had an odor. I showed it to our stateroom attendant and she sprayed some type of odor formula on it which helped for one day.  I'm not sure why they couldn't spray it with some Tilex or something. Hopefully, it can be addressed during dry dock.  It didn't ruin our trip and I only said something once and we moved on. Overall, it was a fine cabin.

Tip:  once you pack and remove your clothes from the cupboard, lay hangers on the floor or they bang around all night long.  Especially when motoring back to Seattle! Our closet doors kept flinging open and we lodged a pillow in them to stop them from slamming. 

 

The Haven restaurant food was the saltiest cruise food I've ever had.  The last night, I couldn't even eat the broccolini because it tasted like it was cooked in salt water.  Every single meal except breakfast was salt, salt, and more salt.  In contrast, we ate at both Los Lobos and Onda and our meals were excellent, flavorful, and well prepared. 

 

We knew we chose the rainiest season to visit Southeast Alaska and it rained alot.  It didn't ruin our trip and we felt well prepared clothing wise. My columbia 3:1 jacket was the best.  The shorter port times made it difficult to do more than get a flavor of every port (but a reason to visit again)!  Glacier Bay day was sunny, clear, and cold.   If I had to pick one place to be sunny - that was the one! 

 

I packed way toooooooo much stuff but I used a lot of it because we had a week in Seattle first. We had two carry-ons and two large suitcases.  I know. It's a lot. But I'm from Florida and was cold.  lol 

 

Our Seattle time was a tremendous experience for us. We had sunny and 61-67 every day.  We did tours with Evergreen Escapes to Olympic National Park, Mt. Rainier, and to Snoqualmie Falls and wine tasting.   

 

It amazes me how many people cruise or visit an area without any research. We were in a FB group (that I had to leave) and it was apparent that many knew nothing and didn't understand it was a rainforest at the rainiest season. Also, another couple in the Haven asked us about tipping and had no idea that the concierge, butler, and other staff weren't included in the service charges. I think they even got a little angry with us as we tried to explain it to them and told them the usual approximations of the tips and who we were tipping. I'm extremely grateful to the CC posters and the knowledge shared here. I did a crash course here on Alaska in a few weeks. 🤣

 

I know there are only two more Encore Alaska cruises (this week and next) but I am happy to answer any questions.  Or on the Haven experience. Or on Alaskan packing for warm weather people. 

 

We switched over to Platinum now!  Dan confessed he looked at Mediterranean cruises this am. I'm not ready for that right now.   I can't take any more cruise food for a while.