Enchanted Princess Thanksgiving Cruise Review 11/19-11/29

[wrongwaywatson]

We were on The Enchanted Princess, November 19-November 29, 2022, and had a wonderful, relaxing cruise.  Were there a few hiccups?  Sure.  But overall it was a wonderful time, and I am looking forward to our next cruise.

 

Embarkation/Disembarkation:

Both were smooth as can be.  We had elected to have our medallions shipped to us, but there was a snafu with many on our cruise and we were all sent the same tracking number, which wasn’t even valid.  Needless to say, they did not arrive.  We were a bit worried about having to stand in line and pick them up at the port.  I am not exaggerating when I say that we did not hardly stop as we went through the boarding process.  We walked in, scanned our boarding pass, they handed us our medallions and we were soon walking over the gang plank, hearing the wonderful sound of “doink” as they scanned our medallion as we entered the ship.  It is like that sound takes all of your worries and cares away and you have nothing to think about for the next 10 days.

Disembarkation was a breeze, too.  We had a 10:45am flight, so we did self-walk off.   Carrying our big suitcases down from 11 was a little worrisome, but it really was easier than expected.  Once down, we just kept walking again.  We didn’t even have to show our passports at customs, they had facial recognition.  It made things easy, but I’m not sure how I feel about that, LOL. 

 

Cabin:

We had cabin B209 on Baja.  We enjoyed the location (11^th floor) as it was an easy walk down/up to the 5^th floor and to the 16^th floor.  We rarely took the elevator.  Our cabin was clean and ready for us when we arrived around 11:30am.  We had NO issues with our cabin or with it being cleaned by our steward, Orlando.  He was wonderful.  He was always smiling and cheerful and ready to help if needed.   We traveled with two other couples – one on Dolphin Deck and one on Marina Deck.  The couple that was on Marina deck DID have an issue with their cabin, but no complaints with the action by Princess.  A few days into the cruise there was a water main break, and it flooded their cabin, as well as 4 other neighboring cabins.  Lots of water.  They came in, pulled up some carpeting, put in big fans to dry things out (they were quite noisy) and offered to move them.  They chose to stay in their cabin, and it was back to normal in a few days.  They did receive some FCCs from Princess for their troubles.  No complaints.

 

Food:

We enjoyed our food! We don’t have sophisticated palates, so there is that, too.  We had 5pm reservations in Santorini and we had the same wait staff each night (except one where we didn’t eat until 6:30 due to late excursions).   We all had wonderful meals with great service by Carmello and DeDe, who was on his last cruise of his contract before heading home to Bali.  They were great.  I have a peanut allergy, so I also worked with Jasper, to make sure all of my meals were peanut free.  I had steaks/beef whenever it was offered, and I don’t remember having better steaks/meats in the MDR than I did on this last cruise.  The desserts were great, too.   I was very happy to see that the Love Boat Dream was the good ole familiar one and NOT the yucky new one that they rolled out awhile back, to most people’s horror.  The pistachio dome was the old one, also. 
 

I ate at the Salt Dog Grill a few times at lunch, and it was very good.   The lines were always kind of long, but it moved really quickly.  No complaints.

We ate in the buffet at breakfast and lunch, and it was very good, too.  The Royal Class ships buffets seem to have a better selection than the Grand Class ships, but we don’t like the décor in the buffets as well.  But we usually sit outside on the deck, which we do enjoy.   For you crispy bacon lovers, I just discovered after 15 cruises, that they have crispy bacon in a drawer underneath the regular bacon.  If you want some, all you have to do is ask!  I was a happy girl.   I am an early riser, so I would hit up the IC around 6am with my Kindle.  I would read, drink coffee and have a wonderful pastry (usually a muffin) near the window in the Salty Dog Pub.  Around 7:30 or so I would join our cruise mates up in the buffet for breakfast.  Coffee and crispy bacon for me, LOL

We ate pizza one day at Gigi’s.  DH had a pizza, and I had a calzone.  My calzone was HUGE.  It was too much for one person, although I gave it a good try.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t hungry at supper time due to the large calzone.  Both were good, but my calzone was better than DH’s pizza.

 

Medallion App:

We enjoy having the medallion on our wrist.  We don’t have to worry about carrying our cruise card around and losing it.  It was nice to have our room unlocked when we approached it and it worked well.  Also, Orlando knew when we were in the room and when we weren’t.   He was able to slip in when we left to tidy up.  I ordered drinks on the app on a sea day, and it took somewhere between 10-15 minutes to receive them.  We were happy with that.   We were watching a movie and it would have taken me almost that long to walk down there, stand in line, get them and come back.

 

Drink Package:

We had Princess Plus, which we have never had before.  Usually I buy the coffee card and a soda card and pay ala carte for any adult beverages.  It was convenient.   You do need to look at your bill, though, to make sure that you aren’t charged.  One night in the MDR, DH ordered a mudslide and we were charged for it.  I was able to call Guest Services on the phone and have it removed.  Super easy.  But, I did order a double Bailey’s on ice one night and saw that I was charged a little over a dollar for it.  It was over the amount for a drink.  I guess I should have told them to charge me for 2 drinks, because that was the only alcohol that I drank that day.  Lesson learned.

 

Excursions:

We had 2 excursions book – Whale watching/Zodiak snorkel in Dominica and Snorkeling in Bonaire.   Both were cancelled, so I can’t comment about them.  The Snorkeling one in Bonaire was cancelled a few weeks before sailing due to operational issues.  I asked onboard and was told that the operator had failed to obtain the necessary insurance in time for our cruise.   The one in Dominica was cancelled due to weather, which Princess cannot control.  It was rainy that day.

 

Ports:

We have been to all of the ports before and we always enjoy them.  Princess Cays is a nice beach day, although we don’t like to eat out there.    In St Thomas we took a taxi to Megan’s Bay and snorkeled and swam.  A beautiful beach that is always fun.  In Dominica we stayed on the ship in the morning, due to rain, and then shopped in the afternoon a bit.  In Grenada, it was rainy, too.  We walked around and shopped a little bit.  In Bonaire, we took a water taxi to Klein Bonaire to snorkel.  It was great.  We saw quite a bit and the weather was perfect.  It was $25/person round trip.  We walked up with 6 of us and we were able to get tickets for $100 for all of us, just by asking.  Score!  It never hurts to ask!  Next was Curacao which is one of our favorite ports.  It is so pretty and quaint there and seems so clean.  We walked into town to sight see and shop.  Five years ago I had purchased a sign, hand painted by a lady selling crafts.  It had my 3 granddaughters sitting on a pier.  We have added another granddaughter and a grandson, so I needed a new plaque.  I found the craft tent, gave her the description of the kids and spelled out their names and ages.  We then walked around town for a few hours and went back to pick it up later.  Love it!    We then had 2 sea days which were relaxing and sunny!   On the last sea day in the evening, they showed Top Gun Maverick on MUTS and it just seemed a great finish to the cruise.

 

Entertainment:

We attended many things in the Princess Theater.  For the production shows, you do need to get their early to get a seat, let alone a good seat.  The first comedian we saw, Quinton Greene, was a disappointment.  We think he was possibly the worst comedian we have ever seen on a cruise ship, and that is saying something.   A lot of people got up and left.  We did not, but we wanted to.    Then we saw Comedy Magic with Jay Mattioli.  He was rescheduled from the first allotted time, because his suitcase did not arrive in Grenada.  Unfortunately, it never did catch up with him, so he revamped his show later on in the cruise and improvised without his props.  He was very entertaining and enjoyable to watch, especially without his props.   We had another comedian, Jay Burghart, whom we thoroughly enjoyed.  He as very entertaining and I would definitely go see him again.  One of the better comedians we have seen on the ships. 

 

We saw Rock Opera and we thought it was excellent.  The performers all did a great job.   We also saw Five Skies and I didn’t like it, but it appeared many did.  I really think if I could have SEEN it, I probably would have liked it.  What I saw of the costumes, they were incredible.   We were seated far left down front and we couldn’t see the stage very well.  There were large risers set up on each side that they used for the lady to stand in and talk throughout.  Those risers blocked the view of the stage if you were very far to the side.  I also think that the storyline might not have been fit for the typical Princess audience.   But I’m not sure.  Spotlight Bar was the last production show, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  No complaints and I would sit through it again, happily. 

 

We saw the Elton John Tribute by Liam Stewart.  He was good, but not great, but it was enjoyable.  He was really talented as a piano player and okay at the vocals.  But, to be fair, it’s hard to compare to Sir Elton.   It was enjoyable.   We didn’t go to Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Isacc Matthews, but our BIL & SIL did, and they enjoyed it. 

 

We went to a few trivia/games.  They were fun, except there were a few tables that insisted on blurting out the answers, even though they had been asked not to.  I can see doing it once on accident, but there was one particular woman who just thought she was being so funny and witty.  She was not.  Oh well, still a fun time.

 

There was a call on a sea day asking for blood donations of anyone with a specific type (I can’t remember the type) and one of my cruise mates went down and she said that they had received more than enough volunteers.  To donate, you needed to have donated within the past year and to have your donor card with you.  Something to think about for future cruises.  It just might save a life.

Overall, we had a wonderful, amazing cruise.  We hate to get off of the ship, but we are always happy to be back home once we arrive home.   The staff that we encountered were friendly and helpful.   The fellow cruisers seemed happy and friendly.  I think some of us really missed cruising for a few years and we are just super thankful that we are able to cruise, once again.  We already have our next cruise booked for April 2023.  It’s always good to have something to look forward to!

[buckeye7]

Thank you for such an upbeat report! We’ll be on the Enchanted in May and you’ve made me even more excited for our trip! (Super glad to hear about the Loveboat Dream 😅)

[wrongwaywatson]

You're welcome!  I'm sure you will have a wonderful time.  The ship is beautiful and the staff were friendly.  What more could you want?

[dogm]

Thanks so much for your review!  Going on the Enchanted for 20 days in December.  Looking forward TO IT!

[paradiselivin1]

1 hour ago, dogm said:

Thanks so much for your review!  Going on the Enchanted for 20 days in December.  Looking forward TO IT!

Me too. See you on board. We're 9th - 29th.

[Whimsy]

Thank you for the review. Very thorough. What nights were your formal nights? I'm glad they are making the Love Boat Dream the old way! 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

19 hours ago, wrongwaywatson said:

There was a call on a sea day asking for blood donations of anyone with a specific type (I can’t remember the type)

it was for O neg and O pos.

People with O neg blood are universal donors - anyone can receive O neg. O positive blood can be given to anyone with positive blood.

 

Great review! Thank you! 

[MissP22]

20 hours ago, wrongwaywatson said:

We didn’t even have to show our passports at customs, they had facial recognition.  It made things easy, but I’m not sure how I feel about that, LOL. 

That's one of the best things they've installed over the years. Even at their busiest times, it's super fast. 

[wrongwaywatson]

On 12/4/2022 at 7:15 PM, Whimsy said:

Thank you for the review. Very thorough. What nights were your formal nights? I'm glad they are making the Love Boat Dream the old way! 

The formal nights were the first sea day (Monday) and the next to last sea day (Sunday).

[hobbyfarmer2]

Strange.  We were on the same cruise where the 4 of us booked the Bonaire snorkel excursion on the wooden Junk named Samur anchored a few hundred feet away from the Enchanted.  It was one of our nicest excursions ever.

[SumoCitrus]

10 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

it was for O neg and O pos.

People with O neg blood are universal donors - anyone can receive O neg. O positive blood can be given to anyone with positive blood.

 

Great review! Thank you! 

 

 

The ship's medical center is equipped to do blood transfusions immediately like that?

[wrongwaywatson]

1 hour ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

Strange.  We were on the same cruise where the 4 of us booked the Bonaire snorkel excursion on the wooden Junk named Samur anchored a few hundred feet away from the Enchanted.  It was one of our nicest excursions ever.

Yes, there were a few in Bonaire.  Some still available and some sold out.  We had two cancelled there, one about a month out and then one when we got on the boat.  Both said "operational issues".   

[Itchy&Scratchy]

9 hours ago, SumoCitrus said:

 

 

The ship's medical center is equipped to do blood transfusions immediately like that?

I guess it was. They announced that it was an emergency, and life saving blood donations were needed asap.

[wrongwaywatson]

My friend told me that the response was overwhelming and that they had more than enough people there to donate, which is great!  I'm definitely going to go donate and take my card with me on the next cruise.

[FantasiCat]

I donate blood regularly and I’ve never been given a donor card. What sort of information is on it? The organization I use has online donor profiles with blood type, health data, last donation date, etc. If I took a screenshot of that or printed out a copy to bring on board would that work do you think?

[wrongwaywatson]

5 hours ago, FantasiCat said:

I donate blood regularly and I’ve never been given a donor card. What sort of information is on it? The organization I use has online donor profiles with blood type, health data, last donation date, etc. If I took a screenshot of that or printed out a copy to bring on board would that work do you think?

I would think so.