Norwegian Encore Review
Beautiful ship, great first cruise experience for family of 5
Rating by category
Additional details
Our family of five just got home from a 7 day cruise Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Encore over the New Year holiday. My wife and I have 3 kids: 14, 11, and 9 and this was our first cruise as a family. The still very new Encore is absolutely beautiful and overall everyone in our crew had a great time.
Dining: We loved the variety of options available on the ship and the flexibility of the “freestyle dining” concept to eat when and where we wanted. I would recommend making reservations ahead of the cruise if possible.
Included dining: The Garden Café is the main buffet and we ate there for breakfast/lunch most days. The food was generally pretty good and I particularly enjoyed trying the different foods prepared at the “Taste of India” section. The desserts and sweets were also particularly good. We also tried all three of the table service dining options: The Manhattan Room, Taste, and Savor. These were also excellent and though the menus are somewhat limited in selections, we all found something we liked.
Cabin Review
Family Oceanview with Large Picture Window
The Family Oceanview with Large Picture Window was the only real option we could find that would fit all five of us in the same room and it worked out well. There was a king size bed, a couch that converted into a double bed, and a twin bed that dropped down from the ceiling. The bathroom was a good size and there was plenty of storage for, which was a pleasant surprise. We were on the 5th floor where all of the kids clubs are located.
Port Reviews
Tortola
We only got off the boat for a little to visit the very nice shopping area that is adjacent to the dock. There are plenty of restaurants and bars, coffee chops, etc. as well as a variety of shops (a ton of jewelry stores).