Summercielo

46 minutes ago, tx121 said:

Greetings from the NCL Encore! Yesterday I posted my experience through the embarkation process. In this post I will provide daily reviews, thoughts, Freestyle Daily Schedules for each day, and so on. Enjoy! 

 

Day 1- Miami

 

Much of the day was included already in my embarkation thread but here's a quick recap. We flew in to Miami and arrived around 830am. We decided it would be too early to goto the pier, so we decided to have a sit down breakfast at the airport (Margaritaville). The steak and eggs from there was surprisingly very good. 👍

After our meal,we took a Lyft for $13 to the pier. Uber was $17 and a taxi was $20-$25. Obviously we decided to take the cheaper option. The embarkation process took around 1 hour. 30 minutes in line to get processed and 30 minutes in the waiting area. Boarding starts at 11:30am.

Once on board we went straight to Deck 6 to make our reservations for the specialty dining and shows. All were easy to make and we got the times that fit in to our schedule. 

Since staterooms are not available until 2pm, we decided to tour the ship and tried to avoid the crowds as much as possible. We all know embarkation can be chaotic, especially in the buffet and The Local! Lol! As others have posted, Taste and Savor are available for a sit down lunch on embarkation day. Both restaurants were practically empty. If we had not eaten at the airport, we would have chosen to eat at Taste or Savor for lunch. 

The ship is beautiful and modern. All the venues are nicely decorated and I especially appreciate that they closed off the smoking area in the casino so the smell of the smoke doesnt travel between the 6,7,8 atrium area. Oddly there is smoke smell near the Manhattan Room dining area.

We stumbled upon the observation lounge which I already know will be my favorite part of the ship! It is just very relaxing and is a great place to go to wait until your stateroom is ready. Light snacks and coffee are available. Because of the Cornavirus, in the buffet areas, the crew are at the stations serving the guests. The drink stations for coffee, juice and water are still self service.

We checked in to our cabin and surprisingly our luggage had already arrived so we unpacked. There is not much storage area in the room. You have just one closet with 4 shelves and a rack to hang your clothes. If traveling with more than 2 people or on a cold weather itinerary (Alaska), this can be an issue. 

Time for muster drill which started at 3:30pm. It went by quickly and then we went straight up to deck 17 for sailaway from Miami! 

The sailaway was great! There was such a great vibe /energy and everyone was dancing and having a great time! Great music! Miami is the best port to sail from. The views from the ship are amazing!

 

Since this was sort of a different day 1 due to Superbowl being one of the Main Attractions. Our original plan was to eat at The Local but it was already jammed packed because everyone wanted to watch the game on the Big screen in the atrium. So we decided to eat at the buffet.The Garden Cafe (Buffet) was quite busy as well. I guess everyone had the same idea. Day 1 is also prime rib night in the buffet, so maybe that was also a reason. The food was ok. The prime Rib was decent. It needed the gravy to enhance the flavor. 

Game time! We went to watch the game on the pool deck on the big screen. It was a bit chilly but tolerable. One thing we missed while watching the game was the commercials! I guess because of licensing,  they could not broadcast them.

We noticed on the daily planner they had the First Night welcome show at 8pm. It was getting a bit cooler and the game was not that exciting (Yet!), so we decided to see the show. The theater was only half full! The cruise director did comment on this and made a joke of it. Lol!

During the first night show, they showed a preview of the shows onboard: Kinky Boots and Choir of Man, along with other show bands around the ship. They also advertised things to do while on the Encore, most of them being a sales pitch. The show was cheesy, yet enjoyable. My favorite part was some people's reaction when they realized Kinky Boots was a drag queen show. Lol! 

After the show, we went to the casino bar to finish watching the game. What a great ending!! Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs! 

After a long day, we decided it was time for bed. A great day overall!

On a side, if you are prone to motion sickness, this ship you will feel it. Very rocky and creaking of the walls.

 

 

 

 

Thank you sooooo much for what you have posted so far! Was looking for the daily’s!!!! Very helpful!

is there a steak and lobster night at one of the main DR? 
also how much for the go carts? I was surprised to find out there’s a charge! 
Thanks again, will be watching for the rest of the Daily’s!!!! We leave this Sunday!