Bonobochick

The cruise I've been eyeballing jumped from $597 to $1595 today. 🤯

@JamieLogical I am not sure about steady as my upcoming Caribbean cruise had prices sky rocket in the last few hours. 😵 I'm talking a $1,000+ jump in every category. 

2 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

I love how your review is totally opposite what someone else just posted. So confusing what to believe!

I'm not sure why it's confusing. Different people have different experiences. I think every review should be taken with a grain of salt because experiences + reactions won't be the same firsthand vs what you read from someone else's viewpoint. 

Thanks for your post, OP.

I'm iffy on Encore already. I'm still weighing if I want to sail on her for the Bermuda cruises from NYC this year or skip this year for a land based summer vacation. I had a friend who was on this sailing as well wit her family, so I got her thoughts on the good & the bad regarding the ship. She mostly had a good time though she didn't think the sailing without out flaws which is fine since IMO you can still have a good time on a cruise and also admit that the sailing isn't perfect.

I appreciate the positive + negative reviews on here as they give different perspectives and that matters. I also don't believe you should only post if you had a positive experience. I hope your next NCL cruise is better / less frustrating 😎

32 minutes ago, detroitlions said:

The special restaurants were all good except the Mexican one that was real bad.

 

I liked Los Lobos for the most part on my Dec cruise, esp the guac made table side. The only complaint I had were the entrees. I thought both times I went that they were terrible and I left comment card notes on them at the end. I don't think I've have a more flavorless enchilada in my life. 😵 But the soup, appetizers, sides, and desserts I had were yummy IMO.

To me, Q had the more questionable food overall. My entree was fine but everything else was bland to bad and I love BBQ / southern comfort food in general. Q did its best to change my love to hate. 

I liked the Bliss. i sailed on her in December 2019 and enjoyed the cruise.

The only issue I had was with the buffet & The Local feeling cramped (esp compared to Escape).

28 minutes ago, electro said:

No it doesn't.

Your place of residence doesn't have to be the same place that your passport is issued. 

I lived in the US for 4 years but have a Canadian passport.

Then in that case, you provide additional documentation. Would it be far fetched that others in situations similar to yours in this scenario would then do the same?

15 minutes ago, onetimearoundtheworld said:

Banning people because of their passport regardless of the fact if they even have been to an affected country.

I get the point you're trying to make but in this case, they're carrying passports from countries affected which means their residence is in affected countries. 

Royal Caribbean Bans All Passengers Holding Passports From China, Hong Kong, Macau

https://gothamist.com/news/royal-caribbean-bans-all-passengers-holding-passports-china-hong-kong-macau

I enjoyed the mango smoothie with rum, 🤩 but otherwise I wasn't really a Margaritaville partaker. 

American Diner strikes me as The Local but at an extra cost. Guess I'll see next time I'm on the Bliss (which may be a while with NCL's current ludicrously high prices to sail out of NYC) 

17 minutes ago, blcruising said:

I see. I assume they pay the DSC and then you assume they don't. Interesting line of logic, there.

As someone who budget cruises on NCL - which I guess classifies me in the derisive titled "bottom feeders" group - I've never once removed my DSCs. The implication of that generalization of budget cruisers is gross. 

And I should've quoted @MoniMommy  but trying to fix it is more of an irritation than I feel like handling.

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

Good luck to NCL filling its Bermuda runs this Apri, what I consider "crazy" prices for 4 days and 5 days round-trip ... 

For sure. I've done about a dozen of the Bermuda 7-day sailings solo from NYC the last 6-7 years. The studios on the Encore sailings are averaging $2100 [without the drinks perk + gratuities option]. That's a hard pass for me. The 4 & 5 day sailings prices are equally ludicrous. 

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

I know that last month on the Gem (and accordingly, on the Bliss,) before the coronavirus outbreak - NCL has managed to partner with overseas T/A to sell some of the cabins in bulk to bring in large groups of overseas Chinese cruisers.  However, I would be bracing for no-shows and cancellations in the coming weeks (if not months) from those abroad, even if no refunds are offered & they didn't obtain cancel for any reasons insurance.  NCL might just come up short with their fixed labor costs, including those high flying DSC - especially if 10% or 15% of the cabins remain empty and unsold - not to mention additional onboard spendings

I will be curious to see how this plays out for NCL. I've noticed an increase in the bulk cabins sales groups on my last few cruises, especially when I've been at the buffet.   

I see the 30% off sale has returned to increase "discounted fare" prices again. All the NYC cruises I've been watching went up from the mega sale. 

BBC World News and mostly soccer channel too (primarily Premier League & Bundesliga) .

Also, on my December Bliss cruise, channel 19 alternated between the weather channel and special sports programming like NBA & NFL games. 

Most of the NYC departing cruises I've been looking at went up within a $10 range with this new sale from the 30% off sale. 🙃

On 1/17/2020 at 10:04 PM, marktwothousand said:

Ya, prices too high. Still OK for solo travelers but only in studio cabins.

Not even then, IMO. Encore Bermuda cruises this summer, even studios are priced at around $1700 at the cheapest before taxes, fees, and any gratuities. Same Escape cruises in 2019 were like $950 for a studio.

I got Escape 7-day Bermuda solo balcony deals twice last year for $599 each. I highly doubt studios will go below $1500 at this point. I saw NCL charging almost $1100 for a 4-day Bermuda cruise studio from NYC. Nah. 

I was on this cruise and I don't have pics but I can confirm prices went up. Items I used to see at $7 / $8 are now $11 / $12. The Carrot Halwa went up to $7. Sushi is around $12. IIRC, Ramen is $16 or $17 now.  

One thing that caught my eye was I dined at Food Republic on 3 different Escape cruises in 2019 (I noticed the price creep on my Sept 2019 cruise) and the final time in 2019 on this Bliss cruise and the portions seemed noticeably smaller. I had the SDP on allmy 2019 cruises so it covered up to 4 items at Food Republic but still. Paying more for less is not a good thing. 

Doesn't seem like any of the latitudes 20% cruises are sailing out of NYC

I tendered in St Lucia once on the Gem a couple of years ago. It was fine in the morning. The issue was long lines at the end of the day to get back to ship 

The 2020 Encore Bermuda cruises continue to be ludicrously priced. Almost $1600 pre taxes & fees for a 7 day studio cabin. 🤯 

The 2021 Joy 7-day cruises to Bermuda are even higher (I tend to sail solo) with an inside $1776 before taxes & fees. 

Of course this 30% off sale has been extended. The Bermuda "sale" prices are ludicrous. 

I was on the 12/1 Bliss cruise and the cars were running but not on the first day or last day that I saw. (high winds and/or snow & rain on those days on top of simply cold weather) 

I was on the December 1st sailing and I enjoyed it. I mostly kept to myself and didn't do a ton of activities but I did hit up some of the parties (in which I learned the glow party is now called Caliente) as well as the two big shows. I really enjoyed SIX. I thought Jersey Boys was fine though I laughed at the entry sign warning of "profane Jersey language" as if to split hairs on types of profanity. 

I didn't do the go-karts but I thought it looked cool (the guy running it told me $15 for eight laps). 

The garden cafe was challenge. Maybe I am spoiled from my Escape cruises this year but I found the layout a bit annoying and it was impossible for me to find a seat on embarkation day so I ate outside in the cold very quickly since there were seats available outdoors. It wasn't as bad once we got moving but the design of it makes it feel tight. I thought the same thing regarding Savor and The Local.

The Starbucks on board also charges 20% gratuity fee but you can use the Starbucks app to buy things there too, so that was nice.

Room really wasn't any different than the other mega ships (I had a balcony) though the Smart TV on Bliss is better IMO than TVs on other ships. 

The silent disco was fun. The 80s party was a blast on the pool deck. The 90s party ended up being in the atrium instead of the Spice due to weather but it was a lot of fun too.