flcraigs5

2 hours ago, Cookie002 said:

Hi there

 

I just wanted to post a different perspective on our Encore Sailing, Feb 15-23. I have cruised Disney three times, RCL once, Oceania Once, and NCL  in Hawaii previously.

 

I m not trying to say that anyone else’s perspective is wrong, I am just going to write what I loved about the ship and why, what worked for us, and what were the issues - because there definitely can be some. I will break it out by section, hopefully for easier reading. This is in no particular order....

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

Holy cow —- best entertainment aboard any ship I have been on. And not just one specific thing, it was across the freakin board.

Choir of Man was Outstanding, Beatles were Outstanding, the 5 piece band that goes on in the Q for country western was outstanding. Kinky boots was very good. The Jelly Beans that play by the Mojhito bar - amazing - she sang some patsy cline that might make you cry - her partner sounds just like Neil diamond, so good. The piano player in the atrium was great. Guns and Rojas were both good and great. Good with the rock and roll stuff. But great, amazing when they did the frank Sinatra set - the lead singer was dancing with the older ladies.

(hmm, I am only 54, you might think I am 80 with this review. But some songs just showcase voices, and boy, everybody who was a singer on that ship could SING.

 

ROOMS

 

Not too much exciting to say here. We had an aft balcony cabin. Rooms were typical, but there was great storage, especially in the bathroom. Shower was definitely bigger than on any of the other ships I had been on. Room steward was Mr Jingles- he was awesome. Very friendly, and always checking to see if we needed anything.

 

DINING

 

Buffet: on another thread someone was talking about the bad design of the buffet, and I agree. There is no rhyme or reason on the set up, and I wandered around constantly trying to find the salad bar. It was a zoo on most days, unless you dined at weird hours. It was a zoo on sea days, all day long. That said, food quality was good to very good. BUT.. the Indian food section was AMAZING. Perfectly spiced dishes that melt in your mouth. Did not discover this TIL day 5, as we tended to avoid the buffet

 

Food REpublic: amazing, above average to excellent food. It’s open on sea days during lunch with no reservation. I would suggest NOT using a dining credit for this place, but instead just share a few dishes ala cart. On the dining credit, you can pick 4 dishes, and if you can finish 4 dishes on your own, you are a better man than me. I LOVED the Pad Thai especially. My son thought the Ramen was sup par.

 

Ocean: we had some of the best and worst dishes of the cruise in this restaurant. My husband’s scallops appetizer was the best scallops he ever had, and he is born and bred Nova Scotian. My seafood pasta was wretched. Every single side dish we had, (and in our group of 6 we had almost all of them) were Ruth Chris quality or even better. Someone had a tuna steak that was way over cooked. 

 

Cagney: excellent. Excellent steak, excellent apps, excellent side dishes, excellent service. LOVED IT

 

ONDA; very good, everyone enjoyed, no huge stand out dish. But very good.

 

Regular dining rooms: Food was mostly good. Some appetizers were very bad. Steak was always decent. I would say the quality was equal to other cruise ships main dining rooms, but our servers bent over backwards to make sure we had everything. Service here was better than any on Disney (except perhaps Palo) and even Oceania. I see some people mentioning that they had long waits to get seated or served, and we did not experience that. However, we were all adults and dined a bit later, (8ish?) so maybe its busier at 6???

 

BARS

 

There are so many bars on this ship, and each one is unique. It’s like an adventure finding them. But, what made them special was the bar tenders. They were so skilled, and had such personality, it was a lot of fun just hanging out and watching them make drinks. We never had to wait to get a drink ever, but we never tried to get a drink at the main deck pool bar. More on this later. On the drinking plan, just the regular one, that comes “free” (uhhuh), was great for mixed drinks and party drinks. The wine, both red and white, that you can get on the regular drinking plan was gut rot. Awful. Pours were always super generous for anything, but I gave up on the wine and stuck to cocktails or vodka cran soda. 

Hmm, I am trying to convey how great each of these bars were individually, they all had a certain personality, from MIXX, to the fantastic Mojhito place, to the outdoor bar of the cavern,  to the whiskey bar, they were all so much fun. Really well done. At the whiskey bar, order an old fashion- you wont be disappointed.

 

SPA

 

We did a spa service (massage) one day. Overpriced, not great. Worse- I kinda did the service so we could access the thermal suites for the day, as usually when you use the spa on most ships, you can use their public rooms. Not so on the ENCORE - 60 bucks more. That was a disappointment.

 

SUNDECK

 

Now we get to the real issue of the ship. There is no where near enough room in the public areas of the ships sun deck for even a quarter of the passengers. What’s more, there is no free ‘adult only’ space on this ship, like there is on every other NCL ship. Instead, they gave that real estate to the vibe, and to the race track, and the virtual reality game. All three things are money makes for NCL. I knew this going in, because I read these boards. Sun tanning is important to me and my family, as we are from Canada, and a cruise means relaxing out in the sun for at least some of the time. And we picked a cruise that had 2 full sea days, plus one day that was a port day that started at 5 pm - so three sea days basically. AND ON OUR PARTICULAR CRUISE, THE SHIP COULD NOT TENDER AT GSC, - so there ended up being an unexpected sea day. But I knew this was going to be an issue, so I countered it by getting VIBE. I have a whole other thread speaking specifically about vibe, so I wont go into detail about it. But for us, totally worth it. Loved it.

I can absolutely see people not liking the ship because of the lack of public outdoor space for tanning, and the lack of adult only space. It was a zoo on deck 16. Would not have enjoyed it at all. Lounge chairs are jammed together side by side with no space in between, think of airplane seating, but laying down, hot, sweaty, oiled up in lotion, and rubbing elbows with people on both sides. If you did not know them when you sat down, you would know them by the time you got up.

 

OBSERVATION LOUNGE DECK 15: 

 

spectacular. Gorgeous. Interesting. Nice little snacks for breakfast or lunch. Amazing views. Mostly quiet. Great Bar. Loved it.

 

this post is long enough, I will leave it there. I just want to say in addition to all this, I never felt the ship was overcrowded, and never waited for anything. EXCEPT for of course, the buffet and deck 16 outdoor pool deck. But we avoided both, and that did not impact our trip.

 

One other criticism of this ship - other than the buffet or the local, there were no other places to easily grab a snack between meals, especially if you were dining late. After 5 pm, the observation lounge offers nothing. The main dining rooms were not conducive for grab and go, and not open all the time. It was really lacking a little pizza place, or some darn thing. And all the options for food were on the upper decks, except the local, which made it a pain in the butt to easily get something.

 

Dont know if anyone read this whole review, but I hope it helps out any fellow cruisers.

 

 

Thanks for the review. Getting on the ship this Sunday and can not wait!!!!!

Anybody recently been to GSC and can tell me if the water has warned up yet? Trying to decide if it's worth it to bring our snorkeling gear.

Thanks for the information everyone. Wow if its anything like that video we will be very happy with the space for 2 people 🙂. Not to worried about the motion at the front of the ship. We were in a suite on the Sun at the very front and absolutely loved it!! I will make sure to get some pictures and post when we get back so others that wonder will know !

Just got our Oceanview guarantee room and its 13700 at the very front of the ship. Anybody out there that has stayed in cabin 13700 and can tell me layout etc. Pictures would be awesome if you have any 🙂

Thank you waterjock

My scenario is I am platinum and my husband is not. Will he be able to board with me?

thanks

38 minutes ago, BoatParts said:

You can totally do it yourself. Either with your own gear or rental in the island. I’ve had some decent snorkeling there. Hopefully next month too!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

thanks for the information.

Can anybody tell me whether you need to book the snorkeling excursion or can you snorkel on your own where the excursion takes you?

Hi David,

No question is stupid 🙂  that is to text others on the ship through the app. It works well to stay in touch  if you have older kids or a group on the ship with you.

is there good snorkeling at GSC? Trying to decide if we should bring our gear.

Bird Travels,

Thanks for the information. Can you tell me where we go to book the go karts and also comedy shows?

Thanks

23 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

1. Reservations are required and will sell out on embarkation day for the entire cruise. 

2. No. first come first serve. 

3. Reservations are required. Comedy shows are preformed in a small venue and will sell out very quickly on embarkation day. 
 

example below

 

Can anybody tell me where we go to make reservations for the following:

1. GoKarts - also can you make more than one reservation?

2. Virtual reality games

3. Comedy Shows

Thanks 🙂

1 minute ago, crewsweeper said:

Last time We were there it picked up at Sr Frogs. In the parking lot. I understand SF has closed but maybe the teams work.

THANK YOU

11 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

There's a tram from port. Or you can walk.  Nice walk.  Or a taxi.

Is there a tram station at the port easy to find?

Docking at Havensight dock and are interested in going into town and wander around. What is the best way for 2 to do this

does the water taxi run from Havensight  dock into Charlotte Amalie? if so where do you catch it at?

Your dinners for two? Is LaCucina and Moderno on this ship?

On 11/24/2019 at 11:07 PM, BirdTravels said:

 

There is a $10+20% gratuity upcharge to use your SDP at Ocean Blue.

can you order anything you want from the menu then?

Can you use your free dining plan at Ocean Blue?

Thank you for the information. I believe I would have him drive it up to the gate otherwise he will be a nervous wreck until he got it back in Copenhagen which in turn would be his daughters bar bill would be extremely costly on the plane LOL

Hi Flacaigs 5 I have flown many times with my scooter, mine is a pride go go travel elite, which does not fold but will break down into 4 parts for putting in a car. I have always ridden my scooter right to the gate and they have just pushed it up into the aircraft. (just make sure they knock it out of drive so not to damage it when they push it) I have flown on Europe's budget airlines and transatlantic to New york, Las Vegas and San Francisco all without problems. There are three advantages of taking your scooter all the way to the gate. 1. you can get a round the airport. 2. less chance of it getting damaged, 3. and most important you know it's on the same aircraft you are!!!

I am flying from Manchester UK to Miami next spring and will have to change aircraft in Atlanta, I am a bit worried that my scooter will not be transferred onto the correct aircraft as they may insist I use one of their wheelchairs while we are in the airport. If anyone can put my mind at rest I would be very grateful.

Thank you for the response. Yes we too will be switching planes and airlines in NY before we catch our connecting flight to Copenhagen