LIVE from the Enchantment 8/14-8/21 #1

[paylady]

Carol:

 

It's so nice of you to post while you're still cruising. We can all live vicariously through you this week! I'm glad you had a pleasant day in MV and hope Portland also turns out as nice.

 

I take it the C&A party is Tuesday night. What time? I will avoid making a ressie for Chops that will conflict with the party.

 

Enjoy the remainder of your cruise.

 

Trina:

 

We've stayed in an aft cabin on Deck 7 and we did hear noise (music) in the evening. However, this never seemed to prevent us from sleeping. The movement of the ship just rocks me to sleep like a baby. The music wasn't extremely intrusive, but it was noticable.

[sailor moon]

Cappacino machine not working.. :( Hope it gets fixed soon - such addictions must be satisfied! We will be on Enchantment in March over our spring break. Our kids hope there are lots of kids to hang with. We too will have O/S #8520 for this cruise. I figured it would be the closest I will ever get to Royal Suite! :)

[wishful]

Thanks Merion-Mom for the information. Hope the rest of your cruise is great.

[TrinaLC]

paylady, thanks for your views! If I know about it in advance, which of course I now do, and it isn't overly intrusive, i'll be fine w/ it - I don't think I'd give up an aft for that and the 8s are already booked (but I do keep checking).

 

Aside from the noise, is there any dif between the 8 afts and the 7 afts?

[patpav]

Hi Patty, (Patpv)

We're just watching our "beloved" Steelers beatup a little on your Eagles - Sorry, here in Pittsburgh, we love our Steelers!! Look forward to meeting you! Counting down the days. Well, I'm actually counting work hours...32 more to go!!

Joan

 

 

We are actually Flyers fans in this house. Can't wait for the season to begin. Will miss LeClair though. My neighbor is an Eagles fan and you can hear him screaming all over the neighborhood. My husband keeps threatening (kiddingly) to disconnect the tv over there!

 

Woweeeeeeeee - 4 days to go!!!!!!!! See you onboard!

 

Patty

[patpav]

Patty,

 

If you remember...can you please take pictures of the room....also, we are hosting cocktail hour in our room nightly, so we were not sure if there is a person who will be able to do that for us-like our own conceirege for the room. Any information you can give us about the ship upon your return will be so helpful.

 

Kelly

email: kellykoteen@cox.net

 

Kelly - Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials and I am sure we will certainly take a lot of pics. Will let you know all we can find out.

 

Patty

[Fury1995]

Carol,

 

Have a "smuggled one" for me on the balcony :D . Oh, BTW, are you in a GS? If so, which one? I have 8528 booked for Jan 30th C&A Cruise. If you are, post lots of pics for me. Don't spend too much time on this while cruising... Remember the kids ;)

 

Thanks

 

Fury

[justaknucklehead]

Hope your having a wonderful time, Merion Mom. We miss you here though, so come back soon.

[justaknucklehead]

By the way, my daughter lives in Ardmore and teaches at Agnes Irwin. Do you know her?

[RDeagazio]

Merion-Mom,

 

Glad you're enjoying your cruise.. If bartender Miguel Alvarez is still onboard please tell him Bob says hi and give him my new email address-- RDeagazio@hotmail.com

 

Thanks and enjoy the rest of the cruise!

[rubrrick]

Carol, ah.........the joys of cruising and here you are writing about all of it. It's so much fun to live vicariously thru you. I'm sitting in 100 degree plus weather here in Scottsdale, living with you in Marthas Vineyard! How cool is that!!!:D

 

Rick

[CruisinBabe]

Hey Rick --

 

You live in Scottsdale, huh?? That reminds me of the very first cruise I ever went on... I met the cutest fireman/landscaper from Scottsdale!!! We had a shipboard romance then I flew out to Scottsdale to visit him but alas, it didn't last.... sigh...

I still consider him "the one that got away"

 

Anyway, your post made me think if him and how much fun I had on that first cruise. Scottsdale is one of the most beautiful places in the United States, IMO.

 

Anyway... don't mean to change the subject here... just thought I'd share some memories!!! Ok... now let's get back to talking about Merion Mom's cruise!!

 

So Merion Mom - How was country & western night??? Did you go to Liar's Club??? Have you seen my friends at the rock climbing wall??? ((I must say... this week is turning out to be so much fun... I actually feel a little bit like I'm on the cruise with you!! How 'bout we head up to the Viking Crown Lounge now for a little dancing?!?!)

 

Amy

[Merion_Mom]

By the way, my daughter lives in Ardmore and teaches at Agnes Irwin. Do you know her?

Ah, yes, Ms. Justaknucklehead. I know her well!?!?!??!

[Merion_Mom]

Ok, so we just had SUCH a fabulous dinner at Chops, that I made another reservation for Saturday. Lots of openings.

 

Amy, went to the Liars Club, and Chris was HYSTERICAL. He was doing a dead-on Bill Murray-drunken-clown thing.

 

Ok, so I am a tad tipsy.......ok, I'm drunk, and on my way to the late night dirty comedy show. You'll hear me shrieking with laughter all the way to where ALL OF YOU are right now BECAUSE.............

 

I just dropped by the casino and hit my favorite slot machine on the sixth spin for TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY DOLLARS!!!!!!!

 

YEE HA!

[corina27]

Ok, so we just had SUCH a fabulous dinner at Chops, that I made another reservation for Saturday. Lots of openings.

 

Amy, went to the Liars Club, and Chris was HYSTERICAL. He was doing a dead-on Bill Murray-drunken-clown thing.

 

Ok, so I am a tad tipsy.......ok, I'm drunk, and on my way to the late night dirty comedy show. You'll hear me shrieking with laughter all the way to where ALL OF YOU are right now BECAUSE.............

 

I just dropped by the casino and hit my favorite slot machine on the sixth spin for TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY DOLLARS!!!!!!!

 

YEE HA!

Wooo-Hooo! Them drinks are working for ya!:p :)

[justaknucklehead]

How are the seas? Are they a little rough, with Irene hanging around? Did you need your Dramamine? We are sailing out of Philly in October and pretty much expect rough seas out there.

 

Just kidding about knowing my daughter. I'm sure you don't unless you also teach at Agnes Irwin.

[jamandamn14]

when you say not many kids how many do you mean?

[celebrationatsea]

Kelly - Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials and I am sure we will certainly take a lot of pics. Will let you know all we can find out.

 

Patty

Thank you Patty!!

When are you heading out for your cruise?

We are hoping to find a good singer in one of the lounges who will let us request a song so we can get our first dance together as well as one with my Dad. We are excited about a cruise ship wedding but still want to get some of those traditional things in. I know on previous cruises we've never had a problem with getting singers to play requests...plus who can resist a girl in her wedding dress!!

 

Kelly

[CruisinBabe]

Merion Mom --

 

I cannot even begin to tell you how much FUN I am having reading all your posts!!! It is so great to be reliving this cruise through you!!! It's making my work week much more bearable!!!

 

Wasn't Liar's Club hysterical!!! I had never been to one before and I laughed so hard that night!!! That kind of humor is right up my alley!!!

 

I guess you didn't get a chance to talk to Chris at Liar's Club... please let me know how it goes when you see him at the rock wall..... He better remember me!!!!!!

 

Keep having fun.... keep the posts coming (they're the only thing getting me through the week!)... and don't spend all your casino winnings!!!

 

Amy :)

[TheWog]

Hi Carol, didn´t know I´m the Captain now:D

 

Keep the fun going!!!

 

Captain Mad!:D

[cathykb]

Carol,

 

Sounds like you're having a great time!!! We're all enjoying the experience with you.

 

Cathy

[patpav]

Thank you Patty!!

When are you heading out for your cruise?

 

 

We leave this Sunday, the 21st. Right out of Phila, about 15 mins north of where I live! What a way to travel!

[Flacruiser123]

Don't know about you guys but all the kids in central florida are in school now. Neices and nephews in different counties in Georgia are in school now too. May explain all the gray hair that you're seeing...

[Flacruiser123]

Can you tell us more about the trolley on MV? Did you need a reservation or were you able to hop on?

[Merion_Mom]

Thanks for keeping me on the front page. Found an internet cafe in Portland - kids want to go back to the ship and eat, so here I am. Ship leaves at 7.

 

Portland is a great little city. It's warm (ok, hot, but NOT humid or uncomfortable). Did the 1 1/2 hour trolley tour and the 1 1/2 hour harbor tour. Enjoyed 'em both. "Park bench" slat seating is NOT easy on the tush, however. Kids had a seafood lunch - I was still full from a trayful of cantaloupe and honeydew for breakfast. (WHO was complaining about lack of fresh fruit on the Enchantment?????) The food is quite good in the WJ - no surprise dishes, but good and dependable. The staff is GREAT. They are always asking if they can get or refill your drinks, and helping out in any way. I have always been able to find lots of seats when I am looking - the kids reported ONE time they had to look around for a few minutes before finding an empty table, but they DID find it.

 

Ok, Chops. WOW. My jaded, well-travelled and well-dined kids thought it was the best meal they have EVER had. I brought our own fine wine, Luche decanted it, and it was wonderful. Corkage fee = $12. I had lamb chops - seriously the finest lamb I have ever tasted. Soft, buttery, flavorful without being what my mom called "lamb-y". (you know, that too-strong muttony overtaste). And they used only seasonings, NOT crumbs - almost EVERYONE uses crumbs, and I don't want them, so that made me happy, too.

 

Onion soup - delish, NE clam chowder, yummy, portobello mushroom appy mild and tangy at the same time, MD crab cake out of this world with NO filler. One teeny tiny infitesimel quibble, which DD and I shared: lack of choice in salad dressing. Same non-descript stuff as in the main dining room, and only three choices. Salads themselves good and fresh. My daughter had never seen yellow tomatoes before, and was very impressed, and she doesn't LIKE tomatoes!

 

Kids both had filet mignon. (I think one had 7 oz, one had 10 oz.) They were practically rhapsodizing about how wonderful their meat was. We had asparagus, creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. The waiter brought around choices (3) of sauces, and my kids had green peppercorn sauce slathered on their meat, then DS had a gallon more on his mashed potatoes. He is a true mashed potato expert, and he LOVED these.

 

They both had warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream. (after saying that they were too full for dessert) They managed to choke most of it down. I asked them to find me some "fresh fruit" for dessert. They said, zabaglione? I said, no, just fresh fruit. They brought me a dish of GORGEOUS berries: blueberries, strawberries, BLACKberries, with whipped cream. Sigh. Yum. Slurp.

 

We didn't finish the wine, so we were FORCED to make reservations for Saturday night to return to Chops, JUST to have food worthy of my 20 year old Beau Tour cabernet.

 

Kids wanted to sleep in this morning, and I should have just gone into Portland without them, but I waited, and we got to the main street at noon.

 

They have gone back to swim and eat. (HOW CAN THEY BE HUNGRY AGAIN ALREADY?) We are planning on a 1st for the Merion Family. :D We'll be having dinner in the Windjammer. It's the only way to fit in dinner, show AND The Quest. Ya gotta have yer priorities straight. And our tablemates are NOT incentive to dash to the Dining Room every night.

 

Uncle Jack and I have been having a nice time in the evenings, usually after the kids have gone to bed.

 

Wish me luck at the blackjack tables tonight. Of course, this depends on the outcome of the Quest and how much I drink. I may need my ribs taped up. :D

 

Tomorrow is Bar Harbor, and tendering again. OH, docking is SO much easier!

 

I have to go ask Iana why we haven't gotten a welcome-back present, and I'm going to ask her if she knows WHY RC CHANGED ALL THE WESTERN CARIBBEAN ITINERARIES OF THE EXPLORER NEXT SUMMER OUT OF BAYONNE TO EASTERNS.

 

I'm sure that someone asked a question that I haven't answered.......

 

Oh, haven't found out about Deck 7 aft noise tonight. I'll work on that.

 

Kids? I don't know - the fact that they're not OBVIOUS tells me that there just aren't that many of them. Maybe they're all in AO, but that would be an age that wouldn't interest me, anyway. Mine say that they're "fine" with not meeting or making new friends. "If we wanted them, we'd find them." Who knows?

 

Those of you who are taking next week's cruise out of Philly (the last one, I think) - easy - get there early, get on early, unless we have trouble unloading. You WON'T be able to go to your cabins before 1, truly, so watch how much stuff you have to lug.

 

Idiots didn't have my shareholders credit on my account - they have to "call Miami." Sheesh, I had my TA quadruple (oops, sextuple :)) check that it was on there before we sailed.

 

The entire Enchantment staff is SO friendly and kind. I have not encountered ONE rude worker, including the guy who climbed inside the sofabed frame and drilled from the inside out as he attached a brand new bed.

 

Two towel animals so far - I'm not much of a biologist, so I'm not sure what they were. I thought that last night's was an eel, but my daughter noticed that it had ears, so she says "alligator."

 

Coffee machine in CL DOES work - apparently, I'm an idiot. (I think that Giuseppe had to empty some grounds, but I may have pushed the wrong buttons??????)

 

Bye for now.

 

Carol