New to Cruising, Enchantment coming soon...

[Tootoo Train 14]

First, a little history.

 

 

I'm 23, in the USCG, and on a ship. When I'm on a patrol, and on watch at night, a cruise ship will light up the sky. After seening cruise ship after cruise ship at from midnight - 4AM, it didn't take long for me to begin looking at a cruise of my own.

 

I'm at sea 66% of the year, but I have a feeling a cruise is a much different underway experience.

 

I began to research (lightly) cruise lines, and opted for three reasonable ones; names I had seen. After looking at port calls, prices, and ship ages, I narrowed down the cruise lines from Carnival, Disney, and Royal Caribbean to just Royal Caribbean. I sent the information to my father and stood my 0000-0400 watch on the bridge headed down past Miami to resume a patrol in the Florida Straits. Well, about 2 hours into the watch I passed a cruise ship at 2 nautical miles (NM). About 15 mins later a radio call went out from the ship request assistance for a man overboard (MOB). At that time they were about 10 NM off of my portquarter (back left), so we came around and responded. Eight hours later the man was recovered alive.

 

I brought my girlfriend into it, as well as my father, who decided this might be a good surprise birthday for my mother. Two friends from home were also invited.

 

We will be sailing on Enchantment of the Seas (a vessel I've seen from far away at sea). It is the five day cruise departing Ft Lauderdale, down through the Windward Pass, to Jamaica and then to Grand Cayman, through the Straits and back to Ft. Lauderdale. I'm excited. Sea sickness is not a problem, although my girlfriend is a little worried about it. Cruise ships have some serious displacement, so short of a monster freak wave, I'm not worried. I'm not planning on jumping overboard, and I'd appreciate it if others would avoid jumping overboard too, its no fun for cruisers when that happens, I'm sure.

 

Is there any advice anyone has with regards to those little secrets onboard? Anything to avoid?

 

Enchantment of the Seas departs Ft. Lauderdale on 18Aug07. It's a 5 day cruise. This is my first cruise, so, feel free to load me down with information.

 

Thanks!

[love2crz]

BTW.....I loved your story, let me start off by saying I had never had any desire to cruise, but in 2000 my sister (the travel agent) talked me into doing so on (at the time) the biggest ship out there, The Voyager of the Seas, I loved it I was hooked, I then went on a Carnival Ship the Sensation, I had a great time on that one too, it is more of a (without sounding like a cliche) fun ship! Not as classy, but still a blast. My Third Ship was the Enchantment, I had a great time on that ship, you will love it, our stops were different than yours. It was 5 days and everyday was so much fun, enjoy yourself, I am now going on my 4th cruise on the Freedom of the Seas, I am so excited about this one too, Cruising is the best way to travel. :cool:

[aplcpa]

Tootoo Train 14,

 

We are sailing on the Enchantment on our first cruise with the same ports of call as you. We are disembarking 09/15/07. Be sure and give us a review and any tips you may pick up as a first time cruiser.

 

This will also be our first time at sea. Thanks for your service keeping our seas safer.

 

Alan & Laura

[NYCRUISR]

Although we love the big ships, such as Freedom and Explorer and Navigator.......... we took the cruise on Enchantment from Fort Lauderdale ,only it was a four nighter. It was last minute and rather inexpensive. I did not have great expectations for the ship being that we are used to the big ones. However, It was a very pleasant surprise.

The lengthing of the ship created a fabulous pool deck. This is one place where you don't want crowding and Enchantment was very roomy there. I have nothing bad to say about the ship...nothing. You will enjoy it. I particularly liked the Skybridges lit up at night. You'll see.

[skyking]

TooToo------You will love the Enchantment. We sailed on her this past April and just fell in love with her. We also are used to sailing on the bigger, Voyager class ships, but this one hit home for us. You can see plenty of my pics at the link below...Please enjoy!

 

Tim

 

http://community.webshots.com/user/timandcandice-date

[Buccaneergirl]

Cruising is addicting, as I am sure you understand! We have sailed many times and are on EOS next April, but my advice is .........

Jamaica - Do Dunn's River Falls

Grand Caymen - Do the tour to Stingray City

I think being on EOS will be soooooo different for you and you will absolutely love it!:D

Enjoy!

[nmcrzer]

Hi! Great introduction. Glad you are doing the Enchantment too! We will be on her in October. This is only my second cruise. The last one was our honeymoon on the Conquest. It was ok, but I know the Enchantment will be much better.

 

Our experience in Jamaica put a damper on the whole trip. I had read the warnings on this site, but I didn't pay any attention. Honestly, I thought people were overreacting, and I figured my other extensive traveling had prepared me for dealing with the situations people described on these boards. We thought we would be fine getting off the ship and hailing a JUTA taxi on our on to Margaritaville. Long story short, we were back on the ship in less than 2 hours. I wish we would have just stayed on the ship or taken the ship-sponsored excursion to Sunset Beach or Sandals.

 

So, I encourage you to do a lot of level-headed research about Jamaica. If you do decide to get off the ship, be very careful. Don't let your stop in Jamaica dampen your entire trip, like ours did.

 

We did do Grand Cayman by ourselves and had a blast! I would love to go back there, but I vowed not to cruise any itinerary which includes Jamaica. Unfortunately for me, the Enchantment itinerary that includes GC also includes Jamaica. That's why we're doing the Key West - Cozumel - Coco Cay itinerary.

 

Good to have you here. Can't wait to read your review when you get back. I can already tell from your post that you have a nice writing style.

[slickproductions]

Glad you're taking the plunge into cruising. Having spent 10 years in the Navy, it was pleasant to be on a ship and not have any duties or have to stand a watch! Enjoy it, revel in it, be pampered by it. You will find yourself going on many more!!!

 

BTW, doing the Enchantment 8/23 so take good care of her.

[jdh]

You will absolutely love cruising. Just to tell you that your choice of the Enchantment is "the best". We have sailed smaller ships (Monarch of the Seas before she went west) up to the Explorer of the Seas, but our very favorite is the Enchantment. It is, to me, the most beautiful of all the ships we have been on and since we alwasy cruise sometime during the holidays, the Enchantment cannot be beat in their Christmas decorating. Anwyay, have a great time and be sure and tell us what you think. Becasue we have chosen to take our grown sons on their first cruise as a Christmas gift and due to our son's work as a broadcaster with MRN Radio/NASCAR, we will be going on January 7th instead of December. I am so excited as this will be our 4th cruise on the Enchantment.

[FreewayFortune]

Tootoo I loved your story. I think you will find that you enjoy cruising so much that you will be thinking about booking your next cruise as you are leaving the ship. Enjoy your cruise:)