Beautiful ship and OUTSTANDING service!

Norwegian Encore Cruise Review

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Reviews: 4
Helpful Votes: 103

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5
Norwegian Encore

7 Night Alaska Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 16, 2021

Ship: Norwegian Encore

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 15804

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 3 years ago

Review summary

Fantastic service! Be sure to see Kinky Boots!

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Covid testing was simple. It consisted of a nose swab and then a 20-30 minute wait. The wait was a bit nerve wracking. The nerves quickly changed to joy once we received our negative results and we were able to board knowing that everyone was vaccinated and just received Covid tests.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
The food in specialty dining was consistently great. We ate in Le Bistro, Q Texas Smokehouse, Los Lobos and Cagney’s Steakhouse. All very good! The complimentary areas are hit and miss. Food is often bland and/or stale. I thought other reviews were exaggerating the stale bread, but unfortunately I was wrong. An example of this would be the hamburger buns. They literally crumbled because they were so dry. That said, the Indian food offerings in the Garden Cafe were good every time we had them.

Los Lobos

5 out of 5

I called this upscale Mexican. Quite fancy compared to any other Mexican restaurant I have been to. Proportions are generous. Don’t have a big lunch if you’re planning on coming here for dinner!

Q Texas Smokehouse

4 out of 5

Service was outstanding! The BBQ itself is good, but lacks the flavor that slow smoked BBQ typically has. That said, the seasonings offered at the table help punch it up. The live music was also a nice treat.

Savor Restaurant - Main Dining Room

5 out of 5

A nice venue for when you want something nicer than the buffet, but not as fancy as specialty dining. The food was decent.

Garden Cafe

3 out of 5

Hit and miss. Some items are fantastic. Others bland or stale. Tastes of India was consistently good.

Le Bistro French Restaurant

4 out of 5

Good food and service. The entrees (appetizers) are small and personal sized. Be sure to order a few if you plan to share.

The Local

3 out of 5

Kind of like eating at Denny’s. Honestly I preferred the buffet.

The District Brew House

5 out of 5

A nice variety of beer. Laid back environment.

Sugarcane Mojito Bar

4 out of 5

Delicious ginger mojitos! If you have the beverage package don’t expect to get much alcohol in your mixed drinks at any bar onboard, however. We ended up switching mostly to beer or 2 ingredient drinks to get a bigger bang for our buck. Still, very tasty!

Starbucks

5 out of 5

Order a latte! The baristas enjoy creating latte art! Loved the little foam bears they made!

Cagney's Steakhouse

5 out of 5

Cagney’s was by far my favorite dining experience. The atmosphere, food, drinks and service were all top notch. Definitely a must do!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
The service and politeness of the staff is like nothing I have ever experienced before. They literally stop whatever task they’re doing to say hello and assist you if needed. Several staff members would say hello to us by name after seeing them briefly in various venues.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
The cabin itself is quite nice. I liked the larger bathroom and that the bed was situated by the balcony. That said, the room is prone to excessive vibration when the ship is at sea.

Ship tip

Skip the mixed drinks. While they’re tasty, they’re mostly sugar water.

Disembarkation

4 out of 5
Our ship was delayed getting into port due to a severe storm. Due to this the disembarkation was a bit congested as people rushed to get off the ship and get to the airport. The staff managed the situation to the best of their abilities.
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10 Comments

lexuswilly    3 years ago

It’s good to hear that Kinky Boots is playing now!

hollysmomtravel    3 years ago

izrgreen    3 years ago

Thank you for taking the time to write a review

jec115    3 years ago

Thank you for the review..

jameeh    3 years ago

Nope, not skipping the cocktails. I'm definitely going to try a ginger mojito 😋. Thanks for the review, really appreciate your inclusion of the fine details of your cruise experience.

Curt34    3 years ago

Thanks for the review.

natelorip    3 years ago

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you had a great cruise.

AuntPinkie    3 years ago

Appreciate your detailed review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

javawoody    3 years ago

Thanks for the review and sharing

cruising2004    3 years ago

Thank you for sharing your experience

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