Happy Birthday to me!

Embarkation was incredibly quick and orderly. Plenty of staff directing you where to go. We were on the ship before we new it!

Our first stop was to The Local which really reminded me of pub food. Fish and chips were very good. This is the only location open 24/7 though so, I do wish the menu was a bit more varied. We were unable to secure reservations to dine in the specialty restaurants as they were full which was a shame! I’ve been to Le Bistro and Cagney’s on the NCL Pearl and was dying for my husband to try them. This was a lesson that reserving specialty dining in advance is a MUST! We did dine in all 3 main dining rooms, Taste, Savor, and the Manhattan Room. They all had the same menu just a different atmosphere. The Manhattan Room being the more elegant venue. I like the layout in all 3 dining rooms. Most especially Taste and Savor as the dining areas are subdivided into several smaller spaces that makes the dining experience feel more intimate. We also dined at Garden Cafe. The variety was impressive. Truly something for everyone! I would like to make special mention of our waiter Rajkumar and his assistant whose name I sadly cannot remember. They were the sweetest and so attentive! If you are ever on the Encore and dining at Taste, do yourself a favor and ask to be seated in Rajkumar’s section! They really went above and beyond which was a theme I found with the staff throughout the ship.

I did Laser Tag, and Speedway. They were both so much fun! Definitely worth doing at least once. I also went to the Galaxy Pavilion. It’s a neat concept and people were having a lot of fun.

All the staff are amazing but, again I must bring special attention to Rajkumar and his assistant at Taste. I hope to see them again on future sailings. They are very special people!

The ship is immaculate and modern looking. For such a large ship it didn’t take long to get anywhere. I was pleasantly surprised by this.

This was a very lovely room. Being a brand new ship everything is in pristine condition. I was very pleased with the size of the bathroom and shower. There was ample storage. The shower has a dispenser for body wash and shampoo (no conditioner) and the sink has a dispenser for hand soap. You do still get bar soap and lotion. The shower had good water pressure and the water can get very hot. I loved that it had a hand held shower head. The closet is a good size with lots of shelves and plenty of hangers. The bed was large and very comfortable. There is high gap under the bed to slide your luggage out of the way and two narrow bedside tables with little cubbies for additional storage. The lamp on each side of the bed conveniently has a USB port. One item to note though is there are no standard plugs NEXT to the bed. So if you use a CPAP, as I do, you’ll need to go to guest services and request an extension cord. They will have it sent to your room once you sign it out. If you do not bring it back at the end of the cruise you will be charged $35.00 USD to your onboard account. This is a VERY long cord. So it’s a bit messy and cumbersome to look at. I would just put it away when not in use to keep things looking tidy and to not trip over the cord. It’s also worth noting that the space between the bed and the living area is TIGHT. We had to shimmy between the corner of the bed and a cabinet to get to where the sofa and a narrow built In desk were. The sofa has a nice thick comfortable cushion for sitting or sleeping as it can be make up into a bed as well. Again there is plenty of storage throughout the cabin and also a good hair dryer that is situated under the narrow built in desk. You will also find three outlets which is where we plugged in the extension. The balcony was spacious and very relaxing to sit and watch the sky change colors. There is a double locking system on the door so had I any small children I would have felt very comfortable.

The night before disembarkation instructions are sent to your cabin advising you what to expect. This allowed us to plan accordingly and make time for one last amazing breakfast looking at beautiful Miami before going back to our cabin and collecting our things to disembark.