Sailing May 3 to May 10, 2026 Alaska round trip via Seattle. Embarkation was at 10:30am, reached the port via Lyft, from my Hotel near the Seattle Airport SEA price $44. Luggage tags were mailed so no need to print. Dropped off bags at the terminal. Nice thing is that the Encore has a mid ship crew service elevator that was used for luggage so elevator congestion was lessened. Food American Dinner seating near the host is exposed so it got cold in that area on this sailing. Local Pub, 6am to 3am, late night menu started at 10:30pm. Breakfast Omelets can be customized, my favorite options the Cobb Salad, Wings with Sweet Chili Sauce, Warm Chicken Salad, Pretzel Bites with Cheese Sauce, Hot Fudge Sundae, order of Fries, etc. Buffet, Customized Omelets, Fresh Fruit, Custom Asian Noodle Soups during the day, Scoop Ice Cream. I prefer my food freshly composed so limited time spent here. Main Dinning Rooms no ball caps at dinner, Enjoyed Breakfast, Lunch and Dinners, you can ask to have sides swapped with your entree, and at breakfast I'd ask for 2 glasses of milk because of the distance between kitchen and dinning room. Specialty Dinning was good, and used some of my Stock Benefit Onboard Credit to upgrade to Lobster Thermidor $35 after fees and taxes. FYI, reservations are initially done in increments of 2 if you are seating an odd number you need to update the reservation when you board, also you must arrive within 10 minutes of you reservation, failure to either of these requirements can result in a fee. On my sailing 100's of us returned from our Juneau excursions post 9:30pm, so the ship extended the buffet hours. Also whenever I returned to the ship there were crew with platters of cups containing Hot Chocolate waiting for us near the deck 4 elevator banks. Liquor, the drink package is unlimited, and not timed. I'd order 2 alcohol drinks at a time, plus a chaser when seated to minimize bar and beverage wait times. Le Bistro stocks Drambuie among other spirits so enjoy it on the rocks, or as a Rusty Nail if inclined. Lots of entertainment and music on the ship. I focused on the large theater where there were always seats though the space got full, Choir Of Man a story of Pub Friends with lots of guest involvement interaction, they also performed Rock Music via Icons the Bands. The Beatles Invasion played numerous sets in the Cavern Club, but also did 2 performances in the Theater. We also lucked out to have 4 great couples that made our Love and Marriage a great experience. Music, Games, Comedy, Magic were found in many locations around the ship. Deck 15 had a massive Observation Lounge that could hold 100's of guests, and deck 16 the Cafe Buffet also had great Ocean views. If you want window seats in the dinning rooms consider getting there near opening to ensure that happens. This was an Alaska sailing in early May so pack gloves, a Coat with insulation, many of us had binoculars. Our trip was a fluke and we had zero rain at ports, and when cruising Glacier Bay, but consider packing a Poncho, Water Proof Hat, Wind Resistant Umbrella. The Casino is huge with 300+ slots with my favorites Dancing Drums, Flaming Pots, and Planet Moolah, being easy to access both in the smoking, and non smoking areas. The space also had 26 plus tables, with numerous tournaments during the sailing. $10 Blackjack, Craps, etc were all busy. FYI, Stock Benefit Credit cannot be used as Free Play. I played a little in the Casino and did well, but for me this was a destination cruise, not a Casino point experiment. My cabin was one of the 80 solo single cabins, this is an adult 18+ only area of the ship spread across 3 decks. These cabins have a private lounge on deck 11 where specialty coffees, water, juice, nibbles like fruit, pastry, cakes, and fresh cookies could be accessed. Lots of comfortable seating here and stewards committed to servicing this space from early morning till late at night. No kiddos, no noisy groups in the halls making this a nice change from my cruise in April on the Carnival Radiance. On disembarkation day, I opted to walk my luggage out and leaving my cabin as late as possible. Once in the cruise port I spied staff selling bus transportation from the port to SEA Airport for $30. This was a painless and as a solo inexpensive way to reach my flight. Buses will take guests to level one of the Airport. There is an area to tag your luggage if flying $ALK or $DAL here and a huge area where guests with mobility issue can wait for assistance. But, on a Sunday morning with numerous cruise ships docked and each loading and unloading thousands of guests many with mobility issues it might be smart if physically able and if you have priority status to proceed to your airlines check-in bag drop-off and skip the cold lower level. Overall a great experience, my only ask would be that the Comedians and Magicians be given a performance slot in the large theater to increase accessibility. read more

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Built in 2019, the Norwegian Encore (largest in the NCL fleet: 3,998 passengers, 1,735 crew) finished its 2024 Miami season and went to dry dock for 4 weeks for a retrofit. It headed back to Miami on Dec 3 from Southampton, from where my wife and I got on for a 12 night trans-atlantic cruise in early Dec '24. It made 3 port stops: Vigo, Lisbon, Ponta Delgada. One can save a lot of money if willing to take a repositioning cruise and don't mind a lot of sea days. We had booked this cruise right after our last transatlantic in January, through Costco travel (same price as vendor, but often offers rebate via cash card usable in their warehouse stores...we got it via email soon after the end of our cruise). Each cruise line has a loyalty program, providing benefits at different levels. As part of this, we got chocolate covered strawberries and 2 bottles of water...next time we will be high enough on NCL to get free dinners and laundry. Room: Inner (windowless) Room on 14th floor, forward. Relatively quiet and close to buffet and fitness center. Lack of drawers in cabin, but has some closet space. Comfortable mattress. Very sensitive heat sensor...used the hair dryer to finish drying our clothes on 2nd day and ended up setting off the alarm calling in security to our room...definitely embarrassing. Service once a day. Expected low water pressure, but unexpected loss of hot water on last day. Good choice for quiet, between other sleeping floors. Room cleaned daily. Very limited TV channels (CNBC, BBC, Fox, 24hour sports...so good to watch predownloaded movies on i-pad), mini-fridge. US electric ports. Dining - Mainly went to 3 complementary restaurants: The Local (separate review), Main Dining rooms (disappointing food this trip), Garden Buffet (good variety); Twice to teppanyaki (mandatory gratuity of $14 per person per night). Because our sleep cycle was so messed up during the trip, we ended up sleeping through multiple dinner times (and waking up hungry at 2 am). 1(L): Local; 1(D): Taste 2(B): Local; 2(L): Savor; 2(D) - Teppanyaki 3(B): Local; 3(L): Buffet 4(B): Local; 5(B): Local; 5(B): Buffet; 5(L): Taste 6(B): Local; 6(D): Manhattan 7(L): Buffet; 7(D): Buffet 8(B): Savor; 8(L): Buffet; 8(D) - Teppanyaki 9(B): Buffet; 9(L): Buffet; 9(D) - Manhattan 10(B): Buffet; 10(L): Local; 11(LN): Local; 11(L): Buffet 12(B): Buffet; 12(L): Local; 12(D): Buffet 13(B): Buffet Highlights: Breakfast: made-to order omelets with English breakfast (baked beans, pork sausage, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms) at all venues. Lunch: noodle bar serving various Asian inspired noodle soups; make your own hamburger bar, both at Garden Buffet. Dinner: fish fingers. Everything at the Local Bar. Wonderful single serving various cheesecakes, made even better with hand scooped ice cream. Now has easy to carry breakfast items (yogurt, boxed cereal, single containers of milk). Large sea scallops cooked well at the Tepanaki. Misses: NY strip dinner: the one bad meal we had, where the steak was a top sirloin chunk, cooked well (when asked for medium), served with inedible shoestring fries, and grilled tomato. Soft serve ice cream: made multiple attempts throughout the cruise, and only once was it delicious (tasting like McDonald's)...the rest of the time tasted off. Lack of snacks: no bagged chips. Fish dishes: except for fish and chips using cod, everything seemed to be generic whitefish like tilapia. The smell of sewer gases was noticeable in our room, some days stronger than others. Activities participated in: -- Pulse fitness center open from 06:00 - 23:00. Complete selection of exercise equipment and weights. Dedicated room for yoga and stretching. We really made use of the facility (if only to justify the calories we ate). -- Internet - basic level has speeds of 2.69 mbps down; 3.01 up. always has free access to ncl.com and cruisecritic.com. No longer can use imessage to communicate for free like before. -- Daily puzzles - we stopped by the card room to pick up the daily sudoku, crossword and trivia. read more

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After MANY cruises with with Carnival; we wanted to see what other Cruise Lines had to offer and NW struck a tone. This was our 48th anniversary cruise our first "no gratuities" cruise, and the impact was plainly obvious. The crew's happy chants throughout the day were all fake and if you thought otherwise you weren't lookin. Toss anyone a tip and their whole demeanor changed instantly; they were genuinely friendly and actually treated you like a valued customer. Most of the support crew I spoke of, were gleefully awaiting for their contract's ending. Doesn't sound like an employee that's been treated fairly. The Encore ambiance: If you were Queer, Gay, or otherwise supportive of such activities, "The Encore" is your ship! I do not support such activity . The pools were way, way too small. The service sucked because morale was low, way too many people/most events onboard ship were packed full if you didn't get there 3 minutes early, communication with safe was always difficult, food was boring, ice cream machine rocked - when it was open, elevato's were a joke. Ki'd's sitting at the pool bars, kids packed into adult only Jacuzzi's. Nuff said. All truth. Norwegian - - NEVER AGAIN. read more

Second time on a cruise and Norwegian Encore has exceeded my expectations! It was more than I expected, and it was more than I can ask for. Such a great way to end the year! Where to start! We had no issues with any staff. We enjoyed the great, welcoming customer service. We respect all the hard work from the staff in attending to our needs, making our experience fun & exciting, cleaning up after EVERYONE, and making our bed every night. Even the public bathrooms & theater were ALWAYS clean. I commend the staff and workers on this cruise line. I don't know how they do it. Food was good! Don't expect Michelin-star food, people. They make this on the ship, for crying out loud. We had no issues with the food. Each complimentary restaurant/cafe was more than we anticipated and we enjoyed every meal we ate on the ship. So many bars! You can see everyone with a drink in their hand. There's always something to do! And there was more than one event going on! It was very overwhelming, in a good way! We ran out of lotion and I forgot a makeup accessory. No problem! They have a store to purchase those, along with other necessities you may need. The only thing that was a downer is that they did not sell bathing suits, so make sure you pack enough! It's been a while since the last time I went on a cruise, but I love how modern the interior of the ship looked! Again, we had such a great time and this is one of our memorable vacations. Thank you Norwegian Encore! Until next time. read more

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Better food and better service. Terrible. Spend your money elsewhere. The specialty restaurants are not worth it. Terrible internet service. Guest service desk staff not friendly. read more

We just finished a 5-day family cruise. This was our second family cruise, but first time on Norwegian. Let's start with the good: We loved the layout of the ship. The design made it feel much less crowded than our previous cruise. Our stateroom was beautiful and spacious. There were lots of great activities going on at all times. The music provided by the djs was diverse. The shows (Kinky Boots and Choir of Man) were both fantastic!!! The childcare check-in and out process felt very secure. The spa was outstanding! We booked thermal suite passes for the week and definitely put them to good use. I liked not having to make reservations or choose dining times. We were free to come and go as we pleased. One of the major disappointments was in regards to the main buffet dining hall. My son is gluten-free. We alerted them to this in advance of the cruise. However, it was difficult getting clear answers about what was gluten free on the buffet. We constantly had to find the head chef to get basic staples like gf bread, buns, pancakes, and desserts. It was hit or miss as to what other staff members knew what we were asking for. Our previous cruise line had a dedicated gf section of the buffet. Also, it was difficult to know when the main dining area would be closing. It seemed inconsistent from day to day. Posted signs would have been helpful. On one of our port days, we returned to the ship, only to find that the dining hall was closed. Everybody was forced to go to one of the sit down restaurants which made for long waits. It seems like they should have taken this into consideration. We were also disappointed because both of our port stops were changed the day before they were supposed to occur. One of the reasons we booked this cruise was because of the ports. One of which was Norwegian's private island, which offered all you can eat free food and beach access. The disembarkment process was slow and inefficient. Thankfully we were driving and not under a time crunch. Ultimately we decided to give Norwegian one more chance because of all the things that went really well. read more

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It was an amazing experience for our first cruise. The Indian food is outstanding. Entertainment and service on the Norwegian Encore Alaska was very good. Appreciate the 360 which the captain took for an amazing view at glacier bay. read more

the NCL Encore is Trashy and Chaotic. The Public areas were overcrowded with long lines. the pool area was a joke. There were not enough chairs and the pool(s) were extremely small. Buffed food sucked and was cold. The service was terrible. Especially the cabin Stewart. We would turn the clean cabin light on all day. He never came. He only came when we were getting ready for dinner, and said he was done at 5:00pm. Lazy Steward. My whole family got physically sick with gastrointestinal issues. Came home and tested positive for COVID. My Dr said the whole cruise is like a Petri Dish. We have had several cruises on Holland, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. NCL is the lowest class cruise experience we have had. read more

I have never had bed bug bites in my entire 52 years of life until I went on a cruise on Norwegian Encore 5/28/2023 I found all these nasty looking bug bites on my body on the third day of cruise and when I went to the Guest Service Desk, they sent a Pest Control Director to my room. He found a male bug after conducting some search. Please see attached photos so you know what they look like. I was disgusted to hear from one of the staff that they now have to find a female bug so they don't lay hundreds of eggs! I am still dealing with these marks long after the cruise and probably will for many years. Half of my cruise was wasted because I was dealing with mental anguish, physical suffering and pain. And this is the part where I felt like I was insulted. They offered me a $100 credit on onboard expenses. After I elevated the issue, they offered me $400 credit towards future cruise which I will never take. Not with them again. This is hardly any compensation. Beware, these bed bug bites are a serious matter. They are like cancer, once found in a room, there is no telling how wide or deep they have spread or migrated to other rooms, you can only hope. I never thought I would be this unlucky one. Getting bitten is one thing but the lack of any real compensation from Norwegian is pretty shameful. I am sharing my experience to raise awareness and hopefully help others avoid this traumatic experience. read more

Norwegian Encore - Bed Bug Bites on my shoulder from NCL Encore - Travel Services Near Me

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Greg trip. really bummed out the last stop was not a stop. planned my whole trip around this spot. great sturup cay

I recently took this 7-day cruise for my birthday and had a really good time. The food was always the hightlight of each day as the offerings in the buffet for breakfast were always good and the dinners were truly magnificent. The service at the main Manhattan Room (dining room) could have been better. Some of the servers seemed annoyed and tired by the time we got to eat. Other than that, the kitchens are pumping out amazing food every night. The unlimited drink package which was included in our ticket made things a breeze and as a group, we truly took advantage of it. There are many bars throughout the ship and some are specialty bars like the Mojito one and the Whiskey one. The regular package includes the brands you are used to like Tito's vodka, Belveder, Jameson, etc. There is another drink package with top shelf alcohol. Entertainment wise our group always found something to do. The Choir of Man musical was highly entertaining but my favorite was The Beatles show. It was like listening to The Beatles Greatest Hits album live. The stops on our cruise were Puerto Plata, St. Thomas, Tortola, and Grand Stirrup Cay. Our favorite by far was Grand Stirupp Cay, especially since we rented a villa at Silver Cove Lagoon Villas. It was nice to unwind on that last stop and enjoyed the most beautiful water and relaxation. I truly enjoyed this cruise and wouldn't mind doing it over. read more

I just got off a 7 day sailing to San Juan, St. Thomas & Tortola. This is Norwegian's brand new ship and it met almost all of our expectations. I would highly recommend cruising with NCL if you enjoy vacationing with no set schedule. There is so much to do on the Encore and you will simply never be bored. Dining: We went to Cagney's Steakhouse, Los Lobos Mexican & Qs Texas Smokehouse. I would highly recommend Cagneys if you're looking for a great tasting steak. You also need to get their signature truffle fries! Grab their cheesecake for dessert. Los Lobos was absolutely delicious and gives you a ton of food. The fresh made guac and carne asada were my favorites. I wouldn't recommend the buñuelos, but the chocolate flan was very tasty. Qs has some good food, but it was honestly nothing to write home about. Just your typical barbecue. It is a great venue with live music though. Entertainment: Top notch! Choir of Man was a lively and great show. It was all people could talk about during the cruise. You can even enjoy a few beers on stage before they start so get there early! I also very much enjoyed Kinky Boots. The concept may not be your "thing", but I highly recommend just opening your mind and enjoying the show. We also watched the comedy show and wished it wasn't so short. Funny guy and don't sit upfront if you don't want to be in the show ; ). Keep in mind you need to book advance reservations as all of the entertainment books up quick! Room: We booked a mini suite and I don't think I can cruise in anything less. The full size shower was a dream come true compared to the usual tiny ones. There was plenty of storage to unpack two large suitcases and stow away under the bed. The balcony's also have chairs that recline so you can see the view much easier. Service: I'm sure on a new ship that NCL did their best to get a top notch crew. We never waited too long for drinks and were even able to eat dinner in under 30 minutes one night. Do expect a wait at The Local if you are getting food late at night though. Shore Excursions: San Juan was a 5pm to 11pm stop so there's not many options in terms of shorex. We just walked around the city and grabbed dinner. It's completely safe to walk around and there was a good police presence. There's also a lot of shopping options open late. St Thomas and Tortola are your typical beach or sail type destinations. The Turtle Cove Sail & Snorkel in St Thomas did actually produce turtles so I would recommend. Long Bay Beach in Tortola was beautiful, but my first option (sold out) was to go to Jost Van Dyke. General: The pool deck is not that large so get there early if you want to grab a chair. Visit the Waterfront because it's an absolutely beautiful hangout spot. The Observation Lounge gives you amazing views towards the front of the ship. District Brewhouse has every beer you could want to try. Mojito Bar is a must..try the guava one. Enjoy! read more

We finally took our Caribbean cruise planed three years ago! NCL is taking every safety precaution imaginable; no one on board who isn't fully vaccinated and rapid testing at the dock before boarding. On board, masks area required anytime indoors (except when eating or drinking) and it's not optional like back home. The Encore normally has 4000 passengers; this cruise had 1400 with the crew outnumbering passengers. We've got to commend NCL for trying for some normalcy. Some ports were closed to ships, including St. Thomas where we chose our only excursion, so we chose to remain on-board and treat the boat as an all-inclusive resort! Between the food, drinks, sun, pools, more food, more drinks, and some casino-time, massages, and entertainment, we had a great time and are glad we didn't postpone any more! This was our first cruise and although we enjoyed it, we'll probably fly to an island the next time! read more

Another outstanding cruise with NCL. This was our first sailing since the pandemic and to say we were excited would be an understatement! We stayed in the Haven Area which is a ship within a ship. Yes, you do pay a premium to be in this area but when we go on vacation....we go on vacation. Butler service, private pool area, private sun deck area, dedicated bar and wait staff, private restaurant.....you get the idea. Unique to this ship was the show "Kinky Boots" which we found to be entertaining. The cast was excellent and the show was funny albeit predictable. Also unique was Onda by Scarpetta which is an Italian specialty restaurant. Some photos from here are included. We were not all that impressed by Onda or really any of the specialty restaurants this go round. Not sure if the crew was still getting their "sea legs" or what but outside of Cagney's and the Haven Restaurant the service was spotty at best. Our ship also visited the recently renovated private island of Great Stirrup Cay. NCL and their competitors each have a "private" island in the Bahamas that they use as a port for most Eastern Caribbean sailings. At GSC for short they have a new area called Silver Cove and WOW! This area is reservable ahead of time in your cruise planner and we loved it. We stayed in a Lagoon Studio Villa for the day. It was air conditioned, had a private bathroom, and the service was spot on. Our villa, #125, was located right next to the Moët Chandon bar, talk about clutch! If you book an NCL cruise and it's stopping at GSC do yourself a favor and book one of these villas for the day. We are already looking forward to our next NCL cruise this summer and would highly recommend them to anyone planning their next getaway! read more

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The food was horrible, same food breakfast, lunch,and diner..never changed in 7 days, 4 restaurants included in my package..all the same menu,..ship activities sucked..last day they canceled our luggage storage with no excuse and our flight wasn't til 10 pm...worst cruise line...NEVER AGAIN!!! read more

I had several issues while on board and called/went to the guest services desk but they were useless. Grettel claimed she was the supervisor but on her card it said representative. NCL's brochure/website about # of restaurants, transfers and drink package was all false advertising, she refused any type of refund. I filed a claim couple of days after our cruise and Diana from guest services who replied sent a couple of pre-written paragraphs about how important happy customers are, continuously ignored my request for a partial refund due to their false advertising which ruined a few days of my trip. I suggest you go with Royal Caribbean or another cruise line. Service was hit or miss! We missed seeing Ketchikan because of misleading transportation information too. I wouldn't recommend NCL to anyone. They do NOT care about customers. read more

Cruising is safe again. We've just completed a 7Day cruise to the Caribbean and had a great time with friends. Selected two fine dinings; LeBistro & Carney's. Both highly recommended. On board shows Kinky Boots & The Choir of Man were highly entertaining. US Virgin Island excursion was not too organized & a bit disappointing. But a visit to Puerto Plata was fun. Great Stirrup Bay is a good way to enjoy the beach & zip-line. read more

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I travel a lot. So keep in mind this type of travel is subjective. I had no issues with Norwegian Encore at all. The issues were with the passengers. This is a new boat and I was thrilled to be one of the first to experience it. When I booked my trip the boat was still being made. That's how new this is. Kelly Clarkson is the Godmother of Encore and Kinky Boots was one of the productions. I've been a fan of both for quite sometime. I am a fan of the Encore and this is why. No other cruise liner has a two deck go kart race track that edges off the deck of the boat. They also have a Roman Empire structure with a serpent type snake as the laser tag battle field to run around and shoot things. There's a Virtual Reality VR area which is hella fun. A starbucks is onboard. They have what's called an Observation Lounge which is larger than the fine dining area which serves light snacks drinks a piano player at times and floor to ceiling windows with a variety of seating facing the windows that is quiet and peaceful. Encore also got it right for solo travelers such as myself. This particular amenity and feature no other cruise line does. That being they have studio's available in a special section where only solo travelers can access. They hold their own events designed for solo travelers held in their own private area. They have an exclusive lounge which is nice. While all others overcharge solo travelers NCL has fair pricing for solo travelers which I applaud. That is fantastic. I didn't stay in the studio but my room was in close proximity. I was treated excellent by the staff. My stateroom was bigger then I anticipated. The bathroom and shower had a lot more room then my last cruise which was a nice surprise. Made new friends, met loads of people. I loved watching movies on the pool deck sailing around. The funnest was racing in the middle of the ocean against a guy from Germany. 11pm at night and we are zig zagging through the race track in single and double go karts. Going up and down the ramps and taking the turns like pros. Then later shooting at the Go Karts. Hella fun. Who gets to do this? No one I know. The weather is balmy and the moon is shining bright. The workers sang happy bday to me and gave me a large slice of a bday cake. I got a special drink card on the house for my entire trip. The check in and disembarkment was easy and smooth. Even the transfers were flawless. What I described above is what other cruise liners do not offer. Apart from what I mentioned Encore has the typical casino, art gallery, spa, gym, pool, specialty and complimentary dining. Luxury shops and photoshop. The staff were great and I say thank you Encore for making my bday memorable and safe. Mel M Yelp 20:15 read more

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GREAT CRUISE - Terrible ending. Everything was perfect until my wife was notified during disembarkation that her card didn't work. No problem, we fix it but she stood in line for over an hour to get this fixed. They had ONE person fixing the problem for dozens of guests. Completely avoidable if handled before 5 out of 6 of us disembarked the boat AND if they had just one more person. Very frustrating end to otherwise a great cruise trip. Norwegian had been the best cruise line up until this point. We'll see if it gets another chance from my wife who is less forgiving than I. read more

The lines for testing is extra long and I register for the testing and I never received the code from them so it can be faster and I been standing in line for a Covid test since 11:00 am . They need to be more organized this is ridiculous as for me not doing another cruise if they don't come up with a faster way read more

Just completed the new Norwegian Encore cruise to Caribbean. We have experienced 10 great cruises, this is bY far the worst. The new ship is actually pretty cool, but the experience did not meet our expectations. If you take this cruise, expect to geek nickel and dImed to death. This is not an all exclusive crew. You have to pay to eat in boutique restaurants. The food is wAy below average. Service is substandard in comparison to other cruise lines we have been on. On board entertainment is the worst ever. The top sun deck has minimal space. I would not recommend the Norwegian Encore. They spent a billion bucks to build this boat. Sad that the experience did not measure up. Overpriced and under delivered in value. read more

Reviewing a cruise ship is like reviewing a hotel, 20 restaurants, 15 bars and an amusement park all in 1 place. You are going to wind up with a large range of favorable or not so favorable reviews based on the travelers expectations and past experience cruising. So while the overall cruise was a 4.5 star experience when looked at in toto my own preferences bring the experience to 3 stars. Positives are the ship is brand new, the food was good in all the restaurants but more so in the specialty restaurants which is an extra cost. 19 restaurants on the ship 14 of which are extra cost. Laser tag, virtual reality deck, go cart racing, casino and at least 15 bars. Everything is extra cost and you get a feeling of being nickel and dimed. A bottle of water is not included on the drink package? You have to buy the bottles individually or purchase a bottled water package. That means I can order a $15 martini and that's included but a bottle of water is $2 extra ? So bottom line if you are a cruiser who wants some peace and quiet rather than a trip to Disney and a huge waterpark this ship is probably not for you. Did I mention there were 4,600 passengers on board 1 small pool and the hot tubs taken over by children with no parental supervision ? I prefer less people, more relaxation, more pool space, less rampaging tweens. Get off my lawn ! read more

My husband and I booked this ship last minute. While we.got a great deal on a balcony room, we were not able.to reserve the dining, entertainment, and shore excursions we wanted. Our room was very nice, except the space between to corner of the bed and the built in for the tv allowed for only about 4 inches of space. We had to.squeeze by. If a person of larger size was there they would have to scoot across the bed to get to the couch and balcony. I was really looking forward to Cagney's Steakhouse. I was very disappointed. We could.only.get 9:30 pm reservations one evening. Service was slow and my fillet was very over cooked. If it had not had been so late and slow I would have asked for another one. I took 3 bites and left.the rest. The Hibachi and Mexican restaurants were very delicious. The Choir of Man show was the best show I have seen on any cruise ship. Definitely a must see. I did notice that deck space is minimal, but we had no issue with it as we just used our balcony to get some sunshine. I would sail.on this ship again. read more

Sailing on the Norwegian Encore was a great experience, but I do no know if I can say much about the dinning. We reserved the Manhattan for our family for each night on the ship. Unfortunately the food was not up to the standard we had hoped. When you pay so much for a ticket that is supposed to include everything, you would think you would get top quality food. Most of it was cooked and set in a warmer. This is understandable but do not expect made to order fresh food. The select choices were slim and kind of strange. Not once was seafood really offered to us except frozen fish sticks are seafood that had been mixed with other things. The servers were nice but unfortunately at the end of our cruise time we experienced a server who wasn't really up for talking. this happens a-lot considering the gratuity is already included into your ticket price and they do not worth only off of a tip from you. All in all the dinning wasn't the worse but if you go on a expensive cruise you would expect better. read more

My family and I just got home after a 7 day cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line's largest and newest ship, Encore. The videos and advertisements about the ship are great. The actual ship is nice and shows we saw were great, but the cruise leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to food, staff, and offerings that are included with your fare. The staff was good, but pretty much every cruise staff is good and know they all have to be good to keep their job and the cruise lines know they need to provide good service or there are other cruise lines to win the guest's next cruise vacation. The bar servers and servers around the pool area left us feeling invisible and we quite often had to go to the bar to order our own drinks. Considering the company adds a high gratuity to your bill and we paid a premium for adult beverages to be included, I would expect decent service when wanting a cocktail. We literally were laughing among ourselves by mid-week because it was crazy how invisible we felt. I guess next time we should consider being loud, dressing outrageously, and throwing money around and maybe we would get a drink faster. The Encore had lots of food offerings, but none of the food was anything to rave about. There were a few restaurants that were not included in your fare that you could pay for, but to spend a couple hundred dollars for dinner on top of what we already paid to be on the cruise seems crazy. The Encore staff was good, but nothing to make them shine. The shows we saw were great (Kinky Boots, Beatles tribute and The Choir of Man), but there were a couple other shows that would have been nice to see but were expensive add-ons so we opted to not go - again - not sure why they cannot just include all entertainment in the cost of the cruise. The race track, virtual reality park and laser tag were also great, but what nobody tells you (before you get there - even after several calls to NCL) is that it costs $399 per person to have unlimited use of these fun experiences, that are not even open all day. The amazing water slide that they feature that go over the edge of the ship and do loops were mostly out of service because people were getting stuck in the loop and others were getting scratches. We were disappointed in the stops in Tortola & St. Thomas because they were boring and excursions were limited. The popular Tortola tour was overbooked with a long waiting list before we even left for the ship and NCL didn't have any other option and didn't try to get accommodations with the tour company to remedy so many disappointed guests by creating another group. The pool is too small for such a large ship and the sun deck spaces are too small to accommodate so many guests, resulting in a mad dash for chairs early in the morning, aggravated guests not getting anywhere to sit in the sun, and although they have a huge notice on the large video screen saying not to save chairs and that things will be removed after being left for 30 minutes, nobody enforces the rule and people are clearly holding chairs with towels to accommodate their groups both in the sun & shade so others cannot sit. They needed to use the space for the fun race track & laser tag, but the ship is enormous, so they should have considered that there would be guests wanting to relax in the sun and not pay $200 to go to a private sun area (18+) or $399 for race track, VR & laser tag. To really enjoy all the Encore has to offer - or any NCL cruise - you must be prepared to be nickel & dimed to death because they charge for everything! We bought the cocktail package but it excluded the wine bar, and we bought the kids drink package but it did not include virgin mocktails like other cruise lines offer. We were pretty disappointed in this trip. read more