Seattle_Guy

5 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

That looks like an interesting lunch menu at Cagney's.   Did they also invite those from the non-Haven suites?

 

Looking forward to following along with your cruise.    Hopefully, your mom will be feeling up to travel again soon!

We’ll see you on board, in the haven, as well!

We went on the Breakaway in Feb 2020. We stayed in a 2bd haven suite. I I thought the haven pool area was the most beautiful room I’d ever seen. I thought the haven food was better than the Encore. The rest of the ship was busy and vibrant and fun. I don’t remember the bad parts so much, just the good ones!

What is with the obsession with cookies on these boards? 

We book direct, got the benefit, also got the 20% today on NCLH - congrats fellow holders!

I'm no doubt some small part of their increasing profitability 🙂

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

I just saw that 

 

3,332 guests

1,461 crew

 

Captain said full ship.

 

  I don't see 4,000 guests on this ship....not even close.

 

 

Have fun! Someone earlier in the thread posted that over Christmas there was 3800, the math seems to fact check that. I'll let you know what it's like with another 500 people on over Easter 😅

2 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Dug the daily pit of the trash before my steward cleaned the room. 

Thank you! I know things change, but my wife loves planning things and she's really enjoying them.

4 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Another good dinner… Food Republic..along with a “Rhy-Thai”!

Looks wonderful! Did I miss the daily schedule? 🙂

1 hour ago, seemoreroyals said:

 

We had 3700 on the cruise we were on Dec 15-22.  

I would assume this is what it will be like for us over Easter? That's probably as close to full as it gets?

So it's possible that when things are closer to 4,000, that's when the seats in Indulge gets taken, etc.

12 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

You may be right.  

 

I just think this ship is such a different (new) concept that the “traditional”  NCL cruiser is going to take a while for them to adapt.

 

Admittedly, I was a little worried when booking as I had read all these stories about how the design doesn’t work.  

 

It does work.  Maybe not to those who want and are used to the “big buffet” concept.  Or are missing the big chandelier hanging over 678.  Or any of a dozen differences vs the traditional NCL ship.

 

This isn’t the massive Icon of the seas, with 7K passengers and is loud and brash.  This couldn’t be any further away from that. This isn’t Escape or Encore or the “Away” twins.  

 

I think it was described as Contemporary.  I believe that fits.  It’s comfortable with upscale furnishings!  Nothing squeaks.  Nothing rattles.  If you insist on being by the main pool, you’re hell bent on torturing yourself.  There are plenty of other, nicer, more comfortable spaces to sun bathe!

 

 I missed the main show (Donna).  No fault of NCL.  I caught the first night in Syd’s.  Got there when the doors opened.  There was a line, but I had no problem finding a seat.  The band was excellent as always!  Not a game show guy, but will check out Price is Right because I’m curious.  The DJs, auxiliary entertainment have all been good.  Saw comedy last night.  Not my thing but I was also in a surly mood because I was sore.

 

I have yet to find the crowds with no seating in Indulge.  I have yet to find a venue closed of it was supposed to be open.  There are plenty of crew.  They are all very nice!

 

Coming up in midway through the cruise, and I like the ship.  I like the direction they’re going.  I like all the outside spaces!  I’ve got my bearings.  I know where I’m going.  The ship really delights me.

 

Any issue I have is in dealing with security, but they always seem to be a group who seems to have a side eye look to them!

Any idea of passenger count on board, @graphicguy?

I love your description of the ship!

@graphicguy have you seen that Starbucks on deck 8 in the aft open? Some rumblings about it being closed? Any clue on hours?

@graphicguy get thread I’m following religiously as we’ll be doing the same trip, including haven, over Easter.

One question you’re in a great position to answer as your journey continues is which part of the ship ends up with the best view at port. I would imagine starboard aft is where the ideal location to be facing shore but I’ve never been to any of these except Cozumel. 

Heal fast and have fun!

5 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Is that when you leverage to take advantage of a near term increase in the stock price?

Kind of.....A "put" option is what you buy if you want the price to go down, and a "call" option is what you buy if you hope the price of the stock to go up. I was referring to my put options right as covid was hitting 😉

A single 7 day cruise "costs" $1,722 in shares at market prices, and "yields" 5.8% in on board credits. Sign me up!

We won't tell them about the time when I shook the captains hand on the Breakaway at the captains reception, and the next day and bought put options on NCLH in February, 2020.

On 1/19/2024 at 8:41 AM, graphicguy said:

There are some menus floating around here somewhere for FAS and FAS+.  Haven Bar Menu is the same as anywhere else on the ship.  Plus, the brands of liquors seem to be in flu depending on the ship and the itinerary.  I don't anything definitive.

 

The Haven Bar only differs that their mixologists are exactly that.  And, they are excellent. You can get drinks from them you can't get anywhere else on the ship.  Just request something from them and they'll make it, if they have the ingredients.  I know of some who actually mix their own flavor additives.

 

There's not a menu of what they can or can't make, though.

This was not our experience, there was a white wine, Pinot Grigio I believe, that my wife only got from the Haven bar and nowhere else had it. Also kombucha was only in the Haven.

Well put, @david_sobe!

I can't wait until we can book cruises outside of school vacation times. The cost is much lower!

Thanks @KGBRomeo - the definitive answer! This was my expectation, we just booked the same suite as you for our family. Looking forward to it for easter.

Did your 13 year old check out entourage? 13 might be the odd age out if memory serves. The Encore didn't have anything for 13 year olds in 2021.

My daughter will be 15 at that time, I heard Entourage was a section of the kids club for the teens? Did you check it out?

On 8/16/2021 at 5:16 AM, Two Wheels Only said:

Thanks.

 

Threads like this should be pinned instead of most of what is pinned now. 

I agree! @Host Star make it happen?

On 8/9/2021 at 1:15 AM, Tradewinds4u said:

 

Haha - happy to see my video getting some exposure lol. I heard the same thing that 8/14 was a TON better. Headed to the port again Saturday, this time to GET ON!! woo hoo

7 hours ago, Karaboudjan said:

I don't recall if this is the topic where it was discussed, but the Encore is now back to Green status.  Maybe it was a crew member and never any passengers.  With passengers on board it only takes one crew case to go directly to Yellow.

That didn't last long, lol 😉

On 7/6/2021 at 6:13 PM, HowardK said:

@Seattle_Guy - I was supposed to go on the Encore last May, but will now being going from Seattle to Alaska in 2023. In turn, could you please make some recommendations on what to see 2-3 days before the cruise starts? Thanks, I appreciate it. 

Just some ideas:

* Of course Pike Place Market
* Head 1 hour east into the cascade mountains to Snoqualmie falls, have a meal ($$$) at the lodge. 

* Do something like rent a kayak or boat on Lake Union, the nation's premier urban lake, barring that eat somewhere on Lake Union.

* Explore Ballard in north Seattle, farmers market if timing is right, cute shops and lunch/dinner. If you make it to Ballard hit the Locks and see the salmon climb the fish ladder. 

Hi all,

A cruise was our last major vacation in February 2020 (side note - there's a very interesting historical thread about deciding whether to on that cruise here).

Anyway, enough with the past - we're booked to depart out of our home port for the 1st time (Seattle) - Alaska here we come!

As I've seen discussed, the Encore in currently in Seattle. She's not scheduled to depart Seattle with passengers until 8/1, according to the Port of Seattle (PDF). I guess it will take her a full month to get staff trained up, and operations humming along? I can only imagine mothballing a brand new billion dollar ship for almost a year and a half. 

We're excited to get on board Encore, when I checked a few months ago, the Bliss was coming to Seattle, but Encore is a NICE upgrade!

No children under 12 (the youngest that can be vaccinated) will be onboard, making my daughter the youngest child on the ship - that'll be interesting. I assume they'll just close "guppies" and "splash academy", and roll her into the teen club?

Would love your tips and tricks for the Encore or this itinerary.

It's weird, there's almost no youtube content on the Encore, except for a media sailing in November 2019. Usually we spend hours watching videos of past guests to get ideas and tips.

Have a great day!

3 minutes ago, Tapi said:

 

With all of that said, I’m so, so, SO GLAD that I was able to squeeze in a 2020 cruise before the shut down! Doing so has helped tremendously to ease the symptoms of cruise withdrawal! 😂. I do find myself looking at the photo album from that cruise more frequently than from other cruises I’ve recently taken. I’m hopeful that by the time February 2021 rolls around, we will all be cruising again! 

 

I couldn't agree more! I'm so happy we went....I'm targeting the same time frame for another vacation, too. Here's to hoping we'll all be vaccinated and ready to rock.

Your response was totally reasonable, by the way 😉

Hey all,

I thought I'd bump this, because some of the responses are very interesting, in retrospect.

Anyway, we did have a fantastic time on our cruise, and it was amazing...We look forward to cruising again in the future sometime.

For those of you who said I was an idiot for considering cancelling, the Breakaway was a covid cruise *2 weeks* after I got off the ship:

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2020/03/24/westmoreland-hempfield-lisa-duffy-coronavirus-cruise-ship-norwegian-test-COVID-positive/stories/202003230140

Thank you to most of you that have added such thoughtful and helpful replies, particularly @Tapi, @Funky Fusion FoodsJ, @littlelulu01, @ronbe65, @momofab, @Starry Eyes,  @mking8288and @ggroggey.

This is a rapidly evolving situation, and I hope that some of the others who responded with condescension still have such snark in a few weeks. Seriously, I do, it means you were right 😉 

A particular thanks to my fellow cruise-mates for responding, we'll see you on board, hopefully!