Great ship but still too many problems.....

Norwegian Encore Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

MikePadawer

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 31

Overall rating:

3.3 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 22, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Encore

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9854

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

There are many things to like about the Encore, but just about as many things to dislike. The internet service (or lack thereof) was really bad so don't thinking you're getting anything close to "unlimited" service unless you pay EXTRA, and for EACH device!! Overall, I expected more from NCL.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The drink package was nice but it took too long to get served. Food was very good, but the menu at the three main dining rooms was basically the same every night and other than the steakhouse (Cagney's) we were unimpressed by the other options.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Not enough pool deck space, it's wasted on go-karts and laser tag areas.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Our room steward was AWESOME but no one else really stood out.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Laser Tag, VR Deck and Go-Karts are all extras and not what we expected.....basically another gimmick to make money.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Typical and unimpressive.

Ship tip

Internet service was pathetic and NCL should be ashamed charging for it!!!

Thumbs up

Ports of call

San Juan, Puerto Rico

2 out of 5

Too short, very disappointed by arriving at 5:30 and leaving at 11:30.

Thumbs Up 0

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

4 out of 5

Love the island but the remember the taxi service being much easier. Seems like all the cabs are trying to get you to do a tour.

Thumbs Up 0

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

3 out of 5

Probably would have rated higher but weather was bad and didn't get to do what we wanted.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

11 Comments

whoisjongall 4 years ago

"Laser tag, VR Deck and Go-Karts... not what we expected" -- I was hoping you could elaborate on this a bit, especially since these three activities is one of the main reasons my wife and I chose this ship.

Thumbs Up 1

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whoisjongall 4 years ago

"Laser Tag, VR Deck and Go-Karts... not what we expected"

Thumbs Up 1

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CDNCrewser 4 years ago

Thank you for the review. I sail on her on Jan 26th. Internet on ships is 'iffy' since they rely on satellite service which is costly and so the companies try to limit how much bandwidth each person can use - not an excuse, just background. I have seen the FAQs on NCL's website and they do state not to expect the same quality/speed from their service as you would from home internet. Some of the Royal Caribbean ships offer 'VOOM', and it is probably the fastest internet at sea, bit WiFi connectivity onboard is also a factor as well.

Thumbs Up 2

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MikePadawer 4 years ago

@iamkates - Be sure to get on the ship EARLY to book your time slots for the Go-Karts and LaserTag as soon as you get on board. If you wait until later in the day, you'll really be disappointed. :-)

Thumbs Up 3

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Ddancers 4 years ago

If a cruise ship states they have Good or Excellent Wi-Fi then the Wi-Fi should be at least good. Especially if ships use this as a promotional feature to attract customers. They offer it because lots of people myself included like to have It for many different reasons. As an older cruiser it something I like to fill my down time so to speak. I've been on many ships that offer it and some ships charge highly for it and some ship actually have excellent Wi-fi. Should it ever become a totally free service then I would be more forgiving if it was poor. For those who think it’s not important to many, just walk pass the Wi-fi tech service desk of a ship that has poor Wi-fi. One last note as a retired I.T. person I take my hat of to the service people that have to deal Wi-Fi complains. Few individuals could handle their job of dealing with the daily complains.

Thumbs Up 1

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wanjohn68 4 years ago

Glad you enjoyed,

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iamkates 4 years ago

We booked this ship for the go karts and laser tag so less deck space won't bother us as we know this going in. Lots of ships have large sun decks.. This isn't one of them.. It's something different.

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cruisereckoning 4 years ago

Glad you enjoyed

Thumbs Up 1

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merj 4 years ago

Is there a seafood night at the Garden Cafe??

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dragz 4 years ago

I like to unplug on a cruise. Will use a WiFi hotspot at a port but only to check social media and personal email.

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CruzeFan 4 years ago

Many of the issues you mentioned are common across most cruise lines. Internet service is slow and spotty on most cruise lines. A cruise is a good time to disconnect and unplug for a week. Most ships do not have enough space for everyone who wants to use the pools or pool deck. It’s almost impossible to have a pool or deck space large enough for everyone who wants to use it.

Thumbs Up 3

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