Beautiful and Breathtaking

Item: Norwegian Encore
Rating: 4
Author: BubbaDat

Norwegian Encore Cruise Review

BubbaDat

Contributor Level: Second Mate

165 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 83

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Alaska Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 25, 2021

Ship: Norwegian Encore

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 10134

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 3 years ago

Review summary

Icy straight point /Hoona is still a wasted time because of the small area of shops and space. We were not even a full ship and people were on top of each other everywhere. Small walking trail around the docks was not allowed to go to town (small as it is) because of Covid. Hallways are tight in the cabin areas and very hard to get around with scooters and or people on them. In the public areas they are fine but they will have problems with a full ship. Be prepared to walk a lot on the ship to get from one side to the other.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Airfare was included as one of the perks and we didn’t realize that if you want to fly in a day or more before or after the cruise, you have to change it no later than 75 days before you sail. Flying in the day of was nerve racking because NCL did not give us a direct flight even though we were flying out of Atlanta. With the layover and traffic in Seattle we arrived with 3 hours before the ship departure. We also paid for the shuttle service to and from the port and it could not have been better. After we got our luggage from the carousel NCL was just steps away from us to turn over the luggage to them and not have to worry about it till at our cabin. .Covid testing was very easy and the bus dropped us off right in front of the building. Check in and on the ship to include the testing took less than 45 minutes before we were in our cabin and our luggage was already delivered.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Garden district buffet breakfast was really good but the rest of the cruise was just the same thing just about every day. NCL’s food standards have really changed for the not so good side in taste. Service was great at every location but the taste of the food was just okay with no wow to it that you would want to return to it again to try something different or even the same thing.

Cagney's Steakhouse

3 out of 5

Service was slow/late. We were seated and we waited for 30 minutes before anyone came to give us water much less a drink or take our order. We used one of our included specialty restaurant and if not the total bill would have been over $170 for 2 of us and that didn’t cover our drinks.

Atrium Bar & Grill

4 out of 5

Really nice service

Waves Pool Bar

3 out of 5

Only time anyone was outside to go here was on embarkation day with nice weather.

The Manhattan Room - Main Dining Room

3 out of 5

Service was great but food was okay and not something that you would want to return for more.

The Local Bar

3 out of 5

One of only 3 places to watch any type of sports on TV’s with very limited seating at the bar.

The Local

4 out of 5

Local was always a busy place and a good place to hang out.

The District Brew House

5 out of 5

Best service and a great place to enjoy your time. One of the 3 places to watch any sports on TV on the ship with limited seating.

Teppanyaki

5 out of 5

Best food and service on the ship!

Skyline Bar

4 out of 5

Nice service here.

Mixx Bar

3 out of 5

Would not go out of the way for a drink here.

Sugarcane Mojito Bar

3 out of 5

Tried all the different drinks and they were okay but would not go out of the way to get something from here.

Onda by Scarpetta

1 out of 5

Don’t even waste your time on this one. The pasta was under cooked to start and after we asked for different dishes they came back even worse. We were returned our specialty dinner because we didn’t even get the full order and left for the buffet.

Garden Cafe

4 out of 5

Breakfast was great every day but it was the same thing for lunch and dinner every day/night the whole week. Breakfast is the only reason for 4 stars.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Service was great and all of the crew were very friendly and nice.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Ship was much bigger than I thought so be prepared for lots of walking. If you are counting steps kind of person/people then this is the ship you will enjoy because you have to do lots of walking if your cabin is not close to the elevators. The elevators are only in the front and rear of the ship but it’s a great flow through the ship because they are small but they have 8 at each section. This is the first ship that I have ever seen the crew wipe down the walls even in the stairway’s.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Cabin was really nice and the bed is right next to the balcony. Room temperature was warm when we first arrived with temperatures in the 80’s outside. We were able to sleep with the balcony door open and it locks in place so it doesn’t slide around during ruff sea’s. Room steward was nice and always there to help.

Ship tip

We didn’t have a full ship to deal with because of Covid so it did get a bit crowded at times in the atrium and in the buffet during breakfast so be prepared. We didn’t reserve most of our dinners till we were on board and it was around 3 just a couple of hours before sailing and people were to busy stuffing their face in the buffet and waited till book their dinner and show reservation and still complaining about not being able to get the times they wanted. Even with multiple ways of booking them on the ship from the kiosks at the elevators to the dinner reservation desk and in the cabins on the TV’s.

Thumbs up

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Face Recognition used for leaving the ship was very slow and lots of people were having to still get their paperwork looked at because the crew no adjusting the cameras to each person’s height so people were having to bend over or stand on their tip toe’s. We used the Seattle Port Valet for our luggage and it was so much easier to just check all our luggage and not have to touch them till we were at our home airport luggage pickup. We used the shuttle service to the airport and it was very nice to not have any luggage to deal with while watching people fight with their luggage trying to get it out to the shuttle busses.