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9 day cruise, missed the 1st 3 days

Norwegian Encore Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 5
Helpful Votes: 80

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5
Norwegian Encore

11 Night Southern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 23, 2022

Ship: Norwegian Encore

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 12407

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Once we made it to our 11-day cruise on day 9, it was amazing. Loved our stops and missed Christmas on board, but the New Years party was fun. Overall, it was a fun cruise. I missed having a sports court and mini golf.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
Embarkation in Aruba missed the Miami Embarkation. Very easy process, just stressed that they would let us board but went flawlessly.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Specialty dining was better than MDR and buffet, desserts were better in MDR than Garden Cafe.

Ocean Blue

5 out of 5

I absolutely loved this venue. Everything was delicious.

Garden Cafe

2 out of 5

Very repetitive menu options, food was good just boring after 9 days.

Onda by Scarpetta

4 out of 5

Another good dining venue. Plenty of food.

Dolce Gelato on The Waterfront

4 out of 5

It's worth the price for ice cream. Cupcakes are a pass, nothing special.

Coco’s

5 out of 5

Huge portions, recommend sharing.

American Diner

4 out of 5

Overall, it's good, but not much chicken for chicken sandwich. Milkshakes were very good.

Cagney's Steakhouse

4 out of 5

Good meal. Cheesecake was amazing.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
Participated in most pay fee options, go carts are worth the fee, Galaxy Pavillion was corny, waste of money, definitely 1 and done. Escape room was silly, the Free Escape challenge BAMboozle was way better. Raft Water slide was fun, teenage son liked dropped slide. Laser battle was fun but disorganized, long wait times. Pools were good. Hard to find lounger on sea days.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Choir of Man and Knicky boots were great. Sad to hear no more Kniky boots, great storyline.

Galaxy Pavilion

2 out of 5

Silly games, virtual reality looks corny, but entertained us one afternoon, 1 hour for $29, unlimited games. Wasn't busy and able to get on everything and 1 game 3 times. Walk the plank was not in service due to the ship rocking too much. Zombie Game gave me nightmares.

Encore Speedway

5 out of 5

So much fun, worth the upcharge. $15 for 8 minutes at least 7 laps, my son got 9 laps, on a run.

Encore Theater

4 out of 5

Amazing shows, small theater

Laser Tag

3 out of 5

Fun but staff could not manage crowd, slow service, stuck there for 1.5 hours, 6pm reservation, played at 715pm, unacceptable, had dinner reservation at 8pm, that I had to run and change for.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
No issues, good service.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Beautiful ship, well maintained. Needs more elevators.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Plenty of space for 2, small overall compared to other lines and would have liked a small sofa, bathroom plenty of space. Clean and nice decor

Ship tip

Do Not use NCL air, even if a good deal. They can do nothing for you once they book it. You have no control of times and dates given. I will opt out next time, unless it's a location that I can easily drive to, if the flights get delayed or canceled.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

3 out of 5
Stayed in Port, used the pool, nice chill pool day.
Thumbs Up

Willemstad, Curacao

4 out of 5
Been here before twice, walked around and shopped at pharmacy for lotion, locally made products. Stayed on ship most of the day to enjoy amenities while others got off.
Thumbs Up

Kralendijk, Bonaire

4 out of 5
Nice cultural tour, bus was comfortably small. Visited a museum, drove around island, Salt farm? Drank locally made rum. Visited the slave huts at Salt farm. Beaches look devine, definitely would go to beach next time. Heard it has a large diving community.
Thumbs Up

Castries, St. Lucia

3 out of 5
Wash out, rained the whole time on our catamaran tour, pitons were overcast, swam at beach in rain, need to return for better experience.
Thumbs Up

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5
Love this port, wonderful day at Meagans Bay. Frozen drink at sky bar at paradise point.
Thumbs Up

St. John's, Antigua

4 out of 5
Love the beach, city was a bit run down, local people everywhere, scary looking, but were nice and pushy for a sale.
Thumbs Up

Disembarkation

2 out of 5
Good only because I got kicked off before the crowd due to boarding the ship mid cruise. 2 stars because I was not happy to get forced off at 6AM and no breakfast.
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