Famous Last Words - A 3-night Enchantment Review

[sdear]

Oh, c'mon!

 

They look totally awesome, period!

 

 

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They sure do, I think that is what I meant and said . :)

[mechcc]

There are at least two of us then! I'd much rather have hot chocolate :)

 

There are actually 3 of us coffee and tea haters. :D

[Tapi]

We hit Target with everything we had! Even though it was an unfamiliar layout, we wasted no time throwing everything into the cart

 

 

Target was a lifesaver for us a few years ago when the airline (Southwest) lost our luggage enroute to Seattle for a cruise to Alaska (never to be found again!)

 

It was a scaled down “city” Target in downtown Seattle, but we found enough to create a whole new wardrobe for a 7 night cruise for our family of 4, including new luggage. We felt like we were on an episode of that old TV show Supermarket Sweep, with me pushing the cart down the aisles while my wife shoved as much stuff as she could in it as fast as possible! [emoji23]

 

 

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[Merion_Mom]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food on the island is brought from the ship and we thought it was good. It was a picnic atmosphere but the lines were long for some of the stations. They even had gyro and pita with hummus so we tried that and it was good. The tables were crowded, but people were very friendly about sharing space at the tables. There were chickens roaming around and large lizards.

 

 

 

ACK!!!!! Those are not "lizards". Those are IGUANAS.

 

Signed,

 

Regina Iguanarum

 

:D

[DiJohn]

Can't resist this post. From National Geographic: Green, or common, iguanas are among the largest lizards in the Americas, averaging around 6.5 feet long and weighing about 11 pounds. They are also among the most popular reptile pets in the United States, despite being quite difficult to care for properly.:D

[MaiseyM]

Gret reviews. TG for husbands thinking in stressful times. I think I would have froze with my luggage in hand at the counter. I would have never thought about throwing it in the car and buying once in Florida. Brilliant. And, TG for Target too. They have everything! Glad you made it on time to enjoy the journey. Nothing more stressful than almost missing a cruise. We did that one year w/our 3 kids. Forgot that Easter travel in Chicago required 3 hours early arrival, not two. It was a mess in the TSA. Thankfully we had a nice TSA agent who told us how to find a shorter line, as long as we could sprint to another terminal. It worked, but Man! that was stressful.

[cruiselvr04]

Kudos to you for 9 kids, no coffee and and a back up plan on the fly. It makes for great memories!

 

And to answer the question TJ Maxx and Ross have discount clothes. While I find some great buys there, Target was your best one stop place to shop.

 

This story confirms why we pack and lug all essentials in carry ons for our cruises. While I’d be upset if a bag didn’t make it to the ship we could survive without them.

[DiJohn]

I'm really enjoying your review. We'll be on the Enchantment the end of October for a 3-day cruise out of PC.

:cool:

[Missusdubbya]

Loving your review!

 

 

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[lemonade-sails]

I have to agree with you about tea. Cold or hot, to me it's like drinking dirty dishwater. YUCK. As far as coffee, I never drank it until < 10 years ago. I agree, the smell is wonderful, but never had a taste for it. I will say I HATE the ship coffee. It tastes like burnt tree bark. IF you are ever willing to try coffee again, I suggest you try Dunkn Donuts coffee. And probably with cream. I love their hazelnut coffee with cream. Just saying.

 

Erika

 

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll have to think about it. For me, I don't really need it to stay awake or anything, so not sure it's worth it :)

 

NINE KIDS, AND YOU DON'T DRINK COFFEE??? You're like a superhero or something!! :D

 

Yes, yes I am. Bahahahaha! Naw, but you made me laugh!

[lemonade-sails]

So far, so good. Too bad it is only a 3 day cruise. I am enjoying your upbeat take on everything.

 

Thanks! I appreciate that!

 

 

 

Loving your review, glad you made it on!

 

Thanks, and me too! :)

[lemonade-sails]

You both look totally awesome for having 9 kids !! Kudos to you ! Great review !!

 

Thanks! :)

 

Oh, c'mon!

 

They look totally awesome, period!

 

 

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Awe, you guys! Thanks!!

[lemonade-sails]

There are actually 3 of us coffee and tea haters. :D

 

Unite! :) But do you like hot chocolate??

 

 

Target was a lifesaver for us a few years ago when the airline (Southwest) lost our luggage enroute to Seattle for a cruise to Alaska (never to be found again!)

 

It was a scaled down “city” Target in downtown Seattle, but we found enough to create a whole new wardrobe for a 7 night cruise for our family of 4, including new luggage. We felt like we were on an episode of that old TV show Supermarket Sweep, with me pushing the cart down the aisles while my wife shoved as much stuff as she could in it as fast as possible! [emoji23]

 

 

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First, I can't believe it was never found again!! I would go crazy wondering. And, I don't even want to know what you dropped at the register to outfit four of you for a week in Alaska - ouch!!

[lemonade-sails]

ACK!!!!! Those are not "lizards". Those are IGUANAS.

 

Signed,

 

Regina Iguanarum

 

:D

 

Oh, sorry!

 

 

 

Can't resist this post. From National Geographic: Green, or common, iguanas are among the largest lizards in the Americas, averaging around 6.5 feet long and weighing about 11 pounds. They are also among the most popular reptile pets in the United States, despite being quite difficult to care for properly.:D

 

Not sorry!

 

Ha - I'm cracking myself up over here. I didn't really even think about it. When I saw them I just thought lizard! :)

[lemonade-sails]

Gret reviews. TG for husbands thinking in stressful times. I think I would have froze with my luggage in hand at the counter. I would have never thought about throwing it in the car and buying once in Florida. Brilliant. And, TG for Target too. They have everything! Glad you made it on time to enjoy the journey. Nothing more stressful than almost missing a cruise. We did that one year w/our 3 kids. Forgot that Easter travel in Chicago required 3 hours early arrival, not two. It was a mess in the TSA. Thankfully we had a nice TSA agent who told us how to find a shorter line, as long as we could sprint to another terminal. It worked, but Man! that was stressful.

 

Thanks! And I agree with you about husbands and Target too. I'm glad you made your family cruise, I'm sure it was so much more stressful with the kids along.

 

Kudos to you for 9 kids, no coffee and and a back up plan on the fly. It makes for great memories!

 

And to answer the question TJ Maxx and Ross have discount clothes. While I find some great buys there, Target was your best one stop place to shop.

 

This story confirms why we pack and lug all essentials in carry ons for our cruises. While I’d be upset if a bag didn’t make it to the ship we could survive without them.

 

Thanks! We did see a lot of people on day 1 in the Windjammer with their luggage. I'm not sure I'd want to lug everything around with me, but it was definitely not fun having to leave our bag behind.

[lemonade-sails]

I'm really enjoying your review. We'll be on the Enchantment the end of October for a 3-day cruise out of PC.

:cool:

Thanks! I hope you have a great time. It will go by so quick!

 

 

Loving your review!

 

 

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Thanks so much!

[lemonade-sails]

 

We woke up on Sunday morning - Mother’s Day - to find that we were already docked in Nassau. We dressed quickly and then headed up to our favorite breakfast place - The Windjammer. I basically had the exact same breakfast as the day before - those little waffles with fruit topping and eggs, sausage and fruit. DH got in line for an omelet this morning which he enjoyed.

 

Because we didn’t buy any excursions we were not in a hurry to get anywhere. In our pre-cruise research we had discovered the Queen’s Staircase and Fort Fincastle. We figured we could walk up there and check it out and then bum around Nassau for a while.

 

There was an advisory in the cruise compass for our visit to Nassau. They were warning us about an increase in “nonviolent” crimes against tourists. So we didn’t bring my purse or DH’s wallet. We did bring a backpack with some water and room for souvenirs but we didn’t put anything important in there. We brought some cash taped into the plastic thing on my lanyard, tied to my belt loop and stuck into the waistband of my shorts. Ha!

 

We left the ship and entered the port area. There were some very enthusiastic tour operators waiting there, but we just stuck to our plan and firmly declined. We didn’t feel comfortable renting any scooters or anything like that. We took a left out of the port and headed up the hill.

 

I did feel a little bit isolated walking by ourselves the further away from the port we got. There are several abandoned businesses and alleys along the way so keep your wits about you. I didn’t feel unsafe because DH was there. Also, we knew where we were heading and were aware of our surroundings. We took Bay Street to Elisabeth Avenue and then went right - up the hill and past the Princess Margaret Hospital. This is where you will enter the staircase area.

 

The Queen’s Staircase is a unique thing to see. It was rather cool in there and there is a nice waterfall. Lots of birds and things to listen to as well. Don’t be intimidated by the stairs - you can do it. At the top of the stairs, take a right and follow the street around to the fort.

 

Fort Fincastle is very small and requires an entrance fee. Don’t skip the little booth past the door where you pay, or the lady inside will hunt you down.

 

In all seriousness, we didn’t see her run after anyone, but she will yell at you until you turn back to pay. From research I knew to pay the entrance fee, but she did call out a few groups of people while we were there.

 

 

This is probably not more than a 15 minute visit as it’s very small and not a whole lot to see - besides the view of Nassau. There was a man giving a little verbal tour of the buildings that you can see from the castle. His speech ended with him comparing the local trees to women and “flapping in the breeze” or something to that effect. This earned him a tip or two from some of the men in the group. Well played.

 

After the castle tour we decided to pick up souvenirs for the kids at the little shops that surrounded the area. The vendors here all had basically the same stuff so it wasn’t like they were all handcrafted items. They also were not that into bargaining. They would tell a price and then if we countered they would just say “no”. So, we would go down the line and find the same product at a different stand for less sometimes. No big deal.

 

We were able to get some hats, a deck of playing cards, t-shirts, and mugs - enough for all of the kids. One of the stands gave me a free coin purse for Mother’s Day - Bonus! There were so many taxi vans waiting in the area that it was kind of dangerous walking around and trying to shop. I would not recommend bringing small children here to look at the vendors.

 

We walked back down the Queen’s Staircase and back to Bay Street where we did some window shopping and asked a local about conch fritters. After roaming around a bit more we decided to skip the conch and grab a taxi to Atlantis to check it out.

 

Our taxi driver was very friendly and fast and we were dropped off at the door of Atlantis in just a little while.

 

Atlantis is huge! We didn’t want to pay the million dollars for the day pass so we decided just to walk around in the public areas of the hotel. We saw some turtles swimming and lots of artwork and shopping inside.

 

 

We walked through the casino and saw the glass sculptures and they were really beautiful. We admired the humongous yachts in the harbor and wondered who in the world was on them. One was called “Never Enough” and, after we got home and googled it, we discovered that it can be chartered for $130,000 a week during the low season. So, yeah.

 

 

There is a very cute little shopping area outside of Atlantis so we walked through there looking for the ferry back to the ships, but before we could find it a taxi appeared so we hopped inside and took a quick ride over the bridge and back to port.

 

Be aware that some of the cabs and vendors we encountered (and the entrance booth of the fort) gave Bahamian money as change. This was ok with us at first as the kids love that kind of thing - but we did not expect it and, honestly, after the second time we made sure that the cab back to the port had enough change in USD for us. He didn’t, but asked another cab driver for the bills for us. Just FYI.

 

Back onboard just in time for a late lunch in the WJ. All the food was enjoyed as usual and this time they had ice cream being served tableside which was fun. They had several flavors and lots of toppings to choose from.

 

We headed back to the cabin and found it all made up - I had remembered to put the sign in the door this morning on our way out.

We made it back out to deck 5 to watch for stragglers as we were late leaving. They were calling several names over the ships intercom system.

 

 

I’m not sure if everyone got onboard, but we finally started to drift away from the dock and we headed to the Starlight (I mean Spotlight) Lounge to watch us say goodbye to Nassau.

 

The Spotlight Lounge is in the aft and has great windows to watch the view. The windows are a bit dirty here too, but the chairs are comfy, view was great - and the company was amazing. It’s so nice just getting a chance to sit and talk together - about the past, present and future.

 

After chatting while Nassau slipped off into the distance, it was time to get ready for dinner again. One more night in the dining room for us.

 

We sat at the same table again - for the third and final night. Dinner was amazing as usual. This time DH and I switched seats to change it up a little bit. It threw the servers off just a tiny bit but they adjusted quickly. Ha!

 

I don’t remember what we ate this night, but it was good. Again, we strolled the deck after dinner looking for the elusive sunset - we weren’t getting it. And then we went to the headliner show.

 

We weren’t that impressed with the show this evening. I think it was something about “a singer’s life” or something like that. I didn’t keep the Compasses so I can’t recall the exact name. So, we skipped out of the theater and headed to the room to pack.

 

Packing was pretty easy. We just kind of shoved everything into our still-with-the-tags-on suitcase and set it out in the hallway. Then we headed to the entertainment in the centrum and also attended the late-night adults only comedy show.

 

The comedy show was ok. Some of it was funny. Some people brought their kids. You never know what you’re going to get.

 

After that we headed back to Spotlight for the Battle of the Sexes game. This was kind of funny as well, but the activities staff had to remind the audience that kids under 16 weren’t allowed to participate. We thought of staying for Quest, but decided against it. We’re not big attention-seekers and the lounge is not that large - hard for us to blend in the back and laugh at everyone else unnoticed that way.

 

We took one last stroll on the upper deck where I saw a shooting star that turned out to really be some kind of large bug fluttering by the deck lights. At the bow of the ship we could see the NCL ship out in front of us. We were both heading back to Miami.

 

We headed to bed one last time on the Enchantment. Tomorrow we would have to get off.

[paross4]

Thanks for the review and especially your take on Nassau. We are on the Enchantment in December, following the same route.

 

 

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[JPV072900]

We took one last stroll on the upper deck where I saw a shooting star that turned out to really be some kind of large bug fluttering by the deck lights. At the bow of the ship we could see the NCL ship out in front of us. We were both heading back to Miami.

 

We headed to bed one last time on the Enchantment. Tomorrow we would have to get off.

 

 

One time on vacation in Key West, our friend thought the moon was shining bright.... Turned out it was a spotlight from the hotel across the street!!!

 

Also, I always hate heading to bed that last night.... When I close the door and climb into bed, I know the vacation is unofficially over, and I just wish I could crawl into my own bed in my own home..... And that I could use a normal sized bathroom again!!

 

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[MaiseyM]

Ah! So quick but glad you got away. I am certain with nine children at home, you enjoyed the time away, though brief! Sometimes going away longer is almost more work and more challenging if the kids aren't with you. Glad you enjoyed!

[Mikew0805]

It is so very much better than Majesty.

 

I am hoping for better on the Enchantment this time. The last time on Enchantment was not so good, and the four trips I have had on Majesty have been next to perfect.

[Mikew0805]

Very entertaining review, thank you for taking the time to post it.

[lemonade-sails]

Thanks for the review and especially your take on Nassau. We are on the Enchantment in December, following the same route.

 

 

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You're welcome! Enjoy your trip on Enchantment!

 

 

 

We took one last stroll on the upper deck where I saw a shooting star that turned out to really be some kind of large bug fluttering by the deck lights. At the bow of the ship we could see the NCL ship out in front of us. We were both heading back to Miami.

 

We headed to bed one last time on the Enchantment. Tomorrow we would have to get off.

 

 

One time on vacation in Key West, our friend thought the moon was shining bright.... Turned out it was a spotlight from the hotel across the street!!!

 

Also, I always hate heading to bed that last night.... When I close the door and climb into bed, I know the vacation is unofficially over, and I just wish I could crawl into my own bed in my own home..... And that I could use a normal sized bathroom again!!

 

Sent from my SM-S727VL using Forums mobile app

 

That last night is kinda sad. I think it's the packing though that gets me. Especially on this short trip when it seems like I only just got done unpacking.

[lemonade-sails]

Ah! So quick but glad you got away. I am certain with nine children at home, you enjoyed the time away, though brief! Sometimes going away longer is almost more work and more challenging if the kids aren't with you. Glad you enjoyed!

 

Yes, definitely enjoyed the time away. Four nights total - it was the perfect amount of time.

 

Very entertaining review, thank you for taking the time to post it.

 

You're welcome and thanks for reading!!

[lemonade-sails]

We woke up early - not sure of the time - and got dressed, finished packing up our last minute things and headed up to WJ for one last breakfast. We found a table by the window overlooking the NCL ship we had followed all night long back to Miami.

 

My breakfast was the same again - but I still loved it.

 

After eating we decided to walk around deck 5. Even though it was raining we were covered and stayed dry while we watched all of the activity on the dock. They were getting ready for the next set of passengers.

 

We stopped into the lounge where our tags were supposed to wait, but it was pretty boring in there and all of the window seats were taken, so we headed to the centrum where we sat for a little while. Then we just got into the line to get off and we were off.

 

The line inside the terminal was looooong and kind of slow moving. Finally, we picked up our bag and made it through.

 

We headed out to the curb to wait for our Budget shuttle which didn’t take that long. The shuttle bus was crowded, but we were quickly dropped off at the Budget Rental office in downtown Miami. I stepped inside while DH went to grab our bag. If you have two of you, do this. That way you will be first in line at the counter while everyone else is struggling to drag their bags into the building.

 

We picked up our car and headed to Little Havana where we had just a couple of things we wanted to do. First, we stopped off at the cigar shop, then we checked out Domino Park and did some shopping.

After that we got back in the car and drove to the Versailles for an early lunch.

 

 

Lunch here was ok. The sandwiches were huge and the price was very reasonable. DH got the classic Cuban and thought it was dry. Mine was the Calle Ocho Special and it had lettuce and tomato which was better. We didn't check out anything in the bakery area. The restaurant was pretty inside and it wasn’t too crowded on a late Monday morning.

 

 

We had planned to head out to the beach and check it out, but a very bad storm was rolling in so we headed back to Fort Lauderdale and our hotel - The Hilton Marina.

 

We had originally booked a bridge view room but it wasn’t ready for early check-in so they moved us to the other tower. It didn’t really matter to us as we weren’t planning to watch any early morning ship arrivals or anything.

 

We ended up with a nice view of the marina and pool area.

It started to storm a bit so we . . . took a nap.

 

After the weather cleared we headed to the beach and to look for dinner somewhere.

 

The beach here was pretty rough - the red flags were out. It made us appreciate the gulf area where we take our family beach trips normally.

 

We went to Coconuts where we finally got some conch fritters. They were pretty good. The restaurant was crowded and loud, but not too bad. We didn’t have reservations and were seated quickly, but after we sat down a line started forming at the door. The also had outdoor seating by the marina which looked nice.

 

The walk along the beach is really nice with lots of restaurants and shops. Lots to look at especially in the evening.

 

Back to the hotel where we tried out the pool. We asked the man at the desk if there were pool towels out there and he said no. So we stopped at the little gym and grabbed a couple of those small towels. When we were returning them we saw a large cart full of clean pool towels. Hmmm.

 

There are a lot of gorgeous yachts in the area.

 

 

Then off to bed.

 

The next morning we got up early for our quick drive to the airport - this hotel is very convenient to FLL. We dropped off the rental car and headed inside. Thankfully we arrived in time to check our tags-still-on luggage. Yay!

 

We headed to the gate area and picked up some breakfast.

 

 

Our flight home was uneventful. After an hour drive home, the kids were thrilled to see us - and us them. We enjoyed our “extended date” and now are dreaming of another family cruise. It seems to work out just like that.

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed reading and thank you all for following along!