Enchanted Princess Review -- August 5 - 12

[newyorker78]

I got off the beautiful Enchanted Princess on Saturday after a lovely seven-day voyage from Rome to Athens with stops in Naples, Heraklion (Crete), Kusadasi (for Ephesus), Istanbul, and Mykonos. The ports and cruise were amazing and I am already missing the Pomegranate Fizz in Take Five. I thought I would write a quick review, and I welcome any questions about the trip!

 

The Ship. 

 

While not as stylish as Celebrity Beyond, which I sailed on in February, Enchanted Princess was a clean and comfortable ship with many elegant spaces including the underutilized Take Five bar, the Crown Grill bar, Princess Live, and the Sanctuary. On our only sea day, we booked a cabana at the Sanctuary and it was well worth the $140. Book fast though, as availability for the rest of the cruise was extremely limited. 

 

The basic balcony cabin was nice, except for the extremely annoying and bright sensor-activated light outside the bathroom. Who thought that was a good ideas!? Presumably a heavy sleeper who doesn't need to get up in the middle of the night to pee. There was also nowhere to put a suitcase and not enough drawers to fully unpack. I loved the bed and comforter though!

 

The internet was very solid and I was able to send and receive pictures on iMessage no problem.

 

The Food. 

 

The food on Enchanted Princess was solid all around. We ate dinner twice in the main dining room, once each in the Crown Grill and Gigi's Pizzeria, and three times in the buffet. The MDR was good; I was impressed by the prime rib on night seven and enjoyed the croquette and short ribs on night one. I requested an appetizer portion of an entree on night seven and our waiter happily accommodated my request. 

 

The Crown Grill was also good and service from Alexandru was exceptional. However, the Crown Grill wasn't quite as good and didn't feel quite as special as the steakhouse on Celebrity Beyond. That said, I appreciate how much cheaper the up charge for specialty dining is on Princess; the Crown Grill felt like good value for money. 

 

The dinner buffet on Enchanted Princess was far, far better than the dinner buffet on Celebrity Beyond, which was very pared back in February. The breakfast buffet was also good, especially the crispiest hash browns I have had at sea.

 

Gigi's was a huge disappointment; the pizza was bland. If Princess is going to charge extra for Gigi's, it needs to seriously up the quality. 

 

The hot dogs and chicken tenders from the Salty Dog Grill were very tasty but they're the same as the ones in the kid's section of the buffet so just skip the Salty Dog's long lines on sea days.

 

As for meals off the ship, I highly, highly recommend Peskesi in Heraklion. The restaurant was stunning, the food fresh and amazing, and the service attentive. Kuzina and Oroscopo in Athens were also very good, as was Bahar, a hole in the wall near the entrance to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul recommended by our tour guide. 

 

The Service. 

 

Service was mostly efficient and I didn't wait too long for drinks. But I ~hated~ being asked for my room number and name every time I ordered a drink; it slowed things down and was just plain annoying. I much prefer simply handing my stateroom card to the bartender, as on Celebrity and Norwegian. The Ocean Medallion also glitched for me no fewer than five times, requiring multiple trips to guest service. 

 

While I had some very friendly service, many members of the crew were ruder than I've ever experienced. I'm sure they are overworked, but I definitely missed the convivial atmosphere on my last few cruises. 

 

The Excursions. 

 

I took two shore excursions through Princess and enjoyed them both immensely. Reasonable minds may disagree, but I felt they were good value for money. We did the Ultimate Bay of Naples excursion with a tour of Pompeii and stops in Positano and Sorrento. Our tour guide Laura was oustanding and lunch on the rooftop of the Grand Hotel la Favorita in Sorrento was wonderful. In Istanbul, we did the St. Sophia, Blue Mosque, and Time on Your Own excursion, which was only $59 each and very comprehensive. 

 

The Entertainment. 

 

The musical talent on Enchanted Princess was oustanding and there were so many options every evening that I barely scratched the surface. The True Colors Duo is a ton of fun, extremely kind, and happy to take requests. Piano singer AJ Clarke in Crooners is also happy to take requests and has a great voice. Sadly, acoustic guitarist Ella Ryan will be leaving the ship next week to return to her work as a teacher in Ireland; that's a shame for future cruisers who will miss out on her fabulous voice but Princess needs to hire her back next summer! I only heard a few songs from the Irish band in O'Malley's, but they were also excellent and very popular. 

 

I saw Rock Opera and Hannah Howie in the Princess Theater. Both shows were great, especially Hannah's. She sings popular Broadway songs, Carole King and the like, and has an amazing stage presence. 

 

Comedian Robert G. Lee, however, was such a huge disappointment. Indeed, there were some boos in the audience. In addition to being unfunny, Robert made a series of offensive jokes, mocking reparations for slavery, referring to Nancy Pelosi as "the wicked witch in the west," and implying that trans people were perverts. I am not some rabid liberal and I enjoy politically incorrect jokes (when they are funny), but cruise performers need to keep politics out of their performances, especially when their jokes aren't funny and involve punching down on vulnerable minorities. Regardless about how you feel about LGBT rights etc., you probably wouldn't want a comedian with politics different from yours making unsettling and controversial jokes when you are trying to escape and relax. 

 

Finally, the trivia and gameshows in Princess Live were always very good but get there early for gameshows as seats go fast!

 

[richla]

13 minutes ago, newyorker78 said:

There was also nowhere to put a suitcase and not enough drawers to fully unpack. I loved the bed and comforter though!

Are you saying you can no longer put suitcases under the bed?

[cruisequeen4ever]

I enjoyed hearing about your experience and comparing it to ours last month. We too had lunch at Peskesi. It’s always interesting to hear about crew experiences because we don’t know if we had the same crew or not; we didn’t have any rude crew on ours, thankfully. That was cool to learn Ella Ryan is a teacher. Happy cruising to you!

[JimmyVWine]

Thanks for the report.  AJ Clarke was on Regal in May and we enjoyed his performances and lectures. He's a keeper.  And I agree with you on how far comedians should push things on a cruise ship.  If I pay to see Andrew Dice Clay (and I don't), I know what I am in for.  But in the theater or Vista Lounge, one needs to be much more mindful of a diverse audience and an even more diverse crew.  

[MissP22]

I hope that comedian sticks around for our cruise.  We definitely need a change from the old ones that Princess has been using for years now. 

[PacnGoNow]

Nice review and comparison.  The duo in the piazza, was that the 2 Ukrainian sisters?  They were excellent.  

 

We found the Enchanted crew to be wonderful. Wonder what was going on.

We put our suitcases in the closet or under the bed. We take masking tape and put a piece over the sensor on those motion lights. Your steward can do that too.

 

Surprised Gigi’s was bland. Maybe a crew change. 

 

 

[Labanos]

Thank you for your review. I also started in Rome but am still on the ship. Am positive as well and like the entertainment and food on board. This second week it seems a little less busy.

[newyorker78]

49 minutes ago, richla said:

Are you saying you can no longer put suitcases under the bed?

No, sorry for the confusion. I meant only that there wasn't a suitcase stand, suitcase bench, or an otherwise convenient place to lay out one's suitcase for the duration of the cruise. On other cruises, I would simply leave an open suitcase on the sofa but there aren't sofas in the Enchanted Princess basic balconies. I ended up using the stool from the balcony and bringing it inside the closet.

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, newyorker78 said:

No, sorry for the confusion. I meant only that there wasn't a suitcase stand, suitcase bench, or an otherwise convenient place to lay out one's suitcase for the duration of the cruise. On other cruises, I would simply leave an open suitcase on the sofa but there aren't sofas in the Enchanted Princess basic balconies. I ended up using the stool from the balcony and bringing it inside the closet.

That’s called “Living out of a suitcase!”  😉

[newyorker78]

21 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Nice review and comparison.  The duo in the piazza, was that the 2 Ukrainian sisters?  They were excellent.  

 

We found the Enchanted crew to be wonderful. Wonder what was going on.

We put our suitcases in the closet or under the bed. We take masking tape and put a piece over the sensor on those motion lights. Your steward can do that too.

 

Surprised Gigi’s was bland. Maybe a crew change. 

 

 

 

Thanks very much! And no, the True Colors Duo is a Croatian couple. I think the Ukrainian sisters may have also been on our ship but if so we didn't get the chance to see them. There were so many options for live music every night!

 

And some crew were really amazing but a number seemed really burnt out and over it. It just wasn't quite as friendly as my recent previous cruises. 

[newyorker78]

4 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

That’s called “Living out of a suitcase!”  😉

 

Guilty as charged 🤪

[jennmaybe]

Thanks for this review!

 

I was not aware of the issue with the lights, so I am glad I read this.

 

We are not able to use the Medallions so we have to request a key cards at check in.  I have been reading about lots of issues with those, not just here either.  Even if we could use those, I don’t think we would want to because we do not want to spend cruise time at the service desk getting issues corrected.

 

Ugh… I wonder if that comedian is still gonna be on in October.  We would really like to have someone that’s going to make us laugh. 🤪

[PacnGoNow]

24 minutes ago, jennmaybe said:

Thanks for this review!

 

I was not aware of the issue with the lights, so I am glad I read this.

 

We are not able to use the Medallions so we have to request a key cards at check in.  I have been reading about lots of issues with those, not just here either.  Even if we could use those, I don’t think we would want to because we do not want to spend cruise time at the service desk getting issues corrected.

 

Ugh… I wonder if that comedian is still gonna be on in October.  We would really like to have someone that’s going to make us laugh. 🤪

I love the medallion, so easy. 
Used it since implemented in 2018. We do longer cruises and the battery lasts about 30 days. Takes only a few mins to replace

it at GS.  They ask your name and cabin, to make sure it’s you making the charge.  Or, sometimes their hand held device is not picking it up.

 

Maybe you’re thinking more

of the medallion App?  
 

Anyway, have fun and hope you get to laugh!  😆 

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by PacnGoNow