Late but Live from Encore!!

[DrUrsula]

Apologies in advance for typos. All I have for the newfangled interwebs is my tiny cellular device.

 

We are aboard the lovely Encore and it is Day 6, a day at sea. We are having an absolute blast!!

 

Thought I would provide a few musings.

 

We are Sapphire Latitudes members who used to cruise in the Haven until we made a late booking earlier this year on Bliss. We had a Club Balcony and now see no reason to return to the Haven. Our little cabin is clean and QUIET and has an amazing shower. 
 

The ship is full, full, full . It's the " Winner Take All" $100k cruise and the excitement is palpable!!

(That's a joke. There is no excitement except perhaps for the 10 finalists) There is some grumbling that "it's all fixed" overheard in the casino and restaurants, but that's about it.

And no- hubs got cut by 3 points and isn't a finalist. He also isn't grumbling. He also never plays slots but was sweet and joined me in  the tournament earlier this year on "Bliss". The $500 bucks he won was cool. 

 

Let's start at the beginning:

 

Boarding in Miami

 

Unlike every, single cruise we have taken out of Miami, there was no chaos in the terminal. No yelling or pushing to enter the building, no bomb -sniffing beagles. No young adults seeing the beagles and rushing to the bathroom with their carry on and special gummies to hide from what they think is a drug dog!! 

 

We arrived at 10, quick check in. Haven boarded at 11 followed by assist then Priority Pass ( or whatever it's called) folks; Platinum and up were next. We were having lunch at 11:30. Cabins were available at 1:15pm.

Not ONE announcement about people needing to get their safety briefing completed. Strong work, friends!!

We did leave Miami late at around 6 which made for a stunning view of the lights on the beaches and on the gorgeous homes.

 

The ship had no Christmas decorations on boarding. Trees popped up overnight and then garlands appeared a day later!

There is a lovely Menorah at Guest Services.

Christmas music is piped in at all times and not much of it is recognizable unless you listen carefully. Yup, that's the psychedelic jazz funk pop version of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" you hear. Delightful!

 

FOOD

LE BISTRO

We started evening one at Le Bistro. We got some wine. And we sat. I tripped a waiter and begged for bread. It eventually arrived.

The food was delicious even the service was less than stellar. Hey- it's the first evening, the staff works their butts off and we were not in a hurry.

We gave the food an "A" and the service a " let's just ignore it". Had a great time.

 

CAGNEY'S

Next up was Cagney's. We sat at 6:30 sharp. We had our entrees at 6:46pm. 
This was a very disappointing meal. We were seated and the bread appeared. No drinks offered, had to hunt down the "wine iPad". In the meantime, our order was taken as we were opening the menus despite asking for a minute.

 

I had the shrimp and then the tomato with onions. Shrimp cocktail was not edible. I was going to give it back but my unripe heirloom tomato arrived and the offending shrimp replaced without even a comment or query by the waitstaff. As I tried to dissect the tomato to find a ripe nugget, our entrees arrived and both our apps were whisked away without asking if we were finished. I did say "whoa there- I'm still eating this" but I never saw my tomato again. Eh. No great loss.

My prime rib was plunked down with no sharp knife ; hubs the same with his filet. I managed to get two by going to the hostess stand and asking politely.

Both beefs were delicious and cooked properly. Sides had not  arrived when we were asked if we wanted to see a desert menu. We did not.

The waiter tried to take my beef but I fought him for it!! I won, dang it!!

The head wait staff gal walked by and asked if we were finished as well. I asked her why they were rushing us and she did the shoulder shrug but DID ask if we needed anything. I  asked if I could finally get a cocktail. The wine we ordered never materialized and I needed some booze. She took my order for a Lemon Drop martini which came as we were standing to leave. 
We were laughing hard at the end of this mostly-disgraceful meal. We had fun despite the ridiculousness of sitting in Cagneys at 6:30pm and signing the little paper at 6:55pm.

Cagney's meat gets an "B+" but the service and apps are left ungraded. Why bother- they didn't!!

FOOD REPUBLIC

 

As always the food was incredible! Appropriately paced service. We shared six plates . You can't use just one meal and have four plates at two separate seatings as we did in February but I think that's pretty standard now.

This is our favorite NCL eatage venue.

drinks are great, too. I had the lemon basil thing and they were kind enough to bring me a side dish of fresh basil. I'm a basil freak!

 

QTEXAS Alleged BBQ place

 

No. Just NO!

This meal started out by us showing up at LosLobos because I was confused. The maitre D 

told us that we were welcome to stay at LosLobos but with a hankering for pork meat and sauce we declined. Oops.

 

Entering Q , we loved seeing the entire staff in their cowboy garb. There was a CW band playing. Somebody and the Wildflowers or Blue Bonnets- I can't remember.

band was great, singing was below average.

Water is served in ceramic "red solo cups " which is a very cute and kitschy touch.

 

We both ordered the platter! I had deviled eggs for an app and they were very tasty. I can't remember what hubs had but he did enjoy it.

Dinner was plain awful with the chicken exception. The platter is present as multiple smoked meats and 4 sides with a slab of jalapeño corn bread. It certainly is a wad of smoked meats. The brisket and ribs and other square meat object were smoked/burned/steamed/beaten to the point that they were too tough to chew.

The chicken was lovely and moist. I had a piece of breast and the hubs platter had a thigh.

I ate my chicken with the yellow sauce.

Hubs used one of the red ones. 
Sides were served in little cups that are the size that one usually relegates to pumping ketchup into at a FF restaurant.

We did not stay for the famous banana puddin' in a jar because I couldn't bear to witness this southern delight desecrated as I ( maybe incorrectly) assumed that it would be.

 

Service was an A

Chicken an A

Everything else was an F.

 

 

ONDA

 

Yummy! This was a really good meal.

We both started with the octopus. It was delicious and tender! Hubs had the bolognese and I had the spaghetti with basil. They were kind enough to add extra basil for me and I was one happy wife of a Sicilian!

Wine was good and the service was excellEnt and paced just right.

A for service!

A for food!

yay!

 

 

Imma go have some breakfast and will add some more of my stunning insights later.

Happy to answer any questions that dont involve intensive detective work.

 

Have a sparkling day!

 

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[www3traveler]

When you can, could you please post a list of the current Senior Hotel Officers and the Senior Bridge Officers?  There should be a picture on Deck 6 between the forward staircase and the bathrooms.

 

Thank you

 

Have a wonderful cruise

[schmoopie17]

I think the Q stands for Quasi-barbecue. Never liked that place...

[Sand and Seas]

@DrUrsula, thank you for sharing your review with us!   We usually sail in the Club Balconies and love that amazing shower too!   We will be on Encore next month. 

It's been a few years since we cruised on her but we loved Onda and Los Lobos😋

 

[vacation44]

Thank you for sharing you quick report!

 

Very disappointed to read about your experience in Cagney's.   Did your sides ever arrive?   

 

Hope your last dinner goes well and is delicious.

[yankfan]

Hi - wondering if you could share the main entertainment currently on board? No need for comedians as we know they swap out often.

Thanks so much!

[DrUrsula]

14 minutes ago, yankfan said:

Hi - wondering if you could share the main entertainment currently on board? No need for comedians as we know they swap out often.

Thanks so much!

The main event is "Choir of Men "'which is absolutely phenomenal. There is a mentalist duo who also perform in the theater. We have not seen them.

There is "The Beatles Invasion" which is a mediocre Beatlemania type show. The show is ok - but the Beatle impersonators are just too old to make it work.

 

Comedians have shows in both the main theater and in The Social, sometimes 3 shows per evening. We have been unable to get a seat as it is FCFS and we don't feel like standing in line for 30-45 min it is before the show.

 

There are two excellent bands that play in the Atrium and around the ship. Guns and Rojas does classic rock and they are excellent.

I can try to post the Dailies later tonight!

[vacation44]

4 hours ago, DrUrsula said:

 

I can try to post the Dailies later tonight!

Thank you as I would love to see the dailies!

[yankfan]

6 hours ago, DrUrsula said:

The main event is "Choir of Men "'which is absolutely phenomenal. There is a mentalist duo who also perform in the theater. We have not seen them.

There is "The Beatles Invasion" which is a mediocre Beatlemania type show. The show is ok - but the Beatle impersonators are just too old to make it work.

 

Comedians have shows in both the main theater and in The Social, sometimes 3 shows per evening. We have been unable to get a seat as it is FCFS and we don't feel like standing in line for 30-45 min it is before the show.

 

There are two excellent bands that play in the Atrium and around the ship. Guns and Rojas does classic rock and they are excellent.

I can try to post the Dailies later tonight!

Thank you!

[Lisafourty]

On 12/8/2023 at 9:28 PM, vacation44 said:

Thank you as I would love to see the dailies!

 

On 12/8/2023 at 11:25 PM, yankfan said:

Thank you!

 

On 12/8/2023 at 11:25 PM, yankfan said:

Thank you!

 

On 12/8/2023 at 5:21 PM, DrUrsula said:

The main event is "Choir of Men "'which is absolutely phenomenal. There is a mentalist duo who also perform in the theater. We have not seen them.

There is "The Beatles Invasion" which is a mediocre Beatlemania type show. The show is ok - but the Beatle impersonators are just too old to make it work.

 

Comedians have shows in both the main theater and in The Social, sometimes 3 shows per evening. We have been unable to get a seat as it is FCFS and we don't feel like standing in line for 30-45 min it is before the show.

 

There are two excellent bands that play in the Atrium and around the ship. Guns and Rojas does classic rock and they are excellent.

I can try to post the Dailies later tonight!

We will be sailing in January and would like to know what nights and times the Choir of Men perform please.  Thank you in advance,