From the Enchantment - Feb 27 cruise

[seacat65]

Turns out it was not Photobucket that stopped responding, it was the ship's Internet service. I'm surprised the post survived.

 

My guess would be around 50 kids. It is a two week cruise and there are not many kids here.

 

 

Thanks for the quick response.

[stevensoap]

I am having a hard time trying to get these pictures shrunk to the required size. These are from the Bermuda Sail away party with our friends from our Cruise Critic Board. Nov. 2006 Cabin 7154 aft Jr. Suite. I am looking for more but this will give a idea of the size of the cabin. I will send (post) more when I find my disk with the small copies.

 

Sudsy:)

 

The soot thing only happened when the wind was from the stern when you first start moving forward when departing and picking up speed. Lots of black smoke from the stacks.

 

I think this is going to work!:eek:

[sea_la_vie]

I am having a hard time trying to get these pictures shrunk to the required size. These are from the Bermuda Sail away party with our friends from our Cruise Critic Board. Nov. 2006 Cabin 7154 aft Jr. Suite. I am looking for more but this will give a idea of the size of the cabin. I will send (post) more when I find my disk with the small copies.

 

Sudsy:)

 

The soot thing only happened when the wind was from the stern when you first start moving forward when departing and picking up speed. Lots of black smoke from the stacks.

 

I think this is going to work!:eek:

 

Looks like a fun time:) Do people usually get festive and dress up for Sail Away Parties?! Thinking I should get some Leis?

[stevensoap]

Looks like a fun time:) Do people usually get festive and dress up for Sail Away Parties?! Thinking I should get some Leis?

 

Usually the sail away parties are held in a public area. We happened to have four of us in a row on the aft of deck 7 and we all met here on the board and planned it. We propped open all of our doors and had a pretty big crowd including some "outsiders" that we happened to meet on the first two days of the cruise. This was day three.

 

The big person in the Mu Mu is actually a guy in drag. His mom (also i the bright Mu Mu) and dad were in the cabin next door and h was in a separate inside room with a friend. He performed in the Talent Show and I guess he does this regularly at home in Canada at Night clubs. Nice/FUN folks but a little strange. So no I have never seen anyone show up in such attire before.

 

Sudsy:)

Edited March 1, 2012 by stevensoap

[stevensoap]

Same cabin.

Sudsy

[sea_la_vie]

Usually the sail away parties are held in a public area. We happened to have four of us in a row on the aft of deck 7 and we all met here on the board and planned it. We propped open all of our doors and had a pretty big crowd including some "outsiders" that we happened to meet on the first two days of the cruise. This was day three.

 

The big person in the Mu Mu is actually a guy in drag. His mom (also i the bright Mu Mu) and dad were in the cabin next door and h was in a separate inside room with a friend. He performed in the Talent Show and I guess he does this regularly at home in Canada at Night clubs. Nice/FUN folks but a little strange. So no I have never seen anyone show up in such attire before.

 

Sudsy:)

 

Oh okay thanks! It will be fun to just be in such a celebratory environment :)

[stevensoap]

We are in 8670 (rear facing JS) at the end of March... so hopefully you have gotten (and will post) photos of the cabin.

 

Trying to decide, since it's just DD and I, do we have them separate the beds, or keep it together, and she will sleep on the sofa... when she was little, she preferred sleeping on the couch in the window of our PR cabins.

 

I'm pretty sure the couch is a hide-a-bed. If she is booked they will surely make it up for her at night.

 

Sudsy:)

[stevensoap]

Here is my last attempt to send these. This is the cabin and a view of the wake. It was a great cabin.

 

Sudsy:D

 

Ye Ha It's working!:eek:

[Cuizer2]

February 29, 2012 – Day at Sea

 

 

I'm up in time for sunrise (after only five hours of sleep). However, I have to go on deck because we are headed more or less toward the sun and I have a rear facing balcony. The sunrise is not that good because while there are some nice clouds overhead, there is also a line of clouds on the horizon, which means the sun will be higher in the sky when it rises. This means more light which means faded colors. I get a few good pictures.

 

 

Since I'm here at the front of the ship (as is the Windjammer), I'll grab breakfast, which I take back to the cabin to enjoy on my balcony. It is supposed to get to be 80 today, so I guess the fun will start for those that like to lie out by or in the pool.

 

 

There is a welcome back party at 7:15pm and I have my C&A appointment at 5:30pm, so I guess my early evening time is full. So my plan is to shower, go to guest services to verify the amount of my OBC, check out the stores to give the room steward time to do his thing and to see if they put anything new out that I might want (if it fits). Then I don't know what.

 

 

Well, first I go to Guest Services. I get a print out of my account, but the credit is still not showing. Then I go to the store, nothing new inside, but out in the hall there is a nice jacket that will fit me. The one in the store is white, too small and $50. The one in the hall is black, fits and is $90. I'll consider it later. Next I go to the photo shop and purchase a couple of photographs from last night (one at a 50% discount via the coupon) and a picture of the ship.

 

 

When I return to my cabin I realize I made a big mistake. Talk about best laid plans. I put the card out upside down, so that “do not disturb” was up. As a result my room has not been cleaned. Well, nothing I can do about that. I turn the card right side up and go inside. I upload my morning pictures and I hear a knock on the door. I apologize to the room steward, grab my computer and go to the Internet Cafe to continue this.

 

 

Then back down to Guest Services to turn in my form to have the gratuities charged to my room (that way I don't have to bring so much money).

 

 

I working in the Centrum on this and choosing which photographs to upload when suddenly I hear the captain giving his noon time announcement. Unfortunately the speaker is not very good and I can barely understand half of what he is saying. I have no idea where the morning went. The last five hours seems more like three. I guess time flies when you are having fun and not trying to connect to the Internet, which is exactly what I am going to do once I go back to the cabin and get my other battery. The last thing I want is for the battery to run out of juice while I'm trying to upload things on the Internet. It is slow enough without adding problems of my own.

 

 

Well, I managed to get six more photographs uploaded to Photobucket. I also managed to answer a few questions and start my fourth post. Then the connection went down. I couldn’t even log off. I went to guest relations and I could hear someone else explaining the same problem I was going to tell them about. So, there is a special website we can log into to see how many minutes we used, and sure enough while I could not do anything, including log off, the timer kept running and I had no time left.

 

 

Maryna Maksimuk helped me get running yesterday and gave me $20 credit today. I felt was fair and told her so. There have been three people who have really stood out so far, my room steward, my waiter and Maryna. But I have only one wow reward card. I may end up giving that to my waiter (Antonio) and finding some way to make sure Frederick Carpio (my room steward) and Maryna both get some credit. After all, this is only day three of a twelve day cruise.

 

 

I realize there are all sorts of issues providing Internet service to a moving ship at sea, and I don’t blame Royal Caribbean for the problems. But the cost is high (anywhere from 30 to 65¢ per minute, depending on how you buy your minutes), the speed is so slow that dial-up would be considered an upgrade and it is frustrating. I’m on vacation. If I want to be frustrated I’ll go back to work and get paid for it (I like my job, but it is frustrating at times).

 

 

At any rate, it is time for a new plan. I’m going to make sure today’s post survived (when the Internet comes back up – it is still down) and if not, recreate it. Then tomorrow I post today’s comments without pictures, and that will be it for the rest of the cruise. I’ll continue to write my review each day and will post my full review with full sized pictures when I get home. That is how I normally do it. It is quick, easy, much less expensive and far less frustrating.

 

 

Well, since writing the above I note a lot of interest in JS cabins. Since I am in one I'll attempt to upload six more photos and post them with my final post (that being today's review). Whatever happens that will be that. I'll check for questions later, but posting to the Internet has lost its fun factor.

 

 

The travel channel has turned into the forward cam view channel. So now I don’t even know where we are. Since I am not driving I guess it is not real important that I don’t know where we are, but still it would be nice to have the information channel and the forward view channel be separate channels. This morning I noticed that we were also most half way. Noon today would be the halfway point, so I guess we are on schedule. Therefore I’m heading to the pool to cool off.

 

 

Well, I said I wanted to cool off in the pool, but I was not counting on the water being as cold as it was. The Travel Channel said the pool water was 84 degrees. I would say the pools are closer to 72 degrees and the hot tubs might be 84 degrees. So, I went into the hot tub.

 

 

Soon I'll head over to the C&A lounge for my appointment and then later will be time for the welcome back party.

 

 

I purchased a future cruise certificate at the C&A lounge and then bought a couple of shirts at the store. I returned the cabin and the lack of sleep clearly is catching up with me. I half doze off until 7pm when it is time to get ready for the welcome back party. I'm so tired I forget my pocket camera.

 

 

The captain's speech and the loyalty ambassador's speech end early and I decide to head out to dinner. The captain was standing there and nobody was talking to him, so I decided to talk to him. I told him when I was gold I had a gold SeaPass card, when I was platinum I had a gray SeaPass card. Now I'm emerald and my SeaPass card is not green (I showed it to him – it is silver). He was caught completely by surprise. Then he pulled out his card which was green (the room stewards have the same card – it gets them into the cabins they service). We had a good laugh. I thanked him and went back to the cabin and retrieved by travel camera.

 

 

When I tried to take a picture in the MDR the camera doesn't work. Apparently I have one bad battery. I start to review all the little things that have gone wrong:

 

 

1. United pushed back the departure time of my flight causing me to arrive at night.
   
2. The problems with the ship meant I need to pay for Internet access at the hotel which is expensive. However, to be fair it allowed me to download Open Office which is allowing me to type this without worrying about how often I access the word processor.
   
3. The ship's engine problems result in a modified itinerary. Admittedly I like the modified itinerary better (plus an OBC to boot).
   
4. My broken watch band.
   
5. When I sign up for Internet access the computer changes my choice from the 250 minute plan to the 100 minute plan. Again this ends up being beneficial as I am so frustrated with the slow Internet access that I don't want to go much beyond 120 minutes (about half the time I originally was going to sign up for).
   
6. I put the make up the room card in upside down, so my cabin is not made while I am out.
   
7. The many problems with the Internet access.
   
8. Having a table all by myself (though I must admit, my waiter and head waiter are both making sure I am having a good time – which I am).
   
9. Forgetting my camera – which would not have matters because of …
   
10. The bad battery.
    
11. The wacky ship information channel. I really do pay a lot of attention to the information on that channel. If I want to see what the forward view is, I'll walk there myself.
    
12. Having to use IE instead of Firefox.
    
13. The light in the bathroom takes too long to come on.
    
14. Forgetting to register my program before leaving home.
    

 

All minor to be sure, all taken care of (in one way or another) and none having a negative affect on my cruise. But still, what is next (it better not rain in St. Maarten)? And of course there are a lot of positives:

 

 

1. I'm having a great time.
   
2. I met some very nice people.
   
3. The crew is one of the most helpful I have ever had the pleasure to sail with.
   

 

Though lesser in number, the positives easily outweigh the negatives. At any rate I order the chicken for dinner and my waiter says it is very good. He is right, it was very good.

 

 

After dinner I head back to the cabin. I finish this and then I'll try the Intent again. I actually have access in the cabin. The connection is not as good as it is at the Internet Cafe, but it does work. Then after that I'm going to catch up on the sleep I missed last night. So until next month – good night.

 

 

Oh wait, the travel channel is showing information again. As of 10:48pm we have sailed 906 miles from Baltimore and have 516 miles to go. With 32 hours until arrival the ship will have to average a little over 16 knots to make it on time, so we should be okay.

 

My cabin ...

 

 

 

 

My balcony ...

 

 

 

The balcony next door - cabin 8666 ...

 

[stevensoap]

February 29, 2012 – Day at Sea

 

 

Looks familiar. Brings back some fond memories. Have a wonderful time.

 

Sudsy:cool:

[jigger]

Great !1

[oldbluechaircruiser]

Thanks so much for the post!! My folks are on the cruise with you and it's good to hear things are going well!!! :-) :D:D

[HLR]

Hello there!

 

Can I ask...

 

1) Can you get a cappucino or espresso in the MDR with you meals? And is there a charge? I heard it is now Starbucks...which I am not a fan of...alas.

 

2) Is there a men's locker room and showers at the gym? Is there a men's steam room and/or sauna free of charge?

 

HLR

[jackretired]

...

 

2) Is there a men's locker room and showers at the gym? Is there a men's steam room and/or sauna free of charge?

 

HLR

 

There is no steam room and/or sauna.

[traveling1969]

Frederick was our room steward on the 02/18/12 cruise and he was the best. We had an inside cabin with only one armchair and one vanity chair. We asked him for another arm chair and lo and behold, there it was. We definitely gave him a WOW card. Enjoy!

 

Harry

[Cru1s1ng2009]

I get the idea of the WOW card but have never seen them, nor know the benefits of them for staff. can someone enlighten me?

[Grumpy9117]

I get the idea of the WOW card but have never seen them, nor know the benefits of them for staff. can someone enlighten me?

 

It's a card given to C&A members to give to a crew member that provides "WOW" service. When a crew member accumulates 6 cards (I think it's 6), they get a day off.

[dgiampa]

We were on the 2/18 cruise in cabin 8172. Frederick was great. Tell him that Dana, Diane and Jordan said Hi.

[Cuizer2]

Hello there!

 

Can I ask...

 

1) Can you get a cappucino or espresso in the MDR with you meals? And is there a charge? I heard it is now Starbucks...which I am not a fan of...alas.

 

2) Is there a men's locker room and showers at the gym? Is there a men's steam room and/or sauna free of charge?

 

HLR

 

I don't drink coffee nor do I use the gym. Nonetheless, I'll see if I can get answers for you.

[Cuizer2]

We were on the 2/18 cruise in cabin 8172. Frederick was great. Tell him that Dana, Diane and Jordan said Hi.

 

Will do.

[Cuizer2]

Hello there!

 

Can I ask...

 

1) Can you get a cappucino or espresso in the MDR with you meals? And is there a charge? I heard it is now Starbucks...which I am not a fan of...alas.

 

2) Is there a men's locker room and showers at the gym? Is there a men's steam room and/or sauna free of charge?

 

HLR

 

Okay, I had to get real sneaky and creative to get the answers to the questions (translation - don't try this at home). I went to the MDR and asked.

 

Both Cappucino & Espresso are available in the MDR for about $3.50 each.

 

There is a men's locker room with showers. When I asked about the steam room or sauna I was told it is a steam shower. There is no cost.

Edited March 1, 2012 by Cuizer2

[Cuizer2]

Frederick was our room steward on the 02/18/12 cruise and he was the best. We had an inside cabin with only one armchair and one vanity chair. We asked him for another arm chair and lo and behold, there it was. We definitely gave him a WOW card. Enjoy!

 

Harry

 

Where you in 8155? If so he remembers you.

[LBumb]

great job so far. really enjoying this.

thank you.

[jackretired]

Can I ask:

 

Does the soda package include Sprite Zero (Diet Sprite)?

 

Thanks.

[Cuizer2]

We were on the 2/18 cruise in cabin 8172. Frederick was great. Tell him that Dana, Diane and Jordan said Hi.

 

Frederick says he remembers you.