Enchantment of the Seas

[runningtide]

3 hours ago, SRF said:

Well said.

 

I am also within a short drive (20 - 30 minutes) to the Baltimore cruise port and have sailed on Grandeur many times.  I prefer a cruise ship, not a floating amusement park/resort.

I completely agree, thought as I mentioned in another reply, I fear it may not be long before RCI sells off their remainder smaller ships and shuts down operations in Baltimore. 
All the best my friend !

 

[Another_Critic]

4 minutes ago, runningtide said:

Sadly, I’m afraid in the near future, RCI may sell of the remainder of their smaller ships, and cease operations from Baltimore, due to height restrictions of the bridges on the Chesapeake Bay. 

They still have 8 ships (4 Vision class, 4 Radiance class) that can fit.  🤞

 

Not sure if Celebrity Millennium class fit.

[runningtide]

2 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

They still have 8 ships (4 Vision class, 4 Radiance class) that can fit.  🤞

 

Not sure if Celebrity Millennium class fit.

As long as they can get under a 185 foot max clearance on the existing bridges, that would be great news. It’s actually a fun experience leaving the port and everybody on deck looks up as we sail under the Key Bridge. Always looks like a tight fit 😁

[Another_Critic]

1 minute ago, runningtide said:

As long as they can get under a 185 foot max clearance on the existing bridges, that would be great news. It’s actually a fun experience leaving the port and everybody on deck looks up as we sail under the Key Bridge. Always looks like a tight fit 😁

Will be watching the gawkers tomorrow.  😄

 

Tomorrow will be my 13th sailing from Baltimore.  One of the most interesting sailings was on Norwegian Crown, where we took a "short cut" across the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, then sailed down the Delaware, before heading north.  We then sailed the Cape Cod Canal, instead of going around the Cape.  🙂

[runningtide]

5 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Will be watching the gawkers tomorrow.  😄

 

Tomorrow will be my 13th sailing from Baltimore.  One of the most interesting sailings was on Norwegian Crown, where we took a "short cut" across the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, then sailed down the Delaware, before heading north.  We then sailed the Cape Cod Canal, instead of going around the Cape.  🙂

Have a great cruise 😁

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We get on enchantment tomorrow.  I have been toying with the idea of doing a live thread.  There were 2 excellent live threads on the recent 12-day cruise [@Radio and @Rogueperson] and I wondered if there would be any interest.  However, I have decided I will do one for this 8-day itinerary.  I will be sure to look for some of the issues the OP raised.  

 

We have sailed on Celebrity several times.  I agree it is a touch above the Royal Caribbean experience.  But that is by design and at a different price point.  We sail Celebrity for less available itineraries or unique experiences. [Panama Canal, Mardi Gras, overnights]  We are willing to pay a premium for those.  We had an FCC for a cancelled X cruise and applied it to a repositioning cruise on the Beyond for this fall.  

[AF-1]

4 hours ago, runningtide said:

Such a kind comment. Yes, I really am fortunate to live near the port of Baltimore. Sadly, I’m afraid in the near future, RCI may sell of the remainder of their smaller ships, and cease operations from Baltimore, due to height restrictions of the bridges on the Chesapeake Bay. 
All the best my friend !

 

Do any other cruise lines sail out of Baltimore?

[robnmac]

Please do a live thread if you can!  

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Do any other cruise lines sail out of Baltimore?

 Carnival. 

[AF-1]

1 minute ago, Biker19 said:

 Carnival. 

Thanks for the quick reply.  Cheers

[death_star]

16 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Do any other cruise lines sail out of Baltimore?

There will also be some NCL coming up to Canada 1 way.

[Rogueperson]

1 hour ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

We get on enchantment tomorrow.  I have been toying with the idea of doing a live thread.  There were 2 excellent live threads on the recent 12-day cruise [@Radio and @Rogueperson] and I wondered if there would be any interest.  However, I have decided I will do one for this 8-day itinerary.  I will be sure to look for some of the issues the OP raised.  

 

We have sailed on Celebrity several times.  I agree it is a touch above the Royal Caribbean experience.  But that is by design and at a different price point.  We sail Celebrity for less available itineraries or unique experiences. [Panama Canal, Mardi Gras, overnights]  We are willing to pay a premium for those.  We had an FCC for a cancelled X cruise and applied it to a repositioning cruise on the Beyond for this fall.  

 

Do it!!!  Its a lot of fun.  It also forces you to see things in a different light and allows you to put your own special twist flavor on your cruise.

 

I was very skeptical about the interest of my live thread when i found out Radio was on the same cruise.  I quote myself here "I'm gonna get squished".  The reality was that even though we were on the same cruise, we had vastly different experiences and our live threads were totally different.  To be honest, When I start my live threads 2 - 3 days earlier, a little childlike part of me is going "I GOT DIBS!!!"  But this taught me that it doesn't matter.

[Stealthdog]

2 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

 We had an FCC for a cancelled X cruise and applied it to a repositioning cruise on the Beyond for this fall.  

 

So jealous.  Captain Kate will be on the Beyond.

[runningtide]

3 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Do any other cruise lines sail out of Baltimore?

Carnival 

[SRF]

They would have to sell off a lot of ships.  Radiance class will fit.

 

And pre-COVID Grandeur pretty much sailed at over double occupancy every cruise.  Hard to walk away from that amount of business.

[inforem]

On 3/23/2022 at 3:44 PM, sfaaa said:

X is also more expensive. Did you not take this into account?

More expensive or not...you get internet, tips and drinks included. Not really that much more expensive, but well worth the cost.

 

[inforem]

On 3/24/2022 at 12:34 PM, runningtide said:

I completely agree, thought as I mentioned in another reply, I fear it may not be long before RCI sells off their remainder smaller ships and shuts down operations in Baltimore. 
All the best my friend !

 

I agree, if Royal doesn't keep up with their ships then they should be sold or decommissioned. I have sailed on a like ship (Celebrity Summit) 11 times and am sailing again for a 10 day cruise in May. That ship is kept magnificent. Always cleaning and painting the ship. Staff is wonderful and very accomodating. As for the staff that was rude and condescending, I intentionally didn't write his name...but I could.

[shipgeeks]

1 hour ago, inforem said:

More expensive or not...you get internet, tips and drinks included. Not really that much more expensive, but well worth the cost.

 

Unless you don't use internet and drinks.  

[jerseygirl3]

On 3/24/2022 at 12:34 PM, runningtide said:

I completely agree, thought as I mentioned in another reply, I fear it may not be long before RCI sells off their remainder smaller ships and shuts down operations in Baltimore. 
All the best my friend !

 

The ships sailing out of Baltimore are very popular.  There's no way they'd leave that port.  I would love to see a Radiance class ship sailing from Baltimore.

[fpcruiser]

On 3/23/2022 at 11:00 AM, Jarmo said:

Was on the 2/25 sailing.  Only thing I noticed in terms of missing items was certain brands of bourbon were scarce, and they were out of Pina Colada mix.   

 

It was a great cruise, staff was fantastic, toilets worked, no complaints.

We were also on that cruise. My only complaint was that some of the food in Windjammer and MDR were bland. Did not notice all the other stuff.

 

[inforem]

18 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

Unless you don't use internet and drinks.  

Or tip. Well worth the money. 

[ymncruise]

On 3/23/2022 at 3:44 PM, sfaaa said:

X is also more expensive. Did you not take this into account?

if you usually purchase the wifi/drink package on royal, X isn't more expensive because they include gratuities/wifi/drink package in the price. on royal those items are priced separately.

[meadowlander]

On 3/26/2022 at 2:56 PM, inforem said:

I agree, if Royal doesn't keep up with their ships then they should be sold or decommissioned. I have sailed on a like ship (Celebrity Summit) 11 times and am sailing again for a 10 day cruise in May. That ship is kept magnificent. Always cleaning and painting the ship. Staff is wonderful and very accomodating. As for the staff that was rude and condescending, I intentionally didn't write his name...but I could.

Currently on Enchantment. Yes, I have noticed more issues of rust/ needed maintenance than on all of my previous Royal cruises combined. In no way has it negatively impacted the cruise experience as I don't obc it bothersome or let it bother me. I saw maintenance crews working while in port and earlier today.

 

The staff, every staff member on Enchantment, I have encountered have been polite, friendly and have attempted to do whatever they can for guests to have a pleasant experience.

 

Enchantment is the only Royal ship of the 9 I have been on that has wait staff in Windjammer bring your made to order eggs to your table, this despite being short staffed in WJ. This should be implemented on all their ships.

 

My experience on Enchantment has been outstanding.

[sunny days]

On 3/26/2022 at 2:50 PM, inforem said:

More expensive or not...you get internet, tips and drinks included. Not really that much more expensive, but well worth the cost.

 

When did they start giving internet, tips and drinks in the price? We have been on many Celebrity cruises and the tips, internet and drinks were never included.  Maybe if you happen to get a special sale??  We have never been so lucky, so yes, Celebrity has been more pricey but not enough to make a difference to us. We love Celebrity and wish they had stayed longer in Baltimore.  We do make the trip to Bayonne but it is more expensive to get there and to park there.  Baltimore is so easy!

[BND]

5 hours ago, meadowlander said:

Currently on Enchantment. Yes, I have noticed more issues of rust/ needed maintenance than on all of my previous Royal cruises combined. In no way has it negatively impacted the cruise experience as I don't obc it bothersome or let it bother me. I saw maintenance crews working while in port and earlier today.

 

The staff, every staff member on Enchantment, I have encountered have been polite, friendly and have attempted to do whatever they can for guests to have a pleasant experience.

 

Enchantment is the only Royal ship of the 9 I have been on that has wait staff in Windjammer bring your made to order eggs to your table, this despite being short staffed in WJ. This should be implemented on all their ships.

 

My experience on Enchantment has been outstanding.

On Harmony last Nov/Dec they brought made to order eggs to the tables.  They handed out numbers when you ordered and then delivered the omelets/eggs.