![]() It wasn’t particularly warm but it was the nicest weather we’d had all week, so people were out and about in the pools, riding the water slides and racing on the go kart track. We had no plans to finish packing so early and using up the precious few hours of sunlight we got on this cruise, so we grabbed our jackets and headed out to the activities deck. Did I mention that they don’t weight your baggage and do not charge for overweight baggage? Can we get this EVERYWHERE?! Overweight baggage after a cruise is the reason why we bring so many suitcases! They will charge you if baggage is not included in your plane ticket per the fees associated from your airline, but that’s about the only fee you may incur. No picking it up inside the port or checking it in at the airport - they take care of all of it. In other words, you leave your luggage outside your room (like normal) and then you pick it up at baggage claim when you land at home. Because the Port of Seattle is so small, they offer a special service called Port Valet, which (for no charge), allows you to pre-register your luggage with a number of airlines (including ours, American) and have your luggage checked in from the cruise ship direct to your final destination. When we made a quick stop back at the room, we noticed our luggage tags had been delivered, as well as our boarding passes. So we settled on the quickest option (Garden Cafe) and had a quick, unremarkable breakfast before heading down to The Waterfront to enjoy all of the sunshine we could get in. ![]() We lost an hour coming back to Seattle, so we took our time lazing in the room, watching The Social Network and sitting on the balcony before heading out for breakfast.Īt this point, we were kind of over all of the breakfast options - the food on Norwegian was okay, better in the speciality dining restaurants but nothing special in any of the complementary venues (except, surprisingly, The Local, which had a crazy good grilled cheese). It gave us a chance to get to the Q Restaurant in time to purchase the passes.After days and days of rain and dull gray skies, waking up on our final sea day to bright, beaming sunlight was like an omen to start our last day onboard with, bringing the energy we hoped to carry through the rest of the day. We spent $179 to have Priority Access, which allowed us to board the ship with the Platinum, Platinum Plus and Ambassador guests. I’m not sure when this area sold out, but my guess is you had to be among the first three or four groups. It gave my wife and I a piece of mind, even if meant paying $209 and having to get on the ship early to procure one of the 300 available passes. Chairs are literally on top of one another, and on sea days, it was a sea of humanity. The lack of space around the pool is a valid complaint. The Encore also has a Go Kart track and Laser Tag, which was not on the Escape (it had a Ropes Course and Spice H2O, an area that has drawn a lot of conversation on Cruise Critic and other boards). Some things were different as the Kids’ clubs were down on Deck 5. In some ways, the design was similar in terms of the public areas on Decks 5, 6, 7 and 8. ![]() My initial thoughts upon boarding were, “Wow, this ship is massive.” It reminded me of the Escape on steroids. I am 54 years old and sailed with my wife, who celebrated a birthday aboard the ship, and our 16-year-old daughter. For background, this was my 14th cruise overall and fourth with NCL, having previously sailed on the Pearl, Gem and Escape. We just enjoyed a fabulous week aboard NCL’s newest ship, the Encore. ![]()
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