Enchantment of the Seas Review 3/8 - 3/3

[woostercruise]

I apologize for this being so long if you want to skip it and ask questions fire away!

 

We just got back from a 5 day cruise on Enchantment of the Seas over a very busy college spring break week. We were spring breaking with our 4 and 6 year old so not much partying on our part! Despite planning to fly in the night before, because of bad weather we did not make it to the Airport Hampton Inn and Suites until 4:00 a.m.. Needless to say we started the trip out tired, but at least we made it!

 

The ship was well prepared for the number of college age people. They confiscated a lot of alcohol coming on board and even our luggage was stopped for smuggling empty kids cups:D . The Captain had a very stern message at the beginning saying that people had been denied boarding, that Royal Caribbean is a "family" cruise line, and that they would not put up with bad behavior. This was echoed at least at our muster station where the staff member directing the drill threatened to confiscate cell phones and made sure everyone was facing front and in straight lines. He then let those he deemed non spring breaker leave first.

 

While we were not usually out after 10 p.m. (not willing to deal with exhaused young children) and may have missed some wildness, I can honestly say we really did not have problems with the students. They were generally polite to us and our children. We did have a balcony on deck 7 so that may have been a bit quieter.

 

The food and service was very good. We ate in the dining room for dinner except for formal night. We did not bring formal clothes, and did see a good handful of tuxes and gowns before dinner. Our wait staff was very nice especially our head waiter and assistant waiter. The head waiter did ask a couple of young men to remove their hats, and apparently the last evening some in togas were turned away. Our waiter could not grasp that our 6 year old likes grown up dessert, and that after a couple of days our 4 year old was tired of dessert:eek: He always brought the grown up dessert and something he deemed kids friendly. The only problem was that my husband and I felt obligated to eat some of the kids dessert that went uneaten so the waiter would not feel badly! My waistband is a little tight!

 

There were not many children, but the boys loved Adventure Ocean. The staff was wonderful and the boys are still talking about their new friends. They are also still wearing their muster station bracelets!

 

Our ports were Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We were the only ship in both ports, I think there were supposed to be others in Grand Cayman that did not make it because of the weather. In Grand Cayman we did the Pirate Encounter which was a little lame, but it was only us and one other family. In Ocho Rios we walked to Island Village and hung out at the beach.

 

The two sea days the pool was very busy as I am sure is usual, and I did feel a bit frumpy momish with all the college students. The first day the seas were rough and my 6 year old liked the waves in the pool. On the last day he was in the pool for about 5 minutes because there were no waves to play in!

 

Overall, it was a good experience. As we live in Bloomington, Indiana (home of Indiana University) our children's spring break will always be a college spring break week and I would consider cruising on Echantment over spring break again.

[GrammyJill]

We are going in September.

 

Could you tell us where you stayed & how you thought the furnishings were holding up? I've heard mixed reviews of the appearance of things.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write it all out.

 

Oh & did you fly back that day? How long did it take you to get to the airport?

[woostercruise]

We are going in September.

 

Could you tell us where you stayed & how you thought the furnishings were holding up? I've heard mixed reviews of the appearance of things.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write it all out.

 

Oh & did you fly back that day? How long did it take you to get to the airport?

We were in a balcony 7624, just aft of the Centrum. It is right next to a handicapped balcony. The furnishings seemed in pretty good shape, nothing was broken (I remeber a review with a broken towel bar I think). No stains on the couch that were noticeable. There were a few pin prick size holes in the room darkening curtain and a few stains in the grout in the shower. I thought the ship was in good shape, but this was my first cruise so I don't have anything to compare it to.

 

We did fly back the same day. Our flight was at 1:00. Our tags were called at 9:15 and we were off the ship, through customs and at the airport by 10:00 a.m. That included me opening our suitcases to repack our toiletries and clothes that we carried off the ship. The airport really is right by the port. We booked a shuttle through the company that the Hampton Inn uses, it would have been cheaper to take a taxi. However, as we were not familar with the whole process there was peace of mind in having something set up.

[engineer24]

I apologize for this being so long if you want to skip it and ask questions fire away!

 

We just got back from a 5 day cruise on Enchantment of the Seas over a very busy college spring break week. We were spring breaking with our 4 and 6 year old so not much partying on our part! Despite planning to fly in the night before, because of bad weather we did not make it to the Airport Hampton Inn and Suites until 4:00 a.m.. Needless to say we started the trip out tired, but at least we made it!

 

The ship was well prepared for the number of college age people. They confiscated a lot of alcohol coming on board and even our luggage was stopped for smuggling empty kids cups:D . The Captain had a very stern message at the beginning saying that people had been denied boarding, that Royal Caribbean is a "family" cruise line, and that they would not put up with bad behavior. This was echoed at least at our muster station where the staff member directing the drill threatened to confiscate cell phones and made sure everyone was facing front and in straight lines. He then let those he deemed non spring breaker leave first.

 

While we were not usually out after 10 p.m. (not willing to deal with exhaused young children) and may have missed some wildness, I can honestly say we really did not have problems with the students. They were generally polite to us and our children. We did have a balcony on deck 7 so that may have been a bit quieter.

 

The food and service was very good. We ate in the dining room for dinner except for formal night. We did not bring formal clothes, and did see a good handful of tuxes and gowns before dinner. Our wait staff was very nice especially our head waiter and assistant waiter. The head waiter did ask a couple of young men to remove their hats, and apparently the last evening some in togas were turned away. Our waiter could not grasp that our 6 year old likes grown up dessert, and that after a couple of days our 4 year old was tired of dessert:eek: He always brought the grown up dessert and something he deemed kids friendly. The only problem was that my husband and I felt obligated to eat some of the kids dessert that went uneaten so the waiter would not feel badly! My waistband is a little tight!

 

There were not many children, but the boys loved Adventure Ocean. The staff was wonderful and the boys are still talking about their new friends. They are also still wearing their muster station bracelets!

 

Our ports were Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We were the only ship in both ports, I think there were supposed to be others in Grand Cayman that did not make it because of the weather. In Grand Cayman we did the Pirate Encounter which was a little lame, but it was only us and one other family. In Ocho Rios we walked to Island Village and hung out at the beach.

 

The two sea days the pool was very busy as I am sure is usual, and I did feel a bit frumpy momish with all the college students. The first day the seas were rough and my 6 year old liked the waves in the pool. On the last day he was in the pool for about 5 minutes because there were no waves to play in!

 

Overall, it was a good experience. As we live in Bloomington, Indiana (home of Indiana University) our children's spring break will always be a college spring break week and I would consider cruising on Echantment over spring break again.

 

Can you tell me if they are serving lobster on the last night of the 5 day cruise and if they still have the midnight buffet? We are going May 31 and heard that they cut out the lobster and midnight buffet to cut cost. If that is the truth RCCL is going to hurt themselves as food has always been one of the reasons to sail.

[woostercruise]

Can you tell me if they are serving lobster on the last night of the 5 day cruise and if they still have the midnight buffet? We are going May 31 and heard that they cut out the lobster and midnight buffet to cut cost. If that is the truth RCCL is going to hurt themselves as food has always been one of the reasons to sail.

 

Sorry, no lobster (or Fisherman's Platter) the last night was Italian night. We did not go on formal night, so I suppose it could have been served then. My husband said there was a midnight buffet one night. It was billed as a Caribbean buffet so I am not really sure it is the same thing - he was not terribly impressed with it (he cruised as a kid). I don't know if that was adjusted because of the number of college students.

[lori450]

I was on Enchantment Dec 2007. No midnight buffet. I can't remember if we had lobster.

[phillychick]

I was on the sailing before yours (3/3 - 3/8) & we were talking with Paul, the CD, & he told us that there were 400 spring breakers between the ages of 18-24 on our cruise & that the next week (your week) that the number would double @ 800. The breakers on our sailing were well behaved & we actually enjoyed their company in the Schooner Bar (piano bar) for the sing-a-longs. Just like the "older" crowd, they like to sing along to Piano Man, Sweet Caroline, Sweet Home Alabama & New York New York.

 

The Enchantment does not serve lobster on their sailings at the present :( which I was sorry to hear. There wasn't a grand midnight buffet but they did have a seafood buffet on the pool deck on our 4th night (dancing under the stars) & don't forget the banana foster for dessert (yummy).

 

I did have a great trip & whoever sails on her will also have a great time!!!

 

 

Barbara from Philly

[woostercruise]

The students were fun to watch on the boat and hear some of the friendly sounding rivalry between the two Florida schools that were the predominate group. I would hate to see what some of their bar bills were!