Smooth Sailing on Enchantment Feb 17 2014 Bahamas- photo review

[Familygoboston]

3 Millllllion Dollars!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ENJOY...don't spend it all in one place!

 

Never let it be said I'm not generous;)

[Familygoboston]

I will have some fish photos tomorrow, when I finish up the Discover Atlantis tour, as well as all the evening activities!

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

You are doing such a great job. Thanks again.

[Familygoboston]

Day 3 Feb 19: Nassau

 

Discover Atlantis Tour

 

Map

 

The Marina Village is where the Ben and Jerry's and a nice cafe is, and where you meet the shuttle bus; the tour walks through the casino and the DIG, and then walks all around the Lagoon (The Predator Tunnel is supposed to be part of the tour, but it is currently under construction; so you can't walk all the way through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a snorkel tour heading into the lagoon

 

 

 

 

 

fish

 

 

 

 

 

large tank with predators

 

 

 

 

 

smaller tanks with smaller fish

 

Edited March 10, 2014 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

Discover Atlantis Tour

 

eels; I love eels...these were huge, I've seen some smaller ones a few times snorkeling, but I would think twice if I saw some this big!!

 

 

 

 

 

touch tank; We spent a little time here but didn't get much information about the animals inside the tank.

 

 

 

 

Here is DD looking fearful about one of the "mythic" Atlantis characters...we may have found the idea of perpetrating myth during the tour mystifying, but we are game to play along!

 

 

 

 

a view back to the Royal Towers

 

 

 

 

a view across the Paradise Lagoon to the Reef and Cove apartments

 

 

 

 

 

and a view of the Royal Towers from the Paradise Lagoon

 

[Familygoboston]

Discover Atlantis Tour

 

on the Rope Bridge over the Predator Lagoon

 

 

 

 

 

The Predator Lagoon (no swimming here!) You can see the Rope Bridge and someone having some fun para sailing off the ocean beach.

 

 

 

 

We got to see one of the animal trainers feeding the seagulls, ...er, sharks

 

 

 

 

This is a saw tooth fish in the Predator Lagoon; it's actually a kind of ray and while they aren't dangerous to people, I would freak out if I were snorkeling and saw a 12 foot long fish with a saw on its nose...but it would be cool!

 

 

 

 

We got to walk by the sting ray tank, but not visit with them, although there are tours that allow you to swim with the rays.

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 3 Feb 19: Nassau

 

Dinner

 

We took some time to use the free wifi in the terminal building on the way back fro Atlantis, then boarded for naps and to get ready for dinner.

 

Day 3 Dinner was Pomodoro menu

 

Pomodoro

 

Tandori Chicken Salad

Rigatoni

Fried seafood and mash

Roasted turkey

Rosemary lamb shank

Sweet and sour vegetarian

 

We had scallop and chorizo appetizer, French onion soup, shrimp cocktail for appetizers and I had the fried fish and mash, DD had the ziti, and DM had the lamb. Mom had a key lime pie, but DD and I decided to hold out for B&J shakes later. Mom said the lamb was excellent and I always enjoy the fried seafood, even though I still find it weird that its served with mashed potatoes! I found the seafood in general to be fresher tasting on this ship than any of the ships I've been on in recent memory, really tasty and well prepared.

 

We took a walk around the Promenade and enjoyed the sites of Bahamas at night and Explorer in port next to us. I showed DD the aft cabin on Explorer that we had booked for next April on Adventure. She has to decide which ship and itinerary to do, for her graduation cruise and this is one option!

 

Nassau at night

 

 

 

 

 

Explorer all lit up

 

 

 

 

 

 

After our stroll we met mom in the casino to go look for our formal photos. Several of DD came out well, and since she's going to need senior photos soon, I bought a 59 dollar package of 3 digital images (10% off with my diamond coupon) which my DH can work with for her composite collage and got my freebie print of mom and me.

 

We got our B&J shakes and headed to the theater to enjoy them and wait for the show to start. The Haines Magic Show was mostly "impossible" illusions and some sleight of hand, pretty neat and the magician was very appreciative of the audience. It was clear that this is a very physical brand of magic and they performed it amazingly well!

 

 

 

Haines Magic

 

 

 

 

 

After the magic, we hung around the theater for Love and Marriage. After a busy day walking around Nassau and Atlantis, we enjoyed relaxing in the theater for a couple of hours! Amazingly mom had never been Love and Marriage before and she loved it, as I expected she would! if you haven't seen it, it's based on the old "Newlywed show", but they invite a newlywed couple, a couple married about 5-20 years and the oldest married couple in the room to play. Every show is different because you never know what the couples are going to say! The couples included on couple who had an arranged marriage, and we'd never seen that before. Of course their parent "arrangers" and their 6 YO tot were all in the crowd, so I don't think they were entirely forthcoming about all the answers ;)

 

 

 

 

L&M show

 

[szdiver]

amazing pictures and thank you for the wonderful review.....

[Familygoboston]

Day 3 Feb 19: Nassau

 

Late Night and Sail Away

 

After that, DD and I headed to the pool deck for some dancing at the pool side buffet and sail away. Pretty much all that was happening was that loads of people were lined up at the buffet, waiting for it to open. So we went down to our balcony to enjoy the sail away from there and could hear the Chicas party down below in the Spotlight Lounge, which sounded like a heck of a lot more fun! Finally at 12:15 we went back to the pool to get some buffet photos and some dancing was finally happening, so we made our way to the dance floor for a set and then hit the hay at 1.

 

Pool Buffet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyone need a hug?

 

[Familygoboston]

amazing pictures and thank you for the wonderful review.....

 

Why thanks!!! But did you see the part where I talk about why these are the worst pictures ever:p As I mentioned before DH was able to save a lot of shots through some creative cropping!

[Familygoboston]

Day 3 Cruise Compass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

up next: Day 4 Sea Day...I took a lot of "around the ship" photos, so I will get those up as well as the Cruise Compass for Day 4

[Kayla103]

Yup, you read that right...still here...still day 1!

 

Our time on the elliptical machine burned exactly 1/2 the calories we would next consume at the Ben and Jerry's at the Cafe Lattetudes. We were in fitness clothes (I know, ridiculous, huh?) so rather than muck up the classy atmosphere of the Centrum with our sweaty duds, we went to the solarium to enjoy the ice cream.

 

Ben and Jerry's and Cafe Lattetudes

 

 

 

 

The top right flavors you can't read because on my "glaringly" bad photo are vanilla and Phish food. Luckily, unlike the sweets and the desserts at the WJ, they did not run out of B&J's (probably because it costs extra) or I can not say what I might have done:mad:

 

 

 

Expect a pretty hearty line here in the mornings. They usually have 2 people on, but they don't move as swiftly as the baristas at your local shop! But there is a nice place to sit and the internet cafe right nearby.

 

 

 

 

 

The solarium was pretty hopping at night. When Enchantment was STRE___TCH___ED some Oasis-style features were added, including the great Park Cafe. I loved having one on board and it's open for breakfast, lunch on sea days and "snacks" mid afternoon and late night (pretty much anytime when the WJ is closed) It fits here in the sense that it feels most "park-like" in the Solarium.

 

But I'll be honest when you retrofit a ship, the way Enchantment was, you get unintended consequences. In this case the Solarium at late night turns in to a parade of kids (they youngest with their parents, but the older teens on their own) coming for free snacks, or looking for other teens there. It is not the restful adult only environment found on ship these changes were modeled after (Oasis) because a prime teen spot is (cafe) is located in a supposed "adult only area" rather than on a Royal Promenade or sports deck somewhere else on the ship. So during the day, and at night when the Park Cafe is open, there is a constant flow of people, including kids coming and going; which is fine, except it really isn't what was intended for the Solarium.

 

After the ice cream DD headed out for a stroll on the upper jogging deck and then went in to listen to the band in the Centrum. After that we headed back to our cabin and to get ready for Cococay! And day 1 is FINALLY done!!

 

Up next: Cruise Compasses for Day 1 and Internet "stuff'

 

 

I'm thrilled to know they have Chai on the cruise haha! I was seriously wandering that because I need my tea in the morning or I'm just grouchy!

[tahqa]

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!

 

FYI... EPass does not have any reciprocal agreements out of state and SunPass only has reciprocal agreements with North Carolina. (SunPass is Florida wide e-toll system and EPass is Orange County)

Edited March 10, 2014 by tahqa

[Familygoboston]

 

 

I'm thrilled to know they have Chai on the cruise haha! I was seriously wandering that because I need my tea in the morning or I'm just grouchy!

 

You and everyone else trying to get their caffeine fix;) I don't drink coffee (but do like Chai occasionally!) but DH does and he's very happy to have Starbucks on board!

 

FYI... EPass does not have any reciprocal agreements out of state and SunPass only has reciprocal agreements with North Carolina. (SunPass is Florida wide e-toll system and EPass is Orange County)

 

D'oh! You've ruined my day :( ;) Sounds like you know a lot about it...is it possible to register for the Sunpass with an OOS registration? I could just do it from here? ;) Maybe I'll just cruise from Tampa or Miami, I think I can reach both from the West Coast without tolls, and PC was a little too far :D

[tahqa]

D'oh! You've ruined my day :( ;) Sounds like you know a lot about it...is it possible to register for the Sunpass with an OOS registration? I could just do it from here? ;) Maybe I'll just cruise from Tampa or Miami, I think I can reach both from the West Coast without tolls, and PC was a little too far :D

 

EPass yes (my mom in Ohio has one)... SunPass I don't know. Throughout Florida EPass and SunPass are completely interchangeable. However, EPass has moved to windshield stickers so they're not very useful if you want to move them from car to car.

[Familygoboston]

Tour of the Enchantment, top to bottom!

 

A tour of Enchantment, top to bottom, because who wants to walk up stairs;)!

 

I've posted photos of several areas during the narrative, but there are some places where I took some ships photos, but did not spend much time there, so I didn't use the photos I took to tell the story. So I thought I'd take you on a litle tour of all those "other" places.

 

First we have to decide how to navigate the ship, which do you prefer?

 

Old school:

 

 

OR

 

 

New school:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whichever way you choose to get around...let's start in the Viking Crown Lounge!

 

Viking Crown (deck 11)

 

[Cmoore19]

Wow! Now this is in depth! Go you!

[Kayla103]

Tour of the Enchantment, top to bottom!

 

A tour of Enchantment, top to bottom, because who wants to walk up stairs;)!

 

I've posted photos of several areas during the narrative, but there are some places where I took some ships photos, but did not spend much time there, so I didn't use the photos I took to tell the story. So I thought I'd take you on a litle tour of all those "other" places.

 

First we have to decide how to navigate the ship, which do you prefer?

 

Old school:

 

 

OR

 

 

New school:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whichever way you choose to get around...let's start in the Viking Crown Lounge!

 

Viking Crown (deck 11)

 

 

This looks like an awesome idea!

[Familygoboston]

Deck 10 has the upper level of the Fitness Center on one end and the Bungee trampoline on the other...and the jogging track rings the whole deck

 

Deck 9 From stem to stern...the Spa, Solarium and Park Cafe, the pools, and the Windjammer

 

Solarium

 

 

 

 

 

Solarium sitting area

 

 

 

 

 

pool deck (looking from deck 10 onto the pools on deck 9)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oasis Bar

 

 

 

 

extended WJ dining area near pool deck (deck 9)

 

[Familygoboston]

Decks 8 and 7 are passenger cabin decks, so we will just bounce down the stairs (but don't forget to check out the artwork in the stairwells!) and go to deck 6

 

Deck 6 Has the Orpheum theater, Centrum shops, photo shop, Next Cruise Office, Cafe Lattetudes, RC online internet cafe, Chops, the Schooner Bar and Spotlight Lounge. Some of these I've posted already...but here are a few things we haven't "seen " yet!

 

Schooner Bar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spot Light lounge

 

 

 

 

Weirdly, half the chairs are facing the stage and half are not, and it wasn't very easy to move or turn them. Nice for chit chatting with your party in the lounge, but unworkable for shows and events happening on the dance floor or stage.

 

 

 

 

They were setting up for the art auction here, so they moved many of the chairs onto the dance floor for the auction.

 

[Familygoboston]

Decks 5 and 4

 

Deck 5 contains the lower level of the Orpheum Theater, the Casino Royale, Boleros, Guest Services and Shore Excursions, and the upper level of the My Fair Lady dining room (MTD). Here are some of the locations we haven't visited yet in this review.

 

Boleros

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Service and Explorations!

 

 

 

 

 

Deck 4 contains the R bar, the Centrum stage and dance floor, and the lower level of the My Fair lady Dining Room (regular seatings)

 

 

I failed to get a photo of the R Bar...don't know what got into me. But it's a pretty neat place and the Centrum was hopping most of the week.

 

Decks 2 & 3 have quite a few ocean view and interior staterooms. I'm posting this exterior shot to show you what the windows and balconies of the cabins on each level look like:

 

 

 

Let's start from the bottom...

 

Deck 1 the teeny tiny port holes are crew space...you won't get a cabin like this unless you go to work for the cruise line, and then only if you are very lucky;)

 

Deck 2 are the square windows with a divider; these are Ocean view cabins on deck 2

 

Deck 3 are ocean view balconies with the larger square "undivided" windows

 

Deck 4 ocean view cabins are another deck up with the same size large square window as deck 3...the huge round windows are part of the Centrum

 

Deck 5 and 6 appear as "double height"...the promenade and the life boats hang from these two decks, there are no cabins here.

 

Deck 7 and 8 are passenger cabins, you can see the balcony cabins in this photo. Deck 8 features most of the suites, so you will notice a variety of balcony sizes.

 

Deck 9 and 10 in this photo show you the pool decks and WJ in the bow. The neat "arched" pieces are unique to Enchantment.

 

Up Next: Now that we've toured the whole ship, I will finish up with Day 4 Sea Day. Thanks everyone for following along!!

Edited March 10, 2014 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

Wow! Now this is in depth! Go you!

 

Aww thanks!! I've done a few now and so Im getting better at knowing what "I need" in terms of photos while on board and then I save and scan everything!:eek: I keep meticulous notes because my memory is terrible:p but I can enjoy my cruise and it takes hardly any time to collect the stuff I need, the big job is once I get home;)

Edited March 10, 2014 by Familygoboston

[kwazi07]

Decks 5 and 4

 

Deck 5 contains the lower level of the Orpheum Theater, the Casino Royale, Boleros, Guest Services and Shore Excursions, and the upper level of the My Fair Lady dining room (MTD). Here are some of the locations we haven't visited yet in this review.

 

Boleros

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Service and Explorations!

 

 

 

 

 

Deck 4 contains the R bar, the Centrum stage and dance floor, and the lower level of the My Fair lady Dining Room (regular seatings)

 

 

I failed to get a photo of the R Bar...don't know what got into me. But it's a pretty neat place and the Centrum was hopping most of the week.

 

Decks 2 & 3 have quite a few ocean view and interior staterooms. I'm posting this exterior shot to show you what the windows and balconies of the cabins on each level look like:

 

 

 

Let's start from the bottom...

 

Deck 1 the teeny tiny port holes are crew space...you won't get a cabin like this unless you go to work for the cruise line, and then only if you are very lucky;)

 

Deck 2 are the square windows with a divider; these are Ocean view cabins on deck 2

Deck 3 are ocean view balconies with the larger square "undivided" windows

 

Deck 4 ocean view cabins are another deck up with the same size large square window as deck 3...the huge round windows are part of the Centrum

 

Deck 5 and 6 appear as "double height"...the promenade and the life boats hang from these two decks, there are no cabins here.

 

Deck 7 and 8 are passenger cabins, you can see the balcony cabins in this photo. Deck 8 features most of the suites, so you will notice a variety of balcony sizes.

 

Deck 9 and 10 in this photo show you the pool decks and WJ in the bow. The neat "arched" pieces are unique to Enchantment.

 

Up Next: Now that we've toured the whole ship, I will finish up with Day 4 Sea Day. Thanks everyone for following along!!

 

Great report. I think you mean ocean view cabins, not balconies. We are going on this ship in August. The centrum looks beautiful. Is there a fountain behind the centrum stairs like the vision?

[Familygoboston]

Great report. I think you mean ocean view cabins, not balconies. We are going on this ship in August. The centrum looks beautiful. Is there a fountain behind the centrum stairs like the vision?

 

oops, you are right, not sure how that got in there...it should read:

 

Deck 3 are ocean view CABINS with the larger square "undivided" windows

 

I don't remember seeing a fountain!

[Familygoboston]

Daily Specials

 

I know occasionally people like to know about the daily specials...I have these scans of the half page sheet that is included in the Cruise Compass each day... I scanned then 1&2 and 3&4 together!