First time NCL - 7day Encore in December '24 - specialty recommendations / excursions.

[txcfa]

Hello everyone!   My booking window is opening in a bit and trying to finalize what might fit us best family wise and thought I'd check with the experts as we've never been on any NCL ship before and only been to a couple of these ports before (and not in December!).   I was able to follow a couple of 2024 live blogs that appear to follow the same itinerary, so have a sense of what boat activities happen when. 

 

Food wise - we will have 2 or 4 specialty dining credits for my wife and I and trying to see how many extras to get for the three kiddos.   

 

Ocean Blue - I think my wife and I will do this one with just us.

 

Teppanyaki - full family here as I think it will be fun xmas eve or xmas day.

 

Food Republic - full family as the menu looks great.   I think we can get away with 4 credits as a family as 16 items is a great sampler.   Should we consider this for lunch on the sea days, or definitely dinner?

 

Q - I had not considered trying this, but if they regularly do an ABBA music night that I have seen referenced, it might be fun.   Is there anyway to tell what night of the cruise this might be beforehand, or only when you get on board ?

 

For families with teenagers, is there another specialty experience that we should consider ?    Trying to work on dinner timing to best matchup with shows/entertainment, but seems hard to gauge early (i.e., will the featured acts be any good ?   will the game shows be fun at all ?   etc.)

 

Excursions - I think being first time on NCL, and first time at a couple of the ports, will likely just stick with their offerings despite the extra $.

 

Puerto Plata, DR - Never been, and it might be fun to just sit at the beach club area that it looks like is included.   However, I think the waterfalls seem like a unique experience.   The ATV buggy / waterfall seems a bit pricey and was leaning toward the Zip and Dip that appears to include some ziplines and waterfalls.   Is that the best offering, or is there something I am missing.

 

St Thomas - It looks like of the beaches, people seem to like St Johns.   Was going to go with the "champagne catamaran beach break" but trying to see what the difference is with the higher costed beach escape & snorkel which appears to have a truck ride with photo stops ?    Does not seem like it is worth the extra.   Also mulled the Coral World Ocean park but reviews seem very mediocre.   Maybe spring for one of the helmet dives, which look pricey, but might be fun.

 

Tortola - the port arrival/departure hours here look awful (the 6.45am-2:30pm) which makes me unsure anything is worth chasing.   The Jost Van Dyke beach looks like a great time, but a bit more expensive relative to the Island Beach Break, but maybe best to just walk off the boat and stay in the port area to be more flexible on time.

 

Great Stirrup Cay - are the zip lines worth doing, or an easy pass ?

 

 

Anything else we should definitely make sure we check out on-or-off boat ?    We plan to get our youngest the arcade pass and we hope that the VR experience is still available for him with the laser tag going away before our trip.   Hopefully, they keep the escape room as we hope to try it out.   It looks like it might survive drydock, but nothing concrete yet on that (and the VR stuff). 

[LatinaInTexas]

Don't have a lot to offer but I was on the Encore last month and it's a great ship. 

At Puerto Plata the loungers are free but there is no shade so if you want shade you have to rent an umbrella. It was $27 when we last went some time ago. 

At GSC the jet ski excursion was a lot of fun. They kind of broke people up in groups, those that want to go fast and this that don't.They let you go as fast as you want, even encouraged it lol.

[www3traveler]

I have sailed on a couple of Christmas cruises.  They are extremely crowded.

 

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traditional turkey dinner is served in the Main Dining Room.

 

The entertainment schedule is set by the Cruise Director not very far in advance.  On the cruises I have been on, Senior Officers went through the ship on Christmas Eve singing Christmas carols followed by carols in the lobby.  There will probably be a special program in the Theater on Christmas Eve.

 

On Christmas morning Santa Claus arrives with gifts for the "Little Ones" in the lobby.  Lots of families arrive in the lobby in matching pajamas (Multi-generational Grandparents on down to the little little ones.

 

Somewhere on the ship, the Executive Chef and his Team will built an elaborate Gingerbread Village.  It is a lot of fun to watch how they put it all together.  Five gallon buckets are filled with white frosting to use as snow and glue to put the buildings together>  It is amazing.

 

Enjoy your cruise and most importantly enjoy your time as a family.  Teenagers seem to grow very quickly into young people with families of their own.

 

Mandy

 

 

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

5 hours ago, txcfa said:

Food Republic - full family as the menu looks great.   I think we can get away with 4 credits as a family as 16 items is a great sampler.   Should we consider this for lunch on the sea days, or definitely dinner?

 

Food Republic is a great choice for family because there is so much variety on the menu. I have never eaten lunch there but either lunch or dinner is fine. Might be smart to go for lunch on a sea day to avoid the crowds.

 

5 hours ago, txcfa said:

For families with teenagers, is there another specialty experience that we should consider ?

 

Onda is one of my favorite restaurants on NCL and I think it is a good specialty experience for family. The Macallaio and Calzone Pizzas are delicious as well as the other antipasti, pastas and meats. 

 

5 hours ago, txcfa said:

The ATV buggy / waterfall seems a bit pricey and was leaning toward the Zip and Dip that appears to include some ziplines and waterfalls.   Is that the best offering, or is there something I am missing

 

The Zip and Dip was so much fun and I think your teenagers will love it. You might want to check whether you can book directly with the Damajagua Waterfalls outfit. We booked through NCL and I saw families who booked privately were able to jump the line. Sometimes it is also less expensive to book privately. Be sure to bring watershoes and wear swimming shorts rather than bikini bottoms/thongs. Some ladies learned the hard way.

 

6 hours ago, txcfa said:

Tortola - the port arrival/departure hours here look awful (the 6.45am-2:30pm) which makes me unsure anything is worth chasing.   The Jost Van Dyke beach looks like a great time, but a bit more expensive relative to the Island Beach Break, but maybe best to just walk off the boat and stay in the port area to be more flexible on time.

 

Yes Tortola always seems to be a super early stop. We loved the Jost Van Dyke excursion.

 

6 hours ago, txcfa said:

Great Stirrup Cay - are the zip lines worth doing, or an easy pass ?

 

If you are doing Zip and Dip in Puerto Plata, I would pass on the zip lines at GSC. 

 

Have a wonderful time on the Encore. I most recently sailed on her in January and might sail on her again in early December, so I will make sure she is in tiptop shape for you and your family.

 

[Panhandle Couple]

We did the Jeep excursion in Tortola and loved it. If you are a family of 4, you will be in your own Jeep. (Yes we are Jeep owners)

The key is you go to parts of the island no tour group goes to due to the size of the road.

We did get 45 minutes at a small beach that faced St Johns and was nearly empty.

You see beaches and scenic overlooks, and you never drive over 35 mph, so everything moves slowly.

[BirdTravels]

7 hours ago, txcfa said:

Hello everyone!   My booking window is opening in a bit and trying to finalize what might fit us best family wise and thought I'd check with the experts as we've never been on any NCL ship before and only been to a couple of these ports before (and not in December!). 

 

You followed some of the live posts... here's mine on that itinerary.

 

Teppanyaki and Le Bistro our on our dining list. Onda also there.  Ocean Blue has fallen to the bottom of our list with Q. 

 

At the time we cruised, Haiti was still very "hot"/"violent" when we sailed. The Haitian boarder is only a couple of hours drive from Puerto Plata, so we just stayed in the port (been there twice this year). 

 

 

[txcfa]

Thank you all so much for the info and recommendations!

 

@www3traveler Thanks for the specific Christmas activities, the gingerbread construction sounds very interesting and will definitely check it out!

 

@BirdTravels - yes!   I followed your live blog as I knew that itinerary would be the same to get a sense of timing (and on a Spring Break / holiday week for likely similar crowds).    Good point about DR, I'll need to do more research as we get closer.   I like the idea of the Dip & Zip and might sign up for it when the window opens, but cancel if still pretty "hot".   I'll think more about Q/Ocean Blue, we liked the Ocean Blue location and Q live music, but we can always just go for a drink there to enjoy.

[prov2727]

I liked Coral World, but I'm a big time animal lover including aquatic life (I have 2 fish tanks myself). I really like their underwater area where you are in the ocean and it is more realistic than viewing the fish, etc. in an aquarium no matter how big it is. Koki Beach is also great and--at least when I was there in 2019--the loungers are WAY cheaper ($5) than Magen's Bay ($20 each in 2024). Coral World is on Koki Beach so you can just go to the beach and if you decide you want to see Coral World, just walk over.

 

In the DR, its a pretty cool port with the pool, lazy river and the surfing simulator. I did the Countryside Safari and it was really neat too. I do like to get out of the port and see a little of the actual country. The drinks were generous and frequent, liked getting coffee and hot chocolate so fresh it was practically off the tree. Lunch was good and the loungers at the beach break were reasonably priced. Certainly in my top 10 of excursions. I would have liked more time in port to take advantage of that lazy river but you can get that anywhere.

 

I've heard good things about the Jost van Dyke excursion in Tortola. I did the By Land & Sea, mostly because I like being out on the water as I never do that in my "real" life. It was good and when we docked to switch to the land portion, there was a little grocery store where you could get snacks at a very reasonable price.

 

Have fun!

[nordicacres]

We are at Le Bistro last night and LOVED it! I’m not sure if your ship offers that restaurant, but I would recommend. I had the Onion Soup and Tenderloin and thought both were excellent. 

[The Traveling Man]

59 minutes ago, nordicacres said:

We are at Le Bistro last night and LOVED it! I’m not sure if your ship offers that restaurant, but I would recommend. I had the Onion Soup and Tenderloin and thought both were excellent. 

Each NCL ship features a French themed restaurant.  Most are called Le Bistro.  On the Pride of America it's known as Jefferson's Bistro, but it features the same menu.