Great Scenery, mediocre cruise line
Norwegian Encore Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 5
7 Night Alaska: Glacier Bay Skagway & Juneau (Seattle Roundtrip)
Sail date: September 22, 2024
Ship: Norwegian Encore
Cabin number: 10774
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 1 month ago
Review summary
Overall, I was not impressed with Norwegian. Going in, I had plans to take advantage of booking another trip while on board because you save money, but I just don't see me going back to Norwegian. I was on a Carnival cruise and it was FAR SUPERIOR. Carnival has MORE and better shows. Instead of 1 main show, you saw 2 or 3 different shows on Carnival and they had each show at least twice a night. The theater was larger on Carnival so between the size and offering, anybody that wanted to see the shows could. Also there weren't other venues around distracting you from the show. You also had other venues that had comedians or bands or games or other entertainment. The comedy club on Carnival doubled as a place they gave presentations about the upcoming ports during the day. On Norwegian it was at the theater because that was the only venue that could hold a larger gathering. I did enjoy 3 of the specialty dining restaurants and it did seem easy enough to get in. I also liked the fact that you didn't have to eat at a certain time and your alcohol drink package wasn't limited to 15 drinks per day( although I don't remember coming close to that limit on Carnival) . You could also get 2 drinks at a time on 1 card(alcohol or non alcohol or combo) so you didn't need to worry about having wife's card to get her a drink. The place you could get food anytime was limited in offerings and NO PIZZA. Since the Encore is 1 of 2 Norwegian ships that sail Alaska, you would think there would be a retractable roof over the pool area. That way you could have music parties etc as well as swimming. The Haven area pool( for the really wealthy people) does have a retractable roof for their pool area, at least according to the giant model of the ship they have on board. If you moved dj parties, you could have a venue dedicated to the comedy shows at night. Maybe have more shows allowing more people the chance to experience them. The venues seemed small across the board which meant people couldn't always get in to see what they wanted. There were many different bars on board which may be why some of the venues were smaller.Embarkation
Very easy process, but spelled name wrong which caused minor inconvenience.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Buffet and dining room food was great. The specialty restaurants (Cagneys, Le Bistro, and Ocean Blu) were EXCELLENT and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND. On the other hand AVOID AT ALL COST Q Texas Smokehouse. The food was burnt, luke warm, and TASTED TERRIBLE. I wouldn't bring that home to my dog to eat. The service was SLOW. The food place where you could get food anytime was VERY limited and NO PIZZA.
Onboard Activities
Activities were OK for a cruise.
Entertainment
1st off Choir of Men was EXCELLENT. Loved the show. The theater on the other hand, not so much. It reminds me of what you would see at a college campus, not a grand theater. We were in the middle and to the left. At times it was difficult to herd because a band was playing in another venue to the right of the theater. So obviously the walls are not sound proof. The loud music from the band distracted from the production. Seats were fairly comfortable. As far as the other entertainment, I would say 3 stars. The comedy shows had to share space with the dj parties, so very limited amount of performances and a very small venue as well. There was a band ADAH on the Encore and they were GREAT. Didn't get to see Beatles tribute band. Mostly schedule conflicts and venue size.
Service and Staff
The only reason for a 4 instead of the 5 stars is because NO towel animals. The front desk people were great, servers at buffet were great ( although somewhat annoying when they would clean your table of silverware, napkins, and cups even when you stood up to get something else. They had spare silverware(wrapped in a cloth napkin) on the table, but it got annoying to have to use 3 or 4 sets just to have a meal. My drink was taken from me (alcohol), which would have really upset me if I didn't have the drink package. I pre purchased a photo package and still ended up buying more. Loved the photos. The staff was EXCELLENT with different backgrounds.
Ship Quality
I think the venues were too Small which means you have to stand in line at least 10 - 15 minutes early if you want to see anything. Different restaurants were spread out throughout the ship. The theater should have been isolated so sounds from other venues do not distract from the show.
Cabin / Stateroom
Cabin was clean but small. We had a balcony room that had a couch in it. The bed was in the room sideways which meant you couldn't see the scenery from the balcony unless you were on that side of bed. The other side of bed was about 12" from the closet which meant only 1 person could access the closet. On the other side was the couch and a counter top with a large mirror. There was a small refrigerator tucked in but you couldn't fit much of anything in it. The actual balcony was also small. It fit 2 chairs with a small table between them. You couldn't fit a lounge chair on it.
Ship tip
Take walkie talkies so you can communicate with people in your party because you CANT communicate free on the app with people on the ship. If you want to see a show get there early, at least 15 to 20 minutes because venues are SMALL. early
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
If you have never been to Alaska, the White Pass Train Ride is a MUST. Super views and very nice. Lunch was mediocre, but is by NO way a distraction from the trip. The puppies were great and the tour guide funny and informative.
Loved Glacier Bay. Very Beautiful and great pictures. The park Rangers they bring on board are fantastic.
The Excursion itself, nature boat ride and crab feast were SUPER. We saw seals, bald eagles and of course crabs. They showed us the crab pots and how crabs are caught.
Now for the bad part. Norwegian ports at the FURTHEST port from the city. Combined with the short amount of time off the ship means you do the Excursion and go back on the ship. Our bus met us at the port and took us to the Excursion and then picked us up and had to go straight back to the port. Couldn't stop in town for souvenirs. Also, if you just went to town instead of a excursion it took 30 to 40 minutes to get there and the last bus back to the ship leaves at 11 am. So you get off the ship around 7. You get in town, no earlier than 730 to 8ish and then need to jump on the last bus back by 11. At best 3 to 3 and a half hours to explore. When we 1st got there, no other ships were docked at the city. When we were passing by on the way back to our ship, there was 1 ship as big as ours docked right bt the city. I'm sure Norwegian uses the further dock to save on port charges, but charges the same fees as if we docked right by the city. They could extend the stay and offer shuttle services.
Disembarkation
We got up and went to the buffet and had a good breakfast. They had the full buffet running so you weren't limited. When we got off, it was very easy. We took advantage of them taking our checked luggage to the airport for us. For $30 each, we were checked in, given our boarding passes and luggage tags on Saturday night. We put our checked luggage in the hallway before midnight and didn't see it again till we got back to Savannah. We saved $5 per checked bag and there was BO 50 pound weight restriction on the bags either. Our flight didn't leave till 12:30 Monday morning. So all we had when we left the ship was our carry on luggage. I believe this is something seattle has worked out with the airlines, but it is GREAT.