Norwegian Encore Review

4.5 / 5.0
426 reviews

Nice ship for a Bahamas weekend

Review for the Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Encore
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Best Life
10+ Cruises • Age 50s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service

Additional details

Sail Date: Feb 2020
Cabin: The Haven 2-bedroom Family Villa with Balcony
2 bedroom Haven on the Pearl 14006, second bedroom didn’t use it but it s
2 bedroom Haven on the Pearl 14006, balcony is a nice size for coffee or a
2 bedroom Haven on the Pearl 14006, master bathroom
O’ Sheehans’s pub, foods pretty good the bar tender And crew were the b
Haven only fitness
Haven sauna
Haven pool/courtyard with one very small hot tub. Deck 14
2 bedroom Haven on the Pearl 14006, entry foyer when you come into the suit
2 bedroom Haven on the Pearl 14006, butler set up breakfast in our room for
Haven cabin hallway
All 4 Elevators that come up to the Haven
Haven stairway going down to food and bars With key card access only
The Pearl, Great Outdoors dining area on aft of ship
2 bedroom Haven on the Pearl 14006, balcony at night

This was our 39 th cruise, 8th NCL, 6 th Haven. I read the reviews before booking and didn’t have high expectations however I did expect more being in the Haven. Let me start by saying when arriving at the port there were no Haven reps so we got in the very long security line while my husband went up to find someone to ask, about 15 mins later he came and got us and a guy took us through the security (we just did this in Miami 3 weeks prior with no wait on the Encore as they had a kiosk booth) the. The man actually asked my husband for a tip! That was a first for us. We waited in there for another 20 mins and finally got escorted onto the ship. Our service from our Butler was wonderful and the staff in the area was great in that they greeted us by name when seeing us in the halls. The smaller ships allow for that personalized experience and we like that. We had a two bedroom next to the Haven pool which was fantastic in size even though it is dated a bit. The cabin should have been cleaner there was hair and other things indicating it wasn’t cleaned properly. I always bring Clorox wipes so I got to work however they seemed to clean throughout the rest of our cruise. The upper sun deck for the Haven was nice also really loved that. In general food was ok. This ship to us was great for a weekend in the Haven but our disappointment continued because we paid $2,900.00 for 2 people in a 2 bedroom for a 3 night cruise thinking we were getting some what of a Haven experience. This is not like any Haven I’ve been in. I realized we had to go to the restaurant for dinners but didn’t realize we had no way to get drinks but to go downstairs to the bars to get in line to get our drinks. For that price it’s a big deal! There’s no escort to shows or reservations, no concierge desks or even area for them just an ext. if you want to contact them. The private island had to be cancelled so we spent a day at sea, it happens but unfortunately we had planned to spend money so pre-paid $500.00 OBC as we reserved a villa at GSC also. Now that was canceled we had a credit and concierge confirmed we had to go and stand in a pretty long line at guest services to give us cash back said it could not be put back on the credit card we charged it with. We tried to spend it but the spa but it was booked and the shops didn’t have shirts or much with the Pearl logo on it. I felt sorry for the guest service team they were no stop dealing with people over this mess of giving us all cash back. So if I was to book this ship again because I really liked the itinerary I’d consider the Haven like this, you’re paying for a nice cabin and priority disembarkation, complimentary room service and you get to get the extra perks like drinks, and shore excursions credit per day, but I’ve seen NCL offering those with out Haven and is it worth the extra money since there’s no restaurant, no bar, no concierge desk, the Haven area is hard to access unlike other Havens I’ve been in with key card access. I would consider sailing this ship again if there were really good deals with the understanding I’ll be in long lines for everything (it was hard to get a drink) but never pay the Haven prices again, it’s just simply not worth it in my opinion

Cabin Review

The Haven 2-bedroom Family Villa with Balcony

Loved our cabin and our butler Rey but the cabin could have been cleaner. I don’t want to see other people hair in the sink and counters, tome that is not clean. One of the pillows did not smell clean.

Port Reviews

Key West

We enjoyed stopping here. Didn’t do a shore excursion because it was cold and the ship didn’t offer much.

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