4 Day Enchangment sailed 7/28

[Jfeasel]

We were on the 4 day Enchantment that sailed on July 28. My family (DH, 2 DD ages 19 and 23) was with a group of 64 friends ages 5 to 65. We picked this cruise because it fit everyone's schedule. The majority of us had cruised before so we knew what to expect however none of us expected to cruise with 357 15 year old girls from Argentina. I was hoping their travel season would have been over by our cruise, but it was not.

 

Having daughters who have traveled a lot as teens, I can honestly say I would not have sent them as 15 year olds on a cruise in another country with limited chaperones, let alone male chaperones. My daughters traveled a lot with school and sports teams and we always had plenty of parents with us and made sure the girls acted appropriately. The 15 year olds on this ship didn't understand lines or that the Solarium was for adults only. Luckily, the ship staff dismissed them from the Solarium, and we just avoided the Windjammer in order to avoid them at meal time. Their style of dress exposes a lot more of them than American teens are use to exposing so just be warned.

 

Luckily my family stayed in the Solarium area when we were on the ship - which is very nice by the way.

 

The goal of this trip was to reconnect with old friends and we were able to accomplish that and make some great memories. The Enchantment doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of the newer ships, but the staff was very nice and we had FUN! Many of our group had been to Coco Cay before (we suggest getting chairs in the Barefoot Beach area to the right of the water rides) and to Nassau so we just enjoyed being together rather than putting a lot of effort into site seeing.

 

We had 8:30 seating in My Fair Lady and the staff was great. Food was just so-so but not horrible. The last night all 64 of us ate at Chops which has larger shrimp, great pretzel rolls and better steaks.

 

We all at least got the $20 per day Royal Replenish drink package with many of the adults getting the packages with the alcohol as well. I think the men got their money's worth on the alcohol. We liked the Coke drink machines - especially the different flavored waters.

 

The best lunch food is in the Solarium's Park Café as it has make your own salads, great sandwiches and nice desserts (including sugar free).

 

Don't miss the Captain's reception with the free champagne and the flag presentation where the staff members from different countries perform in the Centrium.

 

Most of us had superior outside staterooms with balconies on Deck 7. These rooms are great for 3 people but crowded for 4 so we got our daughters a separate room (great decision for all of us). These rooms had more than enough storage. Some might think the bathroom is small, but it was larger than one we had on a Carnival cruise. Our stateroom attendant was great and friendly.

 

Casino workers were very friendly to us as we had several veteran casino players in our group. Entertainers were entertaining. Since we were a big group, we made a lot of our own fun, which was fine with us.

 

Getting on and off the ship was very easy as we had all of our paperwork completed ahead of time.

 

This group had sailed together before on the Monarch of the Seas. A 4 night cruise seems to fit our schedules. I would love to try RCLs new ships but we like cruising with our friends and this ship allowed us to do so. We made some great memories and that's what made the cruise.

[cello56]

I just looked up the Argentina school calendar and I was quite surprised! It looks like most areas start the school year in late February or early March. The school year ends in mid December. They have a two week break in the month of July.

Thanks for the heads up!

[AlexanderBeetle]

Thank you Jfeasel for the nice review. My wife and I will be on this in Oct.

 

So we keep hearing about these 15 y/o girls from Argentina - what travel group is this? Does anyone know when they are done?

[LBumb]

good job

[Jfeasel]

The travel group for the 15 year old girls from Argentina is called Fun Time. Ironically, we had friends vacationing at a Marriott in Ft. Lauderdale and there were 300 of the girls there as well!!!! They must overtake Florida in July.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[beachlover777]

The travel group for the 15 year old girls from Argentina is called Fun Time. Ironically, we had friends vacationing at a Marriott in Ft. Lauderdale and there were 300 of the girls there as well!!!! They must overtake Florida in July.

 

They were in Disney in February. Not sure when their travel season ends lol. Good to know they were at the Marriott. I will be sure NOT to book our hotel stay there just in case lol!

[Deptacon]

Argentina is in deafault and cant pay its bills...but apparently everyone can afford to send thier 15 yr old daughters to a foreign country to party :rolleyes:

[torpeedo]

We were on the same cruise and had the same opinion regarding the large group of children/15 YO. I doubt RCI would tell you if this group was on your cruise. I looked on the internet and you will be able to see which ships are having these large groups and can avoid booking those dates in the future. There seems to be multiple travel agencies that book with the cruise lines. I check all the time for very large groups in general.

 

We had dinner in Chops the last night and saw you all finishing up and looks like you were having a terrific time! :D

Edited August 5, 2014 by torpeedo

[AlexanderBeetle]

It looks like the other thread got deleted about this. It appears that RCCL is seeming to look the other way when it comes to the chaperone ratio with these groups.

 

Somehow RCCL needs to either make some stricter guidelines or enforce what is already there... at least one 21+ cruiser for every 3 staterooms or something like that? When I hear a ratio of 15 to 1 I get concerned. That can't be good for any group of teenagers, I don't care how well mannered they are :)

[BSQ]

Ah. I see you encountered "the fifteens" on your cruise too.

 

I was just thankful they didn't debark with us. They had a separate area to go through,

[Ctrinh225]

I was on enchantment July 21 sailing. Loved my cruise and the only negative was the "15"s. A few of them knock my niece down in the windjammer....when I approached they pretend they don't know English and just walked off. We never went back to the buffet. They also occupied the pool areas.....thank God for the Solarium....spent most days there. Seen them again at Nassau in Atlantis. Thank goodness they dined on the 4th floor and we were on the 5th. EOS was great and the concierge lounge was wonderful.....The cappuccino machine was a life saver!

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your report.

 

Keith

[cruiseapril]

Agree- the Solarium and Park Cafe are very nice- we enjoy the lunches there.