Norwegian Encore – The Great Cruise Comeback Live

[FAMILYCRUISER514]

With all the changes to the check-in protocol in Seattle due to Covid, does anyone know at what point Handicap Assistance become available.  I always got wheelchair assistance once arriving at the terminal in the past. TIA

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, FAMILYCRUISER514 said:

With all the changes to the check-in protocol in Seattle due to Covid, does anyone know at what point Handicap Assistance become available.  I always got wheelchair assistance once arriving at the terminal in the past. TIA

Request assistance from any of the port personnel. 

[ColoradoTravelGirl]

On 8/8/2021 at 6:06 PM, BirdTravels said:

OMG I am 100% getting one of those shakes, one day! AMAZING!

[nslatin]

Bird,  

Thanks so much for this excellent review.  We are looking forward to our trip on October 16-23rd, which will be the last of the season.  Hopefully they will have all the kinks worked out for the pre-cruise testing and the Ward Cove transportation.

 

We will also be flying down to LA and will be boarding the Bliss on the 24th.  I am loving that rumor of NCL swapping the Encore for the Bliss for the Mexican Riviera .  Almost a b2b.

 

Neal

[greatestvalue]

3 hours ago, nslatin said:

We are looking forward to our trip on October 16-23rd, which will be the last of the season. 

 

3 hours ago, nslatin said:

We will also be flying down to LA and will be boarding the Bliss on the 24th.  I am loving that rumor of NCL swapping the Encore for the Bliss for the Mexican Riviera .  Almost a b2b.

@nslatin - Are you getting off the Encore on Oct 23 and On the Bliss on Oct 24? 
 

Im supposed to be on the Bliss to Mexican Riveria Dec 12 and it was speculation they may swap out and after Birds review, I dont care which ship we go on they both seem to be amazing!!

But could they get the Enccore from Seattle to LA in 1 day for your 2nd cruise?

[purpleally]

On 8/9/2021 at 6:19 PM, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Curious, what makes you think that Veuve Clicquot is not part of the Premium Plus?  All over the NCL website for upgrading to Plus it states that it is.

https://www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/premium-plus-beverage-package.pdf

Delete

Edited August 18, 2021 by purpleally
Delete

[nslatin]

16 hours ago, greatestvalue said:

 

@nslatin - Are you getting off the Encore on Oct 23 and On the Bliss on Oct 24? 
 

Im supposed to be on the Bliss to Mexican Riveria Dec 12 and it was speculation they may swap out and after Birds review, I dont care which ship we go on they both seem to be amazing!!

But could they get the Enccore from Seattle to LA in 1 day for your 2nd cruise?

Yes that's what we are doing .  Flying from Seatac to Long Beach on the 23rd, and then boarding on the 24th.  Had FCC to use up.  I would be willing to lighten their load in Seattle and stay aboard, but that violates way too many regulations.

 

I don't think that they could get the Encore to San Pedro in time.  By my rough calculations it would be about 47 hours of hard cruising to get there.  I guess that puts that rumor to bed.  We agree, since we haven't sailed on the Bliss yet.

[BirdTravels]

So, to make the change of ships, they would have to cancel the last Alaska or first Mexican (probably the last Alaska)

[farsight]

On 8/14/2021 at 12:06 PM, SeaTacMike said:

Woop, read that wrong the first time.  No tax is collected while in any port other than the original embarkation port of Seattle which should be 10.1%

 

@SeaTacMike

 

Yo Mike,

 

Really jazzed for you and your Encore cruise. Let me know how you liked, "Choir of Man". I would like to discuss a couple of things with you. Send me an email at newk2b@yahoo.com if you so wish. We have watched videos of the Encore and WOW! You will have a fantastic time. I have a personal friend who is on the current sailing and she is LOVING it!

 

Leon

[BirdTravels]

On 8/12/2021 at 8:49 PM, joeflow80 said:

Love the photos, along with the rest of the thread. Did you do the small boat excursion into the Arm? It appears you were able to get quite a bit further than the big boat somehow. Can you confirm? We have this excursion booked next week, and my GF is still a little skeptical of the benefits of this trip.

 

On 8/13/2021 at 9:52 AM, Catbiri2 said:

 

Hi Bird,

 

Thank you for this tour of your vacation, I am loving every minute of it!

 

The tour where you got to see the ship about 1/2 down the Endicott Arm, is this a ship sponsored tour, and if so, what is it called / what port is it out of.

 

Thank you! I hope you are enjoying your adventure. I am looking forward to mine on October 2nd.

The Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer is one of the best shore excursions when sailing Alaska. If the weather and wildlife cooperate, you often see whales, eagles, seals, and the occasional bear. The small boat will stop for wildlife, take you up side fjords for spectacular views, and get you up close to the glacier. 

 

Just before the Encore leaves Juneau (round 1:15 pm), the shore excursion group sneaks down a crew stairway to the tender door and down onto the tour boat. You run out to the glacier, making stops along the way for photography, and join back up with the ship around 6:15 pm. We reportedly had just shy of a 100 onboard (probably a "reduced capacity" number). 

 

We were at the glacier when it caved three times with huge blocks of ice sheering away from the face of the glacier. 

 

[big al]

On 8/15/2021 at 4:50 PM, SeaHunt said:

Bird you must tell us how you always top your last greatest review? This is fantastic and even better than the last! 

 

Hopefully someone here was around in the 1960s and remembers this song because I'm dedicating it to our very much appreciated BirdTravels 🐦🐦🐦

 

Well everybody's heard about the bird !
Bird bird bird, the bird is the word !
 

Everybody's heard about the bird !
Bird bird bird, the bird is the word !
 

Don't you know about the bird?
Well everybody's heard about the bird !

Bird bird bird, the bird is the word !
Bird bird bird, the bird is the word ! Yeah !

 

 

Trashman ...1963..The Surfin Bird..hit # 4!!!

[BirdTravels]

NCL's official video from our cruise

 

 

[snorklinbarb]

Great video, Bird!  Thanks.

 

Your shorex photos were also wonderful!

 

Happy and safe sailing, wherever you go next!  

[ChiefMateJRK]

22 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

 

The Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer is one of the best shore excursions when sailing Alaska. If the weather and wildlife cooperate, you often see whales, eagles, seals, and the occasional bear. The small boat will stop for wildlife, take you up side fjords for spectacular views, and get you up close to the glacier. 

 

Just before the Encore leaves Juneau (round 1:15 pm), the shore excursion group sneaks down a crew stairway to the tender door and down onto the tour boat. You run out to the glacier, making stops along the way for photography, and join back up with the ship around 6:15 pm. We reportedly had just shy of a 100 onboard (probably a "reduced capacity" number). 

 

We were at the glacier when it caved three times with huge blocks of ice sheering away from the face of the glacier. 

 

That looks like a great Shorex!

[DanMartin8602]

On 8/18/2021 at 7:06 PM, BirdTravels said:

So, to make the change of ships, they would have to cancel the last Alaska or first Mexican (probably the last Alaska)

C'mon Bird. Don't even think that! We are finally going to do the Haven and now your Mojo hurts.

 

Dan 

[BirdTravels]

7 minutes ago, DanMartin8602 said:

C'mon Bird. Don't even think that! We are finally going to do the Haven and now your Mojo hurts. Dan 

Sorry... We'll keep watching the Bliss to see her make her way to San Pedro. She's been hanging in Italy lately. She has about 6 weeks to get to SoCal... somehow. We're considering a Mexican Riviera cruise now that the 100% vaccination has been extended. 

[Baxter68]

They can’t take the Encore because we are on the October 16th Alaska sailing!

[Cgrover]

On 8/14/2021 at 10:50 PM, QueenDoOver said:

Thank you Bird.  Sailing Sept 4th celebrating 20 years of marriage, sons graduation and turning 55.  Your report has gotten me very excited.

See you there!

[drvmywifecrzy]

Anyone know where the testing site is now?  Rumor was they were ditching the Marriot

[Cruiser021421]

7 minutes ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

Anyone know where the testing site is now?  Rumor was they were ditching the Marriot

Last week they did it at the Conference Center at the Cruise Terminal. It went fine from all accounts. The ship left Seattle on time.

[Sailing12Away]

There's a new live thread on the NCL boards from someone who is getting on the cruise this week. So keep peeking into there to see any new updates or changes from the first sailing: 

 

 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

Anyone know where the testing site is now?  Rumor was they were ditching the Marriot

They moved it to the terminal last week.

 

Moving testing to the terminal saves people from walking across the street, but does not help the test process. Logistically, it just causes a lot more people-congestion at the terminal with passengers disembarking, passengers dropping bags, passengers getting tested, and passengers checking-in all in one very tiny space. (Bell Street Terminal, after NCL's $50M renovation, is horrible on a good day, and now they are adding testing). 

 

There were two problems with testing for the first cruise. (1) Eurofins had multiple server crashes (it almost turns into a denial of service attack when 2600 passengers started hitting the "refresh" button on their phone looking for test results. (2) Eurofiins only had 12 general (and 2 special) test stations set up for 2600 passengers. Mathematically, they did not have the capacity to handle 2600 passengers, let alone the surge cause by passenger arrival times and server crashes. By way of comparison, Royal provided nearly 40 test stations for 1000 passengers for their first cruise. 

 

Week 2, they moved the testing to the terminal. There were fewer passengers on the second cruise. And I assume that they provided a lot more test stations. 

 

Let's see how this week goes. 

[disneylover89]

On 8/19/2021 at 5:23 PM, BirdTravels said:

 

The Tracy Arm Fjord & Glacier Explorer is one of the best shore excursions when sailing Alaska. If the weather and wildlife cooperate, you often see whales, eagles, seals, and the occasional bear. The small boat will stop for wildlife, take you up side fjords for spectacular views, and get you up close to the glacier. 

 

Just before the Encore leaves Juneau (round 1:15 pm), the shore excursion group sneaks down a crew stairway to the tender door and down onto the tour boat. You run out to the glacier, making stops along the way for photography, and join back up with the ship around 6:15 pm. We reportedly had just shy of a 100 onboard (probably a "reduced capacity" number). 

 

We were at the glacier when it caved three times with huge blocks of ice sheering away from the face of the glacier. 

 

Is this an excursion exclusive to NCL?

[Sailing12Away]

1 hour ago, disneylover89 said:

Is this an excursion exclusive to NCL?

My guess is yes since the tour boat has to tender back to the cruise ship. You don't leave from the dock and return to the dock. You return back to the cruise ship after it has left the dock and they stop in the middle of the water for you to get back on. They're not going to do that for multiple tour operators.

[alohayall]

4 hours ago, disneylover89 said:

Is this an excursion exclusive to NCL?

I read your question two ways: one would get the previous response, in not offered by independent tour operators.

 

The other, is whether you can do this excursion when sailing other cruise lines, then yes, I believe I have seen posts from cruisers on Disney do this Port Adventure in the past.

 

Your screen name made my think both ways.