Any Enchanted good reviews?

[1965]

The past 2 days I've read some bad reviews re the Enchanted. I wonder if any recent Enchanted cruisers have had positive experiences. We don't sail for over a year. Things can change, I know. But I'm feeling a little sad & would really love hearing something good, if there are some good things to share.  Thanks! 🙂

[DCThunder]

I did B2B2Bs on Enchanted in April/May and enjoyed every minute of it.  I never had any of the issues that have been expounded upon (at length) in other threads.  I leave on TA on Enchanted soon and will be interested in seeing if things have changed in the time between disembarking in Mid May and boarding again on Sept. 2.  

 

My previous cruises were at an average occupancy of 65% so if the passenger count is significantly higher, that could account for some of the issues with staffing in MDRs.  But I had no issues with toilets or unsanitary conditions in the World Marketplace as some posters on CC seem to have had.

 

 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

47 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

My previous cruises were at an average occupancy of 65% so if the passenger count is significantly higher

probably not on a TA sailing.

 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, 1965 said:

The past 2 days I've read some bad reviews re the Enchanted. I wonder if any recent Enchanted cruisers have had positive experiences. We don't sail for over a year. Things can change, I know. But I'm feeling a little sad & would really love hearing something good, if there are some good things to share.  Thanks! 🙂

We sailed on the Enchanted with DCThunder and everything went smoothly for us also. I suspect the crowding in the DR's can be attributed to being understaffed somewhat but from the posts I've read I still don't know what time they arrived, but there can be a big difference in service eating at 5:50 or 7 PM. Even years ago where there was no problem with staffing, 2 hours to dine wasn't unheard of at their busiest times. 

My only minor complaint about the buffet was that it wasn't self service at that time & you had to wait until a crew member saw you standing there to get served.

We never had a problem getting drink service unless it was at trivia when dozens of people wanted service at the same time.

btw- When it was in the Caribbean the internet service was great. I had no problem streaming from Netflix, Xfinity WhatsApp or using Zoom. Of course that might change with the ship now sailing filled. 

 

We'll be sailing once again later this year on the Enchanted and we didn't hesitate to book it for another cruise because of any problems others have posted about. 

[texasgirl29]

I'm on the TA in 3 weeks, and I have to say all the posts on FB about the Enchanted have been pretty positive. 

 

I'm pretty low maintenance and expect to have a wonderful time. Then, again, I'm a box wine drinker, so there will be no whining about wine. 

 

JoAnn

[villauk]

8 minutes ago, texasgirl29 said:

I'm on the TA in 3 weeks, and I have to say all the posts on FB about the Enchanted have been pretty positive. 

 

I'm pretty low maintenance and expect to have a wonderful time. Then, again, I'm a box wine drinker, so there will be no whining about wine. 

 

JoAnn

 

As long as the box is Italian, you’ll be fine 🤣.

[PacnGoNow]

3 hours ago, DCThunder said:

I did B2B2Bs on Enchanted in April/May and enjoyed every minute of it.  I never had any of the issues that have been expounded upon (at length) in other threads.  I leave on TA on Enchanted soon and will be interested in seeing if things have changed in the time between disembarking in Mid May and boarding again on Sept. 2.  

 

My previous cruises were at an average occupancy of 65% so if the passenger count is significantly higher, that could account for some of the issues with staffing in MDRs.  But I had no issues with toilets or unsanitary conditions in the World Marketplace as some posters on CC seem to have had.

 

 

Thanks and please update us on your Sep sailing.  I’d like to hear good news too.

[MouseBerry]

Hi,

we are currently on the Enchanted Princess. We are experienced cruisers, but first time with Princess. We had no bad experience with Princess and not with the Enchanted Princess in general on our cruise. But nothing is perfect.

 

What impressed us?

- the food is quit good for a mass-market cruise line. I know Princess is sometimes considered a premium segment line.

- the entertainment is quite good. 5 Skies show was spectacular

- the ship is brand new and modern and functionsl design

- the cabin, a standard balcony in our case, has good design and enough space for 2

- the Medallion/App is a very sophisticated new approach and offers very much comfort, if and only if it works (which leads to the disappointing section)

- Embarcation was very quick. From arrival at the port to set step on the ship less than 20 min.

 

What was disappointing?

- the new Medallion/App technology was functional, lets say 80%. If you order combined drink/drink it works most of the time. Combined drink/food worked less than 50%. Some orders were never delivered. And they were never delivered by accident but rather by design. If you are located at a bar which is active and order something THIS bar can not provide it is very likely you never get it. And you will never get an info that it cannot be provided. Sometimes we had connection/response problems with Android/ios mobile/tablet. Bottomline is, the technology had to be refined and improved.

- The service crew is not able to handle the ship at 100% or above occupancy. On our cruise we were on 100%+ (3700 passengers). Either not enough service people or not well enough trained. Or a combination. Sometimes it took 20 min. not to got a drink, no, just to place an order. 

- Princess rule is, that deck-chairs should not be reserved for later usage. And that Princess would set reserved and unused chairs free after 30 min. This never happend. Sometimes it was impossible to get a free chair for hours, while actually not many people were visible on the pool-deck.

 

Summary for the time being: If the ship has less than 80% occupancy you will have an overall good experience. If occupancy is 90% or more you will feel some performance limitations.

[minikiss]

I was on the same cruise as the other 2 reviews that got off in the 5th and i will be pisting my observations shortly. Mine are different to the others and not so negative, ive just not had much time to sit and write it yet. 

I will try and do so in the next couple of days.

[Suite Susie]

We got off Enchanted on Friday and had the best cruise ever. Loved everything about the ship. The food, crew, and entertainment were all amazing. The internet was rubbish though!  We sailed with low expectations, but we were so wrong. The current cruise is a hot weather one with a large number of passengers and children. The staff coped well on our cruise, but the under staffing is now obviously an issue. I think this is a problem on all cruise lines at the moment though. 

[billco]

We sailed on the 25 day April TA and Western Europe, which were not crowded and the recent 14 day Norway/Iceland cruise. On the 25 day cruise we got $10 pp per day each internet credit for the slow internet. On this cruise the most I could negotiate was $20 each even though it slower than the other both to and from Southampton. Don’t buy that far north argument. There is something wrong that Princess isn’t disclosing.

We enjoyed the recent cruise even though we got Covid on the last day. We didn’t have dining problems, because we dine early and had the same servers on both cruises. Entertainment in Crooners was great. Don’t think we have stayed past midnight as often as we did this cruise. A few mornings I didn’t know how I got back to the cabin. The drink package might be part of the reason we had such a great time. Especially celebrating my 81st birthday. Also, being invited to the most traveled passenger luncheon was a nice surprise and the best one we have attended. We made some good friends on this cruise, both staff and passengers. Sorry so many others haven’t had good experiences.

Edited August 9, 2022 by billco

[villauk]

21 minutes ago, billco said:

We sailed on the 25 day April TA and Western Europe, which were not crowded and the recent 14 day Norway/Iceland cruise. On the 25 day cruise we got $10 pp per day each internet credit for the slow internet. On this cruise the most I could negotiate was $20 each even though it slower than the other both to and from Southampton. Don’t buy that far north argument. There is something wrong that Princess isn’t disclosing.

We enjoyed the recent cruise even though we got Covid on the last day. We didn’t have dining problems, because we dine early and had the same servers on both cruises. Entertainment in Crooners was great. Don’t think we have stayed past midnight as often as we did this cruise. A few mornings I didn’t know how I got back to the cabin. The drink package might be part of the reason we had such a great time. Especially celebrating my 81st birthday. Also, being invited to the most traveled passenger luncheon was a nice surprise and the best one we have attended. We made some good friends on this cruise, both staff and passengers. Sorry so many others haven’t had good experiences.

 

Hope you are feeling a little better.

[billco]

22 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

Hope you are feeling a little better.

Thanks. Feeling much better, which is good, since we leave the isolation hotel tomorrow and can spend some time sightseeing London for a few days.

[rbtan]

7 hours ago, texasgirl29 said:

I'm on the TA in 3 weeks, and I have to say all the posts on FB about the Enchanted have been pretty positive. 

 

I'm pretty low maintenance and expect to have a wonderful time. Then, again, I'm a box wine drinker, so there will be no whining about wine. 

 

JoAnn

Some of the box wines out there are pretty good quality. Remember screw top bottles. More & more high-end brands are using them.

[MissP22]

14 hours ago, billco said:

Also, being invited to the most traveled passenger luncheon was a nice surprise and the best one we have attended.

• Do you happen to know what the cutoff number was?

Edited August 10, 2022 by MissP22

[thehowlingroad]

We just got back from the 7/22 sailing to Norway/Iceland-- 3200+ passengers, and after the first 2-3 nights, it didn't feel like that many people at all-- the ship is spacious and still has its new shine, the staff work very, very hard, and while we had our general gripes with the cabin size compared to older ships (we were 3 adults in a standard balcony room), that's a reflection on the build, not on the service received.

 

I will say that the ship felt understaffed at first, but they must have been able to add some staff in Flåm, because lines for the MDRs virtually disappeared after that port stop.

[johnnylikely]

Is 5 Skies playing on Enchanted. I was looking at the day planner for my 4 night cruise tomo and no sign of it sob sob. I was looking forward to that most!

[MouseBerry]

Yes, 5 Skies was performed on the current Enchanted cruise and it was spectacular. Even they had to interrupt the show for a few minutes due to technology problems. 

[bradleyr1]

On the Enchanted now heading back to Southampton.  I have just started my review. In short, the ship is beautiful, but is overcrowded, understaffed and you have to queue for everything. I'm in the breakfast queue now waiting 20 mins for a coffee and have given up. 

 

And don't even think about getting a sunbed after 7.30am!

[villauk]

8 minutes ago, bradleyr1 said:

On the Enchanted now heading back to Southampton.  I have just started my review. In short, the ship is beautiful, but is overcrowded, understaffed and you have to queue for everything. I'm in the breakfast queue now waiting 20 mins for a coffee and have given up. 

 

And don't even think about getting a sunbed after 7.30am!

Oh dear 😔. Is this at the IC? 

[bradleyr1]

It was in the coffee shop in the buffet.  You think they might have anticipated people would want coffee at breakfast and planned accordingly.  

 

There are queues every time you want a drink - these can be 30 mins or more, especially at busy times. If you go to eat at 7.30pm you then can't find a seat in any of the bars afterwards and spend time just wandering around. 

 

Happy to answer any questions to help future travellers. 

[villauk]

27 minutes ago, bradleyr1 said:

It was in the coffee shop in the buffet.  You think they might have anticipated people would want coffee at breakfast and planned accordingly.  

 

There are queues every time you want a drink - these can be 30 mins or more, especially at busy times. If you go to eat at 7.30pm you then can't find a seat in any of the bars afterwards and spend time just wandering around. 

 

Happy to answer any questions to help future travellers. 

 

Have you had much luck with ordering off the medallion and have you also had long waits in the MDR for dinner like others have posted?

[bradleyr1]

The app is very hit and miss. The wait can be longer than queuing at a bar or the drinks just don't turn up at all! But when it works it's good. 

 

The MDR queues have been around 15 mins at 7.30pm most nights. The food has been good and the staff very helpful. 

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, bradleyr1 said:

The MDR queues have been around 15 mins at 7.30pm most nights. The food has been good and the staff very helpful. 

That's not unreasonable for 7:30 PM. 

[teddyd33]

After getting off the Enchanted on Friday, I found that the MDR waits were lower than expected although we did start eating earlier (around 5:30-6pm) based on the feedback that I had read previously. We also asked the Restaurant Manager to ensure our table is reserved to ensure we get the same table and wait staff as we always prefer this. They were very accommodating for this! 

 

I love the concept of the medallion app, and last year on the Sky it worked perfectly, although during this sailing due to full capacity and lack of staff / too manager passengers it was very hit and miss. Some drinks came fast, others were lost in transit. However, contacting guest services (via the app), they were able to deal with it very professionally. I do feel that this item is overlooked on Princess compared to other lines, their guest service team from my interactions (e.g internet issues, drinks not arriving) were able to resolve the issues there and then.

 

The things that weren't resolved were the staffing issues which led to outcomes such as long queues for drinks, buffet issues, no one monitoring towels (or reminding kids to not jump in pools...) which I am certain the guest service team have no control over, but rather a head office decision.