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I was starting to get a bit nervous about flights but yesterday, 58 days out, I received another notice that edocs were ready. I logged in and had the same odd pop up window come up again asking me to log in again but this time it worked and all the docs were there including flights, which I am very happy with. We opted to do the 1 day deviation at the beginning just in case, details are as follows:

Outbound Flight

Home Departure City - PWM - Portland, ME to LGA- NY

7:00am/840am

Arrival/Destination City - LGA to MIA - Miami, FLorida

10:44am/2:01pm

Airline -Delta

Number of Connections 1

Return Flight

Departure City - MIA to LGA 

12:27pm/3:28pm

Arrival/Destination City - LGA to PWM

4:25pm/5:49pm

Airline -American

Number of Connections - 1

I would definitely choose the NCL flight offer if it ever becomes available again for a future cruise. Thanks NCL!

Sid, as others have said over and over, I have really enjoyed following along with your review. So appreciate you taking everyone along, it's obviously a lot of time and effort you could have spent on your own without us!!!

This has definitely added a huge amount of information for our February cruise and for that I thank you Sir!! Hopefully someday our paths will cross and we can share a cocktail or two, or a shot or two (maybe 3)! Thanks again and safe travels home.

Great review so far Sid, some great perspectives and comments, keeps me entertained for sure!! (great shirt yesterday too!)

Only going to be my second NCL cruise, did Bliss last Feb, looking for Vibe this Feb, do they sell them in the Social or Guest Services desk?

2 minutes ago, PortFees45 said:

 

How in God's name could someone willingly press their face into a publicly accessible pillow!?

Especially when you consider the photo directly above that one!!!!

Totally oblivious to anyone else around them, society today, makes one wonder doesn't it??

I know where I will not sit in February!! Good thing they can't sleep in the bar stools 😂

Sid, as many, many others have said, thanks for taking us along on your vacation. Pretty cool that you just left Miami and your post is already near 15 pages!! 70 days for us to leave on her so following along with great interest.

One question though, this will only be our 2nd NCL cruise so no real status other than being a CAS guest, do you think we have a chance at Vibe passes or should I not even bother? I know, kind of a loaded question but being new to it all I thought I would ask.

Keep up the great work, it is appreciated!

Found this thread and checked my Sept 25, 2021 Bermuda sailing on Joy and with the same choices and same balcony category it appears that the pricing went down approx. $100 total. So I have reached out to my NCL rep to ask. Will see what he comes back with.

Just called the CAS line as we booked through a certificate because my account said the edocs were ready for download but I cannot get them. I assume this is due to the flight bookings which have not been confirmed yet, we sail on Feb 9 as well. The person I spoke with said the system might be backed up and to check it again Monday as they "dump" on Fridays and it takes 24-48 hours to access. So we'll try again next week.

HI, I decided to give it a try as well not really knowing if it was going to be worth it or not. There hasn't been much discussion about this program from what I have been able to find anyway so not really sure how it is working. Hopefully someone reads this post and enlightens all of us! We're going February 9th on the Encore so still some time to get some feedback.

1 hour ago, DinaS said:

 

When we got our upgrade email for our last cruise, we bid really low offers on one category - only after checking out all the possible locations for any of those cabins.  

 

For example, we did NOT bid on a spa mini suite, because they are mainly under the pool deck.  We also didn't bid on any Haven forward 1 bedrooms cabins, because they all have smaller balconies (and we really enjoy our balcony).

 

We did bid low-ball on the Haven Courtyard penthouse, but didn't get it.  But we made sure we would be happy with any of those cabins in any location they would be.

Makes total sense, since I requested the specfic cabin we have due to its location, I like the mid-ship balconies that are at either end of the "bump outs" next to the angled balconies. These provide unobstructed views (either forward or aft) without having to look passed your neighbors balcony. Just a personal preference. I'll most likely stick with what I have until I can actually afford to pick my own Haven cabin someday!! Thanks again for your responses, always appreciated.

5 minutes ago, DinaS said:

 

No one can tell you what you should bid on, or even how much you should bid.  If you are happy with the cabin you have (type and location), stay there.  If you want to spend some money, and gamble on a cabin in an unknown location, then figure out how much you are comfortable paying, and try it.

 

The worst that can happen is your bid is not accepted, or it is accepted, and you don't like the location of your new, more expensive cabin 🙂

You basically said exactly what I was thinking I would get for responses due to it being a pretty "common sense" post so I do appreciate it. I guess my thought by posting the questions was due to my wondering if bidding on a spa balcony or lower end Haven would be worth it. I suppose I probably should have worded my OP better!! Thanks again, pretty new to CC postings as you can tell!!

We just recieved the upgrade email yesterday, 90 days out, for the Encore sailing. We're already in a midship balcony on deck 10 so I'm interested to ask for opinions on if to bid at all and if so which option to try it on, not wanting to spend a crazy amount on top of my already somewhat pricey cruise. Thanks in advance!

Doug, I can't tell you how valuable this and your "Everything" threads have been to a somewhat new cruiser like me. I tend to "over-research" things like this so when I get on board or at a particular spot I can make my fiancee' feel a bit more comfortable since she is not when she's out of her element. We are sailing February 9th on Encore and with all the information, photos, and videos you and your friends have provided I feel confident that I will already know my way around the ship. Thanks again for taking us along throughout this journey, we certainly appreciate all your hard work. Now go get some needed rest!! Maybe someday we will meet, until then, happy cruising!

Perry

2 hours ago, TheDougOut said:

Great pics, looking forward to your updates once you get on board. Have a safe and enjoyable trip back the the USA!! Hopefully the weather improves for you all! Oh and of course really enjoy the District!!

Encore is now leaving the dock at Bremerhaven!!

Following #shipmonk on instagram it looks like the Laser Tag area is different from the renderings, no blue tubing swirling around. Hopefully this area will be accessible when laser tag is closed like the area around the Bliss tag area.

The flags have been added/changed, it's alomost official !!

18 hours ago, ybard31 said:

So we were able to purchase the Thermal Suite pass for our 11/24 Encore Cruise... by calling Customer Service 

At first they were quoting around 289 pp....but we were able to purchase for 249 pp 

Hope this helps

Definitely helps, thanks to all that replied, we appreciate it!!

16 hours ago, Terrab said:

They don't sell them presail. Also there is only a limited amount. You can do a spa tour on the first day and decide if you want one. We bought a week and really enjoyed it.

Thank you, a spa tour makes a lot of sense. I appreciate the information.

Has anyone tried to purchase the Thermal Suite passes yet? I cannot find the option listed anywhere in the list under the Spa tab.  I'm thinking of giving it a try on our February 9, 2020 sailing. Any assistance would be appreciated, thanks!!

BTW, there are some new photos showing up on Instagram under #nclencore if anyone is interested.

Since this is Thermal Suite related I figured I would ask here if anyone can lead me to where I can book this for my February Encore sailing? I have looked through all the Spa items listed and it doesn't show anything specific for the Thermal Suite. Am I missing it somewhere?

Thanks in advance!!

Thank you very much!!

On 10/11/2019 at 9:18 AM, mfic246 said:

Home Departure City - Albany, NY

Arrival/Destination City - New Orleans

Airline(s) used - American there / Delta back

Number of Connections - 1 each way

Outbound Flight departure/arrival time - 8:15am ALB - PHL arrive 9:38am

10:19am PHL - MSY arrive 12:30PM

Return Flight departure/arrival time

11:19am MSY - DTW 2:45pm

3:18pm DTW - ALB 4:58pm

 

Just received confirmed airfare at 59 days from travel. Called at 61 days and they changed the flights I was supposed to be on from later in the evening.  The person I talked to was super helpful.  We have the deviation to fly in a day early.  Connection times are tight but love getting into New Orleans nice and early the day before.  Original flight on the way back had us not leaving until 6:00 and getting back to Albany after midnight.  The agent said I called at the perfect time as they hadn't been officially ticketed yet.

Your post grabbed my attention as you are the closest to us that I have noticed so far and was wondering what number you called to speak with someone regarding changes to your flights prior to them being booked? This is the first time for me using this ncl option and reading a lot of posts I'm a bit nervous as we are flying out of Portland, Maine to Miami (February 2020) with one stop at LGA (both ways) currently showing in my summary. We are flying in a day early to make sure we get there on time but don't want to arrive late at night if I can avoid it. any info would be appreciated!! Thanks

Welcome lzzzzz, we are sailing in February as well, 9-16, and are so looking forward to it, even with all the issues mentioned regarding the lack of public deck space, we'll be just fine, it's vacation somewhere warm after all!!

I experienced the same issues you did with my reservations, only Chior of a Man shows up in my list online but I did receive an email confirmation for all dining reservations and a separate email for entertainment. I didn't bother to call anyone since I assume the email confirmation will cover everything.

Can't wait for more photos of the ship to start trickling in now that it's on the move again.

Happy cruising!

For what it is worth and also want to point out that this will be my first time trying the "Free Air" promo as well but just to let folks know my experience, so far.

I had/have the Encore booked for the 2/9/2020 sailing through CAS program and at the time of my original booking free air was not a promo. When I did a mock booking to check on pricing (prior to final payment) I noticed that the free air promo was available along with the free at sea perks. I had been searching for flights, for quite some time, out of Portland, Maine and also Boston as a possible less expensive option (although a lot more traveling for us). Flights out of Portland all have 1 stop which is fine but due to the timing of the return flights having to be scheduled later in the day the costs jumped considerably, near $1000 RT.

I decided to call the CAS line and ask if my reservation would qualify for the free air promo to be added (I called the day before my final payment was due). I lady I spoke with was very helpful, looked up my reservation, and told me that I could ammend my reservation and add free air for a total of $64 ($32 each way) for the tranfers for 2 people. I then asked if I could fly in a day early because I had already reserved a hotel and she said yes but I would be charged $25 pp deviation fee, which was fine. So my final question was if I could only do a one way transfer at the end of the cruise from port to airport because the hotel will pick us up for free when we arrive and get us to the port. Again, she said yes no problem and removed the pre-cruise tranfers and the new total is $82 which includes the RT flights, deviation fees and one way transfer on disembarkation day. As another point, the cost of my original reservation did change a small amount due to the change in Travel Insurance cost to add the flights but in the end it was still less than $100 change.

So as I mentioned, this will be my first experience using NCL for flights but if it all works out ok I will save almost $1000 (even if it means a bit of inconvenience, i.e. long or short connections) I can deal with it. After all, we're on vacation!!

I'm not sure if this is the correct thread to use for this but since it's "Everything Encore" I figured why not try. Yesterday I noticed on the NCL website that Entertainment and some Dining options appeared to be available to reserve. So I tried it and was able to book Choir of a Man and received confirmation. Then went to Dining, selected the venue, went through the drop downs, and chose "add to Cart" then nothing. Tried a different venue, same process, nothing again. This went on several times until I finally gave up and figured I would try today and attributed it to new ship and all the options not being online yet. Then low and behold I received 2 email confirmations, one for the Entertainment I booked and the other for the 3 dining options I orginally chose, very strange but at least I have the confirmation email.

Even stranger I checked my account today and the only thing that shows up that's new is the Choir of a Man booking. Anyone else experiencing this hiccup with their Encore bookings?