Trip Review: Enchantment of the Seas 10/7/13

[UTVolsFan4Life]

 

Then we walked down to the pier at Senor Frogs and took some pictures and met a nice couple who took a picture for us and we took a picture for them.

 

 

 

 

 

Cynthia finally got in the mood for a picture.

 

[UTVolsFan4Life]

 

 

Look at the water at Senor Frogs. Amazingly Beautiful!

 

 

 

Bye Senor!

 

[UTVolsFan4Life]

 

We then headed back down Bay Street stopping at several shops along the way. After a short walk we came to an area that looked less of a tourist area and we turned around and headed back to the port. We checked out the vendors at the port and then decided we had done enough shopping and we got back on the ship. We took a few pictures of course.

 

 

 

 

 

[UTVolsFan4Life]

We liked it so much we had to come back. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to our room and decided it was time to cool off in the Solarium Pool. We stopped by for an ice cream cone. The Solarium Pool was quite nice and I found a place in the shade to just relax. Cynthia came over a time later and laid in the shallow part of the pool. After a while I was cooled off and was ready to relax in a lounge chair so I made my way over to the bar for a drink of the day and the came back to enjoy.

 

I have to run for now, but I will be back as soon as possible to finish day three with some magic.

[hansolosmom]

So sorry about the bummer anniversary dinner. Like someone else said in a year or so you guys will laugh about it

[UTVolsFan4Life]

It was about 4:30 PM and we were docked a long side our friend the Carnival Ecstasy and they were due to leave so I went to take some pictures and to see if there would be any boat runners. There were no boat runners however, there were a few groups that clearly boarded after the appointed time and the ship personnel looked to be kindly letting them know that they were about to be left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UTVolsFan4Life]

 

I guess this is sand that was stirred up from the Ecstasy.

 

 

I went back for Cynthia and then we went back to our room to get ready for pictures and dinner. We took our pictures fairly quickly and then did some walking around before dinner at 7:30 PM. The service was much better this time around and the assistant waiter was on point with the gluten free bread and making sure that everything was excellent for us. I cannot quite remember what I had but I know that Cynthia was able to have some gluten free pasta with a special sauce that they made for her based on what she could eat. It was rather tasty and she was starting to feel better about the food she was receiving on the ship.

 

Our Starters for the evening:

 

 

 

After dinner, we headed over to the Magic show which was about a 45 minute performance that we highly enjoyed.

 

[UTVolsFan4Life]

 

 

 

 

 

[UTVolsFan4Life]

 

 

 

 

 

Our plan was to wait up for the midnight sail away party as I hear it’s special but again, we fell asleep before we knew what happened.

 

 

I will be back later for our last full day on the ship, Day 4: Sea Day. :mad:

[CaLigUrL1216]

I'm so sorry to hear about that formal night mishap! :(

 

I really enjoyed your coco cay pictures :)

[Lexi731]

It was nice to meet you at the sail away - hope to sail with you again!

 

Karen

[cruizinrican]

We sail the Enchantment of the Seas November 18th and couldn't be any more excited! I love your review and all the beautiful pictures. I was sorry to hear about anniversary night being such a nightmare. Cant wait to read the rest.

 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! :cool:

[Hobbsey]

After dinner, we headed over to the Magic show which was about a 45 minute performance that we highly enjoyed. [/size][/font]

QUOTE]

 

Thanks for sharing the pix of the Magic Show. On our recent cruise earlier in the month I was chosen to be "Harry Potter" (I'm 56). and had a blast being a semi celeb for the next two days. But I wasn't able to actually see myself. My Dad didn't think to take a picture.

[UTVolsFan4Life]

Thanks for all the nice comments. It's been a crazy week at work and I had a client on-site. I hope to get started posting again tomorrow night.

 

See everyone soon!

[UTVolsFan4Life]

Good Saturday morning to everyone! It's a very cool morning here in Southwest Georgia and it's looking like it will be turning into a wonderful fall day. I have terribly missed being able to finish up this review but, work took an interesting twist this week and I needed to make that my top priority. After all, it does fund this cruise addiction. :D

 

My goal is to finish this review up over the next couple of days along with the comparisons that I have promised. So, I hope that everyone will come on back, kick back, relax, and enjoy the rest of my review.

[UTVolsFan4Life]

This was a day that we did not need to rush as we had nowhere to be in a hurry. We slept later this morning and we decided that we would try to eat in the MDR for breakfast. We arrived with about 30 minutes to spare before closing. We sat at a table with several couples including a couple from Egypt. I think that the discussion from this group was the most interesting and unique of the whole trip. The discussion turned a little political in several topics but everyone had an interesting opinions and it was a true discussion and not everyone trying to change your mind type of situation. Cynthia convinced me that I should start trying to eat more gluten free items with her so for breakfast we both ordered a gluten free salmon and veggie omelet with a side of grits. The MDR has a nice area that you can get fruit, cereal, and pastries while you are waiting for your meal.

After breakfast, we found our way back to the fitness center where we joined a seminar about detoxing for weight loss. We really enjoyed the seminar and learned a few things that we did not already know and that was not discussed when we sat in on the same seminar when on Carnival.

After the seminar, we just hung out around the ship until we realized that it was almost time for the MDR to close for lunch. We were just in time for the salad bar where they make the salad to your recommendation and they had gluten free dressing. Cynthia had another fish dish and I had a gluten free turkey burger.

After lunch, we headed back to the room and changed for some time in the Solarium hot tub. There were two hot tubs in the Solarium, one of them was slammed packed and the other one had one older guy in it that claimed that it was broken. Cynthia got in and I headed for the bar for my favorite Strawberry Daiquiri. I was in luck as it was happy hour and the drink was half off. I came back to hot tub and another older couple had joined in and somehow the hot tub started working. The older man was kind of rude to me because I was having a drink in a glass while my feet were in the hot tub. He quickly got out and the other older couple got out a little later. I think they did not like the fact that when the first guy said something to me about the drink and I did not get out that they thought we were some young party couple and the lady gave us the evil eye the whole rest of the time. Sure, I saw the sign with all of the rules and something about no glasses in the pool or hot tub. As I looked around, there were tons of people with glass containers in the pool and the other hot tub. I was not even in the hot tub fully and when I was done with my drink glass I moved it back to my chair so that it could be picked up without incident. After a short time in the hot tub to ourselves we were joined to another couple who was very friendly and we got a great deal of cruising advice from them as this was their 7th Royal Caribbean Cruise. A little later, another couple came up and we were having a great cruise discussion. We kept saying that we needed to leave and get ready for dinner but we kept talking.

 

Here are some pictures of the Solarium that I look later that evening:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UTVolsFan4Life]

We managed to get back to our room and get ready for pictures. We took pictures with several outfits since it was our last night. After pictures, we strolled through the shops and made some final purchases and then headed to dinner at 7:30 PM. We again choose the same table and the service was again better than the night before. Our assistant waiter not only remembered our gluten free bread but he remembered that we requested only the regular bread which I believe he said was made with rice flour. The other specialty breads were good, just really not our favorites. I tried the lasagna; it was excellent but just too small. Cynthia tried the eggplant parmesan for the first time and loved it. Our assistant waiter went out of his way to get her some gluten free cookies from the Windjammer since there was not a desert that she could eat. It turned out they were her favorite Udi’s Chocolate Chip Cookies.

 

It's a little blurry, but Cynthia was being a little silly since she was so happy that she found her favorite cookies.

 

 

After going back to the room to change into something more comfortable, we walked around the ship and took a few more pictures. I loved the pool deck at night and I wished we would have spent more time out there.

 

 

 

I loved these!

 

 

 

 

 

[UTVolsFan4Life]

Before I finish Day 4, I have to share a picture with you that kept me laughing the entire trip.

 

Automatic Door

 

 

Push To Open Door :D

 

I do not know how many people, including us, came up to the door and expected it to open. It was this way all over the ship, and no matter how many times we went through them, somebody always had a problem. :D LOL

 

We went back to our room and started packing up to leave the next morning. I went down about 11:00 PM to get our photo CD so that we would not have to get it super early the next morning.

Up next: Time To Go Home Day

[UTVolsFan4Life]

I forget what time we got up but we made it to the MDR for breakfast by 8:00 AM. We made sure that were all ready to leave once we made our way back to our stateroom. We were in Group 12 which was scheduled to be in the Starlight lounge between 8:35 AM – 8:45 AM. As we were finishing breakfast we heard our group called which was perfect. We finished breakfast and headed back to the room. We were a little concerned as we had heard that they turn the elevators off to keep people from breaking in line but we never experienced that issue. Once in our room, we took about 5 minutes to arrange a few items and to do one last double-check of the room. What started to annoy me was that staff kept coming into the room even when one knocked and we said we were in there. Three different people did this and once Cynthia was in the restroom with the door wide open. Luckily, I was able to stop him from going further. I can understand the fact that it’s turn around day and they need to get the room ready but have a little respect. We left our room and headed straight off the ship without a line or issue. We went to baggage claim and quickly found our bags and there was a short wait for customs but it was not too long. Once outside the terminal, we quickly found our shuttle bus and there was a line waiting. A second and third bus pulled up and we were on our way back to the hotel. I believe that we were at our car by around 10:00 AM.

We made our way to I-95 North and stopped for gas around the Daytona Beach area. Cynthia requested that we stop by a Bed Bath & Beyond on the way home as she needed to pick something up so that she would not have to order it a week or two later and pay the shipping. Plus, she had an in-store only coupon. We made a detour to St. Augustine and got the item that she was looking for. It was lunch time so we started looking for something for lunch. We found a restaurant that Cynthia wanted to try as they said that it was a good place for gluten free stuff. The GPS was set and off we went to find that the place is only open for dinner. We decided that we would get on the road and find something closer to Jacksonville. We made it close to Jacksonville and was looking for another place to eat when Cynthia realized that we just pasted a restaurant that she had read about online and having a good gluten free selection. Perfect, I turned into the shopping center and we found a place to park. I was quite curious as I had never heard of this place… Red Elephant We had an awesome experience! There was quite a gluten free selection, the service was great, and the food was awesome. Cynthia and I decided to both get a personal pizza with different toppings. I could not believe that they give first time guests a free desert, the Elephant Ear. I enjoyed every bit of it since it was not gluten free, Cynthia did not eat any of it. The rest of the trip was uneventful and we made it home around 7 PM.

 

This completes the trip portion of the review. I will be back soon to follow-up with some further comparisons. The comparisons that I am thinking about are:

 

Food

Service

Unlimited Photo Package

Any others that I might think about while writing

 

If there are other areas that you would like me to review, please let me know and I will be happy to add it to the list.

 

I will leave you, for now, with one final picture from the unlimited photo package.

 

[Robinola]

What do you think of being gluten free on a cruise?

[cruzkrazy]

What a great picture of the two of you. Thanks for the review.

[UTVolsFan4Life]

What do you think of being gluten free on a cruise?

 

Excellent question! I am going to touch on this in my comparisons but I think if you are only looking for gluten free foods then you will have a nice selection. The problem for my wife was that she needed gluten free and the only meat she eats is fish and she has a lot of allergies. It seemed that the dishes in the Windjammer were always cooked with something that she could not eat or was a non-fish meat.

[UTVolsFan4Life]

I will start with the Photo Gallery and then move to the more important aspects in food and service.

Photo Gallery:

 

Let me get one thing off my chest before I begin with this section. I cannot believe the amount of paper that each cruise line uses on pictures that never get purchased. I would think that it would be much more cost effective to make the whole process digital and to only print the pictures that people may potentially want to purchase. Just my two cents, let’s move forward.

In my opinion, the perfect photo gallery would be a combination of what Carnival and Royal Caribbean offers. Let’s just go through each cruise line.

 

Carnival: About six different photo stations each night. There were opportunities to take random pictures around the ship, getting off the ship at each port of call, pictures in Half Moon Cay, and a picture in the MDR each night. There were so many pictures that we loved but we could not afford the almost $400 to take them home. We loved all the photographers except one was kind of creepy. :eek: They had a special package when you purchased your sail away photo that was a nice value.

Royal Caribbean: About six different photo stations for the whole cruise. Several were used more than one night. There was less opportunities to take random pictures and the photographers only came to the MDR for two of the four nights. We only really liked one of the photographers out of the group. We had to tell them when we blinked and some of the pictures were given to us were you could see the end of the scene.

A perfect picture...until you look to the right. What a shame :mad:

 

 

They have a Get the Picture Package that allows for unlimited pictures and one that allows for unlimited pictures as well as one print of each. I picked the unlimited digital package and I saved $50 by pre-paying online. Note: This is an international transaction and if your card has an international fee it will be charged. I think my card had a 3% fee and I was charged less than $4 or $5.

This one is a hard decision for me as I think it’s a clear decision that Carnival has better quality but Royal Caribbean has the better value. If Carnival offered something like Get the Picture then they would have the perfect photo gallery. I will give each of them a point.

Carnival 6 Royal Caribbean 6

 

Up Next: Food

[UTVolsFan4Life]

I just wanted to give a quick reply to let everybody know that I am still working on the comparisons. Unfortunately, money has been stolen out of my account through someone locally that somehow got my card number and the 3-digit security code from right under my nose. :eek: All my extra time has gone to getting this corrected but I hope to be back soon to finish up the comparisons.

[hansolosmom]

Oh no! Hate to hear that & hope you can get it resolved quickly. I just finished dealing with having one of my CC numbers stolen so I feel your pain.