This was my second cruise. My family and I wanted to see Alaska and decided in February of 2024 that the best way would be an Alaskan cruise. Especially as we were traveling with 2 people over 65. We had read that June was best for Orcas and August best for Humpback whales so we booked a June 2025 cruise. This was great as it allowed us about a year to pay it off before the cruise. My mom and her husband had one room and my sister, my son and I had another. We ended up upgrading to a balcony room and I am so glad we did. After my first cruise experience on the "FUN" cruise line, I was miserable. I was sea sick, the screaming running kids was too much, the activities kind of sucked, there were little places to relax. I was scared to ever cruise again. NCL has completely changed this for me. The good: I like the free style dining. I hated being locked into a time for a dining room especially on port days. I enjoyed being able to come and go as I wanted, not as the ship wanted. The Vibe: This ship had a totally relaxed vibe. You could chill in the atrium in the chairs and watch trivia or games. The Starbucks had comfortable chairs to watch the views outside. The observation lounge was beautiful with all different types of seating options. This was one of the best places to be during the cruising day in Glacier Bay. They also provide snacks and drinks in the observation lounge so it was truly relaxing. They offered music throughout the day. Some were great, others just made us want to leave. Overall it was a wonderful place to hand out and became a favorite place of ours. The ship itself is decorated beautifully. Much more modern and updated. All details are considered from the carpet, to the chandeliers to the stairs. I loved the art exhibits in the walkways. We really enjoyed the scavenger hunt in the art exhibit on the first night. My son and I really got into it. Port Days: NCL really takes into consideration the ease of port access. Even for some of us who have more difficulty walking or with inclines, everything was doable. When not right in town, there are buses offered. The waits are too long for the buses either and in some cases the walk was not too far and quite enjoyable, especially in Skagway. Unexpected: My son loves to do the National Park Junior Ranger programs. We were bummed we were close to Glacier Bay & he would not get to do the program. When we got to Glacier Bay we were shocked to learn that they actually bring park rangers on board and do presentations for kids & provide opportunities for them to earn their badge. This was unexpected & really made me appreciate the extra effort that goes into making sure we had a good time. I loved they brought a little store into the observation lounge so we could still get our park magnets and pins. THANK YOU. The bad: Food: The food seamed exciting and ever changing. It took us about 3 of the 7 days to realize the three main dining rooms had the same menu. We ended up mostly at the local after a few days, but the food gets a little boring and everything is just OK. The breakfast is probably the best at the Local. The buffet was one of the better buffets I've seen. I appreciate that they mix it up with Indian and Asian food options as well. There really is something for everyone. I really liked the made to order crepes. I personally thing the specialty dining is not worth it for the extra cost. I preferred finding something local when we were in port and exploring new foods that way. Two of us on the 6th night ordered Cagneys from the Manhattan room. That night everything was a mess, over an hour later and no food was coming. 3 of the 5 people go tired of waiting and left. It was especially awful considering it was a port night and we had to be off ship at a certain time. The food was improperly cooked, cold, and nothing arrived together. Then the staff had the nerve to blame us for ordering the steak. It was just terrible. No one would take our complaint in the dining room so we went to guest services, who wouldn't take our complaint either. They had to call the manager of the restaurant who after half an hour still didn't come and they had to call him again. They ended up removing the additional cost for the steak from the room, but service was unacceptable. Room Location: Unfortunately we were in the back of the ship, even though it said mid-ship and our luggage tags said mid-ship, it was really back of the ship. This caused the beds to vibrate at night when the ship was moving due to the engines, it was rough. My son was miserable on the pull out bed, it shook even worse than the beds. Luggage: We were so confused when we were told we could go to our rooms & luggage was all over the halls. Not sure if they normally deliver your bags. Took half a hour to find them. Be careful with NCL taking bags to the airport. Mine and 9 others bag tags were mixed & mine were sent to NY. read more

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Having only cruised on the "fun" cruise line before I had vowed to never go again. But the family wanted to do Alaska and quite honestly for the first time, a cruise seemed like the way to go. After some research, we landed on NCL and we liked the itinerary so we booked it about 16 months out. I really like that NCL does free dining. I hate being relegated to eat at a certain time and I liked that there were many options. The boat is large but not "too big". it was walkable, easy to get around once you get your bearings and it was beautiful inside. It felt like a grown up ship. There were great activities for kids and adults and the kids overall were so much better than on the "fun" cruise. I loved there being a Starbucks on board where I could use my card in the app to pay, they had a specialty mug that my nephew fell in love with. The staff were great overall. The room of course was small but had a good amount of storage. I am on one injection that must be refrigerated and the cooler in the room did keep it at a good temp. We had only two issues on the ship and both were food related. One, there are just not enough options. Having 3 of the restaurants have the same menus each night made it really boring and in each port I was craving something fresh and different. I liked the 24 hour restaurant the most but gosh, I wanted some variety!!! My only other issue was in the main dining room, two of us uprated our meals to the steak from Cagney's. That night we noticed no one was getting their food or food was coming and sitting and not being served. Three people in our party got tired after waiting almost an hour for our meals and left. Two of us remained and finally our steaks came, then the waiter started to blame us for everything taking so long because we ordered steak. We hadn't complained, they asked where the rest of our party was and we told them they left and then the blamed us for ordering steak. Forget the fact that every other table around us also didn't get their meals. Overall that just sucked. Like I said, everyone else was great, the ship is amazing. Lots of lounging space and areas inside to look out. It's modern and beautiful. I would easily take the Encore again. It just needs some tweaks with food. read more

We did the Alaska Cruise in late May 2024. It's a beautiful ship. Boarding was easy and fairly quick. No problem there. We had an 11:00 boarding time which was perfect. Not sure why people need to get on earlier than that. We sat around, explored and and ate lunch. Rooms were ready about 2:30. One of our checked bags was waiting there for us; the order took a little longer. Check your bags. There's no reason not to. We had an outside balcony cabin 9784. It was quite comfortable for the two of us. It had a decent amount of storage so we didn't feel like we were living out of a suitcase. Arjay, our attendant, was amazing. Tips: Garden Buffet: Gross. Just gross. We aren't fans of buffets in general (health concerns) but had to go one evening. Mobbed, awful food, not enough seating. Skip. Savor/Taste/Manhattan: seemed to have a rotating menu. Food was decent, service excellent. Three separate restaurants, but they were really all the same. But good. Ocean (pay): this was one of the specialty meals we bought. it was fantastic and our server was phenomenal. Teppanaki: (pay) this was so fun and quite delicious! Highly recommend! Food Republic (pay): this was an Asian fusion place. That's one of my favorite types of food, but this really fell flat. Some of the items were strange and not in a good way. The Local: skip it. Absurdly loud. We sat down, but had to leave because we could not hear a word either of us was saying. We bought the thermal package. Extremely expensive but so so worth it! We bought priority boarding thinking it would be helpful. It comes with free room service for breakfast. If I had it to do over again, I would not have bought this. It was nice having the room service although much of the time the food was cold and the milk warm. There was absolutely zero benefit during check-in or departure. Neither were that time-consuming or problematic. Highest recommendation for the Juneau excursion "Air Adventure pricey, but truly once in a lifetime and worth it! It's basically a helicopter ride out to a glacier and then an airboat ride and then helicopter back. I cannot recommend this one enough. One frustration: I became injured and ended up on crutches. You're not allowed to take food to go from any restaurant other than the buffet, which was it!disgusting. My only option became room service, which cost an additional $10, +20%. I'm sorry, but this is wrong. It's a great way to see Alaska. If you are the type of person that likes to do cruise ship kind of things, you'll have fun. We are not heavy drinkers so we did spend a lot of time just relaxing. That's not a bad thing! And the scenery is amazing! I would do it again. I read more

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Debuting in 2019, the Norwegian Encore is a breakaway plus ship, able to house 4,000 passengers at full capacity, providing a great, value experience for passengers. Its godmother is the singer, Kelly Clarkson. It is the sister ship of the Norwegian Bliss, which we had taken through the Panama Canal earlier in the year. The set-up is very similar inside, consisting of 20 decks and the outside still having a bow (so it still looks like a ship, unlike the latest RCL boats which more resemble a land-based city). Because it was a cruise to Alaska late in the season, the outside areas couldn't really be used, resulting in everyone milling around inside (especially on sea days). Some of the outdoor unique features of the ship are water slides, go-cart track, and laser tag. - Deck 17, 18 is Haven (higher end, exclusive for customers. Has own restaurant, lounge, and sun area...someone could just stay in this area the whole time if they wanted to. - Deck 16 is the highest we needed to go: Garden buffet, outdoor aqua park, fitness center, and spa were there. Fitness center was OK. - Deck 15 and below have normal cabins. The vast majority are balcony. There are single suites as well in the inside. - Deck 8 has specialty restaurants and shops - Deck 7 has Encore theater, casino and main dining room (Manhattan room) - Deck 6 has Encore theater, and the two other main dining rooms (more intimate affairs) (Savor and Taste), along with Teppanyaki which was our pay, favorite restaurant In terms of my favorite part of the ship, it was the Local Bar. It is a sit-down complementary restaurant, with a large pub fare food. We went there a couple of times, and the early visit was a lot better...with excellent fish and chips, burgers, and buffalo wings. It is also open 24 hours, so if you get hungry, you can always find a place to eat. read more

Norwegian Encore - Encore - Boat Tours Near Me

We sailed NCL on May 5th from Seattle to Juneau , Alaska and then back to Victoria, BC . This was my first time with NCL and I was very excited to see the glacier in Alaska. I made no mistake in the view , it was great ! The ship was very clean and the staff were extremely friendly , most of them were contracted to the Philippines . The buffet was good but not great as the selections were very standard, the evening dining offered three complimentary dining rooms, the menu items changed daily but only a few dishes appeared new , again these servers were working at all outlets so you had a chance to meet them again on the same day . There were lots of items that you have to pay out of your pocket such as specialty restaurants, Starbucks , activities, etc . You do get 100 minutes free wifi before you have to purchase and that free 100 minutes run fast if you don't close your app and the Internet is expensive ! I loved their courtesy luggage valet service , where they will pick up your luggage from your stateroom and take them off the ship and drop off to the airport, plus check-in your flight 24 hours prior and NO WEIGHTS limit ( they want you to spend more and buy more ) . Overall , it was a good trip . The only thing I would still prefer is formal dinner reservations needed instead of casual free style dining , the service would be better and easy to control the seating flow . I would still love to sail with Princess Cruise, where the quality meets the service ! My next cruise trip has been booked with PCL to Singapore/ Malaysia/ Thailand and Vietnam for 16 days ! Looking forward to it ! read more

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Going into our first cruise, we had some concerns and hesitations. However all of those went out the door the moment we stepped onto the Norwegian Encore. We cannot say more positive things about our cruise to Alaska. Norwegian clearly knows what they are doing regarding food, entertainment, service and streamlining ports with shore excursions. We had the best service and our housekeeping staff were professional and timely. The food was absolutely delicious. Even if you don't indulge in the slightly more expensive restaurants, the Garden Cafe buffet has so many options that changes every meal and the Indian section was especially good. The Manhattan Room is also complimentary and just as delicious if you desire more of a slow tempo meal. The entertainment options were excellent. We particularly enjoyed Choir of Man and the Beatles Invasion in the main theater. There are plenty of options for all age groups. My wife and I indulged in the pass for the thermal spa for the week. This was the best decision we made since it's a much more zen vibe from the rest of the boat and our skin had never been happier. We did shore excursions 3 out of the 4 days and were very pleased with these experiences overall. We were sad to leave as we had such an enjoyable and relaxing time. read more

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