Enchantment of the Seas (pics and music video!)

[CaLigUrL1216]

Hi fellow cruisers! It's so awesome that I can finally call you all my fellow cruisers instead of sitting at home admiring your adventures! Haha enough corniness for now (no promises later), let me welcome you *cue trumpet horns*

to my Enchantment of the Seas review!

 

Oh real quick, I'd like to add that I want to thank all fellow cruisers who have ever posted a review, or left a comment, or left any feedback at all. You are all wonderful. Some of these following ones gave me lots of inspiration: ksawyercruiser, MrFunInTheSun, gambee, swim13, and scubagirrl. Ok, moving along, get your party hats on and let's get to know each other!

 

This is me (on vacation):

 

 

And you will meet my minions who follow me around later (just kidding they are nice company).

 

Anyhow, as I alluded to earlier, this was my first cruise! My dear bf surprised me saying "You know how you always talk about wanting to go to the Bahamas on a cruise?" - And whammo! we are here. Yea, he's special.

 

Ok, so some of my review is going to cover the amount of preplanning we did (as we aren't rich peoples) and vacationing we did before/after our cruise.

 

I think first off I want to address some of the biggest concerns for many couples, especially young ones, is whether or not:

 

a) Is it worth it?

 

In one word: absolutely. In a longer explanation: If you are even thinking about cruising, you most likely possess the characteristics of a person who will enjoy it. If someone has to talk you into it, well then, it might be a harder sell. Someone who doesn't like traveling, or ships, or happiness, might not enjoy it as much. Just sayin.

 

b) Is it pricey?

 

Yes it is. We got a great deal on ours but after everything is said and done, unless you LIVE IN FLORIDA (woh woh) you are going to be paying an arm and a leg for flights + bagging fees, transportation (more on this later), food (pre/post cruise), hotels, and then excursions. Add in popular resorts such as Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, and buying clothes, swim wear, sandals, snorkeling gear (if you don't have any it's a good idea to buy), and you are easily looking at 3x the cost you originally intended to spend.

 

Keep that in mind! I always enjoy vacations more when I budget safely and don't have to worry about costs. It's great to have peace of mind knowing you planned ahead and will stay in the black.

 

c) Only older people do it!

 

Ugh, omigawd rite? No really, I heard this a lot. And my response to them: "You know, everyone grows up eventually. And you can learn a lot from people who are wiser than you." I swear, I've heard a lot of people chastising me and mocking me on facebook and the like, saying I'm too young to cruise. That is just ridiculous nonsense that people who don't understand the whole nature of cruising. In fact, the most FUN people we met was everyone 40+. If you are over 40 and you cruise, I love you! You guys really let loose and go wild, and show me there is so much in life I can look forward to and love.

 

d) You will gain a lot of weight eating the free food

 

No argument here.

 

 

Ok, that wraps it up so let me lead off into our first day... flight problems! ahhHHHHHHHHH *ominous shrieking music*

[CaLigUrL1216]

Flight Delay

 

After done preplanning, which is an arduous albeit exciting process you all are familiar with, it was time to finally fly out! Unfortunately, our ride arrived a bit late but he rushed us to the airline, and we got there an hour before our flight! Yay! But there is more, our heroine (me) could not check in our bags due to an error of booking both tickets with the same credit card. We told the person at front that we needed to check in our bags in a timely fashion, and she pointed us in the general direction of full-service check in (or as I like to call it, the line of despair).

 

By the time we got to the front, 30 minutes later, they informed us we could no longer board and there is nothing they could do for us. The manager was a bit dismissive to my bf and I, and I started to get a little stressed out. My bf told me to check for new flights as there is no way we are missing our vacation as he was going to have to put in a word with the manager.

 

After doing some searching, I found a suitable alternative on another airline :) but it cost $700 brand new Washingtons :(. Oh well, we bit the bullet but my bf assured me it would be ok. Since we were stuck at the airport for half a day, we spent the rest of our time scheming on what we will do on the ship, and also informing the other couple we were meeting that we would be delayed.

 

Our new flight went off without a hitch, my bf met an awesome couple that just got back from their honeymoon who sell boats in North Carolina and they liked him so much they invited him to their place next time he is in town. Awee.

 

When we landed my first thought was: "I'm in Florida!!" (never been). My second thought was: It's HUMID! Oh man, they really don't prepare you for that. But I loved it! It's a nice change of pace from the windy breezy cold air that SF has. We went downstairs got our bags and rental car from Enterprise then drove off to meet up the other couple (whom I never met, but are friends from my bf's previous job in Boston). Here we all are, looking happy to be safe and sound together:

 

 

Up next: Universal!

[CaLigUrL1216]

I'm having some problems with my internet, so hopefully I don't get disconnected too long (I'm trying to do the entire review in one sitting).

 

Universal Day

 

 

So much fun. In particular, the Harry Potter area was really exciting. My bf's friends originate from Europe, and apparently Harry Potter is just as big there as it is here so they were very excited to ride it unlike... my bf. He was terrified. He doesn't handle rollercoasters that well, or heights, or bridges, or even tall buildings (even if he is looking up at them! he gets vertigo bad in Chicago). But we went on the ride and he enjoyed it, although came off a little sick. Afterwards we took a picture with one of the workers there in front of Hogwart's express, and it's funny we realized then that no one in that area breaks character!

 

 

 

Afterwards we headed to Margaritaville, which wasn't particularly busy due to it being off season.

 

 

 

 

The artist there was fantastic (Micah), and I attached a short clip which really doesn't do him justice.

 

I highly recommend you check out his other videos (should appear on sidebar) - he is so good!

 

After stuffing ourselves full of nachos we headed out feeling great that we finally would be headed on our long awaited cruise!

 

 

 

Up next: Cruise day!

[CaLigUrL1216]

Internet went out for awhile. Sorry folks!

 

Cruise Day

 

So we got a later start as we had to go out to buy shirts and snorkel gear for the other couple that was with us, so we drove out to a nearby mall. We originally planned to meet some fellow CC members at the Meet & Mingle at 3PM, but didn't get onto the ship until 4:30! We were very worried the entire drive over that we would not make it there in time, and the ship would leave without us! But our shuttle drive assured us when we parked we would be fine.

 

First impression: Enchantment is beautiful!!! Most of you have been on several cruises before, so I'm you are all familiar with the feeling of awe and beauty... we were all astounded with what we saw. The ship is so massive (even being a "smaller ship") and there were so many decks to explore. We had adjoining rooms, so we decided to start doing some research on the compass and plan our day...

 

 

only to be interrupted by an announcement informing us we had to go to muster!

 

After the muster drill, which was a bit cramped, we went off to the pool deck and decided to eat... more... nachos! Complimentary nachos on the pool deck! Hooray.

 

We decided to locate all the areas - windjammer, viking lounge, rock climbing wall, solarium, chopz grille, the theater. There was so many places to go. The shops were very pretty, but I was warned beforehand that the prices aren't very reasonable (and they looked somewhat expensive).

 

We spent hours exploring the ship, going deck by deck until we finally realized we hadn't eaten for hours! So we headed to the windjammer and ate there for dinner, still adjusting to our jetlag.

 

Afterwards we headed to the viking lounge and take part in the silent disco (?). For those who are unaware, the silent disco is where you are given headphones with two options: one to adjust the volume, and the second to choose between two stations which DJs are playing. The music usually doesn't match up (one is fast, the other is slower), so it's quite comical to dance to one music whereas your partner/the room is dancing to another! There were times where I would want to slow dance and my partner was doing gangnam style (at least, I think that's the song he was listening too!).

 

Afterwards, we decided to call it a night as we eagerly looked forward to our next day on Royal's private island, Coco Cay. We went back to our room earlier than our friends, filled out a breakfast card, and went to sleep.

 

Up Next: Coco Locos and Formal Night!

 

edit: I want to apologize as this is taking longer than I expected to recap. I will try to finish as much as I can of it tomorrow, I promise.

[Philly Steve]

Welcome to cruise critic and glad to see you're starting off with a bang. :D Universal is like a vacation within a vacation, isn't it?

[Valmoisy]

I'm loving your review. Can't wait to read the rest of it!

[cruiserking]

Enjoying your review CaligUrl1216, looking forward to more of it. We're also heading to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter during our February cruise on Explorer and can't wait.

 

Jonathan

[FinallyCruisinIn2014]

We are sailing on Enchantment for our first cruise in April so I am soaking up your report so far - thank you! keep it coming!!

 

I hope you post a lot of pictures :D (hint hint)

[CaLigUrL1216]

One thing I forgot to mention is on Day 1 we did the welcome party at the Orpheum theater which was a must do! Drinks, dancing, and a great comedian. Our cruise director was terrific and so energetic! He seems so happy all the time and we saw him many times around the ship and would say hi, he would shake our hands and smile and ask us how we are doing - I guess all CD's are those type of people who really light up a room when they walk in with their positive attitude. Now moving on to...

 

Coco Cay Day

 

 

I cannot say enough good things about this place. If you are going on any ship that makes Coco Cay stop, you are in for a treat! This private island is tiny, but don't let that fool you. It takes a bit of a walk to even get to one place or another.

 

Since the boat doesn't dock, there is 2 boats that tender you over to Coco Cay every 15 minutes starting at I believe 8 am. We left at 10 am, and even started to see some people head back as early as then! Once we got out, there is a straw market here which if you plan on staying all day, you should definitely buy something right here - as they close around 4 pm so you don't want to cut it too close. However, you might get a better price if you negotiate with them before they close up shop ;).

 

Our first order of business was to head to sign up for the jet skis!. We were so excited to do the tour, it's about $129 for a couple for 20-30 minutes of instruction then 50 minutes on the water. You pay for one driver/passenger, and can switch midway through so each person gets some time to drive.

 

Then we headed to barefoot beach, and I will let this picture do the talking.

 

 

Welcome to paradise! We saw a more experienced couple pull the beach chairs into the water. That was a great idea! If you plan on laying out, or tanning, or just relaxing, you should either get a hammock (they are all around the beach, mostly closer to where you tender though) or head over to Barefoot Beach and pull a chair into the water and just enjoy the view.

 

After a little while a new couple came over to us and let us know there was a baby shark swimming near the shore. AHHHHHHHHHHHH. I'm terrified of sharks! (And fish!). Just as I was about to run out of the water a waiter came by and asked us if we would like some Coco Locos (which we read about on CC). 4 please!

 

The Coco Locos definitely helped me get my mind of the baby shark (irrational fear I know). Afterwards the couple that came over started to talk to us and ask us about ourselves and what we did, where we are from... and before you know it we added another friendly couple to our mix!

 

 

(new friends in background)

 

Eventually we all decided to go out and snorkel. As I mentioned earlier I have a huge fear of sharks and fish. I don't know why I thought I would be fine, maybe it was the view, or the coco loco rum taking effect, but as soon as I got out in the water and saw fish I started to have a panic attack :(. My bf took me aside and has never seen me like this, so we headed back to the beach and laid down. I told him it's ok but he said he didn't want to head out without me. I urged him to go and finally he relented.

 

 

After 30 minutes of enjoying myself I notice a familiar figure swim towards me...

[CaLigUrL1216]

It was my bf! I decide to to record a little view of him for a vacation video as he paddled out. I ask him if he was tired and he starts describing the crystal clear water and all the beautiful fish. He noted the fish don't swarm you and it's just like looking at an aquarium, and if I wanted, he would hold my hand and go slowly the entire way if I want. I decided to muster up the courage after my Rocky pep talk and head on out... and you know what... it was BEAUTIFUL! You must snorkel if you go to Coco Cay. It really adds to the experience!

 

After we came in famished, the new couple informed us it looks like a storm is coming in :( We headed to get our lunch and it started to drizzle rain. One recommendation: get to the food early! They start I believe at 11:30 and all the covered seating is taken up quickly. If you travel during offseason you don't want to be caught with rainy food (even the buffet doesn't cover the food and the water lands on it). I didn't enjoy my food very much and neither did the other girls, but didn't let that deter my mood. All the boys ate all their food... yuck.

 

We then headed back to jet ski area and then they informed us that they would be closing down for the day, as there is another possible storm that may swoop by and they can't risk it :( I was heartbroken. We found a nearby jet ski on land and decided to take some pictures on it as that would be the closest we would get.

 

After 40 minutes of rain, the weather really cleared up. By this time, a lot of people had left the island - so this private island just got more private! One thing to note is apparently the storms are very hit or miss (a thing I learned from these boards) so you should really wait some of them out!

 

We decided to snorkel again and had some fun naming the fish, then headed in, went to the solarium for a bit and relaxed, then got ready for formal night.

 

Up Next: Formal Night!

[Robrud]

Love your report! We are planning our first Enchantment cruise, with our kids tho, so love hearing all the details!

Thanks

[CaLigUrL1216]

Formal Night

 

As early as 5 pm I saw many people dressed up to the nines. Many people also decided not to dress up at all as well. I don't think I saw anyone in a tuxedo, and perhaps that is a sign of the times changing, or the fact that it's a shorter cruise. So if you are planning on dressing business casual, that will work fine on shorter cruises (I can't comment on longer ones).

 

In the end, I'm glad for two things:

 

1) The boys decided to bring tuxedos beforehand

2) That we made reservations at Chops

 

We made reservations as soon as we got back from Coco Cay. They said they were busy until 9 pm, and that suited us fine. As I mentioned earlier we relaxed at the solarium (snuck in a small bite at park cafe) and then got dressed.

 

Once we arrived at Chops we were immediately seated and noticed half the place was empty, which we didn't mind and actually enjoyed - as it gave a more imitate feel. The service immediately strikes you as exemplary - you are catered to hand and food, and they go out of their way to make sure you get exactly what you want. There is unlimited appetizers, so we asked our waiter to surprise us, and he did exactly that! He came back with 9 appetizers! The boys were very happy, but we could've stopped a bit earlier.

 

For our main course we all got steak. I had the filet meanwhile my bf got the porter (pictured below)

 

 

We got a bottle of cab for the table and started to indulge ourselves. After our main course, our waiter asked if we had room for desert. My bf's eyes lit up and he ordered 2 deserts to go, which at the time he assumed were all included in the cost. Well they were, if you mean additional cost. Haha the waiter apologized when we received our bill and actually took the deserts we ordered to go on the house :)

 

 

After our meal, we decided to walk around a bit at the shops and on the pool deck. The alcohol prices and cigar prices seem reasonable, perhaps a difference of 2-3 dollars here and there compared the land prices. They were showing a movie on the pool deck, and actually had nfl football on the night before. So it seems a prevalent theme that something at nights will be on.

 

When we got near the gym/spa/rock climbing area (also near Viking Crown lounge) we ran into some familiar faces yet again... it was our friends from Coco Cay!

 

They had just got back from eating at My Fair Lady and were headed for a walk as well. We decided to head into the Viking Crown to get a drink and ended up sharing more stories and taking some pictures.

 

 

The night started to wear on us and we decided to retire back to our room and watch a movie and eat our desert. They were showing a movie I never even heard of before, it had Woody Harrelson and Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and that kid from the Facebook movie. They were all magicians, who all emerged out of obscurity and ended up becoming famous and robbing Michael Caine of millions. They then framed Morgan Freeman for the crime. The movie didn't make any sense at all and now I know why I didn't hear of it (I'm sorry if I ruined it for you, honestly the movie was quite terrible). I was kind of wishing we would have caught the Hobbit.

 

Important note: The movies in the room rotate on a schedule, so if you miss a movie you want to see you can always check the channel list and see when it comes on again. They also have a channel devoted to cruise activities which our cruise director was on, which shows all activities for the NEXT DAY which is really helpful if you are at lost of things to do.

 

Up Next: Nassau and John Watling's Distillery

[CaLigUrL1216]

Welcome to cruise critic and glad to see you're starting off with a bang. :D Universal is like a vacation within a vacation, isn't it?

 

Yes it is! I wish I lived closer to Florida, it is absolutely so nice and we would've opted for the season passes if we knew we would be back soon.

[CaLigUrL1216]

I'm loving your review. Can't wait to read the rest of it!

 

thank you! that is very kind :) I was very nervous about writing one as I always been a long time reader!

[CaLigUrL1216]

Enjoying your review CaligUrl1216, looking forward to more of it. We're also heading to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter during our February cruise on Explorer and can't wait.

 

Jonathan

 

Wizarding World of Harry Potter is fantastic! They really, really immerse you in the world of Harry Potter. All the buildings are designed fantastically, they is (I believe) 3 rides there you can go on. The 3D adventure is a must! It's a mix of Soarin California (a ride in the California Universal) and Spiderman, but a bit more intense. There is butterbeer there as well!

 

We are sailing on Enchantment for our first cruise in April so I am soaking up your report so far - thank you! keep it coming!!

 

I hope you post a lot of pictures :D (hint hint)

 

Thank you so much! I wish I took more pictures, but we mainly have video from the trip. Also there is a review out by MrFunInTheSun who did a back to back Enchantment of the Seas cruise, and he posted a ton of pictures of the ship! Here is the link just in case: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1881918

[CaLigUrL1216]

Love your report! We are planning our first Enchantment cruise, with our kids tho, so love hearing all the details!

Thanks

 

Your kids will love it! There is so much to do, and see, and it's really hard to do it all in the time you think you have ;)

[Schifftybabe]

Enjoying your report already! I will be heading out on my first cruise on this ship in February. :)

 

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Forums mobile app

[CaLigUrL1216]

Enjoying your report already! I will be heading out on my first cruise on this ship in February. :)

 

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Forums mobile app

 

First cruise!!! :) So excited for you!!! I'm already dreaming of going back!

 

More desert pics:

 

 

[CruiserJul]

Thanks for the review! We are going on her in December. It will be our first RCI cruise! I will do a review upon our return and I will take notes on how RCI and Carnival compare. Can't wait to go to Coco Cay :D!

[LBumb]

great pics

[Robinola]

More, please.

[CaLigUrL1216]

Thanks for the review! We are going on her in December. It will be our first RCI cruise! I will do a review upon our return and I will take notes on how RCI and Carnival compare. Can't wait to go to Coco Cay :D!

 

Coco Cay is definitely has the prettiest beaches out there! I highly recommend you maximize your time there, and try a coco loco.

 

It's very easy to get tired and want to pack it in a bit earlier, but you can do that on Nassau day (why is Nassau day so long btw?)

[CaLigUrL1216]

great pics

 

thank you so much. I was worried because I didn't have a lot of the pics from the ship, but I figure people can just dig around and find them (there are lots of great reviews out there!)

[CaLigUrL1216]

More, please.

 

absolutely! Sorry got caught up with reading. Posting update now.

[CaLigUrL1216]

one more picture from formal night