My View: Will we be Enchanted by Princess? (Live Views from a Princess Newbie)

[APDMOM]

Early Morning Arrival Views:

 

Enchantment of the Seas in our wake:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Early morning swim 

Due to the early arrival at the port, there was nobody in either of the midship pools, so I got to swim my 80 laps without interference. 😄 

 

TIP:  The medallion truly is waterproof.  I swim with it all the time.

 

TIP:  The pools on this ship are “freshwater” pools.  (Not salty)

 

[APDMOM]

Favorite Excursion - Cozumel

 

Since we have been to Cozumel many times, we decided to just enjoy the ship today.  However, I thought I would post our favorite excursion for this port.  We did Trikes Cozumel in 2019.  It is a private excursion, but we felt safe and had plenty of time for the excursion to return to the ship.  Cozumel is relatively small, so it is easy to do a 2-3 hour excursion without fear of missing the ship, if you find a reputable operator.  We also did Trikes Aruba, which is the same company.  Next on our list is Trikes St. Maarten.  🙂

 

Flashback to 2019 when we did this excursion with my parents - If interested, you can see more pictures and details about this excursion in my 2019 review of Harmony of the Seas.

 

[APDMOM]

A few views of the activities in port, as seen from our balcony:

 

Some day we would like to do this Atlantis semi-sub:

 

 

 

In port with us - Carnival Valor

[cr8tiv1]

New take on a live.  Thanks for the red TIPS.

[APDMOM]

The Salty Dog and Buffet Lunch

We enjoyed the relatively quiet midship pools until The Salty Dog opened.  The burgers at this venue are much more juicy than the ones found in the buffet. DH and DS enjoyed their burgers while I opted for lunch in the buffet, which was excellent today.  The veggies and curry dishes were a hit!  The roasted beets - favorite.

 

[APDMOM]

Geeky not-so-general knowledge discovery of the day… How they change a lightbulb in the Piazza.  That silver post in the left half of the picture is a crane. You can see the crew member in the basket at the top.

 

[APDMOM]

On 7/13/2024 at 8:12 AM, ecs66 said:

In December, we (2 couples) will be on Enchanted (first time) in two aft-facing cabins.  Hubby mentioned  possible soot and fumes.  Unlike you, he is "cup-half empty" - [sigh].  It would be nice to know ahead of time if this might be an issue.  Thank you!!

@ecs66  Day 3, and so far no soot on the balcony.  I think it depends on the days/wind though, since we can tell the lounger has some soot stains.  It is not a problem though - we just always make sure we have pool towels in the cabin to put on the lounger and chairs when we sit out there.

 

December for an aft balcony will be great.  I really forgot how hot it gets around here in the summer, so we have been spending much less time on the balcony than planned.  Evenings are nice though.  We have note had any smoke fumes at all.

[voljeep]

14 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

@ecs66  Day 3, and so far no soot on the balcony.  I think it depends on the days/wind though, since we can tell the lounger has some soot stains.  It is not a problem though - we just always make sure we have pool towels in the cabin to put on the lounger and chairs when we sit out there.

 

December for an aft balcony will be great.  I really forgot how hot it gets around here in the summer, so we have been spending much less time on the balcony than planned.  Evenings are nice though.  We have note had any smoke fumes at all.

I hope you have enjoyed Panchos Backyard on your previous trips to Cozumel - really nice to just hang out at the tables in the sand under the trees - wife had a 'fishbowl' mojito, and I had a couple of 'local beers' - Dos XX.   she also had her feet eaten by the fishies one time

[beshears]

I just happened to SEE the start of your review, and it may be over now, but I will continue reading until all the postings are done, even if I cannot read it all tonight. 🙂  We, 7 or 8 of us are planning on doing the Enchanted this February. We did the Regal in February of this year, doing the itinerary that you are doing, only we left from Galveston, TX.

[beshears]

I had already posted, but I just seen your picture from Day 2, at sea, so beautiful. I am enjoying your pictures as well. I mentioned, since we are to cruise in February,  we are doing the 10 day southern cruise on the Enchanted, and I'm trying to pick up ALL tid bits of information I can get on this ship, to pass on to the rest of my family that is going with me.

[beshears]

You mentioned the champagne waterfall. I had to go waaaaaaaaaaaay back through all my pictures, and found myself doing this champagne waterfall, 24 years ago, on another Princess ship. It was fun to do it this year, and I plan to do it again, hopefully in February. 🙂 

[perfect match]

I hadn’t seen you around in a while so I wasn’t sure what cruise line you were cruising these days. Tonight I happened to wander over here to the Princess board and what a nice surprise not only to find you posting here, but that it was one of your My View reviews as well! I’m here for the rest of it! Your review and pictures are great, as always! 

[tobyt]

On 7/13/2024 at 10:29 AM, AndrewTH said:

We are going on Enchanted for our first Princess cruise next May and have a forward deluxe "obstructed" balcony. .

We had one of these obstructed views on Lido last fall, it was awesome! The balcony was huge and since I have an extreme fear of heights much more useable for me than the normal standard balcony for less cost! I will say Mediterranean was super calm and I am not certain how it would be in less favorable weather. I also loved being able to pop out easily in the evening for a hot tub soak or beverage. I hope you have a terrific trip!

[ecs66]

17 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Day 3, and so far no soot on the balcony.

Thanks for the info!!  Appreciate it so much.

[tobyt]

I hope the rest of your trip is fun, you are an excellent writer and I enjoy your tips!

[Daniel A]

17 hours ago, APDMOM said:

December for an aft balcony will be great.  I really forgot how hot it gets around here in the summer, so we have been spending much less time on the balcony than planned.  Evenings are nice though.  We have note had any smoke fumes at all.

I recently booked my first Enchanted sailing.  I usually prefer to book an aft facing Premium Deluxe Balcony, but there were two issues.  First, was that one could not book that cabin type with only two passengers in the cabin.  I noted that you are a party of three, and if you are more than two, you can select your cabin, less than three and they'll only give the option of a guarantee.  Second, and more concerning is that it appears there are no covered aft facing balconies.  They can get unusable in the Caribbean sun.  (I think you are finding this out...)

 

I ended up opting for a bump out minisuite which is covered.  Thank you for taking time out from your vacation to keep us informed about Enchanted.

[APDMOM]

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I recently booked my first Enchanted sailing.  I usually prefer to book an aft facing Premium Deluxe Balcony, but there were two issues.  First, was that one could not book that cabin type with only two passengers in the cabin.  I noted that you are a party of three, and if you are more than two, you can select your cabin, less than three and they'll only give the option of a guarantee.  Second, and more concerning is that it appears there are no covered aft facing balconies.  They can get unusable in the Caribbean sun.  (I think you are finding this out...)

 

I ended up opting for a bump out minisuite which is covered.  Thank you for taking time out from your vacation to keep us informed about Enchanted.

 

Hi @Daniel A!  I think you made a good choice since you can only get a guarantee balcony.

 

However, half of our balcony is covered.  I will post pictures and tips about the balconies later - there are certain decks that have aft balconies with NO covering, while others have double the size, half of which is covered.  Thankfully, we got the one that is half covered.  I will post more details later. 🙂

[APDMOM]

Thanks for all the kind comments!  It is fun to see old and new CC friends virtually joining in.  @perfect match Nancy, glad you found us! 😄

[APDMOM]

Cozumel Sailaway:

 

Enchantment of the Seas geeky fact: This ship was cut in two to add a large section.  If I remember correctly, the curved railing at the center of the ship was added, along with the whole section below.  If you want some entertaining geeky ship facts, look for a video that explains how Enchantment was stretched.

 

Disney Fantasy:

 

Carnival Valor sailing off:

 

 

Leaving Cozumel in our Wake:

 

Edited July 16 by APDMOM

[APDMOM]

Dinner in Amalfi:

 

This second experience in the MDR was quite different from the first.  The dishes we selected were all excellent to very good.  

 

 

 

 

Chilled Cantaloupe Melon Cocktail - Very good

 

Greens and roasted vegetable salad - Excellent

 

Blackened Covina with Grits:

Excellent

 

Chicken Parmigiana - Very good

 

 

Coconut Creme Brûlée - Excellent (though I could not really taste the coconut)

[APDMOM]

Evening Entertainment:

We had planned on going to see the magician, but the theater was full, so we decided to just enjoy the public entertainment, including our 2 favorites - Steel Pan with Wilson and the 70’s Disco party with Pinnacle:

 

 

[APDMOM]

My View: End of day 3 - Cozumel

[APDMOM]

Princess Patter - Day 3

 

Download PDF:

PRINCESS.pdf

[Wishing on a star]

I am SO enjoying your trip report!

You are excellent at posting, and your photos are amazing!

 

While some of the menus look a bit underwhelming, that blackened corvina and polenta does look very good.

 

That is great info about the AFT balconies.  I was thinking that should be the case, but was not sure!   Of course, it is a hassle - but one can book a third person (friend or family) to select a Deluxe Balcony, and should be able to cancel before final payment.

I have hesitated to do that, and accepted a standard balcony (one with a larger exterior balcony).

But we are using this workaround as, on this one cruise, it is important to be where we wanted to book, and to have that Deluxe Premium balcony.