In general, cruise ships are not friendly to cigar smokers. If they allow it, sometimes the aft area of the vessel will force the smoke to drift away. An inside area? Not very common!

However, some cruise ships have put in cigar lounges. Aboard the NCL Encore, there is a cigar lounge. The lounge is next to two bars, one inside and one outside. The chairs are comfortable, and there is a big screen at one end of the room. Observation: 12 people max, more like eight would be the comfortable maximum.

The steward/waiter assigned to this area comes around every so often for drinks, and they are your contact for the on-board humidor. It is small yet has enough options so you can find something you like including Cohiba and Macanudo. Another high point is the cigar smokers on board have been looking for this, so they generally enter the lounge friendly and ready to meet others with the same passion. 

Every place or venue has some low points. Here they could have put in fewer chairs. An interesting facet is the ventilation system is supposed to be automatic. And it did not turn on most of the time, so the guests simply opened the door.

Rating: B-. Could be bigger and fix those chairs and walkways, a little too much like a furniture storage room. And fix that ventilation system, so it actually works as intended. Compared to the other cruise ships that don’t have a lounge, it is nice to have one!