Live from NCL Encore Jan 9-16

[limeyalchemist]

3 hours ago, amy417 said:

Thanks for the updates. We are scheduled next week as well. Was Nassau always on your itinerary?  Or was it substituted for another destination. Any word on other ports turning the ship away?

Thanks again

We spent the day today in Nassau and left at 4pm.  We did not make the excursion for Blue Lagoon, which met the tour at 7:30 am and too early for my family LOL.  Walked to Junkanoo Beach which is free, about 15 mins walk from the port.  Lots of people selling loungers and drinks but a decent beach….nothing fancy.  Weather was perfect.

 

We found out at dinner tonight that we’re NOT making St. Thomas or Tortola, but instead going to La Romana, in DR on Wednesday and Puerto Plata on Thursday.  Sea days Tuesday and Friday and still heading to GSC Saturday hopefully.  We have an ocean villa booked so the highlight of our trip.  Not a very clear explanation other than “outside of our control” issues and COVID related.

 

That’s the news today.  Ship very quiet, not at all busy, loving it, mostly older crowd but everyone seems to be having fun and all in all, we are very happy we came.

 

Post more tomorrow… 

[limeyalchemist]

3 hours ago, amy417 said:

Thanks for the updates. We are scheduled next week as well. Was Nassau always on your itinerary?  Or was it substituted for another destination. Any word on other ports turning the ship away?

Thanks again

Nassau was added late last week instead of Puerto Plata, but not we find that we’re going to Puerto Plata anyway.  See other posts for more info on itinerary changes,

[classy_cruiser]

Sorry to hear about the port changes. I assume giving onboard  credits for the missed ports is a thing of the past now? I wish they would update the itinerary for the other January sailings since this keeps happening so we can update excursions. 

[limeyalchemist]

9 hours ago, classy_cruiser said:

Sorry to hear about the port changes. I assume giving onboard  credits for the missed ports is a thing of the past now? I wish they would update the itinerary for the other January sailings since this keeps happening so we can update excursions. 

Yes, I agree. Having <24 hours notice of a port change and scrambling to find shore excursions is challenging. 
 

Having said that, we’re mostly not doing any partly for that reason. 

[CarolinaMamma]

Scheduled to be on Encore next week and appreciate the info on port changes.
 

 Nassau, GSC and 2 ports in the DR are certainly not what I would have chosen, especially with Haven cabins on the Joy western Caribbean the same week being much less expensive. But if we are away from work and internet, and someone else is doing the cooking,  cleaning and making us drinks, that is still an awesome vacation in my book. We will make the best of it! 

[classy_cruiser]

2 hours ago, CarolinaMamma said:

Scheduled to be on Encore next week and appreciate the info on port changes.
 

 Nassau, GSC and 2 ports in the DR are certainly not what I would have chosen, especially with Haven cabins on the Joy western Caribbean the same week being much less expensive. But if we are away from work and internet, and someone else is doing the cooking,  cleaning and making us drinks, that is still an awesome vacation in my book. We will make the best of it! 

I also thought about switching to the Joy, it’s much cheaper and they seem to be making their ports. Couldn’t bring myself to deal with changing all the flights and pet sitter schedules though. We are still planning to go on the encore but it’s definitely starting to feel like we are overpaying for a much worse itinerary. I looked at other land vacations and they are all just as expensive unfortunately. And I want to be rid of my nonrefundable FCC finally. What I find really frustrating is that Tortola seems to be open but they apparently don’t want to bother sailing there if they can’t combine it with St. Thomas. 

[OldmanUK]

16 hours ago, classy_cruiser said:

Sorry to hear about the port changes. I assume giving onboard  credits for the missed ports is a thing of the past now? I wish they would update the itinerary for the other January sailings since this keeps happening so we can update excursions. 

I think the letter they just sent out (email) stating they can change at anytime (CYA)  covers them so i would be surprised if they give any compensation, unless they are getting softer! lol.... Looking forward to next week wherever we end up. ... just got to get through the Covid test!!!!

[OldmanUK]

6 hours ago, CarolinaMamma said:

Scheduled to be on Encore next week and appreciate the info on port changes.
 

 Nassau, GSC and 2 ports in the DR are certainly not what I would have chosen, especially with Haven cabins on the Joy western Caribbean the same week being much less expensive. But if we are away from work and internet, and someone else is doing the cooking,  cleaning and making us drinks, that is still an awesome vacation in my book. We will make the best of it! 

Totally agree!

 

[limeyalchemist]

We’re arriving in La Romana, DR this morning at 1100 and here until 1800.  Will post some thoughts in case any future trips come here instead.  Our first time in the DR.  We’re not disappointed at all, loving the cruise, with less people on board, feels very exclusive and easy to do everything.

 

If anyone knows what’s good to do in La Romana, please let me know.

 

Thanks.

[vacation44]

34 minutes ago, limeyalchemist said:

We’re arriving in La Romana, DR this morning at 1100 and here until 1800.  Will post some thoughts in case any future trips come here instead.  Our first time in the DR.  We’re not disappointed at all, loving the cruise, with less people on board, feels very exclusive and easy to do everything.

 

If anyone knows what’s good to do in La Romana, please let me know.

 

Thanks.

Thanks for another update.  With the new round of NCL cancellations yesterday, it is good to hear things are going well on a current sailing.   Enjoy your day in DR.

[classy_cruiser]

3 hours ago, limeyalchemist said:

We’re arriving in La Romana, DR this morning at 1100 and here until 1800.  Will post some thoughts in case any future trips come here instead.  Our first time in the DR.  We’re not disappointed at all, loving the cruise, with less people on board, feels very exclusive and easy to do everything.

 

If anyone knows what’s good to do in La Romana, please let me know.

 

Thanks.

The Hilton and Casa de Campo used to have day passes, maybe give them a call? But I read that it’s not cheap to get a taxi from the port.  Does the ship have any excursions available? 

[Quincella]

5 hours ago, limeyalchemist said:

We’re arriving in La Romana, DR this morning at 1100 and here until 1800.  Will post some thoughts in case any future trips come here instead.  Our first time in the DR.  We’re not disappointed at all, loving the cruise, with less people on board, feels very exclusive and easy to do everything.

 

If anyone knows what’s good to do in La Romana, please let me know.

 

Thanks.

Is the ship offering shore excursions at these new ports?  I almost always arrange things to do on my own, but with everything being so last minute I may have to actually rely on them a bit this upcoming cruise.

[OldmanUK]

5 hours ago, limeyalchemist said:

We’re arriving in La Romana, DR this morning at 1100 and here until 1800.  Will post some thoughts in case any future trips come here instead.  Our first time in the DR.  We’re not disappointed at all, loving the cruise, with less people on board, feels very exclusive and easy to do everything.

 

If anyone knows what’s good to do in La Romana, please let me know.

 

Thanks.

Thanks for the update, have a wonderful day in the DR!

[limeyalchemist]

2 hours ago, Quincella said:

Is the ship offering shore excursions at these new ports?  I almost always arrange things to do on my own, but with everything being so last minute I may have to actually rely on them a bit this upcoming cruise.

Yes. They are. They had 3-4 excursions available. We chose to stay within the port shopping area for two hours. 
 

beach day for $75 per adult was approximate option. 

[limeyalchemist]

Few photos. Sorry if they upload upside down. Brief rain showers and low 80s. 

[Heyref]

We cruise pretty much every January.  Mostly Princess, but have dabbled with NCL and Royal Caribbean.  
 

we find the passenger age on this ship to be younger than previous cruises.  Not too many people over 80.  Very few canes, walkers, & wheelchairs. 
 

even without the 2 big shows, we have enjoyed the nightly entertainment 👍

[Annies88]

On 1/12/2022 at 12:28 PM, limeyalchemist said:

Few photos. Sorry if they upload upside down. Brief rain showers and low 80s. 

I wanted to thank you for the updates. I am supposed to be going 1/23. I haven't decided if I am. Curious what you thought of Puerto Plata. It looks pretty industrial from the web cam.  

[CarolinaMamma]

2 hours ago, Heyref said:

We cruise pretty much every January.  Mostly Princess, but have dabbled with NCL and Royal Caribbean.  
 

we find the passenger age on this ship to be younger than previous cruises.  Not too many people over 80.  Very few canes, walkers, & wheelchairs. 
 

even without the 2 big shows, we have enjoyed the nightly entertainment 👍

Would love to hear what your favorite night time entertainment options have been. We love the big shows and Howl at the Moon, which doesn’t exist on Encore. Sailing Jann16th if it doesn’t get cancelled and if we don’t get Covid. 

[Heyref]

Beatles band is fantastic!

[limeyalchemist]

On 1/12/2022 at 10:45 AM, Quincella said:

Is the ship offering shore excursions at these new ports?  I almost always arrange things to do on my own, but with everything being so last minute I may have to actually rely on them a bit this upcoming cruise.

Yes. Each port has shore excursions available. Some are limited in number or have very early departure times. 

[limeyalchemist]

2 hours ago, CarolinaMamma said:

Would love to hear what your favorite night time entertainment options have been. We love the big shows and Howl at the Moon, which doesn’t exist on Encore. Sailing Jann16th if it doesn’t get cancelled and if we don’t get Covid. 

Our kids have enjoyed the new magician/comic Joshua Jordan. He’s funny and tricks are okay. Not great. Good standup though. 
 

not many shows since headlines are all cancelled. 

[Bakedzd81]

Limey! Please keep the updates coming... this is great. More pics please (can you also send snaps of the daily program printouts?)!

Also, are the "Beatles" playing the Cavern Club? 

Thanks! 

[Wintersun48]

Yes please keep it up, eagerly following from the uk. Fingers crossed we can come on the 31st jan

[classy_cruiser]

How was puerto plata? Keeping my fingers crossed you make it to GSC. Did you get a chance to try the thermal spa? 

[limeyalchemist]

Puerto Plata was surprisingly fun, relaxing pool day.  We chose to stay in the Taino Bay port area, which just opened in mid-December.  It’s totally free, shops, and a very large and beautiful pool area with three bars surrounding it.  Cocktails and beers are around $7-8 each which is quite reasonable and that’s all that they ask, to buy some drinks, which many people did.

 

Many, many very comfortable loungers surround the pool and they have loungers in the actual water itself.  Will try to post some photos.

 

We were very happy to have an inexpensive but fun day at the pool.  We did not eat anything, headed back to the ship around 3pm and ate there.  Highly recommend the post pool area if you’re just looking to relax.  Only 200-300 people there and did not feel crowded.