LIVE from the ENCORE- Jan 28-Feb 4th

[BermudaBound2014]

Today was Puerto Plata. I’ve stayed here as all inclusive resorts many time so we had no real plans other than to see the spider monkeys. Hubby didn’t get to see them last year. But the weather has been pissy rain all day so we decided to stay on the ship.

 

Celebrity wins the complimentary coffee war. It’s a good thing because they just have one barista making orders in Javablue and the line just crawls along. I do not like the coffee on Encore at all, but Starbucks here had 4 baristas working this morning so the line flew. Truth be told, I’d rather have good complimentary coffee. 

 

We decided to watch Mission Impossible. We don’t get to see movies at home. It’s strictly a vacation indulgence for us. What a great movie. I may have cried again. 

 

Went to watch the rock band at the pool but it was easy listening (which makes sense for 2:30 at a family pool). We will come back for their rock set.

 

Finally made our way to the observation room. What a lovely room this is!! I can see this being very popular on Alaska sailings. Actually, It’s perfect right now with a cup of tea watching sail away.

 

In terms of internet, both ships are very fast. Celebration has starlink, but their server kept going down and I could not get it on cruise critic with any regularity. I think the internet is actually slower on NCL but it seems to work better and I can load Cruise critic with no problems at all so there’s that.

 

Sail away From a very cloudy Puerto plata…
 

[bakingbad3]

Thanks for the live blog! I will be boarding the ship a couple hours after you disembark on Sunday! Would love to get your recommendations on your favorite bartender, as well as where they’re from (so I can learn a couple key phrases ahead of time).

[JoeTec]

6 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Went to watch the rock band at the pool but it was easy listening (which makes sense for 2:30 at a family pool). We will come back for their rock set.

This was my only complaint on our whole cruise.  Everyday was easy listening.  There was only 2 days of pool fun - sexy legs contest & some pool games on the last day. It was way too mellow. I was not impressed with the cruise director at all - Tiara. We hardly ever saw her

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

10 hours ago, JoeTec said:

This was my only complaint on our whole cruise.  Everyday was easy listening.  There was only 2 days of pool fun - sexy legs contest & some pool games on the last day. It was way too mellow. I was not impressed with the cruise director at all - Tiara. We hardly ever saw her

 

 

I didn’t even know the cruise director was female.
 

Celebration is positively the ship if you want fun. They bring it 24/7.  I know carnival gets a bad rap, but the “food truck” style eating venues are genius. Revolutionary even. Much like when the waterfront concept was first introduced (which we love). There was just much more to do. We have not noticed a significant difference in the passenger demographics either, although I’d likely not sail either line when kids are in school.  The carnival of today is not the carnival I sailed in 1995.

[vacation44]

If you can, can you post the dailies?  

[BermudaBound2014]

32 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

If you can, can you post the dailies?  

I am not sure if we saved the first few but I will post them for you ongoing

 

we are currently docked at haven sight on st Thomas . No big plans. Just going to go wherever the day takes us

[NikiPinkston]

Hi, there, @BermudaBound2014! So glad I found your live. We sailed on Carnival years ago but have been pretty much loyal to NCL since then. However, I really want to do an L.A. to Hawaii trans-Pacific and have been looking at Carnival and Princess, so I really appreciate your comparisons and insights. Thank you for taking the time to do this. Happy cruising!

[lucklady77]

A big thank you to @BermudaBound2014 for this live. It's been years since I have cruised (last cruise was 2006, yikes!) and my first time on NCL. 

We set sail on March 17 and I'm definitely getting excited, so following along here is fantastic. 

 

Interested in any recommendations you have for things to do at the ports (even from your past visits) as I prefer to book outside of the cruise excursions or just explore on our own.

Also would love info on any bartenders/servers that provide amazing service. We love to get to know those taking care of us and show them appreciation ($) for good service. In fact, we visit Vegas frequently and have servers there in different bars/restaurants that we continue to visit on return trips. 

 

Thanks again and enjoy! 

[BermudaBound2014]

Most normal folks take the sky tram to the top of paradise point. We decided to hike it. Totally doable. It is only 700 ft elevation gain but some switchbacks are fairly steep. Bring water.

 

Did a tiny amount of shopping and are now back on the ship sitting  in the observation lounge. Hubby is normally an ipa guy but this ship also has Pilsner Urquell and apparently that’s some fancy super ancient recipe that is hard to find. What do I know - I’m a gin and tonic girl unless I can get jalapeño margaritas or spicy passion fruit mojitos, but those are only found in specific lounges. Kind of a bummer. 
 

The observation lounge has a small buffet. Perfect for a light lunch. I’ll snap some photos later but the chicken salad sandwich was tasty. And they have potato chips which is something we never have at home so a real treat. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31 by BermudaBound2014

[Grimix]

On 1/29/2024 at 11:52 AM, BermudaBound2014 said:

Sadly, No lead is ever too big for the lions. It was a very difficult loss for us but today we are choosing to celebrate the best season we’ve had in my lifetime! We have 4 rookies going to the Super Bowl (shout out to LaPointe). Brad Holmes is a recruiting savant and our average age is around 23. We WILL be back.

 

Sorry for joining late! Just got a booking in so had to check out the boards! Yay, an encore live! We loved our trip last October, and it will be cool seeing what the ship is like on a warm weather cruise.

 

If it makes a difference (and it probably doesn't) it was a difficult win for us too. We both won our halfs we were just luckier enough to win the last one. Was total team Detroit if we lost that game. Fun Fact (Not nautical) I was at the game and the Lions were better represented than the usual away game folks, but Journey (from the Bay Area, and I'm sure cruiseny4life would have loved them knowing his penchant for 80's music) played, and made the poor decision to play Don't Stop Believing. I know it's one of their bigger hits (if not their biggest), but they really should have avoided a song with the line "Born and raised in South Detroit" when the home team is playing a team from Detroit... Got some boos from the home crowd, and the Detroit fans singing...

 

On 1/29/2024 at 11:52 AM, BermudaBound2014 said:

OK- enough for this afternoon. Currently sitting in Brew house. Hubby is pacing responsibly with Guinness. I threw caution to the wind and  am double fisting spicy passion mojitos. 

We finally managed to hit the Brew House on the next to last day of our cruise, and I'm sad we didn't go earlier! Guinness is a great pacer! Fewer calories and alcohol than most beers so you can drink it all day! It's good for you!

 

Have a great cruise! Loved the Encore!

 

[BermudaBound2014]

Here are the dailies. I grabbed a screen shot from the app. Let me know if you can’t read them 

[BermudaBound2014]

@lucklady77 what is your itinerary? 
 

 

[lucklady77]

52 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

@lucklady77 what is your itinerary? 
 

 

Should be the same as yours with 

Puerto Plata, St. Thomas, Tortola and Great Stirrup Cay

 

[vacation44]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Here are the dailies. I grabbed a screen shot from the app. Let me know if you can’t read them 

Perfect!!!  Thank you very much.

[BermudaBound2014]

We pretty much chilled in the observation lounge through sunset. They have nice snacks that turned into our dinner.

 

Went to both comedy shows tonight. Nery Sanez did both shows. The first was PG. He is funny but if comedy is your thing Celebration does it way better. There are two comedians this week on NcL. There were 6 different comedians the week we spent on Carnival. Punchliners is a much better venue for comedy. We were packed in super tight I. levity. Also Punchliners has table service that doesn’t close during the show. Levity had only bartenders and they closed bar service before the show began.

 

So comedy on Carnival is a. A+. Comedy on NCL gets a B- 🙂

[nhtravels]

Happily following along with your review.  We just got off the Encore last Wednesday (did the 10 day itinerary) and are already missing being onboard.  She's our favorite ship of the fleet.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[BermudaBound2014]

From comedy we went looking for live music. The choices were slim.  Country, dancing, or Archie in the brew house. No classic rock although we know that the band who plays at the pool (Royal flush) can rip off some zeppelin they weren’t playing anywhere. Evening entertainment choices are definitely lacking compared to Carnival.

 

What wasn’t lacking was the (nearly) 24 hour diner called the Local. We know it’s bad to eat bar food late at night but this diner always reminds us of our younger clubbing days and it’s become an NCl tradition and something we look forward to. Other lines could take notice and offer a sit down restaurant for those that close the bar. 
 

Our delicious and terribly bad for you food and the menu… 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 1 by BermudaBound2014

[BermudaBound2014]

Today was Tortola, we’ve gone to the baths several times so elected for something new. We sailed on the Rebel Yell over to Jost Van Dyke (small island in BVI). Fantastic beach with soggy dollar bar, home of the original Painkiller. Just chilled on the beach and did some swimming. Perfect day in the Virgin Islands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 1 by BermudaBound2014

[vacation44]

16 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Today was Tortola, we’ve gone to the baths several times so elected for something new. We sailed on the Rebel Yell over to Jost Van Dyke (small island in BVI). Fantastic beach with soggy dollar bar, home of the original Painkiller. Just chilled on the beach and did some swimming. Perfect day in the Virgin Islands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are booked on this excursion also in two weeks as we have also done the Baths previously and wanted beach time.   I was second guessing our decision, but now I am 100% glad we decided to book it.   Was it easy to get a nice spot on the beach with lounge chairs and an umbrella?

 

Thank you for posting the pictures.

[brookie848]

22 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Today was Tortola, we’ve gone to the baths several times so elected for something new. We sailed on the Rebel Yell over to Jost Van Dyke (small island in BVI). Fantastic beach with soggy dollar bar, home of the original Painkiller. Just chilled on the beach and did some swimming. Perfect day in the Virgin Islands.

 

 

This is the only cruise line excursion we've ever done and we're doing it for the third time this month!

[brookie848]

4 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

 

We are booked on this excursion also in two weeks as we have also done the Baths previously and wanted beach time.   I was second guessing our decision, but now I am 100% glad we decided to book it.   Was it easy to get a nice spot on the beach with lounge chairs and an umbrella?

 

Thank you for posting the pictures.

Are there two time options? If you choose the first one, you will have your pick of chairs.

If you chose the second, it may be a bit dicey until the first group of people leave.

[vacation44]

3 minutes ago, brookie848 said:

Are there two time options? If you choose the first one, you will have your pick of chairs.

If you chose the second, it may be a bit dicey until the first group of people leave.

Thank you.   I do not remember, but I do know if there were two options, I definitely would of chosen the earlier option.   We are early birds and then we would like the extra time when we get back to do a little shopping at the port.

[brookie848]

2 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

Thank you.   I do not remember, but I do know if there were two options, I definitely would of chosen the earlier option.   We are early birds and then we would like the extra time when we get back to do a little shopping at the port.

Then you will be fine. Just resign yourself to drinking rum for breakfast. 😁

[Tyskie]

1 hour ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Today was Tortola, we’ve gone to the baths several times so elected for something new. We sailed on the Rebel Yell over to Jost Van Dyke (small island in BVI). Fantastic beach with soggy dollar bar, home of the original Painkiller. 

 

45 minutes ago, vacation44 said:

I was second guessing our decision, but now I am 100% glad we decided to book it.   Was it easy to get a nice spot on the beach with lounge chairs and an umbrella?

 

This is our favorite excursion especially on Rebel Yell - you won't be disappointed. 

 

Unfortunately last time we were there was before the hurricane that devastated the islands.  Of course our trip in March 2020 was cancelled.  All set to go back this coming week on the Escape - had to cancel due to medical event. (sad face - lots of tears - sniff sniff)

 

Go, enjoy, walk the beach.  Chairs and palm tree shade was free - don't remember being charged for anything other than the painkillers. Food was delicious too!   

 

Watch out!  Those PKs creep up on ya!  lol

[SonuvaBeach]

17 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Today was Tortola, we’ve gone to the baths several times so elected for something new. We sailed on the Rebel Yell over to Jost Van Dyke (small island in BVI). Fantastic beach with soggy dollar bar, home of the original Painkiller. Just chilled on the beach and did some swimming. Perfect day in the Virgin Islands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Been there! LOVE that beach!