Encore: Thermal Suite Pass and Vibe Pass

[KurtMo]

Have seen a variety of different prices quoted for the Thermal Suite Pass (couples or per person) and Vibe access.

 

Can any recent cruisers confirm:

1. Current pricing

2. Are passes available pre-cruise or only onboard?

 

Thanks in advance,

[Justwannacruis3]

We cruised 3/27 out of Miami….7  days. The VIBE was 208 for the week. You buy it on board. It’s my understanding there’s a limited number of passes sold.

[At Sea At Peace]

1 hour ago, KurtMo said:

Have seen a variety of different prices quoted for the Thermal Suite Pass (couples or per person) and Vibe access.

 

Can any recent cruisers confirm:

1. Current pricing

2. Are passes available pre-cruise or only onboard?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Can't confirm the Thermal Suite Pass for the week, however, we've never sailed an NCL ship with a Thermal Suite without a week long pass.  The best at sea.

 

If we are not in the Haven, we always get the Vibe for the week.  🤨

 

Regarding the VIBE, Encore is the new experiment with expanding the VIBE to 270.  Also, it can be pre-booked, so the race to guest services or the comedy club for the 70 'cards' and going crazy might be behind us all.  There are those, non-VIBE, that do not like losing access to those upper deck lounge areas.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/4754/

 

Norwegian execs say that they made Vibe bigger at the bequest of passengers, who often run to guest services to buy passes. Vibe now has room for 270 people, as opposed to the 70 slots available when the space first debuted on Norwegian Breakaway. Another plus: passengers will be able to reserve in advance. But we have heard displeasure with the move on Cruise Critic forums and after seeing what public deck space is available on Norwegian Encore, we share the concern.

[KurtMo]

19 minutes ago, At Sea At Peace said:

Another plus: passengers will be able to reserve in advance.

Can anybody confirm that they actually sell Encore Vibe Passes in advance?  Any idea when they open up?  I LOVE the idea of no mad dash at time of boarding.

[At Sea At Peace]

23 minutes ago, KurtMo said:

Can anybody confirm that they actually sell Encore Vibe Passes in advance?  Any idea when they open up?  I LOVE the idea of no mad dash at time of boarding.

 

Good question.  I guess you could ask the Author of the article from CruiseCritic for an update on the article where I posted the quote?

 

cgrayfaust@cruisecritic.com

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/about-us/contact-us/

 

 

 

 

[ClevelandCruisin]

Saw on some recent dailies for the Encore. Vip passes to the spa were limited to 200 passes at $316.

[lexxfield]

On the April 3 sailing of the Encore out of Miami, the cost of a prepaid weeklong pass to the Thermal Suite was $249.  I do not know what the cost was if one purchased the pass while onboard. 

[suzequ]

On the Feb 27th Getaway out of NYC Thermal Suite pass was $199 for the week.  I don’t know if they sold one-day passes, but given how empty the ship was it wouldn’t surprise me.  

 

[BirdTravels]

18 hours ago, KurtMo said:

Have seen a variety of different prices quoted for the Thermal Suite Pass (couples or per person) and Vibe access.

 

Can any recent cruisers confirm:

1. Current pricing

2. Are passes available pre-cruise or only onboard?

 

Thanks in advance,

We were on the Encore a couple of weeks ago, the Thermal Suite week pass was $316. After a bunch of complaining that I was from the Escape cancellation and the Thermal Suite on the Escape only $199 for the week, they dropped the price about 10%.
 

They claimed that the Encore spa was newer than the Escape. I countered that the Encore Thermal Suite was far inferior to the Escape, and because it was smaller and they could sell fewer passes, they are jacking up the price. 
 

On port days, they were selling day passes for $79. 

[KurtMo]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

on the Encore a couple of weeks ago, the Thermal Suite week pass was $316

Yikes!  Inflation!!!  Appreciate all the responses.

 

I haven't seen anybody confirm if they really sell Encore Vibe passes in advance, so I'm wondering if that was an idea that never became reality?

[vacation44]

2 minutes ago, KurtMo said:

Yikes!  Inflation!!!  Appreciate all the responses.

 

I haven't seen anybody confirm if they really sell Encore Vibe passes in advance, so I'm wondering if that was an idea that never became reality?

I have never seen a post where some one said they were able to prepurchase the Vibe pass.    The article is from November 2019 so my guess, and it is just a guess, it never came about.

[BirdTravels]

59 minutes ago, KurtMo said:

Yikes!  Inflation!!!  Appreciate all the responses.

 

I haven't seen anybody confirm if they really sell Encore Vibe passes in advance, so I'm wondering if that was an idea that never became reality?

Never seen any Vibe passes sold in advance.
 

Two weeks ago, there was the normal “great race” to The Social Deck 6 Mid-Ship to get in line for Vibe passes. 

[cruiseny4life]

I sailed on the April 17th Getaway trip to Bermuda - the price was $199 for the thermal spa ahead of the cruise. Not sure of number sold or price on board, but it was a very crowded spa during the cruise.

[KurtMo]

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Two weeks ago, there was the normal “great race” to The Social Deck 6 Mid-Ship to get in line for Vibe passes.

Thanks for confirming - I was suspecting this to be the case!

[PATRLR]

It appears the "Vibe passes in advance" was wishful thinking - too bad (IMO).  What about the size of Vibe?  Is it bigger, are there more passes on Encore than the other ships.

 

[Hellcat18]

I just got off the Panama Canal cruise on the Encore yesterday. We purchased 2 Vibe passes for $259 each for a 15-night cruise. Our cruise was approx 55% capacity, and only about 100 Vibe passes were purchased. They didn’t even sell out of them. We didn’t have the mad dash to the Social experience as I’ve heard of before. But it appears our sailing isn’t the normal situation. 
 

We couldn’t pre-purchase our Vibe passes either.

[Travelbug321]

On 4/26/2022 at 1:14 PM, KurtMo said:

Have seen a variety of different prices quoted for the Thermal Suite Pass (couples or per person) and Vibe access.

 

Can any recent cruisers confirm:

1. Current pricing

2. Are passes available pre-cruise or only onboard?

 

Thanks in advance,

I just called NCL to book the thermal suite pass - for the May 29th sailing to Alaska it's $249 per person for the week. You can prebook. I'm not sure about pricing once on board. 

Edited May 3, 2022 by Travelbug321

[KurtMo]

4 hours ago, Travelbug321 said:

I just called NCL to book the thermal suite pass - for the May 29th sailing to Alaska it's $249 per person for the week. You can prebook. I'm not sure about pricing once on board.

Thank You!

[KurtMo]

6 hours ago, Hellcat18 said:

I just got off the Panama Canal cruise on the Encore yesterday. We purchased 2 Vibe passes for $259 each for a 15-night cruise.

Thanks for the info!

[lexxfield]

I was on the April 3 sailing of the Encore out of Miami.  I booked the thermal suite weekly pass prior to the cruise and the cost was $249.

[Two Wheels Only]

On 4/27/2022 at 9:19 PM, PATRLR said:

What about the size of Vibe?  Is it bigger, are there more passes on Encore than the other ships.

 

 

Yes, VIBE on Encore is much larger than on other ships in the class. 

Edited May 4, 2022 by Two Wheels Only

[zackarykeef]

One month ago on Encore…$209 for a Vibe pass on a 7-day Caribbean cruise. You cannot pre-book. Not a crazy mad dash, but a few. Not near the total sold, so it was nice and never crowded. Much bigger with 2 hot tubs, cabanas, spans both sides of the ship now, as well as a second level (where the laser tag is on Bliss).

 

Thermal suite pass was around $300 I think…don’t remember the exact price because I remember thinking it was ridiculous and didn’t buy it. Had it been around $200, I might have.

[ajrbeach]

To those of you who bought the thermal spa pass before the cruise, how long prior to your cruise was it available? We are getting several different answers on when we can purchase it. Thanks

[cruiseny4life]

32 minutes ago, ajrbeach said:

To those of you who bought the thermal spa pass before the cruise, how long prior to your cruise was it available? We are getting several different answers on when we can purchase it. Thanks

For our 4/17 cruise, we booked the cruise on February 22nd so had to pay the entire cruise fare then. As soon as we paid the fee we had the option to add on the thermal pass suite. Not sure what the date is. Perhaps it's that final payment date? 

Edited May 4, 2022 by aaroncstrong

[ajrbeach]

43 minutes ago, aaroncstrong said:

For our 4/17 cruise, we booked the cruise on February 22nd so had to pay the entire cruise fare then. As soon as we paid the fee we had the option to add on the thermal pass suite. Not sure what the date is. Perhaps it's that final payment date? 

Was that via the app or did you have to call in?