This morning I learn that the hotel delivers the bill the same way the ships do. They slipped it under my door early in the morning.
My plan is to get ready to leave around 10am and that should get me out of the hotel by 10:30am and to the dock by 11am. So the next time you hear from me I’ll be on the ship.
Well I made it on board. I left the hotel a little after 10:30am and I was through security and checked into the priority boarding area by 11:10am. While I’m waiting I read the handout. Its says …
Dear Enchantment of the Seas Guest:
We would like to provide you with important information regarding modifications to your scheduled itinerary. We attempted to reach every guest with phone calls on Friday, February 24, and we apologize if for any reason you did not receive our message.
On Saturday, February 18, while Enchantment of the Seas was docked in Baltimore, Maryland, we became aware of a mechanical issue with one of the ship’s two port propulsion motors. We were able to bring technicians onboard that assisted us in making repairs that restored partial power to the affected motor. However, despite the repairs to the second propulsion motor, the ship is cruising at a reduced rate of speed. It should be noted that this issue has no impact on the maneuverability of the ship or on the safety of our guests and crew.
After reviewing your scheduled itinerary and taking the ship’s reduced speed into account, it is necessary to make some adjustments. We apologize for this development and regret its impact on your scheduled itinerary. We have made every effort to minimize the disruption, and have also extended your stays in several ports of call. Your revised itinerary will be:
Monday – Baltimore, Maryland - Departure 4:00pm (no change)
Monday – Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas – Arrive 8am – Depart 6pm (depart 1 hr later)
Tuesday – San Juan, Puerto Rico – Arrive 7:00am – Depart 5:00pm (depart 4 hours later)
Wednesday - at sea (skipping Labadee)
Thursday – at sea (no change)
Friday – at sea (no change)
Saturday – Baltimore, Maryland – arrive 7:00am (no change)
As a gesture of goodwill, and to thank you for your cooperation, Royal Caribbean International will provide your stateroom with an onboard credit of $300. The credit will be applied directly to your onboard account and may be applied to any onboard purchases. Any unused portion of this will be refunded to you. Also, as it is necessary to cancel your call to Labadee, Haiti, guests who purchased shore excursions for Labadee will have those funds automatically refunded to them in the form of credit to their onboard account.
Again, we apologize for these developments and their impact on your scheduled itinerary and your vacation. Our entire onboard team will do its very best to make your sailing as enjoyable as possible.
Signed Captain Gus Andersson, Master, Enchantment of the Seas
Boarding began shortly after 11:30am. The first thing I did was drop my carry-on bags in the room. I made sure the room steward knew I had dropped off the bags; I took my camera and then got out of his way.
The next thing I did was take pictures around the ship. Then I grabbed lunch, a mixture of lunch meat, sliced cheese and pasta. While looking for a table I ran into a couple of people from the roll call, so we chatted a bit. We have agreed to meet in the Viking Lounge after muster.
After lunch I walked the ship some more as the cabins were not ready yet. I found my dining table, it sits four. Rats, I wanted a large table. Oh well. I do remember the last time I had a four top my only other table mate only showed up half the time.
I returned to my cabin shortly after 1:30pm. My bags have not arrived yet. However, luggage did arrive outside my door before 2:00pm. I found a couple of issues with my cabin and went looking for my cabin steward. The two issues are: 1) if I want ice I have to request it and 2) the sink stopper is down and I can’t get it back up. I found out the room steward would return around 3:00pm. So I left the cabin door open and started to unpack. My plan worked to perfection. My room steward saw my open door and can in. Soon I had ice and the sink was unplugged. Life is good.
Just as I finish packing there are seven short blasts on the horn followed by one long blast. Time for the muster drill. We do not take our life jackets. Roll is taken at the muster station. This was the shortest drill I have ever attended. There was a demonstration on how to put on the life jackets and then the captain announced the drill was over. It was so quick I thought the captain was kidding, but that was in fact the end of the muster drill.
So I headed up to the Viking Lounge to meet the rest of the roll call group. 81 signed up and 50 – 60 showed up, including a couple with three young active children. I know the parents though the kids were bothering me, but they were not. At any rate the kids noticed my belly stuck out further than the rest of me. I told them it was because I eat little children. For some reason when I asked, they all denied tasting good. I’m sure they keep their parent on their toes, but I though it was kind of fun.
Soon we left port and soon after than we sailed under a bridge. It sure didn’t look like we were going to make it, but there was likely at least two to three meters clearance. By this time it was after 5:00pm and I went back to my cabin and found what I call the Travel Channel. It is actually the ship information channel. It provided heading, speed and position information. Then I uploaded my photographs, 155 from the prior two days and over 220 today, too the computer for better viewing (fortunately for me, digital pictures are free to develop). Then I started on this.
Soon it is 8:00pm and I head down to dinner. The buffet is in the front of the ship and the restaurant is in the rear of the ship. I am in a rear facing junior suite. I’ll make diamond about half way through the cruise.
I get to the restaurant and I’m the first to arrive at the table. Naturally the waiter wants to know if my friends are coming. I have no idea, so I say I don’t know. After a while no one shows up. My waiter asks again and I explain I’m cruising alone and have no idea who is assigned to the table. I order and as you can imagine I’m the first one finish. I don’t mean the first one at the table; I mean the first one in the section. I finished dessert and I am out of the dining room in less than one hour.
So I come back to finish this, which I have now done. So now it is time to edit the pictures so that I can upload them. We will see if I can make this work.
OMG we are going to hit the bridge ...
We made it ...
We are moving ...
Wow...just came across this board. Was on Enchantment Feb. 18th sailing (we're none as the freebee cruise). Your pics are great! Will follow your great posts! Thanks.
From the Enchantment - Feb 27 cruise
in Royal Caribbean International
Posted
Wow...just came across this board. Was on Enchantment Feb. 18th sailing (we're none as the freebee cruise). Your pics are great! Will follow your great posts! Thanks.