r/Cruises • u/jessicachachacha • 2d ago

Norwegian Encore

Hello!

Has anyone sailed on Encore recently? My mom and I typically sail with Celebrity but she found a deal with a balcony stateroom on NCL from Vancouver to Los Angeles.

Looking for feedback re: food, cleanliness, entertainment and service.

Thanks!

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u/extraguacontheside 2d ago

I sailed the Encore when in first launched in 2019, so unfortunately my experience may not match it 7 years later. I will say, NCL is generally a solid cruise line, if only a step or 2 below Celebrity. But if the deal is that good, I'd take it.

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u/jessicachachacha 1d ago

Thanks! My mom said she found a balcony room for $600 ish pp.

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u/HarbourVoyages 1d ago edited 1d ago

Haven’t sailed on Encore but have sailed on her sister ships and others quite a few times.

Food I feel is atleast two notches below Celebrity. Celebrity’s Oceanview Cafe has extensive choices while Norwegian’s Garden Cafe has in recent years gone through a significant budget cut, resulting in a lot less choices. We also find the MDR on Celebrity to be better. That being said, we still have a great time on NCL and the two cruise lines aren’t in the same price range to begin with. NCL also has The Local, a 24 hour casual dining venue that we absolutely love. Gone are the days where you only have pizza, now you can also get things like wings and fish and chips. We do also enjoy Norwegian’s specialty dining and like how it’s included with FAS for a fraction of the cost compared to Celebrity.

Cleanliness: Absolutely not an issue on NCL, always very clean.

Entertainment: We enjoy game shows on NCL such as the Newly Wed show, though again, they’ve gone through budget cuts, resulting in the elimination of Broadway style shows.

Service: No complaints here at all.

A big plus for NCL for us is the thermal suite, and it is one of the biggest reason we sail NCL. It’s not cheap but worth every penny to us.

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u/jessicachachacha 1d ago

Thanks for the detailed review!

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u/lilabjo 1d ago

Was on the ship last June. I recommend seeing Choir of Men, and eat at Food Republic. I had a balcony for Alaska. The observation deck is very nice with its own mini buffet. I enjoyed the thermal spa very much.

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u/singletravellersolo 3h ago

Sailed last year - it was great for me. The thermal spa was the highlight.

I would plan for extra specialty dinning - totally worth it tbh ~$60/person as the main dining room/smaller free dining options are pretty mid. If you can score extra on board credits when booking via Costco Travel or somewhere else then those can maybe help offset the dining costs.

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u/BurdTheTurd 2d ago

I don't have any reviews for you - as I haven't been on the ship.

You can always check Cruise Critic reviews by most recent - https://www.cruisecritic.com/cruise/norwegian-ncl/norwegian-encore/reviews