That means a lot; thank you so much for your kind words!!! We spend a lot of time putting these together in hopes of helping other cruisers - so we appreciate you watching and sharing your support!! -mark
I’ve seen some people claim Free At Sea Plus is a scam. I wonder if they were just trying to get something free from Norwegian as I definitely got my money’s worth! 😜 Glad you did, too!!
I won’t get the plus package because I don’t drink alcohol or Starbucks, but even for the sodas and mocktails the regular drinks package has been worth it for me.
Not a dumb question at all; a great question actually! From a food perspective, the local is 100% included for all cruisers!! There is no cost. As for the drinks... If you have the Free At Sea package, that includes drinks $15 and under. Most every single drink at the local met this criteria. :) Enjoy!!
I enjoy your channel's review from the hosts, whether together or solo. So many useful things were brought up here and especially how the Encore does as an cold weather cruise. It does well even though the top decks are cluttered with warm weather features. I'm going to look at your tour of the ship. It's really great to know that you get great food in the included restaurants. Another great job on your review.
Thank you so much for your kind words! While we mostly cruise together, you'll find us sharing our own insights occasionally like this sailing. :) Glad you enjoyed the video and it was helpful. One tip that I'll share that's FRESH from NCL Encore's dry dock: Norwegian pulled out the entire Laser Tag course from the top of the ship to add in more lounge space to the top deck!!! They clearly heard the feedback from cruisers. The new space is their branded Spice H20 Adults-Only area. We'll get to check it out on Norwegian Getaway in a month and will talk about that in our full review of the ship. Here's how the cruise line describes Spice H20, "Inspired by the renowned summer beach parties on the island of Ibiza, Spice H20 is an adult-only escape with contemporary Asian influences. By day, lounge beside hot tubs and a soothing waterfall; by night, it’s a whole different beat. Let loose and dance beneath the stars as vibrant images display on the huge video screen. Spice H20 will add pizzazz to your palate too, with its unique offerings of snacks and appetizers." I'm excited that the cruise line is listening to feedback and making changes to the fleet! Thanks, again, for watching, and for your kind words! -Mark
Lol sorry for all the comments but damn this is spot on from my experience on the bliss last year everything.. Including public bathrooms always had a problem paper towels and soap dispensers. I am actually going in the Encore in July. Did you find the atrium was abnormally hot? It was a common complaint on the Bliss.
Hey there! No need to apologize at all; love seeing your comments come through - and soooo glad to hear the video resonated on so many points! I can’t believe the public restroom paper towel is an issue on more than one ship; assumed it was just ours. Wild. I did not notice the atrium hot - but it was Alaska at the end of October and some of the coldest cruising I’ve ever done. So maybe that’s why it didn’t feel hot to me. Enjoy Encore!! We’re on Norwegian Sky in August… curious what an older ship will be like!
You totally just made my day! Thank you for the kind words and for watching! Would love to know what you think about the experience!! If there’s anything I can help with or any questions I can answer, just let me know!! -Mark
And lastly are the mojitos made on the spot or are they part of a big batch that they just pour it out of. Lastly, watched the whole video last night as we are planning to book today…! I want an Irish coffee now!
From experience throughout the week, it seemed to be mixed. Some cocktails were pre-mixed, but other times, I'd watch them make it fresh right in front of me. That's what was so confusing! ;) Trust me, as I was working on this review, it had me craving a Norwegian Encore Irish Coffee so bad!
Hi there; thanks for watching. I did not pre-book any shows in advance as I booked my cruise soooo late! Good news: I didn't have an issue getting in to see any of the entertainment I wanted to see (in fact, I went to Choir twice and was front row for one of the viewings). With that said, if there's a specific show you really want to see, I would recommend pre-booking to guarantee your spot as I would hate for you to get on the ship and have a different experience than I did!! :) -Mark
Great review! I just filled out the Port Valet online form for a cruise in a few days. Since I am a SkyMiles member, and everyone in my party gets their 1st checked bag free, will NCL be able to look that up in their system so I am not accidentally charged for checked bags? Thanks in advance!
Thanks for watching and commenting! The Port Valet bag fee waiver is such a great question - and something that I was worried about myself! I have free bags and it worked seamlessly. With that said, it was just me traveling, however, as long as the reservation shows a free bag, you should be good as the Port of Seattle is simply the go-between of the cruise ship and the airport/airline. If you’d like to triple check, you can reach out to Port Valet at the following email address: commandcenter@maketraveleasier.com Have so much fun - and enjoy Seattle bag-free!!! -Mark
34:15 We figured out how to make the soap dispensers work consistently - start with your hand under and close to the dispenser and move it straight down and then back up. One or two movements like this gets the soap. We only found 2 paper towel dispensers that wouldn’t work. And there were alternates nearby. We did witness one lady telling an employee that the toilet was out of paper towels.
Thank you so much for sharing that tip. It was such a frustrating (and gross) experience! There definitely should have been more attention to the restrooms onboard to ensure that they were functioning properly and fully stocked.
How is the sailing going??? Can’t wait to hear what you think about all the changes on board! Hopefully, it’s as good as you remember! And sorry for the delay; just debarked Margaritaville myself this morning and catching up!! Happy sailing, -Mark
Great review! Agreed with many of your loves. Surprised to not see A-List and District on your list of positives - those were two of our favorite places on the ship. And the service in those spots were great, too - one of the few places where we were constantly addressed by name.
Hey there! Thanks so much for watching and your kind words. :) It is a CLEAR sign I must go back; I never drank at the A-List bar even once! I Just had to pull up the deck plans to confirm it was even the bar I was thinking about. I mention District Brewhouse briefly in my first 24 Hours video (we shut it down night one), but we never ended up getting back there. Again, just more proof that I need to go back.
@@thiscruiselife A-List just has a luxury feel to it that sets it apart from the other spots on the ship. So yeah, you need to go back on Encore again. We're thinking the same. Even though we've taken some fabulous cruises lately, Encore is often the cruise we think about. And we never thought we'd enjoy it being more small ship people.
We are going next year but I loved your review. So honest and down to earth. Gave us some great things to consider before our trip Hope to meet someone like you all. thanks
I'm so glad to hear that the review was helpful and enjoyable for you; thank you for sharing! If you have ANY questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to either myself or Rocky (just either of our first names at thiscruiselife.com). We've got a Must Have Packing List for Alaska on our website and I'm working on an article on how to get to Pier 66 from the airport without spending nearly $200 (that's what the roundtrip Uber was last time we were there!) Thank you, again, for watching and sharing your comments across the video. It's a small cruise world out there, so hopefully our paths shall cross!! -m
Definitely agree with MDR, Le Bistro and The Local as great dining options. We have compiled email lists every time I've stayed in a studio cabin. I don't know if it was just luck or what, but such great groups that want to sail together again. I don't mind the charge for some restaurants and activities; I do believe NCL could add an activity voucher to the Free At Sea so those areas are experienced. With that said I think it's FOMO that upsets cruisers about extra charge items because once you experience some of them you don't care about going again.
Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts! Sounds like you've also had amazing solo experiences with NCL. Honestly, it's one of the biggest reasons I'll go back; they impressed me that much. Love that you've also met folks you've stayed in touch with - what a cool experience! And I LOVE your idea about including a voucher, or even a discount, in the Free At Sea. Or maybe make it exclusive to the Free At Sea Plus as one more reason to pay the money to upgrade to the higher tier? Something that gives folks a chance to try. But... I think you are spot on. If I try bumper cars once for free, I'm likely not ever going back to pay for them. ;) Hope to see you on the sea! -Mark
Have so much fun - and remember to dress like an onion in layers! :) July should be beautiful in port, knock wood. For this particular sailing, I went back to some of my favorite spots in the various ports versus an excursion. Highly recommend Jellyfish Donuts if you can make it there: th-cam.com/video/CcKWpWApWaU/w-d-xo.html We've done multiple Alaska excursions over the years and will be doing several more at the end of the month. If you have any questions, let us know! -Mark
We didn’t experience that in our sailing. It was always full it seemed, but plenty of space to hang out and pull up a chair. Most of the time the bar, but other lounge spaces as well! 😉 Hopefully you have a great time!
I’m excited to try more Norwegian ships based on my experience if that helps you decide! My biggest annoyance was the Free At Sea Plus, but I’d think that would carry through to all of the ships. I would book Encore again for the right price / itinerary! But, I’d also like to try more of their ships. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Prima!! Maybe that’s next after the NCL Sky in August! -mark
I was on the Bliss for the last Alaska sailing in 2023 and had a very similar experience to you. The only big negative is how the crew so slavishly follows the rules, which becomes absurd when they don't even know the actual rules. In most hospitality situations they would at least ask a supervisor, but on NCL it's like they're terrified of going above and beyond. I feel bad for them, management must be brutal. I will say I preferred the specialty dining over the included food on the Bliss, so much so that I'm having most of my dinners in specialty restaurants on my next cruise.
I do think NCL is an interesting culture. Having had the opportunity to spend some time in their corporate setting, I can confirm they are a “buttoned up” organization. I don’t necessarily mean that in a negative way, but I agree that things trickle down to the ships. I’m soooo curious to get to experience another NCL ship this summer to compare. I really enjoyed the food on Encore - so it’ll be fascinating to see if they are consistent. I also am excited to try the specialty on board in August. Thanks for watching and sharing your experience!! -mark
I did the very last sailing of the season in late October. The later you go, the more likely you'll get a great show. With that said, the later you go, the colder it gets!! :) -Mark
Amazing video! We leave for the same cruise next month and this is all super helpful! We got the premium plus upgrade as well, and I'm a little nervous about it! Any tips or tricks that you eventually figured out to help when ordering drinks? Thanks in advance!
You are going to have so much fun! Glad you found the video helpful. In terms of the Plus, my biggest piece of advice is to print the PDF one-pager they have on the website. Both the included drinks one along with the summary of everything that’s included one. If you can’t find them, let me know and we can email you the links! -Mark
Also, do people routinely get sick with colds after getting off cruise ships? Our entire group of ten people ended up with upper respiratory infections. Six had to take antibiotics and one developed pneumonia. I had to delay meeting my new granddaughter by a week because she was born a preemie and I couldn’t risk her getting sick.
Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear this. While there are often reports in Facebook groups post-cruise that some travelers come home with a cold, in our experience, it's fairly isolated. We have indeed come home sick before, but we also aren't always the smartest when it comes to getting enough rest and taking care of ourselves!!! The number one thing we hear from people that get sick: "I tried to do everything!" With how much travel we do now as part of This Cruise Life, we work hard to ensure we're getting a good amount of sleep, we're taking vitamin C supplements, drinking plenty of water, and washing our hands frequently. Of all of those, the sleep one often is the one that gets neglected and, unfortunately, that's where we start to get run down. I will say, it's common to hear that everyone in a specific family or party got sick. That's usually because friends/family share drinks, eat together, excursion together, fly together, etc. - definitely no fun and I'm sorry to hear you all got sick. Hopefully everyone is in for a speedy recovery. Oh, and PS- Congratulations on your new granddaughter!! :) I hope she is doing well. 💙 -Mark
Thanks for all the good info! Question we just booked September do you think I will be able to see whales and or bears since is late in the season? And what really does the free at sea includes in terms of alcoholic drinks and food, since complicated is there a list???
You’re very welcome!!! And that’s a great question! While there’s never a guarantee, we sailed in October and saw whales and lots of eagles. We didn’t see bear, however. Our naturalist on board shared that to see bear you really have to go look for them as they prefer to mostly keep to themselves. ;) You’d likely want to see if there are any excursions that take you out deep if that’s on your bucket list (just keep in mind, still not guaranteed). Have soooo much fun!!
Hey there, I found your video as I was also leaning towards Norwegian Enforce to Alaska and had some excursion-specific questions: For now, looking into definitely the train exp in Skagway. Hiking/sight-seeing in the others, but I'm honestly quite confused on the time management right now. I see that we have to take off at least 4 hours (2hr off-board and 2hr on-board) from the Arrive and Depart time, which basically gives us max 1 activity to do. Did you book your land tours outside of Norwegian by chance? How did you sort your transportation from airport to ship, vice versa? Another questions about booking meals/entertainments - did you find that you could reserve as you got there or must book in-advance online prior to onboarding?
Sorry for my delay in responding; I missed this one between cruises and some unexpected travel. Hopefully this response can still be helpful for you: - Train experience in Skagway is cool, but it's much better earlier or later in the season when there's snow on the ground and trees (in my opinion). During the summer, everything was still pretty, but mostly just green trees and rocks. The friends I made on the sailing all booked through Norwegian, however, we booked our latest Alaska experiences on Celebrity Solstice through Rocky at a better price point than the cruise line offered. While we always recommend being aware of time management as you mention, we feel more confident in booking excursions in Alaska through independent operators due to the long days we have in port (and it's a US port). In terms of transport for NCL Encore, I used the light rail from the airport to downtown. That saved me over $100 and was easy to do. I'm working on a blog post right now that documents the process complete with photos to help folks make it to Pier 66. I booked all of my meals on board. Friends did a mix of booking excursions before cruise and on board. Again, so sorry for the delay. Thank you for watching and all the questions. If there's more that we can help with, feel free to drop an email as well! -Mark
I just booked my solo cruise today for Alaska next August hence the reason i searched out videos. You covered so much and i appreciate it! What ports did you visit
Oh how awesome! Congratulations on your booking. We visited Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan (Ward Cove), and Victoria. Thanks for watching our videos!
I am going on the Alaskan NCL next Sunday and was curious about the Port Valet. I looked it up and it says they drop off your airline ticket and baggage tag the night before. It then says to “set your bags outside your cabin that evening and the ship’s crew will pick them up”. Does that mean you have to pack all your toiletries and whatnot the night before and have nothing to get ready with in the morning? You know, the stuff that usually going in your checked baggage?
Great question. Anything you check and put out in your bag will be gone until you get to your home airport. I kept out my essentials (medication, travel-size toothpaste, etc) that I then packed in my laptop bag on debark morning. Hope that helps! It’s a great service that we highly recommend if you have some time in the port - and even if not! One less thing to worry about sending out your bags. :)
@@thiscruiselife ah got. So they really do pick it up the night before. Good to know. A lot of my toiletries are not travel sized as they are usually checked, but if I need them for the morning my checked luggage will already be gone. And if not sleeping in the buff then that will need to go in a backpack or laptop bag as well. Great tips. Thank you.
We want to get off in Seattle and stay a few days so how do we handle the luggage in the morning? Just curious as I am sure they will tell us. Do you know if there is a place by the Seattle pier where you can rent a car?
@@amyspellman9128 Iused the Port Valet and it worked beautifully. Left out luggage outside our room the night before and the next time I saw it was when I got back to my home airport. Spent the day exploring Seattle. For you, if you are staying a few days, I am not sure. I didn't rent a car, so I didn't look. The hotel I stayed at wasn't far from the pier. A quick 4 minute Uber to the hotel. They will be able to storage your luggage until you check in, but I don't know where the closest car rental place is.
No catch with Free At Sea, just recommend you really study what is and isn’t included. Same with Free At Sea Plus. I even recommend bringing the details with you on your cruise so that if there are any questions, you can refer back to it. Shouldn’t need it, hopefully, but there was a bit of confusion on my sailing, for sure! Thanks for watching and the question! -Mark
Not calling you by name is shocking, we were on the Pearl and the steward knew our name before we got to the room. The service on the Pearl was awesome
That's fantastic! On our recent cruise on board the Norwegian Sky, our cabin steward was much better than on the Encore. We had several great interactions with him and he greeted us by name whenever he'd see us.
We are going on this cruise this August. Did NCL ever reach out to you about and of the issues after you posted thia? Hopefully some have been addressed since last fall!
@@ajyankee93 sadly no. Never heard a peep from them about it. Hopefully with different contracts, the crew have been swapped out since the experiences from this video.
Do you happen to remember the hours of the Starbucks? I’m thinking about getting the Starbucks drink package. But I was afraid there was going to be a very long wait and the hours weren’t gonna be good.
Hey there! Currently on NCL Sky and just pulled up the app for today’s port day hours: 6am-10pm. This was similar on my Encore sailing, though I was never awake at 6am to confirm they actually opened on time. 😜😂 We haven’t seen much of a line as we’ve walked through Starbucks this sailing, and on Encore, we never had to wait more than 10-15 minutes. In fact, most of the time, we just walked right up to the counter to order. This was a sold out sailing at the end of October. Hope that helps! You’ll have to let me know about your experience when you sail as we always like to get multiple perspectives!! Based on my personal experience, I have no concerns that you’ll be able to stay caffeinated. :) -Mark
Can I stay on the ship when it dock in Ketchikan? I honestly don’t want to deal with the drama of that port. I heard this from others as well. I rather stay on the ship
You sure can stay on the ship! But that bums me out as I love Ketchikan. Such a cute little Alaskan town with plenty of things to explore. But the drama of where NCL ports definitely adds a lot of frustration and headache. Hope you have a great cruise!!! -m
I agree with you on the loves on NCL. I havent been on Encore yet, next month I will. I’ve been on Bliss twice and Sky. I have never had a bad steward. On Sky, we had the best I’ve had from any cruise lines. Sky had La Cucina Italian restaurant. Not only was the food great, but the service was beyond great. All of the service we have had on NCL has been phenomenal . One of the waiters from Bliss recognized me from the trip before. The only thing I didn’t love about sky, was that it was a smaller ship. The Local wasn’t open 24 hours. We did do the go-karts twice on our Alaska cruise. We loved it. I’m going on Encore on a transatlantic next month - solo.
I'm sooooo curious! What do you think about Encore??? :) Have been anxiously waiting to hear your review of the ship!! Also, I have to agree, La Cucina is some of the best food I've had across Norwegian (though, I really do also love Food Republic). And The Local is just a favorite across the board. Like you, bummed it wasn't 24 hours on Sky. Hope you are having an AMAZING time on Encore and you get the chance to connect with a bunch of other solo cruisers if that's your thing. If not, then I hope you get all of your books read, crosswords completed, and lots of "me" time on your transatlantic journey. Please let me know what you think of the ship!! -Mark
@ I’m loving the ship. I ate at Cagneys and Q. Cagney’s could have been better, but Q was amazing! I felt bad I couldn’t possibly eat all of the food they brought me. It was so much! The show Choir of Man was awesome. A few people have formed a stitching group that meets every sea day morning to crochet, knit, cross stitch, embroider, or whatever. We have a lot of fun and make progress on our projects. The weather has been warmer for longer than I anticipated, which is great. It’s a beautiful ship - except I really don’t care for the main chandelier. But to each their own. I have a wonderful cabin steward, probably the best I’ve ever had. He cleans 20 rooms every day, but I feel like he is there just for me. I’m actually really liking the cruise director on this ship also. Most of the time they don’t really make a difference on my experience. This one isn’t over the top obnoxious, but still a lot of fun!
@@tammystreasures8766 THANK YOU for giving me a real-time update! I almost feel like I'm there with you. I didn't get a chance to eat at Q, so thank you for sharing more about that spot. NEXT TIME for sure!! :) Choir of Man is just fantastic - in fact, we know someone that just joined the show from Carnival and it looks like a great cast. Glad you got to experience it (and maybe they'll put it on again this sailing!) We were surprised by the weather on our transatlantic, too. Warmer longer than we expected which was quite lovely. :) And that chandelier... I'm still not quite sure what is going on with that... I joked that used Kleenex was their inspiration. haha Glad that you're really liking it and the crew is taking care of you. Can't wait to hear more as you continue your sailing. Thanks again!! -mark
I'm envious that you'll be experience Encore to Alaska! Truly, it's a great ship and sailing. What does your itinerary look like? Do you have anything booked already? Happy to give some ideas based on the ports you'll be visiting! -Mark
@@thiscruiselife Greetings and thanks for responding, it won't let me send you the photos of the ports we will visit here. I haven't booked anything because apart from being expensive I have to see which one to choose...
Just as we had suspected. Such a shame for that large of a ship! Vacation on a cruise should be all about de-stressing and not having to worry about paying more for things.
I've never been on a cruise before. Will have to go solo as no friends want to join. I battle slightly with motion sickness on planes and trains, I suppose a cruise is way way worse. Did you experience any motion sickness? Does one get water in Buffet areas or does one have to purchase all water?
There are water fountains throughout the buffet that are included. As for motion sickness, if you’ve never sailed before, we suggest bringing Dramamine and/or seasick bands, both of which can be found In our Amazon store (follow our LinkTree in our channel description). We usually only need the seasick bands and they work wonders!
I never wanted to cruise because I get motion sick in planes and cars. For our 30th anniversary, our kids bought us a little 3 day cruise to see how I would do. That was 10 years ago and we have been cruising ever since. I rarely get sick on the ship, but I always bring some zofran just in case. The motion in not as bad as in smaller vessels like a car or theme park ride.
@@tammystreasures8766 I think I must try a short cruise out, 3-4 days and test the waters :) I always fly and travel with these arm bands, they seem to help but I think I'll take non-drowsy motion sickness pills with as a backup.
FYI, if you book a Haven room, a lot of the premium spirits are included in the free at sea drink package. It's kind of weird how some whiskeys are 8 dollars in the Haven and 23+ everywhere else. This upcoming cruise I am taking on NCL Encore is with three other friends and we have decided the free at sea plus upgrade is not worth it since only one of us wants internet and the spirits provided in the Haven are enough since they are premium spirits.
That’s good to know - and your decision makes a lot of sense; definitely doesn’t sound like you’d get the money’s worth. We are on MSC Meraviglia now- the Yacht Club covered us on all drinks across the entire ship. There were one or two special bottles that had an upcharge apparently, but we never found them! Hope you have an amazing sailing on NCL Encore and enjoy an Irish Coffee for me!!!
Awesome! So glad to hear it. It was our hope to help anyone preparing to set sail (especially to Alaska) what to expect. Hope you have an amazing time!
Indian section at buffet everyday? Gotta try Encore. We love Food Republic on Prima and also enjoyed The Local. We miss Mudslides and Mojitos! Would you book the same (interior) cabin or cruise ship again? Thank you!
Mmmm. That Indian section at both breakfast and lunch was soooo good! I'm excited that Rocky will get a chance to try NCL for the first time this coming August. Sadly, we don't have a Food Republic on board since it's an older ship, but we'll have The Local! Whether or not I'd book the same again... Several folks have posted that they're booked on this ship to Alaska and I want to JOIN THEM ALL!!! lol ;) I would 100% book this ship and even that same stateroom again. While there were some things that I didn't love and even hated about the experience, overall, there was a LOT to love about NCL Encore to Alaska. Thanks so much for watching and commenting! -mark
Absolutely! Thanks for watching. There’s going to be plenty of activities for them from the go kart track to the simulators inside. Plus the scenery there is stunning and hopefully they’ll enjoy all that Alaska has to offer! There’s also some kids clubs where they’ll get to meet other passengers their age to hang out with. We’re sure the whole family will enjoy!
My GF and I are headed out on my first cruise in a few weeks. We noticed that sushi mark up (yikes!). Do you happen to recall if Starbucks pricing is the same as on land since they are a franchise, or are their prices marked up on the ship as well?
You’re going to have SO MUCH FUN!!! If you have any questions or last minute panic attacks, don’t hesitate to reach out! As for Starbucks… The prices definitely are inflated. Reminds me of an airport Starbucks. Still the same brand, but a higher price point. A grande iced chai was $5.95 in October. That’s about 20% more than what I’m used to paying.
Thanks for watching and commenting; we did complete our post-cruise survey and recognized the folks who made an impact and shared what could have been even better. I hope they resolve some of the challenges as I was a fan overall of the experience! -m
It is an included option in your cruise fare! I'm looking forward to introducing it to Rocky on our Norwegian Sky sailing later this summer!! :) Enjoy! -mark
Loved your video, thorough and informative as well as entertaining! I’m going on that ship this coming October for 21 days to Panama Canal and Central America. Should I upgrade my wi-fi package (currently 300 minutes)? The restaurant and drinks upgrade is around $3,000 for just one person so that is definitely out of the question! Besides, I’m not a big drinker and I’ll enjoy the restaurants included. This is a solo cruise, so any recommendations you have will be welcomed. Thanks, and maybe one day we’ll meet while cruising!
Hey there! Thanks for watching and the questions. Sounds like you are in for a TREAT of a cruise! Personally, I would upgrade the internet as a solo cruiser just to stay connected and have something to do during dinner or my downtime on the ship. With that said, on both of my NCL sailings, they’ve offered promos on board that were just as competitive (if not a better deal), so keep that in mind. I can’t guarantee they’ll do that on your sailing, obviously, but that’s another option: just wait. Definitely check out all of the solo gatherings and make use of the solo lounge. Such a great way to connect with other cruisers. I went to dinner with several solos and have even cruised again with someone I met on NCL Encore. The cruise community is such a great community! I’d also recommend pre-purchasing a couple of speciality dining options so you can check them out. They are SO MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE than paying a la carte pricing. I think each one we purchased on my current sailing was $41. The a la carte pricing last night at Le Bistro: $95! 🤯 Hope that helps and gives some insights. Feel free to drop me a note if you have any other questions. And have an amazing sailing!! -Mark
Looking at Encore for a Caribbean cruise in 2025. Two things that make or break a cruise for me….service and food. Thanks for reviewing that the food is great.
I went on am Alaska cruise in June on the Encore- my first ever cruise. I absolutely agree about the embarkation. Also bad was that our three bags arrived at three different times. The Observation Lounge was lovely, but by June, school was out and families with teens were in the ship, and I swear the kids camped out every day. We never got a seat near the windows. I didn’t really like the Garden Cafe because I like plainer food, and the large dining room, the Manhattan Room, was open the least amount of hours. The food in the main dining rooms was delicious, however. Entertainment was great. Agree with you on Ketchikan. I’d far rather have walked around the town and spent time there. I had all of 90 minutes in the town, because the ship was in Ketchikan for four hours. The stateroom was nice, our steward was wonderful (the amazing Jerelynn) and the combined shampoo/conditioner in the shower was terrible. And Port Valet was a life saver! The pool deck was useless even in June, because it was too cold and windy. I can’t imagine how crowded it would be in the Caribbean. It is small. And I HATED how much time I wasted waiting for elevators!
Thank you for watching and sharing your own experience! And thank you, also, for calling out the amazing Jerelynn. While we haven't met this individual, we think crew shoutouts are AMAZING And always recommend celebrating phenomenal service. Glad you had a great experience with Jerelynn! Great insight about the Observation Lounge with families in the space during the summer months. Good insights for folks to consider as they think about timing of the ship. I love what you mention about Garden Cafe in terms of your own personal tastes. It's a great callout that we should probably mention more often: Everyone has varying tastes - and we always encourage folks to at least try things for themselves to see what they love/don't love. Glad you found the dining room more to your liking and that you enjoyed the food very much! Ketchikan... Wow. All I can say is we LOVED our time in Ketchikan on both Celebrity and Carnival this season. Highly recommend experiencing Ketchikan with one of the other lines as it is a WONDERFUL port!! Lastly, that pool deck... glad we weren't alone on that feeling! ;) Appreciate you watching and commenting. -Mark
Thank you for watching and for the kind comment! :) I'm excited to check out another solo cruise one day and Norwegian will be high on my consideration list! -Mark
That’s always great advice! In the event of the bathroom issues, they did send someone, but, unfortunately, it just kept happening. I’m excited to introduce Rocky to that ship which will give us the chance to see how things have changed!! :) -mark
That is disappointing to hear! Where was the food cold? The buffet? The Local? The main dining room? Speciality dining? Thankfully, we didn’t experience that during our sailing, so bummed to hear about your experience! Hope it was a nice time outside of that!! -mark
What you said about Ketchikan and the port and reasoning is completely incorrect... They built a pier in Ward Cove because the normal port doesn't support mega ships so they're the only cruise line that can take mega ships to Ketchikan.... Not specifically to avoid port fees and such.
That's not what the locals say. ;) Whether it's to avoid port fees or to bring other ships in, the experience was terrible. Something that I truly hated about the sailing and want to make sure folks are aware. Thanks for watching and commenting! -mark
@@thiscruiselife that's fine if the locals don't say it.... But the only 1000 foot ships that currently sail into Ketchikan dock at Ward Cove. No cruise line wants to take a 1000'+ ship with a 162' beam into a passage that narrows to 650' when they can go into a cove that has 1100'+ everywhere. Mega ships have different requirements. Until 2025 Norwegian is the only company with mega ships in Ketchikan. I do agree the amount of time in Ketchikan was not sufficient though 😅
@@amyspellman9128 100%! While I never like to tell anyone to be ready at 7am on a cruise ship, in this port, I highly recommend it due to the shuttle operation. Now, you might get lucky and not have any other ships with you that day; however, with how busy Alaska is this season, I wouldn't chance it. ;) Have soooo much fun in Ketchikan and please have a Jellyfish Donut for us! -Mark
Heading to Alaska on Encore in 3 weeks. I’m Gen X, my mom’s a boomer. It’s just the two of us celebrating her birthday and my masters degree. I hope I booked smartly - don’t want a ton of kids, would love a chance to see the Northern lights, plan on vegging on the balcony on Glacier Bay day. We aren’t going for the pools or the spa or the activities, although I have to see the Beatles thing and Choir of Man if we can. We just want good food, a crew that is accommodating to her mobility issues, and a Bailey’s and coffee and Bloody Mary every once in a while. I didn’t splurge for anything. We have Free at Sea with reservations at Teppanyaki and Los Lobos. I booked all our excursions through the boat. My mom loves the casino. So I’m not sure what else we would need. But I haven’t prepaid gratuities yet. While I love Starbucks, I’m hoping there is just regular or maybe a little bit better than regular coffee available elsewhere. Are we gonna be sorely limited in our drinks? Also curious if the hot tubs will be full of people. These are the things that keep me up at night. Lol. That and worrying about embarkation day and a mom with a cane and/or walker depending on what she goes with. At least I was smart enough to get her a scooter so she can zip around the boat once we are on board. Excursions are gonna be another issue. After hearing everything about Ward Cove, I might have to cancel our Ketchikan excursion. I think I booked Totem Bight Park for that day. I booked thru NCL, but I also heard a whole family got left behind recently. I wish vacationing weren’t so nerve wracking. Anyway, thanks for a great video.
Sorry that I missed responding while we were away the last couple weeks. We're working on our NCL Sky review right now and the internet really let us down during our trip. I hope that you had an AMAZING celebration! Happy belated birthday and congrats on the Master's Degree! I hope you found that the crew was accommodating and that you found the Bloody Mary delicious! Free at Sea was more than sufficient for our needs on the sailing and hope you found it to provide everything you were looking for as well! In terms of drinks, I have a feeling you found that you weren't limited at all. There was always something to enjoy at the various spots on NCL Encore. :) Curious if the hot tubs were full of people this time of year? In October they were empty - but it was also super cold! I'd be curious to hear your experience so that we can answer the questions when others ask. Let me know if you did the Ketchikan excursion or canceled it. Through NCL, it's supposed to be MUCH smoother, so I'll be curious to hear your experience. Again, apologies on the delay responding. We are home safe in Phoenix and I'm on my computer typing this up. I'd love to hear all about your experience if you're interested in sharing more (mark@thiscruiselife.com). -Mark
@@thiscruiselife how gracious to follow up! Overall, the trip was great. More beautiful than I could have imagined. Fellow cruisers could have been more polite and respectful of my mom being in a scooter and less judgmental. But you’ll have that anywhere you go. I ended up buying the spa pass for the week for myself. I figured I earned it for all the planning. So I did not venture to the hot tubs outside of Mandara. Our steward was great - very accommodating. A lot of the rest of the crew was rude and that was disappointing. The food was just OK. The drinks were great. Especially the Bloody Mary and the pistachio martini. It was well worth it to get room service on glacier bay day. I did not end up doing the Ketchikan trip. I went to Ward Cove and bought all our souvenirs but the line just to get on the shuttle was a 45 minute wait. Overall I would do it all again, but I might choose a smaller cruise without the bells and whistles that I didn’t need. I just wanted to go to Glacier Bay so that’s why I chose NCL.
@@eeo1973 thank you so much for your understanding with my delay. And thank you for sharing with me more about your trip! "More beautiful than I could have imagined" were almost the exact words I said after my first Alaska cruise. Just breathtaking. I'm sooooo glad you got to have this experience with your mom. That makes my heart happy! Sorry to hear about some of the rude passengers and crew. That's disappointing. Our Steward was MIA, so I'm glad you had a great one! As for the food... I met a fellow cruiser that had a bunch of extra specialty dining vouchers, so I ate specialty most nights, however, I did LOVE the Indian portion of the buffet at lunch. Mmmm. I'm hungry now! I want to rebook just for the pistachio martini; I'm glad you discovered that! Good call on Ward Cove. I honestly think it would have left you even more frustrated, but I never want to dissuade someone from experiencing Ketchikan as I really do love it. Just not through NCL, unfortunately. Carnival has a lot of ships up in Alaska, along with Princess and even Cunard - all at varying price points. It's a trip we try to do annually now; we fell in love and just can't get enough of the beauty of Alaska. Thanks again for sharing a bit about your trip with me! 💙 -Mark
I recently cruised on NLC's ENCORE -(Caribbean) I had a blast. I agree with every thing LOVED. I never ate at the buffet or the Food Republic. I will say every cruise member I connected with called me by name no matter where they saw me on the ship. Note most of the crew will be the same in Alaska after a repositioning cruise (end of beginning of a season). The premium package is a plus. I went to several restaurants each (with the solos I would have an appietiere at the Manhattan and then 2 hour later go to specialty dining restaurant. Thus ordered a bottle of wine or champaign (Le Bistro) and was never charged. I left the ship with a ZERO $$$ bill.
Thank you for watching and sharing your experience! I hope watching brought back some fond memories of your own voyage. I’m so glad to hear you also enjoyed and had a great experience - and that the crew was fantastic. I’m excited to get on my next NCL ship here in just a couple months - this time Rocky will be joining for his first NCL sailing!! 💙 -Mark
WOW Thank you so much for this. I had a fully refundable cruise (first sailing with NCL) with the free at sea package booked, your hates section would have driven me so crazy it would have ruined my cruise and wasted my money. I had a feeling it was going to feel like a nickle and dime experience which is NOT what I want on vacation, your video convinced me to just pull the trigger and cancel the cruise. I can't believe how consistent rude staff and cabin stewart is for this cruiseline! Rebooked on Virgin for a similar price super excited!
Hey there! I'm glad that you found the video helpful and informative. We're going to give NCL another try soon to see if any of the things I hated have changed/gotten better. I really think the Encore has a TON of potential and I'm curious to see how other ships in the fleet compare. With that said, a Virgin Voyages sailing for a similar price... I'd also be sold. ;) We hope that you have an amazing time sailing the Virgin way. Truly, one of the best new-to-us cruise lines we've tried. Let us know what you think! -Mark
The Local, albeit simple, was my favorite. Cobb salad, wings and the rueben! Onda was VERY loud and not that special. 100% agree. Food Republic was fun but the value for the cost isn't there. A few of the upcharges on Encore are quite silly. Nailed it!
Wow! Sounds like we are completely in sync with our thoughts on the ship!! Thank you sooo much for watching and sharing your own perspective. I just wish we could order from The Local right now!!!! lol -m
Never been on the Encore but will be next June. We have been cruising with NCL exclusively for the last 14 years and have never been disappointed on any of our cruises. We booked a variety of cabins ranging from interior to staying in the Haven. Our experience for dining in contrary to yours. We found the MDR food to be mediocre to good. Breakfast in the MDR is great but as far as dinner service, the quality of food in the specialty dining restaurants far surpass anything we’ve eaten in the MDR. IMO. So far we’ve never experienced the staff not calling us by our names. It’s possible that your particular cruise had a lot of staff that were new or unfamiliar with the Encore. We never get the premium drink package because for the amount that our group drinks, paying the extra $3-$4 up charge on a premium cocktails is less expensive than the premium package plus gratuity. Your public restroom experience is an anomaly. We never experienced anything like that on any of the other ships that we’ve sailed on.
Hi there. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us. We do agree that many of the issues we experienced were anomalies, but it was quite a few things to have encountered across our sailing. We had a completely different experience sailing on the NCL Sky just a couple months ago and we're booked on several more NCL sailings in 2025. We always take things with a grain of salt, but feel it's important to share our experiences with others so they can be prepared for their sailing. We hope you have an amazing time on the Encore sailing Alaska. She's a great ship for Alaska sailings and hopefully by the time you sail, the issues that we encountered on her a year ago will have be mostly resolved!
@@thiscruiselife I’m glad that you had a better experience on the Sky. We find that the smaller older ships in the NCL fleet tend to have better service with more attention to detail. We do enjoy the newer ships in their fleet but our favorite is the Jewel line. If you are ever able to book a suite in the Haven you will have a completely different cruising experience. I will say that the Haven on the older ships have a few less perks than the newer ships. The older ships in the fleet do not have a dedicated restaurant or bar. You can dine in Moderno for breakfast and Cagney’s for lunch but dinner you’re on your own so we felt slightly cheated that we would have to pay to eat at a specialty dining restaurant since the newer ships have a dedicated restaurant that serves food that is higher quality than their specialty restaurants. Overall though the Haven experience was still exceptional. Depending on which suite you book the perks vary. In our case, we booked the 3 bedroom garden villa. That’s their highest level suite that’s about 7000 sq ft including the balcony. We got it by shear luck on a bid to upgrade. The level of service you get In a high end suite like that is beyond what one could imagine on a cruise ship . Our cruise before that we had a two bedroom suite that was about 900 sq ft. We still received excellent service and the perks were great but no comparison to what one would get if you book the highest level of suite on the ship. I hope you have an amazing experience on your future cruise and look forward to your reviews. 😁
Being onboard for the shoulder season you didn’t encounter the ignorant masses of people making it unpleasant at times. Especially the Garden Cafe at meal times. To have a seat in the Observation Lounge you have to get there at 6am with all you need for the day. “Move your feet, lose your seat”. If your cruise had been in July, your review might have been rather different?
We’ve sailed in July as well and, thankfully, did not experience what you speak of. We were on board Carnival Splendor and had a fantastic cruise! It was my first time to Alaska and I became hooked. Currently responding to you from Juneau on board Celebrity Solstice! :) This sailing has felt busier in the buffet and lounges, but manageable if you tweak your dining schedule a little bit to avoid the chaos and masses of people. Hopefully, the next time you’ll have a better experience!! -Mark
I like how you mention the booze and drinks-many skip it, but you need some consolation if the food is lacking. 'What part of do not disturb do you not understand FFS?' Vous me deranger, dehors S.V.P! Premium package not so much! Ketch me if you can!
Thanks for watching - and sharing the appreciation! :) Sorry for my delay in responding; I just got back from the most amazing 25-day Transpacific sailing and it's taking me a bit of time to catch up to everything. And, not once during the entire 25-day sailing when the Do Not Disturb sign was on the door was there so much as even a knock. It was beautiful. lol ;) -Mark
Thank you for confirming I am not alone on this one. I just think we're in the minority. :) We're sailing on the older NCL Sky later this summer and so I just looked... Sadly, I won't get to try out Shaker's yet. A martini bar sounds right up my alley!!
@@thiscruiselife I did share your video with the May 19 NCL Encore group. Hope my roomie (first time cruiser) reads it and wants to change from Onda's. I would so much rather go to Food Republic but she gets to choose for her first cruise. But they all hope you have a future good Cagney's visit as they are all giving them praises. I'm more.. eh.. it's okay. 😛
@@kjean86thank you for sharing! I’m glad to hear my experience and thoughts resonated with you!!! 💙 We are actually going to go back to Cagney’s in August to give it another try on NCL Sky. I’m bummed they don’t have a Food Republic, but the do have a sushi spot, so we’ll definitely have to try it! Thanks, again, for watching and sharing your thoughts. Here’s hoping your roomie has a great first cruise!
That's true. As I reflected on it at the end of the week, I realized I still had towels, my bed was still made, my room was mostly kept up.. It was just a different experience versus what I'm used to. I'm excited to try NCL again to see if it's just the norm for them or if it was a one-off. Also, it really struck me as ironic that they have some of the highest gratuity rates out there. ;)
Having visited NCL HQ, the disconnect is something I got to experience first-hand on my sailing. Hopefully, some of the new things they've rolled out at HQ will help address these gaps. :)
Do you even know anything about sushi? Quality fish is used and other fine ingredients as well as specially trained staff, so your idiotic remark about paying too much alla card just 🤯
Hey there! Thanks for your comment. We love sushi and have enjoyed it across many ships and many sailings. However, the a la carte pricing on Norwegian is by far the most expensive of any of the cruise lines we’ve experienced. In reality, it’s more expensive than many of the land restaurants as well. Food Republic was by far my favorite of the upcharge venues on NCL - I’ll just use my Free At Sea voucher there in the future. And, as a cruise tip, I’d likely recommend others do this as well. Thanks for watching! -mark
Norwegian Cruise ships all suck , i was always so disappointed when getting , but travelling with groups of other that made the arrangements and excursions , had no say in the matter - will stay on Royal Caribbean ships from now on , just won't travel with all those same people again
What about your experience with NCL ships didn’t go well? Always like to hear other perspectives? I would pick NCL Encore over Harmony of the Seas in a heartbeat based on personal experience with both ships. We felt like we were in the way the entire sailing on Harmony; you definitely knew you were a guest on their ship. I also didn’t like the fact that it felt like we were at a shopping mall (Kate Spade, Johnny Rockets, Starbucks, etc). Curious to get your perspective/opinion. Thanks for watching and sharing! -Mark
Masterful review, bravo!
That means a lot; thank you so much for your kind words!!! We spend a lot of time putting these together in hopes of helping other cruisers - so we appreciate you watching and sharing your support!! -mark
Agreed 👍
Thank you for finally saying the drink plus package is worth it!!. No one else says this. I got it last year and it was so worth it.
I also agree with all your view Mojitos and the cigar bar
I’ve seen some people claim Free At Sea Plus is a scam. I wonder if they were just trying to get something free from Norwegian as I definitely got my money’s worth! 😜 Glad you did, too!!
I won’t get the plus package because I don’t drink alcohol or Starbucks, but even for the sodas and mocktails the regular drinks package has been worth it for me.
As a solo cruiser I need to check it out…let me know when you do anymore solo cruises lol
We think you’d love it! We’ll keep you posted when one of us hits the seas solo with NCL!
This is the most realist video... so spot on!
Thank you, again! Soooo glad it resonated! -mark
This is a dumb question, but is the local part of the regular food package? I don’t think I can swing the plus drinking package
Not a dumb question at all; a great question actually! From a food perspective, the local is 100% included for all cruisers!! There is no cost. As for the drinks... If you have the Free At Sea package, that includes drinks $15 and under. Most every single drink at the local met this criteria. :) Enjoy!!
Can you tell me in more detail what the solo activities were and where they mostly meet up at night?
Coordination is My JAM! Thank you for being AWESOME!
And it shows; you're amazing. So glad we got to sail together - and I can't wait for the reunion! -m
I enjoy your channel's review from the hosts, whether together or solo. So many useful things were brought up here and especially how the Encore does as an cold weather cruise. It does well even though the top decks are cluttered with warm weather features. I'm going to look at your tour of the ship. It's really great to know that you get great food in the included restaurants. Another great job on your review.
Thank you so much for your kind words! While we mostly cruise together, you'll find us sharing our own insights occasionally like this sailing. :) Glad you enjoyed the video and it was helpful.
One tip that I'll share that's FRESH from NCL Encore's dry dock: Norwegian pulled out the entire Laser Tag course from the top of the ship to add in more lounge space to the top deck!!! They clearly heard the feedback from cruisers. The new space is their branded Spice H20 Adults-Only area. We'll get to check it out on Norwegian Getaway in a month and will talk about that in our full review of the ship.
Here's how the cruise line describes Spice H20, "Inspired by the renowned summer beach parties on the island of Ibiza, Spice H20 is an adult-only escape with contemporary Asian influences. By day, lounge beside hot tubs and a soothing waterfall; by night, it’s a whole different beat. Let loose and dance beneath the stars as vibrant images display on the huge video screen. Spice H20 will add pizzazz to your palate too, with its unique offerings of snacks and appetizers."
I'm excited that the cruise line is listening to feedback and making changes to the fleet!
Thanks, again, for watching, and for your kind words! -Mark
@@thiscruiselife Thanks for the response and info, Mark. Smooth and fun sailing!
Lol sorry for all the comments but damn this is spot on from my experience on the bliss last year everything.. Including public bathrooms always had a problem paper towels and soap dispensers. I am actually going in the Encore in July. Did you find the atrium was abnormally hot? It was a common complaint on the Bliss.
Hey there! No need to apologize at all; love seeing your comments come through - and soooo glad to hear the video resonated on so many points! I can’t believe the public restroom paper towel is an issue on more than one ship; assumed it was just ours. Wild.
I did not notice the atrium hot - but it was Alaska at the end of October and some of the coldest cruising I’ve ever done. So maybe that’s why it didn’t feel hot to me.
Enjoy Encore!! We’re on Norwegian Sky in August… curious what an older ship will be like!
@@thiscruiselifedid you like Sky? We were on her in June/July. I had fun, but now I know I prefer the bigger ships.
You've totally convinced me to take the leep and book solo. Loved this review.
You totally just made my day! Thank you for the kind words and for watching! Would love to know what you think about the experience!! If there’s anything I can help with or any questions I can answer, just let me know!! -Mark
And lastly are the mojitos made on the spot or are they part of a big batch that they just pour it out of. Lastly, watched the whole video last night as we are planning to book today…! I want an Irish coffee now!
From experience throughout the week, it seemed to be mixed. Some cocktails were pre-mixed, but other times, I'd watch them make it fresh right in front of me. That's what was so confusing! ;)
Trust me, as I was working on this review, it had me craving a Norwegian Encore Irish Coffee so bad!
Great information! Will be on the Encore in Alaska this summer. Did you book Choir of Man, and any other shows, in advance?
Hi there; thanks for watching. I did not pre-book any shows in advance as I booked my cruise soooo late! Good news: I didn't have an issue getting in to see any of the entertainment I wanted to see (in fact, I went to Choir twice and was front row for one of the viewings). With that said, if there's a specific show you really want to see, I would recommend pre-booking to guarantee your spot as I would hate for you to get on the ship and have a different experience than I did!! :) -Mark
Great review for sure. I have never sailed NCL. Thanks
Thanks for watching! It was truly an awesome experience!
Great review! I just filled out the Port Valet online form for a cruise in a few days. Since I am a SkyMiles member, and everyone in my party gets their 1st checked bag free, will NCL be able to look that up in their system so I am not accidentally charged for checked bags? Thanks in advance!
Thanks for watching and commenting!
The Port Valet bag fee waiver is such a great question - and something that I was worried about myself! I have free bags and it worked seamlessly. With that said, it was just me traveling, however, as long as the reservation shows a free bag, you should be good as the Port of Seattle is simply the go-between of the cruise ship and the airport/airline. If you’d like to triple check, you can reach out to Port Valet at the following email address: commandcenter@maketraveleasier.com
Have so much fun - and enjoy Seattle bag-free!!! -Mark
We had no problem with it.
Love this review, thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for watching! We're glad you enjoyed learning about our experience on board.
34:15 We figured out how to make the soap dispensers work consistently - start with your hand under and close to the dispenser and move it straight down and then back up. One or two movements like this gets the soap. We only found 2 paper towel dispensers that wouldn’t work. And there were alternates nearby. We did witness one lady telling an employee that the toilet was out of paper towels.
Thank you so much for sharing that tip. It was such a frustrating (and gross) experience! There definitely should have been more attention to the restrooms onboard to ensure that they were functioning properly and fully stocked.
Great review. I’m watching this like I haven’t been on the encore in 2019 😅. I’ll be sailing Dec 15th right after dry dock
How is the sailing going??? Can’t wait to hear what you think about all the changes on board! Hopefully, it’s as good as you remember!
And sorry for the delay; just debarked Margaritaville myself this morning and catching up!! Happy sailing, -Mark
When did you go to Alaska? Month and year 😊
We’ve been in September 2019, July 2022, and on the NCL Encore in October 2023!
Do u think aug will be good time
@@japatel23 we haven’t experienced a bad time to visit Alaska. It’s always beautiful. At least in August it’ll still be warmer than it was in October!
Great review! Agreed with many of your loves. Surprised to not see A-List and District on your list of positives - those were two of our favorite places on the ship. And the service in those spots were great, too - one of the few places where we were constantly addressed by name.
Hey there! Thanks so much for watching and your kind words. :) It is a CLEAR sign I must go back; I never drank at the A-List bar even once! I Just had to pull up the deck plans to confirm it was even the bar I was thinking about. I mention District Brewhouse briefly in my first 24 Hours video (we shut it down night one), but we never ended up getting back there. Again, just more proof that I need to go back.
@@thiscruiselife A-List just has a luxury feel to it that sets it apart from the other spots on the ship. So yeah, you need to go back on Encore again. We're thinking the same. Even though we've taken some fabulous cruises lately, Encore is often the cruise we think about. And we never thought we'd enjoy it being more small ship people.
We are going next year but I loved your review. So honest and down to earth. Gave us some great things to consider before our trip Hope to meet someone like you all. thanks
I'm so glad to hear that the review was helpful and enjoyable for you; thank you for sharing! If you have ANY questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to either myself or Rocky (just either of our first names at thiscruiselife.com). We've got a Must Have Packing List for Alaska on our website and I'm working on an article on how to get to Pier 66 from the airport without spending nearly $200 (that's what the roundtrip Uber was last time we were there!)
Thank you, again, for watching and sharing your comments across the video. It's a small cruise world out there, so hopefully our paths shall cross!! -m
Definitely agree with MDR, Le Bistro and The Local as great dining options. We have compiled email lists every time I've stayed in a studio cabin. I don't know if it was just luck or what, but such great groups that want to sail together again. I don't mind the charge for some restaurants and activities; I do believe NCL could add an activity voucher to the Free At Sea so those areas are experienced. With that said I think it's FOMO that upsets cruisers about extra charge items because once you experience some of them you don't care about going again.
Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts! Sounds like you've also had amazing solo experiences with NCL. Honestly, it's one of the biggest reasons I'll go back; they impressed me that much. Love that you've also met folks you've stayed in touch with - what a cool experience!
And I LOVE your idea about including a voucher, or even a discount, in the Free At Sea. Or maybe make it exclusive to the Free At Sea Plus as one more reason to pay the money to upgrade to the higher tier? Something that gives folks a chance to try. But... I think you are spot on. If I try bumper cars once for free, I'm likely not ever going back to pay for them. ;)
Hope to see you on the sea! -Mark
Great info!! Did you do any excursions? We’ll be on NCL Bliss in Alaska this July.
Have so much fun - and remember to dress like an onion in layers! :) July should be beautiful in port, knock wood. For this particular sailing, I went back to some of my favorite spots in the various ports versus an excursion. Highly recommend Jellyfish Donuts if you can make it there:
th-cam.com/video/CcKWpWApWaU/w-d-xo.html
We've done multiple Alaska excursions over the years and will be doing several more at the end of the month. If you have any questions, let us know! -Mark
I looked but couldn't find it if you mentioned it, dates that you sailed?
@@srachuy October 22-29, 2023
Great information - Thank you! We cruise on the Encore next week!
Oh how exciting! We hope you enjoy Alaska on this beautiful ship!
I heard negative feedback about the unnecessary saving of seats on the observation lounge. Did you by any chance see or experience that?
We didn’t experience that in our sailing. It was always full it seemed, but plenty of space to hang out and pull up a chair. Most of the time the bar, but other lounge spaces as well! 😉 Hopefully you have a great time!
Thanks for information 🙋 I was on norwegian prima last year and I liked it very much but watching your review on encore I am not sure to go
I’m excited to try more Norwegian ships based on my experience if that helps you decide! My biggest annoyance was the Free At Sea Plus, but I’d think that would carry through to all of the ships. I would book Encore again for the right price / itinerary! But, I’d also like to try more of their ships. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Prima!! Maybe that’s next after the NCL Sky in August! -mark
@@thiscruiselife 💁🇩🇪👍
I was on the Bliss for the last Alaska sailing in 2023 and had a very similar experience to you. The only big negative is how the crew so slavishly follows the rules, which becomes absurd when they don't even know the actual rules. In most hospitality situations they would at least ask a supervisor, but on NCL it's like they're terrified of going above and beyond. I feel bad for them, management must be brutal. I will say I preferred the specialty dining over the included food on the Bliss, so much so that I'm having most of my dinners in specialty restaurants on my next cruise.
I do think NCL is an interesting culture. Having had the opportunity to spend some time in their corporate setting, I can confirm they are a “buttoned up” organization. I don’t necessarily mean that in a negative way, but I agree that things trickle down to the ships.
I’m soooo curious to get to experience another NCL ship this summer to compare. I really enjoyed the food on Encore - so it’ll be fascinating to see if they are consistent. I also am excited to try the specialty on board in August.
Thanks for watching and sharing your experience!! -mark
X
Xx z. Z z. X z z z z z Z Z
What month did you go to see the Northern Lights??
I did the very last sailing of the season in late October. The later you go, the more likely you'll get a great show. With that said, the later you go, the colder it gets!! :) -Mark
Ty! I hope I get to see it in my Sept trip!!
Amazing video! We leave for the same cruise next month and this is all super helpful! We got the premium plus upgrade as well, and I'm a little nervous about it! Any tips or tricks that you eventually figured out to help when ordering drinks? Thanks in advance!
You are going to have so much fun! Glad you found the video helpful. In terms of the Plus, my biggest piece of advice is to print the PDF one-pager they have on the website. Both the included drinks one along with the summary of everything that’s included one. If you can’t find them, let me know and we can email you the links! -Mark
@@thiscruiselife yup I know the ones you’re talking about! Awesome! Thanks, Mark! Can’t wait!!!!!
Also, do people routinely get sick with colds after getting off cruise ships? Our entire group of ten people ended up with upper respiratory infections. Six had to take antibiotics and one developed pneumonia. I had to delay meeting my new granddaughter by a week because she was born a preemie and I couldn’t risk her getting sick.
Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear this. While there are often reports in Facebook groups post-cruise that some travelers come home with a cold, in our experience, it's fairly isolated. We have indeed come home sick before, but we also aren't always the smartest when it comes to getting enough rest and taking care of ourselves!!! The number one thing we hear from people that get sick: "I tried to do everything!" With how much travel we do now as part of This Cruise Life, we work hard to ensure we're getting a good amount of sleep, we're taking vitamin C supplements, drinking plenty of water, and washing our hands frequently. Of all of those, the sleep one often is the one that gets neglected and, unfortunately, that's where we start to get run down. I will say, it's common to hear that everyone in a specific family or party got sick. That's usually because friends/family share drinks, eat together, excursion together, fly together, etc. - definitely no fun and I'm sorry to hear you all got sick. Hopefully everyone is in for a speedy recovery.
Oh, and PS- Congratulations on your new granddaughter!! :) I hope she is doing well. 💙 -Mark
A lot of people get respiratory illnesses on airplanes, so if you flew to your cruise, that might be it.
Thanks for all the good info!
Question we just booked September do you think I will be able to see whales and or bears since is late in the season?
And what really does the free at sea includes in terms of alcoholic drinks and food, since complicated is there a list???
You’re very welcome!!! And that’s a great question! While there’s never a guarantee, we sailed in October and saw whales and lots of eagles. We didn’t see bear, however. Our naturalist on board shared that to see bear you really have to go look for them as they prefer to mostly keep to themselves. ;) You’d likely want to see if there are any excursions that take you out deep if that’s on your bucket list (just keep in mind, still not guaranteed). Have soooo much fun!!
Hey there, I found your video as I was also leaning towards Norwegian Enforce to Alaska and had some excursion-specific questions:
For now, looking into definitely the train exp in Skagway. Hiking/sight-seeing in the others, but I'm honestly quite confused on the time management right now. I see that we have to take off at least 4 hours (2hr off-board and 2hr on-board) from the Arrive and Depart time, which basically gives us max 1 activity to do.
Did you book your land tours outside of Norwegian by chance?
How did you sort your transportation from airport to ship, vice versa?
Another questions about booking meals/entertainments - did you find that you could reserve as you got there or must book in-advance online prior to onboarding?
Sorry for my delay in responding; I missed this one between cruises and some unexpected travel. Hopefully this response can still be helpful for you:
- Train experience in Skagway is cool, but it's much better earlier or later in the season when there's snow on the ground and trees (in my opinion). During the summer, everything was still pretty, but mostly just green trees and rocks.
The friends I made on the sailing all booked through Norwegian, however, we booked our latest Alaska experiences on Celebrity Solstice through Rocky at a better price point than the cruise line offered. While we always recommend being aware of time management as you mention, we feel more confident in booking excursions in Alaska through independent operators due to the long days we have in port (and it's a US port).
In terms of transport for NCL Encore, I used the light rail from the airport to downtown. That saved me over $100 and was easy to do. I'm working on a blog post right now that documents the process complete with photos to help folks make it to Pier 66.
I booked all of my meals on board. Friends did a mix of booking excursions before cruise and on board.
Again, so sorry for the delay. Thank you for watching and all the questions. If there's more that we can help with, feel free to drop an email as well! -Mark
I just booked my solo cruise today for Alaska next August hence the reason i searched out videos. You covered so much and i appreciate it! What ports did you visit
Oh how awesome! Congratulations on your booking. We visited Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan (Ward Cove), and Victoria. Thanks for watching our videos!
I am going on the Alaskan NCL next Sunday and was curious about the Port Valet. I looked it up and it says they drop off your airline ticket and baggage tag the night before. It then says to “set your bags outside your cabin that evening and the ship’s crew will pick them up”. Does that mean you have to pack all your toiletries and whatnot the night before and have nothing to get ready with in the morning? You know, the stuff that usually going in your checked baggage?
Great question. Anything you check and put out in your bag will be gone until you get to your home airport. I kept out my essentials (medication, travel-size toothpaste, etc) that I then packed in my laptop bag on debark morning. Hope that helps! It’s a great service that we highly recommend if you have some time in the port - and even if not! One less thing to worry about sending out your bags. :)
@@thiscruiselife ah got. So they really do pick it up the night before. Good to know. A lot of my toiletries are not travel sized as they are usually checked, but if I need them for the morning my checked luggage will already be gone. And if not sleeping in the buff then that will need to go in a backpack or laptop bag as well. Great tips. Thank you.
We want to get off in Seattle and stay a few days so how do we handle the luggage in the morning? Just curious as I am sure they will tell us. Do you know if there is a place by the Seattle pier where you can rent a car?
@@amyspellman9128 Iused the Port Valet and it worked beautifully. Left out luggage outside our room the night before and the next time I saw it was when I got back to my home airport. Spent the day exploring Seattle. For you, if you are staying a few days, I am not sure. I didn't rent a car, so I didn't look. The hotel I stayed at wasn't far from the pier. A quick 4 minute Uber to the hotel. They will be able to storage your luggage until you check in, but I don't know where the closest car rental place is.
@@jedivboy5419 Glad to hear that Port Valet worked well for you!!! How was your time on your NCL Cruise??
What is the catch with the free at Sea package?
No catch with Free At Sea, just recommend you really study what is and isn’t included. Same with Free At Sea Plus. I even recommend bringing the details with you on your cruise so that if there are any questions, you can refer back to it. Shouldn’t need it, hopefully, but there was a bit of confusion on my sailing, for sure! Thanks for watching and the question! -Mark
Not calling you by name is shocking, we were on the Pearl and the steward knew our name before we got to the room. The service on the Pearl was awesome
That's fantastic! On our recent cruise on board the Norwegian Sky, our cabin steward was much better than on the Encore. We had several great interactions with him and he greeted us by name whenever he'd see us.
I’ve had so many stewards and waiters call me by name. Almost always on NCL.
Just off the Encore and not even once called by my name. Room steward was an elderly man…guessing with memory issues.
@@Patrick_Ross Wow! I hope my encore trip is better. Leaving in about two weeks. 😳
@@tammystreasures8766 - leaving from Port Lauderdale? Where to? The Encore left Seattle on Sunday for the 20 day sailing via the Panama Canal.
We are going on this cruise this August. Did NCL ever reach out to you about and of the issues after you posted thia? Hopefully some have been addressed since last fall!
@@ajyankee93 sadly no. Never heard a peep from them about it. Hopefully with different contracts, the crew have been swapped out since the experiences from this video.
Do you happen to remember the hours of the Starbucks? I’m thinking about getting the Starbucks drink package. But I was afraid there was going to be a very long wait and the hours weren’t gonna be good.
Hey there! Currently on NCL Sky and just pulled up the app for today’s port day hours: 6am-10pm. This was similar on my Encore sailing, though I was never awake at 6am to confirm they actually opened on time. 😜😂
We haven’t seen much of a line as we’ve walked through Starbucks this sailing, and on Encore, we never had to wait more than 10-15 minutes. In fact, most of the time, we just walked right up to the counter to order. This was a sold out sailing at the end of October.
Hope that helps! You’ll have to let me know about your experience when you sail as we always like to get multiple perspectives!!
Based on my personal experience, I have no concerns that you’ll be able to stay caffeinated. :) -Mark
Can I stay on the ship when it dock in Ketchikan? I honestly don’t want to deal with the drama of that port. I heard this from others as well. I rather stay on the ship
You sure can stay on the ship! But that bums me out as I love Ketchikan. Such a cute little Alaskan town with plenty of things to explore. But the drama of where NCL ports definitely adds a lot of frustration and headache. Hope you have a great cruise!!! -m
At the buffet my favorite Is the paratha it’s so good 😆
Mmmmm! I’m so excited that we’ll be back on NCL in a couple months. Cruise food really is the best food!!!
@@thiscruiselife oh wow! I’m going on the encore in may so excited 😆
I agree with you on the loves on NCL. I havent been on Encore yet, next month I will. I’ve been on Bliss twice and Sky. I have never had a bad steward. On Sky, we had the best I’ve had from any cruise lines. Sky had La Cucina Italian restaurant. Not only was the food great, but the service was beyond great. All of the service we have had on NCL has been phenomenal . One of the waiters from Bliss recognized me from the trip before. The only thing I didn’t love about sky, was that it was a smaller ship. The Local wasn’t open 24 hours. We did do the go-karts twice on our Alaska cruise. We loved it. I’m going on Encore on a transatlantic next month - solo.
I'm sooooo curious! What do you think about Encore??? :) Have been anxiously waiting to hear your review of the ship!!
Also, I have to agree, La Cucina is some of the best food I've had across Norwegian (though, I really do also love Food Republic). And The Local is just a favorite across the board. Like you, bummed it wasn't 24 hours on Sky.
Hope you are having an AMAZING time on Encore and you get the chance to connect with a bunch of other solo cruisers if that's your thing. If not, then I hope you get all of your books read, crosswords completed, and lots of "me" time on your transatlantic journey. Please let me know what you think of the ship!! -Mark
@ I’m loving the ship. I ate at Cagneys and Q. Cagney’s could have been better, but Q was amazing! I felt bad I couldn’t possibly eat all of the food they brought me. It was so much! The show Choir of Man was awesome. A few people have formed a stitching group that meets every sea day morning to crochet, knit, cross stitch, embroider, or whatever. We have a lot of fun and make progress on our projects. The weather has been warmer for longer than I anticipated, which is great. It’s a beautiful ship - except I really don’t care for the main chandelier. But to each their own. I have a wonderful cabin steward, probably the best I’ve ever had. He cleans 20 rooms every day, but I feel like he is there just for me. I’m actually really liking the cruise director on this ship also. Most of the time they don’t really make a difference on my experience. This one isn’t over the top obnoxious, but still a lot of fun!
@@tammystreasures8766 THANK YOU for giving me a real-time update! I almost feel like I'm there with you. I didn't get a chance to eat at Q, so thank you for sharing more about that spot. NEXT TIME for sure!! :) Choir of Man is just fantastic - in fact, we know someone that just joined the show from Carnival and it looks like a great cast. Glad you got to experience it (and maybe they'll put it on again this sailing!)
We were surprised by the weather on our transatlantic, too. Warmer longer than we expected which was quite lovely. :)
And that chandelier... I'm still not quite sure what is going on with that... I joked that used Kleenex was their inspiration. haha
Glad that you're really liking it and the crew is taking care of you. Can't wait to hear more as you continue your sailing. Thanks again!! -mark
We are heading out on this cruise in July thanks for the information. I’m so excited to be celebrating are 20 th wedding anniversary on this cruise
What a great choice to celebrate your anniversary! We're glad you enjoyed our video and hope you have an amazing cruise!
I'm going on a trip on the same boat to Alaska in August, something I recommend at every stop...
I'm envious that you'll be experience Encore to Alaska! Truly, it's a great ship and sailing. What does your itinerary look like? Do you have anything booked already? Happy to give some ideas based on the ports you'll be visiting! -Mark
@@thiscruiselife Greetings and thanks for responding, it won't let me send you the photos of the ports we will visit here. I haven't booked anything because apart from being expensive I have to see which one to choose...
Agree the top deck space is too small. In the Caribbean, it was horrible. Hard to find chairs and the pools were over crowded.
Just as we had suspected. Such a shame for that large of a ship! Vacation on a cruise should be all about de-stressing and not having to worry about paying more for things.
I've never been on a cruise before. Will have to go solo as no friends want to join. I battle slightly with motion sickness on planes and trains, I suppose a cruise is way way worse. Did you experience any motion sickness? Does one get water in Buffet areas or does one have to purchase all water?
There are water fountains throughout the buffet that are included. As for motion sickness, if you’ve never sailed before, we suggest bringing Dramamine and/or seasick bands, both of which can be found In our Amazon store (follow our LinkTree in our channel description). We usually only need the seasick bands and they work wonders!
I never wanted to cruise because I get motion sick in planes and cars. For our 30th anniversary, our kids bought us a little 3 day cruise to see how I would do. That was 10 years ago and we have been cruising ever since. I rarely get sick on the ship, but I always bring some zofran just in case. The motion in not as bad as in smaller vessels like a car or theme park ride.
@@tammystreasures8766 I think I must try a short cruise out, 3-4 days and test the waters :) I always fly and travel with these arm bands, they seem to help but I think I'll take non-drowsy motion sickness pills with as a backup.
Have you been on Holland America
We have not been on Holland America Line yet, but are looking at options for the balance of this year as well as into 2025!
FYI, if you book a Haven room, a lot of the premium spirits are included in the free at sea drink package. It's kind of weird how some whiskeys are 8 dollars in the Haven and 23+ everywhere else. This upcoming cruise I am taking on NCL Encore is with three other friends and we have decided the free at sea plus upgrade is not worth it since only one of us wants internet and the spirits provided in the Haven are enough since they are premium spirits.
That’s good to know - and your decision makes a lot of sense; definitely doesn’t sound like you’d get the money’s worth. We are on MSC Meraviglia now- the Yacht Club covered us on all drinks across the entire ship. There were one or two special bottles that had an upcharge apparently, but we never found them!
Hope you have an amazing sailing on NCL Encore and enjoy an Irish Coffee for me!!!
Thank you for the information about this cruise 🎉I’m excited, prepared and know what to be on the look out for.
Awesome! So glad to hear it. It was our hope to help anyone preparing to set sail (especially to Alaska) what to expect. Hope you have an amazing time!
Indian section at buffet everyday? Gotta try Encore. We love Food Republic on Prima and also enjoyed The Local. We miss Mudslides and Mojitos! Would you book the same (interior) cabin or cruise ship again? Thank you!
Mmmm. That Indian section at both breakfast and lunch was soooo good! I'm excited that Rocky will get a chance to try NCL for the first time this coming August. Sadly, we don't have a Food Republic on board since it's an older ship, but we'll have The Local!
Whether or not I'd book the same again... Several folks have posted that they're booked on this ship to Alaska and I want to JOIN THEM ALL!!! lol ;) I would 100% book this ship and even that same stateroom again. While there were some things that I didn't love and even hated about the experience, overall, there was a LOT to love about NCL Encore to Alaska.
Thanks so much for watching and commenting! -mark
@@thiscruiselife thanks so much for the response! Waiting for a good enough sale on Encore 😅 for late May.
@@icedteamama176 Very welcome! And if you find a good sale, keep us posted! ;)
@@thiscruiselife for sure!! 🙏
Very much appreciate your video! Were going on this cruise in June with a family of 5. Do you think my teenagers will have things to do on the ship?
Absolutely! Thanks for watching. There’s going to be plenty of activities for them from the go kart track to the simulators inside. Plus the scenery there is stunning and hopefully they’ll enjoy all that Alaska has to offer! There’s also some kids clubs where they’ll get to meet other passengers their age to hang out with. We’re sure the whole family will enjoy!
My GF and I are headed out on my first cruise in a few weeks. We noticed that sushi mark up (yikes!). Do you happen to recall if Starbucks pricing is the same as on land since they are a franchise, or are their prices marked up on the ship as well?
You’re going to have SO MUCH FUN!!! If you have any questions or last minute panic attacks, don’t hesitate to reach out!
As for Starbucks… The prices definitely are inflated. Reminds me of an airport Starbucks. Still the same brand, but a higher price point. A grande iced chai was $5.95 in October. That’s about 20% more than what I’m used to paying.
I hope you submitted a review to Norwegian after the cruise about your experience, especially the restrooms.
Thanks for watching and commenting; we did complete our post-cruise survey and recognized the folks who made an impact and shared what could have been even better. I hope they resolve some of the challenges as I was a fan overall of the experience! -m
Is the Local restaurant included? Or you have to pay extra?
It is an included option in your cruise fare! I'm looking forward to introducing it to Rocky on our Norwegian Sky sailing later this summer!! :) Enjoy! -mark
Loved your video, thorough and informative as well as entertaining! I’m going on that ship this coming October for 21 days to Panama Canal and Central America. Should I upgrade my wi-fi package (currently 300 minutes)? The restaurant and drinks upgrade is around $3,000 for just one person so that is definitely out of the question! Besides, I’m not a big drinker and I’ll enjoy the restaurants included. This is a solo cruise, so any recommendations you have will be welcomed. Thanks, and maybe one day we’ll meet while cruising!
Hey there! Thanks for watching and the questions. Sounds like you are in for a TREAT of a cruise!
Personally, I would upgrade the internet as a solo cruiser just to stay connected and have something to do during dinner or my downtime on the ship. With that said, on both of my NCL sailings, they’ve offered promos on board that were just as competitive (if not a better deal), so keep that in mind. I can’t guarantee they’ll do that on your sailing, obviously, but that’s another option: just wait.
Definitely check out all of the solo gatherings and make use of the solo lounge. Such a great way to connect with other cruisers. I went to dinner with several solos and have even cruised again with someone I met on NCL Encore. The cruise community is such a great community!
I’d also recommend pre-purchasing a couple of speciality dining options so you can check them out. They are SO MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE than paying a la carte pricing. I think each one we purchased on my current sailing was $41. The a la carte pricing last night at Le Bistro: $95! 🤯
Hope that helps and gives some insights. Feel free to drop me a note if you have any other questions. And have an amazing sailing!! -Mark
Looking at Encore for a Caribbean cruise in 2025. Two things that make or break a cruise for me….service and food. Thanks for reviewing that the food is great.
We agree with you that food and service and very important! Norwegian definitely did a great job with their menus and the variety across the ship!
I went on am Alaska cruise in June on the Encore- my first ever cruise. I absolutely agree about the embarkation. Also bad was that our three bags arrived at three different times. The Observation Lounge was lovely, but by June, school was out and families with teens were in the ship, and I swear the kids camped out every day. We never got a seat near the windows. I didn’t really like the Garden Cafe because I like plainer food, and the large dining room, the Manhattan Room, was open the least amount of hours. The food in the main dining rooms was delicious, however. Entertainment was great. Agree with you on Ketchikan. I’d far rather have walked around the town and spent time there. I had all of 90 minutes in the town, because the ship was in Ketchikan for four hours. The stateroom was nice, our steward was wonderful (the amazing Jerelynn) and the combined shampoo/conditioner in the shower was terrible. And Port Valet was a life saver!
The pool deck was useless even in June, because it was too cold and windy. I can’t imagine how crowded it would be in the Caribbean. It is small.
And I HATED how much time I wasted waiting for elevators!
Thank you for watching and sharing your own experience! And thank you, also, for calling out the amazing Jerelynn. While we haven't met this individual, we think crew shoutouts are AMAZING And always recommend celebrating phenomenal service. Glad you had a great experience with Jerelynn!
Great insight about the Observation Lounge with families in the space during the summer months. Good insights for folks to consider as they think about timing of the ship.
I love what you mention about Garden Cafe in terms of your own personal tastes. It's a great callout that we should probably mention more often: Everyone has varying tastes - and we always encourage folks to at least try things for themselves to see what they love/don't love. Glad you found the dining room more to your liking and that you enjoyed the food very much!
Ketchikan... Wow. All I can say is we LOVED our time in Ketchikan on both Celebrity and Carnival this season. Highly recommend experiencing Ketchikan with one of the other lines as it is a WONDERFUL port!!
Lastly, that pool deck... glad we weren't alone on that feeling! ;)
Appreciate you watching and commenting. -Mark
beautiful skin and nice view into solo crusing
Thank you for watching and for the kind comment! :) I'm excited to check out another solo cruise one day and Norwegian will be high on my consideration list! -Mark
I heard someone passed away on the Encore during spring break... anyone know about this? 😕
We haven’t heard anything, but it’s not that unusual. Cruise ships not only have a medical center, they also have a morgue.
You’ll never know unless gossip gets going, but people die on cruises all the time. This is nothing unusual.
@@atomicrancher3745 that’s very true! Most ships have a morgue onboard for that very reason!
I always address with customer service the issues I encountered. Like the missing paper towels.
That’s always great advice! In the event of the bathroom issues, they did send someone, but, unfortunately, it just kept happening. I’m excited to introduce Rocky to that ship which will give us the chance to see how things have changed!! :) -mark
I just came off the encore food cold every day. Very disappointed
That is disappointing to hear! Where was the food cold? The buffet? The Local? The main dining room? Speciality dining? Thankfully, we didn’t experience that during our sailing, so bummed to hear about your experience! Hope it was a nice time outside of that!! -mark
What you said about Ketchikan and the port and reasoning is completely incorrect... They built a pier in Ward Cove because the normal port doesn't support mega ships so they're the only cruise line that can take mega ships to Ketchikan.... Not specifically to avoid port fees and such.
That's not what the locals say. ;) Whether it's to avoid port fees or to bring other ships in, the experience was terrible. Something that I truly hated about the sailing and want to make sure folks are aware.
Thanks for watching and commenting! -mark
@@thiscruiselife that's fine if the locals don't say it.... But the only 1000 foot ships that currently sail into Ketchikan dock at Ward Cove. No cruise line wants to take a 1000'+ ship with a 162' beam into a passage that narrows to 650' when they can go into a cove that has 1100'+ everywhere. Mega ships have different requirements. Until 2025 Norwegian is the only company with mega ships in Ketchikan.
I do agree the amount of time in Ketchikan was not sufficient though 😅
@@thiscruiselife So at Ketchum it is best to be ready at 7 AM to get off the ship by the gate so you can be in the first line to the bus?
@@amyspellman9128 100%! While I never like to tell anyone to be ready at 7am on a cruise ship, in this port, I highly recommend it due to the shuttle operation. Now, you might get lucky and not have any other ships with you that day; however, with how busy Alaska is this season, I wouldn't chance it. ;) Have soooo much fun in Ketchikan and please have a Jellyfish Donut for us! -Mark
Heading to Alaska on Encore in 3 weeks. I’m Gen X, my mom’s a boomer. It’s just the two of us celebrating her birthday and my masters degree. I hope I booked smartly - don’t want a ton of kids, would love a chance to see the Northern lights, plan on vegging on the balcony on Glacier Bay day. We aren’t going for the pools or the spa or the activities, although I have to see the Beatles thing and Choir of Man if we can. We just want good food, a crew that is accommodating to her mobility issues, and a Bailey’s and coffee and Bloody Mary every once in a while. I didn’t splurge for anything. We have Free at Sea with reservations at Teppanyaki and Los Lobos. I booked all our excursions through the boat. My mom loves the casino. So I’m not sure what else we would need. But I haven’t prepaid gratuities yet. While I love Starbucks, I’m hoping there is just regular or maybe a little bit better than regular coffee available elsewhere. Are we gonna be sorely limited in our drinks? Also curious if the hot tubs will be full of people. These are the things that keep me up at night. Lol. That and worrying about embarkation day and a mom with a cane and/or walker depending on what she goes with. At least I was smart enough to get her a scooter so she can zip around the boat once we are on board. Excursions are gonna be another issue. After hearing everything about Ward Cove, I might have to cancel our Ketchikan excursion. I think I booked Totem Bight Park for that day. I booked thru NCL, but I also heard a whole family got left behind recently. I wish vacationing weren’t so nerve wracking. Anyway, thanks for a great video.
Sorry that I missed responding while we were away the last couple weeks. We're working on our NCL Sky review right now and the internet really let us down during our trip. I hope that you had an AMAZING celebration! Happy belated birthday and congrats on the Master's Degree!
I hope you found that the crew was accommodating and that you found the Bloody Mary delicious! Free at Sea was more than sufficient for our needs on the sailing and hope you found it to provide everything you were looking for as well!
In terms of drinks, I have a feeling you found that you weren't limited at all. There was always something to enjoy at the various spots on NCL Encore. :) Curious if the hot tubs were full of people this time of year? In October they were empty - but it was also super cold! I'd be curious to hear your experience so that we can answer the questions when others ask.
Let me know if you did the Ketchikan excursion or canceled it. Through NCL, it's supposed to be MUCH smoother, so I'll be curious to hear your experience.
Again, apologies on the delay responding. We are home safe in Phoenix and I'm on my computer typing this up. I'd love to hear all about your experience if you're interested in sharing more (mark@thiscruiselife.com). -Mark
@@thiscruiselife how gracious to follow up! Overall, the trip was great. More beautiful than I could have imagined. Fellow cruisers could have been more polite and respectful of my mom being in a scooter and less judgmental. But you’ll have that anywhere you go.
I ended up buying the spa pass for the week for myself. I figured I earned it for all the planning. So I did not venture to the hot tubs outside of Mandara.
Our steward was great - very accommodating. A lot of the rest of the crew was rude and that was disappointing. The food was just OK. The drinks were great. Especially the Bloody Mary and the pistachio martini.
It was well worth it to get room service on glacier bay day.
I did not end up doing the Ketchikan trip. I went to Ward Cove and bought all our souvenirs but the line just to get on the shuttle was a 45 minute wait.
Overall I would do it all again, but I might choose a smaller cruise without the bells and whistles that I didn’t need. I just wanted to go to Glacier Bay so that’s why I chose NCL.
@@eeo1973 thank you so much for your understanding with my delay. And thank you for sharing with me more about your trip! "More beautiful than I could have imagined" were almost the exact words I said after my first Alaska cruise. Just breathtaking. I'm sooooo glad you got to have this experience with your mom. That makes my heart happy!
Sorry to hear about some of the rude passengers and crew. That's disappointing. Our Steward was MIA, so I'm glad you had a great one! As for the food... I met a fellow cruiser that had a bunch of extra specialty dining vouchers, so I ate specialty most nights, however, I did LOVE the Indian portion of the buffet at lunch. Mmmm. I'm hungry now!
I want to rebook just for the pistachio martini; I'm glad you discovered that!
Good call on Ward Cove. I honestly think it would have left you even more frustrated, but I never want to dissuade someone from experiencing Ketchikan as I really do love it. Just not through NCL, unfortunately.
Carnival has a lot of ships up in Alaska, along with Princess and even Cunard - all at varying price points. It's a trip we try to do annually now; we fell in love and just can't get enough of the beauty of Alaska.
Thanks again for sharing a bit about your trip with me! 💙 -Mark
I recently cruised on NLC's ENCORE -(Caribbean) I had a blast. I agree with every thing LOVED. I never ate at the buffet or the Food Republic. I will say every cruise member I connected with called me by name no matter where they saw me on the ship. Note most of the crew will be the same in Alaska after a repositioning cruise (end of beginning of a season). The premium package is a plus. I went to several restaurants each (with the solos I would have an appietiere at the Manhattan and then 2 hour later go to specialty dining restaurant. Thus ordered a bottle of wine or champaign (Le Bistro) and was never charged. I left the ship with a ZERO $$$ bill.
Thank you for watching and sharing your experience! I hope watching brought back some fond memories of your own voyage. I’m so glad to hear you also enjoyed and had a great experience - and that the crew was fantastic. I’m excited to get on my next NCL ship here in just a couple months - this time Rocky will be joining for his first NCL sailing!! 💙 -Mark
Thank you so much for sharing!!!
You’re so very welcome! Thank you so much for watching and being part of our cruise community! 💙 -Mark
WOW Thank you so much for this. I had a fully refundable cruise (first sailing with NCL) with the free at sea package booked, your hates section would have driven me so crazy it would have ruined my cruise and wasted my money. I had a feeling it was going to feel like a nickle and dime experience which is NOT what I want on vacation, your video convinced me to just pull the trigger and cancel the cruise. I can't believe how consistent rude staff and cabin stewart is for this cruiseline! Rebooked on Virgin for a similar price super excited!
Hey there! I'm glad that you found the video helpful and informative. We're going to give NCL another try soon to see if any of the things I hated have changed/gotten better. I really think the Encore has a TON of potential and I'm curious to see how other ships in the fleet compare.
With that said, a Virgin Voyages sailing for a similar price... I'd also be sold. ;) We hope that you have an amazing time sailing the Virgin way. Truly, one of the best new-to-us cruise lines we've tried. Let us know what you think! -Mark
You missed a great time. I didn’t agree with the hates at all.
The Local, albeit simple, was my favorite. Cobb salad, wings and the rueben!
Onda was VERY loud and not that special. 100% agree.
Food Republic was fun but the value for the cost isn't there.
A few of the upcharges on Encore are quite silly. Nailed it!
Wow! Sounds like we are completely in sync with our thoughts on the ship!! Thank you sooo much for watching and sharing your own perspective. I just wish we could order from The Local right now!!!! lol -m
Excellent! Thank you 🎉
@@daVii639 thank YOU for watching! 💙
Never been on the Encore but will be next June. We have been cruising with NCL exclusively for the last 14 years and have never been disappointed on any of our cruises. We booked a variety of cabins ranging from interior to staying in the Haven. Our experience for dining in contrary to yours. We found the MDR food to be mediocre to good. Breakfast in the MDR is great but as far as dinner service, the quality of food in the specialty dining restaurants far surpass anything we’ve eaten in the MDR. IMO. So far we’ve never experienced the staff not calling us by our names. It’s possible that your particular cruise had a lot of staff that were new or unfamiliar with the Encore. We never get the premium drink package because for the amount that our group drinks, paying the extra $3-$4 up charge on a premium cocktails is less expensive than the premium package plus gratuity. Your public restroom experience is an anomaly. We never experienced anything like that on any of the other ships that we’ve sailed on.
Hi there. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us. We do agree that many of the issues we experienced were anomalies, but it was quite a few things to have encountered across our sailing. We had a completely different experience sailing on the NCL Sky just a couple months ago and we're booked on several more NCL sailings in 2025. We always take things with a grain of salt, but feel it's important to share our experiences with others so they can be prepared for their sailing.
We hope you have an amazing time on the Encore sailing Alaska. She's a great ship for Alaska sailings and hopefully by the time you sail, the issues that we encountered on her a year ago will have be mostly resolved!
@@thiscruiselife I’m glad that you had a better experience on the Sky. We find that the smaller older ships in the NCL fleet tend to have better service with more attention to detail. We do enjoy the newer ships in their fleet but our favorite is the Jewel line. If you are ever able to book a suite in the Haven you will have a completely different cruising experience. I will say that the Haven on the older ships have a few less perks than the newer ships. The older ships in the fleet do not have a dedicated restaurant or bar. You can dine in Moderno for breakfast and Cagney’s for lunch but dinner you’re on your own so we felt slightly cheated that we would have to pay to eat at a specialty dining restaurant since the newer ships have a dedicated restaurant that serves food that is higher quality than their specialty restaurants. Overall though the Haven experience was still exceptional. Depending on which suite you book the perks vary. In our case, we booked the 3 bedroom garden villa. That’s their highest level suite that’s about 7000 sq ft including the balcony. We got it by shear luck on a bid to upgrade. The level of service you get In a high end suite like that is beyond what one could imagine on a cruise ship . Our cruise before that we had a two bedroom suite that was about 900 sq ft. We still received excellent service and the perks were great but no comparison to what one would get if you book the highest level of suite on the ship.
I hope you have an amazing experience on your future cruise and look forward to your reviews. 😁
Being onboard for the shoulder season you didn’t encounter the ignorant masses of people making it unpleasant at times. Especially the Garden Cafe at meal times. To have a seat in the Observation Lounge you have to get there at 6am with all you need for the day. “Move your feet, lose your seat”. If your cruise had been in July, your review might have been rather different?
We’ve sailed in July as well and, thankfully, did not experience what you speak of. We were on board Carnival Splendor and had a fantastic cruise! It was my first time to Alaska and I became hooked. Currently responding to you from Juneau on board Celebrity Solstice! :) This sailing has felt busier in the buffet and lounges, but manageable if you tweak your dining schedule a little bit to avoid the chaos and masses of people.
Hopefully, the next time you’ll have a better experience!! -Mark
I like how you mention the booze and drinks-many skip it, but you need some consolation if the food is lacking. 'What part of do not disturb do you not understand FFS?' Vous me deranger, dehors S.V.P! Premium package not so much! Ketch me if you can!
Thanks for watching - and sharing the appreciation! :) Sorry for my delay in responding; I just got back from the most amazing 25-day Transpacific sailing and it's taking me a bit of time to catch up to everything.
And, not once during the entire 25-day sailing when the Do Not Disturb sign was on the door was there so much as even a knock. It was beautiful. lol ;) -Mark
OMG... I so agree about Sugarcane's. Do not like that bar. I so miss Shaker's from other NCL ships... the Martini bar.
Thank you for confirming I am not alone on this one. I just think we're in the minority. :)
We're sailing on the older NCL Sky later this summer and so I just looked... Sadly, I won't get to try out Shaker's yet. A martini bar sounds right up my alley!!
@@thiscruiselife I did share your video with the May 19 NCL Encore group. Hope my roomie (first time cruiser) reads it and wants to change from Onda's. I would so much rather go to Food Republic but she gets to choose for her first cruise. But they all hope you have a future good Cagney's visit as they are all giving them praises. I'm more.. eh.. it's okay. 😛
@@kjean86thank you for sharing! I’m glad to hear my experience and thoughts resonated with you!!! 💙
We are actually going to go back to Cagney’s in August to give it another try on NCL Sky. I’m bummed they don’t have a Food Republic, but the do have a sushi spot, so we’ll definitely have to try it!
Thanks, again, for watching and sharing your thoughts. Here’s hoping your roomie has a great first cruise!
You can not tip the steward, you can get a partial refund on the gratuities.
That's true. As I reflected on it at the end of the week, I realized I still had towels, my bed was still made, my room was mostly kept up.. It was just a different experience versus what I'm used to. I'm excited to try NCL again to see if it's just the norm for them or if it was a one-off. Also, it really struck me as ironic that they have some of the highest gratuity rates out there. ;)
Good advice for "headquarters to ship" communications!!
Having visited NCL HQ, the disconnect is something I got to experience first-hand on my sailing. Hopefully, some of the new things they've rolled out at HQ will help address these gaps. :)
Do you even know anything about sushi? Quality fish is used and other fine ingredients as well as specially trained staff, so your idiotic remark about paying too much alla card just 🤯
Hey there! Thanks for your comment. We love sushi and have enjoyed it across many ships and many sailings. However, the a la carte pricing on Norwegian is by far the most expensive of any of the cruise lines we’ve experienced. In reality, it’s more expensive than many of the land restaurants as well. Food Republic was by far my favorite of the upcharge venues on NCL - I’ll just use my Free At Sea voucher there in the future. And, as a cruise tip, I’d likely recommend others do this as well. Thanks for watching! -mark
Norwegian Cruise ships all suck , i was always so disappointed when getting , but travelling with groups of other that made the arrangements and excursions , had no say in the matter - will stay on Royal Caribbean ships from now on , just won't travel with all those same people again
What about your experience with NCL ships didn’t go well? Always like to hear other perspectives?
I would pick NCL Encore over Harmony of the Seas in a heartbeat based on personal experience with both ships. We felt like we were in the way the entire sailing on Harmony; you definitely knew you were a guest on their ship. I also didn’t like the fact that it felt like we were at a shopping mall (Kate Spade, Johnny Rockets, Starbucks, etc). Curious to get your perspective/opinion. Thanks for watching and sharing! -Mark
I have been on Royal Caribbean and it was nice, but very much prefer NCL now. I’ll never go back to carnival though.