MITSUGIRLY's ENCORE pictorial and extensive REVIEW

[mitsugirly]

On 12/25/2023 at 9:11 AM, Daruma said:

 

Glad to hear it. I've been on the same journey using various extended fasting protocols, cycling keto --> moderate carb --> keto, and went from a very unhealthy 305, (I swear I used to be 5' 7" but now I'm 5' 6" 🤷‍♂️) ... either way, a very unhealthy weight. I now fluctuate between 165/175 lbs, with a 15%'ish body fat, so I've experienced your journey and congratulate you on it.

 

If I may, a suggestion... if you've never tried extended water fasting you might want to give it a try... not really so much for weight loss, but... if you can work up to making it to 4+ days you'll feel great. Because by then your system has emptied out all of... uh... the waste, and you're very, very empty and feel so light and good... it's a great feeling, and why I still do 14 and 30 day fasts on occasion. 

 

Lot's to research if you're interested, and please do research if you are. I'm always happy to discuss it to should you wish to reach out... no, lol... there's nothing in it for me... no scam 🤣

 

I fully expect to put on a lot of weight on my cruise... gonna eat pretty much anything that can't eat me, lol.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll check into it. I'm not completely understanding water fasting...you ONLY drink water during that time frame? If so, I would just die...I hate water to begin with. 🤣 But I will research it for sure. (I ended up putting on 6 pounds, which came right off since I've been home). 😁

 

On 12/25/2023 at 9:23 AM, cmecruise1962 said:

Merry Christmas and thanks for doing this review!  Going on this itinerary on this ship at the end of February, solo, so it's great to have tips and tricks!

 

I hope you had a great Christmas and have a wonderful cruise!

 

9 hours ago, #55worktoplay said:

Wow, I can’t believe how time flies and Sakari has turned into a beautiful young lady. 
 

I have just found this review and caught up. Great review as always, looking forward to more. 
 

To think of the simple stop to get gas has lead to so much of what you have had to endure. When was the accident, how long did it take you to get back to work?  I’m assuming you are still in nursing?  
 

You all look great, keto may be something I need to look into.  TBH, I always thought it sounded so unhealthy but obviously more research on my part is required. 
 

I would love to see a pic of your nephew.

 

Thanks for sharing, Merry Christmas!

 

Thank you and glad you are liking the review. 

 

The accident was August of 2019 and I was off for about a year and a half I believe. I was pretty much in a wheelchair for awhile and then when I tried to walk, it wasn't easy to do, very painful, and tons of constant swelling. Yes, I'm still nursing and gradually went back doing a job that would allow me to sit (Clinical Manager of Nursing). After my last surgery, I decided I wanted something different and switched to working a 12 1/2 hour shift, which was brutal in the beginning. 

 

Thanks for the compliment. We feel absolutely great with tons of energy and less weight has to be so much better on my leg/foot. 

 

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas yourself. 🙂 

 

8 hours ago, montecarloss said:

Glad to see you back here on CC. We will be at Taino Bay next month and I can guarantee you we will not be jumping! You are some brave people. Lazy river is more our style.  Thanks again for posting.😁

 

Thank you and LOL at the jumping. I don't know if we are brave or just crave adrenaline. I hope you have a wonderful cruise and the lazy river at Taino is amazing. 

 

5 hours ago, coscab said:

I wrap a towel around the hangers like you would wrap a shawl, it keeps them from hitting the back wall, the towel is a great buffer.  We just got off the Escape on the 23rd, loved that dragon game, unfortunately I never cashout when I am ahead, then I end up just adding more cash from my room key!

 

We solved the problem the following day by using a pair of pants strung along the hangers. 😄 

 

The dragon game is amazing isn't it? Random dragon balls coming out and it seemed to happen quite frequently. Gotta learn to cash out when ahead. 😉 

[Daruma]

7 minutes ago, mitsugirly said:

 

Thanks for the info. I'll check into it. I'm not completely understanding water fasting...you ONLY drink water during that time frame? If so, I would just die...I hate water to begin with. 🤣 But I will research it for sure. (I ended up putting on 6 pounds, which came right off since I've been home). 😁

 

That weight was likely glycogen, (from eating carbs), which then brings in water, (every gram of glycogen holds 3 grams of water), and the, (from what I've read and seen on YouTube), extra salty foods causing you to hold even more water, lol.

 

Yes, only water... though I recommend supplementing with sodium, magnesium, calcium, and potassium to help curb headaches, nausea, and such.

 

I'll tell you a few things I learned both in my research, and then first hand experience:

 

Within 3 - 5 days you'll start getting cold... and I mean COOOLLLDDD !!! No amount of blankets or clothing will warm you up because it's an internal cold, not external. 

 

There's a thermic reaction to digesting food, and since it takes hours to digest a meal, and we usually eat again before the prior meal is fully digested, we of course don't realize it because it's constant thermic effect. 

 

Getting into days 3 - 5, (everyone's metabolism is different), when now everything is digested, and digestion shuts down, the thermic effect ends, and the COOOOLLLLDDDD sets in, lol.

 

Also in that time frame the production of Ghrelin, (the "Hunger Hormone"), shuts down so you stop being hungry... for me days 2 - 4 are pure hell with hunger... day 4/5 my hunger goes away completely, and even on a 30 day fast I'm never physically hungry again... but... psychologically... that's a whole other kettle of fish, (no pun intended) ... the psychological desire to eat... to TASTE something can be overwhelming, but physically... nah... no desire to eat.

 

Extended Fasting is a fascinating subject when you learn all the changes the body goes through... day 3 Human Growth Hormone production actually increases to spare muscle... in Fasts extending into and past 2 weeks, your vision and your sense of smell increase, (almost annoyingly so actually... especially if, like me, you wear glasses because your prescription will now be too strong since your vision gets better)... if you couldn't catch the rabbit in week 1, you won't catch it in the future if you and your body and senses keep getting ever weaker... so nature makes them temporarily stronger. Into and past week 3 you get increasingly... uh... frisky... nature wants you to hurry up and reproduce before you starve to death, lol.

 

All of these adaptations fade back to normal once you start eating again. 

 

Sorry to word vomit all over you... it's just a fascinating subject to me. 

 

By the way, it's not really the Fasting, (1 week++ duration), that's dangerous, it's the re-feeding, so should you decide to work into/up to a 1 week++ Fast, research how to properly re-feed first, I beg you.

 

My biggest surprise using YouTube in my research was the sheer number of people who didn't do any research at all before starting an Extended Fast, (some getting sick, or just saying,  "Yeah, this X thing happened and I don't know why..."). Usually with regard to getting cold, or violently ill once they began eating again <SMDH>. 🤦‍♂️

 

Ok... I'll go back to my hole now... Happy New Year to you. 💥💥

[mitsugirly]

Sorry I got busy yesterday with challenges from Sakari and her knew PING PONG table her brothers gave her for Christmas. 😝

 

So I managed to put together a short 2+ minute video of Taino Bay. It's just so pretty there and we loved the lazy river. 

 

 

 

[LuvCruiSun]

Really loving your review! So glad you're back! That's so awesome you were able to do the waterfall excursion. We actually had it booked earlier this year, but we had to cancel the cruise because my husband had a work conflict. Looking forward to following the rest of your cruise!

[Cscomedygrl]

Taino Bay looks fabulous. Will be there in just a couple weeks and your video sealed the deal for me. Just going to hang out there for the day. I love a good lazy river. 

[EllieinNJ]

We will be at Puerto Plata on the Prima next year.  Is this the same as Taino Bay or a different port?

[mitsugirly]

On 12/26/2023 at 9:27 PM, LuvCruiSun said:

Really loving your review! So glad you're back! That's so awesome you were able to do the waterfall excursion. We actually had it booked earlier this year, but we had to cancel the cruise because my husband had a work conflict. Looking forward to following the rest of your cruise!

 

Thank you so much! Yes, I was very proud of myself for being able to accomplish the waterfall with no injuries. Hopefully you'll get to try it yourself some day and rebook. 🙂

 

On 12/26/2023 at 10:24 PM, Cscomedygrl said:

Taino Bay looks fabulous. Will be there in just a couple weeks and your video sealed the deal for me. Just going to hang out there for the day. I love a good lazy river. 

 

Yes it is. If Sakari hadn't insisted on doing the falls, I could have totally hung out in port all day with no issues and just made it a "free" day for us. 

 

On 12/27/2023 at 8:14 AM, EllieinNJ said:

We will be at Puerto Plata on the Prima next year.  Is this the same as Taino Bay or a different port?

 

Yes it is. 🙂 

[mitsugirly]

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 13: ST THOMAS  11-7PM

 

Well, I finally managed to fall asleep last night, but it took awhile. I think my Zofran kicked in and I managed to pass out, but it was a rough night.  I was up at 7am and ready to get this day started...issue was, we weren't coming into port until 11am and it could have been a sleep in day. 

 

As I waited for the family to get up, I turned on the tv to see the bridge report "stats"  (not even sure if that's what they're called, but it's what I'm gonna refer to them as) and it said the waves were 8.2', Temp was 80°, we were 991.8 miles from Miami and had sailed 397.7 miles from DR. We had another 42.9 miles to go to get to St Thomas. 

 

The sound of the tv managed to wake up the family...oops (just kidding, I was hoping that would work and it did) and we headed to breakfast a little after 8am. Back to the buffet for us.

 

 

After getting our bellies full, we decided to just hang out on the balcony in our room and watch the ship come into port. 

 

 

 

Birds gliding over the water...can you spot it?

 

 

 

 

Here comes the pilot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

More pictures of us pulling in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were pulling in and docked by 10:30am

 

 

I don't remember there being a pool at the port?? From the looks of the signs on the building, it must have been a bar.

 

 

 

There goes the tram up to Paradise Point in the distance. We have only rode it once, back in 2010, but maybe some day we'll do it again. It has magnificent views from up there. 

 

 

They made the announcement that we could get off the ship and it was now 10:50am so we headed out. 

 

 

But first we would need to stop for our photograph before making our way out of the port area:

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

So what are we doing here today? Well...I really struggled with this port. We land vacation here and have done just about everything. However, I did find something new! Something exciting! Something I just knew Sakari would love!

 

They have a new speed boat here, located at Sapphire Marina, that does the twisty-turns in the water. It's just like the Twister they had in Cozumel (not sure if they still have it there or not since I really don't see people mention it anymore when I've looked) and it looked super fun. It's called the VI Jet Boat and they are ran by the same company that we did our parasailing there with back when we were staying at Sapphire Beach AND ran by Ocean Surfari, which we used another time for a snorkeling/pizza dance party boat tour on Sakari's birthday during our last land vacation there. So, I knew it was a good company and we had had good experiences with them both times. 

 

I had contacted them and booked for 3:30pm and the total cost was $190.80 for all 3 of us (you get a $5/pp discount for booking online ahead of time). But it's a short boat ride, so we needed something else to do before that to kill the time while we waited. 

 

Prior to cruising I contacted several vendors (in DR and Tortola) about doing a Discover Scuba, since we always have to squeeze in at least one dive each vacation. Since Sakari was adamant about doing the falls, I eliminated that port. Then in Tortola, we had some crazy hours and no one could accommodate us going out that early and having us back in time for all aboard...UNLESS we booked a private charter, which was $600. Yikes! No thank you!

 

I checked NCLs private island (GSC) to see if they may offer a dive there...nope! Well, that meant we would have to dive in St Thomas again if we wanted to dive this trip. So, I contacted Coki Dive Center (we've went with them a few times and they were the first we ever tried DSD with back in 2016 and we really like them). Of course they could do a dive and have us out of there in time to taxi over to Sapphire and do our boat tour. We were excited!

 

HOWEVER......THINGS DID NOT GO AS PLANNED. 😞 

 

Remember the rocking of the ship the night before? Well, the people at VI Jet Boats contacted me the morning we arrived in St Thomas to let us know that the waves were just too big to do the tour and they would have to cancel the tour. We were really bummed and at that point I broke the news to Sakari about the "surprise tour" I had planned for her that day wasn't going to happen. Darnit! Maybe next time. They immediately refunded my money, so no worries about booking with this company. I would do it again in a heartbeat. 

 

Now remember the photo's of us pulling in (above)? The water was as calm as can be. However, the port area of St Thomas is located on the opposite side of Sapphire, so the water must be rough over on that side. That itself had me worried since we were diving also today and Sapphire and Coki are located right down the road from each other. Ok to dive. Not ok to boat. 😭

 

We headed out of the port to find a taxi and was put on an open air bus. Ok, we finally get to ride the open air bus. Yippee! We were told $14 since there were 3 of us.

 

 

 

 

They always put everyone going to Red Hook, Sapphire and Coki on the same bus and Coki is always last to get off since it is the furthest away. 

 

They had the town all decorated with Christmas lights. 

 

 

Along the way I got a call from Coki Dive Center wanting to know if we were still coming. I'm not sure why, it's not like we were late or anything. They had told us to get off the ship as soon as we could and make our way there and to try to be there by 12 noon. It was only 11:30am at this point. But, I let them know we were headed that way.

 

 

We made our first stop at Red Hook and they stop right in front of Ocean Surfari. Only one couple got off there.

 

Then we headed to Sapphire Beach Resort. Home sweet home.

 

 

 

We dropped off quite a few people there and then continued on our way to Coki.

 

Along the way we drove past our other home sweet home, Point Pleasant Resort:

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Then we finally made it to Coki. The driver pulled up and was so close to the vehicle beside us that no one could even get out. So, she had to back up and move the bus...over to in front of Coral World. We paid her and started walking toward Coki Dive Center. In the background I hear "Ma'am, ma'am, excuse me!" only to look back and she is talking to me. She said "You only gave me $14"...uh yea, that's the price you told me. She replies "It's PER PERSON!" YIKES!! That is outrageous! That meant a shared ride with probably 25 other people and stopping at other stops now cost me $42 one way?!?  I had no idea the prices these days. I was now worried about bringing enough cash for our ride back, tip for the dive and cash to buy drinks and food at Coki (last time we were there, they only accepted cash). 

 

 

We checked in with the dive center and met our instructor, Trisket, as in the crackers just add cheese (he said). That's one dive instructors name I will probably never forget now. Trisket was super nice and super funny. I loved his personality and he made everything a great experience. 

 

 

 

Now Coki does things a little different than the other dive shops we've used in the past. They have you register with PADI and listen to video's and read instructions about diving. Then you take your test online and then submit your health questionnaire to them. Everything is ready to go when you arrive. 

 

We headed down to the beach after getting fitted with our fins where he would quickly go over a few instructions (required no matter how many times we have done this course but it was super fast) and then we suited up. 

 

 

 

The hubby asks me if I planned on trying to walk out into the water with my tank on and by golly yes I was! After proving to myself on our Grand Cayman vacation, not once but twice, that I could carry it into the water (although it was a ladder), I was definitely going to give it a shot this time around too. 

 

 

 

Then it was time to head out to do our skills. Trisket had told us that the water had been rough and we would need to swim out a ways and then go down a rope to about 10' of water to do our skills. Now this made me nervous because our very first dive with them in 2016 there was a VERY strong current that day and it was SO hard to make it around the bend...to the point that the hubby actually gave up that day and was pulled back to the beach. Although I had made it that day (with Kendra, Kolin and family) I'm in a different situation with my leg now and wondered if it was going to be hard on me. Trisket assured me it would be fine and the current wasn't too bad. He was also taking another person along with him to help out until we started the actual dive. So off we went.

 

[mitsugirly]

I took baby steps along the way, easing myself into the soft sand, until I hit the cold water. Once we were deep enough to float we put our fins on, made sure our BCD was inflated and rolled on our backs to swim out to where they wanted us (at the buoy). The water was definitely wavy and if you stopped for any given minute, you were floating in the wrong direction. I gave the hubby a side eye look of "I don't know" but continued on until he told us to stop. Then down we went. 

 

Once at the bottom, everything was a lot better. Still some waves, but the deeper you get, the less there is of course. 

 

Then we would do our skills and when he looked at Sakari and told her to remove her regulator, I guess she figured she had the mentality of "I'mma show'em what I got" and removed the regulator, threw it over her shoulder, retrieved it and put it back in her mouth.  Now what? Ok Sakari you over achiever, those were 2 skills you were supposed to do at different times, but let's be a show off why don't ya. Trisket looked at her, shrugged his shoulders, clapped his hands underwater and gave her the high-five. 

 

 

Then it was the hubby's turn and he decided to follow instructions and do them one by one. Here he is clearing his mask to perfection.

 

 

Thoughts swirled around in my head about what to do. Should I do the one skill? Should I be an overachiever like Sakari and do it all and get it over with? I figured I'd let her have the spotlight and do them one by one. 

 

Then we were off...(you all know it's going to be a picture overload with my scuba pictures now right??)

 

We came across a Red Stripped Goatfish immediately. 

 

 

Then some Christmas Tree worms. They are so pretty and come in multiple colors.

 

 

Some beautiful purple sponges

 

 

 

 

I love the baby blue sponges you'll see when diving. They are so pretty and rather large.

 

 

The water would be a little stirred up during this dive, so the pictures aren't as clear as some of my dive pictures in the past. But, I did what I could.

 

 

Aww, this parrot fish smiled at me as I went by. 😄 

 

 

 

A Four-Eyed Butterfly Fish off in the distance hiding out. 

 

 

Another Parrot Fish going by.

 

 

A Blue Bell Tunicate (which are actually purple and there's usually a lot here at Coki, including the snorkeling area).

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

A pretty pink branching sea sponge with a Feather Duster Worm under it.

 

 

 

Then I came across a couple of Flamingo Tongue Snails sitting on a sea fan.

 

 

 

Purple Tube Sponges:

 

 

Hubby was equipped with the GoPro, me a camera and Sakari a camera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A rather large orange colored sea sponge. There were a bunch of these and some were very very large. 

 

 

 

[schmoopie17]

Loving your review...as usual.

 

A couple of questions re: Taino Bay. Mrs. Schmoopie had a bad tibia fracture in July and is just now getting around on a cane. How difficult is it for someone with limited mobility to:

a). Get from the ship to where the action is?

b). Get into the lazy river?

c). Get around, in general. It seems like there is a lot of sand, which could be difficult.

TIA...

 

Edited December 28, 2023 by schmoopie17

[mitsugirly]

Now I don't really consider St Thomas some of the best scuba diving that I've done (I much rather go to Roatan, which has had some of the best I've ever seen each time) but it was bursting with color...even on this day that was off and on clouds and stirred up water. At least we were diving and I was happy with that and we could mark it on our books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At first I thought this yellow and white fluffy thing was a caterpillar (fire worm), but it wasn't. It was just flowing in the water back and forth.

 

 

 

We did come across just a few pieces of dead (or dying) coral along the way. I'm not sure if it just didn't make it after the dreadful two hurricanes that hit St Thomas back in 2017 or what. 

 

 

What a pretty rose color this was:

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We would come across a couple different Lizard Fish today. I would get the pictures from a distance and Sakari, being the excellent photographer and fish whisperer she is, would get the close up pictures. 😄 

 

Lizard fish can grow up to 2 feet long and they resemble a lizard because of the shape of their head and pointed snout. They have a mouth full of sharp teeth and also a tongue. Most are found in shallow water and usually lie partly submerged in the sand to protect themselves from predators. They live around 7-9 years and there are around 57 species of lizardfish.

 

 

 

 

Do you see the Squirrel Fish peeking out at me?

 

 

 

 

Another Lizard Fish

 

 

 

Parrot Fish

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Look at all these babies! I have no idea what they are. I can identify most fish, but babies=nope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A dark purple Feather Duster Worm with more baby fish surrounding it:

 

 

This Feather Duster had made its home inside of an orange sponge

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Sakari waved me down and pointed off in the distance:

 

 

There were a bunch of Tarpon swimming by. If you ever go to Coral World next door, there are TONS of these under the dock (which can be viewed if you go down into the observation tower there OR if you do the SeaTrek walk as well). 

 

Trisket had found a goody for us and handed it to Sakari.

 

 

It was an Arrow Crab. They are so cute with their odd looking bodies, skinny legs and blue pincher claws.

 

 

 

 

Squirrel Fish

 

 

Yellow Wrasse:

 

 

Can you spot all the clear Gobies on the sand? They blend in and they are always hard to spot due to their color and size.

 

 

 

 

 

There are different stages of the Blue Headed Wrasse (just like the parrot fish). Normally we see the ones with the blue head and yellow body. However, we seen a few of these at this stage (initial phase).

 

 

[scubamargie]

Mitsugirly, we are doing this exact cruise the first week of March and planning on diving at Coki beach. We've been here several times but always brought our own gear. This time we're thinking of just renting it. What was the condition of the gear, and how much did it cost? Your pictures are great!

[mitsugirly]

Then I spotted a Smooth Trunkfish fluttering around in the water. They swim so cute. They will hover in the water with their little fins flapping and then will spin 180 degrees around super quick like it's nothing. 

 

 

 

Off in the distance there was a Scrawled Cowfish. I had to zoom in on the picture, so it's a horrid picture for sure.

 

 

FIREWORM crawling on the branches. They have a terrible sting.

 

 

 

 

Trumpet Fish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Now it's hard to see (in the following picture) because of the color of the fish and the background but...out of the corner of my eye I spotted 2 rather large(r) puffer fish swimming together. Now we see these Sharp Nose Puffer fish everywhere we snorkel in the Caribbean...however...they are usually very small. These had to be the biggest I had ever seen before. They were maybe around 9" long. Now I know that's not really "big", but for me, it's the biggest I've seen of them before. I was truly amazed and hung out for awhile taking pictures. Trisket said "Oh yea, they get really big". I don't know, maybe this puffer isn't actually a sharp nose puffer, but it sure looked like it. 

 

 

 

Then I spotted a GROUPER! I love groupers and I didn't actually start seeing them until over the last couple of years. They fascinate me for some reason. This one would hide under the rocks and then come out. 

 

Also, notice what was hanging out under the rocks with it...

 

 

I went in for a close up. Now I was all of a sudden more interested in the 2 shrimp on the rocks with the grouper. They were a pair of Banded Coral Shrimps.

 

 

 

 

At some point, I HEARD a "pop" when we were diving. I had no idea what it was but would later find out after the dive was over.

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Ok, I'm going to stop for awhile. I have to go pick up Sakari from work and get dinner going. I may return later to finish this portion of the review. Next up will be Sakari's pictures she took while diving. 🙂 

[maggieq]

@mitsugirly  thanks so much for doing this review.  We’ve only cruised once so far on ncl and it was the ta on encore in nov of 2019. One of our best cruises to date.  Beautiful ship!   Sorry about that taxi fare. I’m pretty sure they should have been more clear with pricing. Understand inflation but that seems very expensive.  

[broberts]

1 hour ago, mitsugirly said:

Ok, I'm going to stop for awhile. I have to go pick up Sakari from work and get dinner going. I may return later to finish this portion of the review. Next up will be Sakari's pictures she took while diving. 🙂 

 

Loving the review. But I don't know if I can survive the suspense 😬.

[mitsugirly]

2 hours ago, schmoopie17 said:

Loving your review...as usual.

 

A couple of questions re: Taino Bay. Mrs. Schmoopie had a bad tibia fracture in July and is just now getting around on a cane. How difficult is it for someone with limited mobility to:

a). Get from the ship to where the action is?

b). Get into the lazy river?

c). Get around, in general. It seems like there is a lot of sand, which could be difficult.

TIA...

 

 

Thank you!

 

1) Easy if you take the 3 wheeled motorcycles and save yourself the walk. I highly suggest it. The action is everywhere. LOL  It's just louder at one pool with music compared to no music at the other. The very first pool you will come to will be the larger pool with the action. 

2) The lazy river is toward the end. So, you'll have to walk a ways to get there. However, it's an easy, flat surface walk that is paved. The sand you see is the man made, hard packed sand, only in certain areas. So no sinking in the sand making it difficult to maneuver. 

 

 

1 hour ago, scubamargie said:

Mitsugirly, we are doing this exact cruise the first week of March and planning on diving at Coki beach. We've been here several times but always brought our own gear. This time we're thinking of just renting it. What was the condition of the gear, and how much did it cost? Your pictures are great!

 

The gear seemed fine to us. We brought our own masks, as we always do, but everything was good. Since we do the discover scuba, I can't tell you how much the equipment itself costs to rent (sounds like you are certified divers, which we are not so have to pay for the DSD course each time, which is $99). You can look at their website at Coki Dive Center. They have pricing for the dives depending on if it's by beach or boat and what you need. 

 

Thanks for the comments on the pictures. 

 

1 hour ago, maggieq said:

@mitsugirly  thanks so much for doing this review.  We’ve only cruised once so far on ncl and it was the ta on encore in nov of 2019. One of our best cruises to date.  Beautiful ship!   Sorry about that taxi fare. I’m pretty sure they should have been more clear with pricing. Understand inflation but that seems very expensive.  

 

You're quite welcome and glad you are enjoying the review. 

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Encore on your cruise. 

 

As for the pricing, I will later see that there is a sign...I just didn't see it at the time we got on the bus. Probably my fault for not looking or asking if it was total or per person. It just really caught me off guard when they said per person. Yikes!

 

30 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Loving the review. But I don't know if I can survive the suspense 😬.

 

LOL