On Board the Enchantment 8-8-16

I guess this is a mini review in real time! Boarded the Enchantment today for a five day cruise out of Port of Miami. This is our 4th Royal Caribbean cruise (Mariner, Oasis and Allure) and sixth overall cruise.

We live near Fort Lauderdale, so we drove to the port. Thanks to this board, I knew about taking the tunnel to the port. Neither our GPS nor mapquest took us that way, but it was very easy to find just took 836 to 395, and there it was. The signs were very confusing though once we got through the tunnel, and we did take a few wrong turns, but all in all, we made it to the port in about an hour.

It took only about a half hour to board, getting through port security and then getting our sea pass, but it seemed longer since we were so excited to start our trip! We went right to the Park Cafe, which is not a separate place on this ship, but more of a counter near the Solarium. I guess we were expecting a larger place like it is on the Oasis and the Allure. They didn't have chips, either, but they did have a nice selection of potato or macaroni salads, other sandwiches and two soups.

We were able to get in our room by 1:30, and one of our suitcases came pretty quickly but the other didn't. After several hours, we were finally told we had to go down to deck 1 to claim it. I was pretty confused, because I thought I knew enough what is contraband and felt pretty sure I didn't have anything naughty.

Turns out they confiscated our power strip! I knew enough not to bring one that had a surge suppressor, this one just had places to plug in maybe five devices, but apparently they are not allowing any power strips as the guy in the room next to us had the same thing happen. What really surprised me, however, is that they also confiscated my extension cord! I always bring a long extension cord, since I like to charge my phone over night, and keep it on the nightstand. They would not allow my extension cord, because it had a place to plug in three devices, and they said that wasn't allowed. That has never happened to me before!

There is only one place in the room (balcony room) to plug in devices, that is on the little desk area by the balcony door. There are two plugs there. No other plugs anywhere in the room, not even the bathroom! This was a first, and I guess maybe the ship can't handle it? Although our stateroom attendant was very surprised to hear that was why our luggage was detained, and he seemed to be about to offer to bring us another one! We just rotated charging our devices, but when you have two iPhones, an iPad, two Kindles, and a camera, two plugs hardly seems like enough.

The other surprise occurred when we went down to the dining room at 7. We had My Time Dining, and we got on line, prepared to wait if we had to. But they said there were no tables for two, that if we wanted, we could share a table for 8 (?!) or we could come back at 7:45. I guess I expected it to be like the Oasis and Allure, where we had My Time Dining, and it really was my time, we might have to wait 10-15 minutes or so, but this time was more like we had to make a reservation once we got there. If we had known, we would have gotten there earlier and made the reservation for 7. Since we were not able to eat until 7:45, we missed the opening show, which went on at 7:45. Oh well. The karaoke was great, however, as was the Battle of the Sexes.

Our room is good, but really cold. The temperature is shown in Celsius, which is confusing to us, but even though we had it on what we think is the warmest setting, the air doesn't go off. Maintenance is on their way up, even though it is almost 1:30 am, so that is good.

Tomorrow we go to Nassau. We are hoping for nice weather. Today was cloudy and rainy, we hope we can get to the beach tomorrow. More later!

Can't wait to hear more!

Enjoying the report. Interesting that they confiscated the power strip that did not have a surge suppressor.

Enjoying the report. Interesting that they confiscated the power strip that did not have a surge suppressor.

I know! I pointed it out to them, but they said the reason I couldn't even have the extension cord is that they didn't want us to plug in more than two things at one time, because the outlet could overheat. I wonder if that is just a problem on the Enchantment because it's an older ship?

Could you please post a photo or something to show us the menus? We will be on Enchantment in December. They are rolling out a new menu on Oasis, but I don't know if they will roll it out on Enchantment before our cruise.

A couple of things I forgot to mention about embarkation day. After we finally got in the dining room, I noticed a lot of men wearing shorts. I know they are more lenient the first day, because of people maybe not getting their luggage, but this was 7:45 and all the luggage had been delivered. I also saw both men and women in baseball caps. So apparently they do not enforce their dress code of no shorts or hats in the dining room.

We are eating at Chops tonight, so we'll see how that looks. It's also formal night in the MDR, but I know that it's not formal night at Chops so it should be interesting.

The food, so far, as frequently reported, is ok. Not great, not terrible. I had my favorite appetizer, the escargot, and they were delicious, especially when you soak up the yummy garlic butter with a roll.

The coffee at Latte-tudes is Starbucks, but they don't take the Starbucks card, so I can't get my points, even though I'm paying Starbucks prices. :(. The cappuccino at dinner was really strong, and bitter, so I guess as long as we have to pay extra for specialty coffee,I'll get it at Latte-tudes.

There is a Ben and Jerry's next to Latte-tudes which has a decent selection of ice cream flavored. THey also had free soft serve strawberry ice cream on the pool deck, but there was a long line, and it seemed like they had run out and were waiting for it to be refilled, so I had a frozen drink instead. :)

The muster drill was an awful experience. They had us go out around 3:15 and line up in rows of four. It was really hot and humid, as it was raining on and off, so the humidity was around 100%. Someone threw up, so everyone had to move even closer together. It seemed like it took forever to get started, The more people came, the closer we had to stand, and the hotter it got. There was no breeze. I was surprised more people didn't pass out or throw up. We were out there about forty minutes, but that may be because we were on the pool deck, and they made everyone leave the pool deck to go to their muster station. Maybe if we had been in our room, and didn't show up until 3:30, the time it was supposed to start, it wouldn't have been so bad.

Could you please post a photo or something to show us the menus? We will be on Enchantment in December. They are rolling out a new menu on Oasis, but I don't know if they will roll it out on Enchantment before our cruise.

At Chops? Or in the MDR?

We are in room 7130, a balcony room. The size is adequate, there is more than enough storage space and drawers and shelves for two people on a five day cruise. Even in the bathroom. I didn't need the over the door organizer I brought. The closet is small, but when I asked for extra hangers, they brought them promptly.

Room 7130 is on the port side of the ship. I always am unsure whether to get a room on the port or on the starboard side. When we cruised the Mediterranean in June, we were on the starboard side, and I thought I would've preferred to see the port when we docked. This time, we are on the port side and I wish I had gotten a room on the other side. We are docked in Nassau and while we have a good view of the colorful buildings in the port, having breakfast while everyone on the street can see us on our balcony is not what I had in mind. But eating in our room while we overlook the colorful buildings and activity is fun!

An update on the temperature--they never did come last night, or this am yet, but it seems like it's finally warming up in here. The air has been running all night, but it's either not as frigid as it was, or we are getting used to it!

Very cool! Following because we're sailing on 8/15. I keep warning my daughter about the lack of plugs for charging our devices.

Looking forward to your experiences. We're in cabin 7056 on 9/19.

Good info on the power strip/extension cord - never heard of this before!

Following too because we will be on her in September and February. She was our first cruise (pre-stretch). Looking forward to seeing the changes.

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This may help for those not yet on enchantment. You can buy s charger with multiple plugs for your devices.

A couple of things I forgot to mention about embarkation day. After we finally got in the dining room, I noticed a lot of men wearing shorts. I know they are more lenient the first day, because of people maybe not getting their luggage, but this was 7:45 and all the luggage had been delivered. I also saw both men and women in baseball caps. So apparently they do not enforce their dress code of no shorts or hats in the dining room.

 

That is a recent change; check the Compass. Women in shorts has always been allowed. Now men are too. (non-formal night).

That is a recent change; check the Compass. Women in shorts has always been allowed. Now men are too. (non-formal night).

Not true. I'm looking at the Compass now. For tomorrow (casual night) and for day 1 it says "We kindly ask please no tank tops or hats in the dining room at any time, and no shorts at dinner."

We ate at Chops tonight so I don't know how people were dressed in the MDR tonight. But I saw very few ladies dressed up (long gowns) and even fewer men with jackets on wandering around the main area, getting pictures taken, etc. Interestingly enough, it appeared the younger people (teen to early 20's) girls were the most dressed up, and young boys were dressed nicely, too.

I know! I pointed it out to them, but they said the reason I couldn't even have the extension cord is that they didn't want us to plug in more than two things at one time, because the outlet could overheat. I wonder if that is just a problem on the Enchantment because it's an older ship?

It happened to people we know travelling on the Anthem. Their power strip was confiscated when the bags were scanned. When the cruise was finished they had to pick it up. makes sense..if more people did that it could be a problem and a safety issue.

Interesting review. Thanks.

It happened to people we know travelling on the Anthem. Their power strip was confiscated when the bags were scanned. When the cruise was finished they had to pick it up. makes sense..if more people did that it could be a problem and a safety issue.

Used a power strip on a Princess 12-day Med Cruise last year with no issues. Wonder why RCCL is different?

Following

Continuing my review/comments. We're home now and overall it was a really nice cruise. This post will discuss the room, 7130, a regular balcony. First of all, the location was so-so with regard to noise. Either the people on the deck above us were very active on their balcony, or the noise that sounded like chairs scraping on the balcony were coming from people in the Park Cafe area two decks up moving chairs constantly. It was only while on the balcony, but very annoying at night when we were sitting outside, enjoying the solitude.

The other problem with the room was the balcony door, which was very hard to open and close, and also it made a clicking noise that was really annoying when we tried to go to sleep every night. No, we didn't report it, we bad, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

I was very pleased with the amount of space to put everything, like I said previously, I didn't even need to use the over the door storage thingee I brought. The shower of course is ridiculously tiny, and I couldn't even shave my legs in there, but the bathroom also had adequate storage for everything.

Coming up: excursions and ports.

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Continuing my review/comments. We're home now and overall it was a really nice cruise. This post will discuss the room, 7130, a regular balcony. First of all, the location was so-so with regard to noise. Either the people on the deck above us were very active on their balcony, or the noise that sounded like chairs scraping on the balcony were coming from people in the Park Cafe area two decks up moving chairs constantly. It was only while on the balcony, but very annoying at night when we were sitting outside, enjoying the solitude.

 

The other problem with the room was the balcony door, which was very hard to open and close, and also it made a clicking noise that was really annoying when we tried to go to sleep every night. No, we didn't report it, we bad, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

 

I was very pleased with the amount of space to put everything, like I said previously, I didn't even need to use the over the door storage thingee I brought. The shower of course is ridiculously tiny, and I couldn't even shave my legs in there, but the bathroom also had adequate storage for everything.

 

Coming up: excursions and ports.

 

 

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Although it is a pain to complain we had same door issue and maintenance did a great job fixing our sticking slider. After we said we should have done it earlier[emoji12][emoji12][emoji12]

I spent a lot of time researching the various places we could go on a day pass while in Nassau, and I was pretty torn because I had read lots of conflicting reviews about Breezes. On Trip Advisor they recommend against going to Breezes during spring break, which, frankly, the website itself also warns about. Since we were going in the middle of August, I did not think that this would be a problem, and it wasn't . Here on Cruise critic, there were several conflicting reviews, but we decided to go anyway. Frankly, it was one of the highlights of our cruise.

The beach was beautiful. Very clean, and the water was crystal clear. We did not use the pool, but the people who did seem to be having a good time. During the day, they were a number of activities that you could participate in, but we chose to just stay on the beach, where it was quieter, and just enjoy the sand and the water. We were able to get one of those clam shell type covers and two lounge chairs that are included in the price. There were also a few things that you could use on the beach for no extra charge, and I really liked the float device that had a viewing window so you could see into the water without having to use a snorkel and goggles.

It cost $85 a person through a third party company. I didn't see a way to book it directly. We put down a $20 deposit, and pay the balance when we got there, which was good, because the weather was a little iffy, and we weren't really sure that we would be able to even go, so I felt like I was just gambling $20, since I wasn't sure if I would be able to get that back if we didn't go. Once we got there, it cost $65 per person, bringing the cost to $85 a person total.

I love the fact that this was all inclusive, and that we were able to have all of the food and drinks that we wanted. I especially liked that they had a machine with frozen pina coladas and strawberry daiquiri mix, which I enjoyed with and without liquor throughout the day for no extra charge.

The grill served first, and the hamburger was very tasty. The buffet did not open until 12:30, and the selection was not exactly as pictured, and the food was OK, but we certainly got enough to eat. The buffet is inside but you could eat outside if you wanted. The air conditioning inside was a nice relief.

The next day, we spent the day at Coco Cay (details coming) and I could honestly say, the beach, the ocean, and the overall experience at Breezes was much better.

I would definitely recommend this resort on a day pass, and we will definitely come back next time our cruise stops in Nassau.

How did you get to Breezes?

We had never been to Coco Cay, that I recall, on our previous cruises with RCCL. This perspective is from a middle aged couple with no kids, so keep that in mind.

We had booked a package that included a sun shade, two lounge chairs, two beach mats and it included a cooler with two huge bottles of water and a fruit plate, which was very nice. It is located on "south beach" and I had read some reviews suggesting that there was no food or drinks there, it was very rocky, you couldn't go in the water, etc. most of that is not true.

When we arrived at Coco Cay, there was a tram that would take us to the location, but we wanted to get the lay of the land, so to speak, so we decided to walk around first. When you first get there, there are a bunch of lounge chairs quite close together, where most of the people seemed to be. Several where in shade under a tree, and you could rent umbrellas if you chose to sit in the sun. It was crowded, though, and we were glad we weren't going to be there.

We continued walking, and found the water playground, which seemed to be fun for the kids. There were lots of lounge chairs around there, some in the shade as well. We kept going, and found the water slides. Three of them, it seemed like that was a lot of fun. I had to remind myself I'm not as young as I feel, otherwise, I might have been tempted to do it, also.

We kept going and there were still more chairs around. Lots of areas had separate bars. We finally found south beach, and I would not recommend walking there, although they said it was a "short walk" it seemed quite long, and very hot, and you know how difficult it can be to walk on sand. Still, it was good excercise to walk off all the pounds we put on eating the bread at every meal.

Got to south beach, and we were given a wrist band, shown to our umbrella shade area, was pleased to find the cooler with water and fruit, and settled in.

The beach at Coco Cay is ok, not great, but the water was awful. Don't know if it was just that day, but there was a little bit of water that was not full of algae or seaweed or whatever, and then huge areas where you wouldn't want to put your foot down. Unfortunately, the water was shallow, so unless you used the water mat, you were standing in gross stuff. Even with water shoes, it was gross.

I overheard a lady giving a group of snorkelers advice, and she told them that the areas that appeared green, were clear, the areas that appeared darker, were full of algae and seaweed, and that there were jelly fish there, and to avoid that area, and the areas that appeared really green, beyond the dark stuff, had a lot of sea life to explore. Unfortunately, there was no way to get to the really green areas but to go through the dark area. I decided to try to swim through the dark area using the beach mat, so I didn't touch the bottom, and it was very difficult, due to fighting the current, but I made it over there, and looked down, and didn't see much except for sporadic seaweed.

The best thing I can say was using the mat, you could lie in the shallow water which was nice, but overall, the ocean was pretty gross.

There was a little bar right by our umbrella shade, which was great, but it didn't have a huge selection of stuff. There were a few beers, a few liquors, and I like frozen pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris which they didn't have there. They did have a cooler full of coco loco, which is their frozen concoction made of pineapple juice, I think mango? And something else and that was tasty.

You did have to take the tram back to the main area to eat lunch. There were two tram rides there, one at 12 and one at 12:30. Once there, they had a selection of hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs, a whole pig which grossed me out, but DH loved the meat, fruit, brisket, chicken, and lettuce and tomatoes, which I guess passed as salad. They also had some gluten free choices. I thought the food wasn't great, but DH loved it. It was what it was. There was a building that say it was a grill and bar, which I didn't explore, so I don't know if it had more choices for food that maybe you paid extra for?

I really liked the solitude of the south beach, and the amenities, but I think maybe next time, we might just walk a bit further when we first get there, find a place either under a tree, or just pay for an umbrella, where the beach itself may be a little better.

One thing that was a little disappointing was that they have an area that is a "straw market" that actually had nicer things than the Nassau straw market in terms of tee-shirts, cover ups, souvenirs etc., but they only took cash and the Cruise Compass said the only thing we needed to bring to the island was our sea pass card. I wish they would've said that there is a straw market there that only takes cash, so bring cash if you want to buy anything. I felt bad for the vendors because a lot of people were in the same situation I was in. Also, I found a couple of cute things I would have bought, had I known to bring cash.

All in all, it was an ok day. Maybe because we were at Breezes the day before, the beach at Coco Cay seemed even worse, because the beach at Breezes was so much better, but it is was it is, and it's a day on a private island with 2000 or more of your closest friends. We did meet a couple of very nice people over on our side of the island and enjoyed that. The good thing about the south beach area is that they had servers who circulated around to bring you drinks, but it was not a big deal to just go up to the bar to get it myself. Plus, the bartender was very nice.

They said the last tender from Coco Cay left at 4:30, which meant that we had to get the tram from south beach around 4. We had fallen asleep, and when we woke up, we were the last persons there. We had a brief moment of panic realizing that, and I hope that one of the servers or someone would have woken us up before it was too late! We did get to the main part of the island in plenty of time to wait on the long line to get the tender back, so all as good!

How did you get to Breezes?

I had read that you can take a bus for $1.25, catch it near the straw market, but we chose to just take a cab. There were lots of cabs available when we came out of that building that you have to go through and I had read that it should only cost $15 for two people. There was a guy that was organizing who got what cab and when we asked the price, he said $25. I said, no way, I know it's only $15. He said, no, $25, I said, then, no thanks and started walking away. Then he came down to $20 and I said, no, we'll just take the bus. So he ran after us and said, ok, $15 but then you have to give a good tip. We always give a good tip, so we agreed, and had a lovely trip with a nice cab lady driver who had her four year old asleep in the way back. We gave her a $5 tip, and all were happy.

Coming back, there were plenty of cabs right outside of Breezes. It had just started to look like it was about to storm, but there were still plenty of cabs, even though everyone was leaving at the same time. The first cab that came up, we said we would pay $15 to avoid having to haggle, he nodded, and that was that. It started to rain, and he would've taken us back to the port, but we decided we wanted to stop at Senior Frogs instead. We got there just as the skies opened up, and had a lovely time there until it stopped raining. Then we walked through the shopping area and eventually got back to the ship. On board wasn't until 11:15, so there was no hurry except we had a reservation at Chops at 7:30 that night.

I had read that you can take a bus for $1.25, catch it near the straw market, but we chose to just take a cab. There were lots of cabs available when we came out of that building that you have to go through and I had read that it should only cost $15 for two people. There was a guy that was organizing who got what cab and when we asked the price, he said $25. I said, no way, I know it's only $15. He said, no, $25, I said, then, no thanks and started walking away. Then he came down to $20 and I said, no, we'll just take the bus. So he ran after us and said, ok, $15 but then you have to give a good tip. We always give a good tip, so we agreed, and had a lovely trip with a nice cab lady driver who had her four year old asleep in the way back. We gave her a $5 tip, and all were happy.

 

Coming back, there were plenty of cabs right outside of Breezes. It had just started to look like it was about to storm, but there were still plenty of cabs, even though everyone was leaving at the same time. The first cab that came up, we said we would pay $15 to avoid having to haggle, he nodded, and that was that. It started to rain, and he would've taken us back to the port, but we decided we wanted to stop at Senior Frogs instead. We got there just as the skies opened up, and had a lovely time there until it stopped raining. Then we walked through the shopping area and eventually got back to the ship. On board wasn't until 11:15, so there was no hurry except we had a reservation at Chops at 7:30 that night.

Thanks for the info. I assume the $15 was the total, not per person?