Table Of Content
You can easily incorporate a pre- or post-cruise stay to include visiting the area's major theme parks including Walt Disney World, SeaWorld Orlando, and Universal Orlando Resort. You could also visit the Kennedy Space Center, tour the Daytona International Speedway NASCAR race track, ride the Orlando Eye, go on an airboat adventure, or go kayaking with gentle manatees. Plus, Cocoa Beach offers sunbathing and the opportunity to take some surfing lessons. With Prima-class vessels debuting this year and on into the upcoming years, you can find the latest and greatest in cruising with Norwegian Cruise Line. The cruiser also boasts 14 different dining venues that were all updated in the 2017 renovations of the ship.
Restaurants and dining
The ship has made appearances on a variety of television shows and documentaries and frequently hosts themed or special interest cruises. The Dawn Class includes two ships, Norwegian Dawn and Norwegian Star, and debuted in 2001. Note that the shorter Bermuda sailings can offer very little time in the country, sometimes as few as nine hours.
Hawaii
And one last point – a lot of the reviews I’ve read mention bad things across the entire cruise line, rather than the ship. In particular, the pre-cruise customer service gets a bit of a hammering, but people generally love the experience on the ship. It’s worth knowing, so you can consider booking through a travel agent instead of direct. When it comes to dining and activities onboard the Norwegian Encore, it is very similar to the Norwegian Joy as they’re both newer ships.
Dining Options
These ships, including the Norwegian Encore, Norwegian Bliss, Norwegian Joy, and Norwegian Escape, offer a variety of activities and entertainment options for guests of all ages. While Norwegian offers a wide range of dining options, including many casual and family-friendly restaurants, Oceania is known for its gourmet cuisine and wine selection. Oceania also offers more exotic itineraries, including trips to destinations like Tahiti and the South Pacific. Royal Caribbean is one of the largest and most well-known cruise lines in the world.
This ship, with its 6 hot tubs and a 1,000-seat theater, ensures guests have a variety of entertainment options. The staterooms, from the Penthouse to the Inside cabins, are designed for comfort. Dining on the Gem is a diverse experience, with the Grand Pacific offering classic dishes and the Orchid Garden serving Asian delicacies.
Cruise week report: Cruise tourist traps to avoid, NCL's best-kept secret, what you need to know about sharing ... - Cruise Blog
Cruise week report: Cruise tourist traps to avoid, NCL's best-kept secret, what you need to know about sharing ....
Posted: Fri, 19 Apr 2024 12:13:41 GMT [source]
Norwegian Prima and Norwegian Viva: Best for luxury lovers
The ship also maintains a superior crew-to-passenger ratio, ensuring a higher level of service. Solo traveling is becoming increasingly popular as more and more people are realizing the joys and benefits of exploring the world on their own terms. However, finding the right cruise ship that caters to solo sailors can sometimes be a challenge.
She can hold up to 2,394 passengers and 1,072 crew members, so she’s one of the company’s smaller ships. The ship sets sail from NYC, Miami, and Quebec to various destinations in the Panama Canal, Caribbean, Canada, and New England. The length and type of cruises mostly attract families, so it’s no surprise that the ship offers a wide variety of entertainment options for both adults and children. One of the standout features of the NCL fleet is the variety of dining options available onboard. In addition to traditional main dining rooms, the ships offer a range of specialty restaurants, including steakhouses, Italian trattorias, and Asian fusion eateries. Passengers can also take advantage of casual dining options like buffets and cafes.
NCL is known for its “freestyle cruising” concept, which allows passengers to dine whenever and wherever they want, without the need for formal attire. When seeking an affordable and straightforward getaway, Norwegian Sky stands out as your choice, especially during the summer season. The ship's entrance leads to the striking Penrose Atrium, a three-story-high marvel that may well be the most beautiful atrium on any large ship. As you might expect, pricing for all ships will generally be lower during offseason periods such as September and October. In contrast to airline frequent-flyer programs, cruise line loyalty programs do not require you to requalify for status every year. But it's not as difficult as it might at first seem to hit the more rewarding higher tiers in just a few years if you're cruising a lot.
It also operates some Panama Canal sailings and trips from the West Coast of the U.S. to the Mexican Riviera. The Miami-based line operates vessels in almost every corner of the world, with a wide range of itineraries in many destinations. The company dates back to 1966 when it got its start as a Norwegian shipping company. Today, it has become one of the more popular mainstream cruise brands and is part of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which also includes the Regent Seven Seas and Oceania brands. The Norwegian Getaway was renovated in 2019, which brought a variety of interesting new features to the cruiser. There’s a waterfront area lined with shops and restaurants, a brand new venue for live music, and a full-service Starbucks on board.
The ship was refurbished in 2020 and now features a full-service Starbucks® and a new live music venue, Syd Norman’s Pour House. The ship features the Norwegian Speedway, the largest race track at sea, and an augmented reality laser tag arena set in the lost city of Atlantis. Norwegian Encore is a marvel of modern cruise engineering, tailor-made for “Again! With a guest capacity of 3,998, this ship is a haven for adrenaline junkies and relaxation seekers alike.
Norwegian Getaway is your ultimate escape vessel, sailing to diverse destinations like the Caribbean, Bermuda, and Europe. With a guest capacity of 3,963, this ship is a floating oasis of amenities and experiences. The ship also offers a variety of dining experiences, from global flavors at Food Republic to premium steaks at Cagney’s American Steakhouse. The ship's top deck primarily consists of sunning areas, featuring a single pool and whirlpools, in line with the design of ships built over two decades ago.
It is packed with live entertainment, fun activities including bowling, some great water slides and a lot of restaurant choices. Norwegian Sky is the longest-serving and smallest ship in the NCL fleet but it’s still really popular with guests. Don’t expect a huge amount of attractions, but that’s made up for with a really packed schedule of entertainment from the moment you step onboard, right until your last morning. Norwegian Getaway was the second Breakaway Class ship and people love the variety of entertainment and dining venues on board. The ship has some cool attractions aimed at all ages, but it is missing that killer USP that came with later Breakaway Plus ships in the form of the go-kart track.
Instead, the destination is the main attraction here, with itineraries planned around maximising the time spent among Hawaii’s magnificent scenery, with some fun-packed excursion options available. Norwegian Encore is an almost identical copy of Norwegian Bliss, the most popular ship in the fleet. The only differences are that Encore has a bigger racetrack and laser tag arena, but at the cost of losing the Spice H2O bar area for adults only. Highlights again include the incredible live entertainment, with Norwegian Joy being the only ship at sea to host a production of Footloose. For starters, I’ve not been on every NCL ship, so that wouldn’t be a fair ranking.
Beginning and ending on the island of Oahu, the itinerary includes two days each on the islands of Maui, Kauai and Hawaii. An iconic presence in Hawaii, Pride of America has been permanently dedicated to the archipelago since its debut in 2005. It offers a repeating seven-night itinerary that begins each Saturday in Honolulu and brings the chance to visit four different Hawaiian islands on a single seven-night trip. Norwegian offers a broad range of Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries from more than half a dozen home ports. If you're looking for something short, the line has you covered in the form of lots of quick, three- and four-night trips from Miami to the Bahamas. Norwegian currently has 15 of its 19 ships scheduled to sail to the Caribbean and the Bahamas for at least part of 2024 — including its newest and most advanced ship, the 3,195-passenger Norwegian Viva.
