I was on the maiden voyage of Norwegian Encore from Southampton England to New York.

The ship is the last in a group that started with Breakaway...I sailed twice on Breakaway but never really liked the ship chocking on second hand smoke. On Encore they have pretty much corrected that, except I don't know about the promenade as it was always too cold and nasty to use the area. A North Atlantic crossing in November is NOT good. We had gail force winds and rain...the exterior of the ship was pretty much no go most of the time so you really got a lot less for your money. They should said south to Lisbon, cross over to Bermuda and then North to New York so passengers get the full use of the ship. I was at the bow so it was rough in the gail...the balcony furniture was levitating like something out of Harry Potter and in the middle of the night the flying furniture was slamming into the glass doors and I was so terrified it would break the glass that I rushed over...slid the door open with great difficulty...the Gail and the wake from the bow was very sevier like Niagara...I was nude in the freezing rain on the 10th level grabbing furniture and staking it in the only corner that seemed to miss the wind...I had trouble pushing the door shut again and even then the wind was pushing through the seams. I was soaking wet and had to dry myself before going back to bed. Not what I expected at 81 years of age. The weather is not the fault of N.C.L. but the balcony furniture could perhaps be a bit heavier so it can't fly...I suspect some went into the sea.

My stateroom 10108 was the standard layout...it seemed more narrow than usual...No chair at the dest just a box to sit on. The "couch" which is really a day bed for jamming more passengers into the room is like sitting on a plank...not comfortable but the only option for watching T.V. news if you don't want to lay on the bed. Vanity poorly laid out...the desk area had a tray with coffee pot and mugs etc and no place to put your computer etc. the phone was out of reach...this area in this room did not function. The first rule of design is functionality...no matter how nice it looks it must function... The bed was great, the bathroom was great...the location was a bus ride from the elevators so I suggest allowing Uber to operate on the ship. Read more