Smooth Sailing on Enchantment Feb 17 2014 Bahamas- photo review

[Familygoboston]

Enchantment of the Seas Feb 17 2014

4 Night Cruise Bahamas

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, It was another weird New England February winter break, so that can only mean one thing, it was time to sail with mom and the girls again. This trip, my oldest DD is away at college, so we cruised with DD 16.75 (trust me this matters) and DM, early seventies and myself who identifies as no longer mid to late 40's. (If Face Book has 58 options for gender, I feel I have every right to use my own description of my age, just consider me age questioning, pan aged, or my favorite- age fluid...today I can be a tired looking late 40's, tomorrow a really great looking 60!;))In any event this was our second "girls cruise"; our first being on Jewel of the Seas in 2012. (review linked in my signature) We had such a great time the first time, I decided to sail again with mom and whichever daughters were lucky enough to have time off. As for how it went the second time...let's just say we see ourselves making a habit of it!

 

So I will start with my usual...

Disclaimers: (this is a by no way complete list of why you should NOT read this review, but if you choose to read it anyway, I have already made my apologies, and you must proceed at your own risk!:eek:)

 

1) Writing style: I have, let's say a "unique", writing style, I ramble, I run on, (I speak parenthetically) and I'm sure I break many, many rules of grammar, punctuation and sentence structure (I identify as Strunk-White fluid) And it will be long...it's entirely possible it will be longer than the cruise! I like to include a day to day travelogue, tips, and copies of all the cruise associated ephemera, including the Compii {this is my own version of plural for the daily Cruise Compasses delivered to your cabin; see what I mean about playing fast and loose with the English language} I like to think I can be funny sometimes. I laugh at my own jokes, which is proof I'm a really poor judge of my own humor, so proceed accordingly.

And of course there will be lots of...

 

2) Photos: Unfortunately, they will all be bad. Those of you who may have honored me by reading my previous reviews, may recognize that someone very important is not on the sailing manifest this cruise...my DH:(...you know the one who takes the great photos? The one who is probably the ONLY reason any of you read these reviews at all. Well, he was home working, and sent me off with my little photo kit, and instructions about how to manage the flash menu (It will soon become quite obvious I ignored these instructions)and who generously did his best to "rescue" as many photos as possible in post processing when I got home. It was touch and go, but after several days of incredulous laughter, "what WAS the intended subject of this photograph?" muttering under his breath, "did you not listen to anything I said about using flash!?" and utter amazement, he finally managed to salvage a few photos that I hope tell the story, educate and entertain, even if there is nothing here that deserves life on a gallery wall. Actually, if we are being perfectly honest, none even deserve a life in a photo album,:o but here they are. For your info I will share what I shot with this week, at the risk of you blaming the equipment, I will also share DH uses these same tools, so don't blame the bad photos on the equipment, blame the tool using them:p!

 

Nikon AW 110

Apple Iphone 5

 

3) My Opinions: I'm not one to keep my mouth shut, (let's say I identify as Opinion Non Conforming) So I will share my thoughts, and feelings about my experience. I also share a lot of information because my opinions are useless to anyone unless a reader understands great detail about an experience, and can evaluate it and form their own opinions.

 

 

I know, already too much blah, blah, blah! I'll move one, but I do have to tell the story of how we picked this cruise (or more rightly how it picked us) and other delights. So I thank you all for your patience and your attention and I am always grateful for the time you take to read and comment!

 

(and I also have to make a caveat...that my use of the FB gender designations as a joke in my review are in no way meant to be disrespectful to anyone who may have benefitted from the expansion...at least 12 of my best friends identify with one of the new ones! I still need to meet a lot more people to make friends with people who identify with the other 46! But believe me, no ill will is intended to anyone who may identify with the new designations, my rule is I only make fun of myself!!!)

 

Coming up: How this cruise picked us, and a nice surprise

[Cmoore19]

Yay! Another Enchantment review!!!

[ClevelandRocks!]

FamilygoBoston - I have lurked on the boards and been guilty of reading your reviews without ever commenting. But I'm here now! I love your reviews and can't wait to read this one. I enjoy your writing style and wit. Thank you for your efforts to get the reviews done and pictures uploaded. I certainly appreciate it. Janet

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

We will be going on this cruise soon and from Boston, too! Can't wait to read more.

[clochette]

Looks like a fun review looking forward to reading it

[SMN73]

Looking forward to reading it!

[Familygoboston]

Pre Cruise Day Feb 16: A Slow News Day

 

 

 

 

 

Our flight to Regional South West (RSW) was scheduled to commence at 6 AM...well, actually we had to fly to Atlanta first and then connect to RSW. Because every school kid is off this week, the airport is exceedingly busy and of course there was the weather. This has been an unusually cold and snowy winter across most of the country including the traditional winter wonderlands of ...say Texas and Atlanta! I am one of those weirdos who happens to like winter. I enjoy the snow, skiing in it, looking at it, I enjoy New England BECAUSE we get 4 distinct seasons. I get really worked up when we have one of those mild winters "What?! Another 50 degree day in February?!? I did not sign up to live in the Mid Atlantic, where is my snow!!??" But I really prefer that the storms do not muck up my travel plans. Luckily, the storms cooperated with my families travel plans...DH flew a red eye in from the west coast hours after one storm was cleaned up and I left just a few hours after the second storm was cleaned up.

 

We were up at 300 am, and had fun naming the other vehicles that were on the road..."plow, plow, plow, sander, plow, sander, plow" The guys who run our local Depts of Public Works in NE are really heros. We do not have one kind of winter in NE; we can have fluffy, dry snow, like Colorado, or sleety, icy snow, or heavy, wet snow, or sleety, icy snow followed by heavy, wet snow and topped with a delicious mix of fluffy, dry snow. Our DPW guys are like alchemists, following weather reports, monitoring temperatures, knowing exactly what soupcon of plows, sanding and exactly which chloride salt/sand mix will create safe driving surfaces on roads that are already too old, crumbling, crooked and too crowded. So on our way into Boston,(about 30 minutes in good weather and traffic) we encountered only wet roads that had been once again perfectly treated by our unsung winter heroes! Upon arriving at the airport, DH deposited us on the curb (did I mention he was still sleep deprived from his red eye a mere 24 hours 48 hours earlier?) There was a local newsman and video camera man in the main concourse as we entered. He asked if I would be interviewed and I consented.

 

Here is how the interview went:

 

News Guy, breathlessly: "SO how were the roads coming into the airport?"

 

Me, nonchalantly: "mostly wet, the plows and sanders did a great job on clean up, we made it in with no trouble"

 

News Guy, excitedly: "SO, lots of cancellations and delays? Are you expecting a rough trip today, getting stuck in the airport?"

 

Me, bewildered: "Ah no, my mobile app says everything is on schedule, there's not weather to worry about, so I expect and easy flight to Florida" (thankfully, despite identifying as pan-aged, I am fully immersed in 21st century technology and have the flight tracker app on my iphone)

 

News Guy, exasperated: "Thanks for nothing, now I have to go find someone else with a sob story about missing their son's wedding due to delays and 10 foot snow banks!"

 

OK, so he didn't actually SAY that, but I think he wanted to! I texted all my friends telling them I was interviewed on TV, I didn't think it would be on just because there was no story there. While waiting to board our connecting flight in Atlanta I got a video link from my Goddaughter- it had in fact aired, for 5 seconds, with a crawl under it saying "CANCELLATIONS AND DELAYS AT LOGAN!!!!!! which means it must have been a very, very slow news day!

 

I'm not making this stuff up, just to make the review more interesting- really! Somehow, drama follows me! That was about all the excitement involved with flying to Florida, IMO, the absolute worst part of travel.

 

We arrived in Ft Myers at 12:50 and met my folks. DD reunited with a very happy dog, my dads dog, Minnie. DD is among the youngest in the family. We spend our summers in Maine where all our elderly relatives spend their summers. When we all gather at one home, she is often relegated to the floor due to lack of chairs in the room, because she is approximately 60 years younger than everyone in the room except me, her dad and her sister. Over the years, she has really become more comfortable on the floor than anywhere else. Consequently, even when there are chairs, she ends up on the floor with her favorite family members (THE DOGS). All the family pets think of her as their personal scratcher. The night before we sailed...this was DD watching the Olympics with her dog, Daisy

 

DD with Daisy at home in the freezing cold- hence the fire)

 

 

 

 

 

And this is her on the floor with my parents dog, Minnie. So she flew several hundred miles and within 12 hours was on the floor again, just with a different dog! One who was so happy to see her after 4 months, that she whined with joy for about 20 minutes after we arrived (the DOG that is!)

 

DD with Minnie:

 

 

 

 

 

The cat, Kallie, also takes advantage of free petting services, and despite being the friendliest cat on earth, she does not deign to lay on the FLOOR with DOGS!

 

 

 

 

 

Because of the tight air connections and filled to bursting planes; DD and I decided to pack very lightly, with one roller bag and a small back pack a piece, so I ran out to drug store for toiletries, water and snacks, where I tried to log into my rite aid rewards - twice, before realizing I was at actually at Walgreens.:rolleyes: (Luckily, despite identifying as age-fluid, I am fully immersed in the 21st century technology and had my key tag app with my rite aid reward card on my iphone.)I can be forgiven, remember my day started at 3:00 am!

 

DD and I went to the pool for a dip and had dinner, my DM made DD's favorite, chicken pie.

 

After dinner, I walked the Minnie with dad, since we wouldn't be seeing him for a few days. And it was off to dreamland to anticipate our 4 hour trip across the state in the morning and embarkation!! At least we could count on seeing exactly ZERO plows or sanders:p

 

Up next...some more words about how this cruise chose US.

[TxStacey]

Cant wait to read this story. I love your writing style! My daughter and 12 of her sorority sisters are boarding The Enchantment this Monday for Spring Break:eek: They are beyond excited!

[drarill]

Great start!! Looking forward to the rest of your review!:)

[smeck]

As usual I look forward to reading you review and another World Championship from the Boston Red Sox.

[Familygoboston]

Yay! Another Enchantment review!!!

I've been enjoying yours! You are far more timely...and Im certain your photos are better:D

 

FamilygoBoston - I have lurked on the boards and been guilty of reading your reviews without ever commenting. But I'm here now! I love your reviews and can't wait to read this one. I enjoy your writing style and wit. Thank you for your efforts to get the reviews done and pictures uploaded. I certainly appreciate it. Janet

 

Well, thanks Janet, that means a lot to me! I'm glad I inspired you to "post" we need more posters;) Truly, I think the more voices and reviews we have, the better it is for all of us!!:D

[Cmoore19]

I've been enjoying yours! You are far more timely...and Im certain your photos are better:D

 

 

 

Well, thanks Janet, that means a lot to me! I'm glad I inspired you to "post" we need more posters;) Truly, I think the more voices and reviews we have, the better it is for all of us!!:D

 

Aw thanks! I give you cudos cause I dont have the patients to write like you. Thats great! I love it! I dont know you have some pretty good photos :)

[Familygoboston]

We will be going on this cruise soon and from Boston, too! Can't wait to read more.

 

Looks like a fun review looking forward to reading it

 

 

Thanks everyone! I love when people will be cruising soon, because I love reading reviews for cruises I plan to take soon!

[Familygoboston]

Cant wait to read this story. I love your writing style! My daughter and 12 of her sorority sisters are boarding The Enchantment this Monday for Spring Break:eek: They are beyond excited!

 

As usual I look forward to reading you review and another World Championship from the Boston Red Sox.

 

Ok, so I have some tid bits of interest to both of you coming up;) Stacey, 12 girls ...pshaw...wait till you hear what we had!:eek:

 

And Smeck, I've got a photo and little trash talk coming up for you to enjoy too:D

 

Thanks to both of you for following along!

Edited March 5, 2014 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

How this cruise chose us...

 

(I'll apologize in advance..this is mostly words:()

 

Every February, we in Mass get this funky little one week break in February which coincides with Presidents weekend. For the last 10 years I have been traveling to FL with my girls during the break to visit my mom and dad who spend their winters on the west coast. Every other year or so DH joins us and we try to make a trip to WDW or family vacation out of it. But the other years I travel alone with the kids to see their grandparents at their coastal home. When we cruise Royal Caribbean we usually go as a couple and leave the kids home. They have no complaints about this because we travel a lot as a family and they have been to Africa, South and Central America, Europe, as well as some pretty neat trips in the US with the family.

 

What we've learned over the years, is that as a family we value experiences over stuff, and we've really started trying to "gift" experiences rather than stuff. I thought the girls were old enough to enjoy a cruise with their grandmother, and thought that a cruise with her daughter and granddaughters was a better gift than some "thing", so I gave my mother a cruise for her 70th birthday in 2011. (btw, my DDad loves DM, but not cruising, so he is happy to stay home and watch the pets!) We planned a 4 night cruise on Jewel out of Tampa in Feb 2012 to make the drive to port manageable. I had booked over a year in advance and well before the airfares came out, so I actually booked 2 cruises on Jewel BB (a 5 night and a 4 night), thinking we would only actually cruise the one for which I could find the best airfare.

 

Unfortunately, before I could book the airfare, I got a call for RCI that my cruise was canceled. It was chartered by an Ohio State Cancer charity. When she called, she obviously had an offer...but I am not the best negotiator... I tend to lead with the price I want to pay and of course, the price goes up. The deal she was offering was that we could cruise the 5 night for the price of the 4 night plus 100 OBC. Like a complete moron, I blurted out, "Oh, I already have the 5 night booked, so no harm done!" Oh, yes, what a skilled negotiator, you say, but that's what I did. I let them completely off the hook and got no OBC...D'oh!

 

 

Shortly before we sailed the prices dropped and I called and had our hump balcony upgraded to one of the aft cabins (the folks booked in those had moved up to JS or larger)for no extra money. So despite my poor negotiating skills, I managed to snag a great cabin at a great price and we had a great time and fully enjoyed those two aft balconies and our cruise!

 

our cool Jewel aft balcony 2012

 

 

 

 

Well, fast forward to 2013...I decided that rather than give DM birthday, Christmas and Mothers Day gifts, we would do another cruise in 2014. We started referring to this cruise as her Birthday, Christmas, Mothers Day, Kwanza, Passover, Labor Day and Arbor Day gift.;) I booked 3 of us in one cabin since my oldest would be away at college and I didn't want to pay for a single. I booked a hump balcony cabin on a 3 night Brilliance of the Seas cruise out of Tampa. I booked our flights to fly into RSW, meet my mom spend some time at their home with Dad and then sail out of Tampa, return to Tampa after the cruise and fly out of Tampa that afternoon. After I booked it my DM asked hopefully, "do we have that nice aft balcony again?" I had to tell her that, no, the aft balconies on Enchantment only hold 2 unless we upgraded to a Junior Suite and the cost of that was over $1000 at that time.

 

About 9 months before our sailing, the reservation disappeared off of "My Cruises" and I knew what had happened! This time I was prepared! I researched so I could master the negotiation! I goggled the cruise and saw it had been chartered by Ohio State again. I did a little research about what other cruises were available during my time frame. This time I waited for them to call me with the offer. When the rep called I heard her out...100 OBC, and she gave me 2-3 options on Brilliance from Tampa, and one Independence cruise to switch at no additional charge. But while going to more nights for less money seemed appealing, none of them worked with my DD's school schedule. I mentioned that I was interested in Enchantment, but she said she wasn't able to make a direct switch, since it wasn't included in the "offer" but as it turned out the 4 night was cheaper than the Brilliance 3 night, so she could make the switch, and we saved some money.

 

The next issue I had was disembarking in Port Canaveral and needing fly out of Tampa, which was 2 hours north of my moms house and very inconvenient for us. So I negotiated for them to pay my change fees ($150 each ticket)with the airline to change our Tampa flight to one departing RSW. So this time I was not caught unawares!! I was prepared this time and we ended up with enough OBC between the NC booking bonus and the inconvenience OBC to pay for our excursion in Nassau (which we hated, but that's a story for later!)And we got to fly in and out of RSW which is very close to my parents home, so all's well that ends well! Aren't you proud of me?? Didn't I do a better job this time!?

 

Beggars can be choosers...

Except that's not the end!! I kept watching prices and noticed that the Junior Suites were not filling, but the balcony cabins were. I was getting hopeful that I could maybe, possibly get an upgrade. Several weeks before sailing, there was a big price reduction in Junior Suites, it would still cost me about 400 dollars to upgrade, but it was intriguing enough to call. I called and asked about what the price would be to upgrade. The rep told me the price, which was just under 400, and I said "thanks, let me think about it" and left the store (see I'm getting better at this!)

 

Then I started looking...what Jr suites were still available? I noticed that there was an aft Jr Suite that would accommodate 3. Those aft cabins have a certain value to me because with loungers, I can enjoy my balcony on a sea day rather than fight and scrap for a lounge chair on the pool deck. The price was worth it to me and having the aft balcony would be an all day experience to enjoy on the sea day, plus all the other days!

 

So I called back and when gave them my reservation #, I had already been upgraded to a JS just off the hump! I was so excited; my first ever upgrade!! The Captain told us later that they were completely full, with 3,267 passengers with just over 300 Crown and Anchor members on board, which is a really low percentage (there was a reason for that which I will get to later!) As a diamond member, my number must have been up!! But was I satisfied...oh no...having mastered negotiation, I then asked the rep that if I was upgraded could I change to a different JS? And sure enough she was able to get me that aft balcony Junior Suite! So I've learned some things about negotiating. Be really, really nice, ask, and then wait...and sometimes you get lucky!!

 

I called mom and she was over the moon! She had her breakfast on the balcony every morning, and every morning she looked out over the water and said "this is so beautiful, it's such a treat, this is the life!" as we sat on our loungers watching the ocean off our balcony. After the cruise when we got back to her house and I noticed that she has a beautiful lanai...with loungers...overlooking the water...in Florida...every...day! (me thinks the "life" had more to do with room service than the location)

 

Wow! That is a boat load of words! The short story is: we sailed in a JS on the aft, and we got some OBC for our troubles! I promise more bad photos is the next post: Embarkation Day!

[kruzerci]

I've been looking forward to this review :)!

[Familygoboston]

Day 1 Feb 17: Embarkation Day

 

The Great Toll Evasion of 2014:

 

We were up at 6 and on the road by 7:30. Now some of you may recall my Jewel 2012 review, when I traveled with Mom from her home to Tampa and she had gone to Triple A to get "Trip Tik" of the route to Tampa. (does anyone remember these??) Yup, that was interesting...using 1970's mapping technology in the 20 teens. But this trip, I told her I had it covered with my Google maps app...which is even traffic enabled! We decided not to go up 75 but instead go through the interior of the state and ended up at Rt 4 in Lakeland. The GPS was a great improvement over the Trip Tik- if you want to hear more about trip tik debacle...that's in our Jewel Western review.

 

However, the tolls were a disaster. My dad will not link his bank account with the toll pass, (he's old fashioned about anyone having access to his bank accounts) So, of course, once we got across the state to Orlando, we had to stop to pay a dollar every 10 miles. Have you been on these roads in FL? It works great if you have Sun Pass, you fly through the toll readers, which pick up your transponder and then the intrusive arm of government reaches into your bank account and steals your toll money and anything else it can get it's grubby little hands ...oh, wait, that's dad talking! In reality, the tolls are paid with little or no trouble. Except, we didn't have Sun Pass, so on this part of the road, you have to pull off a "pay cash" ramp, slow down and pay the toll taker, and then accelerate and merge back onto the highway...every...10...miles! It was like water boarding torture!

 

Now sometimes we had to pay .75 cents, sometimes, we only had a dollar bill, sometimes, (maybe just once) there was no toll taker. I'm not going to incriminate myself, but there are certain situations where someone may have to throw in whatever coins they have into the basket and hope the video images of the earnest action of tossing coins, with the possibility that one coin may have rolled off onto the highway, in a place too dangerous to retrieve, will be enough to avoid the toll evasion fine. I can't be entirely sure unless my mother gets a 100 fine in the mail, which would happen if one had not been able to pay a certain toll, but I'm not saying that happened to us, this is all entirely hypothetical!!

 

Next time, I will know to bring my reciprocal MA toll pass and just let FL reach it's mitts right into MY account, so I don't have to exit and re merge ...every...ten...miles! And one year we will get to the cruise terminal with out any traffic-tastrophes, by fully implementing all 20 teen technology available to us!

 

Park N Cruise:

 

I had decided to use the Park and Cruise lot based on excellent reviews here on CC. I paid ahead of time on line 39.95 (7.99 per day for pre paid) and got an email confirmation, which i printed, but they had a list with my name on it when we boarded the shuttle.

 

We arrived at Merritt Island for the Park and Cruise and were stalled for 10 minutes waiting for the draw bridge, which we couldn't see and didn't know that all the lights synch to go red when the bridge is raised. As we finally got going, we missed the turn onto Sea Ray Ave (hint; its' BEFORE the bridge)and we headed over the bridge and the GPS realized, oops, we were supposed to turn right onto Sea Ray.

 

We made a u-turn, then another, turned right and we were finally on Sea Ray. About 2 miles in we saw a sign for Park and Ride next exit. This sign is intended for anyone traveling on the highway which is parallel to Sea Ray, it's an advertisement to take the next exit, but we saw it and erroneously turned into an industrial park. We realized our error and were on our way yet again.

 

Once we actually arrived, you can't miss it...this guy is there to direct you:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Park and Cruise could not be easier: the guys have you pull up front:

 

 

 

 

 

The guys stack your luggage onto a cart, and then you then park your car where they indicate, keeping your own keys. You enter the building to get your name checked off or pay, then you board the bus. Your luggage is on already on the rack inside the bus (these are exactly like the rental car shuttles)

 

 

 

 

 

Don't leave your mother in the bathroom! Not that that almost happened to us, that's' entirely hypothetical! You'll need a couple of dollars to tip the driver, but the ride to the port is not more than 5 minutes. I honestly felt like, that was the easiest 45 bucks I've ever saved!

 

They hand you this card with specific instructions about what to do when you disembark.

 

^^^^ The space above was intentionally left blank (well I didn't intend for it to be, but it is;))

Boarding:

At the port, the shuttle dropped us and the porter there took our bags and put tags on them, if you didn't already have them (we didn't due to the upgrade) we tipped him, and he seemed to expect it and then we were off to check in. We were in an expedited line for the first passport check then we went through one of two scanners, and up some stairs to check in. Because we had suite priority boarding, we were directed to Suite/D+, Pinnacle line. As the only folks in line we walked up to our agent immediately and got our photos and sea passes. By this time, we noticed the regular check in lines were pretty long, but they were moving well, with plenty of staff to check in. I'd recommend trying to get there a little earlier than 12:30 PM for regular boarding. There was a bypass for the boarding photo OP, which we took advantage of. Then we "bonged" at the door way to the gangway, and crossed onto Enchantment.

 

The Port Canaveral Terminal Building:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is our Park and Ride and embarkation timeline:

 

12:00 noon arrived at Park and Ride, dropped bags, parked, boarded the shuttle and it all happened so fast that DM nearly got left behind in the ladies room.

12:10 arrived at the terminal and had our bags tagged by the porter (tipped them)

12:15 security check in

12:20 went through the scanners

12:25 arrived at the check in desk

12:36 we were in the Windjammer

 

 

Coming up tomorrow: Our first look at Enchantment on embarkation day!

Edited March 5, 2014 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

Aw thanks! I give you cudos cause I dont have the patients to write like you. Thats great! I love it! I dont know you have some pretty good photos :)

Well, thank you for having the patience to read it:p

I've been looking forward to this review :)!

 

Aww, thanks!!

 

I seem to have picked up a cold (gee, wonder how that happened???;) So I'm going to break for tonight, and try not to over do it! But I have a pretty open day tomorrow to get more up here...finally get to some ship photos!:D

[cruiseapril]

Mainers here going on Enchantment soon. Appreciate review.

[notsomadhatter]

Reading along/subscribing! PC is about an hour away from us so we'll probably do Enchantment one of these days.

[Familygoboston]

Mainers here going on Enchantment soon. Appreciate review.

Getting out for mud season, eh? Not a bad idea!!

Reading along/subscribing! PC is about an hour away from us so we'll probably do Enchantment one of these days.

 

You should! I was pleasantly surprised and thought the ship was in better shape with more amenities than some of the other older ships in the line!:D

 

More to come...I've got somethings to do at 9 this AM, but hoping to get more done before lunch!

[JohnGaltny]

Subscribing so I can read this later today. First installment looks freat.

 

" sander....plow...plow...sander" :D

 

See you later.

[Familygoboston]

Day 1 Feb 17: Embarkation Day

Boarding Information:

 

 

 

It was after 12:30 and we decided to head the Windjammer. I knew there was a Park Cafe too, but wasn't sure if it offered all the regular "Park Cafe" items since it said "snacks" on the Cruise Compass and we wanted a full lunch. Later after exploring, it was clear it was a "standard" Park Cafe with roast beef sandwiches, paninis, quesadillas, soups and salads. It is open on embarkation day, but unfortunately, not open on sea days for lunch. I'll have more on it with photos in the review!

 

But back to the WJ- what a mob scene! We happened to board the same time as a 380 girl Quinciera group from Argentina, (see- TXStacey, your 12 girls will not make a DENT!!) as well as all the other passengers. Seating was challenging, but do-able. We got a 2 table and nearby bar seat at the window for DD, and tag teamed getting our food. The girls from the Quinciera group just kept coming, and there was simply no place for them to sit. Additionally, as others have noted, folks from South America have a different cultural view of "lines", so pretty soon the WJ had turned into a log jam of cross traffic, and clogged buffet lines. The circular buffet was pretty much the usual embarkation mess, but the crew really tried hard; announcements about not lingering, quick clean ups of people left. The waiters did not provide beverage service or seating help, but they were cleaning up tables quickly. The offerings were good, and there were some items to appeal to the huge South American group, such as rice and beans, which also appealed to DD and I, because we love Latin dishes. In another post I'll have a little more info about the group from Argentina. They generated quite a bit of talk on board and I want to share my impressions and the impressions of others.

 

Windjammer crowds

 

 

 

 

Everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disney Magic was nearby

[nolesrule]

Tell your dad you can link Sun Pass to a credit card.

[Familygoboston]

Tell your dad you can link Sun Pass to a credit card.

 

Thanks! Yeah, I think that ship has sailed:p. dad still gets his balances by calling on the phone, he's mid 70s and I think he's just done! I can understand, technology has moved so fast that I can see where some older people just feel like it's moved last them!

But it cost us at least 1/2 hour on the trip. I have one for MA and can use it in Maine too, and it saves me about 20 minutes on that trip! I'll just bring my own next year ;)