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Norwegian Encore Cruise Review

Food – 4.5/5

The dining experience aboard the Norwegian Encore was excellent. The variety of restaurants and general dining options ensured there was always something delicious to enjoy. The service was fantastic, with a friendly and attentive crew making meals even more enjoyable. However, the lack of fruit selection was a noticeable downside. Additionally, late-night food options were limited, which was inconvenient for those wanting a bite after a show or a late evening at the bar.

Entertainment – 3.5/5

While there were plenty of entertainment options onboard, the music felt a bit dated, as if it were stuck in 2008. The comedy show at The Social Club was nearly impossible to get a seat for, so opting for the theater version is a better bet. Overall, the entertainment was enjoyable but could use some modernization and better crowd management for popular shows.

Internet & App – 2/5

The Norwegian app was frustrating to use and needs a major overhaul. The internet was unreliable, making it difficult to stay connected when needed. It would be helpful if the full itinerary were revealed prior to sailing, rather than passengers having to scramble to keep track of events throughout the trip.

Ports & Excursions – 3.5/5 • Puerto Plata: This stop was lovely! We opted for a cab ride to a nearby restaurant for fresh fish, and it was a fantastic experience. The restaurant was MIRAMAR in playa Dorada! MUST GO • St. Thomas: An absolutely stunning island. Magens Bay is 100% worth the drive – a must-see! • Tortola: The beach was beautiful, but the early port time (6:45 AM to 1:30 PM) felt rushed. Waking up that early on vacation isn’t ideal, and there wasn’t enough time to truly enjoy the destination. • Great Stirrup Cay: Cancelled due to strong winds. While safety comes first, the $40 onboard credit felt like a small consolation for missing a full port day. • Overall, the port days were inconveniently early, making it tough to enjoy each destination to the fullest.

Splash Academy (Kids’ Club) – 5/5

The Splash Club was fantastic! The staff was friendly, well-organized, and clearly loved working with kids. The activities were engaging, and children always left happy and excited. A big win for families onboard!

Pool Deck – 3/5

The pool deck was on the smaller side, making it difficult to find a good seating spot. Additionally, the pools themselves weren’t very big, which made them feel crowded, especially on sea days.

Rooms – 4/5

We stayed in a Junior Suite Balcony, and the size of the bathroom was a pleasant surprise—spacious and well-designed! However, the TV was tiny with limited movie selections, which wasn’t ideal for winding down after a long day. Room service breakfast was efficient, but they forgot the bento boxes we ordered. Our phone didn’t work for like two days, we had to go to guest services to request a new one . One small inconvenience: luggage tags should be left in the room instead of requiring passengers to go pick them up during the day—a minor hassle that could be easily fixed.

Disembarkation – 2.5/5

Getting off the ship was chaotic and exhausting. Long lines everywhere—to leave the ship, to retrieve luggage, to clear customs, and even to get picked up. Tipping the porters to carry your bags lets you skip the worst of the lines, which is worth considering to avoid the madness.

Final Thoughts – 3.8/5

Overall, the Norwegian Encore offers a great cruise experience with excellent dining, friendly service, and fantastic kid-friendly activities. However, there are a few areas for improvement, including port schedules, entertainment, internet connectivity, and overall organization. If Norwegian fine-tunes these aspects, it would make an already solid cruise experience...

The Norwegian Dawn cruise experience felt disorganized and disappointing in multiple ways. We've cruised with Azamara, Celebrity and Seabourn over the past 2 years and Norwegian ranks last from start to finish. Not recommended.

After booking, I was contacted by a Katie Pessl, who said she was our "personal cruise consultant" and offered to answer any questions. Yet, she never responded to the 4 emails I sent her asking the same simple question. She just forwarded my email - so I know she received it. I switched to customer service and they gave me the run around. Again, no answer. Disappointing. In my organization Katie would be let go. We received multiple emails asking us to view the ship's safety video. We both clicked the link and watched the video TWICE, yet those annoying emails continued every single day. We reserved a boarding time of 12:30 - 1pm and showed up at the port at 12:30 only to find total confusion. No Norwegian or port staff could tell us where to go to check in. Can you believe that? We kept asking and were incorrectly directed to passport control, who stamped our passports even though we were embarking, not disembarking! We finally got on board an hour after our time slot. Too many people responsible for helping us. Call the housekeeper for this, call the butler for that and call the concierge for that. Confusing and overly complicated. A total of 3 stops were cancelled and sea days substituted! 1 full day stop at Reunion Island was removed a few weeks before we departed, and 2 stops were cancelled during the cruise - 1 due to seas too rough for the tenders and 1 due to construction at the port in Madagascar. Horrible organization! Those problems should have been anticipated and a plan B put in place. We never missed a stop on any other cruise (when we had rough seas, an alternate port on the calm side was used). Food was subpar, for the price of the cruise. Multiple times we had dry buns and hamburgers or dry and tough Chicken dishes etc. Not fresh. Of Azamara, Celebrity and Seabourn cruises, Norwegian ranks last in food quality. No internet the last day on board in Port Louis Mauritius. We were told that Starlink doesn't allow their service in Mauritius. That should have been anticipated! Again, poor organization and planning.

Overall, I wouldn't book with Norwegian again, there are much better...

Took an Ireland Cruise in October. Storm caused an itinerary change which eliminated 3 stops on the west side. NCL substituted another day at sea (boring), 2nd day in Cobh (1 was more than enough), and added a stop in GreenCastle (small fishing town with no support for tourism at all). We had a mini-suite with a pull out sofa that was hard as a rock. After 4 days of telling them it was very uncomfortable, they finally brought a foam twin mattress to put on top of it. Excursions were overpriced and most not worth taking. Most of the shows were lame including a tribute to Burt Bacharach where they sang the theme to the movie "The Blob". Luckily they announced it was the last performance of the show so nobody else will have to be subjected to such a ridiculous performance. Many events on the ship cost extra fees (wine/liquor/chocolate tastings, bingo, etc) while constantly pandering extra goods and services to you during the entire cruise. Drink packages are extremely overpriced and all guests must opt-in even if only one wants it. All purchases come with a 20% gratuity built in. Better to buy individually even though you will pay $5.20 for a can of soda. They also don't allow you to bring any drinks onboard. Ports that required tinder boats were unorganized and took hours to get off the ship. No frills accommodations included 1-ply toilet paper. However the food was good but the upscale restaurants available for an extra charge were not worth it. We also made the mistake of booking travel through NCL. Air Canada flights scheduled had no seats assigned and ended up costing an additional $100 per person for standard seats. Every flight was also an hour to 2.5 hours delayed and they missed some luggage on the connecting flight back. The only highlight was an onboard band called The Excel which...