EOS Review 2/23 - 2/27, 2015

[Brandywine_101]

I posted a review via the main CC page, but didn't realize it wouldn't make its way to the boards. So here is my review. First I would like to THANK everyone who participates in this forum and who've personally given me tips. I could never have cruised properly without you guys!

 

2/22 - Sunday

We flew into MCO (Orlando airport) the night before our cruise. We took Cocoa Beach Shuttle from the airport to the Best Western in Cocoa Beach. As it was my first time on the beach and seeing the ocean, this was lovely! Imagine I wore snow boats, leggings and a sweater when I left Pittsburgh, only to face the blazing afternoon heat of Florida! But, thanks to you guys I was prepared. I put a sun dress and flip flops in my carry-on and changed in the Airport bathroom while my husband waited for the luggage! We arrived at the hotel and immediately went to the beach! We rented two loungers and an umbrella for $15 bucks from a vendor and relax. We ate dinner at one of the restaurants on the pier which had open windows and a guy singing country music (which I love) and he was rather good too. Then we went to Publix grocery store which is located just behind the hotel, to get a few last minute items and a couple bottles of wine. We took a late night swim in the hotel pool, had a few glasses of wine then went to bed.

 

 

 

2/23 - Cruise Day

I got up at 5 am to sit on the balcony of our oceanview room and waited for the sun to come up over the pier. I actually set my alarm for this as I’ve never seen a sunrise over the beach. I had a cup of coffee while I waited and everything was lovely. Then off to breakfast at the hotel and the shuttle to the port at 10:30 am.

 

We were super excited… until we got to the shuttle bus only to find it PACKED with other people! However, those "people" are now called "friends"! They were ALL going on EOS too! We had a blast in the shuttle and continued it to the ship. More on this later…

 

Check-in was pretty easy and quick. I had researched the port terminal 10, but got an email the day before saying we’re to embark at terminal 1. So I was unprepared for this port. Still, it was fairly simple. We had our documents in hand (though I was asked for a marriage license even though my documents were all in my married name???. I wasn’t told to bring it so I didn’t have it and started to panic, but she said it was okay and to bring it next time or get a passport. We used our driver’s licenses and birth certificates). We handed over our documents and credit card, they handed us a sea pass and we were on the ship within 15-20 minutes! Yay!

 

 

On first view I thought the ship was swank. Very upscale de ’core, marble floors and stairs, glass elevators. I was very happily impressed. We went to the windjammer for lunch after walking around the ship for a bit and stopping to purchase our drink packages. This is where my training failed me. Even though it’s stated on CC many times to go STRAIGHT to the WJ, I didn’t and we couldn’t find a seat anywhere! We ended up eating on the pool deck with an elderly couple who offered to share their table. They were sweet as pie and we saw them several times throughout the cruise. The announcement that staterooms were ready came earlier than expected – around 12:45 pm – to cheers all around. Now for the really fun part (gosh, writing this is making me “home” sick for the ship!).

We located our cabin – 8578, which was a D1 class balcony. We opened the door and was in heaven! I gasped and giggled like a girl of 45! I was super happy with the layout (bed first, then sofa and chair, then the balcony) and cleanliness of the room. It was a good size and every corner seemed to be utilized without being cramped. The closet was adequate for 4 a night stay, the bathroom though tiny was clean and smelled really nice. And since we were literally, directly mid-ship, we were in the newer staterooms after the “stretch” so our shower had sliding doors instead of the icky shower curtains I’ve read so much about! So much for the clothes pins I brought with me! We immediately went to the balcony and was more than pleased. It was smaller than I would have liked but it was big enough to enjoy sitting there. We were on the starboard side so at first all we saw was the port. To see the ocean we went back upstairs for muster drill and sail away (let me interject here, that I’m SORRY we missed the unofficial meet and greet we set up! I admit I got a little over-whelmed and all my scheduled “to dos” went out the window). We decided to unpack later (another cc tip) so that we wouldn’t miss sail away.

 

 

 

We managed to avoid the “free but not really free drink” guy and went to the bar to get drinks for sail-away after standing in the blazing sun on deck 5 for 30 minutes waiting for muster. This ticked me off. They announced muster 30 times from the time we boarded (around 11:15 am) right up to 3 pm, and still we were stuck waiting for stragglers. Grrr. It was HOT as heck those days we were there… but that turned into an advantage, as we made it to Coco Cay the next day! More on that later…

After sail-away, we went downstairs to shower and change for dinner and I wanted to go to the casino blackjack lesson. Well yeah, we layed down on the bed for a minute… just a minute. Jetlag hit us hard, mixed with the early alcohol and we didn’t wake up until 5:30! We got up, showered and dressed then went to explore dinner options. We had signed up for MTD, but ended up in MDR every night at the same time. It just worked well that way and we made some new friends. The waiter always remembered our drink order (not sure how the heck they can do that) and we never had to ask for drinks again the whole cruise. They just “appeared”.

 

For the rest of this review, I’m just going to highlight a few things. Let it be understood that we had a GREAT time, no real complaints except one, and we are seriously ready to go back!

 

 

 

Day 2 -Coco Cay

Our sailing was the first to make it there in over a month. The weather was perfect. Calm winds, high sun, beautiful. It was like God was smiling down on us and melted away the sub-zero weather from home right out of our bones. I enjoyed the tether ride to the island, the beach I thought couldn’t been “combed”. Since it hasn’t been used in a month, there were pine needles dropped everywhere. Someone should have gone over before us and cleaned the loungers and other areas. But still beautiful. The water was a little cool, and I found I liked looking at it more than being in it. I didn’t like the feel of the seaweed on my feet, it felt icky. Next time I’ll get some of those wet shoes. My husband was in heaven once he discovered O’Neal and his Bahama Mama’s at the island bar. Especially after I told him he could use his drink package on the island. He got drank his fill and got every dime worth out of his drink package! O’Neal appeared everywhere too. On deck for the pool party, at our table in MDR, everywhere. He never let my husband’s (or mine with wine) go empty. I didn’t have an alcohol package but boom, every night without fail, I had a glass of white wine at my spot. I love O’Neal, he was genuinely a nice guy. You could tell he wasn’t doing this for tips, I think he really liked his job. And for that we gave him a very nice tip at the end! I enjoyed the Jamaican band singing on the island. It really gave you the feeling that you were ON an island! We didn’t do any excursions – not really “water” people, so we just enjoyed the island, picked at the so-called bbq lunch and went back to the ship about 3 pm to eat a real meal.

 

 

Formal Night: We both enjoyed Formal Night and the Captain’s party. The free champagne was free for a reason – terrible, but we drank it anyway! It was fun to see everyone dressed up and out and about. We kept running into our friends from the shuttle and ended up having drinks with them after dinner. Then I hit the casino. I budgeted to play no more than $50 a day. I played my $50 and won $100. This happened two nights. Then I quit… I like the slots but am not a heavy gambler.

Shows: We saw the Love and Marriage show and LOVED it. Marc the Entertainment Director was hilarious. We saw the Adult comedian show… funny. And went to the 70’s dance party and the all white pool party. All fun. I liked that we could order drinks from the theater.

 

 

Day 3 -Nassau

I LOVE Nassau! We got to see where the locals live and work. We talked to a lot of them about their lives. It was so hard being a “rich American” on a cruise ship knowing that these people’s dinner depended on whether we purchased this, or took their ferry boat ride. So we did. LOL. We took a ferry over to Paradise Island (went to Dunkin Donuts to use the wifi). Saw but did not go to Atlantis. We took the ferry to New Providence where the poor live – but didn’t get off the ferry. We went to the Runcake factory and purchased all manner of junk trinkets from the street vendors and straw market. It was blazing hot and as much as I enjoyed it, I had to get back aboard ship. We got back on around 5 pm and sat on our balcony and ate a light meal from the Park Café. I will definitely visit Nassau again, perhaps on a cruise that’s there for more than one day, perhaps we’ll just go there. I liked the people a lot.

 

 

Day 4 -Sea Day

We enjoy doing… absolutely nothing! This was by far my favorite day. We ordered room service for breakfast and lazed around until lunch. We sat on the pool deck and I read a book. My husband got a little restless – vowing no more drinking, but ended up with a drink at the bar with his buddy O’Neal. I told O’Neal I was sending him the bill from sending my poor husband to Rehab! LOL. We had dinner at Chops for our anniversary. My husband, now used to the small portions in My Fair Lady, wasn’t expecting much when he ordered the colossal shrimp, to his surprise they were colossal! And the waiter asked him if he wanted another serving saying “O’Neal told him to take care of us”. WOW! That was truly a wow moment. So of course we weren’t surprised when our favorite drinks made their way to our table. I don’t even remember telling O’Neal about our Chops reservation, but he knew. After dinner we had a cocktail in the Centrum and then went back to our stateroom to start the sad job of packing. Sad because our trip was over.

 

 

Day 5 -Debarkation Day

We could’ve and should’ve taken our time, slept in or went to breakfast for all the hurry up and waiting we did. We had prearranged for the shuttle to take us to the airport. We stood in a very LONG line at 7:30 am to get off the ship. Only to find that we weren’t even cleared by the port to disembark yet! So nothing to do but wait. Customs was a nightmare. The lines were severely long. I have problems walking distances and standing long (I need a hip replaced) and I suffered. I had doubled up on the ibuprophen for the cruise but those wore thin in that line. I should have asked for a wheelchair escort, but I simply didn’t know it would be slow going. Next time… We made it through customs and onto the pavement where we needed to wait for the shuttle to return from the airport to get us? Seriously? We paid $58 bucks for this trip. Next time we’ll hire a private car or get a taxi. Seriously over priced and under serviced. Then when the guy did get there, he was slow to get our bags. He said “come this way”. I looked at him like he was nuts, then he came and got my bags. Terrible. Then we had to go over to Disney to pick up folks…. Great, a van full of kids. There turned out to be only two children, and one threw up the entire trip, poor thing. Her belly just couldn’t handle the change in motion. And that, my cruise critic friends, is how we ended our vacation. But we LOVED every minute of it and can’t wait til next year and the Independence!

 

Complaints

1. Weren’t we supposed to have an attendant? Our stateroom attendant was invisible. We only saw him a few times. He did his job, the room was cleaned during the day, and turned down at night. But we never saw him. He didn’t ask us if we needed ice. We needed to change our chops reservations he told us to call them. Huh? Wasn’t HE supposed to do that? Needless to say he got an appropriate tip, nothing extra. Hopefully next time we get a better one.

 

 

2. Then there was Café-lattiudes. It’s aptly named because the two women who worked there had BAD attitudes! Not friendly, not smiling, no “hi how are you” that we got accustomed to. The two frozen frappes I tried were poorly made and melty. I gave up.

 

Tips

 

Be nice to the staff who give good service. Even if you pre-pay gratuities, give them at least a $2 tip each time. You’ll be glad you did because they’ll be good to you. We paid an additional $70 in gratuities over the five days, but it was very worth it for the attention we got.

 

 

If you have a mobility issue, unless you really can’t walk, you won’t need to hire a scooter. If you’re like me, still young enough to be vain about such things, you should be fine. The ship is not that large. Just make sure to get a room by an elevator – preferably mid-ship, and you’ll be fine.

 

 

Take an all white outfit! I don’t know why the cruise line doesn’t tell you about the white party BEFORE you go? I found out here…on cc. And then it was in our Compass for the day of the event. Not everyone wears white in general (I don’t, I spill) but I knew to take a white outfit.

 

 

Drink package- Unless you plan to drink a bucket of alcohol, a bucket of soda and unlimited fruity frozen drinks…you don’t need a package. I’m not a soda drinker, I had four because I paid for the package, but I would have been just fine with the lemonade, iced tea, coffee and hot tea that’s free on the ship. Bottle water is a must. The second night we were onboard, our water shut off. When it came back it was brown and smelled of sulfur. No way would I have drank it anyway. Either bring water or buy it onboard.

 

 

Internet- Don’t fall for the high fees! Most ports have places with free internet if you just have to check in with home.

 

 

Packing- If you are a person who doesn’t like to repeat outfits and likes to dress a bit for dinner, take a nice outfit for every night of the cruise. For women at least four dresses (along with the formal dress). Guys can get away with several pairs of slacks. It’s nice to dress up for dinner and you can do so without the dinner bill and parking like at home. So why not dress up a bit?

[mspink98]

IWeren’t we supposed to have an attendant? Our stateroom attendant was invisible. We only saw him a few times. He did his job, the room was cleaned during the day, and turned down at night. But we never saw him. He didn’t ask us if we needed ice. We needed to change our chops reservations he told us to call them. Huh? Wasn’t HE supposed to do that? Needless to say he got an appropriate tip, nothing extra. Hopefully next time we get a better one.

 

Great review, thanks! To be fair, though, changing your Chops reservation is not your attendant's job. If you were in a full suite with concierge service, the concierge should have done it for you, but stateroom attendants are there to keep your room clean and that's about it. I think it's generally preferred NOT to see them much, invisible is an asset for that job.

Edited March 9, 2015 by mspink98
grammar is hard

[SECdawg]

Great review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. I love Enchantment and Marc is the best CD by far. Sorry I am going to miss him on our cruise in a couple of weeks but wish him and Brandy the best as they await the arrival of their new baby girl. I love the Chops on EN and look forward to trying it again next cruise.

[TITISSA]

Thank you for the review. For future reference, only Grand Suite and up enjoys the service of a concierge to book shows, dinner reservations, any changes, and cancellations. Even when your suite comes with a butler, his job is not to make or cancel dinner reservations. As far as your room attendant, that's what he/she does. Clean your room. For sure he could have brought you ice. Next time just call room service and they will bring you ice.

[Brandywine_101]

Great review, thanks! To be fair, though, changing your Chops reservation is not your attendant's job. If you were in a full suite with concierge service, the concierge should have done it for you, but stateroom attendants are there to keep your room clean and that's about it. I think it's generally preferred NOT to see them much, invisible is an asset for that job.

Oh ok! Thanks for that. I read so many reviews I must have gotten that mixed up from those in the loft suites, who have concierge service, lol!

[Brandywine_101]

Thank you for the review. For future reference, only Grand Suite and up enjoys the service of a concierge to book shows, dinner reservations, any changes, and cancellations. Even when your suite comes with a butler, his job is not to make or cancel dinner reservations. As far as your room attendant, that's what he/she does. Clean your room. For sure he could have brought you ice. Next time just call room service and they will bring you ice.

Thank you! I was misunderstanding his job! In that case he did it well and now I have guilt for not tipping more than $25. I read $5 a day for basic service. Oh boy... Well if I ever see him again I'll tip better.