Carnival Pride/Glory vs. RCI Enchantment ?

[vlynn]

For anyone who has cruised both the Pride/Glory and Enchantment I was just wondering what your opinions are of the differences/similarities.

 

I loved the Pride. We have decided to try the Enchantment because of the ports and the amount of days - 9.

 

We are taking my SD who is 13 so we are also curious about the differences with the teen programs. She loved Carnivals.

 

Thank you for any input. I know we will have a great time regardless because after all how can you not when you are on a cruise. :D

[singsong]

I've sailed the Enchantment twice, and it's a marvelous ship. I've not sailed the Pride yet, though I'm very familiar with the Carnival product. The Enchantment is beautiful, and there are some similar activities. My 13 yr old niece had a great time with the teen program last year; she made lots of friends. I think Carnival has more of a structured program, but that's not always a good thing with teens. All of the kids were busy and had a good time onboard. The rock climbing wall is a big hit, although if you sail with a lot of kids, the trampoline area can have long waits.

[vlynn]

Thank you so much for your input.

 

I must admit I expected more responses since both ships sail out of Baltimore. :confused:

[FOLcruisers]

We have sailed Glory twice, Enchantment once. Don't know a thing about either of the children's programs but the food in the buffet on Enchantment Of the Seas was terrible, the hot dogs and hamburgers in the Solarium pool area were inedible! Something to consider depending on what your daughter likes to eat.

[John Reid]

I have a thread going "First Carnival Cruise/ On the Pride / OCtober 7 - 14" that will give you some insights into the Pride and some comparisons to Enchantment. I will add some other Enchantment observations on this thread a bit later. I don't have any insights into the children's programs.

[vlynn]

I have a thread going "First Carnival Cruise/ On the Pride / OCtober 7 - 14" that will give you some insights into the Pride and some comparisons to Enchantment. I will add some other Enchantment observations on this thread a bit later. I don't have any insights into the children's programs.

 

I read your review and I am glad you enjoyed the Pride as much as we did. I look forward to your comparisions to the Enchantment. :D

[John Reid]

I read your review and I am glad you enjoyed the Pride as much as we did. I look forward to your comparisions to the Enchantment. :D

 

More of the review will be forthcoming, including dining.

 

We cruised Enchantment in early 2008; it was our first cruise. We enjoyed ourselves and the ship, but had no point of comparison at the time.. I don't know if I would call the ship beautiful. I did like the ship and have considered sailing her again, but I have been on five other ships that were nicer.

 

Since that time, cruising and reading the helpful reviews of others has made me more savvy as to what to expect. For the physical plant itself, Enchantment will have the indoor Solarium area rather than the outdoor Serenity of Pride. Enchantment had the Spotlight Lounge which was a versatile space. The Pride equivalent is the comedy club. I just didn't find that many places to "go" on Enchantment. The Viking Crown lounge and Boleros were two of the three primary lounge areas, and I didn't like them. I'm not into Salsa music and both allowed smoking leaving only Schooner's which was not that big a lounge. The atrium champagne lounge was pleasant but rather small. The theater and public areas were built for a ship with less of a capacity; the stretch expansion did add passenger load. I did like the Pride layout better.

 

What I believe will be the difference is demographics. On Enchantment you will be on the 9 day itinerary with RCI's higher price. I believe you will have an older, somewhat less casual, somewhat more formal approach to cruising.

[BeyondKen]

[emelvee]

We've been on Pride twice, most recently in 2010, and Enchantment this past summer. Pride decor is too dark for my wife's liking. I was impressed with how well Enchantment is kept up. We would enjoy sailing on her again. I like the layouts of both ships. Love sailing out of Baltimore!

 

Our daughter (almost 12) has enjoyed both kids programs. I consider them more or less comparable. She wasn't at all enthusiastic about going to the kids club this past cruise on RCI. But that's not a knock on RCI - she is just very shy (more so even than when she was younger). Our previous RCI cruise, we had to force her to get off the ship a couple of port days - she spent more time with the kids on that cruise than any other.

 

We prefer the somewhat (but not dramatically) "livelier" feel of Carnival. We've enjoyed both RCI cruises, but the demographics on both tended to be older than on Carnival.

[Topo Gigio]

Enchantment will come out of dry dock on Dec 14, so you will get all the enhancements! because of this ship I fell in love with cruising!

[Lovefuninthesun]

For anyone who has cruised both the Pride/Glory and Enchantment I was just wondering what your opinions are of the differences/similarities.

 

I loved the Pride. We have decided to try the Enchantment because of the ports and the amount of days - 9.

 

We are taking my SD who is 13 so we are also curious about the differences with the teen programs. She loved Carnivals.

 

Thank you for any input. I know we will have a great time regardless because after all how can you not when you are on a cruise. :D

 

Sailed both Enchantment and Glory, and had a wonderful cruise on both, and cruise experiences were very similar.

 

I loved the adults-only serenity area with the retractable roof on Enchantment. But our cabin was smaller than those on Carnival.

 

There was an awesome wine bar on Glory, and that became our favorite evening hangout. We thought the staff at the time on the Glory was the best we had ever experienced. Overall, our cruise on the Glory was our very best cruise ever.

 

I don't really think you can go wrong here! :)

[vlynn]

Thank you all for your wonderful feedback.

 

We also love sailing out of Baltimore and we are excited that the Enchantment will be getting updated prior to our sailing. We really enjoyed seeing the Pride after her updates. The Pride is the reason we fell in love with cruising so hearing that the Enchantment is similar in a lot of ways makes me feel better.

 

It is a relief to hear the kids programs are similar; I do hope there are enough teens onboard. Although we will have a great time regardless; we will be on vacation and even better on a cruise vacation. :D

[emelvee]

I forgot that Enchantment was refurbished - IMO it looked great beforehand this summer.

[cruiseclues]

Enchantment will not be refurbished until 12/2012. Right now it has excellent food in the MDR due to the new menu and apparently the chef's maybe feeling good about the new menu, too :)

[vlynn]

Enchantment will not be refurbished until 12/2012. Right now it has excellent food in the MDR due to the new menu and apparently the chef's maybe feeling good about the new menu, too :)

 

Thank you this is very good to hear.

 

We are really looking forward to trying a new ship and line. We really hope we enjoy both lines because that will just give us more options. We hope to try NCL in the near future. Why not! lol. We love sailing out of Baltimore but NY and NJ are within driving distance so any of these ports will do.

 

I want to thank everyone for their input. These CC boards are a wonderful source of information. :D