TheDougOut

1 minute ago, SailBreakaway said:

 

I'm not sure NCL has given an exact time yet for them to hand over the keys to @TheDougOut.

 

😉

I’m just hoping they let me board.  

8 minutes ago, billco said:

We booked the inaugural Encore cruise in May 2018 as an 11 day cruise and kept our booking when it was shortened to 9 days. The roll call is 500 CC members with lots of activities planned. Lots of excited people on that roll call. I'm not one of them. We adjusted to the shortened portless cruise by adding more days (8) in the UK before the cruise and a couple in NYC after the cruise. However, if I had known then what I know now about this ship, I never would have booked. Bad enough that the cruise was shortened 2 days, no ports, and no warm weather. But, at least it was prorated and 25% fare reduction. So, we kept our booking. Things started going south when I found I couldn't book dining online, even though the menu took me right up to adding it to the cart. Then, reading all the negative posts took it further. I know it will probably be too cold to take advantage of the outdoor areas, but it is still offensive that there is a lack of free outside areas. Just not that exciting to me that the main attraction is that it is an inaugural cruise with fewer people onboard.

As you pointed out, the exterior spaces were always rather inconsequential for our crossing, as nobody in their right mind has expectations of lounging around the pool in the northern Atlantic in November.

I’ll be honest... I see the crossing being one miserable experience for anyone not rolling with it and enjoying it for what it is.  It’s certainly one of those circumstances where the experience is left up to the individual.  

To me, the crossing is more about reuniting with old friends than anything related to a ship. On the last night of the Bliss crossing, as we approached NY, the top-deck chatter was all “we gotta do this again”, “I’ll book if you book” and “that’s not a biscuit, you idiot.”  The enthusiasm had NOTHING to do with go karts, shows, food, or the “new ship smell”.  

2 hours ago, packercruising said:

I don't care about the design. It is a ship and it means I won't have to shovel snow. What really gets me is that, nobody has even been on the ship yet and so many people are complaining. 

People are complaining about the design, which is known.  

3 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

The problem with asking how crowded the Waterfront is is that the other ships have Spice and more deck space so it just won't be comparable.

Plus... some of the waterfront will also be displaced by an apparent smoking section. 

Out at Meyer Werft today, Aida revealed some previews of their latest design (Cosma).  It certainly demonstrates a difference in direction...

The other Jeroen shot showing off the laser tag...

30 minutes ago, LrgPizza said:

I was on that cruise, and there wasn't a single issue on that ship. It was the best cruise I've ever taken! 

I’ve seen similar gripes about the Bliss crossing - ridiculous.  I’ve never seen a more pristine ship, a friendlier crew, or a better-run operation.  Absolutely the best.

1 hour ago, LrgPizza said:

In reality, the cruise line brings in its top #1 staff to open up new ships. It's the best service I've ever had on a cruise in my life. 

Agree.  

I’ll also add... it’s a rare opportunity to experience the classic concept of “Freestyle” cruising on a large ship.  The fact NCL undersells these sailings, you can pretty much go and do what you want without being turned away.  

3 minutes ago, CazV said:

She seems to have an Invisible Touch. 

I always mention... be careful of the first non-balcony family suite, as there’s some issues with privacy from the family suite with balcony next door.  

Scan toward the end of the vid...

It was shared on Facebook that Encore will be returning to Eemshaven, where divers will be utilized for some purpose.

5 minutes ago, LrgPizza said:

He wasn't in the same position before. Andy was not CEO of NCL when Sheehan was there.  Sheehan was.

Didn’t mean to imply that he was.  

2 minutes ago, LrgPizza said:

That's kind of my feeling. So many believe he's simply doing a job that a trained monkey could do while earning a CEO salary, yet they act like they will miss him.

Considering Stuart said they’d have to pry him to leave, it’s quite possible the departure is a result of differing approaches between him and Del Rio.  To your point, that could go either way.  

All I know... I became a fan of the product during the Sheehan/Stuart era, and that’s slowly waned during the Del Rio/ Stuart era.  It’s entirely possible I gave Stuart too much credit before, or not enough credit since.  

14 minutes ago, cliffd64 said:

I don't worry about who is the CEO, I just make my decisions on the quality of the product as it relates to my wife and I.

We’re all talking about the same thing.  Many of us have seen how “the product” changes over time based on who’s running the show.

Is someone going to experience a different product the day after Stuart steps down?  Unlikely.  Have we all seen significant changes during the “Stuart/Del Rio Era”?  Absolutely.  Will we see further significant changes in the “Sommer/Del Rio Era”?  Time will tell.

26 minutes ago, CazV said:

Off she goes...

26 minutes later and nobody remembers if they turned the oven off back home...

We’ve certainly seen Del Rio become hands-on with the last few builds, but beyond that we can only mark 2015-2019 as the “FDR/Stuart” era and compare it to what happened before and after.

As to the dynamic between the two, there’s some interesting perspective in this article about Stuart’s 3 decades at NCL from a few months back... 

“The culture in this company today has really been a culture I feel very comfortable in. As long as that’s the balance that I’m finding, you’ll have to pry me out of here.”

When asked if he’d have another celebration to mark his fourth decade, he laughed and said that Frank Del Rio might be the man to talk to.

12 minutes ago, cliffd64 said:

Not too certain that this will impact me in my daily life at all.

Fairly certain you won’t find a thread on this board that will.

9 minutes ago, LrgPizza said:

I'm surprised people on CC aren't rejoicing. The vast majority of the changes/policies/decisions made at NCL the past several years for which people complain about Frank Del Rio were actually made by Andy.

 

I like the guy and hate to see him go.

I don’t think anyone (here) knows where the less-than-favorable decisions were made.  From my perspective, there was a distinct change in direction when Stuart started reporting to Del Rio in 2015.

Apparently as of January, 2020.  

A sad, sad day.

Really excited about all the new Vibe water features... 

Dusk in Papenburg brings us a nice webcam view into the Garden Cafe, Observation Lounge (mostly empty still?) and Brew House down below...

1 hour ago, CazV said:

 

Yep there were a few a while back. The pics I found on Instagram seemed like they were from someone who was finished his contract from the pics posted afterwards.

 

His interior photos were removed and shortly thereafter he was posting off the ship.  That gave me a bad feeling.  

7 minutes ago, Steff79 said:

Monday evening ( German time ) the encore will start her travel to the ocean. About 10 pm will they start

From google translate, I can’t tell how much of this is guessing vs. official?

The exact times are now to be communicated. However, the final plan could be revised by the weather conditions again. Currently he looks like this:

Monday, 30.09.2019: 22:00: Passage dock lock

Tuesday, 01.10.2019: 03:30 clock: Passage Weener bridge

05:45: Passage Jann-Berghaus Bridge

09:30 clock: arrival Emsperrwerk

15:00: Passing Emsperrwerk

16:30 pm: Passage Seeschleuse Emden

https://www.schiffe-und-kreuzfahrten.de/news/meyer-werft-ueberfuehrung-der-norwegian-encore-steht-bevor/188573/

11 minutes ago, kayteecat said:

Has that changed recently, or are you talking about recent ships? We were on the Escape last December and (weather permitting) all the parties were held at Spice. We were on an NYE cruise, so there was a New Years party on the pool deck running concurrently with the Spice part (and other parties held at other venues on the ship) but Spice was where GLOW, the 80s party, etc were held.

Right... it’s a ship-by-ship thing.  Bliss (where Spice looked like a half-abandoned afterthought) and Joy moved the deck parties to the less-club-like pool-deck.

edit: although we saw hints of this on the Escape, as well, when they moved sailaway party to the pool deck.  

7 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

I read somewhere, not sure if it was this thread or somewhere else, that all the parties that were in spice will be in vibe. So it kinda makes sense to just keep it open until it becomes public space. Having to shut everything down then open back up an hour or two later is a pain. 

I’d be surprised.  They already abandoned Spice in favor of parties around the pool deck on prior ships, and it appears Encore has the same setup in regard to big screen, bandstand, lighting, etc.