"Live" From the Enchantment of the Seas

[coolshop]

Hi Merion_Mom,

 

Thanks for the corrections, they are all correct! I guess just post-cruise delirium had set in while I was typing.

 

NancyL2

 

Re: Southwest A, B, or C. Southwest does not assign seats ahead of time. Instead, on your boarding pass it will say A, B or C. There are threee 'lines' that form at the gate area. Southwest first allows families with children under 5 and other 'special' preboarding cases to get on first. Then the As load, and then the Bs, and finally the Cs.

 

Actually, the process seems to work well and seemed to even take less time than when seats were assigned.

 

My only comment was that people seemed so worried about their seats, that they began to get in line LONG before the plane even arrived. So there were lines snaking through the area where everyone sat. Like I said, I didn't care where I sat, so I didn't rush to get into my line until the last minute. Our flight out was funny because my husband was an A and I was a B! I asked about this and they said he 'probably got the last A'. He was able to save me a seat (although I guess if someone had insisted on sitting there who was an A he would have had to oblige).

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, as I would definitely fly Southwest again. It was just kind of amusing. I thought Southwest was pretty efficient, even in the way that the served beverages, etc (they came around and took orders and then just carried out trays of drinks), and the plane looked new, the seats were nice leather and seemed roomy.

 

Also, Southwest allows you to check in online at their website and print your boarding pass, so I assume (don't know for sure) that if you did this right after midnight on the day of your flight that you would get an A? I could be wrong.

 

I also heard overheard a conversation on the plane that Southwest is starting to deboard and board simultaneously, using the front and back doors -- that they have started doing this in only some cities so far.

[grannynanny]

Hi, we are also sailing Enchantment Thanksgiving week (11/21). I thought we had the ship to ourselves, haven't seen any other posts for this sailing.

There will be 4 of us, myself and husband, our daughter and granddaughter, who is 12. We've been on the Enchantment twice and are looking forward to sailing her again after the stretch.

Nancy

[tshelton1676]

Thanks Radio for the pics,will be on Enchantment on 5/08/06.

 

Tim

[butnzb]

Thanks so much, Radio. The pics were great and so was the information. I have been waiting to hear info after the refurb. and can't wait for our trip. I didn't see a picture of a junior suite, were they much bigger than a regular balcony room? Thanks again!

[patpav]

Thank you Radio and Coolshop for the pics. They were great and just hightens (sp?) my anticipation for 8/21.

[Merion_Mom]

Thanks Merion_Mom...I changed the caption...

 

They were very good.....Bot they had to be very HOT out there in 95f :mad:

 

Radio)

Yeah, and you should see 'em on January 1st, when they march in the Annual Mummers Parade. Somehow, they find ways NOT to feel the cold................:D :D :D

[NancyL2]

Carol ~ Such a small world!

We were practically neighbors! So where did you go to HS?

[NancyL2]

Southwest allows you to get your boarding pass online the day of travel (ie 1200 am). An "A" pass will board you with the first 30 passengers that have checked in.

 

yodacruiser ~ Thanks for that info! I know I'll be staying up till midnight the night before my 9am flight...but it will be worth it to get that window up front.

Talking about a five hour flight from Phoenix.

One question....is that 12am point of departure (phoenix) time to print the boarding pass or eastern time?

[NancyL2]

 

Also, Southwest allows you to check in online at their website and print your boarding pass, so I assume (don't know for sure) that if you did this right after midnight on the day of your flight that you would get an A? I could be wrong.

 

coolshop ~ Thank you so much for the info on flying Southwest!

You can bet I'll be online and printing my boarding pass at midnight and crossing my fingers to get an "A".

Thanks again!

[coolshop]

coolshop ~ Thank you so much for the info on flying Southwest!

You can bet I'll be online and printing my boarding pass at midnight and crossing my fingers to get an "A".

Thanks again!

 

Hi Nancy,

 

Good luck! Actually we hadn't even printed our boarding passes online, just got them at the check in at the airport, and my husband still got his 'A' on the one flight.

[Merion_Mom]

Carol ~ Such a small world!

We were practically neighbors! So where did you go to HS?

Cheltenham, of course. YOU didn't go to ABINGTON, did you?!?!?! :eek:

[Kimba1910]

My friend was on this cruise, she works for AAA, she is in two of your pictures in the terminal. You know, I had to share them with her!!!!

[bchbms]

We just booked this cruise yesterday for February, so I have been anxiously looking for pictures of the ship, and the ones you have all posted are great! We just randomly picked a cruise as we will be in Florida anyway for a wedding, but now I feel that we were really lucky to get on this beautiful new ship.

 

The Philadelphia Inquirer had a big story about it over the weekend. Amazing to read about the transformation!

[NancyL2]

Cheltenham, of course. YOU didn't go to ABINGTON, did you?!?!?! :eek:

 

LOL Nope didn't go to Abington LOL

I would have gone to Cheltenham if I didn't go to Bishop McDevitt. :D

[ntsurf]

Hi, we are also sailing Enchantment Thanksgiving week (11/21). I thought we had the ship to ourselves, haven't seen any other posts for this sailing.

There will be 4 of us, myself and husband, our daughter and granddaughter, who is 12. We've been on the Enchantment twice and are looking forward to sailing her again after the stretch.

Nancy

 

Good to hear from someone else that will be traveling with us. My entire family, and a couple of close friends with be there. 8 rooms, 11 adults, 6 children with ages from 11 down to 2. I'm afraid you may not be able to miss us!!

[Radio]

Thanks so much, Radio. The pics were great and so was the information. I have been waiting to hear info after the refurb. and can't wait for our trip. I didn't see a picture of a junior suite, were they much bigger than a regular balcony room? Thanks again!

 

 

Ooops....Sorry butnzb I will post them tonight on my Cruise Page.....

 

Radio

;) ;)

[lojill]

Welcome bchbms we are sailing with you on Feb13th 2006 8 of us family and friends.I'm a nervous wreck, DON'T like waiting. What do you think the weather will be like.

[Merion_Mom]

Isn't Radio just THE BEST? Let's hear it for Radio:

[lojill]

Hey BCHBMS have you ever sailed in Feb in the Carribean. Some of my family members are worried that it will be to cold on the deck for the whole trip. I don't think so the farther south the warmer. What do you think about those pictures ?

[Radio]

Isn't Radio just THE BEST? Let's hear it for Radio:

 

HaHa...I'll send a check !

 

Here are the JS Pics and D1 Pics....

 

Radio

 

Junior Suite (Cat C)

 

 

 

Junior Suite

 

 

Cat D1 deck 7 (Superior Oceanview Stateroom w/ Balcony)

These were part of the 151 New Rooms....It looks like Voyager Class ! !

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

The new bathrooms even have the New Sliding Shower Doors......

 

 

 

 

.

.

[DisneyGirl92]

Disney Girl - get yourself STRAIGHT to our roll call and to SIGN UP for our Meet & Mingle, or we won't have one!

 

Roll call: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=129091

 

Meet & Mingle sign up: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/selectCountry.do;jsessionid=0000TZhGDz8F98K-lsT1PmVFaKh:v2mocajr

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Carol

 

 

I am a newbie here - but I march right over and signed up. I cannot wait - just picked up my documents tonight. I will be on vacation (no kids no hubby) but with my mother celebrating her 80th birthday. Cannot wait to get away.

 

Jul

[tipster42]

Thanks for the great pix, Radio & Coolshop. I'm sailing on 7/31, and planned to take a slew of pictures. After seeing yours, I may leave my camera home.

[sagiter]

Hi Folks,

 

 

My family (wife, teenage son and daughter) and I were on the July 11th sailing. this was our first cruise so our impressions are not based on any prior experience.

 

Check in was excellent with no problems at all. We drove in as we are New Yorkers, dropped off our luggage, parked and were on the boat in less than an hour. Our rooms were ready when we boarded so we headed off to 4510 and 4512 (Deck 4 - forward section). We found them comfortable and with plenty of closet space. hangers and shelf space to make ourselves comfortable. Although we were fortunate that our toilets worked we did hear stories of those that weren't so lucky and they were not pleased to say the least. i would have probably freaked out. A friend of my son's told us that they awoke one morning to find their cabin flooded. Anyway we met our cabin steward, pre-tipped him $50 and asked him to remove the chargeable drinks from the kids room which he took care of. We hardly saw Joseph (steward) and our rooms were kept in excellent order.

 

Our first problem arose early on with the Shore Excursion folks. Personally I doubt I will ever book a shore excursion through RCI again. We booked online, prior to sailing, the Halifax Hop on Hop off bus for 4 at $36 a person. On check in we received one ticket (my wife's). We called over to guest services who told us they couldn't help at all and we would have to see the Excursion desk people the following day (a sea day). More on this later.

 

We had lunch at the Windjammer (every day on board as well as breakfast) and found it somewhat crowded but still negotiable. I saw some folks having a real problem getting tables but we were lucky I guess and didn't have a major problem. the food was decent, nothing spectacular, on par with good diner food but it's a buffet and what can you expect ? Through the week we did experience the lack of plates and silverware syndrome several times which was quite annoying. There also seems to be a haphazard set up of stations so you really have to sometimes bus an empty table to get a seat and certainly get your own drinks.

 

After some more exploring we went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner. Our bags had arrived by then so we unpacked, changed for dinner and after spending some time finding our table (several staff members had no idea where it was either) we finally met our waiter and assistant. Both were excellent although our waiter cut him self 3 days into the cruise and we then got our head waiter as a waiter. Service went down at this point as she appeared to have a bit much on her plate and we waited fairly long for certain things to arrive, like a menu :-). The food on this night as well as most others was somewhat disappointing as the food never really lived up to it's description or our expectations. We had the early seating for the kids (who pretty much gave up on the dining room by the third night). We found the dining room ridiculously loud and cramped and most uncomfortable especially on formal nights. Another thing about our expectations was we thought (based on many reviews on several sites) that most people paid attention to the dress suggestions and we dressed accordingly. This really upset my kids (especially the son) because no one else seemed to really care. Shorts, halters whatever seemed just fine except on the first formal night when most folks seemed to follow as best as they could. the second formal night I was surrounded by folks with no jackets and what I considered easily informal wear. btw... I could care less what anyone wears this is just a comment on expectations versus reality. We told our kids that they had to follow the code no matter what and they opted for the Windjammer rather than the hassle. One other thing, I found the two nights with the announcements and the march of the waiters and loud music annoying. Truth is I could care less about how many people it takes to cook and serve allot of food and with having to literally rush out to see a show, who's got the time ? Also, we sat next to a family where the son would spit the food he didn't like right out onto the table which was fairly disgusting. and between two other table 9one of parents and one of their kids) and they would routinely yell past our table to communicate with each other.

 

At this point I have to say that the kids found many friends and had a great time on the cruise, no complaints at all.

 

The rest of the night we walked around, did some minor shopping, had a drink or two, etc. and basically got the feel of cruising.

 

First morning we had breakfast at the Windjammer (my son slept in and we brought a plate down to him) and went to the Shore Excursions desk. Fifteen minutes before the desk was to open we got on the back of a 30 minute line along with everyone else whose tickets and excursions were messed up on line. When we finally got to the counter, the line stretched out behind us, bending around, it was so long. We told them our problem and they printed my ticket and told us that the kids' tickets would be delivered to the stateroom by dinner. By dinner one ticket had arrived so we called down to guest services who again told us that we would have to be on line again tomorrow as there was no number to call for excursions and no other way to solve the problem. We had a fairly relaxing day on board, watched the art auction, had two additional mediocre meals and hit the sack to get ready for our first stop Boston.

 

First thing in the morning I fortified myself with some coffee and at 7:00AM got on the line at Shore Excursions for the grand 7:30Am opening. At 7AM I was 5th in line. By 7:30 the line was 60 people long. i went through my entire routine again and had the last ticket printed (she wanted me to go away and said the ticket would be delivered by dinner but I was having none of that :mad: .

 

We did Boston on our own (Harvard, Quincy market and the NE Aquarium) and had a good day overall. We got back to the ship and got ready for our very first Formal Dinner. As I said, we were usually somewhat disappointed with our dining room experiences.

 

Let me add something here about the shows and the theatre. The theatre is very nice. To get a seat at the late show you have to arrive 45 minutes early. The theatre fills very fast. I was told the early show is easier but that was our dinner time so that was out. The two production shows we saw were fine. The first night we couldn't get in and one night we didn't like the show so we left.

 

Did I mention my kids had an absolutely grand time?!

 

We did Bar Harbor on our own as well; an off ship tour of Acadia and just tooling around town. One thing to note. We went down to the tender dock a little before 9:00AM as we had a 10:00 tour scheduled and were told that we couldn't board until the RCI booked excursions were on the tender. The crew members didn't really seem to care that we had a private tour booked, just that "their" people had a seat. We did get on that tender eventually but it upset me to no end that these people were in some way given preferential treatment over me. I don't think they would have cared at all had we not got on that tender and then had to rush to make our tour. The guys' attitude was unconscionable.

 

btw... at least one pool was closed most of the days which filled the other pools with little kids. Folks I love kids but I've done my time and now like a pool with mostly adults, I didn't swim once. One night my wife and I decided we'd like to hit the hot tubs on deck and at 8:00PM they were all closed, the next night, too.

 

The Halifax portion of our trip was nice. We got the bus, let it take us around, got off at the maritime museum, wandered a bit on the boardwalk, shopped a little, basically trying to get a feel of being in a different country, especially the kids. We went back on board, prepared for our second Formal Dinner, again somewhat disappointed in the experience. We learned that evening that our daughter is allergic to shrimp. Thankfully the ship's shop had Benadryl and her symptoms, watery eyes, considerable swelling, itching and hives, subsided for the most part within an hour. She went back and joined her friends once the medication took effect and thankfully had no other difficulties. Oh well, no more shrimp for our DD.

 

My kids both waited for and did the rock wall once but the lines were amusement park like as well as for the bungee. My daughter tried several times for the bungee and gave up in disgust each time. The wait had to be at least an hour in what was usually full sun. Both of these facilities were open for very limited amounts of time.

 

Two more things about ship excursions. For the Halifax stop, we did the Hop On Hop Off bus, pre-paying $144 to RCI for our tickets. At our first stop there was a sign that said a family of four could use the bus all day for two days for $69. Again, unconscionable. To make matters worse, on our check out bill there was a charge for a Boston excursion we never took or signed on for which again had to be taken care of, this time only 3 calls to guest services.

 

Overall, our experience on the cruise was pleasant, though somewhat disappointing but our kids had a great time. They made new friends from all over the country and enjoyed many of the activities both scheduled and non-scheduled. They exchanged e-mails and phone numbers, and have been in touch with several kids that they met on board.

 

As we didn't go to all the shows or most of the scheduled events/games on the ship we found the ships videos interesting and amusing. We were able catch some of what we missed, sometimes enjoying the event with abandon (the comedian on the first night was very funny). I liked the ship's cam and watched the docking at Halifax. The disembarking video was also helpful.

Ah yes, disembarking. We filled out the appropriate paperwork on the second or third night regarding luggage tags and that sort of thing. We were informed that we would be in the Gray 2 group for leaving the ship. We were to vacate our stateroom by 8:00 AM and wait in a lounge for our group to be called. We found a place to sit and waited. It was hours before they called us to disembark. My wife had gotten a soda and a juice from the bar just before they stopped serving at 9:00 AM. Still we waited until nearly 11:00 for our turn to leave. Surprisingly, once we got off the ship the rest of the process was amazingly quick. We got through customs, found our luggage, caught a courtesy bus and we were in our car, luggage loaded and on our way by 11:20.

 

Would I cruise again. Probably, prehaps a higher rated line, not sure, certainly a late seating dinner (early seating is very harried on land days) and I like to realx a little and wind down before dinner. i'd also hit the Chops restaurant during the week for the quiet over the dining room.

 

Thanks for listening.

 

Sagiter

[lojill]

WOW What A CRUISE.

[Merion_Mom]

Sagiter, thanks for posting your report of your cruise. Since you said that this was your first cruise, let me offer a couple of pieces of advice, which you may have already learned with 20/20 hindsight.

 

1. Ship's excursions are more expensive than booking the same activity on your own.

 

1.a. Corollary to #1: the ship will ALWAYS give preferential treatment to its own excursion customers, particularly on tenders. That's just the way it is. You'll learn to book a later tour when you know that you have to tender in from the ship, instead of walking off the docked ship.

 

2. Avoid early cruises after a ship has had a major overhaul. A lot of the glitches that you describe don't happen on most cruises. Most are functions of it not being quite ready-for-prime-time yet. I can almost promise you that your next cruise, and I hope that you give RCI another chance, will be virtually problem-free. Pools and/or hot tubs being closed? They were still working on them from the drydock. Less than smoothly functioning Explorations! desk? They probably had people there who weren't fully trained, because they cut things too close after the drydock.

 

I hope that you get the idea. Your kids had a fabulous time, and seem to have enjoyed most aspects. I am a little surprised (and NOT pleased) to hear about so many people ignoring the dress codes (oh, EXCUSE ME, guidelines :)), but I am hoping that that was an aberration, too. Give cruising another shot, and RCI in particular, before you give up on it.

 

Carol