Norwegian Encore -- Crowded and Inhospitable, Send Back to Dry Dock

 

MY FINAL RECOMMENDATION FOR NORWEGIAN ENCORE

After 12 days on the Norwegian Encore, I have one major suggestion.

Return the ship to dry dock – refurbish the heating and plumbing infrastructure – Restore and increase the public areas you have cut. Reduce the cabins to a capacity of 3000. Make the ship an enjoyable experience for your passengers.

HERE IS THE FULL STORY

We took a voyage aboard the Norwegian Encore from December 3 to December 15. The cruise started at Southampton. Then we cruised to Vigo, Spain; Lisboa (Lisbon), Portugal; and Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal. Then we cruised across the Atlantic to Miami, Florida,

The ship had just returned from dry-dock for refurbishing and upgrading, which consisted mainly of closing or reducing the size of public areas to increase the ship capacity from 4040 passengers to 5000 passengers. NCL should have more concern about passengers than just about profit.

The Encore is a ship that is way too small for its capacity of 5000 passengers. There were only 2800 passengers aboard for our cruise, yet all the entertainment venues, the buffet, the public areas were crammed. The elevators were always a pain – slow, overcrowded, and passengers had to wait for a second or third elevator to get on whenever no passengers were off ship. That was 90% of the time. The ship was only 56% full, and it was like a crowded commuter train at rush hour. I cannot imagine how horribly crammed full, overflowing to bursting, jammed, choked, packed like sardines, passengers would be even if occupancy approached 100%. If you like space to breathe, the congestion alone is a good reason to avoid the Encore.

Regardless of the lack of space for passengers, the Encore was generally inhospitable.

OUR DISTRESSING FIRST TWO DAYS ABOARD THE ENCORE

1.    The temperature outside the ship when leaving Southampton was 10 C (50 F) and dropping. Our cabin had no heat. Worse was the fact that constant circulation was blowing frigid air into our cabin. We called guest services twice, but the heat was not restored until the late afternoon of the second day. A newly refurbished ship with no heat in a cabin. I believe NCL spent more time reducing public areas for new cabins, than they spent time refurbishing the ship’s heating system.

2.     NCL has a rewards program called Latitudes. My partner and I are at one of the three premium levels, Sapphire. We were told that because we both were in the same cabin, we would not receive all our Sapphire rewards. I explained that this had not happened on two other NCL cruises we had taken in the past 14 months. The response was that this reduction in rewards had always been NCL policy.

3.     We were jet lagged, so we slept in until 10 am on the first sea day. We got off an elevator filled with passengers on the Garden Buffet deck. We all walked to the entrance. It was 10:40 am. We all were refused entry by security. The Buffet had closed at 10:30 am. We were sent to the Observation Lounge, which offered only muffins and coffee and juice. Not breakfast for me. Passengers kept loading into the Lounge with the same tale about sleeping in because of jet-lag and being refused breakfast. The staff of the Encore did not consider jet-lagged passengers needing a late breakfast, part of a pattern of manifesting a lack of passenger care throughout the cruise.

4.     Norwegian has note paper available to send concerns to the General Manager. I decided to send a note outlining our first two unpleasant days. I went to the deck 6 Atrium, where a number of service desks are. I picked up a note sheet and asked one of the service personnel behind a desk if I could borrow a pen to take to a table to write my note to the General Manager. He said no. He had no pens to lend out. I had never been refused a pen before on any cruise line. However, this was part of the Encore’s lack of passenger care.

I have so many concerns about passenger care on the Encore, too many to write about, but let me highlight some.

FOOD VENUES

Garden Buffet – Disorganization Personified

The Garden Buffet has been arranged using some kind of enigmatic code, not ever the waiters or food servers have cracked. At breakfast, the pancakes and French Toast are next to the bacon, but the toppings for them are on the other side of a large eating area of stools and tables. The toppings – whip cream, capote, strawberry mélange, etc. are located next to the omelet cooker.

Peanut butter and butter are located on a shelf under cinnamon buns. Bread slices and the toaster are located across an aisle and then a left turn.

Scones/biscuits/tea biscuits are located next to home fries and baked tomatoes. Cottage Cheese is with melons, watermelons, and other large fruit. However, if you are a fan of plain yogurt or containers of yogurt, they are everywhere. The staff were just as confused as I was and walked around with me to find what I was looking for.

Even with only 2800 of a potential 5000, it was difficult to find a place to sit down even for just the two of us.

The variety of food was very good at the buffet breakfast. However, lunch and dinner were at a par with high school cafeteria fare. The restaurants are the best options for lunch and dinner.

Complimentary and Specialty (PAY)  Restaurants – Great BUT …

The variety, quality, presentation, and taste of the foods served in the restaurants is great to excellent. The service is superb; however, there are drawbacks to eating in them.

Complimentary Restaurants:

It is a good idea to make reservations, even at the complimentary restaurants. Despite having a reservation, be prepared to wait in line. There is no separate check-in line for reservations. If the Encore were near full capacity, be prepared to wait in line for a minimum of half hour.

Specialty (PAY) Restaurants:

A reservation is a good idea; however, lines are not usually very long. Probably because the price of a meal without alcohol is $ 60 US to $ 140 US per person. However, if you get the food package or manage to fight as we did for our complimentary Sapphire reward dinners, you are not charged for your meals, but there are limits placed on your menu and wine choices unless you would want to pay more.

OUR CLUB SUITE BALCONY – Small and Cramped

Inadequate Room

Our balcony suite was the narrowest room I have ever had on any cruise ship. In addition, it was not long enough for the two twin beds and sleeper couch in it. The bed forced us to squeeze by to reach the desk and was too close to the closet. I cannot imagine 3 human beings (the room capacity) living in these tight quarters.

Lack of Storage

Storage for clothing was about 60% of what there has been in any cabin on any cruise line we have been on (about 36 cruises with 5 different cruise lines). We were two men who had packed relatively light, and we just had enough room for our clothes.  A third person would have had to live out of a suitcase.

Television – Poor in Every Respect

In addition to having to squeeze by in the room, the television was located along the center of the far wall from the bed. Anyone on the far side of the bed could not see the TV. In addition, the location of the TV was virtually not adjustable. Besides, the TV offerings were the worst on any cruise line ever. TV channels were mainly ship marketing Channels, also 3 US News and BBC, a Sports Channel and two other channels with no guide. There were no on demand TV shows, and most of the movies were pay-per-view.

Luxurious Bathroom

The bathroom was oversized. I wish we could have lived in the bathroom. It had an ample walk in shower with jets, a double trough sink, and drawers for storage of items if you wanted to keep damp. Reducing the size of the bathroom by 45 cm (1.5 feet) would have kept the bathroom a good size yet would have increased the size of the cabin from minuscule to almost adequate.

UNTRAINED STAFF

The Encore had just returned from dry dock, and it became very apparent that the staff was not familiar with the ship at all. On my first day, I got lost trying to get back to my cabin deck 8. I asked several crew members on deck 8 to help me. One supervisor said that she did not think there were cabins on deck 8. After asking a total of 6 crew members, I found one who said he would take me to my cabin. Fifteen minutes later, we were still wandering around deck 8 forward. He had a GPS locator. He kept telling me that he was not lost but was trying to get to my cabin without going through crew areas. Finally, he took me through “Crew Access Only” Doors, and we found my cabin.

A similar event occurred the next day, when I was trying to find the way to a complimentary wine tasting. It was supposed to be in the A One Bar. Again, with GPS in hand, the crew member stumbled around. The problem was that the bar was in a restaurant called CAGNEY’S. There was a huge sign which boldly stated “CAGNEY’S,” just a modest sign which indicated the name of the bar.

TINY ENTERTAINMENT VENUES

The entertainment venues were teensy-weensy. Most had seating for between 50 and 125 passengers.

 The largest venue, the Encore Theatre, had seating for only 800 passengers. I did a calculation of the total number of seats for passengers in all the entertainment venues combined – there are roughly 1800-2000 chairs for a total capacity of 5000 passengers. 

Even with our cruise with only 2800 passengers, there was standing room only at all entertainment venues.

INTERNET CAFE – EUROPEAN PLUGS

The internet café has 5 cubicles for the use of passengers who want deskspace to use the internet. I went to the café the second day of the cruise. I was looking for plugs for my laptop. I am from Canada. I went to the help desk. There was someone behind the helpdesk and she was talking to an older gentleman who was chatting with her and laughing. After about 5 minutes on so, the older gentleman finally acknowledged me and asked, “What do you want?” I explained that I was looking for plugs. He told me to look under the desk. I told him that I had. Finally, he came over to my cubicle and looked under the desk. “They are 220 Volt European Plugs,” he commented. I asked why, NCL, a company with a head office in the USA would have only European Plugs on a ship that has mainly North American passengers. He explained that the ship was made in Germany, and they are European. I do not want to continue, but he was ignorant of the fact that many ships with 110 service are made in Europe; basically, he did not care. I have been on other cruise line ships, including NCL, which have 110 North American plugs for passengers in their internet cafes.

Another passenger suggested I go to Starbucks which had the plugs and service that I required. NCL just does not care about the needs of its passengers.

LOCKING ELEVATORS DURING DISEMBARKATION

We were disembarking to go to the port of Ponta Delgado, Azores, Portugal. My partner and I were on deck 8 and disembarkation was on deck 4. Because the elevator areas were crowded with passengers trying to get to deck 4, we decided to walk down to deck 4. Unfortunately, I stupidly forgot my ID to get back on the ship. I went to the elevators on Deck 4, and they were locked. I walked up one level and the elevators on deck 5 were locked. The elevator areas in deck 6 and 7 were filled with confused passengers trying to get to deck 4, so I trudged up to deck 8. I am not in horrible shape, but I am 77 years old and climbing up 4 decks is not something I love to do.

I was lucky to get an elevator from deck 8. The elevator was filled with the mobility-challenged and their care givers. They asked me to push deck 4, but of course, the elevator would not go to deck 4. The elevator stopped at deck 6 and the mobility-challenged got off. They had to walk to one elevator on deck 6 that was the only one put on service for the mobility challenged of 8 elevators. There were already others waiting for the one elevator.

I really felt bad about the fact that NCL does not care about passengers with mobility problems who want to get off the ship for a bit.

INFRASTRUCTURE BREAKDOWN –THE FINAL DAY

The final occurrence which convinced me that NCL’s refurbishment of the Encore was just to make the ship more crowded, PROFITS OVER PASSENGERS, was the ship-wide loss of hot water the last full day of the cruise. There was no hot water all day on Saturday, December 14, 2024, the last day before we happily left the Encore. 

The Encore needs to go back to dry dock to upgrade and improve its heating and plumbing systems. In addition, they must reduce capacity to a comfortable level.

MY RECOMMENDATION FOR ALL OF YOU

Do not book a cruise on the overcrowded, inhospitable Norwegian Encore.