Our multi-generational family of 12 ranging in ages 5-95 took our 2nd family cruise over Christmas on the Encore. Our first was 2 years ago on the RCL Oasis of the Seas. Overall we all enjoyed the cruise, but I felt it was a bit harder to enjoy this cruise as a larger family group versus individual family units. Other than that, the ship was beautiful and new with lots of Christmas decorations. We especially liked the Waterfront area when it wasn't too windy.

On the plus side, we had 5 balcony staterooms next to each other with one of them being an accessible room. None were connecting, but we at least were all together and it was nice to be able to glance at the door lights and see if they were 'home' or not. We ate two full group dinners together, one in Teppanyaki and one in the Manhattan room, both of which were wonderful. Other nights we had smaller groups eating in specialty restaurants or the main dining rooms. We had the 3 meal specialty dining packages and used our room´s for Teppanyaki, Los Lobos, and Food Republic. All were great, and we got a ton of food and great service at each place. It was also nice that my son(5) could order off the kids' menu at the specialty places, as like many kids, he's a bit picky.

The ship has a lot of different small areas and bars to explore and hang out in. Our family especially liked finding a couch area on the Waterfront and sipping mojitos and talking on a few of the sea days. Service was great overall and even at crowded bars it didn't take very long to get drinks. Our son loved the kids' aqua park and went down the kids' water slide countless times. He liked the arcade and kids' club (Splash Academy) though he only really wanted to go at night. We also didn't find it difficult to schedule shows or activities like some have complained about. The husband and I saw Choir of Man and LOVED it. My husband even went up and got a Heineken on stage with the guys before the show started. Other than that, we didn't go to other shows, though we had reserved tickets for Kinky Boots but decided to spend our last night on the ship soaking it all in. The only negative experience we had was when we couldn't do laser tag, because we didn't have closed-toed shoes. I was mad at the time, but they refunded us our money right away, so no harm no foul. Overall we had spent $375 onboard on top of our $200 onboard credit. A lot of it we spent in the arcade for our son, on his gratuities (ours were prepaid), the casino, Starbucks, Cocos, photos, and other souvenirs. Read more