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

[justhappy]

I love the house made root beer McGuires has, and my better half likes their Irish stout. 
it’s not as creamy as a Guinness but has a slightly sweet finish. The lighting was so low and so red the photos are really bad. Sorry…

  
 

We love the Rueben egg rolls here but the ones we were served must have sat under a heat lamp for a while as the weren’t the usual piping hot and crispy ones we usually get. They are served with  thousand island dressing as a dipping sauce.

 Our entrees were much better. My fish and chips were delicious and served piping hot and DH ordered the Smoked Gouda burger. The portions here are huge and we were not able to finish our meals. Some day we’ll get smart and order desert first and take home leftover entrees.

 So back to the hotel, we turned in early since we have to be at the airport at 0 Dark Thirty Friday morning.

[justhappy]

Travel day:

Like fight club let’s not talk about travel day shall we?

Through a series of misadventures and airline fueling operations, we still managed to make it to Seattle.

To me flying is a necessary evil, like colonoscopies. I feel much the same after both. 
 We texted our friends and told them to just get themselves to the hotel and we met them there a few hours later.

While we didn’t get the great room with a view we got last year, this is my current view

Edited August 26, 2023 by justhappy

[justhappy]

After arriving at the hotel and putting away our luggage we met our friends at the bar and drank so….much…..

 

WATER!

We were so dehydrated after nearly 6 hours on a plane, despite constantly drinking water. I scored my personal best 

aft lavatory visit record on the flight from DFW to SEA.

 I have several new friends that were sitting in the last row😂

 

We recouped and made our way down Alaskan Way towards Ivar’s.

 The sky here is so smoky due to the wildfires that everything was hazy. It’s still hazy this morning. I’m hoping tomorrow we will be able to see Mt Rainer.

 The food was good but the service was horrible so we chalked it up to travel day demons.

Everyone had a salad of one type or another and cups of clam chowder.

I just drank more water while DH had a Rainer beer. Because Walt Lomgmire drinks Rainer beer 😉

The walk back to the hotel was lovely in part due to the smoke giving the sky a reddish hue.

 I can’t I tell you how glorious the lower temps and humidity feel to these southerners!

[justhappy]

As soon as we got back to the hotel we all crashed, we are dealing with a 2 hour time difference and our friends a 3 hour difference.

 I woke up this Saturday morning feeling much better but still woke up at 5 am.

 After a shower and cup of coffe, we looked out the window to see the Bliss docked outside.

We walked across the street to the port and walked up to the observation deck that’s on top of the port building and got some great photos of the Bliss and the Seattle skyline.

It feels so freaking good outside at about 61 degrees. There is a heat advisory today as the high is supposed to be in the upper 80s. I can deal with that!

 Alaskan Way is currently closed off for several blocks to through traffic in front of the hotel and pier. I noticed buses this morning were having to drop off down the street near the Edgewater Hotel.

Some photos from this morning 

 

Edited August 26, 2023 by justhappy

[schmoopie17]

The world nowadays is topsy-turvy, upside down. Your last two pictures confirm it 😁

[bluesea777]

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

The world nowadays is topsy-turvy, upside down. Your last two pictures confirm it 😁

 

When taking landscape pictures on your phone make sure the shutter button is on the right side.

 

Enjoy the cruise and Alaska. We were on the Spirit for 2 weeks (b2b) in June and had a fab time!

 

 

[NW Pacific]

If possible let us, meaning me and hubby know if when getting to the Pier if there was a visible sign for Haven boarding, this would be outside before entering the inside of the terminal, thanks in advance

[justhappy]

12 minutes ago, NW Pacific said:

If possible let us, meaning me and hubby know if when getting to the Pier if there was a visible sign for Haven boarding, this would be outside before entering the inside of the terminal, thanks in advance

There weren’t any signs outside of the building for the Haven that I could see this morning, but I’ll double check to confirm tomorrow.

[justhappy]

We had a great time in Seattle today. I left it up to my friends to decide what they wanted to do since we’ve been to Seattle many times.

I did suggest that if they wanted to go to Pike Place we go early as I knew it gets very crowded as the day goes by. We were at the Market by 8am. We took the elevator at Lenora Street to get up to the market. Our first stop was at Le Panier for breakfast goodies and we took them to the outside seating at the Market overlooking Elliott Bay.

[NW Pacific]

Thanks for looking, we will be onboard for the Oct 15th sailing.  Keep all of us updated.  Especially  about the Ports and if you get a day cruising Glacier Bay, should be Thursday!! thanks

[justhappy]

We then spent an hour browsing the stalls and booths at the Market.

Saw fish thrown. Smelled beautiful flowers. Admired the fresh produce. 

We shopped in our favorite store full of movie and tv memorabilia.
Got grossed out by the gum wall 🤢

It started getting crowded by 10:30am so we headed back to the hotel, dropped off a few purchases and then walked down to the pick point for the free Seattle Waterfront shuttle by Pier 69 for a ride to the Chihuly Museum and Gardens.

By 11:30 we were in the museum. This is a don’t miss in my opinion and our friends agreed.

 

 

[justhappy]

After an hour and a half at the museum we decided to Uber back to Pike Place for lunch at the Old Stove Brewery.

Great beer and great food was enjoyed by all.

I had a stout that I don’t remember the name of, while DH had a stout that is aged in bourbon barrels. We both enjoyed these. We enjoyed the old beer commercials that were showing on the screens. I do remember some of the commercials from the 70’s!

We split the Green chili chicken sandwich and the Clam chowder which was surprisingly spicy, but good.

Pretzel bites and Shrimp cocktail were shared among all of us. Fat and happy we rolled out and made our way back to Pier 66 to take in the Bliss again from the observation deck.

 

[justhappy]

A short walk back to the hotel and after a few drinks from the hotel bar we decided that we were still full from our lunch and skipped dinner.

Tired from our adventures and 6 miles walked I headed back to our room to update this trip report and semi pack for in the morning.

I’m sure the guys are still hanging out in the bar debating the merits of scotch vs whiskey.

My hope is I’ll be up early again to go out and see the Encore around sunrise.

Tomorrow is the day!

[amygutman]

18 hours ago, justhappy said:

After arriving at the hotel and putting away our luggage we met our friends at the bar and drank so….much…..

 

WATER!

We were so dehydrated after nearly 6 hours on a plane, despite constantly drinking water. I scored my personal best 

aft lavatory visit record on the flight from DFW to SEA.

 I have several new friends that were sitting in the last row😂

 

We recouped and made our way down Alaskan Way towards Ivar’s.

 The sky here is so smoky due to the wildfires that everything was hazy. It’s still hazy this morning. I’m hoping tomorrow we will be able to see Mt Rainer.

 The food was good but the service was horrible so we chalked it up to travel day demons.

Everyone had a salad of one type or another and cups of clam chowder.

I just drank more water while DH had a Rainer beer. Because Walt Lomgmire drinks Rainer beer 😉

The walk back to the hotel was lovely in part due to the smoke giving the sky a reddish hue.

 I can’t I tell you how glorious the lower temps and humidity feel to these southerners!

Beautiful photos....and loving your trip report so much!

Warmest Amy

[justhappy]

Cruise day! 
The Encore was docked before 6 am this morning. Even though I woke up at 4 am 😬 I missed seeing it actually pull into port. We are about to head out to the street to get some photos.

From the room-

[justhappy]

@NW Pacific 

This is all the signage outside the terminal this morning. No special Haven signage but I’ll look when we check in later today.

[justhappy]

Turn around day is organized chaos.

we geeked out watching the ship being loaded with supplies and luggage being offloaded. Crew members were getting off to shop in the crew store while a group of new crew members were waiting to board the ship.

[justhappy]

[justhappy]

Some jellyfish floating around and a seagull found a snack.

[Sand and Seas]

@justhappy, loving your review of your time in Seattle plus all the great photos!

Looking forward to more from the Encore.  We were on her prior to covid shutdown and loved the ship.  We will be back on her in January so can't wait to follow your review.

 

  Thanks for sharing with us😎

[justhappy]

1 hour ago, Sand and Seas said:

@justhappy, loving your review of your time in Seattle plus all the great photos!

Looking forward to more from the Encore.  We were on her prior to covid shutdown and loved the ship.  We will be back on her in January so can't wait to follow your review.

 

  Thanks for sharing with us😎

Thank you for the kind words!

[justhappy]

@NW Pacific 

An update for you, I wasn’t able to get a photo but just inside the entrance there is a large banner for the Haven, and they were directing Haven guests to the right and everyone else to the left. It’s very easy to follow.

Everything is very different in the terminal from last year, but last year was still under Covid protocols.

Edited August 27, 2023 by justhappy

[justhappy]

After a very quick trip through security, 

we had another very short wait to check in and then headed to the waiting area.

At 11am they called for special assistance boarding, then Priority Boarding and Latitudes boarding. They then immediately called for Casinos at Sea and we were on the ship by 11:05am. We were eating in the Local at 11:15!

Cobb salad for me and and pretzel rolls and a Rueben for DH. 

[NW Pacific]

Thank you for Haven signage update.  Last year on the Bliss there was a person outside that  directed Haven guests to enter terminal.   Hoping getting into the terminal was not too long.  am expecting by October there will be rain.  Enjoy enjoy , and hope you enjoyed your days in the great NW

[justhappy]

After lunch we headed to the Cruisenext desk to sign up for the behind the scenes tour and buy some more cruisenext certificates, since we are down to one and have cruises planned for next year.

Trey at the cruisenext desk helped us book our entertainment for the cruise and offered up the dining with the officers and Wine tasting but we declined those two.

Ive got to say he’s a funny and friendly guy. 
Bonus of no lines anywhere.
 We then headed right next door to Starbucks and we both got Mocha mint Frappuccino concoctions that were very yummy. We went and sat out on the Waterfront and waited for our friends to join us.

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by justhappy