Enchanting cruise on Enchantment!

[dino76]

:) WOW! Just returned from a 4 day cruise on Enchantment... what a treat! From embarkation to debarkation, everything was fantastic! The food, the ship, the cabin, the shows, the service... we just had a blast! I would definitely sail on her once again. It was a great way to celebrate our 25th Anniversary!

 

The only negative... we went through a bad storm or front coming back into Ft. Lauderdale on the last night... no one on the ship could sleep much with all the rocking and banging in the ship. Doors were opening and closing on the cabinets and closets all night long.

 

Oh yea... Key West and Cozumel - they were good, but the ship... ASTOUNDING!!!!! We love her!:)

[RevSmith]

I am so happy for you that you liked this ship...it is one of my very favorite ships and holds a special place in my heart...I cruise on her as much as I can and am going again in 18 days (March 18th). I can't wait to see how she looks now that she has been stretched! Thanks again.

[flowerchild1]

Glad to hear you loved the ship... We will be sailing on Saturday! We will be traveling with our 13 yr old son. Just wondering if there were many teenagers on board.

[Marge106]

I was on the same 4 day cruise. I have to ask, was this your first cruise. Our opinions are totally opposite of each other. At the risk of being slammed by so many, I found the cruise to be a total disappointment. The food was mediocre at best, the shows were okay, I had to ask the cabin steward on Deck 4 to make towel animals for our 16 year old. We returned 3 hours late from our Dolphin shore excursion in Cozumel (which by the way was wonderful) only to be told that since we were so late in arriving (from a ship sponsored tour) we had missed 1st sitting dinner and would have to go to

Windjammer for the buffet. Not what we wanted to hear since the food there was even worse. I don't feel that since it was only a 4 day cruise we should have been excluded from having lobster as well as having the baked alaska parade.

The storm was incredible, I watched the water come up on our porthole. It would have been nice if the captain had made a comment about it the next morning, especially since I had heard that the shops as well as the dining room suffered quite a bit of damage.

[dino76]

Marge, I'm sorry you did not enjoy your cruise. No this was not our first cruise... I've had bad cruises before, this was GREAT!!!! The food was fabulous in the main dining room AND in the Windjammer. We loved it, our tablemates loved the food as well.

 

What deck were you on that the water was going over your window???? We were glad that we were in the new section of the ship so the doors were not opening and shutting for us.

 

We had towel animals every night and our room was always well put together thanks to our room steward.

[Jsme]

We go on the Enchantment for the 4/6 sailing.

 

Do you mind to tell me more about the food offerings? You were happy with the food in the dining room. Did you try Chops?

 

Did you go to the wine tasting after leaving Key West?

 

I am trying to figure it all out now. I have not been on the Enchantment. I have been on the Sovereign a few years ago. While the food was not the greatest it was still better than me having to cook and clean it up at home. LOL We totally loved the Champagne bar. Became friends with one of the bartenders. I got free drinks from it. LOL But we tipped really nicely though.

 

If you can think of anything else to tell please do.

 

Oh yeah did you have to tender at Cozumel? Rumor has it a pier has finally opened. Not sure if that is true or not.

[FLCruiseGirl]

We have been on Enchantment twice and loved it so much that we also chose it for our 25th anniversary this May. We have been on approximately 15 cruises and this is the only ship we have sailed on more than once. It IS a beautiful ship. We're looking forward to sailing on it again after the "stretch".

[dino76]

"Do you mind to tell me more about the food offerings? You were happy with the food in the dining room. Did you try Chops?"

 

We did not go to Chops... we found no need to as we LOVED the dining room food as well as the Windjammer buffet. Check out under search Enchantment menu and you'll actually see the menus.

 

"Did you go to the wine tasting after leaving Key West?" No.

 

"Oh yeah did you have to tender at Cozumel? Rumor has it a pier has finally opened. Not sure if that is true or not."

 

They will be tendering for a LONG, LONG time. All 3 piers were badly damaged. Water/waves came up underneath and actually demolished sections of them. The day we were there, there were only 3 ships, so tendering went pretty good, although some friends of ours didn't get over to Coz until 1:30. We got there on 1st tender at 10:30.

 

 

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[Jsme]

"Do you mind to tell me more about the food offerings? You were happy with the food in the dining room. Did you try Chops?"

 

We did not go to Chops... we found no need to as we LOVED the dining room food as well as the Windjammer buffet. Check out under search Enchantment menu and you'll actually see the menus.

 

"Did you go to the wine tasting after leaving Key West?" No.

 

"Oh yeah did you have to tender at Cozumel? Rumor has it a pier has finally opened. Not sure if that is true or not."

 

They will be tendering for a LONG, LONG time. All 3 piers were badly damaged. Water/waves came up underneath and actually demolished sections of them. The day we were there, there were only 3 ships, so tendering went pretty good, although some friends of ours didn't get over to Coz until 1:30. We got there on 1st tender at 10:30.

 

 

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Yeah I know we had a trip cancelled to Cancun becasue of Wilma. I have to say I was glad we were not there when she came through. Where do I search for the menus? On here?

[dino76]

Copy this http://boards.cruisecritic.com/search.php paste. This will take you to search and type in enchantment menus in the box. That will take you to a thread that has a website to click on to view the menus.

[elleluv]

"Oh yeah did you have to tender at Cozumel? Rumor has it a pier has finally opened. Not sure if that is true or not."

 

They will be tendering for a LONG, LONG time. All 3 piers were badly damaged. Water/waves came up underneath and actually demolished sections of them.

 

 

The International Pier is the first scheduled to be open... it's projected to be completed in September, 2006.

[elleluv]

Where do I search for the menus? On here?

 

We have menus from our 5 night cruise on Enchantment in January here...

 

www.theloves.smugmug.com

 

There are also cruise compasses and photos.

[Jsme]

Did the four night offer Lobster? Escargot? Chocolate souffle? I found this on the menu on a search I did on Yahoo.

 

I must be having a hard time but I could not find an actual menu on that search when I tried it when you first mentioned it.

[whale-watcher]

Thanks for the review, dino76 -- it brings back memories of our wonderful cruise on the Enchantment last September. We also thought the food was wonderful, and really enjoyed the Windjammer buffet. Even the storm sounds good (considering we are expecting another 8" of snow in MN tomorrow!)

[TrinaLC]

We returned 3 hours late from our Dolphin shore excursion in Cozumel (which by the way was wonderful) only to be told that since we were so late in arriving (from a ship sponsored tour) we had missed 1st sitting dinner and would have to go to

Windjammer for the buffet. Not what we wanted to hear since the food there was even worse. I don't feel that since it was only a 4 day cruise we should have been excluded from having lobster as well as having the baked alaska parade.

 

I'm not sure what you expected the cruiseline to do? Throw the people who had second dining out?

[Marge106]

There is always 1 person who has to be sarcastic. No, I did not expect them to throw the 2nd seating people out. But I am sure that there were some empty tables in the dining room that we could have been accomodated on. Or better yet, let us order from the dining room menu and deliver the food to our rooms, or even better partially comped us for Chops which I understand was not fully booked every night. BUT EVEN BETTER, a simple apology would have worked wonders and perhaps would have changed my whole attitude about the incident. And maybe even, (perish the thought) RCC could have been a bit more honest about a very expensive tour and told us that we would be forced to endure an hour of shopping before being allowed on the ferry to return to the ship. The 6 hour tour was supposed to leave at 10:00 am and return at 4:00 pm. We were returned to the ship at 7:20 pm, quite a bit late and with nary a word from the cruise line. This to me is just poor customer service. Perhaps you might want to reserve your comments until you get the entire story.

[Merion_Mom]

If an excursion does not please you, you should always return to the ship's Explorations Desk and state your complaints to them. They will sometimes give compensation. You may also do a service to your fellow cruisers - these tours are NOT run or owned by RC - RC contracts for their services. They all have tour businesses, and work with just about any cruiseline that wants to hire them. If there are real problems, RC may make them fix things or find a different supplier. Either way, you certainly have the right to make your discontent known TO THE EXCURSION PERSONNEL. It is not the dining room's fault that you returned after first seating was over.

 

You may consider it flaming, but Trina was asking a real question. There may not have been empty tables at second seating. Do you know how fully booked your cruise was?

[Marge106]

Thanks for your reply. The bottom line is that I contracted with the ship not with the supplier who was hired by the ship. Therefore it is RCCL who maintains responsibility for the product it sold me. I've been on more than 70 cruises, and since Cozumel was the last port of call the excursion desk was no longer open. When I contacted guest relations, they should have run with the problem, not leave it up to a repeat passenger to resolve the issue. Our cabin was on Deck 4, the same as the dining room. Although the ship was full, there was still plenty of seats in the dining room as I did stick my head in to see. The bottom line is that the personnel on the ship did nothing to satisfy an unsatisfied customer other than tell us to go to the buffet. We look forward to vacations, and that certainly does not mean waiting in line to eat food that not hot and at best medioce. Before retiring, I held a very high position in customer service with a major corporation and would in the very least apologize for a problem caused by the company and then taken some steps to rectify the issue. RCCL did nothing of the sort, in fact, they showed no interest at all. They were not 100% upfront in revealing all details of the tour such as the 50 minute ferry ride and another 35 minute bus ride prior to even reaching Dolphin Discovery. So in retrospect we paid $145.00 per person for a 6 hour excursion when more than 3 hours were spent traveling. Years ago when we did Costa to Eqypt, they at least, were upfront in telling you how much travel time was entailed in the tour of the pyramids of Giza.

[Merion_Mom]

Thanks for your reply. The bottom line is that I contracted with the ship not with the supplier who was hired by the ship. Therefore it is RCCL who maintains responsibility for the product it sold me. I've been on more than 70 cruises, and since Cozumel was the last port of call the excursion desk was no longer open. When I contacted guest relations, they should have run with the problem, not leave it up to a repeat passenger to resolve the issue. Our cabin was on Deck 4, the same as the dining room. Although the ship was full, there was still plenty of seats in the dining room as I did stick my head in to see. The bottom line is that the personnel on the ship did nothing to satisfy an unsatisfied customer other than tell us to go to the buffet. We look forward to vacations, and that certainly does not mean waiting in line to eat food that not hot and at best medioce. Before retiring, I held a very high position in customer service with a major corporation and would in the very least apologize for a problem caused by the company and then taken some steps to rectify the issue. RCCL did nothing of the sort, in fact, they showed no interest at all. They were not 100% upfront in revealing all details of the tour such as the 50 minute ferry ride and another 35 minute bus ride prior to even reaching Dolphin Discovery. So in retrospect we paid $145.00 per person for a 6 hour excursion when more than 3 hours were spent traveling. Years ago when we did Costa to Eqypt, they at least, were upfront in telling you how much travel time was entailed in the tour of the pyramids of Giza.

Marge, I am really not trying to be argumentative; I am just trying to understand.

 

I went to RC's website, and the description of the excursion DOES, in fact, describe the ferry ride and the bus ride, with those time descriptions, or very close to.

 

Dolphin Swim in Puerto Aventuras

 

Approximate Duration: 6 Hours

Adult: 145.00 (USD) | Child: 145.00 (USD)

 

You will board the ferry to go from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen (approximately 45 minute ride each way). You will then have a short transfer to the beautifully secluded marina town of Puerto Aventuras.

This program was created especially for you and the dolphin to share a series of sensational and safe activities while establishing a unique bond of trust. The dolphin greets you with a handshake, a kiss on the cheek, and lets you kiss it as well. Later, you will get close and personal with your new friend while it takes you on a belly-ride. At the end, you will be able to enjoy moments of great spontaneity during your free time together. It is an unforgettable experience!

 

Note: Minimum age for participation is 8 years old.

 

 

= To fully participate may require extended periods of walking over even and uneven surfaces, steep terrain and/or water activity in a slight current. There may be steps, inclines, cobblestone surfaces, and extended periods of standing. Participants with physical limitations should take this into account.

 

I am not sure that your dissatisfaction is from the excursion as much as from your unrealistic expectations of that excursion.

[Marge106]

Too bad it does not show that in the description in the cruise tickets. I also am not trying to be argumentative, perhaps you have an inside connection to RCCL since in reading other posts I do see you are quite protective of them. I have not even touched on the photo shop service, the programs or lack thereof for our 16 year old, the lack of rule enforcement such as 11 & 12 year olds in Fuel (teenagers club) after 10:30 pm, kids in the adult pool, having to return silverware because there was old food on it. The list goes on and on. But if you do have a connection to Royal, can you tell me if anyone will respond to my passenger comment card. Better yet, has ayone out there ever received a response from a passenger comment card. Since this is the first time I ever low rated a cruise (and I always fill out the comment card) I'm curious to know if any line does respond to them. By the way MM don't take it to heart, I'm not like the naysayers who say they will never cruise Royal again, nor ever cruise again at all. Its just disheartening to see a company become so big that it starts sacrificing customer service and satisfaction by offering an inferior product.

[whale-watcher]

...I have not even touched on the photo shop service, the programs or lack thereof for our 16 year old.... can you tell me if anyone will respond to my passenger comment card. Better yet, has ayone out there ever received a response from a passenger comment card...

We were very pleased with the quality of the onboard photography...yes they are expensive, but we still ended up buying several prints. Also, we have friends who were on the Enchantment the same time as you, and they were also raving about the quality of the photography, so I am curious what the specific problem was?

 

My 2 teens enjoyed teens program, even my shy DS. They seemed to leave things flexible and go with the flow, but we thought that was better for that age group than a rigid, structured program...JMHO

 

I don't have any connection with RCI, and I understand that everyone has their own take on things...

[Jsme]

Thanks for your reply. The bottom line is that I contracted with the ship not with the supplier who was hired by the ship. Therefore it is RCCL who maintains responsibility for the product it sold me. I've been on more than 70 cruises, and since Cozumel was the last port of call the excursion desk was no longer open. When I contacted guest relations, they should have run with the problem, not leave it up to a repeat passenger to resolve the issue. Our cabin was on Deck 4, the same as the dining room. Although the ship was full, there was still plenty of seats in the dining room as I did stick my head in to see. The bottom line is that the personnel on the ship did nothing to satisfy an unsatisfied customer other than tell us to go to the buffet. We look forward to vacations, and that certainly does not mean waiting in line to eat food that not hot and at best medioce. Before retiring, I held a very high position in customer service with a major corporation and would in the very least apologize for a problem caused by the company and then taken some steps to rectify the issue. RCCL did nothing of the sort, in fact, they showed no interest at all. They were not 100% upfront in revealing all details of the tour such as the 50 minute ferry ride and another 35 minute bus ride prior to even reaching Dolphin Discovery. So in retrospect we paid $145.00 per person for a 6 hour excursion when more than 3 hours were spent traveling. Years ago when we did Costa to Eqypt, they at least, were upfront in telling you how much travel time was entailed in the tour of the pyramids of Giza.

 

Just a question. Did you ask anyone in the dining room if you guys could be squeezed in? I want to know for future use.

[steve20832]

I did go to Chops on my 4 night cruise 6 weeks ago and the food was 20 times better than the dining room. I give the dining room food a 7 out of 10. Celebrity Cruise line food was much better. If you like Filet Minion, try it! That was the best I ever had. Well worth the $20 meal, I would go back in a heartbeat.

[jemingway]

We were on the 4-day Enchantment cruise on 2/9-2/13 and thought it was great.:D It is a 4-day cruise, so the food is a little less than a 7-day cruise, but it was still very good. The crew was fantastic as was the ship itself.

[shirleygr]

There is always 1 person who has to be sarcastic. No, I did not expect them to throw the 2nd seating people out. But I am sure that there were some empty tables in the dining room that we could have been accomodated on. Or better yet, let us order from the dining room menu and deliver the food to our rooms, or even better partially comped us for Chops which I understand was not fully booked every night. . .

So sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise. It's always disappointing to not have your expectations met after months of planning and waiting.

We were on the Enchantment (5 night) in November and the Majesty (4 night) in January and both were offering selections from the dining room menu for room service each evening. Wasn't this offered on your cruise as well?

We thought the dining room food was good (not great); it is only banquet food. And we found the selections in the Windjammer to be adequate, although we did not go there for dinner. We did go to Chops one night and found that experience to be absolutely worth the cover charge. DH wished we could eat there every night.

I hope your next vacation is much more enjoyable