Norwegian Encore
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Norwegian Encore
Norwegian Encore is a Norwegian Cruise Line ship offering cruises in Alaska, the Caribbean, and through the Panama Canal, with occasional transatlantic repositioning voyages. The content describes a modern cruise product based on the Freestyle Cruising concept, with packages suitable for families and adults. The ship features multiple cabin categories, diverse dining options, onboard entertainment, and extensive activities. Itineraries include vacation cruises and ocean routes with organized shore excursions at ports of call. The content targets searches related to Norwegian Cruise Line cruises, Alaska itineraries, and Freestyle cruising experiences.
Itineraries of the Norwegian Encore
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.
decks plans
Deck - 20
Aqua racer, Vibe Beach Club
Deck - 19
Sun deck, hot tubs, bar, race track
Deck - 18
Staterooms, restaurants, race track, hto tubs, pool, sun deck
Deck - 17
sun deck, restaurants, hot tubs, staterooms, pool
Deck - 16
Pool, spa, fitness center, aqua park, bar, café
Deck - 15
Obesrvation lounge, staterooms
Deck - 14
Staterooms
Deck - 13
Staterooms
Deck - 12
Staterooms
Deck - 11
Staterooms
Deck - 10
Staterooms
Deck - 9
Staterooms
Deck - 8
staterooms, restaurants, photo gallery, bar
Deck - 7
Casino
Deck - 6
Bar, art gallery, restaurant
Deck - 5
staterooms, video arcade
Deck 4
Crew
Deck 3
Crew
Deck 2
Crew
Deck 1
Crew
Ship's attributes
Services And Amenities
- Elevators
- Self-service laundry room
- Casino
- Jacuzzi
- Pool
- Beauty salon
- Spa & body care
Specific needs
- Wheelchair accessible staterooms
Technical specifications
- Classe: Breakaway Plus Class
- Tonnage: 169000
- Speed: 22.0 knots
- Passengers: 3998
- Decks: 20
- Length: 333 m
- Width: 41 m
History
- 2019-10: Année de construction
Frequently Asked Questions
At 169,116 gross tons she is the heaviest of the four Breakaway Plus ships, measuring 333.5 metres long and 41.5 metres wide across 20 decks of which 16 are open to guests. Meyer Werft delivered her at Bremerhaven on 30 October 2019 and Kelly Clarkson christened her in Miami on 21 November, the last ship of the class before Norwegian moved to the Prima design. The November 2024 drydock took her stateroom count from 2,043 to 2,067. She carries 1,735 crew.
Sources disagree and it is worth knowing before you compare: ncl.com shows 3,958 guests at double occupancy, Wikipedia 4,004, and the press coverage of the 2024 drydock gives 4,052 after 24 balcony and 2 club balcony cabins were added on deck 15. Maximum capacity reaches 4,903 with every berth filled, close to 900 more people than the headline number. On a July week in Alaska, that gap turns into queues at the tenders and the buffet. She is also the least dense ship of the class at double occupancy, which remains a genuine selling point.
She is the newest, the heaviest and the one that has changed most since entering service. The November 2024 drydock at Brest removed the laser tag arena to install an adults-only Spice H2O deck, turned Ocean Blue into Palomar, expanded Cagney's into the old Los Lobos and Teppanyaki into the old Coco's, and grew the Premier Owner's Suite from two bedrooms to three. It also carved cabins out of part of the Observation Lounge and removed the Haven's mezzanine library. She keeps the Galaxy Pavilion and its simulators, which Bliss does not have, and her two-level Encore Speedway sits some sixty metres above the sea.
She runs Alaska from Seattle, at Pier 66 and the Bell Street terminal, rather than Vancouver or Whittier: her first call of the season was 3 May 2026 and her last departure falls on 4 October 2026. Her seven-night weeks take in Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and a full day inside Glacier Bay National Park, where a park ranger boards to narrate. On 12 October 2026 she leaves Vancouver for Los Angeles over six nights along the Pacific coast, then settles into Los Angeles from 18 October 2026 for seven-night weeks to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta, departing Sundays. From Montréal, Seattle is nonstop on Air Canada in about six hours, and Los Angeles is nonstop too, with the San Pedro terminal roughly forty kilometres from the airport.
She closes her Mexican season in Los Angeles on 4 April 2027, returns to Alaska from Seattle between 25 April and 3 October 2027 on seven-night weeks including Glacier Bay, then goes back to Los Angeles from October 2027 to April 2028 for the Mexican Riviera, seven nights departing Sunday to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta. Two embarkation ports only, both on the west coast, which simplifies planning: Air Canada flies nonstop to Seattle in about six hours on an A220 and nonstop to Los Angeles in a little under six, with Air Transat adding seasonal service to Los Angeles. Note that none of these itineraries leaves from Vancouver except the autumn repositioning, and none touches Great Stirrup Cay. Build in a pre-cruise hotel night in Seattle, because a flight delay costs the entire cruise.
A balcony remains essential in Alaska and pleasant on the Mexican Riviera, where you take coffee outside in the morning. The Haven holds 80 suites across eight categories on decks 17 and 18, with a retractable-roof pool, sundeck and hot tub, a fitness area, the Haven Lounge, a private restaurant with an alfresco balcony and the two-storey Horizon lounge; the Premier Owner's Suite, expanded to three bedrooms in 2024, is the largest in the class. Solo travellers get 82 studios in categories T1 and T8 on decks 10, 11 and 12, with keycard access to the Studio Lounge and a few connecting studios for two friends. Note that the 24 new balcony cabins on deck 15, created in 2024, are the freshest on the ship.
Included dining is at Savor, Taste, the Manhattan Room, the Garden Café, the American Diner and the Local Bar & Grill. Specialty venues carrying a charge include the expanded Cagney's Steakhouse, Palomar, Onda by Scarpetta, Q Texas Smokehouse, Food Republic, Teppanyaki and Le Bistro. For bars there is the Observation Lounge, the Cavern Club, the Maltings Whiskey Bar, the Sugarcane Mojito Bar on the Waterfront promenade, The Cellars, The District Brew House, the Skyline Bar and the Vibe Beach Club. Attractions cover the Encore Speedway on decks 19 and 20, the Galaxy Pavilion and its simulators, the aqua park, the Spice H2O deck that opened in 2024 and The Choir of Man at the Encore Theater.
The 2024 drydock gave with one hand and took with the other. Laser tag is gone, the Observation Lounge lost part of its floor area to new cabins, and guests who knew it before find what remains tight at peak hours. The new Spice H2O deck sits below the funnels, which earns it the soot deposits several travellers have reported. Like Bliss, she offers no indoor pool outside The Haven, which weighs heavily during a rainy Alaska week, and the go-karts, the Galaxy Pavilion and the thermal suite all carry a fee. Add that her itineraries never touch Great Stirrup Cay, which disappoints regulars of the private island.
Included: meals at Savor, Taste, the Manhattan Room, the Garden Café, the American Diner and the Local, drip coffee, tea, shows at the Encore Theater, the pools, the aqua park, the Observation Lounge and the Pulse fitness centre. Charged separately: Cagney's, Onda by Scarpetta, Palomar, Q Texas Smokehouse, Teppanyaki, alcohol, Starbucks, the Encore Speedway, the Galaxy Pavilion, the Mandara thermal suite, the Vibe Beach Club, shore excursions, Wi-Fi and the daily service charges. On the Mexican Riviera, excursions at Cabo often run by tender from the anchorage, which stretches the timing and rewards booking ahead. Have an advisor price the real total at 1-866-628-6241.
No. Norwegian posts a daily per-person service charge automatically to your onboard account, higher if you stay in one of the 80 Haven suites on decks 17 and 18. It applies from age three and can be prepaid before departure, which many guests prefer to avoid a surprise on the last night. Service charges also apply to every drink at Maltings or Sugarcane and to every meal at Onda by Scarpetta or Palomar. Over a Mexican week for two, this line often exceeds the cost of a shore excursion.
It is not. The promotional open bar carries a mandatory daily service charge for every guest 21 and over, so two people sharing a deck 15 balcony each pay it for every night aboard. Only the first two guests in the stateroom qualify, and because T1 studios are sold for single occupancy, a solo traveller pays that charge on their own. The Free at Sea Plus tier adds Starbucks drinks, a wider spirits list and uncapped streaming Wi-Fi, and it absorbs the package service charge. Premium vintages and room service stay billed separately.
Yes, over Starlink, and she is the best of the three ships on this page for it because she never carried the old slow network. The base promotion normally includes 150 minutes per stateroom, while streaming requires the Free at Sea Plus tier. Expect dead patches inside Glacier Bay and in the narrow arms of the Inside Passage, where the mountains cut both cellular and satellite. On the Mexican Riviera the coverage is markedly steadier.
Yes, particularly with children aged ten and up. Splash Academy covers ages 3 to 12, Entourage ages 13 to 17, and Guppies offers parent-supervised play from 6 months to 3 years. The Encore Speedway and the Galaxy Pavilion, with its simulators and virtual reality, are the ship's strongest cards with teenagers, though both carry a fee and laser tag has been gone since 2024. The aqua park and the toddler splash park are included in the fare. For Alaska, pack warm layers, because the karting runs in the open air on deck 19.
Yes. Every night earns one Latitudes point and nights in a suite or in The Haven earn two. With seven tiers from Bronze to Ambassador and thresholds of 20 points for Silver, 45 for Gold and 75 for Platinum, two Mexican Riviera weeks in a standard cabin bring you almost to Silver. The tangible perks begin at Gold and Platinum: priority embarkation, a laundry bag, a dinner with wine and earlier specialty dining reservations. At the San Pedro terminal on a winter Sunday, priority embarkation genuinely changes the day.
Rarely. Hers is the heaviest hull in the class at 169,116 gross tons, fitted with stabilizers, and both the Inside Passage and the Mexican Riviera run in generally calm water. Two moments call for care: the Pacific swell on the October repositioning from Vancouver to Los Angeles, and the long sea days between Los Angeles and Cabo San Lucas when a system passes offshore. Choose a midship cabin on a lower deck and start medication the day before you sail if you are prone to it.
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