Coming November 17
Norwegian Encore Review Video
Watch our mini-review video of Norwegian Encore
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Norwegian Encore: Mini-Suite Walkthrough and Review
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Well worth the upgrade
Overall, we felt the Mini-Suite on Norwegian Encore was well worth the extra money for the upgrade from a standard Balcony Stateroom. The main difference is the size of the bathroom. The dual sink setup along with the very roomy glass-enclosed shower is worth the upgrade.
Our Mini-Suite (12786) was located on Deck 12, very near the forward staircase/elevators and was perfectly situated. It was very easy to get to the Observation Lounge on Deck 15, or any of the popular venues on decks 6 thru 8.
The Mini-Suite is 249 sq. ft. (compared to about 213 for a balcony stateroom) with a 49 sq. ft. balcony.
We really liked the sliding balcony door as opposed to the hinged door used by Carnival. Also, the closet doors are dampered so that they close quietly.
There are very few drawers in the stateroom, which means fewer drawers to be slammed shut in a neighboring stateroom to wake you up at midnight when your neighbors come in from a pub crawl. There are two large drawers in the bathroom, but they are also dampered for silent closing.
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There is plenty of storage throughout the Mini-Suite, mostly with shelves. However, there are two huge drawers under the sofa (as long as you don’t have the sofa bed configuration).
We were very pleased with the Mini-Suite and can highly recommend it.
To watch our video walk through, click here.
A Visit To Great Stirrup Cay
Norwegian Encore makes a visit to Great Stirrup Cay
A Private Island Oasis
November 19, 2019 - This morning, Norwegian Encore is anchored offshore from Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas.
Every day should start with a good cup of coffee. And, our last day aboard Norwegian Encore started well with breakfast at Taste, one of the three main dining rooms. Our waitress greeted us with an extensive breakfast menu.
Rickee ordered a starter of grapefruit and orange. We both ordered Mimosas, which were excellent.
grapefruit and orange starter
For breakfast, Rickee ordered the Eggs Benedict and I ordered two poached eggs with a side of bacon and sausage. On both orders, the eggs were perfectly cooked. However, service was very slow. The food was just not coming out of the galley in a timely manner. It took us an hour-and-a-half to eat breakfast, and the dining room was not full. I am confident that as the ship and crew mature, these issues will be resolved by the time the ship begins normal operations.
eggs benedict
After breakfast, we waited until all of the pre-booked tender rides to the island had been called and open tendering began. Large double-decker island tenders are used to shuttle guests from the ship to the island. The tender ride only takes about 10 minutes.
tender to great stirrup cay
When we arrive at Great Stirrup Cay (as we have done several times before) we are greeted by beautiful beaches, lot of loungers, some local shopping stalls and plenty of warm Bahamas sunshine. As part of our media tour, we were invited to view the villas now on offer to NCL guests.
The villas are available in one and two-bedroom configurations and look like small, luxury hotel rooms. The villas have a refrigerator, dining table, air conditioning, full bathroom with walk-in shower and bedroom with queen-sized bed. The expansive front porch is covered and has loungers and chairs, all with a beautiful view of the beach. And, the beach is within easy walking distance from the villas. Pricing for the villas start at $349 per day.
A Moet & Chandon cabana nearby offers a wide variety of champagne and other cocktails (not included).
beaches are never far away on great stirrup cay
Click to watch video
Once back onboard Norwegian Encore, we decide to enjoy a late lunch at American Diner, one of the alternate (not included) dining venues. American Diner is on Deck 17 aft and offers a real 1950’s diner feel.
Have lunch in a chevy
The menu features typical diner fare: fried chicken, seafood, burgers and sandwiches along with a variety of side dishes. I ordered the cheeseburger ($11) and Rickee ordered the French Dip ($10).
cheeseburger at american diner
My cheeseburger was cooked perfectly to order (medium) and the fries were hot. The burger was good, but I would like to know if it is that much better than the free burger I could get at The Local (Deck 7). There was not enough time on this trip to do a comparison. Rickee’s French Dip, however, fell short of expectations. It was a roast beef sandwich, but with a chopped beef instead of sliced. It also had a very high bread-to-meat ratio.
French dip at american diner
One thing we did notice is that the milkshakes offered here looked every bit as good as those served in CoCo’s, and they are $4 instead of $12! So, if you want a milkshake, go to American Diner.
Tonight, we were invited to Kinky Boots, one of Norwegian Encore’s two major production shows. We arrived at Encore Theater early and got good seats on the fifth row, center section. Honestly, there are no bad seats in the theater. The seats are comfortable, and there are drink holders. However, the drink holders are too small to hold a wine or champagne glass, so glasses had to be put on the floor under the seats. I am surprised this design flaw made it off the drawing board.
We do not have any photos or video of the show out of respect for the copyright laws. However, the show was very well produced and choreographed. I counted more than 24 members of the cast, so this is a big production for a cruise ship. The show ended with the cast being given a standing ovation.
After the show, we found our way to Onda by Scarpetta for our 9:30pm dinner reservation. Onda is an Italian-themed specialty restaurant with an a la carte menu. The menu offers a variety of interesting Italian specialties, including pizza. Our waitress greeted us with a basket of delicious fresh breads. I ordered a Beef Short Rib with Farro Risotto starter while Rickee chose the Yellowtail Crudo.
Beef Short rib with farro risotto
The short rib starter was excellent, and would have been a very good main course. Rickee’s Yellowtail Crudo was good, but lacked flavor. For our main course, I ordered the Veal Chop Milanese-Style ($39), a pounded and breaded veal chop served with a salad. Rickee ordered the Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil.
My veal chop was huge, and quite good. However, Rickee’s spaghetti was overcooked and lacked flavor. Regardless of the food quality, the restaurant was so noisy that it was impossible to enjoy a meal here. Neither of us can recall ever being in a restaurant with crowd noise that loud. That alone would keep us from dining here again. There is outdoor seating available, so if weather permits, that might be the best choice. The restaurant was only half full of guests, and still very noisy. Apparently, it is just poor acoustics. It was so uncomfortable we did not even stay for dessert.
Well, that pretty much concludes our three days aboard Norwegian Encore. Tomorrow we will disembark and fly back to Dallas. Watch for our cruise vlogs and final review of Norwegian Encore.
A Day At Sea
A trip to The Norwegian Encore Speedway is the highlight of today’s activities.
A busy day at sea
My morning begins at 5:30am in the Observation Lounge on Deck 15. This is the perfect spot to do my blogging and go through my photos and video footage from the previous day. The WiFi service on Norwegian Encore is very good for a cruise ship. I did, however, pay the additional $9.95 per day for the Premium Internet plan which allows for streaming video. The Observation Lounge has a continental breakfast and coffee machines. Actually, the coffee is pretty good for a cruise ship (ships are notorious for having bad coffee).
OBSERVATION LOUNGE BLOGGING STATION
After my blogging duties, Rickee and I joined a group of other media and social media guests for a guided tour of The Haven, Norwegian Encore’s beautiful upscale private areas. Guests staying in The Haven enjoy a private lounge, private dining room, a private pool, stateroom upgrades and many other special amenities. If you are willing to spend the extra money, The Haven is definitely the way to travel.
Private pool for guests in the haven
After our visit to The Haven, we took a self-guided tour of some of the ship’s many staterooms which were open for media and travel agents to view. I think our favorite was the aft-facing Haven Suite. I also found the Studio staterooms to be quite innovative. At only 99 sq. ft., these are designed for a single traveler and I could see me in one of these when I was in my 20s. A clever monitor mounted next to the bed serves as a virtual window and simulates the view from outside the ship. Very cool.
STUDIO STATEROOM
Next, it was time to visit the Norwegian Encore Speedway, a go cart track located on Deck 18.
Our group of 10 drivers were first brought into the Pit area where we watched a brief safety video. After being seated in our go carts, we were fitted with proper helmets and strapped in with a seat belt. The “ride” only lasted about 5 minutes, or maybe 3 full laps around the course.
Once all of the vehicles are on the track, the electric go-carts are allowed to accelerate. Even though they are electric, they are fitted with a sound system to replicate the sound of a “real” engine. The go-carts actually go pretty fast and the track is full of curves. There is an accelerator and a brake and you have some control over the speed. When you let off the “gas”, the go-cart slows down very quickly. And, if you are fast enough, you can pass and lap other drivers.
I think it is safe to say that the Speedway was probably the most fun activity we have experienced on any cruise ship. The cost is $15 per person, per ride. You can purchase a $199 week-long pass that also gives you VIP access to the Speedway. I suspect the lines will be very long, so the VIP pass might be worth it if you plan to visit here often. I don’t know if our 5-minute/3-lap ride is typical or not. Should we sail on Norwegian Encore in the future, this would be the first activity we would sign up for.
Click to watch video
After our invigorating go-cart experience, we visited The Manhattan Dining Room for a special luncheon for media and social media influencers. The Manhattan Dining Room is one of the three main dining rooms on Norwegian Encore. Guests are welcome to dine here for breakfast, lunch and dinner and all meals are included in your cruise fare. The menu at lunch and dinner changes each day. However, our luncheon featured a unique tasting menu of items from some of the ship’s specialty ‘a la carte’ dining venues served “family style”.
The Thai Steak and Noodle Salad along with the Shitake and Water Chestnut Dumplings from Food Republic were my personal favorites of the entire meal.
After lunch, we went back to our mini-suite and enjoyed some time on our balcony. The sun was finally starting to come out, so we did not want to miss it.
We made a quick visit to the casino to make a donation but actually did pretty well. The casino is huge with lots of table games and slot machines. After taking NCL for about $50, we decided to spend some of it at CoCo’s Chocolate Shop. We each ordered one of their signature milkshakes, which were good, but a little pricey at $12 each!
CoCo’s Chocolate Shop also offers a variety of ice cream sundaes, crepes and sweet treats. Rickee ordered the Banana Praline milkshake and I ordered the Cookies and Cream. Both were good, but far from the best milkshakes we have ever had. Honestly, there is more style over substance here. After you get past the fancy straw, mountain of whipped cream and caramel drizzle, it is a basic chocolate milkshake.
After ice cream, we figured there was no way we were going to be able to eat dinner tonight so, instead, we decided to look for a spot to enjoy a cocktail. As luck would have it, we popped into The Social just as a comedy show was about to begin. We found a couple of seats and enjoyed an excellent comedy show by Rob Little.
After the show, Mr. Little greeted guests outside to shake hands and take photos. That is something I don’t recall seeing any other comedians do.
After the show, it was time for a nightcap. We headed up to Deck 15 and to Observation Lounge, which was basically empty. We sat in some very comfortable chairs at the front of the lounge. Rickee ordered a Lemon Drop Martini and I had my signature whiskey, neat.
lemon drop martini
Whiskey
Today was a busy day and tomorrow Norwegian Encore will be anchored off the coast of their private island. More to come!
Embarkation Day
We spend our first day aboard the brand new Norwegian Encore
November 17, 2017 - This afternoon we boarded NCL’s newest and largest ship to date, the brand new Norwegian Encore. Our Uber driver drove us from Miami International to the pier without incident and as soon as we pull up next to Encore, we can see just how huge this ship really is. The embarkation process is surprisingly quick and smooth, even though the ship is fully booked.
We had our stateroom keys and were getting our embarkation photos taken within 10 minutes of being dropped off at the pier. We boarded the ship on Deck 7 and immediately headed down one flight of stairs and made our way to the Library where we found the Media Check-In desk. We were given our media packets and a schedule for the next three days.
After obtaining our media packet, we decided to drop our carry-on luggage in the stateroom then grab some lunch. Our first attempt at lunch was to visit The Local, a pub/restaurant on Deck 7. There are a couple of different entrances to The Local, and where we entered, we did not see any hostess station, so we found an open table and sat down. After waiting several minutes with no waiter showing up with menus, I decided to walk around the restaurant and soon discovered that if you enter from the other direction, there is a hostess station and that you have to be seated by a host/hostess.
I could see there were several people in line waiting to be seated, so we decided not to wait and just find another place to dine. We headed up to Deck 17 aft to try out American Diner. By now, it was 2pm and when we arrived, there was another large crowd of guests waiting to be seated, and we were told that they close at 2:30pm. Finally, we walked forward to Garden Cafe, the ship’s massive buffet restaurant.
We found a station serving Asian cuisine and both tried the fried rice and Ginger Beef, both of which were good, but only lukewarm. A return to the station found the winning dish, a bowl of Udon Noodle Soup with pork broth (also offered with vegetable broth). This was made to order and super hot and very good.
Udon Noodle Soup with Pork Broth
After lunch, we went back to our stateroom to shoot a video of the stateroom (posted soon to our YouTube channel). By the time we finished our stateroom video, it was time for the mandatory muster drill. The drill took about 30 minutes and guests are not required to take life vests to the drill. In fact, we never found any life vests in our stateroom.
After the muster drill, we tried to find a lounge to have a cocktail, but all of the bars and lounges were packed. We finally landed at the Skyline Bar, which is located in the Casino. It was not quite as busy there. Rickee had a mojito and I had a glass of sparkling wine, which was quite good. We also obtained two bottles of water from the bartender.
The NCL PR department hosted a cocktail reception for the media and social media influencers at Vibe Beach Club at 6pm.
At the reception, we had an opportunity to meet with NCL’s new CEO for some informal discussion. It was unusually cold on the outer decks. In fact, I don’t ever recall it being in the 50s in Miami. So, after about 30 minutes, we said goodbye to our hosts and headed back indoors to have our evening meal at Q Texas Smokehouse. The atmosphere at Q definitely resembles a Texas BBQ joint, with which we are quite familiar. The menu includes a wide variety of smoked meats and side dishes.
I ordered the Pitmaster Platter, which included brisket, pork ribs, jalapeno/cheese sausage and smoked chicken. I found the meats to all be good. In fact, I will say it is probably the best BBQ I have had on any cruise ship. The side dishes, however, were hit and miss. The pinto beans had a chili powder flavor that made them more like ranch-style beans. The coleslaw was good, but I thought the potato salad needed smaller chunks of potato. The jalapeno cornbread was good.
We tried two different desserts. The banana pudding comes in a jar and is piled high with baked meringue, which is the proper way to top off banana pudding (not with whipped cream). However, the pudding itself had an unusual taste that Rickee nor I could identify. At one point, I thought it tasted a little like bubble gum. Weird, huh? The peach cobbler was a real dud. Sorry. Our table mates (who also happen to be our next door neighbors onboard) had the chocolate brownie with ice cream, which is served in a small skillet. They loved it.
Dining at Q is not cheap. The Pitmaster Platter was $25, possibly more than you would pay for a similar platter at a Texas BBQ restaurant. Our favorite BBQ restaurant in Dallas has All You Can Eat for $21.95 and that includes dessert and side dishes!
Nevertheless, dining here is an experience and one that BBQ lovers should definitely try when sailing aboard Norwegian Encore.
pitmaster platter at q texas smokehouse
Our final activity of the evening was a visit to Galaxy Pavillion, the ship’s Virtual Reality game room. Here you will find a variety of virtual reality “rides”. This was our first time to try virtual reality and it was really cool. Our first ride was a roller coaster. We are each given virtual reality goggles to wear which display the 3D video. As the video plays, the vehicle you sit in will move on all axis’ giving you the “reality” sensation. It was real enough that after a couple of roller coaster rides, I was feeling a little queasy.
Rickee tried the hang glider VR ride and said it was very realistic, and scary. We tried about six rides in all and can see how this will be a very popular venue on Norwegian Encore. If you cruise with your kids, you can bet they will spend many hours in this place.
rickee tries out the hand glider vr ride
Well, that about sums up our first day aboard Norwegian Encore. Check our YouTube channel for our cruise vlogs which we hope to be posting soon. More to come tomorrow!
