A Glorious Life on the Enchantment of the Seas - Pictorial Review (2/10/17)

Great review! Do you happen to have the Compasses? We will be on her in a week and would love to have them. No... I do not have an OCD planning complex. ;p:D

Great review! Do you happen to have the Compasses? We will be on her in a week and would love to have them. No... I do not have an OCD planning complex. ;p:D

I got pictures of them and did post everything except for the last day which will be coming when I am finished writing it up (finally lol). I guess your cruise already came and went, hopefully you had fun and I hope my review helped you in preparing for it. I am sorry I never finished it but just haven't had the time but since my next cruise is in just a few days, figured I will just do a quick wrap-up of the last one. I understand the planning thing. I am cruising with my mom (which I do a lot) this upcoming weekend and everything is planned down to the detail.

Sooooo, I apologize for sort of abandoning this review, but I have been so busy this last few weeks that I just never got around to updating it. But since my next cruise is in just a few days (Carnival Glory), and I have never not finished a review, I will do a quick write-up of the end of this Enchantment cruise if anyone is still interested, lol. I left off somewhere early in the afternoon of the last day of this sailing, so we will pick up with activities on land in Nassau, Bahamas. Enjoy.

DAY 3 - NASSAU CONTINUED:

Honestly, since it was getting later in the day (after 1400), Frog's was not crowded but there were still some people there and it was a good time. I had another beer and we made our way out of there shortly thereafter and towards Junkanoo Beach, a public beach about a half mile or maybe a little more from the port area.

Sands beer. Not bad.

Got a nice picture of our ships from just outside the Senor Frog's, and I did climb up onto the frog bench outside the entrance, it was a tough climb but it has to be done, haha. In a past trip, the park across the street from here featured a local high school marching band playing Christmas carols complete with a Santa, just a few weeks before Christmas 2015. It was weird seeing all that when it was 80 degrees outside, being from the north and all, when we actually do stand a chance at a white Christmas once every 15 years or so. Anyway...

Anyway, turn right out of the bar and there is a main street that goes a few blocks and then bears right again, where you can walk to the beach. There had been construction here the last time we did this walk, but it seemed to all be done now and there is a nice sidewalk with shops, restaurants and you also pass by some resorts on the way to the beach. Also, there is a McDonald's I think on the other side of the street. Pleasant walk but a lot of traffic and driveways so be alert. You can also take a cab to the beach and get there and back quicker but what would be the fun in that?

We had gone to the Fat Tuesday's near the beach a year or so ago, but it was now demolished and moved somewhere else in the port area I think. M had gone to this tiki bar near the entrance to Junkanoo Beach once before so we decided to hit that again. Their draw is 4 beers and 4 shots for $10. Get as many as you want, can't beat that. We hung out there for a while, talking to fellow cruise pax and also some nice ladies (lol) and got 2 rounds while we were there. Nice place. We also walked out onto the beach and pier that goes out a few hundred feet and hung out there with many other people for a little while. Great views of the beach, and of your cruise ships to the left. After 1530, it was time to head back to the ship as all aboard was at 1630 I think and it was a good 15 minute or more walk to the port.

The tiki bar

Classic beach shot, you can also see the pier that we had a good time at where the Fat Tuesday used to stand and our ship off in the distance

More in a moment...

DAY 3 - NASSAU CONTINUED:

We were back to the port by about 1600 and it was not a long wait to go thru ID check. They check your driver license or passport and your cruise card to make sure you are authorized to go through and onto the dock, sometimes there is a line but not this late in the day. I think they still have a little tram that runs out to the ships from the port building if you have mobility issues or whatever but we just walked as it was not too long a walk today. Only 2 ships and some days there can be way more than that.

Anyway, when we got back to the ship, there was still a bit of a line to get thru security and back onboard. Guess a lot of people wanted as much time as possible in Nassau as we did today. We got back onboard and headed right up to the Windjammer to get a late lunch. While we were up there, of course we heard the usual paging of a dozen or so pax who probably were not back on yet at departure time of 1630. They WILL leave you if you screw around too much, is has happened. Anyway, by 1645 less names were called and a few minutes later we pushed away from the dock and I guess they had everyone back onboard finally. Figure they didn't mind leaving with a little delay considering we were not far from Miami and would be getting back there early anyway.

I do not remember what we got for lunch now but it must have been good. Of course, we got more beers at lunch and on lido afterwards, around 1700 and watched a concert on the lido deck for sailaway. According to the cruise compass, this was the pool party jam session. Possibly with DJ Eric James. Anyway, M hung out there for a while and I went upstairs to watch the last sail away from Nassau. Next stop Miami, our home port.

I believe we were just here a little while ago, lol

Before you knew it, it was sunset after 1800 local, and I believe I took a bit of a nap while M went and got an early dinner in the MDR again. The sunset was not on the side of the ship that our room was on so I had to run upstairs and get this picture from the public decks, and the sun was unfortunately already down so this is the best I could do. I do like seeing my sunsets at sea.

I went back to the room, and laid down again for a while. Partying all day takes a lot out of you, man. LOL. M stopped back in once I think, I finally got up around 2030, changed so I looked somewhat presentable and headed to the MDR to get a late dinner around 2100. I was seated with a few nice families, I ended up talking shop with one lady at the table for a while, lol. I got a leg of lamb and some turkey for my entrees and shrimp as an appetizer I think, perhaps I did not get an appetizer at all. I can honestly not remember. It was a long time ago after all, lol. I did not get a drink because honestly, it is just too hard to find a bar guy and takes too long once you order for the drink to arrive for it to be worth it. Oh well. I will say the lamb was awesome and the turkey was just OK. One of the folks at the table did not like his lamb but he said it was too strong. I like strong tasting cuts of meat and this was very tender, best lamb I have ever had quite possibly.

The rest of the evening shortly...

DAY 3: NASSAU CONTINUED:

I guess the chef was keeping up with the theme of the cruise, and sent out plates of guitar shaped cookies for each table which was cool. The chocolate covered strawberry was nice also. Anyway, I got that and some sort of other dessert which was decent but very sweet and rich if I remember right.

The lady I had been talking to at the table and I wished each other happy travels home, and off we both went. Again, we pretty much closed down the MDR for the night. It was after 2200 when we cleared out, and I did get a nice pic of the main dining room area as it was pretty much empty by this point. Good service and food in general but again, beverage service in the dining rooms can be very slow.

M was still off on his own somewhere, drinking I am sure and I headed to the hot tub at the back of the ship for one last dip before the end of the voyage. It was late at night so it was not crowded and I had it pretty much to myself. I had a beer that I had gotten on lido and thus had not been poured into a cup for some reason and I had it up in the hot tub area. I got yelled at by a staff member for doing that, as glass is a no-no around the hot tub and pool I guess. I should have known better, lol. Either way, I hung out there for a good hour and when it was over, I turned in my towel at the towel station and got another drink from the bar.

On the way back from the hot tub, I stopped by the lido party bar and saw M drinking there, lol. I got another drink and a picture of the beanbag toss game located off to the side a little bit. I am actually a decent beanbag toss player. I think they had ping pong tables also on this ship somewhere, but no miniature golf course sadly.

The hot tub I frequented

I chose to walk around up on deck a little more as it was after midnight but I was not yet ready to go to sleep and saw this ship a few miles off to the left I think. All lit up at night, not sure where it was coming from or going or what line it even was but there were a few other ships within sight on this evening.

DAY 3 - NASSAU CONTINUED:

I believe that since the party on lido ended, they continued to play music in the atrium area it seemed and yes, we could hear loud music all night through the wall. It was fine though and like I said before, music or most loud noises do not bother me too much while I sleep so it was fine but keep in mind a mid ship cabin could be a problem if you have an issue with loud noise while trying to sleep. Sheila E did mention that the party would continue right to the end and yes, it surely did. We were just a few hours out from Miami by this point and nobody was really ready for the cruise to end yet although it would in just a few short hours. I packed around midnight and got to bed shortly thereafter, as we were going to have to get off the ship fairly quickly the next morning to get our flight back home.

A few more random pictures of the other ship in the distance and of the future cruises desk, obviously closed this late at night. I would say that due to the short duration of this trip, most people elected to do the self-assist debarkation the next morning as we would be doing, as very few bags were left outside cabins to be taken by staff for unloading the next day.

That wraps up the last full day on the ship and as usual, it was hard to sleep as I knew I had to get up early the next morning and I also realized yet another cruise was coming to an end but you have to do what you have to do I guess. I will get to the debarkation and travel home next. Hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventures.

DAY 4 - DEBARKATION DAY AND TRAVEL HOME:

I hate the last night of a cruise as sleeping is more difficult due to having to get up early to get off the ship and head back home but I managed to get at least some rest. I got up around 0500 and looked out the window and it seemed we were already pulling back into the port in Miami. Scheduled arrival is usually listed as 0730 or 0800 so we were very early. So early I don't even know if port services staff was there yet, I think we just sat for a while until we were met by staff and customs, etc.

I got a few more hours of rest and got up again around 0730, when they were just starting to make announcements about debarkation procedures and updating us on the CBP clearance status. I got cleaned up, turned on my phone and got caught up with everything, checked on our flight home, checked my room one last time for any items I may have left and got a few pics of the cabin before leaving it for the last time.

The Miami port area from the balcony, always seems to be brighter and more fun looking on the first day as compared to the last, lol.

I forgot to mention I got a last printout of onboard charges the last night from the guest services desk just to make sure everything was right and we were not overcharged for anything. RCCL tried to pull a fast one on me with the drink package on a previous cruise that I got cleared up quickly with no hesitation from the GS staff on the Empress. I figured that would be the easiest way to check on my charges as this wasn't a ship with in-cabin folio viewing and I did not have an app to see that stuff on my phone, if one was even offered.

The cabin, midship on deck 7, balcony. Nice cabin for the low price we paid, no complaints.

DAY 4 - DEBARKATION DAY AND TRAVEL HOME CONTINUED:

We skipped breakfast as they were calling self assist debarkation at that time, sometime after 0800 and we figured it was best to just head off the ship with our minimal belongings and get in line for the customs check and call the shuttle to take us back to FLL. We left a tip for our cabin steward who did have a chore cleaning up after both of us, haha and headed down to the atrium to be dinged off the ship one last time. It was not a long wait at customs, and we were through and out at the ground transportation terminal by 0830. I called SAS and after a wait of 15 minutes or so (that ground transit area is chaos on a good day) the van picked us up and we were back on our way to FLL before 0900. Know that you HAVE to have a confirmed pre-arranged reservation here and it is enforced. Otherwise, you will have to flag down a cab and a cab ride back to FLL is about $80. I know this from experience.

Anyway, we hit traffic on the way back to FLL on this Monday morning, as there were bad accidents both ways on 95. With no traffic, this drive can be done in a half hour but it took longer today. Seeing the aftermath on the wreck that slowed down our traffic, that car got completely smashed up. They were loading it up to be taken away when we passed. Hopefully no serious injuries. We finally got back to FLL a little after 0930 and were through security and to our gate not too long after. Security can be long at times at FLL so leave yourself at least a half hour to get through the TSA checkpoint if you do not have TSA Pre.

Once at the gate, we were late leaving due to some airplane swaps they had to do at the last minute at the gate and the resulting confusion that caused. Like I have always said, FLL is convenient but it is too small for the volume it gets and while it is well on its way to being modernized for the 21st century, it still has a way to go and when irregular operations hits or it is cruise travel day, the place can be overcrowded quickly. Anyway, we got out a little late but were on our way shortly thereafter and on our way back home by 1100 or so.

At the gate, waiting to leave. Still a ton of new construction going on there. New terminal being built.

Smooth takeoff to the west, turn back to the east, just as we were about to head out to sea. You can almost see Freeport from the air on departures to the north from FLL.

Inflight over the Carolinas somewhere I think.

Flying over Cape May, NJ at about 14000 feet, on the way to PHL about 75 miles out. It looks so small from the air, lol but this is a great place to go in the summer, really anytime actually. About an hour and a half from Philadelphia driving. You can see Wildwood, Cape May and Cape May airport in this shot. The Delaware Bay, Atlantic Ocean. You can also see Atlantic City as you head towards PHL from the air.

It was windy on this day, the captain told us numerous times it would be a bumpy ride under 10000 feet and it sure was. Gusts to 45 knots, will talk about that in my final segment in just a minute with pics of us approaching home.

DAY 4 - DEBARKATION DAY AND TRAVEL HOME:

Yes, it was one of the wilder rides I have ever had coming in to land. Mainly clear but really windy as we had winds up this way all winter that were some of the strongest I can remember in a long time. Lost a lot of tree branches, trash cans blowing around everywhere, etc. Nasty winter. Glad spring has finally sprung around here. Anyway, the last 10 minutes were really bumpy. I saw some familiar southern NJ landmarks as we got closer to PHL, and got to see the city and the sports complex as we made our final approach. On landing, we hit a massive crosswind gust and I wasn't even able to hold the camera steady to get a great shot of us touching down on Runway 27R. Oh well. The crew did a great job getting us on the ground safely however, hats off to them. After we got to the gate, we both headed off our separate ways, I headed back to home and all the reality of everyday life and that was it for yet another Flying Cruiser of NJ vacation. Until the next one that is....

I hope you enjoyed my vacation review, although it took forever to do. My next cruise is upcoming this weekend, on the Carnival Glory, out of Miami, a family cruise that I have been looking forward to for a long while now, and I will surely be coming back from that one with a nice review. Have a great spring and happy cruising. I will post a short review of what I thought of the ship, amenities, crew, etc now if you are interested in seeing that.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS OF THIS SHIP AND CRUISE:

Boarding, booking, checkin, etc, was good. It was a charter booked through a third party TA and therefore we did not have as much control over the booking as we wanted but for what we paid, it was OK. The port staff was good and efficient both for boarding and debarking.

The crew was friendly and efficient again, they did their jobs well and were pleasant to interact with. Our steward was fine, although we did not see too much of him. Wait staff was good as was the bar staff and pool attendants and buffet personnel.

The entertainment was fine, although since this was a charter, pretty much just music although they did do a Quest game show so I heard. The music was good and varied, the theme of the cruise was positive and uplifting. Never had a problem finding something to do on the ship.

Food was good. Breakfast was decent, lunch was good at the buffet, buffet dinner was actually good and MDR food and service was as good as you can expect to have it. We did anytime dining on this cruise as well, so I went late and M went early to dinner as that was just how it worked out and it was good both times I went.

The cabin was fine, again the location can be iffy for those sensitive to sound with the atrium being nearby but the location was great, the amenities were good and the balcony was nice. Plenty of closet space, a good safe, decent bathroom, plenty of room in the cabin, enough power outlets for what we needed, and a really nice couch as well. Keep in mind that you cannot iron your own clothes here, as M asked on the first day and they said that items have to be sent out to be ironed, and you have to pay for it. He did not like that at all.

The ports were fine for a short weekend journey. Cococay is a nice getaway, and I like that you can use your drink packages there as you would on the ship. I am going on Carnival in a few days and I understand they do not allow the packages to be used on their own private island. Ok......but yes, Cococay is nice, the buffet is good, plenty of activities to do there, nice place to spend the day. Nassau is Nassau. Been there a ton of times, most fun you can have there is to go off on your own and just drink all day and go to Junkanoo Beach. Shopping is also plentiful for those interested in that.

Overall, this trip got an A rating. We were not expecting much more than a fun weekend in the Bahamas, away from everything and they delivered on that. Not your most exotic or luxurious cruise but it was fine. I would recommend a sailing like this to anyone who asks me about it.

Thanks for posting.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Enjoyed the review very much, thanks!:)