Enchantment of the Seas June 10, 2006 sailing

[kaj2870]

Hi Fellow Cruisers!

Here is the long review of our family cruise to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and George Town, Grand Cayman. Party of 15 (6 adults and 9 teenagers)

Day 1 - June 10th (Saturday): We arrived at BWI airport in Baltimore, MD at around 4:50 a.m for our 6:50 a.m. flight on Southwest. We arrived at Ft. Lauderdale airport at 9:00 a.m. Retrieved our luggage and caught the airport courtesy shuttle bus to Port Everglades. We checked in with flying colors at the port (no lines whatsoever and we were on the ship at around 1:15 p.m.) At 1:30 we were eating at the Windjammer for a nibble of this and a bite of that. The food was good. At around 2:30 we headed to our rooms on deck 3 aft near the center elevators. We saw our luggage so we picked them up and took them to the rooms with us. On previous cruises, we've stayed on deck 2 and 9 and I will never stay on a higher level again, as you feel the motion of the ship more so than on lower decks. The room was alright but then again, we were only there to sleep and shower. I'm glad I brought the strip cord for my cameras. At 4:30 was the muster drill on Deck 5 (Muster Station 10 for us). We sailed out of Port Everglades at 4:55 p.m. Our Stateroom Attendant was Dalwin Findlay. He was ok. We did see our stateroom attendant, Clement Douglass, from our first cruise in 2002! It was a pleasant surprise and he remembered us!

Day 2 - June 11th (Sunday) AT SEA We had breakfast at the Windjammer. The food was ok. We mostly hung out around deck 9 near the Windjammer. Later in the evening, we went to the Captain's (Gunnar Oien) Welcome Aboard Reception in the Spotlight Lounge on Deck 6 and then we went to the Screen to Stage Production Showtime at 9:00 p.m. in the Orpheum Theatre. We caught part of the Battle of the Sexes and at 10:45 was the Karaoke. A lot of people signed up so there was approximately 6 people that had the chance to sing. The teenagers hung out at the disco in the Viking Crown Lounge and the younger teens hung around the pool and game room.

Day 3 - June 12th (Monday) OCHO RIOS, JAMAICA 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The previous posters were right, the sellers are aggresive and don't know the meaning of no or no, thank you. If you're shopping, go to the real stores in town and you won't have to worry about being harassed. Anyway, we booked a tour for the 15 of us at $25.00 p.p. The guide, Toney Lowe was very nice and he went out of his way to show us different plants and whatnot. He actually went climbing up a steep hill to bring us a few plants back to the van. We went through Fern Gulley, past a couple of schools, stopped at a woodcrafter's place, saw part of Dunn's River Falls and then to an area on top of a hill with a bunch of huts acting as stores. Those people harassed us to no end. I tried being nice to the ladies but then they ended up causing me to catch an attitude with them. What was really mind boggling was I went shopping in two of the huts after the women literally dragged me in there. After I had finished shopping, I went to look for my husband and not even 10 minutes later, here comes the same two women trying to drag me in their stores again. I told them that I had just went shopping in their huts:mad: They don't take no for an answer. As other posters stated, never allow anyone to put something in your hands or around your neck. I was talking to my son and this man put a "necklace" around my neck and then stood back hollering $10.00, $10.00, $10.00. I looked down at the necklace and told him I would give him $1.00 since that's all it was worth, really it wasn't worth that. Another man came up to my son and tried to sell him a bag of weed. Somehow we kind of drifted apart and I saw the man as he was confronting my son. My son looked at the man like he was crazy and walked away from him looking for either me or his father. When he saw me, headed straight for me and told me what happened. I told him that I saw what happened and that I was proud of what he did by looking at the man like he was crazy and walked away. My son never said anything to the man. They are insane to try to sell drugs to children.

I know these people have to make a living some kind of a way, but come on when someone says no, they should take it and move on to the next person. My husband pretty much told them what he wanted and what he was going to pay them. I'm impressed that he purchased a lot of wooden statues and figurines for $30.00. That goes to show how desperatet the women were to sell. I know one statue alone was probably worth about $50.00 or more. I was ever so glad to leave that place. Everyone told the tour guide to take back to town so we could do some real shopping. We were back on the ship at around 2:30 p.m. If we ever go back to Jamaica again, we will fly and stay at an all-inclusive resort and have more time to explore the island. Ocho Rios was nothing compared to some beautiful pictures I've seen of Jamaica.

Day 4 - June 13th (Tuesday) - George Town, Grand Cayman 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (last tender to leave the island) Only five of us got off the ship to explore Grand Cayman at around 10:30 a.m. We walked around until we found someone to give us a tour of the island for $20.00 p.p. We saw the Governor's House, the Old Homestead, Hell (wasn't worth the stop) and went to the Turtle Farm (which was ok). The tour guide didn't do a lot of talking unless my husband and cousins asked him questions. Everyone said it was very BORING. If we had more time there, we would've rented a car and explored the island ourselves. My DH and have been on a few cruises and we rented scooters to explore the islands.

Day 5 - June 14th (Wednesday) AT SEA I wanted to participate in the scrapbooking class but I overslept:p We had a very relaxing day by the pool, reading books, napping and people watching.

Day 6 - June 15th (Thursday) Thank God we're heading back home. We were off the ship at around 9:30 a.m. and got to the airport at around 10:30 a.m. We had a 3:15 p.m. flight back to Baltimore. It was good that we didn't have to bother about rushing or anything. We ate lunch at the airport and watched the planes take off.

 

This was the first cruise for everyone except for my DH, DS and myself. Everyone had a great time.

Be safe as you travel the world