An Enchantment Review March 17-22nd

[colombiangirl]

We have been looking forward to this cruise since September of 2007. I booked it directly through Royal Caribbean and was able to do everything online. I love the Royal Caribbean website!

 

 

Myself, my husband, 18 year old daughter and 11 year old son arrived from New York at 9:00am and went straight to Port Everglades. It was very nice to be at the front of the line for check-in. We were on board by 11:00am and went straight to the Windjammer for lunch. The food was very good. Everyone found something that they liked. After lunch got familiar with Enchantment and found all of the key areas--dining room, guest services, casino, boleros lounge, Lattetudes and Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream.

 

Soda cards are a must have for the kids. We paid $20 for our little guy and $30 for my daughter. Kids get a souvenir cup which they had filled all the time. They really don't check the cards, so twice I went to the bar with my daughters card and was able to get a soda for myself.

 

By 1:00pm our rooms were ready and everyone went and got comfortable. We had two rooms on deck 8, 8573 and 8577, one for us and one for our kids. This worked out beautifully. The cabins are large insides on a floor with all suites midship aft.

 

Muster drill was quick and painless took all of about 15 minutes and then we were off. My son was in a rush to get to Adventure Ocean kids club and had a great time all week. Activities all the time and loved that he could stay there till 1:00am every day. All the staff in kids program was wonderful and we really did not see much of my son all week. He hated the break time in the afternoon from 5:00-7:00pm when I made him come back to the cabin to rest and get a bite to eat. He made a few friends and cant wait to cruise again. Rock climbing wall was great he attempted it a couple of times. We were disappointed that due to high winds the bungee was closed all week. Oh well.

 

Leaving Ft Lauderdale the waters were a bit rough and my husband was sea sick. He could not eat that first night. My daughter and I ate in the dining room and the food was excellent! I watch what I eat and it was nice that they had items on the menu labeled as lighter fare so making menu choices was pretty easy. They even had sugar free desserts available every night.

 

Our day at sea was nice and relaxing. We sat poolside and relaxed all day. Drinks are not that expensive, they were more expensive on Carnival! Once again had a nice lunch in Windjammer. That night was formal night. We took some nice picture on the 5th floor and then went into the dining room. Meal was excellent! After dinner we went to the casino. My daughter and I found the penny slots and played there for hours--we even walked away with some money. My husband played the 3 card poker table.

The next day was supposed to be in Belize. This is where I was very disappointed. We got up early, had a nice breakfast in Windjammer and were getting ready to get off the ship when the captain announced that due to rough waters we would not be stopping there. It was too dangerous to tender. Grrrrrrrr! The only reason we booked Enchantment was because we were going to Belize. Since there were no nearby ports we would have another day at sea. I was very upset. Within about 2 hours they changed the compass and had activities going on. From what I understand this happens alot! I was looking forward to the cave tubing. Oh well! Played bingo, watched a movie in the conference room, played in the casino, sat poolside--not to shabby! We were supposed to have dinner in Chops that night but they lost our reservation and we ended up having dinner in the dining room. Not a big deal. The menu looked alright, but with such good food available on the ship I don't feel it is really necessary to spend the extra money to eat there.

 

The next day was Cozumel. Kids decided not to get off the ship. My daughter sat poolside all day and my son spent the entire day in Adventure Ocean. Hubby and I got off and shopped a bit in the port shops. Got a couple of nice things to bring back home. He decided to go back to ship and I took a taxi downtown to shop some more. The taxi ride is $6.00. I found los 5 soles and a great silver shop. It was hot so a nice cold Tecate beer for $1.00 was nice. For dinner that night, we did not feel like dressing up so we had a quick dinner in Windjammer. It was good except that drink service is a bit slow. You are better off getting your own drink before you sit down.

My kids ordered room service almost every night. They enjoyed the buffalo drumettes, pizza, salads and chocolate pie. They also went to the Solarium snack bar a couple of times for late night snacks. Pizza, chicken burgers, veggie burgers, hamburgers, hotdogs and fries are all available. My son loved their chili cheese fries! Lattetudes was a must have for my kids, every afternoon they had a frozen coffee drink. With any coffee purchase you get a free pastry or dessert. Make sure you ask for it though, they don't tell you about it, so you have to know to ask for it. At $4.50 not a bad purchase.

 

I went to the spa for an iothermie treatment. At $129 per treatment it was not a bad deal. They take your measurements prior to starting and then after. Had I not seen it, I would not have believed it. I lost 5 inches. Here's the part that killed me, they wanted me to buy $1400 worth of spa products. I dont think so! I probably would have gone back for another treatment but it pissed me off just a little bit at what they tried to sell me. Needless to say I did not buy the products and I did not go back fo another treatment My 18 year old went for a sweedish massage and loved it.

 

Key West was our next port. We went to the Hemingway house for a tour. After the tour we went to Sloppy Joes for lunch. Family all ate sloppy joes and cheese fries. Since it was Good Friday I had a crab cake that was delicious. After lunch the family decided to go back to the ship and I decided to walk around for a few hours. I went to the Southernmost tip and then indulged in a piece of key lime pie from the Key Lime Pie Factory Store. It was well worth every calorie! I highly recommend having a slice. This was our last night on the ship. Once again had a nice dinner in the dining room. Later on we went to the casino. Later that night we sat in the Boleros lounge had a drink and listened to the music of Azucar. They were very good! I will say drinks are a bit strong. I'm not much of a drinker so one drink and I was done.

 

 

Shows were very good. Comedian Gary Mule Dear was fabulous, I laughed so much. Love and marriage show was funny. Enchantment singers and dancers were also very good. If you miss any shows you can catch them in your room later on.

 

I would like to be able to check the sea pass in room on your tv the way you can on other cruise lines. This is not available on Enchantment so you need to go to guest services to review your bill. Our fuel surcharge refund for one cabin was deducted from our room charges, for some reason the other cabins refund was debited directly to my bank account. You will find that guest services does not know what is going on with the accounts. They hand you a card and tell you to call someone in Miami when you get back. This did annoy me a bit! Servicewise other than the guest services desk it was all quite wonderful. Dining room staff, spa staff, bar staff, cabin steward were all very nice.

 

Disembarking was not a problem. We got right off the ship, went through customs with no problem and then took a shuttle to the airport to get our rental car.

This was our first Royal Caribbean cruise and I do have to say that when we cruise again it will be on Royal Caribbean. I have a great vacation. Any questions? Feel free to ask.

[phillychick]

What a wonderful review. I was on the ship in the beginning of March & I just love her. The Enchantment is the only ship I've sailed 2x. Sorry you missed Belize but I had to chuckle because the same thing happened to me on my first Enchantment cruise. We booked it for their stop in Key West & because of a hurricane warning, we skipped KW & headed to Cozumel with an extra day at sea.

 

Thanks for the review, it was fun reading it & reliving my cruise.

 

 

Barbara from Philly