Liveish from the Enchanted Princess

[1025cruise]

Well, after seeing the pilot boat bop around leaving Roatan, I think skipping Belize was a good call.

[Grego]

9 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

Well, after seeing the pilot boat bop around leaving Roatan, I think skipping Belize was a good call.

Belize is a challenge to get to in good weather.  The ship has to anchor at least six miles out because of the reef that's five miles from the port.  If the winds are up the tender still faces a bumpy ride to the dock.

We will be interested in watching what the Captain is choosing as to what ports are available during the time of Beryl and possible invest that is following.  He will keep everyone safe and hopefully all will understand the need to do so and not complain about the changes. 

After all, this is a unpredictable time of year in the Caribbean and you book cruises with this in mind.  We have a booking on the July 27th voyage on the Enchanted and we are planning on a possible having the ship as the destination and any ports visited a plus.

Stay safe and enjoy!

[1025cruise]

We had an early dinner last night to attempt to get to the production show, but got there too late. Standing room only. Decided to skip it. We sat through the answers of the Motown trivia then headed to the vista lounge for the marriage show. Need to get there early to get a seat. Always fun to watch, will never catch me on stage. Did not disappoint. Planned to go get some dessert at the gelateria and then go to the late show of the comedian, but something came over me, so we just headed back to the cabin. 
 

Today, we are in Cozumel. Weather is gorgeous. We were supposed to be in Belize today, but changed due to the hurricane. Tomorrow will be a sea day as we head to Nassau. My wife wants to get off so she can get a good view to take a picture of the ship. Having been here a times already, no excursion took my fancy, and I don’t like the way they hustle you to the pier shops when you are returning to the ship. Last time, I saw a couple ask someone how to get back to the ship ( signs very visible) and were dragged to a shop.

 

 And, if you are currently on the carnival breeze with a starboard balcony, yes we saw you 😀

[CRLess]

On 7/1/2024 at 8:33 PM, Canuker said:

OP: is there jazz elsewhere on the ship, or has the music also been buried along with the Take 5 lounge?

I am currently on the ship also.  There was a jazz band in the Piazza at 7 PM last night when we passed through.

[CRLess]

I'll chime in with a few of my thoughts so far on this voyage. This is our second time on the Enchanted and she is quickly becoming one of our favorites. The crew has been awesome regardless of the venue, from the specialty restaurants, the Sanctuary and the bars.  So far we have dined in the dining room two nights, the Catch by Rudy one night, and last night we were fortunate enough to be able to dine in 360,  My wife was hesitant about dining there, but when it was all said and done, she said it was a fabulous experience and would do it again in a heartbeat. I totally agree with her!  Tonight is Sabatinis in its new location (fearing it will be VERY noisy), tomorrow night is Crown Grill and then back to the MDR for our final dinner on Friday.  We have also done lunch in O'Malley's and Gigi's and enjoyed both of them.

 

As has already been stated, our itinerary was changed due to Hurricane Beryl, so Belize was cancelled  for today and Cozumel was bumped up a day to today.  There was five ships in port today, and during lunch at Pancho's Backyard, we were told by our waiter that there are no ships tomorrow or Friday with Beryl coming.  They are fearful that the island could lose power for several weeks and severely impact tourism, so we certainly are praying for their safety and a quick recovery from any damage.  From the latest NOAA advisory I saw, Beryl is predicted to lose a lot of its strength before landfall in the Yucatan, so hopefully damage on the island of Cozumel is minimized.

 

I'll chime back in down the road with our experience over the final few days of the cruise.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, CRLess said:

I am currently on the ship also.  There was a jazz band in the Piazza at 7 PM last night when we passed through.

The house band works various venues as a jazz band when they are not needed in the theatre. They are awesome check your patter

[azbirdmom]

12 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

Having been here a times already, no excursion took my fancy, and I don’t like the way they hustle you to the pier shops when you are returning to the ship. Last time, I saw a couple ask someone how to get back to the ship ( signs very visible) and were dragged to a shop.

 

After always docking at Puerto Maya on Cozumel stops we docked in the middle of town at Puerto Langosta for the first time when we stopped there on the Enchanted in May.  We didn't have an excursion and walked down the main street occasionally stopping in stores.  When we came to one of the alleys a young man approached us and said that he recognized us and that he was our waiter on the ship.  We hadn't been to the MDR at that point yet so we decided to play along with his scam - briefly.  He said he was helping his uncle out and that he could get us good deals on anything in his shop.  I asked where his shop was and he pointed down the alley.  We said no thanks and see you on the ship LOL.  Thought he was creative but good grief the lies these folks tell to take your $$ - legally or otherwise.

[Grego]

6 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

After always docking at Puerto Maya on Cozumel stops we docked in the middle of town at Puerto Langosta for the first time when we stopped there on the Enchanted in May.  We didn't have an excursion and walked down the main street occasionally stopping in stores.  When we came to one of the alleys a young man approached us and said that he recognized us and that he was our waiter on the ship.  We hadn't been to the MDR at that point yet so we decided to play along with his scam - briefly.  He said he was helping his uncle out and that he could get us good deals on anything in his shop.  I asked where his shop was and he pointed down the alley.  We said no thanks and see you on the ship LOL.  Thought he was creative but good grief the lies these folks tell to take your $$ - legally or otherwise.

We might have been on the same voyage as you because we were approached in May by this guy who said he recognized us from the ship and said he was a waiter there. He wanted us to help out is uncle down the alley way and we said we might do that.  I then told him that we ate in different dining rooms and which one did work in and he gave us a name that wasn't any dining room name on any of the Princess ships.  At that point I figured out he was just trying this line to get us to go down to his uncle's store.......which we didn't do.

We are scheduled to have the same itinerary as you on our July 27 voyage but I fear that Beryl will have had a big impact on the islands we are supposed to visit and we will have a completely different itinerary.

Out thoughts and prayers go out to those in Beryl's path.

[1025cruise]

Well, yesterday was a quiet day. After losing at trivia, I decided to enjoy a lite day on ship. My wife wandered off for a bit for some souvenir shopping. I should have just left her believing that she haggled her costs. 

I enjoyed some lunch at the buffet before losing at more trivia then getting some chocolate cake at the gelateria. The concierge lounge was having a Mexican night that I showed up to. The food was pretty good. We wandered by the 80s movie trivia. The production show was supposed to be some acrobatic duo, but I saw it changed to some singing. It being a quiet night, we just retired after dinner.

[azbirdmom]

7 hours ago, Grego said:

We might have been on the same voyage as you because we were approached in May by this guy who said he recognized us from the ship and said he was a waiter there. He wanted us to help out is uncle down the alley way and we said we might do that.  I then told him that we ate in different dining rooms and which one did work in and he gave us a name that wasn't any dining room name on any of the Princess ships.  At that point I figured out he was just trying this line to get us to go down to his uncle's store.......which we didn't do.

We are scheduled to have the same itinerary as you on our July 27 voyage but I fear that Beryl will have had a big impact on the islands we are supposed to visit and we will have a completely different itinerary.

Out thoughts and prayers go out to those in Beryl's path.

Yes!  We were on the April 27th sailing.  For a split second my husband almost fell for the pitch but he recovered quickly.

 

And like you were are watching the news about Beryl and sending prayers to all of the folks on the lovely islands we have enjoyed visiting.

[azbirdmom]

3 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

The concierge lounge was having a Mexican night that I showed up to. The food was pretty good.

They had a pirate night with Mexican food when we were on the ship two months ago.  Here's a picture of the concierge with my husband, she did a nice job decorating the lounge and Wedding Chapel!  Very festive.

 

[loge23]

On 7/1/2024 at 8:21 PM, 1025cruise said:

 

The take 5 lounge is now a non smoking casino with a bar. I had been looking forward to the jazz.

 

Too bad, Take Five, along with the thermal pool, was the only redeeming feature of this edition of ships, imo. Unfortunately the design of lounge probably contributed to its demise. Patrons would sit across Main St. from the band while theatre goers would parade through! I do like the non-smoking part though.

Just off the Emerald. It's not getting any younger obviously, but that class of ship with a Vines and a fab walk-around promenade remains our fave. Unfortunately, the casino smoke pretty much pollutes the entire Deck 6. The cruise, btw, was five-star good!

[beshears]

1025Cruise, good to know that the weather is good. My son and wife are celebrating their 25th anniversary tomorrow and are in Cancun. We were concerned about the bad storm that was brewing, that hit Jamaica last night, but thank God they seemed to be doing fine. Our other son was going to fly not very far from my son that is in Cancun, but the flights here in Kansas city, were cancelled, so they have decided not to go.

[1025cruise]

5 hours ago, loge23 said:

Too bad, Take Five, along with the thermal pool, was the only redeeming feature of this edition of ships, imo. Unfortunately the design of lounge probably contributed to its demise. Patrons would sit across Main St. from the band while theatre goers would parade through! I do like the non-smoking part though.

Just off the Emerald. It's not getting any younger obviously, but that class of ship with a Vines and a fab walk-around promenade remains our fave. Unfortunately, the casino smoke pretty much pollutes the entire Deck 6. The cruise, btw, was five-star good!

While we haven't been back on since, the emerald holds a place in my heart since it was it first princess cruise as well as our honeymoon.

[Grego]

17 hours ago, beshears said:

1025Cruise, good to know that the weather is good. My son and wife are celebrating their 25th anniversary tomorrow and are in Cancun. We were concerned about the bad storm that was brewing, that hit Jamaica last night, but thank God they seemed to be doing fine. Our other son was going to fly not very far from my son that is in Cancun, but the flights here in Kansas city, were cancelled, so they have decided not to go.

Unfortunately, Beryl has its sights on Cancun as I write this.  Hope your family is safe.

[1025cruise]

The captain has done a great job avoiding the hurricane. I understand that the Yucatán is currently getting hit. 
Yesterday, being our unexpected sea day was good. My wife was sound asleep when I went to breakfast, so I did what I thought was the proper thing and let her be, but apparently I should have woken her…. But, it did allow us to go to O’Malley’s for lunch. The onion rings were great. I surprised to hear they came from a bag, and were not in the galley. While our meal was enjoyable, had we not had the plus package, I would have skipped it. I’ve also only had 2 of the premium desserts this cruise. That’s 2 for the entire cruise, not 2 per day as allowed. I’ve also come nowhere close to fully utilizing my drink package. 
We went to see the comedian last night. We plan to see his adult show tonight. We saw him previously on the crown 14 years ago. I only remember that because his name rang a bell, as it did last time, and I looked up and confirmed where I remembered him from. 
After dinner, my wife wanted to try the chocolate cake from the gelateria so she got lucky there was a slice still available (they tend to run out as it gets later) and we retired and tuned into the Boston pops concert. 
 

Today, we are in Nassau. Apparently, it’s not a common port for Princess, so a lot of people seem excited for it. Having been there done that, I’ll probably stay on the ship. I haven’t napped enough this week. 
 

Just to add, while we were at dinner they called for a medical response team to a cabin. I didn’t hear of any diversions or helicopters to offload, nor did I see an ambulance waiting (not that I looked). My thoughts are with the passenger. 

Edited July 5 by 1025cruise

[BamaVol]

John Watlings Distillery is a worthwhile visit in Nassau.  In a big old building at the top of a hill.  It was maybe a 1 mile walk from the port.  Best frozen pina colada I’ve ever tasted, although walking a mile uphill in the heat might be the reason. Like you, Nassau was long ago checked off the list. After 5 stops there, I don’t believe I’d leave the ship.

Edited July 5 by BamaVol

[1025cruise]

11 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

John Watlings Distillery is a worthwhile visit in Nassau.  In a big old building at the top of a hill.  It was maybe a 1 mile walk from the port.  Best frozen pina colada I’ve ever tasted, although walking a mile uphill in the heat might be the reason. Like you, Nassau was long ago checked off the list. After 5 stops there, I don’t believe I’d leave the ship.

We've been there. I have a picture of my wife double fisting a shared rum punch we ordered.

[Grego]

2 hours ago, BamaVol said:

John Watlings Distillery is a worthwhile visit in Nassau.  In a big old building at the top of a hill.  It was maybe a 1 mile walk from the port.  Best frozen pina colada I’ve ever tasted, although walking a mile uphill in the heat might be the reason. Like you, Nassau was long ago checked off the list. After 5 stops there, I don’t believe I’d leave the ship.

Good advise seeing that we might have Nassau on our July 27th voyage depending on how ready the western Caribbean is for ships at that time.  I'm just labeling that voyage as the "Mystery Itinerary" instead of Western Caribbean. Not a problem wherever they decide to take us because it will be safe and the ship is the destination for us this cruise. 

[BamaVol]

21 minutes ago, Grego said:

Good advise seeing that we might have Nassau on our July 27th voyage depending on how ready the western Caribbean is for ships at that time.  I'm just labeling that voyage as the "Mystery Itinerary" instead of Western Caribbean. Not a problem wherever they decide to take us because it will be safe and the ship is the destination for us this cruise. 

Good luck and enjoy. 

Edited July 5 by BamaVol

[JSandage]

On 7/4/2024 at 10:51 AM, azbirdmom said:

They had a pirate night with Mexican food when we were on the ship two months ago.  Here's a picture of the concierge with my husband, she did a nice job decorating the lounge and Wedding Chapel!  Very festive.

 

She looks like the concierge from the Majestic Princess in February but I can't remember her name. She was fantastic. I remember she was leaving Majestic soon after our cruise, nice to see she's on Enchanted now. We'll be sailing Enchanted in March 2025 but unfortunately, not in a suite this time. 

[azbirdmom]

3 minutes ago, JSandage said:

She looks like the concierge from the Majestic Princess in February but I can't remember her name. She was fantastic. I remember she was leaving Majestic soon after our cruise, nice to see she's on Enchanted now. We'll be sailing Enchanted in March 2025 but unfortunately, not in a suite this time. 

Her name is Ana Lucia and I agree, she was fantastic!

[joeygold]

Per other posters, we are on the July 27 cruise as well.  1025cruise, I have a question about ship time versus local time.  You mentioned a couple of clock changes while under way.  I assume that is to get ship time in sync with local time, correct?

 

I'm "tentatively" trying to schedule some excursions for our cruise (all subject to change of course), but am trying to make sure that 7-6 in Belize and 9-6 in Cozumel ship times coincide with local times.

 

Hopefully you (or others) can shed some light.  It looks like Cozumel and Costa Maya are 1 hour behind EDT (ship time out of FLL), and Roatan and Belize are 2 hours behind. 

 

I know you didn't port in Belize, so I understand if that confuses my question......

[1025cruise]

Yes, we shifted time a total of 2 hours back, then 2 hours forward. Since we skipped Belize, the change for Roatan was annoying.

 

Well, this morning I looked out the window and saw my last favorite port of call, Fort Lauderdale. And woke up to an email from JetBlue that out flight might not have Internet. 

 

After packing up last night, we had dinner then planned to go to the adults only comedy show. Showing up 30 minutes in advance was not sufficient to get a seat. While I understand the comedians prefer the small venue of the vista lounge, they really should have held this in the theater. They also need to have staff wandering the venue to enforce the seat saving rules. I never know water bottles needed their own seats.

Well head down to the crown grill one last time for breakfast, then wait in the concierge lounge until it's time to get off and head to the airport. 

[Grego]

12 hours ago, JSandage said:

She looks like the concierge from the Majestic Princess in February but I can't remember her name. She was fantastic. I remember she was leaving Majestic soon after our cruise, nice to see she's on Enchanted now. We'll be sailing Enchanted in March 2025 but unfortunately, not in a suite this time. 

It looks like Ana from Peru.  She was in the lounge during our late April-May voyage and did an awesome job.  She might have been on the Majestic Princess prior to coming to the Enchanted Princess when Kevin was the concierge and Vladimir was the Suites Manager.