Back from Enchantment Maiden post refurb cruise.

[JMG]

We had a really great cruise! I hope to do a full review but briefly, boarding was delayed until 4pm for this cruise. We soon heard from various crew members that at 1pm on 12/15, there was no carpet in the Centrum. They were not sure that the ship would be ready. Our Cabin Steward told us that the Hotel Director was in the Centrum helping to move furniture to get everything done.

 

Our cabin steward also mentioned that all exterior staterooms were refurb. We had a JS and it was a 60% refurb. New curtains, chairs, coffee table. A total refurb on the bathroom.

Fiberglass flooring. They only had shelves on one side of the Vessel sink. Soap dishes did not appear until Day 5. Towel bars were relocated to the bath wall of the tub??? So, I removed them before showering because otherwise I thought they would be wet. Of course, the shower curtain is still there and it continues to hug the body!

 

Interior staterooms only got new TV's ...per the cabin steward.

 

The new staterooms on Deck 7, 8 are behind a paneled wall. They expect these rooms to be ready by 1/5. By day 6 they had the fire doors opened and we could walk past these rooms. The noise levels would be a concern for me with all the noise from the Centrum coming up.

 

The Big Screen TV had some pixel problems on Day 4 but it appeared to be fixed by the next day. But, in the morning we just got tired of hearing Luke read the Compass...over and over again. This was followed by network news. You had to listen because it was so loud! I am sorry for all that happened in CT, but on vacation I really do not want to be forced to hear the news. So we had to find quieter places to read our books and lounge.

 

The ship does look great with all the new carpets, they were still hanging new artwork in the stairways. Lots of supplies were boarded when we got to Port Caneveral. The first 2 days they had no real eggs in the windjammer. We thought that perhaps with all the work that needed to be done before passengers boarded...that loading supplies just did not happen.

 

The crew all worked long, hard hours under some rough conditions. They went for long periods of time with no running water due to all the bathrooms being refurbished. They were given bottled water. Most crew that we talked to said they hope never to be a ship in drydock again.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for your trip report.

 

Keith

[fishin' musician]

I think the ship normally gets supplied in PC. How was the weather on the sea days? Were the outer decks open?

[JMG]

I think the ship normally gets supplied in PC. How was the weather on the sea days? Were the outer decks open?

 

On Day 1 it was chilly and rainy so not many people out on the decks. Day 6 the weather was georgeous and the outer decks were open and lots of people enjoying the sunshine. The evening of Day 6 we ran into a storm and rough seas. Capt Gus said we could not avoid this storm since we were heading back to Balt. waves were about 18 foot. The upper deck was closed and while the pool deck was open, it was too windy, rough and cold for people to be out on the deck.

[sunsetbeachgal]

One of the only things that looked tired to me on our August cruise was the furniture in the atrium area on the various levels...was this replaced?

[JMG]

If you mean Centrum....yes... the furniture was replaced. The decor appears to go with the RBar retro decor. Silver/black themed furniture. I have photos but I am certain that many will be posting photos in the coming days.

 

We sailed on Enchantment in August and I would say that most furniture was replaced. The lounge chairs on the pool decks were not replaced but on our cruise they washed virtually each and every chair...some still look...yucky but they did clean them. They were continuing to paint all areas of the ship...so much work was still going on. I heard that they still had a lot of workers on board which is why the dining rooms and theater were not jammed packed.

It was actually hard to move chairs sometimes because the carpets were so new and deep.

 

In our stateroom, we noticed when we stepped out of the bathroom - in bare feet - that there was something sharp. Also near the closet. I would run my hand across the carpet and feel nothing. But, body weight on the foot always found something. I finally found 2 tacks well buried in the carpet. I put bandaids over the tacks...showed then to the cabin steward and in a few hours they were gone! Steward said we were not the only ones that felt carpet tacks under the bare foot. Fortunately, they were not sharp enough to draw blood!

[c-legs]

Welcome to what sounds and looks like a classic textbook '' post drydock cruise''....only this one appears to be a weebit worse than average.

The old process...: '' wish list for yard visit is worth 15 days ? do your best to do it in 12....and then take her out of service for only 9..and squeeze the rest pre/post drydock''.

 

Deja vu all over again.

Cheers

[JMG]

Enchantment 12/15/12 post refurb cruise

 

On Thursday Dec 13 many on our M&M thread received emails from RCI that they ship would have delayed boarding with checkin starting at 4pm. We did not get the email and it took some time to figure out that this was not a hoax but a real message. So we pondered what to do...how many people might arrive as scheduled as they were already in transit and would not get the message. Also, how many would all come at 4pm. How could we optimize our arrival and attempt to avoid a SRO situation.

 

We have a 2 hour drive to the port. We needed to allow for a lunch stop and also allow for any traffic delays. So we opted to leave our home at noon and arrive whenever we reached that destination. It turned out to be a very good decision!

 

We arrived at the pier at 2:30. We drove to the luggage drop off point, then went to pay for parking, park the car and entered the terminal. There was a group of 5 people in front of us. They were scrambling for paperwork but it did not take long. We passed on to the screening station and then went to complete the health form. Next was the priority check in line. We were immediately directed to a check in station, completed the check in and received 2 tickets for a boxed lunch. After we were seated in the priority boarding area, I went to check out the boxed lunch. We had lunch on the drive to the port but I did get 2 bottles of water to take on board. Those that got the boxed lunch had a choice of Ham, Roast Beef or Turkey sandwich, a pack of Oreo cookies, chips, and a bottle of water.

 

People that arrived at the pier earlier than us were allowed to drop off their luggage but then had to leave the Port. RCI offered shuttle service to the Inner Harbor. It appears that we arrived at a good time. Shortly after we were seated we noticed that the lines began to get longer. The main Terminal building filled and after that, people were directed into the baggage claim area and seats were set up there for the overflow of people. It appeared that RCI had this well planned.

 

Due to the late sailing, the early dinner seating was moved to 5:30pm. Muster drill was at 7:30pm and late seating started at 8:30pm. Since check in was delayed, some passengers were not even on board by 5:30 so they were offered to come to the late seating and would be accommodated. The Windjammer opened at 7:45 and the Park Cafe was open from 4 - 7:15 and then again at 10pm-2am.

 

At 4pm, they started the boarding. We were greeted and offered a rum drink to celebrate the Maiden cruise of the newly refurbished Enchantment Of The Seas. We took the drinks and went directly to our stateroom. Quickly unpacked our carry, stowed items in the safe and took off to explore the new ship. Once again we crossed the Centrum and got another free run drink! The new Centrum was decorated for the holidays and everything sparkled. The new touch pads are located on all decks with information on locations and activities. (Throughout the week they were tweaking the touch pads)

 

Staterooms

The new staterooms located on Deck 7 and 8 were not ready yet. There was a paneled wall with 2 fire doors leading into the hallway.

We had a JS on deck 8 and the stateroom had been 80% refurbished. We were on the Enchantment in August so it was easy to spot the changes. New carpet, chairs, curtains, table, wall art, totally new bathroom. The cabinets were about the only thing that was not changed out. The bathroom had a vessel sink and small shelves and cabinets on the left side of the sink. The towel bars were moved to the back of the tub. (?) The floor was fiberglass. Shower curtain on the tub. Every night I moved the towels out of the tub area so that they would not get wet from the shower spray. We soon found that there was no place to put a bar of soap except on the counter top. It then "stuck" to the top and had to be slide across the counter to lift the soap. Many people used the paper glass covers as a soap dish and some used a washcloth to hold the soap. On Day 6 they found the soap dishes and the stewards put them into the staterooms.

Our Stateroom Attendant told us that all of the exterior staterooms had been renovated. Flat screen TV's were installed in the interior staterooms but there were no other changes to the interior staterooms.

The TV's are nice but there still was no access to your onboard account on the TV screens. Also, a map showing the ships location did not appear on the TV.

Our Attendant also told us that at 1pm on Saturday 12/15 there was no carpet in the Centrum. They really did not think the ship would be finished. He noted that even the Hotel Director was moving furniture to help get the Centrum finished in time for boarding. When we walked the Promenade deck we noticed that there was new carpet still rolled up, waiting to be installed. In PC they loaded more carpet onto the ship. The only place I saw them carpeting was the corridor in front of the new staterooms. The carpet in the corridor on Deck 8 had not been replaced...not sure if that was on the to do list.

 

At 10:15pm they had a ribbon cutting for the Grand Opening of the new Centrum. Free champagne was passed around to all those in the area at that time.

 

Day 2 started out rainy and overcast and the temps were still a little chilly. We went to the Windjammer for breakfast and they had no real eggs - only omelets or scrambled eggs. They said they would get eggs in Port Canaveral so that meant 2 mornings without fresh eggs! The window at the very front of the ship had a leak so that table was avoided many times.

We decided to get lounges in the Solarium and read. There were signs posted on half of the doors that lead to the Solarium that people under age 16 were not allowed in the Solarium. Due to the cooler climate, kids were allowed into the pool between 12pm and 2pm and 4pm to 6pm. But, with not all of the doors having signs, and no one to enforce rules, kids were in the area most of the morning. Both of the hot tubs were closed due to maintenance. When the tubs were reopened we heard that one of them was not heating the water.

 

Park Cafe

The Park Cafe was very nice. The Roast Beef sandwiches were very good as were the sandwiches, wraps...the salad bar was a nice addition. Tables and chairs lined the perimeter of the room so there appeared to be plenty of seating. Moving the carts around the room made for loud noise as the hard plastic wheels moved across the tiled floors.

 

One complaint that we heard was that with the new Park Cafe, there was now nowhere on ship to get pizza. We did not see pizza in the Windjammer.

 

Big Screen

The Big Screen is located at the forward end of the pool deck. A super large screen with good sound....if you want to hear the CD read the activities for the day over and over again every morning. They also showed one of the news channels in the morning. Sorry, on vacation we did not want to be forced to hear the world news. We left the pool area to find a quieter area of the ship. In the afternoon they show movies and that was not as annoying. The screen is far better than I experienced on Princess. I tried to watch a movie on Princess and could not hear the sound regardless where I seated myself. On Day 4, bad Pixels showed up in the center of the screen. By Day 6, this had been repaired.

 

Shuffleboard

When we boarded, the shuffleboards had been painted over. On Day 5,6 they repainted the markings and put out the shuffleboard equipment.

 

Casino

We did not spend time here....just walked through between Theater and Dining Room. In the Cruise specials booklet they noted that the Casino had been revitalized with state of the art slot machines. 1 cent on slots or from $.25 on electronic American Roulette Table.

 

Diamond Lounge

The new DL is located in the balcony area of the Viking Crown Lounge. There are about 45 seats and it overflowed down into the main floor of the Crown Lounge. The 2 waiters worked very hard trying to fill all the drink requests, restock bar ware and hors d'oeuvres... Jasmin Villajuan, the D Concierge was extremely nice and very helpful with dinner reservations. During the week the DL was visited by the Hotel Director, The Beverage Manager, Guest Services Manager. I had not seen that before. They had a Grand Opening party on 12/17 and we heard that it was packed.

 

My Time Dining

We tried Anytime Dining on Princess and it worked like clockwork. We always hesitated to try RCI MTD because of the room set up but this cruise we decided to switch to MTD. The entire balcony of the My Fair Lady DR was devoted to MTD. Night after night we were seated with people that were virtually finished with their dinner. It appeared that they were more interested in seating you with the same waiter than seating you with someone else that just came in for dinner. The first night at a table of 8, 4 were eating dessert as we were seated. 2 were finishing their appetizers and we were handed menus. The next 2 nights I asked to not be seated with someone that was having dessert...so we were seated with people finishing their dinners! I went to Guest Services and voiced my opinion. Not sure how much it helped because after that another couple had pity on us and asked us to join them at their table....we had to switch waiters so I am not sure if RCI was able to handle the tip distribution with that change up. We really like being able to eat when we want but we feel that RCI needs to improve their system drastically.

 

On Day 5 Captain Gus announced that we were heading into a large storm front and he could not avoid the storm since we had to get to Baltimore and the system was too large. He said we would have about 28 foot waves. The barf bags appeared on the stairways. We did not hit the rough seas until later in the evening and we have experienced worse conditions. The next morning half of the Windjammer was closed off due to wet carpets.

 

Day 6 was a bit rough and overcast and also quite a bit cooler than we had been enjoying as we were heading back north. We went to the solarium and it was very quite. Chairs were still available at noon. Not as many kids in the Solarium as on our 1st sea day.

 

The last morning we went to the Windjammer and there was no one making omelettes or eggs. So, a third day without fresh eggs.

 

While it was a bit of a shakedown cruise, we still were able to fully enjoy ourselves and do not regret booking this cruise. We arrived back in Balt at about 7am. The number of people that opted to walk off with their luggage was amazing. It looked like half of the ship was walking out. We were in the MDR waiting for them to call D, D+, and Pinnacle. A staffer came in and told us they had called our number. We head downstairs to the Centrum to find that the parade of people leaving early with their luggage was still in progress. We were asked to take seats in the Centrum since our bags had not been taken off ship. (?) sounded like a good excuse but we sat anyhow. We were about 20 minutes later than the 8am estimated departure . Not sure why they messed up and angered many of their loyal passengers. It was not a big deal to us...just confusing why were standing and not going anywhere.

 

The crew members were all super as they always have been on Enchantment. Many worked long hours during the dry dock under bad conditions. Water was turned off as they redid bathrooms. The stewards said there was dust everywhere and it was very difficult to keep anything clean for any period of time. Many said they would not want to be on a ship in dry dock again.

[Rewind]

I was on this cruise as well in 3604. Let me say first that all of my items are very tiny items that did not really affect the cruise in any way. I had an excellent time and the crew was always very cheerful and helpful.

 

 

The room was clean and had the new flat screen TV (if anyone needs it, I took a picture of the inputs on the back). The TV has been updated for RCI so each time you turn it on it's on the ship's news station.

 

I just happened to be lucky enough to not be in the room at the time, but my roommate experienced two power outages to the cabin during the week. It wasn't a huge inconvenience but an annoyance.

 

While we were out one day, the maintenance staff took apart our toilet and were replacing some part because it was leaking (we never saw any leak but take their word).

 

The intercom in many staterooms on our floor did not function. They did get it fixed as we were disembarking.

 

I went on the 'first time cruisers' tour with my roommate who was a new cruiser. By doing so, we did stop in the new Concierge Lounge as well as the Diamond Club level of the Viking Crown. I have to say I was unimpressed with the Diamond Club level - they did have a staff member desk their to help with items but it was just a bunch of tables and comfy chairs. The Concierge Lounge did add the breakfast area and had the desk as well but it seemed more exclusive and slightly nicer.

 

I did eat at the Park Cafe for a snack here and there and the food was excellent. I did notice that there is no longer a 'pizza' place on board but I think the variety of the Park Cafe overrides that (what's not to love about loaded nachos?). And I love the idea of an adult only pool area, but with how the layout is set I do not think it is possible on the Enchantment.

 

We did get delayed for boarding as there are a bunch of contractors that do not have work visas for the US. The moment the ship entered US waters they had to stop working. Due to this, the ship stayed in the Bahamas a bit longer to try and get more work done. During the tour, Daryl (assistant cruise director) said that it was a few hours before we boarded that they were still laying carpet. The crew was vacuuming throughout the week as the new carpet pilled up a bit.

 

The new touch screens are great but a couple were having some issues. I felt a bit disappointed in the shops on board because they were still stocking the shelves even on our last day. It was like they didn't know what products they had to sell. (and I was never able to buy a Enchantment of the Seas lapel pin)

 

I did overhear a couple complaints from the C&A office - one was that the space was quite a bit smaller. The other was that with where they had put the walls, the halogen lights above would actually burn the top of the wall. Due to this, some of the lights had been turned off and it was dark in one area. You can also see this on the other side of the wall in the photo gallery.

 

The centrum does look amazing and the cruise director staff love it. They were holding events there almost every hour and at least one dance class a day. With the new layout of the stairs, it gives them so much more room to hold events.

 

Again, the cruise was amazing and the ship is in beautiful shape. While I didn't go to every event I felt like there was always something for me to do (and I probably should have slept more).

[bradpole]

Thank you for the updates!

[JMG]

Oops! I meant to say 18 foot waves! Sorry...the fingers slipped!

[BriBooVa]

JMG and Rewind...you captured our cruise very well in your assessments. Most everything you noted, we noted as well. Don't get me wrong, we had one of the best cruises ever, but, it did take some patience and a laid back attitude for us to overlook those things and have a great time.

[PathfinderEss]

Welcome back, glad you had a good cruise, enjoying your review.

[pmfan]

I was on this cruise as well. I must have been the lucky one as I did find PIZZA! :D It was in the Park Café very late at night, around midnight - 1AM. I enjoyed a slice on 3 different nights. It seemed to be a hit or miss thing.

The Rbar is a happening place. We were in room 4077 and on several nights we could faintly hear the band/music late into the night/early morning.

We arrived at the port at 10:15AM and were able to wait in the terminal (after talking to several security personal). Shortly after entering we were processed and were given a sack lunch. Waiting in the terminal wasn't bad at all. We enjoyed talking to several of the workers and just having some quiet time before the rest of the cruisers were allowed in.

[sandy toes]

We were on the same cruise and even with issues related to our toliet on 4 seperate days (it would be fixed and then we would see someone working 2 doors down and it would be non-functioning again), we had a wonderful cruise. Yes there were small problems and crew members and contract workers were still working hard to fix things BUT Royal did a great job keeping us happy, well fed and entertained. The new flatscreen TVs are nice, the pool side big screen for sports and movies is fab and the Park Cafe is a nice touch. I love all the new carpeting and furniture throughout the ship. The new Diamond Lounge is really lovely and the our Concierge Lounge is equally so. Several cabins were really made over (suites), only saw them on the cabin crawl (others will share that info and pics I am sure). Only last day coming back home was rough waves and cold. There were tapes blocking outside areas off due to high winds but that didn't "ruin" my cruise. The Enchantment looked great!!! I have been on other ships (and other lines) when a ship has returned to service and this sailing was very smooth...I am giving credit to the fantastic staff that worked so hard to make our cruise grand.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[rafinmd]

Thanks for the review, REALLY looking forward now to January 26, and after the Enchantment moves to Port Canaveral I think my niece in Orlando will want to try it out.

 

Roy

[joe6666]

Pardon me but I didn't hear about your cruise until now. Did you get some kind of discount for cruising while the ship was being worked on?

Did the cruise begin and end in Baltimore?

[JMG]

Pardon me but I didn't hear about your cruise until now. Did you get some kind of discount for cruising while the ship was being worked on?

Did the cruise begin and end in Baltimore?

 

This cruise was not discounted any more than any other cruise. It is all supply/demand driven. The term "maiden voyage after refurb" was more by the crew as it was not marketed this way by RCI. I think they were so happy that they got the ship ready even if it was at the very last moment!

 

They are working on all the ships all the time. Repairing this, replacing that. That being said, there was more work being done on this cruise but the reality is that it did not ruin the experience. They roped off a staircase so that they could replace artwork but a few steps away there was another staircase. In a few hours the work was done, we could enjoy the new artwork as we walked the stairs.

 

We did lose 4 hours of our cruise experience due to the delayed boarding/sailing. I would not expect a discount because of those few hours. Yes, the cruise began and ended in Baltimore.

[retiredgram]

Thnks for the review. We are reading all update reviews as we will be on her in 4 weeks. Thanks again.

[Rewind]

How about some pictures?

 

Looking at the new staircase in the centrum:

 

Looking down from probably deck 9:

 

Looking out from between the elevators on deck 5:

[WhansaMi]

I was on this cruise as well in 3604. Let me say first that all of my items are very tiny items that did not really affect the cruise in any way. I had an excellent time and the crew was always very cheerful and helpful.

 

 

The room was clean and had the new flat screen TV (if anyone needs it, I took a picture of the inputs on the back). The TV has been updated for RCI so each time you turn it on it's on the ship's news station.

 

).

 

Would you mind sharing the pics of the input connections? thanks@

[Jolly Mon Sings]

Someone posted that the TV inputs have been disabled. Did you try to see if they worked?

[Jolly Mon Sings]

How did it go bringing wine on Enchantment?

[JMG]

Hopefully Rewind and others will do reviews that contain pics...I got some photos but am not a photographer so my photos are not worth posting!

 

We are D and went to the D Lounge every night so we did not bother taking any wine onboard. In Security they did ask if you had any bottles of wine. Not sure what they did if you answered yes...sorry cannot help with that question!