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Norwegian Encore Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 43

Overall rating:

2 out of 5
Norwegian Encore

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 24, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Encore

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 11840

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

The free beverage package does have a charge of $195 for a service charge. The casino minimums are a joke. Roulette has a $25 minimum with only $5 chips. The table was empty most of the cruise. You will be hit with extra charges for pretty much everything you do.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5
The Buffet food was disappointing. Not sure why there was an Indian food station for every meal. The restaurants were booked solid for the "Free premium restaurants" When you get on board you must race to book reservations for your cruise. Only able to book some restaurants when I complained to front desk about of lack of reservations available. French restaurant was the worst, took 2 hours to get the food then it was not very good.

Ocean Blue

5 out of 5

Amazing food and service

Savor Restaurant - Main Dining Room

5 out of 5

Good food and great staff

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5
Go Kart track was booked solid for the cruise after 3 hours of departure. There is a charge for the track and speaking to many other cruisers they said it was not worth the price or wait. The Laser tag was very hectic and also an extra charge. The kids said it was disappointing and"Lame". The pools were overcrowded and way too small for 4,000 guests. Had to pay an extra 200.00 per person for the Vibe beach club to get a chair.

Entertainment

1 out of 5
Most shows were booked early on and the headlining show Kinky Boots only played 2 nights.

Laser Tag

1 out of 5

Kids hated it

Encore Speedway

1 out of 5

Long waits and expensive for a terrible experience

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Room stewards were amazing.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
Not enough outdoor space

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5
Cabin size small for a balcony room

Ship tip

Would recommend not sailing on Holidays and maybe go with Celebrity.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

1 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

1 out of 5
Not long enough in port, everything was closed

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

3 out of 5

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

1 out of 5
The Shore excursion was terrible

Disembarkation

1 out of 5

Traveler Photos

Was this review helpful? 42

6 Comments

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

NuggetsCruising    4 years ago

The Norwegian Encore Can Be Confusing Because It's Brand New, At Times, You Can't Always Your Expectations To Be High.

MandDTravel    4 years ago

Sorry you had a bad experience I have nothing but rave reviews about NCL from all my clients. If you don’t have the time to research any ship or resort or spend time booking family dining or activities maybe you should use a Travel Agent it doesn’t cost you anything more and you have no stress

Cruiserike0322    4 years ago

Sorry you were disappointed, we have yet to have a disappointing cruise

cruisereckoning    4 years ago

Sorry you were disappointed

dsorel    4 years ago

Sad that you were not able to enjoy everything the ship has to offer...But this is why you can login to your NCL account and start planning and book ahead of time. All experience cruisers knows that...Been 10 cruises with NCL and everything was near to perfect. Hope you enjoy your next cruise 😉

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