One star BARELY

Item: Norwegian Encore
Rating: 3.1
Author: ginawho

Norwegian Encore Cruise Review

ginawho

Contributor Level: Second Mate

73 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 6

Helpful Votes: 78

Overall rating:

3.1 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 04, 2022

Ship: Norwegian Encore

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Would not return to encore. Staff was SO unhappy. Not fun like we are used to with NCL.

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Fine. Nothing special.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Food was good. Le Bistro was outstanding.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Pools. No chaise lounges in the sun. Only chairs. Who can relax in a chair? The only chaises were under the roof by the sides of the ship. The two hot tubs were on the deck above pool and were the size of teacups. Five people were a CROWD. One staff member in a yellow shirt actually came right up to me as I was in the hot tub sipping a pina colada, and told me cocktails WERE NOT ALLOWED IN THE HOT TUB. Hellooooo!?!? I told him I’d been served the cocktail while I was IN the hot tub, and put my drink down. Why on earth?!?!?!? We won’t sail on the Encore unless it’s redone.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Worst experience on NCL ever. Bars were horrible and staff in restaurants and bars was very underwhelming. Have been on several NCL and staff was always wonderful. Encore was different ballgame. Rude bartenders who made it clear we were inconveniencing them. Ignored us more than once. We got up and left a couple of them. And we typically tip $1 per drink. Not on the Encore. Refused to mix certain drinks that we’ve had on all our other NCL cruises. It was our daughter’s first cruise and we talked about how amazing everyone would be. They made liars out of us.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Ship tip

Don’t

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

5 out of 5

Didn’t get there. Instead went to Carnivals Amber Cove. Highlight of the cruise. Fabulous. Water slides fun and included. Zip line very inexpensive and no limit to number of rides. Lots of great shops, staff there were wonderful. Pools gorgeous.

Thumbs Up 0

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

4 out of 5

Great Stirrup Cay (Cruise Line Private Island), Bahamas

4 out of 5

Can’t remember.

Thumbs Up 0

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

3 out of 5

Three other ships in port. Beaches were jammed. Meh

Thumbs Up 1

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

7 Comments

PaulzyJC 1 year ago

No. Cocktails are not allowed in hot tuns for obvious reasons: they can spill inside the tub, forcing a cleaning?

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woody20 1 year ago

Not sure why you had to update your comments from December but we sailed on Encore in April and it was great. Staff were very friendly. Bars were busy but still were served in timely manner. Would do it again!

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javawoody 1 year ago

Appreciate your view

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Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

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NyBella 1 year ago

Sorry to hear about the drink not being allowed in the hot tub. From past experience they do want you to keep it away. Not a problem, since who wants to be in a hot tub with floating limes and pina colada mix. I’m already sweet enough. Lol

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AuntPinkie 1 year ago

Appreciate your detailed. Sorry this cruise didn’t meet your expectations.

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cruising2004 1 year ago

Sorry you were disappointed.

Thumbs Up 1

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Other reviews of this sailing

Wonderful, beautiful, great food, great staff

Nice overall but would like to see more family style entertainment

1st time NCL cruiser