Enchantment - Just back - 8/22/09 Sailing

[MACE]

Will post a more detailed report in the Review section

Our 6th RCI cruise (Freedom in 2006 being our most recent), 17th cruise overall.

We left from NYC on 8/22...had to sit on the runway for awhile for Delta to file a new flight plan due to storms along the northeast coast...still got in to FLL about 10:30am

Port:

Taxi ride was about $18 including tip...maybe 15 minutes max from the FLL airport. Have to show ID to security at the gate, even the taxi driver.

Arrived at the terminal around 11:10, last on line to be able to walk into the air conditioned terminal without having to wait on line outside in the heat and humidity (albeit under a covered walkway)

Security check was pretty quick, we just became Platinum Members, so we were able to have priority check in at a dsignated area, just a walk up to the counter to with no lines what so ever, check-in, get our cards, with our 13 year old's card already stamped with the Coke emblem (pre-paid...well worth it, she had at least a dozen Shirley Temples and 6 cokes during our cruise) and head upstairs to board.

Here is where we hit a slight snag...hundreds or day visitors had priority boarding over everyone else...slight wait behind them, then the sea pass picture stations broke down, had to be rebooted, then smile for the camera...and finally onboard at 11:30...in all, just 20 minutes since we arrived at the terminal

Windjammer welcome aboard lunch was good...especially the Tuna and roasted pork...Honey stung chicken was just ok, some pieces juicy, some dried out. Since we were aboard early, no lines, no wait, choice of seats where ever we wanted to sit.

Cabins are not ready till 1pm...no problem...pack your swim gear and sun tan lotion in your carry on and go for a dip...pools and hot tubs were completely empty...however the Solarium pool was closed for almost much of the cruise for 'safety reasons'??? Bummer...had to buy me a bucket of beer to get over that...LOL

Lifeboat drill, didn't have to wear lifejackets which were left in our cabin for the duration of the cruise. Started at 4:30...too many straglers showing up till 4:40 made this longer than it had to be. Departed right on time though at 5pm...not as scenic as leaving out of Miami, but still some 'Kodak' momments watching from our port side balcony when leaving, being escorted out, with nice views of Ft. Lauderdale Beach. We did a post cruise stay at Bahia Mar Yacht Club and what a great view standing in the surf and watching the Enchantment materialize from a backdrop view of the beach, palms, and hotels, of those lucky 8/27 paxs departing at 5pm...our daughter wanted to be back on the Enchantment right then.

Cabin:

Ok, its 1pm, they opened the doors to the cabin passage ways: into our balcony cabin we go, #7142, port side, aft...nice and clean, fairly spacious, with the butt grabbing shower curtain, old style 13 inch CRT tv (way too many shows and commercials in Spanish), plenty of closet space, 3 RCI robes, 3 Platinum coupon books (never used them), and a Coke soda cup for our daughter. Claude was our attendant, man never slept, omni-present, always saw him...only issue we had was getting our ice bucket full, otherwise, he was spot on, cabin always spotless, towel animals galore, greeting us with a smile and a 'hello' by name when ever he saw us.

Food and Dining:

-MDR: Good to excellent, only one bad entree at table 128 for our 8:30 seating...some fish dish, battered tappia I believe it was (no problem, ordered a nice pasta dish)...otherwise, all tasty and hot, unlimitted lobster tails the last night, the black angus steak that was available every night, was great.

Do not miss sit down lunch, the salad bar is fantastic! The entrees are great (1st sea day, try the tuna and chicken sesame ka-bob with oriental sauce). Breakfeast was also very good....get a plate of fresh cut strawberrys with cream

-Windjammer:

We liked it for both breakfeast, lunch, and a quick dinner (snack)...tough to find a seat at times but the choices were plentiful, the soups and salads good, entrees hot and tasty, never had a disappointing meal here...sometimes they had BBQ selections poolside. Did have issues with the ice and water machines being empty and not working. There are no dedicated oriental, pizza (have to go to the sloarium), or deli stations available but still a wide range of food that changed every day.

-Mid-night snacks:

Overall...disappointing! After 10:30, you can only get pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, and french fries, at the Solarium. However, they do have one 'Midnight Buffet" with nice food and ice carvings with a very good selection of food and desserts at 11:30 one night

-Room Service:

Good, fast, and hot when delivered. There is a menu in the cabin but we would ask for what ever we desired...and they delivered.

Shows:

Just ok, we skipped their 'production' Broadway and Movie musical shows, saw the opening night, comedy, and magic shows...not bad...would love to get a recording of Rick Corso's Ship Life song. The finale of the Magic show was cool. Rico was a good Cruise Director, funny, always around, and personable to talk to and get a picture with...can you say Village People...wink-wink! Never had a problem finding a seat, always left about 5 minutes prior to show time, from our cabin. Do note: the ship holds about 2500 paxs, so with splitting into two shows, the theatre only holds 900 to accomodate 1250 potential paxs.

Parties:

Very nice Captain's Party with free drinks and 'finger food' Had two repeater parties, one Crown and Anchor (Spotlight lounge deck six) and one for Platinum and above members (Viking Crown Lounge at 11am) with breakfeast snacks, fruites, and dessert treats. Chocolate covered Strawberrys, caviar, and champagne made our morning!

The Ship:

Built in 1997, re-furbished and lengthed in 2005...overall in good shape. Other than the Solarium pool being closed almost for much of the cruise...everything was well maintained. Still have the damn chair savers (and you know who you are!)...so it can be hard to get a chair near the pool on sea days, none the less up on deck 10 (because of the damn chair savers on deck 9...hmm, must be a pet peeve) but a chair or two can always be found someplace...sometimes you have to go all the way aft or forward. Promanade deck did indeed have chairs...this was a great, cool, private place to relax). Ok shopping area, very pricey as expected, though they did have occasional sales. Bingo was way over priced. $5 drinks of the day were ok, good stiff, tall drinks of bourbon...see Patsy at the Oassis Bar. Nice dual bridges over the pool deck and two glass lookouts with views down to the sea.

Ports:

Grand Cayman:

3rd time here, went it alone. It was HOT!. We got off the tender (no wait to board, quick ride in), crossed the street to the 'shadey' side to take advantage of the stores A/C, and walked to the right to Eden Rock...now called Paradise some or other...got some cold drinks, and then went over to the walkway through the coral, down to the sea, and resericted all the cool colorful fish to the surface, with some Corn Flakes

We meant to take the bus ($2.50 per person) to 7 mile beach, but got a taxi driver to take the 3 of us there for $9 with no wait. Went to Royal Palms, no entry fee but they do charge $6 per chair and $6 for a umbrella (which we didn't do, lucked out and got the lone picnic table under a tree in the shade for the day) and relaxed for two hours, grtting some local beer on draft, rum on ice, and conch fritters.

Would have been a perfect day except for the ride back in a taxi (van) where the driver filled it up to the max, having a woman sit on a 1 foot high stoole, in order to fill up the van (12 paxs) with sub standard A/C...it had to be about 110 degrees for the 10 minute ride back to the port..I'm not cheap...but 'NO TIP FOR YOU'


Cozumel:

Our favorite port! Docked and locked...walked right off the ship, ignored the RCI photographers and local hawkers, and grabbed at cab to Chakanaab ($10) and Dolphin Discovery for a Royal Swim program for our daughter...the highlight of the cruise for her. Paid $5 for my wife to join her on their docks while I took video and pictures from a boardwalk about 50-60 yards away...what a great experience for all! There were just 4 girls, including herself in the group...she got a dolphin meet and great, flipper hand shake, kiss, held onto the fins of two dolphins for a body surf, and then had the two dolphins give her a 'push'...they swim up from behind you...catch your feet, pick you up, and support you on their bodies, and then push you through the sea, its so stable that you're able to stand upright with your legs straddeled on both dolphins who are under water and pose with your left hand on your head and your right hand on your hip...KODAK MOMMENT!

There is a great pool with fountains, snorkeling and swimming beaches (surf is a little rough), hairbraiding (we paid $20), resturaunts, natural aquarium, Mayan ruins, and a little jungle to walk through. We had plans to go to Mr Sanchos, but there was so much to see and do here...we never left the park.

Dismbarkation:

Claude our cabin attendant said we could stay in the cabin till 9am and gave us the last colored tag to get off (10am). Platinum members got green 1 tags, depart at 8:15, wait in the MDR...we kinda did a little of both...went to the MDR for breakfast at 8:15, then left at 9am...departure was a little long...took 45 minutes...maybe we missed the expedited Platinum departure privilleges...there were lines to get off the ship, wait in the terminal, show id, get the luggage, and then finally wait on a long line that thinned down to 4 lines, and end up waiting for a custom agent who was processing 1 group for every 3-4 groups her co-workers were doing....bad luck of the draw.

No wait what so ever for a cab ride to our post cruise hotel stay.

More to come in the review...overall, really enjoyed the cruise, ship, ports, our dinner mates, and post cruise stay at Bahia Mar

[attitudeda]

I hope you post more before we board the Enchantment on Monday. This will be our second time on the Enchantment really like this ship.

[MACE]

Originally Posted by attitudeda

I hope you post more before we board the Enchantment on Monday. This will be our second time on the Enchantment really like this ship.

I'll indeed post a much more in-depth review tomorrow morning...however...fire away with any specific questions you may have.

[John Henry on CC]

Originally Posted by MACE

with our 13 year old's card already stamped with the Coke emblem (pre-paid...well worth it, she had at least a dozen Shirley Temples and 6 cokes during our cruise) and head upstairs to board.

Fantastic write-up, MACE. Very easy to read and full of excellent info.

I'm very glad to see that your DD was able to get Shirley Temples with her Coke Card. Other people have reported on other ships that they were told that they couldn't.

[POGO28]

Thanks for all the info. We go next Saturday. Who was the piano player/singer in the Schooner Bar?


Glad you enjoyed your cruise we are looking forward to ours.

[MACE]

Originally Posted by John Henry on CC

Fantastic write-up, MACE. Very easy to read and full of excellent info.

I'm very glad to see that your DD was able to get Shirley Temples with her Coke Card. Other people have reported on other ships that they were told that they couldn't.

There was never any hesitation from any RCI staff about our daughter getting her Shirley Temples...whether it be on the pool deck, inside at the Windjammer, any assorted bar on the ship, room service, in the theatre, or in the main dinning room.

She was one happy Shirley Temple Dual Cherry Lover on this cruise...Thank You RCI!

[KKMurphy2]

How did they handle the salad bar at lunch? We usually never sit down for lunch but this sounds intriguing. We are leaving September 10!

[MACE]

Originally Posted by POGO28

Thanks for all the info. We go next Saturday. Who was the piano player/singer in the Schooner Bar?


Glad you enjoyed your cruise we are looking forward to ours.

In the Schooner Bar (Btw...this was a great lounge on the ship), they had 'Carlos', and Dan Davies

[MACE]

Originally Posted by KKMurphy2

How did they handle the salad bar at lunch? We usually never sit down for lunch but this sounds intriguing. We are leaving September 10!

I have to say...do a sit down lunch just for the salad bar!!!

You can go into the MDR for lunch wearing shorts and a tee-shirt (but no tank-tops)

You'll sit down at a table, your waiter will show you the lunch menu, honor your drink requests, take your order, then direct you to the salad bar

Let me tell you how great this salad bar is...you'll be in line with the officers who come down from the bridge to enjoy the salad bar...that alone tells you how great this is!

You never touch anything from the salad bar because the staff take your order, fills your choices in a large bowl: you progress through a short line, choosing dozens of fixings, starting with multiple choices of lettuce, vegtables, toppings, and your dressing...then...you go to a chef who personnaly cuts up and slices and dices your salad!

BTW...we saw many fellow lunch dinners bypass the entrees and just have salad...its that big, filling, and oh so tasty!

My advice...go early and eat often!

[Beth_55]

Thank you so much for the info. Can you let us know when your trip report is posted ? Thanks !!!

[POGO28]

Mace thanks for the Schooner info, I look forward to being there several nights next week.

[POGO28]

One question. I was reading on another thread how the muster drill is changing. Did you have to get your lifejackets and wear them or did you just have to go to your muster station.

thanks

[hls74]

I was on this sailing. Really friendly crew, better-than-expected food, really enjoyed the trip. We had a couple skeptical first-timers with us who are talking about their next one already.

Didn't need to bring the life vests to the muster drill.

[MACE]

Originally Posted by POGO28

One question. I was reading on another thread how the muster drill is changing. Did you have to get your lifejackets and wear them or did you just have to go to your muster station.

thanks

My family just went to our lifeboat station (your station is printed on your sea-pass card) with out having to take our life jackets, which remained in our closet for the duration of our cruise.

The Captain will actually make a announcment prior to the drill that the life jackets are not mandatory for the drill

[MACE]

Originally Posted by Beth_55

Thank you so much for the info. Can you let us know when your trip report is posted ? Thanks !!!

Many apologies for being amiss and not posting a complete review today...woke up late to some sunshine in NY and just hung out on the deck fortifying my tan and detoxing from all the food and drinks from the cruise...full review will be posted tomorrow 8/31 by noon

[MACE]

Originally Posted by hls74

I was on this sailing. Really friendly crew, better-than-expected food, really enjoyed the trip. We had a couple skeptical first-timers with us who are talking about their next one already.

Didn't need to bring the life vests to the muster drill.

Yes...the crew was super friendly for us...specifically Claude or cabin attendant and Patsy, the bar attendant at the Oasis bar, who served up very tasty Shirley Temples for our 13 year old, ice water for my wife, and tall Bourbons for me

The food indeed met and passed our expectations, especially after reading some previous posts here that the food quality was slipping.

I've emailed RCI today about a July 2010 cruise for some other family members, after we told them how much we enjoyed this cruise.

[Beth_55]

Originally Posted by MACE

Many apologies for being amiss and not posting a complete review today...woke up late to some sunshine in NY and just hung out on the deck fortifying my tan and detoxing from all the food and drinks from the cruise...full review will be posted tomorrow 8/31 by noon

No problem ! Just want to make sure I don't miss it !

[MACE]

Posted in the Review section, may take a couple of days to be reviewed and then available.

Some random thoughts:

Really liked Rico the Cruise Director and the Captain, both of whom we personnaly met at the Captain's party and had pictures taken with our daughter. Both were very accessiable, friendly, and easy to talk to.

I think they had a 'plant' in the audiance for the opening night and magic shows that came up on the stage. 'John' was choosen twice as a audiance member participant.

Two of our tablemates and some others we had met, said the Viking Crown lounged smelled pretty bad of cigar smoke, but when I finally went up there the last sea day, the lounge smelled nice and fresh.

Casino was ok, played a few times, once being able to stretch out $10 on video poker for about 30-40 minutes of amusement.

We did indeed like the Ennchantment but looking to go back on something bigger from RCI, maybe even try that new large CCL ship (Carnival Dream?)

[chiguypaul]

Originally Posted by Beth_55

No problem ! Just want to make sure I don't miss it !

I posted a review last night in this forum you might find valuable.