10 Days on The Enchanted 12/28-1/7

[Auntiejo]

Here's a review I just posted in the review section...happy to answer any questions out there!

 

The hubbs and I enjoyed 10 days on the Enchanted Princess recently. Here’s my thoughts! For context, We’re in our early and late 50’s respectively and this was our 14^th Princess cruise. We did the 10 day Mexican Riviera on Discovery these exact same dates last year and it was probably the best cruise we had ever taken and we were excited to have a similar experience being that Enchanted and Discovery are twins. We live in LA and were so disappointed that there was no 10 day cruise offered this year during this time frame, so we were forced to hop a plane in December and hoped for the best! I’m not going to give a blow by blow review of everything we did, but rather a general summary by topic (heavy on the food, because that’s our thing). There’s plenty of intel out there about the ports so I won’t get into that. We went to Princess Cay (but it was canceled), St Thomas, Dominica, St. Lucia, Martinique & Antigua. All were repeat ports for us except Martinique.

 

PRE CRUISE: We flew in 2 days pre cruise to allow for any potential flight mishaps – turns out all went smoothly with getting there but you just never know when flying during holiday peak season. We rented a condo on Airbnb for 2 nights on the beach in Fort Lauderdale and it was nice to get acclimated to the new time zone and settle in a bit before boarding the ship. 

 

EMBARKATION: We had really cold pouring rain the day of embarkation which was a bummer but no one can control the weather. We got to the port at around 10:00 and there were about 300 or so people in line already. Embarkation was a bit messy because there were 368 in transit passengers from the prior cruise who were in the Elite/Platinum lounge awaiting processing. This meant that the Elite/Platinums for our cruise had to wait in the main area with everyone else and some people absolutely lost their minds over it. It’s quite entertaining to see how for some people, their cruise status appears to be their entire identity in life. There were fights and yelling and some were really flipping their lid.  We were on board and enjoying champagne and pizza at Gigi’s by 11:40 AM.

 

SHIP: Since we sailed the Discovery before, Enchanted felt like coming home. We were on Discovery when she was less than a year old but I can honestly say that Enchanted felt no less pristine. Everything was sparkling and well maintained! We love the Royal class ships and have sailed quite a few of them, so the familiarity is nice!

 

ROOM: We stayed in mini suite R417 – it was one of the extended balcony rooms – first time trying that. Really enjoyed the extra balcony space. The sky walk thing up above didn’t bother us in the slightest. I’d book one of these extended balconies again in a heartbeat. The standard mini suite balcony on the Royal class ships is really disappointing. The larger balcony made a big difference in comfort and we spend a lot of time on the balcony. Our room steward, Russell, as attentive and delightful

 

POOL LOUNGERS: This was the first time in my cruising life that I’ve not been able to find one single lounge chair available anywhere on the open decks after 10 AM (happened on 3 separate sea days). Usually you can always find a lounge here or there even if it’s not in your ideal spot. This was lame! Someone told me they went to the Retreat Pool at 6:30 AM to reserve a chair and they were all taken. I refuse to do that so we ended up spending less time at the pool than we normally do. One day at the Retreat Pool we just set our stuff on the ground near the pool and sat in the shallow part of the pool with our drink and book and eventually after about 90 minutes some lounges came available upstairs.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: This cruise really shined in the entertainment department. There were 3 production shows: 5 Skies – first time seeing it – wasn’t our cup of tea, we left mid way thru. Rock Opera – we’ve seen it before and loved it, went again and loved it again! Spotlight Bar – thought it was OK last time, skipped it this time. All the other entertainment was some of the best we’ve enjoyed on any ship….

 

The house band was Opus - best band on any cruise ship EVER. They’re so versatile and can literally play anything – Motown, Disco, 80’s, 90’s current, everything in between! We found ourselves planning our days and nights around where they would be – they were that good! Dancing every night in the Piazza to Opus playing was a real highlight of the trip. Just fantastic. The dance floor was full every night in the piazza which I’ve not seen before.

 

Simon James in Crooners – We had AJ Clarke on our last cruise and expected to be disappointed this voyage w/ whomever was in Crooners because we really enjoyed AJ – WRONG. Simon is new to Princess. Our voyage was his first with Princess ever – he has previously worked on Royal Caribbean. He played more upbeat music than most Crooners pianists and the crowd he drew every night was quite large – he had just about everyone on their feet thru much of his set and the entire aisleway between Crooners and the piazza railings was always packed with people who were passing thru but couldn’t help but stop to listen and dance. We saw him every night and sometimes twice a night. Outstanding! I hope he sticks with Princess!

 

Ramblin’ Rovers in O’Malley’s – so so good and so fun! I’m sorry to say that the timing only worked to catch them twice but dang they were great and we wish we had the chance to enjoy them more. More on O’Malley’s below.

 

DINING:

360 Wow was this a wonderful experience. Not only was the food and the “show” amazing and inventive, but the service was second to none. There was 1 server for every 2 guests and they were all so attentive and on top of everything. We’ve been to all the places “visited” during the dinner so it was extra special, but even if you haven’t, I highly recommend this experience. Worth every dime!

 

Catch by Rudi Woweeee wow wow did we love this restaurant! Definitely our new favorite. I hope they find a way to add it to more ships! We dined here twice – the first time on sail away day and Rudi himself came in with a large group and dined right next to us. We had the opportunity to speak to him briefly after dinner and he was extremely gracious. Everything we had was spectacular – even my meat-loving seafood skeptic husband was sold! Really nice variety on the menu, and presentation of everything was outstanding, and terrific service both nights. Even just the caponata and basil butter with bread in the beginning was mouthwatering. And they bring you a welcome glass of champagne as soon as you sit down – nice touch! We had all different menu items each time we dined here and not one thing was disappointing. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

 

Sabatini This was a bit of a bummer for us as Sabatini has always been our favorite but it’s just not the same! Of course the new location in the piazza certainly detracts from it’s specialness, which we expected. As has been discussed over and over again on these threads, it’s not an ideal location for a nice restaurant with all the commotion. But I can live with that for my beloved Sabatini menu – except there’s a new menu and frankly we had trouble finding anything we wanted to order. The food was good but not amazing. We ate here twice and the 2^nd time the service was terrible – the server was clearly overwhelmed and stressed and instead of stating such and/or apologizing he was borderline combative. On the 2^nd visit I ordered Veal Marsala for my entrée and I have to say it was excellent. Aside from that one dish, we were underwhelmed and will think twice before going again in the future, which breaks my heart as we have so many wonderful memories of amazing meals in Sabatini over the years.

 

Crown Grill A lot is said on the threads about Crown Grill quality declining – that was not our experience at all. We dined here twice, got the additional charge Surf & Turf w/ filet both times and it was excellent. We enjoyed terrific service both nights too. We always look forward to our CG dinners and these didn’t disappoint! Love the vibe in there too w/ the CG Bar performers music wafting thru in the background.

 

Main DR We only dined here once – for dinner on one of the formal nights. It was actually very good – better than expected – however service was really slow. My husband had to go get the Matire d’ to get our bottle of wine opened after we asked 3 times and a half hour had gone by. He took care of it himself immediately.

 

Buffet I don’t do buffet – my husband went once for lunch and said the selection and food quality was so-so.

 

Ocean Terrace We love sushi! The quality here is pretty good for cruise ship sushi and the chefs are really nice and friendly. Having only the set menu included in Premiere was a bit of a bummer. We had to pay additional for other rolls we wanted which we weren’t thrilled about. Also the hours here were really limited which was frustrating because it’s to tiny and there was often a 30-60 minute wait for a table but they were only open for lunch for 90 minutes so you had to get there 20 min before they open to get a spot, then it was like 45 minutes til you actually get the food you ordered at opening time. Dinner hours were slightly longer but not much better. This venue should be open all day, period. We are here 3 times but would’ve gone more if the hours were longer.

 

Gigi’s One of our favorite spots! Somehow we only ate here once – usually we hit it at least 3 times. It’s always our first stop when we board. Always love their pizza and appetizer options and the Tiramisu is so good. Service was as friendly as ever too!

 

O’Malley’s What a great add to the mix! Last year on Disvoery they still had Salty Dog. We really enjoyed the food there but the venue was boring and always empty. O’Malley’s is such a fun spot w/ cool décor, terrific food, and the great Ramblin’ Rovers playing at night! The onion rings are incredible and we loved both the fish & chips and the burgers. The desserts were meh. Their drink menu is really really great! I discovered Flanna’s Elixir towards the end of the cruise and was sad I didn’t find it sooner – my new fave drink! Really attentive service here too. The people who work there seem to be really happy to be there.

 

Poolside options Poolside pizza was as yummy as ever – I think we had at least 1 slice every day because why not?! The burgers and whatnot poolside were OK. I will say they improved the buns for the burgers tremendously from before. Now if they could just do something about that beef patty…There were no tacos on the menu as I’ve heard of on other ships – just burgers, fries and hot dogs + bratwurst, etc.

 

PREMIERE PACKAGE: We’re big on both specialty & casual dining venues and appreciate the premium liquor so this was a no brainier for us. To order a $19 glass of champagne whenever we felt like without thinking twice was great. Also had a much better wine selection with this option. The package isn’t for everyone – you have to decide based on how you cruise and what’s important to you. For us, we agreed we’d always do it from now on (in the past we did Plus).

 

OCEAN NOW: This worked well for the most part. We ordered lattes every morning to the room and they always came within 30 minutes or less. By the pool it was a little hit and miss – sometimes it worked, others the drink never came or was canceled. They have very few waiters roaming the pool decks so usually if we wanted a drink the best method was to get it yourself which is annoying but we tried to look at it is a chance to burn 10 calories walking to and from the bar! The few times we ordered via a waiter, they either forgot some of our order or took 20-30 minutes. The Retreat Pool – forget it. You will never get your drink. They had just 1 bartender there most of the time and we never saw a waiter at that pool.

 

DISEMBARKATION: Easy peasy – walked off without incident and without any line at 8:30 and walked across the crosswalk and into a cab.

 

SUMMARY: All in all we had a terrific cruise and look forward to the next one! Sadly we began to feel ill the last few days which turned out to be COVID and we have been quite ill since we got home. We got boosters 4 weeks before we sailed, masked on plane and ship, avoided elevators, buffet and handrails, washed our hands constantly, and still got sick. This is the risk any of us take when we travel these days – if you’re high risk, maybe think twice about a cruise at least in the winter. I will say the crew were constantly cleaning and wiping down surfaces everywhere we looked throughout the whole cruise.

 

 

 

[Phanatic08]

Great review. Thanks.  Have not done princess in more than 5 years

do you make reservations for entertainment before u board

or just show up.  Do you have to get there early?  What time do the shows typically start?

Any comedy?

 

Where is your favorite place tomlisten to music before dinner

thanks

[MissP22]

😄

[Auntiejo]

26 minutes ago, Phanatic08 said:

Great review. Thanks.  Have not done princess in more than 5 years

do you make reservations for entertainment before u board

or just show up.  Do you have to get there early?  What time do the shows typically start?

Any comedy?

 

Where is your favorite place tomlisten to music before dinner

thanks

No reservations for shows. With Premiere we had reserved seating for the 3 production shows only - they hold those seats til about 10 minutes before the show started. If you're not premiere, I'd say get there 20 min before at the least.

 

For Simon James in Crooners, all seats were filled at least a 1/2 hr before his set because he was that good! But a lot of people just lined the aisle way and danced in the space between the bar and the seating.

 

There were 2 different comedians on board whose names escape me. The first one was so awful we walked out after 10 minutes. Later in the cruise they brought a different one in but we didn't make his show.

 

Before dinner we often went to the Crown Grill Bar which alternated Cristian Alvarado, a guitar/singer who played really mellow music and was great and another act called Mysterious strings - 2 women playing violin who were also great. I regret that I failed to mention either of these in my review! 

 

Edited January 18 by Auntiejo

[Nina On The Sea]

Great review, the comparison to the Discovery was helpful as I am doing the Mexican Rivera on Discovery. Are the restaurants and bars the same since ships are twins? Specifically Catch by Rudi??

[Auntiejo]

38 minutes ago, Nina On The Sea said:

Great review, the comparison to the Discovery was helpful as I am doing the Mexican Rivera on Discovery. Are the restaurants and bars the same since ships are twins? Specifically Catch by Rudi??

Yeppers! Both ships have all the venues I mentioned. Do not miss Catch by Rudi! We were wishing we had a 3rd reservation there.

[Leo37]

Thanks for your review. Sounds like you had a great time! We cruised on Sky at about the same time, and had a blast too. Sorry you picked up COVID at the end.

 

Thanks for the advice about Catch by Rudi. Will make sure we book that when we cruise next 

[barkingator]

Was the steel pan player still on board your cruise?

we enjoyed him on our Christmas cruise on Enchanted Princess, played a variety of music...

[barkingator]

we are heading back to Enchanted Princess in April and hopefully the steel pan player is still on board.

[Auntiejo]

7 minutes ago, barkingator said:

Was the steel pan player still on board your cruise?

we enjoyed him on our Christmas cruise on Enchanted Princess, played a variety of music...

Yes he was and he was great! Played both in the piazza and by the pool. Also forgot to mention that the DJ was terrible. Very poor selection of music and never said a peep. Just stood there and pushed buttons.

[barkingator]

thank you...

[Nina On The Sea]

1 hour ago, Auntiejo said:

Yeppers! Both ships have all the venues I mentioned. Do not miss Catch by Rudi! We were wishing we had a 3rd reservation there.

Thank you! Will make sure to grab a reservation there

[PleasantlyPrincess]

So sorry about covid 😞

Great review.  Probably the best i have ever read.

recommendations for the Catch?  We have premier and I have been wondering about the offerings. Is there a wine list? Additionally how do u stumble upon/discover  a drink? Just ask the bartender?  We rarely do drink but i am hoping to enjoy some new things this vacation. 

Thank you in advance...i know this is corny but you really do have a great style of writing. I guess they would say a great "voice"

Thank you! 😊 

[candy4040]

Loved your review.  We're on the Enchanted for three cruises beginning February 6.  30 days away from the cold Minnesota weather.  We have Premier the first leg, then plus, then Premier again.  Will probably upgrade the second leg to Premier.  I've already booked our dinners at The Catch by Rudy.  Once for Sabatini's.  I've already begun packing.  Hope your Covid wasn't too awful  I did an Oceania cruise October to Europe and had Covid and missed 5 full days and had to stay in my cabin.  Bummer.  

[Auntiejo]

On 1/18/2024 at 6:53 PM, PleasantlyPrincess said:

So sorry about covid 😞

Great review.  Probably the best i have ever read.

recommendations for the Catch?  We have premier and I have been wondering about the offerings. Is there a wine list? Additionally how do u stumble upon/discover  a drink? Just ask the bartender?  We rarely do drink but i am hoping to enjoy some new things this vacation. 

Thank you in advance...i know this is corny but you really do have a great style of writing. I guess they would say a great "voice"

Thank you! 😊 

You're very kind - thank you so much! You can't go wrong w/ anything at Catch honestly. The mushroom crusted halibut was fantastic, my husband got the upcharge lobster tail one night and it was GIANT and a beautiful presentation. We both agreed it might be the best lobster we've ever had! Another night hubbs got the 3 S entree' (or something like that) - it was salmon, shrimp (a giant shrimp on a hook!) and I think sole? He said all 3 were outstanding. The shrimp in garlic butter & the seafood tower appetizers were fantastic too. Oh and one night we got bread pudding - it's practically the size of my head - no joke!

 

There's a premiere wine list - sorry I don't have pics. We're big wine people and the wine choices on Plus are pretty sad and we used to end up paying the upcharge for better wines. When we cruise to Mexico we bring 7-8 bottles of our own wine but flying to Florida didn't allow for that. It was nice to order what we want without a thought on price. The Premiere champagne available was excellent! We drank more champagne than normal because it was just so good - normally 1 glass of champagne per year is plenty for the hubbs but even he had it almost every night. It was Cattier Brut Icone ( I wrote it down because we loved it so much!).

 

Most of the specialty bars have their own menu w/ specialty cocktails - the 3 standout bars to me for unique menus and different options were Good Spirits, Crown Grill Bar & O'Malley's. Flanna's Elixir in O'Malley's was a fave, as is Sandia en Fuego in Good Spirits. CG Bar makes a decent Manhattan, which is hard to find elsewhere on the ship.

Edited January 20 by Auntiejo

[Auntiejo]

On 1/18/2024 at 7:35 PM, candy4040 said:

Loved your review.  We're on the Enchanted for three cruises beginning February 6.  30 days away from the cold Minnesota weather.  We have Premier the first leg, then plus, then Premier again.  Will probably upgrade the second leg to Premier.  I've already booked our dinners at The Catch by Rudy.  Once for Sabatini's.  I've already begun packing.  Hope your Covid wasn't too awful  I did an Oceania cruise October to Europe and had Covid and missed 5 full days and had to stay in my cabin.  Bummer.  

Thanks! I'm so envious - 30 days! That will be amazing. My husband is originally from MN and all our family is there - man you guys have had a brutal couple of weeks! You're almost to the finish line and you're going to have an amazing time. Hubbs is recovered. I'm at almost the 3 week mark and still not doing well. I believe I got a bug on top of covid. Just started a 2nd round of meds today - hoping they do the trick! Have an amazing time on your cruise!

[Host CJSKIDS]

Sounds like an amazing cruise.  Thanks for taking the time to do such a wonderful review.

 

Sorry to hear you caught covid.  I got sick at the end of my Sky sailing in December and it's such a terrible way to end a vacation.  

[Thrak]

On 1/18/2024 at 9:07 AM, Nina On The Sea said:

Great review, the comparison to the Discovery was helpful as I am doing the Mexican Rivera on Discovery. Are the restaurants and bars the same since ships are twins? Specifically Catch by Rudi??

 

On 1/18/2024 at 9:47 AM, Auntiejo said:

Yeppers! Both ships have all the venues I mentioned. Do not miss Catch by Rudi! We were wishing we had a 3rd reservation there.

 

Almost the same. Discovery has Salty Dog Gastropub and Enchanted has O'Malley's. This was actually mentioned in the main revue. O'Malley's sounds like the better of the two venues.

[PacnGoNow]

28 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Sounds like an amazing cruise.  Thanks for taking the time to do such a wonderful review.

 

Sorry to hear you caught covid.  I got sick at the end of my Sky sailing in December and it's such a terrible way to end a vacation.  

You’re all well now, right?

 

We didn’t get covid, but I fractured my hand at the end of our cruise last month.  My fault, hurrying to get off ship and hit the metal bar on the gangway.

Healing though and PT starts soon. 

Always something!😝

[Wishing on a star]

Ohhhh my....  I am soooo sorry that you got sick!

We are all sick here at my house...

These viruses are at 'red' levels right now!!!

And, sub-zero temperatures...  NOT fun.  January can not be over fast enough.

But, I am so happy that you feel better enough to post such a great review.

We have a deposit down for the Enchanted next year.

[kenzie]

Fantastic review, ready to book our cruise for May. We haven’t sailed Princess for 5 years but are Elite and as soon as I book, with the Premier package, this week, will be looking to also book plenty of speciality. Could you advise what times the main shows are so that we can book an appropriate time for dinner, do not want to book dinner and miss the main entertainment. What time reservations did you do, as you appeared to eat at speciality and attend the shows I prefer to eat later in the evening, not before shows.

[kenzie]

This post is just to follow the topic

[Auntiejo]

22 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Sounds like an amazing cruise.  Thanks for taking the time to do such a wonderful review.

 

Sorry to hear you caught covid.  I got sick at the end of my Sky sailing in December and it's such a terrible way to end a vacation.  

Ya it's tough to come home so sick especially when I just missed 2 weeks of work - can't exactly call in sick! 

[Auntiejo]

22 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

You’re all well now, right?

 

We didn’t get covid, but I fractured my hand at the end of our cruise last month.  My fault, hurrying to get off ship and hit the metal bar on the gangway.

Healing though and PT starts soon. 

Always something!😝

Oh geez that sounds terrible! I'm so sorry. I'm still not well. It's been almost 3 weeks. Just started round 2 of antibiotics and steroids for the sinus infection that came with the Covid. Can't get rid of it. It's been a bit of a nightmare.

Edited January 21 by Auntiejo

[Auntiejo]

15 hours ago, kenzie said:

Fantastic review, ready to book our cruise for May. We haven’t sailed Princess for 5 years but are Elite and as soon as I book, with the Premier package, this week, will be looking to also book plenty of speciality. Could you advise what times the main shows are so that we can book an appropriate time for dinner, do not want to book dinner and miss the main entertainment. What time reservations did you do, as you appeared to eat at speciality and attend the shows I prefer to eat later in the evening, not before shows.

All our specialty reservations were at 7 PM. We did 7:30 last time and had a bit of a mad dash to the shows after dinner. 7 was perfect for catching the shows after dinner.