ksuds

I don't typically do full reviews. But I would like to share a few things we experienced during our Thanksgiving cruise (9 nights).

Arrival to port- upon arrival at 10:30, the Tampa police were not very nice. They told us we had to leave and come back at 11:30. So we got dropped off about a block away and brought our luggage over. We were checked in and boarded the ship by 10:50. I was a little disturbed that he wouldn't let us exit our vehicle that was driving us. But at 11:30, I did see the same officer was the first one on the ship hitting his free buffet.

Once on the ship, we grabbed a table for the 6 of us and enjoyed the nice weather by the pool. For several hours, the music playing by the pool was your basic easy listening instrumental (elevator music). I was nearly falling asleep. That pretty much stayed on until the live poolside music started.

Our stateroom- we had one of the Royal Family Suites. The room was very nice for an older ship. We had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large living room and an extremely small balcony. When I say small, I mean small! It was smaller than the standard balcony room size. I think we were the only suite that our stateroom attendant had. He really didn't do anything special or different. We actually thought he was on the slower side getting our room made up for the day even though we were always out by 7:00 or 8:00 am and had the make up room sign in the door. Also, we had to request lotion, hand soap and towels because he forgot to place them in our room on day one.

We didn't eat in the dining room for any dinners except the one night we were invited to eat at Capt. Marek's table. The dinner and his company was exceptional. The other nights, the menu really didn't look appealing. We were on the Freedom in September and none of the menu's seemed the same.

Three of the nights we ate at Giovanni's. Staff was great! However, were disappointed that on our first and last night we were told we couldn't order certain things off the menu. Gnocci, Shrimp, Crepes were some of the items. The lamb chops were extremely small, but still tasty.

Breakfast- most of our days we took advantage of the suite breakfast. I can honestly say that that was the best meal we had each day. They even offered a NY strip steak daily.

Entertainment- I am not a production show person, but did attempt to watch it. I lasted about 10 minutes. But the magician/comedian was really good. He involved several passengers and put on a good show. Schooner had a good piano guy. Not a lot of people hung out there unless trivia or football was on. The centrum music wasn't my thing. I compare everyone to the Enchantment. This group didn't even compare. They were nice to listen to, but you couldn't dance unless you wanted to "couples" dance.

Overall the entertainment was really geared toward an older crowd. It seems that with the longer cruises, it will stay a little calmer.

The Captain, officers and staff are all very good on this ship. Most of them recognized and greeted us by name daily. The ship overall was in good shape and clean. Talking to a lot of guests during the sailing, they had most of the same "opinions" as myself. But those people were all within my age bracket. I wouldn't recommend going with younger children and the kids that we had run into were extremely bored.

If given the option, I personally wouldn't do this sailing again even though I like the ship and all the staff. It just didn't offer what I am typically used to on RCI.

It was a breakfast held in the dining room. We weren't that interested in going because we aren't big breakfast fans. I am not sure what the menu was.

On the Freedom a month ago, we didn't buy a package. However, what we found was that once on the ship, they walk around and offer discounts. It seemed that it was easy for us to get 20% off wherever we wanted to dine. We took advantage of the discounts once on the ship.

Sabor- love everything I've eaten there. But the guac keeps me coming back!!

Nice review, thanks! We were on the Enchantment for Halloween. I loved sitting at night listening to the Rockport band. They did play a big variety and loved to take requests early in the night.

That is great to hear. We board the Vision Saturday and had only cruised in the past on that ship with Capt. Liz.

the 2 room suite or the 2 BEDROOM suite? big difference. the 2 BR suite is actually 3 rooms. ( and I think maybe 2 bathrooms although I am not positive)

We have stayed in the 2 room suite which is 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms and a living room type area. One bedroom is usually inside which would provide the OP the dark area they are looking for. On our upcoming cruise they call it the Royal Family Suite.

We've gotten the 2 room suite 3 times on RCI. Our upcoming cruise next week is a 2 room suite (4 of us). You will like that room a lot and find it meets your needs. During dining room times, you can order whatever is on the dining room menu and have it in your cabin. You are not stuck with the normal room service menu. The concierge might be able to assist you with reservations that are needed. But suite guest also have special sections for shows that you could possible take advantage of.

$20.00 per day. We usually go to guest services and get singles so we can tip cash when we get drinks.

Kelly Goodrich is playing in the Schooner. You will enjoy him. He does a theme night each night for about an hour. He dresses in character and plays Elton, Beatles, Billy Joel. He is good and entertaining.

The Temperature Band plays in the lounge. When they were on the Enchantment, they filled the R Bar area. On the Freedom they don't draw as much of a crowd because of their location. But they are awesome.

There is also a guitar guy that plays in the Pub. I don't remember his name, but he was pretty good too.

Sunday is Kelly's night off, so you won't have piano music on the first night.

As you will see the more you read on cruise critic, there is this imaginary person called "the upgrade fairy". Most of us have never seen or experienced this magical being. But we continue to keep our hopes up.

I believe upgrades are few and far between. The revenue dept may give them out but it is not based on status. If there are any remaining upgrades, they they could look at their top cruisers. That would start with Pinnacle and work their way down. Being Pinnacle, I believe we've only seen 1 upgrade in all our cruises.

Good luck! Make sure you have your preferences on their website checked that you want upgrades.

I clicked on the video to see if it was pulled from YouTube...and I can still access it..:(:(

 

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family.....so very tragic..

I'm sure it is just a matter of time. Very sad to see.

I got one this morning for my sailing that ended yesterday.

So basically what you are saying is that like me, you did not receive the offer?

I received the offer two days after my sailing ended. Did the Enchantment on 10/30 and received the offier this morning around 10:00am.

Guess their promotion was a little slow...............

HUUUUGGGGGE!

I've never gone away hungry and I don't think we've ever ate everything off our plates.

Why do I never get anything like this? Like ever.

I bought the Premium so I would have enjoyed to try the extra benefits of the Ultimate.

Boy I wish I got this email sooner.

This just came through about 10 minutes ago. But it was the sailing I just completed.

For a limited time only, purchase a Premium beverage package and get an upgrade to the Ultimate package. The Ultimate beverage package provides the best value, letting you enjoy our entire selection of premium alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Hurry, this promotion ends soon!BOOKING DETAILSReservation:Sailing Date:10/30/15 - 11/02/15Destination:Ship:BahamasEnchantment of the Seas®

Just got off the Enchantment yesterday and was really suprised they were selling drink packages for the last day. Around 9:00 am a couple walked up to the bar as soon as it opened. They asked about buying it and the bar tender gave them their package options. They made their chooice and they purchased for the one day.

We were also on the Coco Cay and they had the drink package brochures out on the bar if someone still wanted to purchase.

I was suprised because all the threads on this topic indicated that this was not possible.

I believe it has to do with trying to make it so that everyone is equal. Meaning, everyone will go to dinner with wrinkled clothes, therefor no one will feel out of place.

LOLOL!!!! That makes perfect sense:D

This is normal. Don't base your cruise price on what they are telling you their sale is. Select your cruise because you are happy with the price you found.

It's like going to a furniture store......they have a new sale every other day, but the prices never go down.

No clue..... I thought it was because of the heating element?

Oddly, irons aren't allowed, but a flat iron for hair or curling iron is allowed.

I thought They give discounts on photo packages to Crown and Anchor Members?

Yes, there are different benefits given at different levels. I get one free picture, and that is the only one I take home. I can't see spending that kind of money of photos.

It also seems that with the packages, there are less photographers roaming around taking pics.

That's what we did. We got a D2 on the FR for Christmas week last year for $369 per person. It had to be some kind of glitch and yes we paid it off in full IMMEDIATELY. They honored the price for those of us that booked it. It also lasted only a few hours.

You are absolutely right. We've booked a cruise at a crazy low price. It was so cheap, we booked solo adjoining cabins and it landed up being the same price as our friends who booked one cabin. We hurried and paid in full. They did try and send us an invoice a few weeks later, but resolutions handled it for us. No extra charges :D

I would love to say it is the crew that keep me coming back to the same ship. But in the long run, if that same ship gets repositioned, I'm more than likely not going to be a regulare cruiser on it. So I guess the bottom line is location of the ship. I am more likely to be a "regular" if the ship sails from Tampa or Port Canaveral.

We had stopped going to Chops because of the decline (IMO). Recently on the Freedom we had a free dinner for 2 so we decided that we would do Chops again since they were the highest priced.

I ordered my filet blue, not black and blue, not Pittsburg. I also asked that if they weren't absolutely sure what that meant to have the chef come over and I could tell him so we weren't wasting meat. He didn't come over but I made sure to tell the waiter that if they brought it cold in the center I would really love it.

When my meat arrived, I thought it had been on the burner the entire day. It looked and smelled like burned charcoal. On top of that, I think it had been soaked in salt all day. It was terrible. I left the entire thing because we didn't have time to wait for another steak due to the show time.

Apps, deserts and sides were just OK. I can make tater tots at home anytime for cheap. Why are they on the menu in the steak house?

I agree, I miss the old menu and better quality meat. So next time, I won't even go if it's free.