Getting Enchanted with Royal Caribbean. Enchantment of the Seas Review 10/27-10/31

[mickev99]

Sunshinecruiser ... ... your other reviews have all been fantastic, but this one for sure is my favorite. The way you write makes me feel like I've known you for years and we're just sitting in person chatting about your cruise. You're one of the most entertaining reviewers on here .... great storyteller, but also u pack your reviews with great info and outstanding pics.

 

You are a riot and I bet you're a blast to hang around with. Keep up the incredible review, girl! You're blowing alotta people away with it! !!

 

 

 

It broke my heart just reading that .. I would have lost it just seeing that happen ... I've seen those poor horses there too .. I always have to just look away .. such a sad existence for such beautiful creatures.

 

 

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I see that you are taking the same Indy cruise in June that I am taking at the end of July. I would love some info when you get back...mainly I wanted to see a cruise compass on the day of San Juan. I haven't been able to find one when there is a port that is docked in the evening. I was wondering about daytime ship activities, if the dining schedules are changed, etc. It's going to be awesome!!!

[F27TW]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I see that you are taking the same Indy cruise in June that I am taking at the end of July. I would love some info when you get back...mainly I wanted to see a cruise compass on the day of San Juan. I haven't been able to find one when there is a port that is docked in the evening. I was wondering about daytime ship activities, if the dining schedules are changed, etc. It's going to be awesome!!!

 

Mick: happy to help you out ! drop me an email to F27TW@AOL.COM and we can chat about it.

[Canadian Tyler]

Sunshinecruiser ... ... your other reviews have all been fantastic, but this one for sure is my favorite.

 

Sunshine, can you post links to your past reviews? Would enjoy reading them.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[FloridaGram]

I sure hope you get this done tomorrow! I leave Monday on the Enchantment. I just got off the Carnival Liberty Friday and spent last Thursday at Half Moon Cay. In looking at your pictures Coco Cay is no comparison. But a day in the Bahamas is sure better than being at home!

 

We are newly retired so trying RCCL after a back to back on Carnival to see which line we prefer. I feel like we need to commit to one line to get up to higher levels.

 

Anything you can advise before I leave would be greatly appreciated. Do you prefer CCL or RCCL? So are we supposed to get reservations for dinner? What would be the point of any time dining if you have to do that? On CCL we just got there early and had the same servers every night. We loved it!

 

By the way, I too enjoy your writing and humor.

[Clarea]

I sure hope you get this done tomorrow! I leave Monday on the Enchantment. I just got off the Carnival Liberty Friday and spent last Thursday at Half Moon Cay. In looking at your pictures Coco Cay is no comparison. But a day in the Bahamas is sure better than being at home!

 

We are newly retired so trying RCCL after a back to back on Carnival to see which line we prefer. I feel like we need to commit to one line to get up to higher levels.

 

Anything you can advise before I leave would be greatly appreciated. Do you prefer CCL or RCCL? So are we supposed to get reservations for dinner? What would be the point of any time dining if you have to do that? On CCL we just got there early and had the same servers every night. We loved it!

 

By the way, I too enjoy your writing and humor.

You are not required to have reservations for dinner if you have My Time Dining. You may be encouraged to make reservations, but it's up to you.

[mpoole3]

I sure hope you get this done tomorrow! I leave Monday on the Enchantment. I just got off the Carnival Liberty Friday and spent last Thursday at Half Moon Cay. In looking at your pictures Coco Cay is no comparison. But a day in the Bahamas is sure better than being at home!

 

We are newly retired so trying RCCL after a back to back on Carnival to see which line we prefer. I feel like we need to commit to one line to get up to higher levels.

 

Anything you can advise before I leave would be greatly appreciated. Do you prefer CCL or RCCL? So are we supposed to get reservations for dinner? What would be the point of any time dining if you have to do that? On CCL we just got there early and had the same servers every night. We loved it!

 

By the way, I too enjoy your writing and humor.

 

I also hope she finishes soon, it was just getting good!

 

Here are my reviews to hold you over from my Jan, June, & October cruise on Enchantment this year. I'd start with most recent and work back, it's my best one.

 

January: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1980397

 

June: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2059380

 

October: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44375399

Edited November 9, 2014 by mpoole3

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your wonderful review and great photo's.

[SunshineCruiser24]

 

Nassau Selfie!

 

 

 

One lady stopped and asked if I wanted her to take a picture. I told her no thank you, I love selfies! I even saw a pair of Asian tourists with the "selfie stick" (http://cdn1.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/11/Zuckerberg_selfie_stick_kogan.jpg) Yes, that's a real thing.

 

I was back on board. On the steep incline I accidentally managed to walk out of my shoes. Man, I'm a spazz sometimes!

 

Back on board, I had a delicious amazing salad

 

 

And then headed back to my room to pack a little bit so I wouldn't have too the next day. There is something so depressing about packing the day before you leave, it really signifies the end. I figured if I could get a jump on packing it would be less sad as it wouldn't be the end, I'd still have one more day!

 

I laid out some of my souveniers

 

and began rolling them in their papers to pack them in my suitcase. I decided to hand carry the my ocean stuff off the ship, even though I always always use self debark.

[SunshineCruiser24]

After my bags were mostly packed, I put the ruined towel ant eater's towels to work. I've taken this class several times on Carnival, so I made a towel Elephant to greet my steward when he turned down the room.

 

 

Oh... Notice the red/white pamphlet in the last two picture? I was handed that by a guy in front of the straw market who was concerned about the status of my soul.

 

I am always polite, listen to what they have to say, take the pamphlet and toss it later when they're not around.

 

From here I set out to roam the ship a little more. I stopped in Boleros and got the most delicious drink ever. A Mango Berry Daiquiri.

 

 

And from there, I made it up to Deck 9....heck, let's go all the way to Deck 11 this time! What's this? The Viking Crown Lounge?

 

THIS. Where has this been all my cruise?

 

 

 

[SunshineCruiser24]

 

 

It was super quiet here, the bartenders were very friendly and it was nice to sit and just look out the window and people watch the pool deck.

 

Time passed and I went down a deck to pop in to the arcade, just to say I've been there. To get to the arcade you have to go down the hall by the nursery towards the teen club.

 

 

 

 

From here I went outside.

 

There we had the Carnival Fantasy

 

[SunshineCruiser24]

And of course Nassau

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2014 by SunshineCruiser24

[SunshineCruiser24]

There was music playing from the Norwegian Pretty Flowers on the Side. The crew were out with music playing and dancing as their passengers reboarded. They were having a blast, wearing lei's and grass skirts. Kind of made me a bit envious... when I reboarded on RCI, there was no fan fare, no dancing crew members.

 

The sun began to set, and it turned the sky beautiful colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset Selfie!!

Edited November 10, 2014 by SunshineCruiser24

[mattwright]

 

And from there, I made it up to Deck 9....heck, let's go all the way to Deck 11 this time! What's this? The Viking Crown Lounge?

 

THIS. Where has this been all my cruise?

 

I've lost track of the number of times we've been in the Viking Crown Lounge late in the course of a cruise, hear the elevator doors open, and then guests exclaim "Ohmygosh, why haven't we found this place before now?!?"

 

Being so prominently visible from the pool and sports decks, you'd think everybody would see it and want to get up there to check it out. Of course, I've also heard people comment that the Viking Crown must be the bridge, so in that case they'd assume it must be off-limits to guests.

 

The Viking Crown has always been our favorite location onboard, so we're disappointed to hear that it may be phased out throughout the fleet in favor of new suites or private venues.

[SunshineCruiser24]

Yeah.. That was totally my thing. I could see it but I thought it was the bridge.

[SunshineCruiser24]

 

 

 

 

[SunshineCruiser24]

I headed down to the Windjammer for dinner. After my horrible experience the night before, I wasn't going to go to the dining room for dinner again... That's a little sad, though, because I love eating in the MDR. I love it so much, than on my other cruises I only ate in the buffet for breakfast or lunch when the MDR and other food options was closed. So that was a first for me, the Windjammer for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 

Dinner was great, filling, and not too crowded.

 

From here, I ended my day early with some reading in my cabin and then finally, to bed.

 

It wasn't too much after that that I was woken up by the snore to end all snores. It jarred me out of a peaceful, dreamy sleep in to the reality that I was not only sharing my cabin with my ex boyfriend, but that my ex boyfriend snores loud enough to wake the dead, and therefore me.

 

This time, it irritated me so much. I don't know what snapped, but I was absolutely angry that he was waking me up again. I'd had enough! I laid there, fuming. About the time I imagined myself bashing his face in with my fist, I decided it was best to take action. I got up, slipped on my flipflops and my jacket and left the cabin. I was headed for the shops, to see if I could buy some ear plugs there.

 

Unfortunately, I'd waited about 20 minutes too long. The shops were all closed. I went up to the windjammer, got a drink, and on my way back, I stopped on deck 5 and decided to go outside and sit for a bit, drinking, calming down before I go back to the cabin with assault on my mind.

 

It's very peaceful outside. Even though there was some music from the deck, sitting in the dark, even though we were still in port, was very calming.

 

Once I felt like my violent urges were pacified, I went back to the cabin where he was still snoring away, and decided to put in my headphones. Now, I will remind you that I'm afraid of almost everything, including getting tangled up in my headphones and strangled to death by their cords. ( I told my mom this on the way home, she said "Don't worry, if you'd died I'd sue the company that makes the ear phones." as if that is any kind of consolation if I was DEAD. )

 

Another problem, I stream almost all of my music, even the music I own, I play from Amazon Prime music, and it's not downloaded to my phone. I had three songs downloaded, so I put Shake it Off on loop.

 

That lasted maybe 10 minutes until I was totally over that song (My ex man brought his new girlfriend she's like oh my god... AUGH. ) and I opted for something better. I had downloaded the entirety of Firefly to my Kindle, and decided I would fall asleep listening to one of those episodes.

 

And so I did. And when I was woken up after, I just started on another episode.

 

This brings us too...

 

The one and only Sea Day! And the last day of our cruise, bummer!

 

[SunshineCruiser24]

I got up and got ready as stealthily as possible. Pushing my last dining room experience from my mind, I was in the mood for some yummy, not cold pancakes and decided to try the MDR for breakfast. After all, there were no set dining times, it was open seating, so I wasn't likely to be seated with people in the middle of breakfast.

 

So up I went, there was almost no line as it was still early. I'd brought along the Compass, and my Kindle.

 

The table I was seated at was full, there was an adorable lady from Thailand, two couples who were related. The wives were cousins, one was hard of hearing, and then a younger couple and me.

 

I ordered the pancakes with apple juice. Everyone I was seated with was very nice, but the tables were large and I don't hear incredibly well.. I think I have hearing loss from working in ambulances, my mother says I just don't listen. A lot of the time, if I'm seated further away from people then I'd like, I employ the smile and nod and look interested method. I'm not exceedingly good at it, but sometimes it smooths things over. Otherwise I feel like kind of a butt hole with the cosntant "What?" "Huh?" "Sorry, I can't hear you." I am not very good conversation in crowded, noisy establishments.

 

The food arrived, the apple juice came first, but I let it sit waiting for my pancakes. The pancakes were awful. Absolutely awful. I don't know if it was the syrup or the orange garnish but they tasted sickly fruity sweet. They were also cold. The apple juice was too tart. It was a chore to finish the breakfast.

 

After I'd finished, I was craving some better breakfast, and headed down to the Windjammer for hashbrowns and ham. Yum!

[bosoxfan5]

I am loving your review/story!! I am booked on the Enchantment next year and am looking forward to it even more now. Thank you for writing. I can't wait to read the next entries! :)

[pikester]

I was trying to get a good idea what the Enchantment would be like. With your awesome review, I know that we are going to have a great time. Waiting for the next installment.

[Nemomof3]

So with you wanting to bash his face in for snoring I guess we aren't going to hear "we fell back in love in the enchantment" huh? Glad you could enjoy you time anyway! :)

[SunshineCruiser24]

From More Breakfast, I headed up to the shops with the intention of getting ear plugs, but I was quickly derailed as soon as I walked in, and I began to look at the bags, the cups, the magnets.

 

I ended up buying this adorable little bag. It was big enough to hold my kindle, my cell phone, and my sea pass card!

 

 

Wow, finally I wouldn't have to have my pockets weighted down with my phone and my wallet causing my jeans to slide down my butt! I could carry them in this cute, nautical themed bag! Or so I thought..

 

From purchasing this bag I went back to my cabin to get rid of my wallet and to pack it full of my "stuff" and headed off to Boleros, to find a quiet place to sit and read... with, of course, a delicious Mango Berry Daiquiri!

 

 

They were in the middle of a trivia game when I sat down, something regarding celebrity school/baby pictures. The social hosts seemed to be fun and engaging and good at their jobs, they seemed to enjoy what they were doing. I'm sure it gets repetitive... the same games every cruise, the same answers, probably the same jokes, but they make it seem like this was the most fun EVER.

 

I was interested in seeing what the prize was. Unlike Carnival, where they win ships on a stick, they were winning Royal Caribbean hats. I'd rather have ship specific ships on a stick, but that's just me. I wasn't playing this anyway.

 

There was a trivia game that interested me later in the day, Harry Potter. Do you know what I'd been reading on my kindle? I've been rereading all of the Harry Potter books. It was like I was meant to play that trivia game!

 

I ordered another drink, this time a lava flow.

 

There was an overhead announcement about a dance class and a.... cake decorating activity? Not something that I've seen on Carnival so after I finished another chapter of my book, I packed up my bag, and headed down to the Centrum to grab a seat. The dance class was in full swing, it was super cute, they were doing a grease lightning dance. Everyone involved seemed to be having a great time!

 

 

 

After everyone danced the dance they were taught, they had a couple line dances, the electric slide, and one other that I don't quite recall. I love line dances, so I hopped up and joined. I have no rhythm, and I forget the steps even though I've done them quite a few times before.

 

After that, I returned to my seat and settled back in to my book as kids in costume began to file in to the Centrum. They were having a trick or treat activity, since it was the day before Halloween. All the kids got a treat bag and they had clues they had to follow to the next candy.

 

And finally... the cake decorating was to begin.

 

They had three sheets of cake and various topping plus a bottle of liquor. Three teams had to use the sheet of cake and all their topping and liquor to make a cruise ship shaped cake.

 

When he asked for volunteers for teams I raised my hand, but sadly wasn't picked.

 

To make things interesting, they had to do it with one hand behind their back.

 

[SunshineCruiser24]

 

In the middle of the contest, this little scamp darted across the "stage". She was totally adorable.

 

 

And the CD decided to "help" the decorators out.

 

 

And in Third Place...

 

 

I'm thinking this was a "side view"

 

In Second Place...

 

And the winning cake is....

[SunshineCruiser24]

They did a GOOD job!! They were serving the cake, and they had a non-alcohol drenched black forest cake for the kids to eat. I didn't stick around to eat the cake.

 

From here, I stopped up on deck 5 and grabbed a customs form, I had some time to kill and headed back to my cabin to fill it out. I put my SeaPass in the slot, took it out, and it flashed red. Hmmm.. I shoved it in again and pulled it out a little slower. Red. jammed it in there and yanked it out super fast. RED. GRR! What is going on!? I smacked the door in frustration just as my cabin steward came swooping out from a nearby cabin. "It's not working? No worries, I'll let you in!" He really was a godsend. If he was in the hall when I was coming back to the cabin throughout the cruise, he'd insist on opening the door for me so I didn't have to fumble and grab my sea pass while carrying a ton of stuff.

Edited November 11, 2014 by SunshineCruiser24

[SunshineCruiser24]

Well now I was in the cabin, so I settled down to fill out the customs form but... there was no pen! Anywhere! I checked all the drawers, and all around the vanity.

 

Carnival leaves a pad of paper and a Carnival branded pen in all the cabins, but as I hadn't had to write anything down yet, I hadn't noticed that Royal Caribbean doesn't. Seriously? Pens are so cheap... And I LOVE writing with my Carnival pen at work. It reminds me why I need my job when I get frustrated. Couldn't cruise on what unemployment pays!

 

Well, I needed to head to guest services anyway to get my card re-done, I could see if they had a pen there. So off I went.

 

There was never really much of a line at guest services, and today was no exception. I waited patiently until the GSR was ready and then I sheepishly approached the desk "This won't work." Sliding my SeaPass to him. "Not a problem!" and he activated another card and even put another Replenish package sticker on it. That was painless enough.

 

I totally forgot to ask for a pen, put my SeaPass back in my bag, and decided I was hungry and it was time for lunch.

 

I had my last salad from the salad bar for lunch. I totally miss the salad bar, I'd eat it every day if I could. After my salad I wandered over to the dessert section and tried their oatmeal cookie and a lemon cookie. The lemon cookie was delicious and soft, the oatmeal cookie was chewy and yummy.

 

Back to Boleros to wait for... HARRY POTTER TRIVIA!!

 

But first... a stop at Ben and Jerry's.

 

 

I got just plain old Vanilla. The prices are high, the toppings are extra, and they add gratuity to it. It was a nice treat, but there is ice cream in the Windjammer. During the day, they have the soft serve machine going and at night there is hand scooped hard ice cream and it may have just been me but I think the taste was slightly off. I wouldn't spend my money on this a second time.

[SunshineCruiser24]

Finally, to Boleros! Harry Potter trivia! Yes!

 

Except I was too early. They were folding napkins. I sat that out and read my Kindle. At the tail end of towel folding a really obnoxious group came in going "If you're here for Harry Potter trivia, just go home because I'm the ultimate fan!" He apparently even had a Harry Potter tattoo. Oh wow, a tattoo... You must know EVERYTHING then. It was bad enough that they said it once, but he said it a few times. Really now, I enjoy bantering as much as the next person but man.. don't be obnoxious about it. I knew I did NOT want this guy to win.

 

I got my paper and had to pick a "team name", I named myself The Remembrall because I am going to remember what OTHERS forgot about HP, and because I adore Neville.

 

And then, there was a catch. The host said that the questions would be based off the movie verse, not the book verse. Crap.

 

Surprisingly, I was very confident in all of my answers, except the one about how long, according to the MOVIE, had Sirius Black been in jail, which was funny because I JUST watched this movie before the cruise.