Norwegian Encore - Alaska Cruise Feedback
Just got back from a 7-day Alaska cruise from Seattle on the Norwegian Encore with 3 friends who are all pretty experienced cruisers, and I wanted to get some opinions from people here because our group had very different takes on the experience.
For context, this was my very first cruise ever, while my friends have cruised multiple times before, mostly with Princess.
Overall, as a first-timer, I honestly loved the trip. Alaska was incredible, the excursions were amazing, the staff was great, and I genuinely had a really good time. We also had the Premium Drink Package (not Premium Plus), which basically covered cheaper liquor/wine, but honestly that was perfectly fine for us.
What really surprised us, though, was how many extra/convenience fees there were for things that already felt included. For example:
- If we wanted room service, they were willing to bring food that was already included in our package… but there was still an $11 convenience fee.
- If the ship was docked at a port, we would get charged tax on drinks/items that were otherwise included in the package.
- It felt like almost every little thing had some kind of added fee attached to it.
Individually, none of these charges were huge, but together it started to feel a bit “nickel-and-dimey.”
My friends kept comparing it to their experiences on Princess and said they had never really experienced this level of constant add-on charges there. They also said Princess food quality was significantly better overall than what we had on Norwegian.
That’s where I wanted some honest feedback from more experienced cruisers here:
- Is Norwegian generally considered a downgrade compared to Princess?
- Is the “nickel and diming” normal on Norwegian specifically, or is this just how cruising is nowadays?
- For people who’ve done both, is Princess really that much better food-wise?
- Or were our expectations maybe just unrealistic?
For ratings:
- Me (first-time cruiser): probably a 7/10 overall because I still had a blast.
- My friends who cruise often: around 4–5/10.
I’m mainly asking because I want to show my friends the responses and see if other cruisers noticed the same differences we did.