Enchantment 11/7-Long

[shirleygr]

OK, here it is. A quick ;) review of our cruise on the Enchantment of the Seas.

 

Background: DH and I are in our mid 40's. This cruise was to celebrate our 7th anniversary and we were looking for rest, relaxation, and a lot of alone time.

 

Embarkation: We flew into FLL and passed our 2 young daughters to my in-laws. We kissed the girls goodbye and took the RC bus to the port. We arrived around 12:00 and were checked-in and on the ship, having lunch in the Windjammer by 12:30. We used SeaPass and it took about 3 minutes once we arrived at the window-highly recommended. Lunch was very nice with a large assortment and although there were quite a few people, the various stations made it very easy to get what you wanted without having to wait in a very long line.

 

Stateroom: We had a D1, balcony cabin, on deck 7. We were allowed in at 1:00. It was well laid out with plenty of storage space. We also enjoyed having the couch for an alternative place to sit. Our balcony had two chairs and a table large enough to enjoy breakfast or a snack. We certainly got our money's worth out of that balcony, too. We spent a good portion of our first sea day hanging out and reading there. It was also a lovely place to enjoy a drink.

The only downside was the bathroom which was very small, but I was expecting that so we were fine.

 

The Ship: In a word, the Enchantment is beautiful. The centrum is very impressive. We really enjoyed having a pre-dinner drink at the Champagne Terrace with live music. We also liked Boleros.

The show lounge was nice with good site lines and we saw three of the five shows they had there. I really liked that they did not do beverage service during the actual shows. I find that very annoying.

My husband did the rock climbing wall and we saw the trampolines, but didn't partake. Didn't use the spa so can't comment on that. We looked at the kids area and it looked nice. The arcade was very busy when we peeked in. Enjoyed the solarium pool but didn't use the main pool. The kids looked like they were having a great time in the splash zone. We never did make it up there at night to see the light show. Have to do that next time. :)

The dining room was very attractive and we LOVED Chops. As mentioned before, the Windjammer design worked very nicely and we never had a problem finding a table.

When we walked through the casino, it was very smokey.

 

Dining: We ate dinner at Chops the first night and I think they may have spoiled us a little bit for the rest of the cruise. Service and food are fabulous and well worth the $20 pp covercharge.

We ate in the dining room the other 4 nights and the food was good to great. I thought the grand marinier (sp?) souffle was excellent and the lobster was very tasty and tender. On the other hand, the filet on formal night wasn't as tender as I would have hoped and the portion was a tad small. The shrimp on the third night was good, but a little overcooked.

We ate lunch in the dining room once and I thought service was not up to par, but the food was very good. We ate other lunches in the Windjammer and it was consistently good with a nice variety. The rotisserie chicken was moist and tasty.

We had most of our breakfasts in our stateroom, on the balcony. Now that was the life! We also ate once in the Windjammer (Belize day) and in the dining room on our disembarkation day.

 

Romance Package: I surprised my dh with the romance package. On our first day, we received a bottle of wine and chocolate dipped strawberries. It was lovely. We also had canapes delivered to our stateroom on the afternoon of formal night and more strawberries after dinner that night. We opted to have our breakfast delivered on our second sea day and it was lovely. We had the mimosas and scrambled eggs with lox and caviar. Fabulous. Finally, the photo frame we received is lovely and we found an 8x10 we really liked to fill it.

 

Service: Our room steward was Ricky and he was just so much fun. He made the best towel animals and we enjoyed his pillow "sculptures" very much. He kept our room so clean and remembered we liked extra pillows and towels and made sure we were well stocked. I tipped him $10 on the first day when we made our requests, but I think we would have received top notch service from him anyway. You can always find Ricky in the hallway 'cause he's always singing. Just a really joyful soul to have around.

We had Albert in the dining room and he was great. Very efficient service without being overly solicitous. His recommendations were always on the mark. His assistant (whose name I can't remember) was good as well, but very quiet. I thought the head waiter was a little overbearing, but that's how it is sometimes.

In the Windjammer, we had wonderful service with a smile. Between cleaning tables, the servers would help out with bringing drinks and chatting with the guests. I thought this was especially nice.

We had most of our drinks at the Champagne Terrace and the ladies there were very friendly and poured a nice Bellini.

Carlos, the loyalty ambassador, was very congenial and helpful. I booked two cruises while on board!

The only bad service we received was at guest relations. The second day, I tried to purchase something in the gift shop and it wouldn't work. My dh was with me, so he took care of the purchase. We proceeded to the purser's desk and the person we spoke to couldn't understand why my card would not work while my husband's did. He had a list of passenger's whose credit cards had been declined and checked it in front of me and I could plainly see the names there. I thought that was bad form. He did fix it though and my card worked after that. I dealt with this same purser a second time and he was even less helpful than the first time. We dealt with another purser concerning tender service to Belize and he was downright rude to me. I would rather have incompetence than rudeness any day.

One other nitpicky thing: they did not have any ship maps available. I was told they have not updated them since the stretch and it was something I missed having to help me navigate my way around.

 

Key West: We have been there many times, so we took our time getting off the ship and walked around shopping. We went to Kermit's Key West Key Lime Shop and had a slice of frozen, chocolate dipped key lime pie. We were sad to find the little coffee shop next door was gone and Kermit's had expanded into that space. That has been a little tradition for us, to get a slice of pie and a cup of coffee there.

We also went to the Pirate Soul Museum Gift Shop and got some cool tshirts for my 17 yo and his girlfriend, but didn't actually go through the museum. For something different, we went to the KW Winery and had some samples and bought two bottles to bring home.

 

Belize: The ship had arranged for a separate tender for those passengers wanting to disembark early, but not on a ship excursion so we had no problems getting into the tourism village in time for our cave tubing trip with Coral Breeze. This was a highlight of our cruise and I have posted a full review on the Belize Board if you want more details.

 

Disembarkation: This was unfortunately a hassle. Having to be out of our stateroom by 8, we were told to wait in the Spotlight Lounge, but because customs was in the conference room right there, we couldn't get in there to wait. We ended up waiting in the stairwell just outside Chops for our color to be called. It was a long wait and the lines snaked through the centrum. Everyone was asked not to wait in the centrum on deck 4, but many people did anyway. We did eventually get off the ship, but I can't help but think there has to be a better way to get 2000+ people off the ship. However, that is a conundrum for smarter folks than I.

 

Conclusion: A wonderful, relaxing cruise on a really nice ship. Although we missed going to Cozumel, we really enjoyed the relaxing sea day we had instead. We are booked on the Enchantment for April '06 (4 day) and April '07 (Jamaica and Grand Cayman). We are also considering doing this same cruise again next November, although I'm looking at a 6 day on the Radiance as well.

 

If you have any questions, I have copies of the Compass and will do my best to help you.

[Vyhanek]

Thank you for your review.

 

I have a question for you......What time do you think you actually were able to disembark?

 

Also about disembarkation, was it an option to carry off your suitcase yourself - (self disembark)?

 

What did you order at Chops? Did you like the shows?

 

TIA! Stephanie

[yogimax]

We were on the same cruise and your review is right on the mark. I just wonder how you could have forgotten Captain Per and his wonderful sense of humor?

[yogimax]

Thank you for your review.

 

I have a question for you......What time do you think you actually were able to disembark?

 

Also about disembarkation, was it an option to carry off your suitcase yourself - (self disembark)?

 

What did you order at Chops? Did you like the shows?

 

TIA! Stephanie

 

Yes, there was that option (self-disembark). The only negative for us were the production shows which were totally predictable and stale if you have cruised before.

[clc41297]

Are you able to email or do you have the compasses posted anywhere?

 

I am considering EOS or SOS for a cruise next year and can't decide!:confused:

[shirleygr]

Thank you for your review.

 

I have a question for you......What time do you think you actually were able to disembark?

 

We were actually at the airport by about 10:30, so I think we disembarked about 10:00. We had a later flight, but switched to an 11:45 flight since we were at the airport so early.

 

Also about disembarkation, was it an option to carry off your suitcase yourself - (self disembark)?

 

Yes, you could, although it was rather amusing watching some people trying to manage three suitcases by themselves on the stairs. I think this is a good option is you only have one or possibly two bags to manage.

 

What did you order at Chops? Did you like the shows?

 

I had the prime rib and my husband ordered the filet mignon. They were both fabulous. I had the Maryland crab cakes and the "chops" salad for appetizers. My husband had the French onion soup and another appetizer I can't remember. I had the cheese cake for dessert, can't remember what dh had. I'll have to ask him to remind me. There are alot of sides to choose from and we had sauteed mushrooms, mashed potatoes and rice pilaf, and asparagus. They are served family-style so everyone can share. They also had fries and onion rings. We enjoyed everything we ordered and will definitely go there again next cruise.

 

We thought the comedians/jugglers-Howie and Bert-were hysterical. I thought the Stage to Screen show was pretty good and we liked the Can't Stop the Rock show as well. Those were the only 3 we saw.

As a side note, at the farewell show, they showed a video of the Enchantment's rescue efforts at Cozumel. It was both up-lifting and heart-breaking. It was incredible to see the relief on the faces of the tourists the Enchantment rescued. These folks were given hot food and showers for the first time in days and got to enjoy the amenities of the ship while being brought back to Miami--for free. But it was very sobering to see the destruction wrought upon Cozumel. We've been there a 5 or 6 times and I was in tears seeing places I've walked and enjoyed reduced to mere shells.

 

TIA! Stephanie

 

Hope this helps.

[shirleygr]

We were on the same cruise and your review is right on the mark. I just wonder how you could have forgotten Captain Per and his wonderful sense of humor?

 

Too much to cover and I didn't want to write a book! ;)

But you are right, Capt Per was very enjoyable and sociable. We met him at the Crown and Anchor party that was held on Wednesday night and he was one of the more personable captains I've met. Thanks for reminding me.

[shirleygr]

Are you able to email or do you have the compasses posted anywhere?

 

I am considering EOS or SOS for a cruise next year and can't decide!:confused:

 

I will have to ask my dh about scanning the compasses in. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

[mikefromny]

Thanks for the review Shirley. We're set to go in... 9 days! Can't wait.

[shirleygr]

Thanks for the review Shirley. We're set to go in... 9 days! Can't wait.

 

Have a great time!!!