Good ship for groups, baby boomer couples not so much

Item: Norwegian Encore
Rating: 4.4
Author: sdo22

Norwegian Encore Cruise Review

sdo22

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 36

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 02, 2020

Ship: Norwegian Encore

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9108

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

This cruise was not our first choice. We booked with another CruiseLine and it was cancelled less than 10 days prior to departure. We scrambled to find this E Caribbean cruise for same dates with balcony. Too many at sea days. But overall the ship is well organized. Staff attentive. Pool area too jammed to enjoy.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Prices for beverages are exorbitant. And specialty restaurants make this option with gratuity very high too. We stuck with free dining options and liked the Taste and Savor (smaller dining rooms) much better. Definitely worth it to buy a recommended bottle of wine and have the staff save it for you. We will do that again.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

My 65 year old husband loved the two free water slides. One he sat on a tube the other was feet first and straight down. Over in about 3 secs. Met a couple of guys who also stood in line. I might have tried the go carts. $15 for 8 min. Ride is not too bad. We did not do laser tag but setting was cool. Fitness center was ok but no place to do stretches and yoga. We just did treadmill and nautilaus. Free.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Cabin was great but location meant more rockiness as we headed out on windy days. We got used to it. But this location meant you walked and walked to do anything. I put in 12K steps on my Fitbit without being in port. We are good with walking however.

Ship tip

Book thermal suite access online before cruise. Prices on ship are too high for what you get. We toured spa on first couple of hours and booked a great deal for couples massage at Silver Cove (Great Stirrup Cay) and that was the best experience for us a couple.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

4 out of 5

Crazy weird itinerary. 6:30 am-2:30 pm. We booked an excursion because we worried about getting back in time plus eat lunch. Not really worth it. Went to Megan’s Bay beach. Got too crowded very quickly. Go to Brewers Beach or another. Staff not as friendly as Tortolla beaches. Driver of taxi was very accommodating. His name was Tuffest. Please tip these drivers they have families to support.

Thumbs Up 0

San Juan, Puerto Rico

4 out of 5

Weird itinerary scheduled for San Juan. 5:30 pm 11:30 pm. Hate that we could not do much.

Thumbs Up 0

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

5 out of 5

Best full day of our cruise. 8-5 stay. Don’t bother with ship excursion. Just book a taxi right by dock. Loved this day very much.

Thumbs Up 0

Miami, Florida

4 out of 5