Smooth Sailing on Enchantment Feb 17 2014 Bahamas- photo review

[Mrs_Tiki]

Familygoboston, thanks for another great review, can't wait for the next installment! And you have no need to apologize for your photos, they are great!

[Familygoboston]

Familygoboston, thanks for another great review, can't wait for the next installment! And you have no need to apologize for your photos, they are great!

 

Thanks!! I noticed that you just cruised PG...wasn't it amazing??!! We loved PG, and I am trying hard to get back there, but it's hard to justify that long flight from the east coast...we may have to wait till our 30th anniversary:(

 

There is a destination expert for Tahiti who posts here frequently, you aren't HIS Mrs Tiki are you?? I think if you were, you'd have more PG cruises in your signature...LOL!

[JohnGaltny]

OKAYYYY I finally got to read the whole thread (so far) and it is terrific.

 

As a member of the DRC (Demented Reviewers Club), I hereby declare that if we are ever on a cruise together I will defer to your review. :D

 

By the way, I make this offer DESPITE your being a Red Sox fan. LOL

Edited March 5, 2014 by JohnGaltny

[Familygoboston]

Day 1 Feb 17: Embarkation Day

 

After lunch we headed to Explorations! (by way of the ice cream machines on the pool deck) to get an excursion to Atlantis Aquariums called "Discover Atlantis". DM had been to Atlantis in October to shop and gamble with her girlfriends while cruising on Majesty, and was saving the aquariums for this cruise with us. It was $59 pp for a 1:30 bus over to Atlantis, with shuttles, coming back on the 1/2 hour till 4:30. I had an OBC which is why I wanted to buy the excursion on board.

 

Shore Excursion offerings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After buying the excursion, we happened to notice the Cafe Latitudes, I had not told DD that there was a Ben and a Jerry's on board, so she was delighted. She is an absolute B&J's addict. I think she has Phish Food every day. Im proud to say she got this addiction from me...let's just say I identify as Pan-Ben and Jerry's. I even work out in a tee shirt that says...

"Body by Ben and Jerry's"

 

DM would not believe me when I told her that although you have to pay for coffee and ice cream, the baked goods were free, so of course, she had to get a cookie to prove it to herself!

 

DD at B & J looking very pleased and in some way, slightly like a hippy!!

 

(for my CT friend, Smeck, you will notice DD's tee! Before every cruise she and my DH always have to decide "which" championship tee shirt to wear (being from NE, we have dozens of fairly new championship tees to choose from!!). In this case, the choice was easy; the Sox are the most recent champs and our trip coincided with the opening of spring training near my mom and dad's home.)

Edited March 5, 2014 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

OKAYYYY I finally got to read the whole thread (so far) and it is terrific.

 

As a member of the DRC (Demented Reviewers Club), I hereby declare that if we are ever on a cruise together I will defer to your review. :D

 

By the way, I make this offer DESPITE your being a Red Sox fan. LOL

 

Oh, no, no, John, that would not work!! It would be more fun to have dueling, blood rivalry reviews, just like the Red Sox and that NY ball club whose name shall not pass my lips;):p

 

I am not a believer in "definitive" reviews (Gambee's Allure review complete with condiment pictures, aside)...I believe firmly that everyone has something new to add!! Especially when I share a cruise, I enjoy reading someone else's "take" on it!!

 

(what do I need to do to get my DRC card?;))

Edited March 5, 2014 by Familygoboston

[jackie101]

we were on the same cruise as you. I did not know the baked goods were free at Ben ans Jerrys :mad:

That group from argentina was wild:eek:

[Familygoboston]

Day 1 Feb 17: Embarkation Day

 

It was now officially 1:30- time to go to our cabin, (note the cabin opening time is 30 minutes later than some ships) I had already warned DM and DD there would be no messing up the cabin, not one thing, not a single bag opened, till I got my photos, for you, dear readers!

 

Our cabin was 8172, an Aft Junior Suite. You do have to walk to the end of the hallway...we are the last cabin listed on the starboard side!

 

Here is the sign in the elevator lobby at deck 8 (it's also a little selfie, if you look closely!)

 

 

 

 

 

Walk all the way to the end of the hall, and there is a little "jog" at the stern of the ship...

 

 

 

 

 

...and here is our cabin! (and another selfie...I can tell you for sure that if DH was taking these photos, and if he had come, and took this photo [and he would be at my behest] he would not have any selfies...he would have found a way to make even these pictures perfect!)

 

 

 

 

 

Our Welcome Amenities; a couple of goodies for Diamond cruisers; mom is still Gold, but I generously shared my dried fruit and butter cookies with her on the balcony, because that's the kind of daughter I am daughter, and I'm her favorite eldest daughter...but I'm not admitting how "eldest"...I'm still identifying as age-fluid. I'm also not admitting how many daughters she has (ok, she has 2, me and her favorite youngest daughter, who really is her favorite!)

 

[Familygoboston]

Day 1 Feb 17: Embarkation Day

 

JS 8172

 

The cabin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bath

 

 

 

 

 

 

My only nit pick about the cabin is in the bath, is that for such a large bathroom (relatively) is that there is so little counter space. I removed the toiletries to make more space, but it's very shallow. Also, the shower curtain, comes just EXACTLY to the top of the tub, so it's hard to keep water form getting out of the shower. And lastly, the towel bar is is located at the back of the tub, so if you are having a shower you have to remove all the towels to prevent them from getting soaked!!

Edited March 5, 2014 by Familygoboston

[SMN73]

Oh this made my day. This is the exact cabin we have in May!!!

[Familygoboston]

Day 1 Feb 17: Embarkation Day

 

JS 8172

 

Closet and storage around the cabin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's nice that there is a coffee maker in the JS, but DM preferred to have room service for her tea!

 

 

 

 

 

The balcony door

 

 

 

Overall, the cabin is HUGE...there is loads of storage, and we only used a fraction of it...in addition to all the cubbies and cabinets, there is a large wardrobe with shelves by the balcony door, the closet is not walk in, but it is deep and had a bureau in there. There were two ottomans with covers that DD used to store her clothes, clean in one and dirty in the other, which unfortunately is exactly how she stores her clothes at home. As a matter of fact at home she uses open, overflowing baskets which depresses me every time I walk into her room and after the cruise, she suggested that we get covered ottomans like the cruise ship, so I won't have to look at the clothes! Having them really helped us keep the cabin neat since otherwise, we would have had piles! There was also a large and a small end table between the beds with drawers. Lots of storage!

 

Coming up next...that gorgeous balcony!

Edited March 5, 2014 by Familygoboston

[Familygoboston]

we were on the same cruise as you. I did not know the baked goods were free at Ben ans Jerrys :mad:

That group from argentina was wild:eek:

 

Yeah, It wasn't really obvious, there are no prices, and there are prices next to the coffee and the ice cream, I guess that's how you would know. We had a nice conversation with the crew member staffing the Cafe Lattetudes and said they do make the stuff fresh on regular basis; that after a set number of hours (it was low like 3-4 , as I recall) they have to get rid of the baked items and replace them with fresh ones. (maybe "get rid of" means send down to the crew mess:confused:) I know when we toured the galley on Jewel, they employ a full time baker and they bake everything fresh daily, except the bagels and english muffins, which they get from their distributors.

 

I'm about to discuss the group on board soon. There were challenges, but...I don't think all of them were created by the "chicas".:(

 

Oh this made my day. This is the exact cabin we have in May!!!

 

You will love love love this cabin...wait till I post the balcony pictures next...that's the best part!!:D

[Familygoboston]

Balcony views

 

This balcony was HUGE! There was room to easily get out the door and enough room for 2 more loungers, so you had plenty of room to walk around and see the sights as well as relax in the chairs or have breakfast on the balcony- especially with that large table!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balcony Pano

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Incredibly, we rarely saw anyone else on these wonderful balconies! And trust me, we were out there A LOT!! I was out for nearly every sail in and sail away, most afternoons, several sunsets, all sea day and even some late evenings. We enjoyed listening to the ocean at the wake and the panoramic views. Also, this was our first cruise since the smoking ban on balconies and we did not notice anyone smoking on these balconies (maybe that's why no one was there at all ;-)

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

Such a great review so far. . . I remember reading another one of a group of Argentinian girls. . . I wonder if this is the same?

[TxStacey]

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.

 

 

LOL...their cruise is billed as the "College Spring Break Cruise". I'm hoping that their little group of 13 wont be nearly as visible as the 300 plus Quincenera girls :rolleyes: I'm sure it will be a wild week nonetheless..

[Familygoboston]

Quinceaneras tour group from Argentina

 

You may have heard about this sort of thing before. There are commonly tour groups that lead large groups of girls from South America on "United States" tours for the 15th year, known as the Quinceanera. I have in the past (such as on our Jewel Cruise in November) seen large family groups traveling together to celebrate the Quinceaneras; mothers and fathers, abuealas and abeulos traveling with all their children including a group of 15 yo's who are officially celebrating. Some are groups of family friends with the 15 yo, girls, their sullen and bored 17 yo brothers and dozens of younger siblings, others are a single multi generational family with tias and tios, and cousins in the mix.

 

Like any large family group (including mine!) these groups are loud, get in the way, while they dither about who is going where, and when, and taking which kids with them. Like most families, some keep careful tabs on their kids and their behaviors and some, unfortunately, don't.:( We haven't encountered any specific issues with these kinds of groups on board beyond what we experience from any large family cruising together.

 

The group we had on board was different. This was an organized tour of just girls. There were more than 300 of them, 380 in the whole party, but some fraction of that was chaperones. The girls leave Argentina as a group with a tour company called "Fun Time", and they visited a variety of places in the US, including Disney World and New York City. The cruise appeared to be in the later part of their tour. They carried pink and purple striped "Fun Time" bags.

 

Much of what we learned about the group, DD and I learned because she speaks and we both understand and read Spanish. We understand enough Spanish to know that none of the girls we encountered were ever "talking about us" or "making fun" of people around them. Like most 15 yo's they mostly talked about themselves :rolleyes: We heard far more of that sort of thing in English from other passengers, and we met girls who in fact could speak English, so they may have heard it too. Here is what I heard and experienced about this group.

 

They did have chaperones, and while my mother swears she saw some women with the group, I only saw gorgeous 20-30 something males escorting them on and off and around the ship. (I joked that it looked more like a trafficking operation than a tour group!;)) Mom thought maybe some of the female chaperones were so youthful looking themselves that it was hard to discern which were tour girls and which were chaperones. They appeared to be organized into groups of about 15-20 girls with a chaperone when moving around the ship or the islands. I also think that it's big money for the cruise line and they don't want to discourage the business by insisting that the girls are chaperoned in more reasonable sized groups, as they would be for any other group (such as TX Staceys group, which is probably 3:1)

 

We noticed that the girls were in cabins spread all around the ship, not all in one place, and that the chaperone would walk them to their cabin at night and stayed till the door was shut. I cannot say I saw enough chaperones to have any possibility of an adult over 21 in every cabin of 3. I am not sure if they get special permission to "break" the rule about having one person over 21 in each cabin, but based on what I saw, I can't see how they could, if they had 300 girls then they would need 100 adults, we did not see 100 adults.

 

As a group, they would leave the ship and go to dinner. They had late seating and took up most of the middle of the MDR in various size tables. The had their own lounge set aside for almost the entire week. The Spotlight Lounge was off limits most of the week, and DD was jealous because from our balcony we could hear their music and they had the best DJ all week for current music...DD found the rest of the music around the ship "dated", except the Viking Crown Lounge late night, which is off limits to under 18 after 10 PM (Which is just about when she's getting started;))

 

The group appeared to have some very strict rules and some may have been made to be more culturally sensitive to the place where they were the visitors. They had a very tightly and strictly structured tour. The girls were not wandering around the ship on their own much at all. I noticed on Cococay, that when they had a sport activity (volley ball and some kind of contests with the DJ), the chaperones insisted all the girls get up and participate; you'd hear "chicas, chicas... " being called out through out the area. They weren't allowed to choose to stay in their lounge chairs. Also, every time the girls got up to use the rest room, go to play sports or get lunch, they all had to put their shorts on. Now, I will point out that their shorts are not so much longer than my bikini bottom, but the rule was...they had to wear their shorts (which were a lot MORE than THEIR bikini bottoms!;))

 

My own opinion was that the girls were over all, really well behaved. I am a preschool teacher and have worked with children, including many GS troops in my town for the last 14 years. I work with teens in Girl Scouts now, and I felt they behaved not unlike any group of 15 yo's would, but in some ways were far more mature than their counterparts in the US. They appeared more like 17 YO's in our country in terms of developmentally being able to manage their behavior and their stuff and instructions etc. No doubt they giggle, and they talk fast and if one gets left behind she rushes to catch up to her pals, even if it means occasionally blowing by some older person. (frankly, I get impatient with the pace of some of the folks cruising, but I have more years of learning to wait patiently for them move, or make up their minds than the 15 yo chicas do. I certainly found them over all more polite than similar aged large groups of US teens I've encountered on board)

 

They also have some cultural differences, such as the cut of their clothing, and a different "line" culture than we have in the US (though even this was recently debated on a "buffet line" thread on Cruise Critic). But the challenges they presented were mostly related to them being such a large group on board. They usually boarded and left the ship as a group, and while I noticed they tried to time these departures for "non peak" times, (for instance they arrived on Cococay after 11 AM and left before 2 PM to avoid the "peak", and seemed to have their own tenders.) But, if you happened to be leaving and ended up behind the group; it was a real inconvenience!

 

When they arrived at shows, usually about 5-10 minutes before show time, they certainly were chattery and took up a lot of seats. But those seats would normally be taken by 400 people; they just would have arrived at different times and if you entered the theater it wouldn't appear that the "group was taking all the seats" . And they hooted and hollered their appreciation of the performers (especially the good looking male dancers) That's not behavior that the usual cruisers exhibit, but the performers sure seemed to appreciate it more than sitting like a stone in your seat and golf-clapping after the show.

 

A major challenge was the buffets, especially in the WJ and on Cococay. There is the line culture; that they are more likely to just walk up and take what they need than wait in line to wend their way through the whole line with some things they want and some they don't. Then there is the normal 15 yo culture of herd mentality where one girl is "in line" and her 10 friends have to be with her, so now you have not one girl but 11 to wait behind. This *might* be solved by better chaperoning numbers...reminders of the importance of trying to behave like the folks in the place you where you are visiting. I don't think these challenges were created just because they were from Argentina or just because they are a large group of teenagers but if you asked a hundred people, "would you like to cruise with a group or 400 teenagers?", 99.9 would say no (all except for the very, very happy 14-17 yo boys:p)

 

I think the cruise line generally did a good job of giving them their own entertainment venues and organizing the departure times around peak times, so most days, unless you were unlucky, you weren't affected by the group.

 

One area where the cruise line really fell short was anticipating how many sweets they eat. The Cafe Lattetudes crew person, said they would come and take 6 pastries a piece and he knew would not be getting a delivery soon, so he had to finally make them take one each visit. The buffet at Cococay was out of dessert except fruit by 1:30 PM (despite being advertised as open till 2PM for lunch). The desserts on the WJ buffet were decimated and the ice cream machine on the pool deck was either empty or had a line of dozens of girls at any given time. The cruise line should know that with that many "young" girls that the sweets need to be increased, and/or they need to create a secondary buffet location for the group, or an after regular hours buffet.

 

The group who most disappointed me was the people from the United States who made derogatory remarks, judged people on their dress or differences and generally behaved badly whenever the girls were around, eye rolling and/or making snarky comments. I understand that plenty of people would opt not to travel with nearly 400 teenagers on any cruise, and that any group of any people that big is going to create some challenges, but in general, I really loved their energy and so no reason to be negative about the group, especially around the girls themselves. In my opinion, they have paid their fare on the cruise ship and have every right to enjoy the food and venues on the ship they paid for. I feel the cruise line has a responsibility to ensure that the groups they solicit should not negatively impact other fare paying customers by ensuring they properly chaperoned, understand the culture of the ship, and ensuring that other passengers have access to venues or foods that they paid for and expect to be available.

 

So those are my thoughts...I hope this doesn't devolve this thread into something ugly, but I think passengers have every right to be upset when their cruise is negatively impacted by a group. The tour group has a responsibility to educate the girls about cultural norms, and chaperone them adequately, the cruise line has a responsibility to make sure every passenger gets access to what they paid for and non tour passengers have to recognize that they don't get to dictate who sails with them and that all people, despite how they dress, or talk, or where they come from have as much right to enjoy their cruise as they do!

 

OK, so that was a lot of words again!!! Back to the rest of Day 1!!

[Familygoboston]

Such a great review so far. . . I remember reading another one of a group of Argentinian girls. . . I wonder if this is the same?

 

Thanks!! Probably...the tour company is Fun Times, and I'm sure they do it at least once or twice a year (there is always another crop of 15 yo's coming up!!)

I think the only way to "avoid" it would be to ask Customer Service if there are any groups on board. And even then I'm not sure they would reveal that to you because while some folks might want to avoid 400 15 yo girls, there are just enough creeps out there who would not:( and the cruise line, I'm sure would not want to advertise this underage cohort ahead of time!

 

 

 

LOL...their cruise is billed as the "College Spring Break Cruise". I'm hoping that their little group of 13 wont be nearly as visible as the 300 plus Quincenera girls :rolleyes: I'm sure it will be a wild week nonetheless..

 

Yes, I'm sure that your group wont make a dent! Please see my Allure Eastern 2013 review (linked in my signature)...I have posted a contract, with a set of guidelines for older teens. Check around post 18ish or 58ish...can't remember exactly, and one page got cut off, so I posted that page near the end too. I have used it with my own girls and others have too. You can adapt it for your own rules and girls.

 

But generally, it gives you an outline of behavioral expectations to discuss with the girls ahead of time. I don't know your girls (mine aren't drinkers) but you might want to let them know that they will absolutely put you all right off the ship if they catch them drinking, or adults giving them alcohol, or if they return from port really out of control...it's happened, it's right in the cruise contract and they have a very sharp eye for this behavior especially on short cruises during traditional spring break season (March):eek:

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

Thanks!! Probably...the tour company is Fun Times, and I'm sure they do it at least once or twice a year (there is always another crop of 15 yo's coming up!!)

I think the only way to "avoid" it would be to ask Customer Service if there are any groups on board. And even then I'm not sure they would reveal that to you because while some folks might want to avoid 400 15 yo girls, there are just enough creeps out there who would not:( and the cruise line, I'm sure would not want to advertise this underage cohort ahead of time!

 

 

Good idea. I did some internet searching for out sail date and all I can find is a group of about 100 called "Urban Groove." Can't white figure out what it is and am hopeful it won't negatively impact our cruise.

[Familygoboston]

Day 1 Feb 17: Embarkation Day

Free Towels and some C & A talk (don't get too excited I said C & A talk!)

 

We relaxed on our balcony till muster. DD made a trip to the pool for our "free!" Towels. This is one of the best improvements ever!! I so appreciate not being treated like a common criminal when it comes to using pool towels. It was nice not to have to swap them out for clean ones and just leave them at the pool drop off bin or in the bin on deck 2 when re boarding, when they were wet.

 

[Familygoboston]

Some C & A talk

 

(Crown and Anchor; the loyalty program)

 

We stopped up to the Diamond Lounge to see if we could learn what DD's "coupons" were since there was no letter in the cabin like I had. Unfortunately, the diamond concierge wasn't there, but we did get a look around. Eventually, I stopped to ask the Loyalty Associate, and while he couldn't find them in the office, as we were debarking the ship, he handed me one he had made up for the next cruise...so 2/21 Enchantment teen cruisers...you have me to thank for knowing what your benefits are! These apply to all levels for all ages for short cruises:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the short cruise "coupons" for Diamond cruisers:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The entrances to the Concierge Lounge and Diamond lounge are near each other, separated by a 3/4 wall in the upper half of the Viking Crown Lounge

 

 

 

 

 

The diamond concierge's desk- our concierge was Carlington, and he was very welcoming and kind when we met him later.

 

 

 

 

 

A view of the lounge and the light/sound booth for the lounge below

 

 

 

 

So that's all you will hear from me about C&A status, once I get my balcony discount and my coupons are loaded onto my seapass; C & A status plays a very small part of my cruise experience!! We didn't attend the only offered C&A repeater party, which was held in the late afternoon during the Nassau port day, (on longer cruises there is a general party and an "upper tier" party offered on different nights) I didn't go to the Diamond lounge for cocktail hour (which coincides with sail away and sunset;which is my favorite time of day to be on my balcony. DD and I went to the Diamond Lounge one morning for a late breakfast after bungee jumping, where they looked at us like we had two heads. I don't think other cruisers feel it's legit when a woman who identifies as age-flexible and a teen have nearly 100 cruising nights, but we do, so there you go!

[Familygoboston]

Good idea. I did some internet searching for out sail date and all I can find is a group of about 100 called "Urban Groove." Can't white figure out what it is and am hopeful it won't negatively impact our cruise.

 

I have been on board with much bigger groups than this one...the difference is that the jewelers, and tractor salesmen reward groups (on the same cruise- now THAT was interesting!) and the Gino Vanelli fan club are mostly adults, and they aren't required and generally not inclined to do everything together in a big group, like go to the WJ for lunch or disembark at port.:rolleyes: With the girls, when they rolled, they rolled all together, 400 strong!

 

The only "disadvantages" I've noticed with big groups of adults is when they shut down venues for private parties (like the Boardwalk on Allure) But sometimes, like in the case of the Gino Fan Group, it made the total passenger load seem lower because they had private shows and events that tied them up when we were going to the "public' events.

 

As best I can tell, your group is electronic dance music "raves"...never been to one, but I'm guessing during the day you won't notice them and late at night they will be tucked away in some disco doin' their thang...all the info I saw said that the raves are private for the group:D Good luck!!

[Familygoboston]

Day 1 Feb 17: Embarkation Day

 

Muster and Sail Away

 

At 3:45 PM we headed to our muster station. A group of girls from Fun Time was at our muster drill and took it very seriously and paid close attention. One girl started getting anxious when she couldn't understand the English...worried she was missing something important she might need to know. Her friend was translating, but not to fear, the crew member repeated it all in Spanish, including asking them if they had heard of Costa Concordia.

 

Of course they had not (refer back to 15 yos who only talk about themselves in the earlier post) and the crew man proceeded to tell them what happened in Italy and the young lady who was nervous, now started to look absolutely panicked!! My DD and I tried to be reassuring as best we could in Spanish! Luckily, we had the titular "smooth cruise". It was honestly the calmest seas I have ever cruised!

 

We returned to our cabin, relaxed on our massive balcony, getting "sail away" photos and alternating showers till it was time for our 6 PM MTD reservation.

 

Sail away at 4:15

 

Time to pull in the nautical flags

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a view of the terminal building and the NASA building in the distance

 

 

 

 

Disney Magic pulls away after Enchantment

 

 

 

 

 

DD enjoying the view

 

 

Coming up: Dinner and Show... introducing your cruise director and Cruise Compasses for Day 1

[CruiseGirlKS]

Great pics and review so far. Can't wait for more. :)

[jackie101]

Quinceaneras tour group from Argentina

 

You may have heard about this sort of thing before. There are commonly tour groups that lead large groups of girls from South America on "United States" tours for the 15th year, known as the Quinceanera. I have in the past (such as on our Jewel Cruise in November) seen large family groups traveling together to celebrate the Quinceaneras; mothers and fathers, abuealas and abeulos traveling with all their children including a group of 15 yo's who are officially celebrating. Some are groups of family friends with the 15 yo, girls, their sullen and bored 17 yo brothers and dozens of younger siblings, others are a single multi generational family with tias and tios, and cousins in the mix.

 

Like any large family group (including mine!) these groups are loud, get in the way, while they dither about who is going where, and when, and taking which kids with them. Like most families, some keep careful tabs on their kids and their behaviors and some, unfortunately, don't.:( We haven't encountered any specific issues with these kinds of groups on board beyond what we experience from any large family cruising together.

 

The group we had on board was different. This was an organized tour of just girls. There were more than 300 of them, 380 in the whole party, but some fraction of that was chaperones. The girls leave Argentina as a group with a tour company called "Fun Time", and they visited a variety of places in the US, including Disney World and New York City. The cruise appeared to be in the later part of their tour. They carried pink and purple striped "Fun Time" bags.

 

Much of what we learned about the group, DD and I learned because she speaks and we both understand and read Spanish. We understand enough Spanish to know that none of the girls we encountered were ever "talking about us" or "making fun" of people around them. Like most 15 yo's they mostly talked about themselves :rolleyes: We heard far more of that sort of thing in English from other passengers, and we met girls who in fact could speak English, so they may have heard it too. Here is what I heard and experienced about this group.

 

They did have chaperones, and while my mother swears she saw some women with the group, I only saw gorgeous 20-30 something males escorting them on and off and around the ship. (I joked that it looked more like a trafficking operation than a tour group!;)) Mom thought maybe some of the female chaperones were so youthful looking themselves that it was hard to discern which were tour girls and which were chaperones. They appeared to be organized into groups of about 15-20 girls with a chaperone when moving around the ship or the islands. I also think that it's big money for the cruise line and they don't want to discourage the business by insisting that the girls are chaperoned in more reasonable sized groups, as they would be for any other group (such as TX Staceys group, which is probably 3:1)

 

We noticed that the girls were in cabins spread all around the ship, not all in one place, and that the chaperone would walk them to their cabin at night and stayed till the door was shut. I cannot say I saw enough chaperones to have any possibility of an adult over 21 in every cabin of 3. I am not sure if they get special permission to "break" the rule about having one person over 21 in each cabin, but based on what I saw, I can't see how they could, if they had 300 girls then they would need 100 adults, we did not see 100 adults.

 

As a group, they would leave the ship and go to dinner. They had late seating and took up most of the middle of the MDR in various size tables. The had their own lounge set aside for almost the entire week. The Spotlight Lounge was off limits most of the week, and DD was jealous because from our balcony we could hear their music and they had the best DJ all week for current music...DD found the rest of the music around the ship "dated", except the Viking Crown Lounge late night, which is off limits to under 18 after 10 PM (Which is just about when she's getting started;))

 

The group appeared to have some very strict rules and some may have been made to be more culturally sensitive to the place where they were the visitors. They had a very tightly and strictly structured tour. The girls were not wandering around the ship on their own much at all. I noticed on Cococay, that when they had a sport activity (volley ball and some kind of contests with the DJ), the chaperones insisted all the girls get up and participate; you'd hear "chicas, chicas... " being called out through out the area. They weren't allowed to choose to stay in their lounge chairs. Also, every time the girls got up to use the rest room, go to play sports or get lunch, they all had to put their shorts on. Now, I will point out that their shorts are not so much longer than my bikini bottom, but the rule was...they had to wear their shorts (which were a lot MORE than THEIR bikini bottoms!;))

 

My own opinion was that the girls were over all, really well behaved. I am a preschool teacher and have worked with children, including many GS troops in my town for the last 14 years. I work with teens in Girl Scouts now, and I felt they behaved not unlike any group of 15 yo's would, but in some ways were far more mature than their counterparts in the US. They appeared more like 17 YO's in our country in terms of developmentally being able to manage their behavior and their stuff and instructions etc. No doubt they giggle, and they talk fast and if one gets left behind she rushes to catch up to her pals, even if it means occasionally blowing by some older person. (frankly, I get impatient with the pace of some of the folks cruising, but I have more years of learning to wait patiently for them move, or make up their minds than the 15 yo chicas do. I certainly found them over all more polite than similar aged large groups of US teens I've encountered on board)

 

They also have some cultural differences, such as the cut of their clothing, and a different "line" culture than we have in the US (though even this was recently debated on a "buffet line" thread on Cruise Critic). But the challenges they presented were mostly related to them being such a large group on board. They usually boarded and left the ship as a group, and while I noticed they tried to time these departures for "non peak" times, (for instance they arrived on Cococay after 11 AM and left before 2 PM to avoid the "peak", and seemed to have their own tenders.) But, if you happened to be leaving and ended up behind the group; it was a real inconvenience!

 

When they arrived at shows, usually about 5-10 minutes before show time, they certainly were chattery and took up a lot of seats. But those seats would normally be taken by 400 people; they just would have arrived at different times and if you entered the theater it wouldn't appear that the "group was taking all the seats" . And they hooted and hollered their appreciation of the performers (especially the good looking male dancers) That's not behavior that the usual cruisers exhibit, but the performers sure seemed to appreciate it more than sitting like a stone in your seat and golf-clapping after the show.

 

A major challenge was the buffets, especially in the WJ and on Cococay. There is the line culture; that they are more likely to just walk up and take what they need than wait in line to wend their way through the whole line with some things they want and some they don't. Then there is the normal 15 yo culture of herd mentality where one girl is "in line" and her 10 friends have to be with her, so now you have not one girl but 11 to wait behind. This *might* be solved by better chaperoning numbers...reminders of the importance of trying to behave like the folks in the place you where you are visiting. I don't think these challenges were created just because they were from Argentina or just because they are a large group of teenagers but if you asked a hundred people, "would you like to cruise with a group or 400 teenagers?", 99.9 would say no (all except for the very, very happy 14-17 yo boys:p)

 

I think the cruise line generally did a good job of giving them their own entertainment venues and organizing the departure times around peak times, so most days, unless you were unlucky, you weren't affected by the group.

 

One area where the cruise line really fell short was anticipating how many sweets they eat. The Cafe Lattetudes crew person, said they would come and take 6 pastries a piece and he knew would not be getting a delivery soon, so he had to finally make them take one each visit. The buffet at Cococay was out of dessert except fruit by 1:30 PM (despite being advertised as open till 2PM for lunch). The desserts on the WJ buffet were decimated and the ice cream machine on the pool deck was either empty or had a line of dozens of girls at any given time. The cruise line should know that with that many "young" girls that the sweets need to be increased, and/or they need to create a secondary buffet location for the group, or an after regular hours buffet.

 

The group who most disappointed me was the people from the United States who made derogatory remarks, judged people on their dress or differences and generally behaved badly whenever the girls were around, eye rolling and/or making snarky comments. I understand that plenty of people would opt not to travel with nearly 400 teenagers on any cruise, and that any group of any people that big is going to create some challenges, but in general, I really loved their energy and so no reason to be negative about the group, especially around the girls themselves. In my opinion, they have paid their fare on the cruise ship and have every right to enjoy the food and venues on the ship they paid for. I feel the cruise line has a responsibility to ensure that the groups they solicit should not negatively impact other fare paying customers by ensuring they properly chaperoned, understand the culture of the ship, and ensuring that other passengers have access to venues or foods that they paid for and expect to be available.

 

So those are my thoughts...I hope this doesn't devolve this thread into something ugly, but I think passengers have every right to be upset when their cruise is negatively impacted by a group. The tour group has a responsibility to educate the girls about cultural norms, and chaperone them adequately, the cruise line has a responsibility to make sure every passenger gets access to what they paid for and non tour passengers have to recognize that they don't get to dictate who sails with them and that all people, despite how they dress, or talk, or where they come from have as much right to enjoy their cruise as they do!

 

 

OK, so that was a lot of words again!!! Back to the rest of Day 1!!

 

We saw 2 female chaperones. My experience by the pool at the day at the day at sea was way different. They were allowed to freely walk around pool deck in their g-strings to the bar and icrecream machine. Then they took over one of the pools dancing for over an hour. I do not think that is how 15yr old girls normally act. The buffet at Coca Cay was crazy, they cut the line and were spoken to numerous times. We ended up foregoing lunch at the island. At the WJ they were picking up desserst with bare hands and putting the food back down. Many people were upset. We still had a blast. I think RC should have done a better job with keeping them in control.

[Familygoboston]

We saw 2 female chaperones. My experience by the pool at the day at the day at sea was way different. They were allowed to freely walk around pool deck in their g-strings to the bar and icrecream machine. Then they took over one of the pools dancing for over an hour. I do not think that is how 15yr old girls normally act. The buffet at Coca Cay was crazy, they cut the line and were spoken to numerous times. We ended up foregoing lunch at the island. At the WJ they were picking up desserst with bare hands and putting the food back down. Many people were upset. We still had a blast. I think RC should have done a better job with keeping them in control.

 

I agree!! :D While the cruise line isn't responsible for dressing their passengers, (if they were they might have made the guy who wore the "cops for pot legalization" tee shirt every single day of one cruise I recently took, take it off and wash it! ;)) I do agree the cruise line should not shut down venues for groups (like a whole pool on a sea day!) and I mentioned that they did a poor job managing the buffets everywhere, and that I think they should have separate buffets or buffet times for groups.

[Familygoboston]

Dinner

 

We always seemed to be just ahead of the crowd. We were first in line at the MTD, "guests with reservations" (GWR) line which is at the right side door on deck 5. Because of our cabin change, we caused a hold up because our reservations were linked to our old cabin number. When we were seated not 3 minutes later, the line was about 20 people long, but it always moved quickly!

 

Daniela was the Maitre D for the GWR line, and she was great! She always seated us in our favorite section and moved things along quickly and with a smile!

 

 

 

 

 

Pano of the My Fair Lady dining room

 

 

 

An interesting statue of Eliza; our regular table was just above Eliza's right shoulder!

 

 

 

 

 

We were seated right at the entrance to the DR, with Mario from India (he introduced his asst as his Luigi, but his name was actually Sathararaj) They were very efficient, and the food was very good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom and DD at dinner with our Asst Waiter