First time Norwegian cruiser

Norwegian Encore Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 60

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5
Norwegian Encore

7 Night Alaska Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 08, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Encore

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8112

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Alaska is beautiful. Loved it. Wouldn’t recommend NCL as my first choice for cruising Alaska.

Embarkation

2 out of 5
We cruised out of Seattle and chose a 9:30am boarding time. This was a mistake because the ship did not begin the embarkation process until 11:30am. The holding room did not have enough chairs for everyone. Not sure why we were offered such an early boarding time when NCL does not board in Seattle until 11:30-12:00pm.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
The main dining room was very slow and often made errors with our order. The orders were not difficult as no changes were made to the menus items chosen. We did not receive refills on our drinks after asking over three times, for water, soda, and or wine. We were a party of four. We watched people around us get seated, served appetizers, entrees and dessert and leave before we received our entrees. This did not happen once but every time we dined in one of the main dining rooms. We spent two and a half hours at each dinner, and at least two hours or more at breakfast each time we dined. I was very disappointed in the service.

The Manhattan Room - Main Dining Room

1 out of 5

We were seated and our order was taken quickly. We waited two hours for our entree. When it arrived, the orders were not ours. We drank all our water and our beverage and asked three separate times for refills. We waited an hour for refills. This happened on the two occasions we ate in this restaurant. I do not recommend this venue for their slow service and cold entrees.

Teppanyaki

5 out of 5

Great service and a fun atmosphere. Be sure to show up hungry as you will receive plenty of food. The food was cooked perfectly and couldn’t have been better.

Maltings Whiskey Bar

5 out of 5

Great service and just a nice atmosphere. The bartender really crafted fantastic drinks.

Sugarcane Mojito Bar

5 out of 5

Blow your mind amazing! If you like mojitos this is a must visit.

The Local

4 out of 5

Great alternative to the main dining hall. The only downside is it’s popularity. Because the food is great it is difficult to get seated at times so off hours work best.

Cagney's Steakhouse

5 out of 5

Excellent service and the food was amazing. I recommend this venue.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5
Fitness center was nice, busy in the mornings but vacant in the afternoons. Not enough onboard activities for a 7 day cruise as in music trivia or other types of games.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Encore Theater

5 out of 5

Nice production. Loved the way the entertainers interacted with the audience. The production was one of the best I have experienced at sea.

The Cavern Club

5 out of 5

Beetles was a great show and sample of the band’s greatest hits.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
Our room attendant was very difficult to reach. He never answered his phone and we met him just one time. We wanted a few more towels and finally asked another attendant if we could take two towels back to our room from his cart. He was very helpful and allowed us to take the towels. Our room was cleaned daily.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
The observation lounge on deck 15 was amazing. We played cards and other games as we watched the beautiful inside passage scenery pass by. Just breathtaking views almost the entire trip. The ship was clean. The staff was very pleasant.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Loved the room, the layout was fantastic. Loved the bathroom. Would book this room again.

Ship tip

Book the crab bake and skip the salmon bake.

Ports of call

Juneau, Alaska

4 out of 5
Loved the scenery in Alaska. So many things to see. Shopping was amazing. Each port offered more or less the same items, but this port had a far better selection and lower prices.

Skagway, Alaska

3 out of 5
This was our second time visiting this port. It is a smaller port that relies heavily on excursions. We chose to visit the port instead of taking an excursion. We walked the entire town in and hour.

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

5 out of 5
We watched families of whales play, dive, and breach for hours while we cruised. We watched dolphins play. It was an amazing sightseeing cruise.

Seattle, Washington

4 out of 5
The city was great but the construction made it difficult to get around I. The wharf area.

Cruise Glacier Bay

5 out of 5
Not only did we have great views of glaciers, we watched Bald Eagles hunt for fish and seals swim along the ice in Glacier Bay.

Victoria, British Columbia

1 out of 5
We were delayed in getting clearance to dock in this port. We were delayed so long the ship cancelled the excursions purchased by our traveling companions. We had two to three hours time in port once cleared so we decided to stay on board.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Well organized.

Traveler Photos

Great views from deck 8 Nice room Crab bake! Nature
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6 Comments

Cruisers4Lyfe     3 months ago

Thanks for sharing

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

javawoody    1 year ago

Thanks for the review

natelorip    1 year ago

Thanks for the detailed review.

cortneyb    1 year ago

when will people realize... IT'S NOT BOARDING TIME, IT'S CHECK IN FOR THE PORT 🙄🤦‍♀️ plus it's not always up to the cruise line. customs and the coast guard say when it's time

cruising2004    1 year ago

Great detailed review! Sorry to hear about your dining experience. Thank you for sharing.

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