Enchantment comes to PC -April 25-29 2013- A mini review

[poncho1973]

Thank you for your review.

 

Keith

 

No problem!

[Familygoboston]

You can just buy a vest on Amazon or something for really cheap. It packs flat and weighs basically nothing. It is not a burden to travel with at all.

 

True, probably it will fit in my snorkel bag. We usually travel very lightly- it's vacation week here in MA and flights and airports are wild. We go to Fl with just a roll aboard and a back pack each and do laundry at moms, or on board with my " wash and fold bag", mix and match clothes and double duty items. We are masters of the light packing, so I may not even bring the snorkels at all.

[waterbug123]

Thanks for the review! We've thoroughly enjoyed Enchantment both times we've been on her. For some reason we always spend more time in Boleros when we're on Enchantment than on any other ship, and we like sitting under those big umbrellas on the deck above the pool. We're excited that she's back in Florida and have a cruise booked in late October. Can't wait enjoy everything we love about Enchantment PLUS the addition of the Park Cafe!

[reney313]

Thanks for all the answers! Since its unlikely I will get any relief from Royal on flights, I'm glad this sounds like a viable option... DD loved Jewel, but I think she will like the Park Cafe and bungee, since we just got off Allure and she loved those kinds of activities.

 

Coco cay is nice; the snorkel vest thing is so weird, but if they make me i guess I don't have a choice. She also liked Blue Lagoon, where we did the Dolphins and we thought we could go back as the beach break if we do this one,- weirdly though its not listed as an excursion for this cruise:confused: They have the BL swim, and BL dolphin encounter, but no beach break listed! Puzzler!

 

Thanks Mighty Gator for the Compasses- that is awesome!

 

You can book directly from Blue Lagoon. Just get a taxi (or water taxi) to their ferry on paradise island, buy the tickets, and then head on the boat. Since you are there until 11:30pm there would be little chance of missing the ship :)

[ZoeyVictoria]

I was on this cruise, and agree with the OP's remarks. The Solarium was hot, the smoke drifted from the casino, and on Day 3 (Nassau) the Compass showed the Windjammer as closing at 3:00 p.m. We got back to the ship at 3:10 and were hungry and disappointed. Luckily, we settled for soft serve ice cream and as we walked up to get a cone, we saw people leaving the WJ with plates of food (it was open until 5 p.m.). I didn't think the roast beef sandwich was nearly as good as on the Oasis/Allure; the roll was different, and the "au jus" was gravy. None of these things kept us from having a great cruise.

 

There were a lot of very good things. Almost everything in the cabin was new, and the large mirror in our OV made the room appear much larger than before. The new bathroom was very nice (except for the overly friendly shower curtain). I thought the ship was even prettier than before and shiny clean from one end to the other. I was with a friend, a "newbie", and did things differently than when I was with my ex. We participated in the Walk for Wishes for the first time and will do it again. We tried one night in the MDR, found that it just took too long (time when we could have been doing other things), and ate in the WJ the other three nights. Loved the selection and the service, and was surprised to find sushi, stir fry, and baklava. I thought Quest was great; it stayed on this side of tasteful and was very, very funny. We enjoyed the line-dancing class, trivia games, and karaoke. My overall positive experience was probably enhanced by using OBC to enter the slot tournament and leaving with a t-shirt, a trophy, and $461.00 :D

 

New and different gratuity envelopes were left in the cabin on the last evening. They are now marked, "WOW! Recognizing Exceptional Service. Additional gratuity in recognition of delivering the WOW!", with blanks to fill in for the crew member's name and stateroom number. The steward's card was not quite on top of the envelope, but had been moved from its former position behind the telephone to just a few inches away.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the Enchantment and I will be keeping an eye out for last-minute specials to go again as frequently as possible.

[kruzerci]

We sailed on Enchantment twice when it was in Baltimore. Now, we are moving to Palm Coast, Florida (100 miles from Port Canaveral) in July. I have booked a cruise from there on Freedom of the Seas, which will be the largest ship I have been on to date.

 

My question is: Was the Enchantment in dry dock prior to being moved to Port Canaveral? I am just wondering if improvements were made, should I decide to sail on her in the future.

 

Yes it had an extensive renovation in December, prior to coming to Florida. Updated cabins (new furniture, gutted bathrooms, new carpets), they added a couple dining venues and bars, added a Diamond concierge, redid the centrum. She should look great!

[Cheryl H]

Rats! I looked at all the cruise compasses and I did not see Adventure Dining offered for the kids at dinnertime. Our last cruises offered it every night except the first night. Our son loved eating with the other kids and the AO staff. Oh well.

[Ander026]

Great review. I am glad to have the Enchantment 1 hr from my house now. Hopefully I will be able to sail her early next year before I get busy with Little League.

 

I believe that they have not worked out the show shcedule. I believe most of this crew is used to longer cruises. After a few months as staff gets switched out they will work out the schedule.

 

Hopefully they will fix the Solarium situation soon since most the time it should be open.

[JTJ]

Thx for the review, do you remember if the ship backed in or came in straight at Nassau?

[poncho1973]

Thx for the review, do you remember if the ship backed in or came in straight at Nassau?

 

It was the only ship that pulled in straight. First ship in, furthest dock from the land.

 

There were two Carnival ships (I'm not sure but I think they were Freedom & Imagination... but I'm not really up on Carnival ships... one was really old looking and one had a really flat stern with lots of balconies) that came in during the day (one left before us, one left after us) and even later in the day the Ruby Princess came in, but left after just a few hours.

[lastinga]

Thanks for your review, Poncho! I am getting very excited!

[JTJ]

Thx Poncho, I hope they do the same thing on the 5/10 cruise.

[poncho1973]

Thx Poncho, I hope they do the same thing on the 5/10 cruise.

 

Which part are you commenting on?

 

Hopefully, not the solarium heat issue.

[tahqa]

Which part are you commenting on?

 

Hopefully, not the solarium heat issue.

 

It's interesting that my cruise on the Grandeur had the same problem. The solarium was an oven and miserable to be in. Complaints were made to various staff with differing answers...

 

"it's broken"

"I don't know how to open it"

"it takes too much electricity to open it"

...

 

Finally one lady caught up with the captain in a hallway and asked him about it and lo and behold... the solarium roof was opened up that afternoon! So they can be opened, you just may have to elevate it up the chain until someone takes action. :cool:

[retiredgram]

Great review. I am glad to have the Enchantment 1 hr from my house now. Hopefully I will be able to sail her early next year before I get busy with Little League.

 

I believe that they have not worked out the show shcedule. I believe most of this crew is used to longer cruises. After a few months as staff gets switched out they will work out the schedule.

 

Hopefully they will fix the Solarium situation soon since most the time it should be open.

We were glad to have the Enchantment only about 30 minutes away from us. Sorry she left.:( You will enjoy cruising on her.

 

The crew we spoke with said they wanted to transfer to a different ship because of the 3 & 4 day sailings.

 

When we on her in Jan. & Feb., they did open the solarium cover. So, yes, it was not broke. Maybe since it will be in Fla. now, they will make an effort to open it more. When we got on this past January, they were shoveling snow from the pool deck.:eek::D

[poncho1973]

Yeah, I hope the solarium issue is just a wrinkle that will work itself out.

 

 

We did hear a member of the bar staff complaining that the shorter cruises mean they "will barely make any money now" but I'm not sure how they could say that. You are still at sea the same number of days... it almost seems that fresh people would increase your odds of finding a big tipper.

 

I suppose that maybe a person who could afford more time off and longer vacations MIGHT tip more... but I don't believe that would be the rule. I think the rule would be "FIRST NIGHT! LET'S GO DRANKIN' BABY!"

[Mightygator]

Yeah, I hope the solarium issue is just a wrinkle that will work itself out.

 

 

We did hear a member of the bar staff complaining that the shorter cruises mean they "will barely make any money now" but I'm not sure how they could say that. You are still at sea the same number of days... it almost seems that fresh people would increase your odds of finding a big tipper.

 

I suppose that maybe a person who could afford more time off and longer vacations MIGHT tip more... but I don't believe that would be the rule. I think the rule would be "FIRST NIGHT! LET'S GO DRANKIN' BABY!"

 

Agreed!

 

I know my bar budget for a 3 day cruise is about the same as a 5 day cruise so that should help them if most folks are like me.

 

But, turning the ship over twice a week is more work than only doing it once a week. Also the bars are likely not very busy on embarkation days until at least 2:00 PM as the boat fills up. Then there is a 45 minute or more period of a closed bars for safety drill twice a week. Hauling all the bar stuff onto and off of Coco Cay twice a week is not much fun either for them but they should make more money on Coco Cay than on a day the ship goes to a port that most people get off of the boat for.

 

But given all that, I am able to cruise a three day weekend cruise much more often then a 5 day or longer due to cost and vacation time allotment.

[Parrotheadtoo]

Thx for the review, do you remember if the ship backed in or came in straight at Nassau?

 

Just got off the ship this morning... The ship backed into the dock at Nassau.

[Scotty G]

Just got off the ship this morning... The ship backed into the dock at Nassau.

 

The side of the ship next to the dock will change at Nassau since they must drill all the life boats over the course of a month. They don't do boat drills at PC since the fuel barge is alongside while they take on fuel.

[Eriksgarden]

We are looking forward to Enchantment!

[karena1]

Had an amazing time on this ship for the first cruise out of PC. Park Cafe-awesome, had a salad and the chicken wrap which I love. We thought the shows were great. Scott Record - love him. Saw him on Serenade so were so thrilled when we saw he was on this ship. Actually met him the night after his show when we were at trivia.

 

I thought the layout of the ship was really cool since it was my first time on a Vision Class. Have been on all the classes but this. Loved the arches at the pool, thought they were really cool

 

Food is very subjective, but we had the best head waiter EVER in 51 cruises. he was so attentive and totally took care of us. I am pretty much a veggie and my 2 sisters are GF and every night he personally delivered out food and brought us surprises. Absolutely awesome service

 

We enjoyed all the shows, had a blast at Quest, really enjoyed Love and Marriage.

 

Also got to meet the CD and his wife. We thought they were fantastic. Did a really good job

 

I would cruise Enchantment again in a heartbeat. Since we live in SW FL won't make that drive very often, but I think we will go on her for my hubby's 70th birthday in Jan. Cannot think of a better way to celebrate that birthday for him

[Parrotheadtoo]

 

Park Cafe is our new Windjammer for day one of embarkation!

It's a hidden gem with great food and a quiet atmosphere!

 

We enjoyed a just sliced roast beef on freshly baked hamburger sized roll with Au jus and any fixing's to your specifications yesterday. There is so much variety for your breakfast, lunch, or late night snacking!

Hot soups and assorted salads are also available for those who are not gourmet sandwich eaters....

 

 

 

NEW Complimentary Park Café, where you can grab gourmet sandwiches, salads and more.

[Familygoboston]

 

Park Cafe is our new Windjammer for day one of embarkation!

It's a hidden gem with great food and a quiet atmosphere!

 

We enjoyed a just sliced roast beef on freshly baked hamburger sized roll with Au jus and any fixing's to your specifications yesterday. There is so much variety for your breakfast, lunch, or late night snacking!

Hot soups and assorted salads are also available for those who are not gourmet sandwich eaters....

 

 

 

NEW Complimentary Park Café, where you can grab gourmet sandwiches, salads and more.

This is one of those "oasis-izing" improvements that I think is very good. I think many people like this sort of venue for lunch and breakfast, I know I had lunch there nearly daily on Allure! This has been another "selling point" for DD who really liked the PC on ALlure and is disappointed about our brillinace cancellation since she loved Jewel!

 

For those of you who have sailed from PC:

 

Can anyone comment on where the Ben & Jerry's is located and what flavors they had? On NOS it was on the Promenade, but on Granduer it was part of the Latte tudes. ANy thoughts?

 

Also, I will have to select a cabin, it appears there are no cabin decks without public areas above or below. Any advice, D1 or D2, might think about a Jr suite, if they make it worth my while. Do you prefer 7 with potentially noisy stuff below you, or 8 with potentailly noisy stuff above you? (I need a 3 person, so there are limited options at this point!)

[Scotty G]

For those of you who have sailed from PC:

 

Can anyone comment on where the Ben & Jerry's is located and what flavors they had? On NOS it was on the Promenade, but on Granduer it was part of the Latte tudes. ANy thoughts?

 

Also, I will have to select a cabin, it appears there are no cabin decks without public areas above or below. Any advice, D1 or D2, might think about a Jr suite, if they make it worth my while. Do you prefer 7 with potentially noisy stuff below you, or 8 with potentailly noisy stuff above you? (I need a 3 person, so there are limited options at this point!)

 

Ben and Jerry's is part of Latte Tudes on deck 6: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/ship/decks/deck/home.do?deckCode=MR&shipCode=EN&shipProfile=1508&sailDate=1130506&hasNavigation=false

Good B&J selections but don't remember which. Around 6-10 as I recall.

The cabins above the Spotlight Lounge can be noisy particularly on Quest night.

[Familygoboston]

Ben and Jerry's is part of Latte Tudes on deck 6: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/ship/decks/deck/home.do?deckCode=MR&shipCode=EN&shipProfile=1508&sailDate=1130506&hasNavigation=false

Good B&J selections but don't remember which. Around 6-10 as I recall.

The cabins above the Spotlight Lounge can be noisy particularly on Quest night.

Thanks Ian and Linda...yes, we've avoided the cabins directly above the Safari lounge on Jewel for the same reason, I guess it's all good if you are part of the party, but sometimes we like to retire early! We do love B&J and will often do that as our "nightcap"!!:D

 

I think I will go for 7 but more mid ships...on the deck plans the cabins in the open "area" near the centrum - are those open to that elevator/stair centrum area or is there a hallway seperating them as on most ships. From the deck plans it looks like xx94-xx16 are in that open area and there might be some noise from below! being close to the stairs and elevator would be a bonus with mom, but only if it's quiet, she's a very early to bed gal!!

 

Sorry to hog your review with questions, Poncho, :o just figure this is a good place since so many of you just took that cruise and are commenting here!!