


The casino is often the heart of the nightlife on cruise ships because of the whirl and buzz of slot machines, large bar areas, and/or groups cheering alongside the lucky craps and roulette players. So for those who like to by the one off souvenir or luxury watch while at sea, the Encore will not disappoint. They were all very tidy, with a good selection of products and again, beautifully designed. An arcade style / mall style area filled with small shops selling just about anything you could imagine. The shopping experience is as expected on the NCL Encore. Ncl Encore Review - One Of Norwegians Most Beautiful Ships 5 The Shopping Arcade on the Encore Overall the interior of the ship felt like you were inside a luxury Las Vegas hotel. It wasn’t the type of material that was going to recover easily from a good cleaning or steaming! Very unfortunate. My concerns quickly became reality when I saw a sofa rapidly destroyed with spilled drinks and food. It’s as if the designers didn’t consider the abuses that furniture and fixtures get on cruise ships. While much of the furnishings and common area decor was amazing, you could tell it was made of material that was not going to wear well over time potentially leading the beauty of the ship becoming quickly tarnished. There is a caveat to the amazing aesthetic though – the material choices. Having been on all types of cruise ships from luxury to basic older ships, I can say the interior of the NCL Encore is absolutely stunning! The design elements and color choices are top notch and some of the best I’ve seen in the 20+ years of cruising. I found this itinerary change quite annoying, however, for me, the circumstances of being in Europe and needing to get back to the USA regardless if it were by ship or plane made the trip still worth it (considering airfare was about the same price).

HUGE BUMMER! However, they offered to credit the 3 days pro-rated (as expected) and then also threw in some onboard credits and an additional discount on the overall trip to sweeten the pot. The itinerary was nice for a transatlantic cruise including a stop in Madeira Portugal (LOVELY!) and a day in NYC with a final destination of Miami.įast forward a few weeks and I get a disconcerting email from NCL saying they are going to cut 3 days off the cruise, skip Madeira and stop in NYC, not Miami. This was perfect as I had plans to be in Europe during October anyway and head back to the gulf coast in November. The Norwegian Epic was due to depart Southampton England at the end of October headed to Miami. ( Read more about cabin selection on transatlantic cruises here) The itinerary for the NCL Encore Maiden Voyage Keep in mind, that some of these packages do not include gratuities and you’ll be in for a little surprise during checkout. So after about 15 minutes, we were fully booked with NCL on the maiden transatlantic voyage of the Encore!īecause the pricing was compelling it was a no brained to select a premium location balcony cabin along with the “Free At Sea” promotions of the drinks package (UBP), WiFi at sea, and a dining package for 3 nights of specialty restaurants. The best thing about the NCL website is they make all the “Free At Sea” promotions available immediately to online customers whereas some cruise lines make you call and talk to a cruise specialist to secure various promotions. Once on the NCL booking engine, we were able to quickly find information on the inaugural Encore cruise with pricing and cabin selection only a few clicks away. However, booking a group or multiple cabins it’s always best to use a cruise travel agent to secure the best pricing, discounts, and upgrades! The booking process online with NCL is one of the easiest of all cruise lines, with their straightforward pricing, discounts, and packages all clearly visible and outlined. I had originally wondered why there wasn’t much news surrounding the launch of a huge new cruise liner like there usually is with other cruise brands and I quickly realized that the excitement was muted because it’s basically a twin of the Norwegian Bliss. Knowing the risks and knowing that NCL usually manages problems pretty well when things don’t go as planned, we jumped on the chance to be one of the first people to sail on The Encore. The Norwegian Encore was launched in November 2019 to relatively little fanfare but because it is a new ship, we couldn’t resist booking the inaugural voyage from Southampton to Miami New York City.įirst and foremost, there are risks in booking a maiden voyage with just about any cruise line ( read this interesting article).
