First time on Royal Caribbean

[Clarea]

Just now, Lottacruises said:

 

12 per room or 12 per person? I think 12 is enough either way though.

 

We're doing a five day cruise, cozumel and somewhere else. We've been to both Progresso and Costa Maya, either one is fine.

 

Thank you all for your responses!

 

Per stateroom.

[Lottacruises]

1 hour ago, Host Clarea said:

You can bring soda and water onboard, but the rule is that you are limited to 12 containers per stateroom, each no larger than 500ml, carry-on only.

 

Speaking of water, how is the ships water to drink? I usually do drink it, but some ships taste funny and I order bottled water  to the room.

[Lottacruises]

2 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Per stateroom.

 

Thanks! We'll probably take 6-8 but have been known to take a 12 pack each when travelling with friends.

[Clarea]

3 minutes ago, Lottacruises said:

 

Speaking of water, how is the ships water to drink? I usually do drink it, but some ships taste funny and I order bottled water  to the room.

 

Tolerable, but I'd rather have bottled water.

[Lottacruises]

2 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Tolerable, but I'd rather have bottled water.

 

Me too, but tolerable works. Thanks!

[tillys mom]

2 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Against the rules, but your experience may vary.

Can you buy water onboard? Do they hav a 12 pack or something like that?

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, tillys mom said:

Can you buy water onboard? Do they hav a 12 pack or something like that?

 

Yes, they have both a 12 and 24 pack of Evian 1L bottles, high prices,

 

They also will sell you one at a time from a bar, varying brand, for $2-$3.

 

[Merion_Mom]

5 hours ago, Lottacruises said:

 

12 per room or 12 per person? I think 12 is enough either way though.

 

We're doing a five day cruise, cozumel and somewhere else. We've been to both Progresso and Costa Maya, either one is fine.

 

Thank you all for your responses!

 

You actually quoted the answer to your question. 

[SRF]

23 hours ago, tillys mom said:

This is very helpful! We are sailing for the first time on Explorer of the Seas next fall with a guarantee 4D. I hope you don’t mind me asking some questions too.

Can you bring sodas onboard?

Can you bring water onboard?

What reservations are people on the roll call talking about?

We have MTD. What does that mean?

Are gratuities assigned per day or do you just tip?

What else do you wish you had known before cruising RCI?

 

 

MTD means My Time Dining.  You eat when you want for dinner.  You can either make reservations or just walk up.  Like a land based restaurant.

 

Gratuities are charged to your account daily.  You can also pre-pay them before the cruise.

 

Some ships do show reservations.  Others do not.

 

BTW, you can also carry on 2 bottles of wine (750 ml) per stateroom, that has an adult in it.  So some families have been known to book one adult and one child in each stateroom, then swap, so the adults are on one and the children in the other, but they can bring on 4 bottles.  Wine may be subject to a $15 corkage fee if you bring the bottle to the dinning room.  But if you bring a full glass, no charge.  That said, few people report having been charged the corkage fee.

 

Room service has a $7.95 charge, per ORDER.  Except for continental breakfast items, or if you are sailing in a full suite.  Also, full suites have an expanded breakfast menu and may order from the main dining room menu during meal times.

 

 

[Tatka]

On 10/3/2019 at 7:20 AM, Lottacruises said:

What tips do you all have for me? We'll be on the Enchantment of the Seas.

 

Which other lines/ships you cruised already?

[Lottacruises]

3 hours ago, Tatka said:

 

Which other lines/ships you cruised already?

 

I've  cruised almost exclusively carnival, from their biggest to smallest. 

 

 

[Tatka]

2 minutes ago, Lottacruises said:

 

I've  cruised almost exclusively carnival, from their biggest to smallest. 

 

 

 

   Then you should be pleasantly surprised although Enchantment is not the newest RCI ship and doesn't have all bells and whistles.  MDR has the same system of assigned seating and MTD (My Time Dining is similar to YTD - Your Time Dining). If you have MTD you can just walk in every night, but just to insure you will have table soon you can also beforehand reserve your times in your cruise personalizer on line.

[Lottacruises]

Thanks, we're looking forward to this "new" cruise. 

[garnetpalmetto]

1 hour ago, Lottacruises said:

 

I've  cruised almost exclusively carnival, from their biggest to smallest. 

 

 

 

In terms of age, Enchantment is about as old as one of Carnival's Fantasy or Destiny/Sunshine class ships (1997, so roughly contemporaneous to Inspiration, Elation, Paradise, and Destiny/Sunshine) and fits in between the two classes in terms of size (although she is longer than the Destiny/Sunshine class because of the lengthening I mentioned earlier). I've not been on a Fantasy class ship, but my wife has and she much preferred the layout/design of Enchantment to the Fantasys. Definitely take some time to pore over the deck plans to familiarize yourself with her layout.

Edited October 4, 2019 by garnetpalmetto

[handbellplayer]

2 hours ago, Lottacruises said:

 

I've  cruised almost exclusively carnival, from their biggest to smallest. 

 

 

You might enjoy my review here:

 

[Rogueperson]

2 hours ago, Lottacruises said:

 

I've  cruised almost exclusively carnival, from their biggest to smallest. 

 

 

You'll find that there are more similarities then differences from Carnival.  You're sailing on Enchantment, so they don't differ much as the larger ships have reservation systems for certain shows.  Enchantment is small enough that they schedule the shows around early and late seating dining.  Early seating is 5:15 - 5:30 and Late seating is 8:15-8:30.  They vary sometimes, but the shows are centered around those two dining times.  For example, most shows will have two seatings.  8:00 showing for the Early dining and vary between 7:00 or 10:00 for late seating.  If the show has only one showing like the welcome aboard show or the farewell show, they may just have it at 10:00pm to accommodate everyone.  If i remember, Carnival does that as well.

 

The main thing you might be disappointed in is that there is no dedicated comedy show.  They do have comedy shows and some late night ones, but not many.  It is usually held in the main theater (which is a lot better in my opinion than the tiny venues they have on Carnival for comedy).

 

No Guys Burgers, sorry.  Johnny Rockets (which i don't believe Enchantment has, but not 100%) has a fee, but can't hold a candle to Guys.

 

Otherwise, I can't think of any major differences between the two that you need to be aware of.

[garnetpalmetto]

9 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

You'll find that there are more similarities then differences from Carnival.  You're sailing on Enchantment, so they don't differ much as the larger ships have reservation systems for certain shows.  Enchantment is small enough that they schedule the shows around early and late seating dining.  Early seating is 5:15 - 5:30 and Late seating is 8:15-8:30.  They vary sometimes, but the shows are centered around those two dining times.  For example, most shows will have two seatings.  8:00 showing for the Early dining and vary between 7:00 or 10:00 for late seating.  If the show has only one showing like the welcome aboard show or the farewell show, they may just have it at 10:00pm to accommodate everyone.  If i remember, Carnival does that as well.

 

The main thing you might be disappointed in is that there is no dedicated comedy show.  They do have comedy shows and some late night ones, but not many.  It is usually held in the main theater (which is a lot better in my opinion than the tiny venues they have on Carnival for comedy).

 

No Guys Burgers, sorry.  Johnny Rockets (which i don't believe Enchantment has, but not 100%) has a fee, but can't hold a candle to Guys.

 

Otherwise, I can't think of any major differences between the two that you need to be aware of.

 

You're correct that there's no Johnny Rockets on Enchantment. Enchantment's dining options are the MDR, Windjammer, Park Cafe, Cafe Latte-tudes, and Chops.

Edited October 4, 2019 by garnetpalmetto

[mooseman52b]

Enchantment does do the Parade of Flags in the Centrum which is fun to watch!

 

[Lottacruises]

7 minutes ago, mooseman52b said:

Enchantment does do the Parade of Flags in the Centrum which is fun to watch!

 

Looks fun!