Norwegian Encore – The Great Cruise Comeback Live

[njcate]

On 8/10/2021 at 11:18 PM, lks93 said:

We are booked on the Sept 4th Encore cruise to Alaska.  We are hoping to be able to see the Northern Lights.  We realize it is early... but fingers crossed.  Has anyone been on an Alaska Cruise in early September and seen the Northern Lights?

We were on the The Pearl 5 years ago Aug 28- Sept 3rd and spent most of the night til the early morning hours on deck enjoying the Northern Lights! 

[Cruiseaholic07]

8 hours ago, disneylover89 said:

Is this an excursion exclusive to 

It's exclusive to whichever cruise line you are on. However, if you are on NcL or RCL or whoever the only way to do it is through the cruiseline excursion 

[disneylover89]

6 hours ago, alohayall said:

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.

Sorry, I meant do other cruise lines also offer an excursion like this. 

I really wanted to do this excursion when we were supposed to sail in July 2020 but now thinking of booking with another cruise line after seeing the big changes  with the ship not docking in town in Ketchikan and Icy Straight. 

[BirdTravels]

48 minutes ago, disneylover89 said:

Sorry, I meant do other cruise lines also offer an excursion like this. 

I really wanted to do this excursion when we were supposed to sail in July 2020 but now thinking of booking with another cruise line after seeing the big changes  with the ship not docking in town in Ketchikan and Icy Straight. 

Ketchikan and Icy Strait were fine. Not an issue. By July 2020, no one would know the difference…. From The Bird who was actually there. 

[RumRunner2021]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

Ketchikan and Icy Strait were fine. Not an issue. By July 2020, no one would know the difference…. From The Bird who was actually there. 

Thank you. 

[aubreyc1988]

@BirdTravelsSorry if you answered this already, but what internet package did you have for this cruise? 

 

Is premium unlimited worth the upgrade? I don't plan to do any wifi calling, but was curious if speeds were faster for premium. 

[BirdTravels]

44 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

@BirdTravelsSorry if you answered this already, but what internet package did you have for this cruise? 

 

Is premium unlimited worth the upgrade? I don't plan to do any wifi calling, but was curious if speeds were faster for premium. 

Others can jump in to correct me, but my understanding is that the Internet “speed” is the same between the unlimited and premium unlimited. They just open the streaming ports. 
 

1) The Bird had the premium streaming package to make Wi-Fi calls home 

 

2) The Wi-Fi speed was “good” compared to other ships. It could be the reduced capacity onboard and the general demographic of cruisers (less “streamers” onboard). 
 

Over the week, The Bird uploaded over 7 GB worth of data via the ship’s Wi-Fi. And some when we were on terrestrial cell networks. As others have said, the cell service in Icy Strait and Ketchikan was really poor. Really poor. Unusable poor. 
 

Note: if anyone followed The Bird’s live post from Royal Caribbean’s first cruise, the Voom Wi-Fi on the Adventure of the Seas was awful. Almost unusable. And down for hours at a time. Too many vloggers on that cruise. The Encore, while still satellite Wi-Fi, was far superior to RCCL. 

Edited August 23, 2021 by BirdTravels

[aubreyc1988]

5 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Others can jump in to correct me, but my understanding is that the Internet “speed” is the same between the unlimited and premium unlimited. They just open the streaming ports. 
 

1) The Bird had the premium streaming package to make Wi-Fi calls home 

 

2) The Wi-Fi speed was “good” compared to other ships. It could be the reduced capacity onboard and the general demographic of cruisers (less “streamers” onboard). 
 

Over the week, The Bird uploaded over 7 GB worth of data via the ship’s Wi-Fi. And some when we were on terrestrial cell networks. As others have said, the cell service in Icy Strait and Ketchikan was really poor. Really poor. Unusable poor. 
 

Note: if anyone followed The Bird’s live post from Royal Caribbean’s first cruise, the Voom Wi-Fi on the Adventure of the Seas was awful. Almost unusable. And down for hours at a time. Too many vloggers on that cruise. The Encore, while still satellite Wi-Fi, was far superior to RCCL. 

Thanks. I figured the cell service in ports would be bad. I normally wouldn't buy internet on a cruise, as I do not plan to live review or anything, but I think my husband might like it and it's only 85.00, I surely spend way more in the Casino lol so trying not to be too cheap about it. Sounds like the extra money for premium is not worth it for what we would use it for, especially since same speeds. 

 

Did apps like facebook/facebook messenger/imessage texting work good and at a decent speed?

[BirdTravels]

31 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

Thanks. I figured the cell service in ports would be bad. I normally wouldn't buy internet on a cruise, as I do not plan to live review or anything, but I think my husband might like it and it's only 85.00, I surely spend way more in the Casino lol so trying not to be too cheap about it. Sounds like the extra money for premium is not worth it for what we would use it for, especially since same speeds. 

 

Did apps like facebook/facebook messenger/imessage texting work good and at a decent speed?

Apps worked at a decent speed. 
 

And if you are surfing the web, the ships have cache servers which pre-fetch links on pages so that when you click on them, you get near instantaneous response (gives you the illusion of having good internet speed). 
 

The cache server doesn’t help much when uploading hundreds of photos. 🙂

Edited August 23, 2021 by BirdTravels

[aubreyc1988]

12 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Apps worked at a decent speed. 
 

And if you are surfing the web, the ships have cache servers which pre-fetch links on pages so that when you click on them, you get near instantaneous response (gives you the illusion of having good internet speed). 
 

The cache server doesn’t help much when uploading hundreds of photos. 🙂

haha awesome, won't be uploading hundreds of photos, so should be good, thanks Bird

[greatestvalue]

On 8/20/2021 at 1:58 PM, BirdTravels said:

We're considering a Mexican Riviera cruise now that the 100% vaccination has been extended. 

Join us on the December 12 out of LA.  Would love to buy you a beer/wine/dinner what ever you want for the great trip report you did!

[Tradewinds4u]

1 hour ago, greatestvalue said:

Join us on the December 12 out of LA.  Would love to buy you a beer/wine/dinner what ever you want for the great trip report you did!

Ditto I will be on the Bliss for Nov 21st spending Thanksgiving on a Mexico Cruise no cooking bird but would gladly drink with one!!!

[BirdTravels]

2 minutes ago, Tradewinds4u said:

Ditto I will be on the Bliss for Nov 21st spending Thanksgiving on a Mexico Cruise no cooking bird but would gladly drink with one!!!

The Bird's last pre-pandemic cruise was Thanksgiving on the Encore. Everyone was trying to do fancy dinners in the specialty restaurants.... The Bird didn't want to be served bird in the MDR, The Bird wanted to "pile it on" like at home... The Bird picked the buffet and had a Thanksgiving Feast!

 

And... since it was the inaugural cruise of the Encore, they had a little something special on the buffet (snow crab and lobster claws)

[Baxter68]

I gotta say, I’m missing this thread! We don’t sail until October 16th and this gave me something to look forward to reading each morning! Thanks again for all the effort put into providing us all such useful information and insights! 

[poly3503]

On 8/7/2021 at 5:34 PM, BirdTravels said:

Go and get your test done early. They opened at 8:30 today. Then check out of the hotel and walk across the street. 

I just checked in for our 9/25 sailing. How do I pre-register for the test?

 

I LOVED your report. Thanks so much for taking the time to do it.

[graphicguy]

On 8/8/2021 at 12:39 PM, BirdTravels said:

BTW. Christina Bica is the Executive Host. She took a corporate gig a couple of years ago, but has been brought back to restart the Encore for a month or two. Her brother Adrian is the concierge. The pair have launched most of the new ships from the shipyard to inaugural voyages. (That’s why I said earlier that NCL has brought in some of their most senior and corporate department managers to ensure a successful restart.)

Thank you, Bird!  Don't know how I missed this review.  Adrian is the best of the best in regards to Concierges.  And, that's saying something, given NCL's wealth of excellent Concierges they utilize.

 

Good to hear he's stuck around.

[Shellbelle28]

@BirdTravels Can you recall the time of day that the VIP Cocktail Party (Haven Suites) and the Latitudes Party were scheduled? I'm trying to make sure I don't plan other activities when those are scheduled for our roll call on the Mexican Riviera Bliss cruise. I know they are completely different itineraries, but I'm wondering if the time slots might be consistent company-wide. We've got two sea days, Monday and Tuesday, so I may be WAY off base but the Events Coordinator is either not understanding the question I'm asking (twice the response has been to tell me the DAY the events are, but no time), or it's just not been scheduled to that detail yet. Anyway, your wisdom is appreciated!

[BirdTravels]

13 minutes ago, Shellbelle28 said:

@BirdTravels Can you recall the time of day that the VIP Cocktail Party (Haven Suites) and the Latitudes Party were scheduled? I'm trying to make sure I don't plan other activities when those are scheduled for our roll call on the Mexican Riviera Bliss cruise. I know they are completely different itineraries, but I'm wondering if the time slots might be consistent company-wide. We've got two sea days, Monday and Tuesday, so I may be WAY off base but the Events Coordinator is either not understanding the question I'm asking (twice the response has been to tell me the DAY the events are, but no time), or it's just not been scheduled to that detail yet. Anyway, your wisdom is appreciated!

Our latitudes party was on Day 2 (sea day) at 1:00 pm. 

Meet & Greets are usually around 10:00 am on the first sea day (Which always conflicts with the Platinum behind the scenes tours.)

 

We were not in the Haven on this cruise. Normally the Haven party is just before dinner time. 

 

 

[Shellbelle28]

23 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Our latitudes party was on Day 2 (sea day) at 1:00 pm. 

Meet & Greets are usually around 10:00 am on the first sea day (Which always conflicts with the Platinum behind the scenes tours.)

 

We were not in the Haven on this cruise. Normally the Haven party is just before dinner time. 

 

 

Thanks! Our meetup is the first sea day, and so far I've been told the Latitudes party is Day 2, so that tracks. And I do remember on our last cruise, the Haven party was cocktail hour later in the week. 

Edited September 17, 2021 by Shellbelle28

[aubreyc1988]

OH NO, my friend really wanted to do the platinum behind the scenes tour and I really want to go to meet and mingle too 😞 

[Shellbelle28]

1 hour ago, aubreyc1988 said:

OH NO, my friend really wanted to do the platinum behind the scenes tour and I really want to go to meet and mingle too 😞 

I *think* the behind the scenes tours haven't been happening since the "Safe Sail" protocols. Passengers are more segregated from crew.

[aubreyc1988]

24 minutes ago, Shellbelle28 said:

I *think* the behind the scenes tours haven't been happening since the "Safe Sail" protocols. Passengers are more segregated from crew.

makes sense 

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

OH NO, my friend really wanted to do the platinum behind the scenes tour and I really want to go to meet and mingle too 😞 

If you are cruising in the near future, they are not doing the BTS tours or the dinner with the officers. They don't want "dirty" passengers in the crew areas (COVID Bubble) or to be close to the officers in unmasked situations. 

[aubreyc1988]

4 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

If you are cruising in the near future, they are not doing the BTS tours or the dinner with the officers. They don't want "dirty" passengers in the crew areas (COVID Bubble) or to be close to the officers in unmasked situations. 

makes perfect sense! Makes the choice easy for me! 

[debenson0723]

8 hours ago, Shellbelle28 said:

@BirdTravels Can you recall the time of day that the VIP Cocktail Party (Haven Suites) and the Latitudes Party were scheduled? I'm trying to make sure I don't plan other activities when those are scheduled for our roll call on the Mexican Riviera Bliss cruise. I know they are completely different itineraries, but I'm wondering if the time slots might be consistent company-wide. We've got two sea days, Monday and Tuesday, so I may be WAY off base but the Events Coordinator is either not understanding the question I'm asking (twice the response has been to tell me the DAY the events are, but no time), or it's just not been scheduled to that detail yet. Anyway, your wisdom is appreciated!

The VIP party on the 9/4 Encore sailing was on our first sea day (Sunday) from 7pm to 7:45pm. I had to miss it because I had dinner reservations for Onda.