Enchantment Christmas Review

[NanciRDH]

[quote name='Mr. Bungle']3rd time shoveling since Thursday morning... got about 20" so far...[/QUOTE]

Yuck! I'd say you for sure earned a cruise for putting up with all that!

[Merion_Mom]

Dawn, those are great pictures. Thank you for sharing - particularly the one of Luke/Christmas tree and Darryl, his Activities Director. :)

I have mentioned elsewhere my opinion about the entertainment, but here it is again:

Comedians - not funny

Jugglers - talented at throwing things around, but how entertaining is that? And "comedian juggler"? I don't think so.

Stick pins in my eyes and bamboo shoots under my fingernails, and I STILL will not go to the magician's performance.

Both production shows with the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers were VERY good.

The Drifters were good, but not fantastic. And frankly, I and several people had the same experience later that I had: NOT very friendly off-stage.

Luke the cruise director "grew' on me. I liked him better by the end of the cruise.

Too much &!$&(%$#@ football on the public televisions.

No chinese food on Christmas Day. :D :D

I LIKED the energy of the crowds of people in the Centrum. There are so many comfortable places to sit, on all Centrum decks: 4, 5 & 6. You can even stand at the rails on 7 & 8 and watch and hear what is going on down below.

[Mr. Bungle]

Tis the season for football. College Bowl Games... End of season NFL games... Playoffs start tomorrow. Aren't there only tv's in the casino bar and now on the pool deck?

[pjlee3333]

[quote name='sgt1010']Do you know if Lightning Wave is still performing on EOS. We sail again 2/16 and had a blast with those guys last year.[/quote]

Currently the bands are Roots Vibration, Shine Band, and Evergreen Trio. Evergreen and Roots Vibration have been on since September and Shine came on Sometime between September 22 and November 1. I'm not sure when they will be taking their vacation.

[spookwife]

[quote name='Mr. Bungle']Did you get pics of the movie screen?

Is Luis and Patsy still in Boleros?[/QUOTE]

nope. we never frequented that part of the ship except to get from aft to forward. great view of it from the center of VCL though, if you were okay with no sound.

as I said before we did no entertainment past the first show. the comedian was funny that night, but DH said he fell flat on the adult show later on. and the little bit of the dancers/singers we saw on the first night underwhelmed us as well.. saw no need to go back

[spookwife]

[quote name='Mr. Bungle']Have they outlawed smoking on the balconies or can the CigarCrew still enjoy one while watching the sun set?[/QUOTE]

smoking is still allowed. the Casino was more noticeable this time as opposed to May. we were forward enough( and Straugn very kindly didn't smoke) that we were not bothered on our balcony at all.

[spookwife]

[quote name='kruzerci']For real... I thought the "party til you puke crowd" was a little uncalled for! The last short cruise we did out of Canaveral was literally all elderly people. The ship felt empty by 10PM every night.[/QUOTE]

did i insinuate that all of these passengers on the shorter cruises are party til you puke? no. I merely stated that those who ARE of that demographic will be oblivious to the wonderful changes.

and FTR much of the crew is NOT happy about the shorter cruises as they now have more turnaround days per week which are their busiest and most demanding days. and apparently they get stiffed more often on tips as well.

[spookwife]

[quote name='Mr. Bungle']Tis the season for football. College Bowl Games... End of season NFL games... Playoffs start tomorrow. Aren't there only tv's in the casino bar and now on the pool deck?[/QUOTE]

Boleros was showing the games too. also when there was no football on the big screen you could watch White Christmas( although I personally think Holiday Inn was better) and Best of Andy Williams Christmas specials.

[Straughn]

The comments re the 3-night cruises being party cruises came from the staff and other passengers who had been on similar cruises on RCCL. I heard similar comments primarily about the 3-night cruises. It was very clear that that was their perception of the demographics on those cruises. I am sure that it did not apply to all passengers, but to the majority. Lets face it, the party crowd is not the most likely member of CC.

[PathfinderEss]

[SIZE=3][COLOR=darkred][B]Thanks for your great pictures and wonderful review.[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]

[JMG]

[quote name='cello56']I wonder if the issue of having kids in the solarium on cold days will disappear once Enchantment moves to the Florida - Bahamas route? I have never, ever, seen them allow kids in the Solarium on the Florida departure ships due to weather conditions. I sure hope so at least! We love kids, but we love to have our adult quiet time in the solarium more![/QUOTE]

We were on the Enchantment in August and Dec. In August, kids were NOT allowed in the pool, however, they could come into the Solarium because that is where Pizza, burgers, fries and hot dogs were served. On our Dec 15 cruise, not as many kids as the holiday cruise so it was not very annoying having the kids into the pool for the limited swim times. There was no one enforcing the rule about kids so 1st sea day...many parents brought the kids in earlier than "allowed". We did not see many kids coming in to eat at the Park Cafe.

The odd thing was that there were signs on some doors to the solarium stating No Kids while doors from the interior hallway to the Solarium had no signs..so it depends which door is used for parents to get the message. (Assuming they have not read it in the Compass.)

[sgt1010]

[quote name='pjlee3333']Currently the bands are Roots Vibration, Shine Band, and Evergreen Trio. Evergreen and Roots Vibration have been on since September and Shine came on Sometime between September 22 and November 1. I'm not sure when they will be taking their vacation.[/quote]

Thanks for the info. Edited December 31, 2012 by sgt1010

[Tyron]

[quote name='Straughn']The comments re the 3-night cruises being party cruises came from the staff and other passengers who had been on similar cruises on RCCL. I heard similar comments primarily about the 3-night cruises. It was very clear that that was their perception of the demographics on those cruises. I am sure that it did not apply to all passengers, but to the majority. Lets face it, the party crowd is not the most likely member of CC.[/quote]

[FONT=Georgia][SIZE=3][I][B]I certainly did not mean to offend any one with my earlier post. :) I was merely speaking from my own personal experiences on 3-4 night cruises. The shorter cruises do attract younger (party goers) passengers since they're more affordable and typically are weekend cruises.

I hope everyone has a great new year![/B][/I][/SIZE][/FONT] :cool: :D

[Mr. Bungle]

[quote name='spookwife']Boleros was showing the games too. also when there was no football on the big screen you could watch White Christmas( although I personally think Holiday Inn was better) and Best of Andy Williams Christmas specials.[/quote]

where is there a tv in Boleros... Oh, wait. that's right, those little side screens they use for Karaoke and stuff...

[spookwife]

[quote name='Mr. Bungle']where is there a tv in Boleros... Oh, wait. that's right, those little side screens they use for Karaoke and stuff...[/QUOTE]

big huge full size one too. between the two side screens.

[Cshgrand]

[quote name='JMG']

The odd thing was that there were signs on some doors to the solarium stating No Kids while doors from the interior hallway to the Solarium had no signs..so it depends which door is used for parents to get the message. (Assuming they have not read it in the Compass.)[/QUOTE]

I was on the 22nd cruise with my son who is 4. We chose this ship as from experience we made good use of family swim time. Yes, there were A LOT of children but not so as the solarium pool was overrun during the designated hours but the issue are those hours in between.
The take I have on the solarium as a parent is this - Royal could be doing a lot more to proactively but subtlety manage the situation. Family swim is in very small print on the cruise compass in one place and it is subject to change. Our penultimate sea day for example family swim was not in the compass but was being held as weather was not as predicted. I told my son no to swimming, took him in to get some fruit after lunch and low and behold, kids in the pool. I called guest services to check before taking him in and was told that there was now family swim 12-2, 4-6. Notices on all Solarium doors and around to say when family swim is on would be the first step. It only takes for one parent who doesn't know about the restricted access to see other kids in the pool and take their children in assuming it is ok whenever. It wouldn't be difficult or offensive for the staff on duty to blow a whistle and announce that family swim is over much like the public pool at home.
As for the snacks, opening windjammer say 3-5pm to a limited service, roping off a small seating area for use with the sweet stuff available that most unsupervised kids are after would surely reduce traffic into the park cafe where salad and fruit is being served?
Family swim is a great asset of this class of boat because of the covered solarium but I can see that with current set up it is very much to the disadvantage of the adult customers (many of whom may be parents with kids in AO!)

[Candleonwater]

I found that I like hiding out in the Solarium to get away from the MASSES of loud children (my own included). On our recent cruise there were signs on the doors, as well as the pillars by the pool... many parents chose to ignore these. Actually heard one father get nasty with a pool attendant because his child was not allowed in the pool at that particular time - it wasn't fair to his kid.

Later during the cruise, while talking with another pool attendant, I found out they're not actually allowed to "kick" kids out of the pool, at any time, although some attendants have done so.

[quote name='Cshgrand']I was on the 22nd cruise with my son who is 4. We chose this ship as from experience we made good use of family swim time. Yes, there were A LOT of children but not so as the solarium pool was overrun during the designated hours but the issue are those hours in between.
The take I have on the solarium as a parent is this - Royal could be doing a lot more to proactively but subtlety manage the situation. Family swim is in very small print on the cruise compass in one place and it is subject to change. Our penultimate sea day for example family swim was not in the compass but was being held as weather was not as predicted. I told my son no to swimming, took him in to get some fruit after lunch and low and behold, kids in the pool. I called guest services to check before taking him in and was told that there was now family swim 12-2, 4-6. Notices on all Solarium doors and around to say when family swim is on would be the first step. It only takes for one parent who doesn't know about the restricted access to see other kids in the pool and take their children in assuming it is ok whenever. It wouldn't be difficult or offensive for the staff on duty to blow a whistle and announce that family swim is over much like the public pool at home.
As for the snacks, opening windjammer say 3-5pm to a limited service, roping off a small seating area for use with the sweet stuff available that most unsupervised kids are after would surely reduce traffic into the park cafe where salad and fruit is being served?
Family swim is a great asset of this class of boat because of the covered solarium but I can see that with current set up it is very much to the disadvantage of the adult customers (many of whom may be parents with kids in AO!)[/QUOTE]

[sailingawaysoon]

To the OP, thanks for adding this link to the thread I started and sharing your Christmas cruise with me. I think we have the same GS. I enjoyed reading your review and now I'm even more excited about our Christmas cruise. You, of course, enjoyed a week long cruise, while ours will only be 4 nights, but we will make the most of it. Thanks again!