I have to be honest, we took a bit of a break from posting due to the state of the travel industry.  While cruise travel is not yet open, we felt the time is right to start posting again, more to give people something to look forward to.  Plus, we miss it!  We are so ready to start cruising again, so here we go, enjoy!

In our last post we discussed the Games and Activities on board the Norwegian Encore.  This post we will discuss the food and entertainment options.  The entertainment was top notch boasting 2 great shows and plenty of live entertainment around the ship.  For the foody’s among us, there are bountiful options both free and specialty.

Let’s start with the food.  You have your complimentary offerings, starting with the Garden Cafe buffet.  Food here is good with a lot of options at every meal.  You also have your main dining rooms Savor, Taste and Manhattan room.  The food is very good in all of these.  If you are not feeling the dining room I highly recommend the Local Bar and Grill.  It’s pub food, but absolutely delicious.  Pro tip, go here for breakfast.  There is seating on both sides of the atrium and in the evenings you can listen to entertainment while you dine.

There are 12 different specialty places to dine on the ship.  Some are for treats like The Bake Shop, Cocos, and Dolce Gelato.  Others are actual sit down like Cagneys (steak house), Ocean Blue (seafood), and the always popular Teppanyaki.  One of my favorites is Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, but on the Encore, they replaced this with the American Diner.  While it is not Margaritaville, it is a very cool place to have lunch.  In the case of Q, a texas bbq specialty, it turns into a venue for entertainment in the evening with a country band.  Get ready to 2 step and line dance and in general have a great time.

Now for the entertainment.  This could be it’s own blog post.  In the Social you get a mixture of comedy and other entertainment including the silent disco.  The District Brew House has a piano player that is fantastic, and funny.  Patron beware though, if you dare to heckle he gives as good as he gets.  You might just become part of the act whether you want to or not, and for the loud talkers out there (you know who you are), your conversations will become more public than you might like.

Next up, grab a mojito at the Mojito Bar and head over to the Local where they have bands and a 2 story screen where you can watch games.   They had a jazz singer and a rock band when we were on board.  Beatles fans, you are in luck.  Head over to the Cavern Club, built to be like the original in Liverpool to check out a Beatles cover band.  They sound like them, look like them, and since the venue is ALWAYS packed you will get that authentic experience.  It can be a bit difficult to find a spot in there.  Look for the door in the back of the club accessible by the outside walkway.  It will put you closer to the bar.

Now for the shows.  A lot of people raved about Kinky Boots.  I thought the cast was amazing but the play itself was not my favorite, and not just because they prohibited you from taking pictures during the performance.  The songs themselves were just ok.  I did like the story line.  Definitely not one for young children.  There is a show called Prohibition where the age limit is 16.  I did not get to see that one and there is an up charge for it, but you do get 5 prohibition era cocktails included.

 

One of the true highlights of the show was Choir of Man.  Not only was this hands down the best show I have seen at sea, it is up there with my favorite shows ever.  I loved the music, the story line, but most of all I loved how the cast interacted with the crowd.  They made you feel like you were one of them hanging out in an English pub.  The actors are authentic and very approachable.  We actually saw them while eating at the Local one evening and they were incredibly down to earth.  This is a MUST SEE.

If you would like to see more pictures from the Norwegian Encore, please check out our Facebook Album.