Back from Enchanted TA crossing...some thoughts

[cruise2relax]

I would not call this a full review but more quick reporting back from our Transatlantic crossing on the Enchanted Princess.  As always, I read CC religiously in preparation but more so for any detail as this was our first cruise post COVID shutdown.  Based on some of the topics many others have commented on and/or inquired about, I am adding to that mix.  We loved the ship and the cruise.  We did not feel the diminishment of the product that so many are complaining about.

 

·         Ship is stunning.  We like the Royal class ships and felt that its design has evolved and they really took many things in the right direction (save for a couple of items noted herein).

·         Shops are no longer owned by princess, except the Princess logo branded shop and the candy shop.

o   10% elite no longer works except in branded shop and candy shop

o   No sundries in the regular shop, now in candy/snack shop on 5 (used to be Celebrations) and the supply is not varied and quite limited.  Fair warning to you all.

 

·         Good spirits

o   Only serves mixology drinks at night

o   Got the recipe cards

o   All priced in the plus package

o   Loved them!

 

·         Embarkation weird, check in 1^st then through security onto ship.  Fast but disorganized and odd.

 

·         Canapes in room on formal nights, - soo much better than they used to be as others have mentioned.

 

·         Food has been very good with nice presentation, we had no complaints.  A couple nights the veggies seemed salty (we do not use salt in cooking) but otherwise all well done.

 

·         Internet is god awful and an embarrassment to Princess.  Many of us still work and need to be connected on some limited basis.  Princess will quickly lose folks to other lines that can make this happen for them.  That would include long time loyalists like us.  Really shameful and all this satellite nonsense they spout is just that, nonsense, ask anyone who is in that industry and they will tell you it is nothing but a pat excuse without meaning.

 

·         For those of you who have inquired of late, yes we had a pub lunch in the Crown Grill last sea day (which actually was supposed to be Boston, long boring story as to why we did not stop)

 

·         Staff worked hard and were super friendly and helpful.  That has not changed since COVID for sure.

 

·         Cannot comment on lines and waiting as our cruise was only 65% full.  So, no lines no waiting ever in 15 days.

 

·         We had the Plus package and did not upgrade as we figured we would test it out and had some onboard credit if we needed to spend up.  We did not need to for the most part.  90% of all drinks are in the Plus package.  Those that are more expensive include the bellini’s bar entire menu, wines that are more upscale, certain higher end scotches, bourbons etc (although plenty in the package).  We chose to buy up wine by the glass in Crown Grill, that was it.  In our experience as well, every bartender will warn you if you order something outside your package and explain that you will be charged the difference. 

 

·         Ocean Terrace has moved away from the type of seafood offerings and towers like they have had into straight up sushi and sushi rolls.  Not only was the food very good, it was wildly popular on this cruise.

 

·         Salty Dog Gastro Pub and Bistro Sur la Mer are both the biggest wastes of space since Curtis Stone’s Share.  In 15 days, I can state I never saw more than 4 people in an evening eat at each one.  BIG mistake on Princess’ part.  To shift off Vines was not a smart move and the Bistro takes up a lot of prime space on deck 7 that could be much better used, even for revenue building.  Come up with a restaurant concept that includes paid (reasonable) lunch on sea days.  No one had a problem paying for sushi as it was packed every day for lunch, people eating there throughout the day and into the evening. 

 

Cannot wait wait to cruise again!

[Lucky TGO]

14 minutes ago, cruise2relax said:

I would not call this a full review but more quick reporting back from our Transatlantic crossing on the Enchanted Princess.  As always, I read CC religiously in preparation but more so for any detail as this was our first cruise post COVID shutdown.  Based on some of the topics many others have commented on and/or inquired about, I am adding to that mix.  We loved the ship and the cruise.  We did not feel the diminishment of the product that so many are complaining about.

 

·         Ship is stunning.  We like the Royal class ships and felt that its design has evolved and they really took many things in the right direction (save for a couple of items noted herein).

·         Shops are no longer owned by princess, except the Princess logo branded shop and the candy shop.

o   10% elite no longer works except in branded shop and candy shop

o   No sundries in the regular shop, now in candy/snack shop on 5 (used to be Celebrations) and the supply is not varied and quite limited.  Fair warning to you all.

 

·         Good spirits

o   Only serves mixology drinks at night

o   Got the recipe cards

o   All priced in the plus package

o   Loved them!

 

·         Embarkation weird, check in 1^st then through security onto ship.  Fast but disorganized and odd.

 

·         Canapes in room on formal nights, - soo much better than they used to be as others have mentioned.

 

·         Food has been very good with nice presentation, we had no complaints.  A couple nights the veggies seemed salty (we do not use salt in cooking) but otherwise all well done.

 

·         Internet is god awful and an embarrassment to Princess.  Many of us still work and need to be connected on some limited basis.  Princess will quickly lose folks to other lines that can make this happen for them.  That would include long time loyalists like us.  Really shameful and all this satellite nonsense they spout is just that, nonsense, ask anyone who is in that industry and they will tell you it is nothing but a pat excuse without meaning.

 

·         For those of you who have inquired of late, yes we had a pub lunch in the Crown Grill last sea day (which actually was supposed to be Boston, long boring story as to why we did not stop)

 

·         Staff worked hard and were super friendly and helpful.  That has not changed since COVID for sure.

 

·         Cannot comment on lines and waiting as our cruise was only 65% full.  So, no lines no waiting ever in 15 days.

 

·         We had the Plus package and did not upgrade as we figured we would test it out and had some onboard credit if we needed to spend up.  We did not need to for the most part.  90% of all drinks are in the Plus package.  Those that are more expensive include the bellini’s bar entire menu, wines that are more upscale, certain higher end scotches, bourbons etc (although plenty in the package).  We chose to buy up wine by the glass in Crown Grill, that was it.  In our experience as well, every bartender will warn you if you order something outside your package and explain that you will be charged the difference. 

 

·         Ocean Terrace has moved away from the type of seafood offerings and towers like they have had into straight up sushi and sushi rolls.  Not only was the food very good, it was wildly popular on this cruise.

 

·         Salty Dog Gastro Pub and Bistro Sur la Mer are both the biggest wastes of space since Curtis Stone’s Share.  In 15 days, I can state I never saw more than 4 people in an evening eat at each one.  BIG mistake on Princess’ part.  To shift off Vines was not a smart move and the Bistro takes up a lot of prime space on deck 7 that could be much better used, even for revenue building.  Come up with a restaurant concept that includes paid (reasonable) lunch on sea days.  No one had a problem paying for sushi as it was packed every day for lunch, people eating there throughout the day and into the evening. 

 

Cannot wait wait to cruise again!

Thanks for sharing.👍

Tony

[cruise2relax]

Due to both hurricanes (Danielle and Earl) we sailed a far more southernly course to cross the Atlantic to avoid significant swells and thus could not make it to Boston.  That is the official word.  Most passengers agreed that corporate would not let him use the fuel required to speed up to make the port of call.  The ship never made it above 19/20 knots.  As a result, we arrived a day earlier in NYC which thrilled very few passengers.

[lx200gps]

We boarded her as you were disembarking. So far, per my speed tests, the internet is pretty much the same as every other Medallion-class ship that we've been on. Hardly blazingly fast, but perfectly adequate for our purposes. It's been pointed out here on CC that internet coverage in northern Europe, and particularly in the Atlantic is generally less than ideal, possibly due to Princess's choice of satellite provider.

 

We ate in La Mer last night and loved it. By  7:30PM it was about 80% full.

 

One general comment about booking Specialty restaurants. We chose to do as we have always done and wait until after boarding, then head to each restaurant and book them for the week. Bad move this time. Sabatini's and Crown Grill were heavily booked at the times of boarding, some days were completely unavailable, and we didn't come close to getting all the times and dates we wanted. I've seen it said here on CC that Princess holds half of all tables until sailing to allow for walk-ups, so half could be booked on-line ahead of time. That is clearly not the case for this sailing on the Enchanted.  Either capacity is heavily restricted, or on-line bookings account for the vast majority of bookings

[1965]

Love the report. Thanks for sharing. What are the differences in the Princess branded shop & the other shops? I don't shop much on our cruises, but am curious. 🙂

[tml1230]

Cruise 2relax......Excellent report! thanks for your insights! 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

4 hours ago, cruise2relax said:

Many of us still work and need to be connected on some limited basis.  Princess will quickly lose folks to other lines that can make this happen for them.

I thought your name was cruise2relax. We cruise to disconnect from the rat race... to forget about it all. 🙂

4 hours ago, cruise2relax said:

Really shameful

 

other than that - yeap, in this day and age we definitely expect more from the onboard internet. But we don't buy it anyway.

 

4 hours ago, cruise2relax said:

Staff worked hard and were super friendly and helpful. 

Have you noticed any crew from Ukraine?

 

2 hours ago, cruise2relax said:

As a result, we arrived a day earlier in NYC which thrilled very few passengers.

Did people have to disembark and leave or could they stay onboard for the full duration of the cruise they paid for?

 

Thank you for a wonderful review! Can't wait to be on Enchanted in November!

[Ombud]

2 hours ago, 1965 said:

Love the report. Thanks for sharing. What are the differences in the Princess branded shop & the other shops? I don't shop much on our cruises, but am curious. 🙂

Regular clothing labels & prices. So if I need jeans, shirts, or sweaters I can get them without princess logo at Macy's prices (they carry Lauren & Chicos too!!) using my extra OBC.  Sundries are also more down-to-earth pricing (toothbrush $3, toothpaste $3, tweezers $2.50 .... all 15% off for elites). Gone are the days of $7 toothpasts

[kitty2264]

5 hours ago, cruise2relax said:

·         Salty Dog Gastro Pub and Bistro Sur la Mer are both the biggest wastes of space since Curtis Stone’s Share.  In 15 days, I can state I never saw more than 4 people in an evening eat at each one.  BIG mistake on Princess’ part.  To shift off Vines was not a smart move and the Bistro takes up a lot of prime space on deck 7 that could be much better used, even for revenue building.  Come up with a restaurant concept that includes paid (reasonable) lunch on sea days.  No one had a problem paying for sushi as it was packed every day for lunch, people eating there throughout the day and into the evening. 

 

Cannot wait wait to cruise again!

 

I have to agree with you about Salty Dog Gastro Pub and Bistro Sur la Mer.  During our 20 days on the Enchanted in December those venues were very lightly used.  We actually got a call from the manager at Bistro Sur la Mer offering us a comped dinner.  As it turns out we were 1 of only 3 couples in the room at 7:30. I thought at the time the comped meal was in reparation for a problem we had with our cabin security but when we were there I kind think they might have just been trying to get some butts in the seats.. 

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Regular clothing labels & prices. So if I need jeans, shirts, or sweaters I can get them without princess logo at Macy's prices (they carry Lauren & Chicos too!!) using my extra OBC.  Sundries are also more down-to-earth pricing (toothbrush $3, toothpaste $3, tweezers $2.50 .... all 15% off for elites). Gone are the days of $7 toothpasts

That’s good to hear.  

[disneyochem]

Thank you for your review.  We’re boarding her in October—very excited!

 

(We’ve booked the Crowne Grill—torn between trying Sur La Mer and going with an old favorite.  Glad we picked the CG.)

[dog]

19 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Regular clothing labels & prices. So if I need jeans, shirts, or sweaters I can get them without princess logo at Macy's prices (they carry Lauren & Chicos too!!) using my extra OBC.  Sundries are also more down-to-earth pricing (toothbrush $3, toothpaste $3, tweezers $2.50 .... all 15% off for elites). Gone are the days of $7 toothpasts

You get 15% off as elite?

 

 On Discovery I got 10% off as elite in gift shop.

[Ombud]

8 minutes ago, dog said:

You get 15% off as elite?

 

 On Discovery I got 10% off as elite in gift shop.

That's what my receipt said (would post but tossed it once I saw it on my account). Weird

 

Didn't say elite discount so maybe it was on sale?? All I know was it was 15,% off ... regular sizes (3 oz tube) regular products. No onboard up pricing

 

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by Ombud

[PacnGoNow]

2 minutes ago, dog said:

You get 15% off as elite?

 

 On Discovery I got 10% off as elite in gift shop.

I was told, as elite, 10% off if I spend $100 minimum.  What?  

[Ombud]

5 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I was told, as elite, 10% off if I spend $100 minimum.  What?  

I did not spend $100. About $7

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, lx200gps said:

We boarded her as you were disembarking. So far, per my speed tests, the internet is pretty much the same as every other Medallion-class ship that we've been on. Hardly blazingly fast, but perfectly adequate for our purposes. It's been pointed out here on CC that internet coverage in northern Europe, and particularly in the Atlantic is generally less than ideal, possibly due to Princess's choice of satellite provider.

 

We ate in La Mer last night and loved it. By  7:30PM it was about 80% full.

 

One general comment about booking Specialty restaurants. We chose to do as we have always done and wait until after boarding, then head to each restaurant and book them for the week. Bad move this time. Sabatini's and Crown Grill were heavily booked at the times of boarding, some days were completely unavailable, and we didn't come close to getting all the times and dates we wanted. I've seen it said here on CC that Princess holds half of all tables until sailing to allow for walk-ups, so half could be booked on-line ahead of time. That is clearly not the case for this sailing on the Enchanted.  Either capacity is heavily restricted, or on-line bookings account for the vast majority of bookings

The 50% approx thing was in the days of booking SD via Cruise Personalizer.  With DMW, they may well be loading the entire inventory of tables.

[WatchHill]

We're sailing on the Enchanted mid November and find you comments very helpful. I had planned to pick up Estee products with the 10% discount [no MA salwes tax]. Looks like I'll log onto my Macy's account today and pick up items I need and come out $$ ahead. Not a fan of logo items uless it's "runway" associated.

 

I have always loved Vines, especially the wine flights. It's location in the Atrium offered extra seating for the International Cafe, too. Princess needs to bring back Vines ASAP. 

 

We have no interest in Salty Dog or the Bistro - neither menu appeals to me. I agree that Princess needs to explore an alternate dining option to better meet revenue expectations. Other crusei lines have done this, time for Princess to copy others. Heck, I really liked The Brazilian Grille on NCL, or what about something with an Asian flair?

 

Ah, another preson who avoid salt. Cruise food, like all restaurant food, tends toward very high sodium. Even the so called No Added Salt items come onto the ship in a salted preservative.  

 

Keeping an open mind in anticipation of our upcoming cruise. It's a much needed vacation. 

 

Darcy

[PacnGoNow]

40 minutes ago, Ombud said:

I did not spend $100. About $7

I Probably had a new employee.  

[lx200gps]

47 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

The 50% approx thing was in the days of booking SD via Cruise Personalizer.  With DMW, they may well be loading the entire inventory of tables.

That's probably part of it. Also, Despite being told to our faces that they were sold out for the specific dates and times we wanted, when we tried later in the day to make bookings, suddenly the times they claimed were unavailable, were available via the App after all. Also, while walking past the restaurants that were supposedly "sold out", there were clearly tables open,. It's also  possible that they simply have to reduce availability due to staffing issues.

[dog]

21 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I Probably had a new employee.  

I spent $14.95 & got 10% off - I confirmed discount before purchase.

 

[PacnGoNow]

7 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

That's probably part of it. Also, Despite being told to our faces that they were sold out for the specific dates and times we wanted, when we tried later in the day to make bookings, suddenly the times they claimed were unavailable, were available via the App after all. Also, while walking past the restaurants that were supposedly "sold out", there were clearly tables open,. It's also  possible that they simply have to reduce availability due to staffing issues.

I think you’re spot on!  They do have a few open for those Suite guests, as there is almost always available space. 
But, very likely the staff issues.

[Steelers36]

10 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

That's probably part of it. Also, Despite being told to our faces that they were sold out for the specific dates and times we wanted, when we tried later in the day to make bookings, suddenly the times they claimed were unavailable, were available via the App after all. Also, while walking past the restaurants that were supposedly "sold out", there were clearly tables open,. It's also  possible that they simply have to reduce availability due to staffing issues.

I can understand some open tables that might be waiting for a reservation party to show up 5 mins after you walked by.  Hard to know.

[dog]

For upcoming cruise on Enchanted we booked on app for Crown Grill, Sur le Mer & Sabatinis. Got dates & times we wanted.

[dog]

Before pandemic we walked up to Crown Grill as soon as we boarded. No chance at all, all week.

called later same day got reservation time & date we wanted.

only five other tables in use during our dinner.

MD who wouldn’t give us a reservation walked by, said,” oh we must have had an opening.!!!

[cruise2relax]

2 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I thought your name was cruise2relax. We cruise to disconnect from the rat race... to forget about it all. 🙂

 

other than that - yeap, in this day and age we definitely expect more from the onboard internet. But we don't buy it anyway.

 

Have you noticed any crew from Ukraine?

 

Did people have to disembark and leave or could they stay onboard for the full duration of the cruise they paid for?

 

Thank you for a wonderful review! Can't wait to be on Enchanted in November!

Still have to stay somewhat connected...lol.  still relaxing though.  

There were a few from Ukraine but not many.

You could tour in NY, disembark or stay on through Saturday am, we stayed on.  Every passenger had to do immigration Friday with a zero count so everyone off and stay off until zero passengers then we could reboard.  Kind of a pain but it went quickly and smoothly.