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It was alright

Norwegian Encore Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 9
Helpful Votes: 180

Overall rating:

4.3 out of 5
Norwegian Encore

7 Night Caribbean: Great Stirrup Cay & Dominican Republic (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 11, 2024

Ship: Norwegian Encore

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 12180

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 3 months ago

Review summary

For our first NCL cruise it was very different from what we were use to.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Easy check in process, had to wait an hour to get on the boat. They don’t start boarding until 12pm.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
For the most part, the food was good, just had issues with the food being lukewarm at best. Compared to Carnival's free food options NCL wins hands down.

Cagney's Steakhouse

4 out of 5

The crab cakes and baked onion soup were the bombs. The steaks were cooked to perfection my only complaint is the time between the apps and main courses could have been shorter. It seemed like it took over 30mins. Let them know what you are celebrating, and they will come to serenade you at your table and give you a large piece of cake.

The Local

4 out of 5

Food always hit the spot no matter what time we ate there

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
We enjoyed the bingo games, and I was surprised at how few people played. The trivia games were fun; my only complaint is where these events are held. The atrium is too small, and depending on if you can find a seat, you can barely see the screen. Deal or no deal was also great, but the cruise director lacked the charisma to host the game. He didn't make it a very robotic performance. My only other suggestion is not to have people host different events with strong accents. One guy was very hard to understand, and he kept making jokes to hide his uncomfortably.

Encore Casino

4 out of 5

Slots are tight and let you win on low bets, and as soon as you increase it, you lose it all. Also, finding a bartender is next to impossible, and I had to track them down. They know you get free drinks at the casino, and they never appear. After doing this for the first four days, the bartenders started recognizing and checking on us when we were in the casino. I just wished the digital roulette game was in the non-smoking area. Luckily, the night we ended, there weren't too many smokers around, and we played that game until we were the only ones left. Let's say we made enough to pay our cruise off!! There is nothing like getting a bill with a zero balance.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
The Choir of Men show was fantastic!!! As someone who has only cruised with Carnival they need to follow NCL's lead!!! This is how musicals should be done.

Galaxy Pavilion

3 out of 5

Some of the games are just ok. Paying $8 a pop for a ride that is over in a minute is not okay. Also, I don't particularly appreciate that they don't sanitize the gear in between uses. It's like taking off one person and immediately putting it on another. The best game is the zombie-hunting game; after you do this game, the others fail to compare.

Encore Theater

5 out of 5

The choir of men was amazing the best show I have seen on a cruise ship!

Service and Staff

2 out of 5
To us, the staff wasn't friendly, and it seemed like we were bothering them to ask a question. I don't know if this is NCL’s laid-back approach. I can only compare it to Carnival staff, who seem happier and more friendly.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Beauty ship and it's very well maintained. Some areas we didn't get a chance to see during our cruise.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
It is a beautiful cabin with a slightly larger balcony at an angle. In my opinion, the bed was not comfortable. I tossed and turned all night to get comfortable.

Ship tip

Dont stress about check in time you cant board the ship before 12pm.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Great Stirrup Cay (Cruise Line Private Island), Bahamas

5 out of 5
Also, visiting for the first time, I wouldn't say I liked that it took over an hour to get to the island. You have to meet at the Encore Theater and sit for about 40mins then walk down to the tender. Then, take the tender to the island. Once on the island, it was very beautiful, and we had an excellent time.
Thumbs Up

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

5 out of 5
It is my first time at Taino Bay, a very beautiful port. We almost didn't get off because we had been to the Dominican Republic numerous times.
Thumbs Up

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

5 out of 5
My first time visiting this port, and it was very beautiful; we did the Drake seat beach excursion with Paradise Skyride.
Thumbs Up

Tortola, British Virgin Islands

5 out of 5
Also visiting this port for the first time and we booked a Best of Tortola tour with beach
Thumbs Up

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
We stayed on the boat until about 9:30am, claimed our luggage, and waited in line to leave. I just wished they had separate lines for those with birth certificates and those with passports
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