An encore cruise on the Encore August 27-September 3 2023. A live trip report!

[justhappy]

The background:

   My husband and I took this cruise last year on the Encore during the same week August 28-Sept 4 2022.

 We traveled with friends that knew we had already booked the cruise and wanted to join us as we have been cruising together since 2013, after having met on a cruise and hitting it off. We usually cruise with them in January to the Caribbean every year. 
    We really didn’t plan to do another Alaska cruise again so soon, but another set of friends we cruise with fairly often wanted to go after hearing about our trip. We decided to go ahead since we knew we wanted to come back because the one port I knew my husband would love was Skagway, but  due to the landslide at the port Skagway was substituted by Icy Strait Point. We also didn’t do any excursions last year as our friends didn’t want to do any and we felt we needed to hang with them.

 I had previously cruised on the Pearl with my father and two sisters in 2015 so I had been to all the ports, although my father picked what excursions he wanted to do and paid for them so that year we toured Mendenhall Glacier, the Mount Robert’s tram,  Saxman Village and Totem pole park in Ketchikan as well as the Scenic White Pass  bus ride in Skagway.
  On this cruise we are booked on several excursions, including  the Mendenhall Glacier and evening whale watch in Juneau, as well as The Mount Robert’s tram, if we have time. In Skagway we are booked on the White Pass Railway and also the Scenic bus ride later that afternoon. My husband is a big fan of the show Deadliest Catch , so the Bering Sea fisherman’s tour is the one excursion he really wanted. Because of the short time in Ketchikan that will be the only excursion there. 

  In Victoria we are doing the guided walking tour from the port to downtown. Last year we walked to downtown on our own, and this year I’d like to hear a little local history this time.

  Since we had been to Victoria years previously, taking the ferry from Vancouver Canada and spending the day there we have already seen much of Victoria (even got to tour the beautiful Parliament Building). Being the last night of the cruise and knowing that the next morning we get the bums rush off the ship, the 2 hour tour with a shuttle ride back to port sounded just about right. And since we upgraded to the Free at Sea Plus package the tour was no cost to us.

 

    20 years ago we took a 9 day driving trip around Alaska, from Anchorage to Denali Nation park where we took a sightseeing flight around the mountain, taking off from Taltkeetna . And although we were supposed to land on the glacier conditions did not allow landing so we had an extra long breathtaking flight when the clouds broke up and the mountain “came out”.

 After two days in Denali where we took the day trip shuttle bus into the park, and visiting a sled  dog camp, we  headed up to Fairbanks for a day then onward east on Highway 2 through North Pole to Delta Junction and through Tok on to Highway 1 to Glennallen down to Copper River outside of Wrangell St Elias Nation Park. I lucked out on researching places to stay and discovered that at Denali and Copper River Princess Cruise line had beautiful lodges they built to accommodate passengers on the land portion of their cruises. On days they did not have passengers arriving the rates were super low. We then headed down to Seward Alaska after taking a side trip to Whittier. We hiked a glacier that we passed on the way for a few hours .

In Seward we visited the Sealife Center and took the all day boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park. I added all this to say we have seen interior Alaska and highly recommend if you are considering a land/sea tour to do it. It was all breathtakingly beautiful.

 

A much younger us 20 years ago!

Edited August 18, 2023 by justhappy
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[justhappy]

The Plan:

 As we did last year, we will arrive in Seattle two days early to do a little sightseeing. Our friends have not been to Seattle so we will suggest places we think they might enjoy.

 I already have reservations for Ivars for Friday night, we ate there last year and loved the food and the view.

We will again be staying at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront using our Marriott points as will our friends. We love the location and convenience of walking across the street to board the ship.

  If the time change doesn’t hit me to hard I’ll try to get up and go across the street to get a glimpse of the Bliss arriving at port on Saturday morning.

 On Sunday morning I’ll be too excited to sleep in🥳

   Our friends love the Haven and after originally booking a Club balcony suite next to ours decided to cough up the money and will be in a forward facing penthouse suite. We didn’t think the going price for the Haven to be worth it. We are using some of that 5K we didn’t spend to upgrade to the Haven on the Free at Sea Plus package which will give us a total of 6 speciality dinners, the upgraded drink package, unlimited internet and the $50 off shore excursions for both of us.

  We always upgrade to get unlimited internet, and by the time I added in the savings on the shore excursions for the second guest it made the free at sea plus a no brainer. Add in the discounts on excursions we get for being Sapphire and the excursions are fairly reasonable. It made several cost less than booking directly with the companies.

 Plus my Starbucks loving husband will be getting his daily Starbucks fix several times a day $$$$$.

 I plan to get a massage or two while on the cruise, but since we bought a lot of souvenirs last year, other than some small gifts and lunch in Skagway I don’t plan to spend as much. I know my husband will want some Deadliest Catch Swag though.

 We will be a few floors above our friends and like last year we loved the club balcony suites just down the hall from the observation lounge. It makes it so easy to pop in for a coffee or snack as well as the bar for a drink.
And a nice plus is that if someone is hogging the bathroom there are some in the observation lounge for emergencies!
The forward elevators and stairs are nearby too. The buffet is only one floor up as well. 
  This is my 4th cruise on the Encore so at least I know my way around.

 My plan is to spend a lot of time on deck 8 enjoying the scenery and watching for wildlife. Last years cruise was often rainy and foggy so I’m hoping for a bit of better weather this year but I won’t be disappointed if it’s typical Alaska weather.

   We will meet up with our friend for dinner 4 nights, and we expect them to eat breakfast and lunch in the Haven plus the 3 nights we will be In specialty dining or off the ship.

While they will have fine dining at breakfast and lunch we will be slumming it in the Local ( Ruebens❤️) or the buffet (Indian cuisine ❤️)

😉

if you’ve read through this long winded prologue, bless you! Go get a snack, you deserve it.

  

[amygutman]

@justhappy So HAPPY myself to see your introduction to your cruise. I've been excited to read it ever since we met you and your lovely husband on the Getaway and cannot wait to hear your report. Wishing you great weather and a wonderful cruise!

Warmest Amy

[justhappy]

4 minutes ago, amygutman said:

@justhappy So HAPPY myself to see your introduction to your cruise. I've been excited to read it ever since we met you and your lovely husband on the Getaway and cannot wait to hear your report. Wishing you great weather and a wonderful cruise!

Warmest Amy

I promised you, so you’re the inspiration for this report!

I’ll try to get my friends, (they were the ones with us on the Getaway in April) to take a few pics of the Haven for you. I got to tour the Haven on the Encore in November 2019 when I was a travel agent and got to do a 3 night working cruise for travel and media folks. You’re going to love it❤️

[amygutman]

16 minutes ago, justhappy said:

I promised you, so you’re the inspiration for this report!

I’ll try to get my friends, (they were the ones with us on the Getaway in April) to take a few pics of the Haven for you. I got to tour the Haven on the Encore in November 2019 when I was a travel agent and got to do a 3 night working cruise for travel and media folks. You’re going to love it❤️

[www3traveler]

Do you have the time in Seattle to either go on an Argosy (small tour boat) tour of the Ballard Locks (think mini Panama Canal), passingby the "Sleepless Ine Seattle" houseboat or a tour of Elliott Bay past Pier 66 and Pier 91(the other cruise ship terminal).

 

Enjoy your time in Seattle.  A very special city

[justhappy]

24 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Do you have the time in Seattle to either go on an Argosy (small tour boat) tour of the Ballard Locks (think mini Panama Canal), passingby the "Sleepless Ine Seattle" houseboat or a tour of Elliott Bay past Pier 66 and Pier 91(the other cruise ship terminal).

 

Enjoy your time in Seattle.  A very special city

We’ve done an Argosy tour of Elliott Bay in the past. I’d love to do the Locks tour. I’m giving our friends a list of things to do that they can choose and an Argosy tour is on the list!

This is my fifth time to Seattle, and we also went on week long driving tour of Washington State a few years ago. Drove from  Seattle to the Olympic Peninsula  drove the 101 along the coast and through Olympic National Forest and visited Port Angeles,  drove over Snoqualmie Pass and stayed at the lodge at Mt Rainer. Then we stayed in Leavenworth a few days. On to Chelan then down to Wenatchee and back to Seattle. We loved the whole state❤️

Edited August 18, 2023 by justhappy

[ConnieTact]

26 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Do you have the time in Seattle to either go on an Argosy (small tour boat) tour of the Ballard Locks (think mini Panama Canal), passingby the "Sleepless Ine Seattle" houseboat or a tour of Elliott Bay past Pier 66 and Pier 91(the other cruise ship terminal).

Thanks for that info. I have kept it as we have tree days in Seattle planned in May. Some good ideas there.👍

[www3traveler]

1 minute ago, justhappy said:

We’ve done an Argosy tour of Elliott Bay in the past. I’d love to do the Locks tour. I’m giving our friends a list of things to do that they can choose and an Argosy tour is on the list!

This is my fifth time to Seattle, and we also went on week long driving tour of Washington State a few years ago. Drove from  Seattle to the Olympic Peninsula  drove the 101 along the coast and through Olympic National Forest and visited Port Townsend, drove over Snoqualmie Pass and stayed at the lodge at Mt Rainer. Then we stayed in Leavenworth a few days. On to Chelan then down to Wenatchee and back to Seattle. We loved the whole state❤️

I live about 6 hours by car South and East of Seattle 12 miles North of the border with Oregon.  Rolling hills of farm land, mostly wheat.  Lots and lots of vineyards and wineries.

[justhappy]

10 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

I live about 6 hours by car South and East of Seattle 12 miles North of the border with Oregon.  Rolling hills of farm land, mostly wheat.  Lots and lots of vineyards and wineries.

Yes, that area is gorgeous, we visited Portland Oregon a few years later and drove along the Columbia river to Hood River, then stayed at Mt Hood in the Timberline Lodge (we love the historic park lodges) and at some point along the drive crossed the river just to see the scenery from the Washington side. You aren’t kidding about the vineyards and orchards!  So many fresh produce stands. That’s where I fell in love with Rainer Cherries❤️

Edited August 18, 2023 by justhappy

[amygutman]

@www3traveler Not to hijack @justhappy's thread, but any thoughts on Seattle Sunset cruises? We are on the Encore Sept 24 (26 days, 75 minutes from today but who's counting) and arriving a few days early to see the city. Booked a sunset cruise the night before we board the Encore as it has rave reviews and figured it was a good way to see the Sound. 

Have been on the Seattle Port threads, TripAdvisor and Viator and a little overwhelmed with amazing choices to see, eat and do. 

Warmest Amy

[www3traveler]

7 hours ago, amygutman said:

@www3traveler Not to hijack @justhappy's thread, but any thoughts on Seattle Sunset cruises? We are on the Encore Sept 24 (26 days, 75 minutes from today but who's counting) and arriving a few days early to see the city. Booked a sunset cruise the night before we board the Encore as it has rave reviews and figured it was a good way to see the Sound. 

Have been on the Seattle Port threads, TripAdvisor and Viator and a little overwhelmed with amazing choices to see, eat and do. 

Warmest Amy

Sounds like fun.  I have never done one.  Please be careful being out after dark.  Crime rate very high especially in the downtown area.

Enjoy Seattle and your cruise.

[ConnieTact]

10 hours ago, www3traveler said:

Sounds like fun.  I have never done one.  Please be careful being out after dark.  Crime rate very high especially in the downtown area.

Enjoy Seattle and your cruise.

Which is the safest area in Seattle to stay? We haven’t booked hotel yet so would like any advice. @justhappy I hope you don’t mind me asking on your thread! 

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, ConnieTact said:

Which is the safest area in Seattle to stay? We haven’t booked hotel yet so would like any advice. @justhappy I hope you don’t mind me asking on your thread! 

During the day most areas are okay.  Night is a different story.  The major chain hotels along 5th and 6th Aveunes are expensive but should be fine.  I usually stay at one of the major chain hotel out by the airport much less expensive in most cases.  Some of the airport hotels will offer free transportation into downtown.

 

Enjoy Seattle and your cruise.

[justhappy]

5 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Which is the safest area in Seattle to stay? We haven’t booked hotel yet so would like any advice. @justhappy I hope you don’t mind me asking on your thread! 

No problem, I’m glad @www3traveler is giving us such great advice.

[www3traveler]

If you want a sense of Seattle before arriving this next week, I would suggest that you check out the Seattle Space Needle Panorama Cam.  It will give you a 360 degree look at Seattle starting at the waterfront of Elliott Bay, East to Lake Union, South to Downtown and back West to Elliott Bay.

 

Enjoy one of my favorite cities and your cruise.

[justhappy]

11 hours ago, www3traveler said:

If you want a sense of Seattle before arriving this next week, I would suggest that you check out the Seattle Space Needle Panorama Cam.  It will give you a 360 degree look at Seattle starting at the waterfront of Elliott Bay, East to Lake Union, South to Downtown and back West to Elliott Bay.

 

Enjoy one of my favorite cities and your cruise.

@www3traveler  I love the Panorama Cam especially the ability to go back to a different day or even earlier today. It looks pretty smoky I’m guessing from the wildfires in Canada? I hope they get some rain soon 😕

Heres a screenshot of the Encore from 6am this morning.

[www3traveler]

Unfortunately, there are several wildfires burning closer to Seattle than the huge fires in Northern British Columbia.  This morning where I live in the Walla Walla Valley (320 miles South and East) of Seattle, our Valley is full of smoke.  320 miles directly East of Seattle near Spokane, 3 HUGE fires are burning within 20 miles of each other.  As of about 3 hours ago 320 homes have burned, so far only one death has been reported.  Supposely sometime tomorrow afternoon, what is left of the hurricane will dump here maybe causing some flash flooding before ccontinuing North.  I hope it hits Spokane.

This is one of the worst widfire seasons that I can remember.  Too many fires, not enough firefighters or equipment to keep up.  Prayers for everyone.

Edited August 20, 2023 by www3traveler
correct spelling

[justhappy]

The Nitty Gritty of travel:

 We live on the gulf coast near Mobile Alabama, and have a choice of two nearby airports,  Mobile (MOB), and Pensacola Florida (PNS) being the other. They take the same amount to time for us to travel to, but we find Pensacola to have better flights. Probably due to the Naval Station nearby. Neither airport has nonstop to Seattle.

 So assuming all goes to plan we have an early morning flight to DFW, then a layover of a few hours, hopefully long enough to get an early lunch.

 Our arrival time in to SEA is around 2:30 Pacific time. Our friends flying nonstop from ATL will arrive around 1:30 and probably be preparing their livers for the Unlimited drink package at an airport bar. We plan to get an UberXL to the hotel.
 We will be staying at a Marriott hotel in Pensacola the night before (yay reward points) and plan to visit McGuires Irish pub to kick off vacation with a cold brew and pub grub for dinner.

https://www.mcguiresirishpub.com

 We will drop our sweet baby off at boarding that day on the way to Pensacola, and will not feel too guilty as she loves it there and the staff spoils her.  

 My main goal between now and next Thursday is to hopefully get my sinus/ ear/ conjunctivitis infection totally taken care of.

After 27 days, one shot of steroids and 15 days on antibiotics, only the conjunctivitis cleared up. After a referral to an ENT last Thursday he added oral Prednisone and antibiotic/cortisone ear drops to the plan, the sinus infection and pain is gone but still have hearing loss and pressure/ pain in my ear. After telling him I’m flying on Friday he is having me come back on Wednesday to do a pressure check and if not improved to his liking will put a tube in my ear.

On most flights without any sinus problems I always wear earplanes to deal with the change in cabin pressure, so I’m all in on getting a tube inserted if needed.

[justhappy]

36 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Unfortunately, there are several wildfires burning closer to Seattle than the huge fires in Northern British Columbia.  This morning where I live in the Walla Walla Valley (320 miles South and East) of Seattle, our Valley is full of smoke.  320 miles directly East of Seattle near Spokane, 3 HUGE fires are burning within 20 miles of each other.  As of about 3 hours ago 320 homes have burned, so far only one death has been reported.  Supposely sometime tomorrow afternoon, what is left of the hurricane will dump here maybe causing some flash flooding before ccontinuing North.  I hope it hits Spokane.

This is one of the worst widfire seasons that I can remember.  Too many fires, not enough firefighters or equipment to keep up.  Prayers for everyone.

I was hoping Hilary would give the area some rain 🙏

[justhappy]

Cleared for take off!

 I had my follow up appointment with the ENT yesterday, and although my ear is improving, after a pressure test and several hearing tests I do have pressure issues and some hearing loss in my affected ear. 
Doc feels I may have some swelling and fluid still in my middle ear and decided to go ahead with a tube. I’ll continue taking the steroid/antibiotic ear drops for a few more days. He is hopeful my hearing will improve over time. He has cleared me to fly so looks like things are good to go.

We finished packing up yesterday, and today after doing the usual clean the house, wash the sheets, water the plants type of stuff we’re going to head to Pensacola in the afternoon.

Of course we will drop Miss Daisy off at boarding on the way. She’ll be spoiled rotten when we pick her up in 12 days!

 So far I’ve double checked that I’ve packed our passports 10 times already. One never knows when they might decide to jump out of my travel purse/carryon.

 Soon it will be good bye to heat and humidity and hello cool weather. Although Seattle is looking like mid 80s while we are there, it beats 100 and 110 heat index 💀

 

 

[cruiseny4life]

I've been busy at work, so hadn't been able to get all the way back to Friday's posts to see this. I'm so glad you bumped it! I loved your posts last year. I think it was last year. I don't know...a month ago feels like yesterday and six months ago feels like three years ago to me. My sense of time is all over the place. 

 

Safe travels to you! And, of course your baby girl Miss Daisy will be the cutest pup at the boarding place. I just adore her face and super furry ears! 

[justhappy]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

I've been busy at work, so hadn't been able to get all the way back to Friday's posts to see this. I'm so glad you bumped it! I loved your posts last year. I think it was last year. I don't know...a month ago feels like yesterday and six months ago feels like three years ago to me. My sense of time is all over the place. 

 

Safe travels to you! And, of course your baby girl Miss Daisy will be the cutest pup at the boarding place. I just adore her face and super furry ears! 

 I feel you regarding  your sense of time being all over the place 😜 
And that last trip report was at the end of April, so 4 months ago.

Glad you’ll be following along. Miss Daisy says thanks for noticing her fancy ears, lol. We still aren’t sure what kind of dog she is, being the rescue mutt that she is.

 I’m going to have lots of food porn since my friends are used to me making them wait for photos. With 4 of us there’ll be hopefully lots of different dishes. So sorry in advance if I make your stomach growl uncontrollably!

 

[cruiseny4life]

3 hours ago, justhappy said:

 I feel you regarding  your sense of time being all over the place 😜 
And that last trip report was at the end of April, so 4 months ago.

Glad you’ll be following along. Miss Daisy says thanks for noticing her fancy ears, lol. We still aren’t sure what kind of dog she is, being the rescue mutt that she is.

 I’m going to have lots of food porn since my friends are used to me making them wait for photos. With 4 of us there’ll be hopefully lots of different dishes. So sorry in advance if I make your stomach growl uncontrollably!

 

Oh crikey! I'm ridiculous....How did four months turn into a year? Seriously! 

 

BUT, I'm so glad to follow along on another one of your adventures, regardless of how soon after. I'm going to put a bib on and feast through your food porn! Mmmm, I can't wait. I'll be sure to say thank you in November when I'm back on a ship.

[justhappy]

On the Road!

After dropping off her highness at boarding we made the hour drive to Pensacola and checked in to our hotel. 
 It’s a Residence Inn within a few miles of the airport. Only 4 years old and it still looks brand new.

 We would only be in the room for 12 hours so the little studio fit the bill. Which was zero. Reward night voucher. Yay!

 We dropped off the luggage and headed out to eat at McGuires Irish Pub.

 It’s kind of an institution in Pensacola, full of memorabilia and millions of dollar bills handing from every single spot possible.

I just  hope they vacuum those suckers 🤢

We were seated in the Blue Angels room, as the restaurant is divided up into smaller rooms and have different themes..