A few comments on my Encore cruise last week

[dans0202]

This was my 8th Christmas cruise with NCL.  Not my last but I did not purchase a cruise next certificate as i may want to try something new as getting less for more money is taking a toll.

 

Highlights 

Ship is big,nice looking and clean.

The morning and afternoon staff in all the restaurants are great, hard working and eager to please.

As an experiment NCL is slightly changing the lunch menu the dining rooms each day which is a nice change.

Laser tag and the go carts were fun and something new.  Only negative is 3 of the 20 guns failed to work during our session and there is no senior staff around to deal with issues.  I feel the recreation staff unlike many other staff are left to flounder without management support and deal with technical problems and angry guests.

A few of the speciality restaurants offer some fantastic dishes and all were positive experience with good to great food and service.

Check in was a breeze in the platinum line at 1130.  Only 1 person ahead of us.

Choir of man is fantastic, kinky boots was good.

Found some great bartenders from past cruises that continue to excel at what they do.

Manager at Q (a new BBQ restaurant) is as fantastic.  He worked to get my daughter a vegan meal from another restaurant when others were not nearly as accommodating.  

The Q restaurant was surprisingly good considering much of the food is pre made prior to the cruise.  Also good entertainment starting around 930.  The choir of man performer actually took the stage for a set.

 

Some low lights 

They continue to require our group of 21 to eat at 9pm or later.  The minute we sit down there is a feeling that they are closing the restaurant with tables being cleared, moved around and remade for breakfast.  One night we were initially told it was too late to serve coffee with desert and the bar one night was closed before dessert was even served.  2 nights it took 1 hour to get a glass of wine.  I understand the staff is tired after a long day.  They turn on the lights each night to tell us to leave.  I wish they could find a way to seat us earlier.  In the end this is the deal breaker that may result in me trying another line in the future.

 

The registration process for the laser tag and go carts needs revision and soon or somebody will flip out 30 minutes into the cruise.  Thanks to other comments I read, I ran to the registration for these activities.  I then waited 30 minutes staring at 11:40.  I then spent 45 minutes trying to sign up a group of 21 for go carts, laser tag and a comedy show.  There are 8 people taking reservations.  By 12:45 they were telling people go carts and laser tag were sold out for the week.  The issue I have  with registration was that if you are booking for more then 2 people each pair is reserved one at a time.  What then happens after the first 2 are booked is that one of the other reservationists takes the spots the other 2 in your fore-some were trying to book.  Then you have to cancel the original booking and start again with another time slot.  This resulted in a lot of frustration.  Watching the person trying to help us type with 1 figure was killing me.  Ended up having to split up our group as he could not book people fast enough.

 

The nicest thing I can say about the wine by the glass is that it stinks.  The only thing worse then the quality is the price. NCL took their $8 a bottle house wine and made it $17 a glass.  2 dollars above the $15 UBP limit.  One night after waiting 1 hour for wine with dinner the supervisor comes over and apologies.  Says she will bring me a glass of something good.  It arrived after desert.  I saw the bottle and noticed it was the $8 a glass cheapest glass.  Definitely not the good stuff.  At the end of the day the staff is tired and no longer eager to please especially in the main dining room.

 

I was forewarned about the deck chairs so I was not caught off guard.  The sun deck has been removed and converted to paid seating.   Finding a deck chair was no harder this year then past.  You still need to be out by 730 to get a few chairs together.  The difference is that to make up for the lack of space the chairs are on top of each other and crammed any where possible.  It is hard to more around decks 16 and 17 at the best of times with every square inch occupied.  The small tables that created a bit of room between chairs have been removed leaving no gaps in long rows of chairs.  Saw people climbing on chairs to try and get out of their row.  I suspect there will be some slips and falls.  At the end of the day once people have moved the chairs around you often find yourself boxed in having to climb on chairs to escape.  Not the end of the world but something to be aware of.

 

 

Best pieces of advice

Run on board and book all activities.

Drag a chair from the outdoor seating area of the Mexican restaurant on deck 8 to the back of deck 8 and sit and enjoy and watch the ships wake in relative peace and quiet.

Go to the main dining room for lunch more then once given the changing menu.

Finally- plan, plan, plan.  If you arrived uninformed you will be disappointed as things book up quickly.

I can try and answer any questions

[Gershep]

Thanks for review. Glad to see that they are experimenting with changing lunch menu. It's about time.

[david_sobe]

I was watching a family's review of Encore who booked the ship for the laser tag and go Karts.  Laser Tag kept crashing and no one on the ship knew how to fix it.  They had to keep calling the maker's corporate office for instructions how to fix it.  They had to wait stand by for go karts and one family who had road them 5 times did not show and they were able to ride.  Their valid complaint too was the registration process.  Also not running Laser Tag and Go Karts on port days.  By doing so, it severely limits the amount of players/riders.  I think they made a valid point if the registration process lets you book 5 laser tags and 5 go kart rides before others can try them once.

[dshefter]

1 hour ago, dans0202 said:

This was my 8th Christmas cruise with NCL.  Not my last but I did not purchase a cruise next certificate as i may want to try something new as getting less for more money is taking a toll.

 

Highlights 

Ship is big,nice looking and clean.

The morning and afternoon staff in all the restaurants are great, hard working and eager to please.

As an experiment NCL is slightly changing the lunch menu the dining rooms each day which is a nice change.

Laser tag and the go carts were fun and something new.  Only negative is 3 of the 20 guns failed to work during our session and there is no senior staff around to deal with issues.  I feel the recreation staff unlike many other staff are left to flounder without management support and deal with technical problems and angry guests.

A few of the speciality restaurants offer some fantastic dishes and all were positive experience with good to great food and service.

Check in was a breeze in the platinum line at 1130.  Only 1 person ahead of us.

Choir of man is fantastic, kinky boots was good.

Found some great bartenders from past cruises that continue to excel at what they do.

Manager at Q (a new BBQ restaurant) is as fantastic.  He worked to get my daughter a vegan meal from another restaurant when others were not nearly as accommodating.  

The Q restaurant was surprisingly good considering much of the food is pre made prior to the cruise.  Also good entertainment starting around 930.  The choir of man performer actually took the stage for a set.

 

Some low lights 

They continue to require our group of 21 to eat at 9pm or later.  The minute we sit down there is a feeling that they are closing the restaurant with tables being cleared, moved around and remade for breakfast.  One night we were initially told it was too late to serve coffee with desert and the bar one night was closed before dessert was even served.  2 nights it took 1 hour to get a glass of wine.  I understand the staff is tired after a long day.  They turn on the lights each night to tell us to leave.  I wish they could find a way to seat us earlier.  In the end this is the deal breaker that may result in me trying another line in the future.

 

The registration process for the laser tag and go carts needs revision and soon or somebody will flip out 30 minutes into the cruise.  Thanks to other comments I read, I ran to the registration for these activities.  I then waited 30 minutes staring at 11:40.  I then spent 45 minutes trying to sign up a group of 21 for go carts, laser tag and a comedy show.  There are 8 people taking reservations.  By 12:45 they were telling people go carts and laser tag were sold out for the week.  The issue I have  with registration was that if you are booking for more then 2 people each pair is reserved one at a time.  What then happens after the first 2 are booked is that one of the other reservationists takes the spots the other 2 in your fore-some were trying to book.  Then you have to cancel the original booking and start again with another time slot.  This resulted in a lot of frustration.  Watching the person trying to help us type with 1 figure was killing me.  Ended up having to split up our group as he could not book people fast enough.

 

The nicest thing I can say about the wine by the glass is that it stinks.  The only thing worse then the quality is the price. NCL took their $8 a bottle house wine and made it $17 a glass.  2 dollars above the $15 UBP limit.  One night after waiting 1 hour for wine with dinner the supervisor comes over and apologies.  Says she will bring me a glass of something good.  It arrived after desert.  I saw the bottle and noticed it was the $8 a glass cheapest glass.  Definitely not the good stuff.  At the end of the day the staff is tired and no longer eager to please especially in the main dining room.

 

I was forewarned about the deck chairs so I was not caught off guard.  The sun deck has been removed and converted to paid seating.   Finding a deck chair was no harder this year then past.  You still need to be out by 730 to get a few chairs together.  The difference is that to make up for the lack of space the chairs are on top of each other and crammed any where possible.  It is hard to more around decks 16 and 17 at the best of times with every square inch occupied.  The small tables that created a bit of room between chairs have been removed leaving no gaps in long rows of chairs.  Saw people climbing on chairs to try and get out of their row.  I suspect there will be some slips and falls.  At the end of the day once people have moved the chairs around you often find yourself boxed in having to climb on chairs to escape.  Not the end of the world but something to be aware of.

 

 

Best pieces of advice

Run on board and book all activities.

Drag a chair from the outdoor seating area of the Mexican restaurant on deck 8 to the back of deck 8 and sit and enjoy and watch the ships wake in relative peace and quiet.

Go to the main dining room for lunch more then once given the changing menu.

Finally- plan, plan, plan.  If you arrived uninformed you will be disappointed as things book up quickly.

I can try and answer any questions

NCL should change motto from Freestyle to Free for All

[dshefter]

1 hour ago, dans0202 said:

This was my 8th Christmas cruise with NCL.  Not my last but I did not purchase a cruise next certificate as i may want to try something new as getting less for more money is taking a toll.

 

Highlights 

Ship is big,nice looking and clean.

The morning and afternoon staff in all the restaurants are great, hard working and eager to please.

As an experiment NCL is slightly changing the lunch menu the dining rooms each day which is a nice change.

Laser tag and the go carts were fun and something new.  Only negative is 3 of the 20 guns failed to work during our session and there is no senior staff around to deal with issues.  I feel the recreation staff unlike many other staff are left to flounder without management support and deal with technical problems and angry guests.

A few of the speciality restaurants offer some fantastic dishes and all were positive experience with good to great food and service.

Check in was a breeze in the platinum line at 1130.  Only 1 person ahead of us.

Choir of man is fantastic, kinky boots was good.

Found some great bartenders from past cruises that continue to excel at what they do.

Manager at Q (a new BBQ restaurant) is as fantastic.  He worked to get my daughter a vegan meal from another restaurant when others were not nearly as accommodating.  

The Q restaurant was surprisingly good considering much of the food is pre made prior to the cruise.  Also good entertainment starting around 930.  The choir of man performer actually took the stage for a set.

 

Some low lights 

They continue to require our group of 21 to eat at 9pm or later.  The minute we sit down there is a feeling that they are closing the restaurant with tables being cleared, moved around and remade for breakfast.  One night we were initially told it was too late to serve coffee with desert and the bar one night was closed before dessert was even served.  2 nights it took 1 hour to get a glass of wine.  I understand the staff is tired after a long day.  They turn on the lights each night to tell us to leave.  I wish they could find a way to seat us earlier.  In the end this is the deal breaker that may result in me trying another line in the future.

 

The registration process for the laser tag and go carts needs revision and soon or somebody will flip out 30 minutes into the cruise.  Thanks to other comments I read, I ran to the registration for these activities.  I then waited 30 minutes staring at 11:40.  I then spent 45 minutes trying to sign up a group of 21 for go carts, laser tag and a comedy show.  There are 8 people taking reservations.  By 12:45 they were telling people go carts and laser tag were sold out for the week.  The issue I have  with registration was that if you are booking for more then 2 people each pair is reserved one at a time.  What then happens after the first 2 are booked is that one of the other reservationists takes the spots the other 2 in your fore-some were trying to book.  Then you have to cancel the original booking and start again with another time slot.  This resulted in a lot of frustration.  Watching the person trying to help us type with 1 figure was killing me.  Ended up having to split up our group as he could not book people fast enough.

 

The nicest thing I can say about the wine by the glass is that it stinks.  The only thing worse then the quality is the price. NCL took their $8 a bottle house wine and made it $17 a glass.  2 dollars above the $15 UBP limit.  One night after waiting 1 hour for wine with dinner the supervisor comes over and apologies.  Says she will bring me a glass of something good.  It arrived after desert.  I saw the bottle and noticed it was the $8 a glass cheapest glass.  Definitely not the good stuff.  At the end of the day the staff is tired and no longer eager to please especially in the main dining room.

 

I was forewarned about the deck chairs so I was not caught off guard.  The sun deck has been removed and converted to paid seating.   Finding a deck chair was no harder this year then past.  You still need to be out by 730 to get a few chairs together.  The difference is that to make up for the lack of space the chairs are on top of each other and crammed any where possible.  It is hard to more around decks 16 and 17 at the best of times with every square inch occupied.  The small tables that created a bit of room between chairs have been removed leaving no gaps in long rows of chairs.  Saw people climbing on chairs to try and get out of their row.  I suspect there will be some slips and falls.  At the end of the day once people have moved the chairs around you often find yourself boxed in having to climb on chairs to escape.  Not the end of the world but something to be aware of.

 

 

Best pieces of advice

Run on board and book all activities.

Drag a chair frsom the outdoor seating area of the Mexican restaurant on deck 8 to the back of deck 8 and sit and enjoy and watch the ships wake in relative peace and quiet.

Go to the main dining room for lunch more then once given the changing menu.

Finally- plan, plan, plan.  If you arrived uninformed you will be disappointed as things book up quickly.

I can try and answer any questions

Were Vibe and Go Kart reservations being done in The Social or another area? Hearing conflicting reports about this. Each cruise on the Encore seems to have a different place for these

[mking8288]

@dans0202 " ...  I understand the staff is tired after a long day.  They turn on the lights each night to tell us to leave.  I wish they could find a way to seat us earlier.  In the end this is the deal breaker that may result in me trying another line ... "

 

One of NCL's tagline/motto is (was) to go above & beyond, exceed expectations or something along that line.  I see that you joined CC earlier than us and been around, just not something that post much.  This might not be a red flag, but definitely a yellow flag to proceed with caution ... 

 

We're on the mid-sized Gem last month ourselves, what stood out was when we ate late in Magenta, the smaller MDR late in the evening ... services & timing was turbo-charged, everything came quickly without pausing for a heartbeat - in there, seated, ordered, ate a 4 course meal including dessert - out of there in less than 1 hour, maybe 45 minutes.  DW said, "wow" - wish it was like that 2 nights ago in Cagney's.  

 

Encore is coming our way, friends booked already but just aren't sure we are in a let's go, can't wait to try her out "mode".  Thank you for taking the time to post.  

Edited January 1, 2020 by mking8288

[dans0202]

Sign up for go carts and laser tag we’re in the social.  Get there as quick as possible. Granted I was there during a prime week for kids but there seems to be limited spaces.

[BobaLouFTL]

On the Encore Christmas Cruise as well. The Ship itself is great and the staff was excellent, but unless you really love your sea days, this itinerary on this ship is not for you. With the arrival at the first port at 5 PM on day three, you really have 4 sea days, two in the beginning and two in the end. As you would expect on a ship carrying 4,000 passengers, all of the public areas were crowded, and many of the activities & attractions operated on a limited basis.