The more I cruise with NCL, the more loyal I become. I love it when we see familiar faces from past cruises. Members of my party who had maybe 2 or 3 cruises under the belt were given royal treatment just like I was. They were impressed with the VIP treatment that they bought future cruise deposits!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
The General Manager and Senior Food and Beverage Director had our names put in the priority check-in line because they knew us. That made for fast check-in. However, actual boarding was delayed until noon because of a Coast Guard inspection. Once boarding opened up, we were among the first in line.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
All excellent. We knew what we wanted to order from each of the outlets, but what enhanced our food and drink experience was the fact that the Executive Chef, the Restaurant Manager, the Food & Beverage directors and the General Manager's secretary would drop by and check on us. It made me feel like we were the only passengers on the ship.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
We did not actually participate in any activity due to our schedules.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
We were only able to watch the Beatles Invasion shows in the theater. I had seen all the other shows in the past, and since I wasn't interested in rewatching them, my co-travelers decided to skip as well. Too many other things to do, like watch the activities in the atrium.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
I know that the waiters were always on their toes, as were their supervisors and maitre d's because officers would come into the venue looking for us. No complaints there. Our room steward was very thorough and friendly. He would greet us on the rare occasion that we sould chance upon each other in the hallways. Other ship personnel that we encountered were very accommodating and catered to us. It was so nice to see familiar faces and to be greeted with smiles and hugs.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Layout and design: I liked both but I am also familiar with where things were located on the ship, this being my third trip on Encore. Common areas were always clean and well maintained. The housekeeping supervisor of public areas was also very visible to make sure nothing was missed.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
No complaints there. Our steward made sure we were happy.
Ship tip
Study the layout of the ship. Use the maps outside the elevators to familiarize yourself with locations of restaurants and services. Also, use the Freestyle Daily to mark the activities you're interested in. The Freestyle Daily is available on the app, but I like to see the paper version because I can write notes on it.
No excursion here prior to embarkation. We had an excursion to do a city tour with drop off at the Miami Airport but it was canceled due to weather. The inside of the port is beautiful. The outside where passengers get dropped off or picked up was a mess on disembarkation day because of the weather delay and several other cruise ships arriving at the port. I blame the weather for the delay and the traffic, but there was nothing NCL could do about it.
Enjoyed this city. We hopped on a private tour right outside the port. There must have been around 25 of us in the vehicle with open sides. Our tour guide/driver was entertaining, and he made sure to engage everyone in the vehicle in some sort of sing-along.
Very strong winds... the captain did not think it was safe for tender operations so he made it a sea day. We were disappointed but the weather was such that it would have been overcast and windy. Not a problem because I love sea days.
For our group, disembarkation was a piece of cake because we were escorted by the General Manager's secretary and we had a late flight out of Miami. However, trying to unload over 4000 passengers after a 5-hour delayed arrival in port was a nightmare. Some of the passengers were blocking hallways and areas in front of elevators. I thought that some of the passengers showed their true colors: impatient, rude, crude. I heard a lot of talk about complaining to NCL because many passengers missed their flights. They failed to realize that there was nothing NCL could do about the weather or the Miami port authorities who controlled our arrival schedule.
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