SeaTacMike

10 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Omg! Hal must be happy.  That's about 200 over ship capacity from what i can see.  Is that even possible? Thank you.

The listed capacity is based on double occupancy.  That number can go higher when you have 3 or 4 in a stateroom.

Thank you for taking us along with you!  The daily "Where and When's" were priceless and gave us an idea of what to expect on our first ever Holland cruise this coming September.

Silly question but it's real important to our friend who will be cruising with us on Eurodam.  In all the Eurodam videos I've watched I have yet to notice a soft serve machine!  Is there one on this ship?

This Orange party.... is it a staple on all HAL cruises?  Are we gonna be packing an orange outfit for Alaska in September????????

16 hours ago, Crazy For Cats said:

Of important note is Happy Hour on this ship is 50% off each drink.  I found that the bartender in the Ocean Bar knows how to make Mango Champagne Dream.  Currently having my second one at 8:30  happy hour.

I'm guessing (hoping) the bar in Explorer's Lounge can make a nice espresso martini?
Maybe when you're up there you could ask 🙂

16 hours ago, Crazy For Cats said:

The soup had a strong fishy smell. My thought was that the cats would have loved it.  The worse the smell the quicker they eat it. 😀

Whew ! ! !   Thanks for the heads up !!! LOL  Enjoying your live blog... we've just booked our very first HAL cruise so we're soaking up info like a couple of sponges 😉

Fantastic reporting, thank you so very very much !

4 hours ago, drumexpert510 said:

Unfortunately, I was told no and that is because there is not a martini bar onboard and is not a focus. Now I do know you can get a nice vodka martini at Maltings, but no other speciality one has been advertised that I have seen.

 

The observation lounge is able to do an espresso martini because they have an espresso machine behind the bar. 

There are 2 other bars that can make an espresso martini.  A-List bar and Atrium Bar

4 hours ago, drumexpert510 said:

Tip: When in the observation lounge and If you are looking for a nice cocktail to drink, might I suggest an espresso martini. It is a slight up charge of $3 with the beverage package but well worth it! 
 

 

Oh yes yes yes... this is my absolute favorite drink on the ship and worth every penny of the surcharge !!!

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE ! ! ! ! 

19 minutes ago, drumexpert510 said:

Don’t know why the pictures are upside down... blame it on the internet! 
 

**Sorry**

Ow, my neck !

5 hours ago, drumexpert510 said:

After dinner last night, we went straight back and hit the hay. It was a little rocky last night as we were traveling up the western coast of Vancouver. We are scooting along pretty good this morning and the weather is fairly decent and around 57 degrees. 
 

Today’s  schedule:

 

CC Meet & Greet

Slot Pull with some casino action

Thermal Spa Suite 

Some bar reviews

Choir of Men

If you haven't seen Choir Of Men yet, prepare to have your socks knocked off.
It's utterly fantastic !   Can't say the same for Kinky Boots though. (I know it's not onboard currently)

Buckle your seatbelts....  this is a screenshot of the internet speed taken aboard Majestic Princess on her first voyage to Alaska this year.  The angle of the satellites makes for very poor internet in that particular region.
 

5 hours ago, drumexpert510 said:

Well Folks... the votes are in for Onda... and it did not disappoint. A huge step in the right direction from La Cucina.
 

Starting off, the bread they bring to the table was very unique and started everything off on a great foot.

 

For our meals, we had the Burrata and the Spare Ribs apps and both had amazing flavor. The mains were also very flavorful, we had the lobster tagliatelle and the mezzalune.

 

The lobster tagliatelle was well rounded and the lobster did nothing over power. The mezzalune had a brown butter sauce that was to die for. If you are undecided on what side to get, grab the lentils... again, tons of flavor.

 

5 stars tonight! Great job NCL!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surely this can't be your first live review, you're doing GREAT ! ! ! 
So good that I think even Bird might get some ruffled feathers LOL
 

3 hours ago, zerooveride said:

Well we aren’t happy right now. Airflow is non-existent in our cabin. Sweating my you know what off. I couldn’t imagine doing a Caribbean cruise in this room. Been waiting 45 minutes for maintenance 

Hope that gets taken care of with the quickness.

Greetings Brad, I found you!  Happy sailing and thanks for this live review.
One of OUR personal interests revolves around the CDC page that has Encore still in orange status.
We've heard no mention from previous sailings if any infections were announced on board, nor do we know if those announcements are even made.  So I kindly ask, if any info regarding this becomes available, could you please report it.  We thought for sure that Encore would go green today, but nope.

3 hours ago, lepidoptera said:

Following along with this. I will be on ship in a few weeks ( sept 19-25). If you think of it, could you see if Starbucks is selling any tea latte? I am not a huge fan of ncl's regular selection of tea 

2 hours ago, geckobabe said:

Thanks, Bird! This has been extremely helpful. One question... is local tax charged on drinks while in the Alaskan ports?

Woop, read that wrong the first time.  No tax is collected while in any port other than the original embarkation port of Seattle which should be 10.1%

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

So,,,, while the water is heated, with temps in the 50’s, there is not much demand for being in the pool. Hot tubs and water slides are busy. I don’t think that anyone cares about younger adults in the pool. 

The pool water is heated?  You sure about that Bird?  

On 8/12/2021 at 12:16 PM, lks93 said:

Great to see Encore is back to GREEN status on CDC Cruise Ship Color Status!

Currently it's at Orange status "monitoring" 

On 8/8/2021 at 10:35 PM, www3traveler said:

Have you had a chance to find out whether either Bong or Clarense (Chocolate Cowboy) are on board?

 

Thank you for taking the time todo all the postings.

 

I hope the rest of your cruise goes smoothly.

Clarence has stated on his FB page that he was joining Norwegian Joy in July.

4 hours ago, Syracusefan44 said:

I don’t blame Princess but this decision has resulted in my wife and I cancelling our Alaskan cruise.  We were flying from New York to Seattle three days early and we don’t want to spend our first day trying to find a testing location that can guarantee results prior to embarkation.

 

We are extremely disappointed to say the least because we love to cruise but the added stress of getting tested and hoping the results are negative takes away the joy of travel.  Hopefully things will improve by January 2022.  
 

So you say you've cancelled.  Surely you had already paid in full for an Alaskan cruise (ours is the final Alaskan 9/26 and we're paid in full)  SO, what happened when you cancelled?  Can you offer any details for us who are now reconsidering?  Thanks from a lifelong New Yorker now living in Seattle!

Where?  I want to find that thread... haven't seen it yet

8 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

@Mary Ann 2correct no embarkation photos. And no photos getting off in port. I asked a security person when I got off and she said only security is allowed off ship. No crew.  
 

exceeeept Captain Dino. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh don’t tell anyone. Lol 

 

there are lots of photo ops on formal and casual nights. 
@PROCRUISEon the first formal night I saw well over 2 dozen women in full blown Queen Mary 2 worthy floor length gowns. Fully sequined, gorgeous satins. Just fabulous. They were escorted by equally fabulous men in tuxes. I was roaming about from around 4:30 in the elite happy hour lounge through mid ship piazza and vines until my dinner at 5:40. And then piazza again after.  Many others were dressed very nicely you could tell an effort was made. 
 

second formal night I did not notice the same level of dressing but most still in appropriate attire especially in the MDR. Out and about not so much. 
 

 

OMG I just almost died laughing.... Captain Dino the pier runner ! ! ! ! !  LMAO !

3 hours ago, KonaDave said:

Where is the best place to view the Glaciers  on the ship. Not many outside areas where you can see 360 degrees. What are your suggestions. For inside and outside viewing. 

What a spectacular photo ! ! ! WOW nice job!  Alaska truly is a photographers dream.  I think a great spot for catching both sides of the ship would be all the way aft behind the buffet the Wake View bar!