zqvol Posted July 19 #26 Share Posted July 19 20 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said: Got it - I'll see what I can do to get you some answers! I can answer a couple of these for you on already based on my research: Ketchikan: The Encore docks at Ward Cove which is roughly 7 miles from the town. The last shuttle back leaves at 11am but All Aboard isn't until 12:45pm (so we'll likely grab an Uber vs. waiting in long lines for the shuttle...taxis are also an option). Formal Night: Surprisingly, there doesn't appear to be a formal night on the Encore. The theme nights are Glow, 80s, and Latin Night. Their branding is "Free at Sea" so I guess having a formal night doesn't fit into their vibe. I'll get you answers about Chai Tea Latte + Cart/Laser Tag reservations! Ketchikan has a very small local population (maybe 8000 year round) reports are that Ubers are few and far between. I would not plan on either an Uber or a taxi as an option back to Ward Cove. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 19 Author #27 Share Posted July 19 17 minutes ago, mthayer295 said: We are going in September and I had originally looked to book a private seaplane in Ketchikan but changed my mind when I realized the meeting spot was in town an hour after docking. I didn’t think I could guarantee that we would make it. Interesting to hear that your plan is an Uber. Do you have any reliable information that there are sufficient Ubers available at that port? I didn’t want to count on that either. However, I do realize the recent stranded passengers were on an NCL excursion so that wasn’t foolproof either. I guess we'll be the guinea pig to see if there's enough time! I asked in a roll call group on FB for a recent sailing about getting to the ship and they said Uber and taxis were available, but I will confirm once we're there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KittyCruz Posted July 19 #28 Share Posted July 19 3 hours ago, vacation44 said: On the Encore this past February and recently on the Joy, they did not take reservations beforehand. My family just showed up when they wanted to do the speedway. perfect, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 19 Author #29 Share Posted July 19 12 minutes ago, zqvol said: Ketchikan has a very small local population (maybe 8000 year round) reports are that Ubers are few and far between. I would not plan on either an Uber or a taxi as an option back to Ward Cove. I'm sure we will be back in time to get the shuttle, but if an Uber/taxi are available (as numerous people told me there were), I'd much rather spend a few bucks for that than wait in a long line for a shuttle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis1138 Posted July 19 #30 Share Posted July 19 I do have a request, if possible. On the NCL app, when it works, you can download the Freestyle Daily as a pdf. I'm mainly curious what the Buffet Dinner nights are (which night is brisket, western, asian, etc). Thanks in advance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 19 Author #31 Share Posted July 19 2 minutes ago, Ellis1138 said: I do have a request, if possible. On the NCL app, when it works, you can download the Freestyle Daily as a pdf. I'm mainly curious what the Buffet Dinner nights are (which night is brisket, western, asian, etc). Thanks in advance. Added it to my list! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenDover Posted July 21 #32 Share Posted July 21 On 7/17/2024 at 8:49 PM, Monica887 said: Following carefully! I'm going the following week! As am I 😎 Leave us some wine 🍷 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 21 Author #33 Share Posted July 21 1 minute ago, BenDover said: As am I 😎 Leave us some wine 🍷 We'll see you onboard! Tonight we're catching a Mariners game! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterlogged1 Posted July 21 #34 Share Posted July 21 Glad you made it to seattle given all the tech drama. Beautiful weather we are having (seattle local here). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare graphicguy Posted July 21 #35 Share Posted July 21 On 7/17/2024 at 12:03 PM, FamilyAtSea.travel said: I wasn't sure whether I should like, thank, or laugh at this reply! At least I know I'll be writing for an audience of one at a minimum 🤪 We're looking forward to the cruise and hopefully many great experiences that I can share with you guys on here! Count me in....so, at least 2 who will be following. Ignore the whiners. They flit in and out of these boards. You'll be happier and we'll be appreciative. As you noticed, no formal night. And, you're right....that fits into the "Vibe" of Free at Sea. I have done the go carts on the Encore (and other ships). Never really had an issue with making reservations. I just showed up and waited, at most, 10-15 minutes to buckle in. Encore is one of NCL's nicest ships. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 21 Author #36 Share Posted July 21 6 hours ago, waterlogged1 said: Glad you made it to seattle given all the tech drama. Beautiful weather we are having (seattle local here). It was a busy day in the city with such perfect weather but we really enjoyed it. We're doing az Boeing factory tour before we head home, excited about that as my son (8) loves aviation. We're fortunate we only had a 15 minute delay on the trip here... There are several I've seen in our roll call who are going to miss the cruise and have to meet us in Juneau 😔 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 21 Author #37 Share Posted July 21 2 minutes ago, graphicguy said: Count me in....so, at least 2 who will be following. Ignore the whiners. They flit in and out of these boards. You'll be happier and we'll be appreciative. As you noticed, no formal night. And, you're right....that fits into the "Vibe" of Free at Sea. I have done the go carts on the Encore (and other ships). Never really had an issue with making reservations. I just showed up and waited, at most, 10-15 minutes to buckle in. Encore is one of NCL's nicest ships. Thank you for the heads up on the go karts... Hopefully we'll have a similar experience! Are you in the sign industry by chance? Or are you a designer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare graphicguy Posted July 21 #38 Share Posted July 21 Just now, FamilyAtSea.travel said: Thank you for the heads up on the go karts... Hopefully we'll have a similar experience! Are you in the sign industry by chance? Or are you a designer? Long story, but I am not in the graphics art industry. I am (was...now retired) in the tech industry focused on the Computer Generated Graphics Industry. My user name was given to me by someone else a long time ago. It just stuck! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 21 Author #39 Share Posted July 21 Just now, graphicguy said: Long story, but I am not in the graphics art industry. I am (was...now retired) in the tech industry focused on the Computer Generated Graphics Industry. My user name was given to me by someone else a long time ago. It just stuck! That's even cooler... My son would probably ask you a hundred questions if we met 😂 Happy sails wherever you're off to next! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcmagnum Posted July 21 #40 Share Posted July 21 On 7/17/2024 at 12:03 PM, FamilyAtSea.travel said: I wasn't sure whether I should like, thank, or laugh at this reply! At least I know I'll be writing for an audience of one at a minimum 🤪 We're looking forward to the cruise and hopefully many great experiences that I can share with you guys on here! I am also looking forward to your trip report… Looking at this cruise in the future. Have a wonderful trip…. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 21 Author #41 Share Posted July 21 2 minutes ago, tcmagnum said: I am also looking forward to your trip report… Looking at this cruise in the future. Have a wonderful trip…. I appreciate that, thank you! We have a check-in time of 9:30am so it won't be long now! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcmagnum Posted July 21 #42 Share Posted July 21 5 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said: I appreciate that, thank you! We have a check-in time of 9:30am so it won't be long now! So excited for you!! it’s almost time for you to make that magical walk onto the ship!! While we still have 88 days….Lol… Looking forward to your trip report…. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare firstmickey Posted July 21 #43 Share Posted July 21 Looking forward to your report! We decided to be spontaneous and booked the encore Alaska in September. have a wonderful time! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare graphicguy Posted July 21 #44 Share Posted July 21 1 hour ago, firstmickey said: Looking forward to your report! We decided to be spontaneous and booked the encore Alaska in September. have a wonderful time! Loved your live report, too!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 21 Author #45 Share Posted July 21 The fun begins! We had a 9:30am check-in time and they promptly started letting people in at 9:29am. We made it through Security and Check-In before getting settled in our seats to await boarding in just under 30 minutes. They notified us boarding will begin shortly after 11am so we have around an hour to hang out while we wait. Note: We purchased Priority Access, which I read is probably not worth it (but I'm stubborn). So far nothing we've experienced has been any different than anybody else (outside the Haven), but that isn't an issue since it was quick enough already. I do think we will get an earlier boarding time when they start calling zones, so there's that. ----- Arriving at the Terminal / First Look at the Encore ----- Bag Drop ----- Clearing Security ----- No Lines at Check-In (yet) ----- Obligatory Embarkation Photo Op ----- Boarding Lounge ----- Refreshments in Boarding Lounge ----- 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medicalma'am Posted July 21 #46 Share Posted July 21 Following.....Have a great trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faulkh Posted July 21 #47 Share Posted July 21 We are boarding the week after you. Thanks for your timely ‘live’ report. Love reading these and appreciate the effort they take. I debated the priority checkin and decided against based off of feedback here. Will be interested in the time you actually boarded. Have a wonderful cruise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 21 Author #48 Share Posted July 21 On 7/19/2024 at 1:03 PM, Ellis1138 said: I do have a request, if possible. On the NCL app, when it works, you can download the Freestyle Daily as a pdf. I'm mainly curious what the Buffet Dinner nights are (which night is brisket, western, asian, etc). Thanks in advance. Here's the Day 1 Freestyle Daily! free-style-daily.pdf 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 21 Author #49 Share Posted July 21 2 hours ago, Faulkh said: We are boarding the week after you. Thanks for your timely ‘live’ report. Love reading these and appreciate the effort they take. I debated the priority checkin and decided against based off of feedback here. Will be interested in the time you actually boarded. Have a wonderful cruise. We ended up being the 2nd group boarded (following ADA) so we did get on the ship a bit early so that was nice. If you have an early check-in time then maybe it's not worth it, but if you have a later check-in time and want to get on early, it may be worth purchasing. I'll let you know how things go beyond that as the week progresses. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare FamilyAtSea.travel Posted July 21 Author #50 Share Posted July 21 We made it onto the ship shortly after 11am and one of the odd things about it compared to other embarkations was that once you boarded the ship, you had to walk down the length of the ship on the exterior between the ship wall and the lifeboats. This perhaps wouldn't have been a big deal except that we were stuck behind a very slow walker so it seemed to take forever before we actually made it inside the ship (on Deck 7). The very first thing we had to do upon boarding was check-in at our muster station, which for us was E-2 on Deck 6. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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