Group Cruise on Enchantment of the Sea

This was not our first cruise so I was expecting at least the same if not a better cruise this time around. I heard from others who have sailed with Royal Caribbean how great their cruise was but this is not what we experienced. We were not that impressed. The ship was beautiful and things seemed to be updated. But the last cruise I was on was with Carnival and I was more impressed with that cruise overall and it was even an older ship.

Our stateroom was very nice. The whole room was comfortable to be in. The drawback to the rooms was our room steward. He was nice and did keep the room very clean and tidy but did not replenish things as he should have. People in our group had to ask repeatedly for ice. It might seem like something small to complain about but when you are in need of ice and you are not getting it when you ask for it, it becomes a big deal. Our beach towels were missing on the first day of the cruise. We only had to ask once for them and from then on he kept the towels replenished.
We were a bit disappointed with the service on board also. Our entire group was promised a booking package of wine, a fruit plate, and a certificate for gaming tokens waiting in our room upon arrival. Half of our group got slippers instead of the fruit plate the bottle of wine, and the casino certificate by the second day of travel. The rest of our group got these items on the last day and night of travel at sea and this was only after repeated trips and calls to the service desk or guest relations. The staff apologized and blamed in on computer problems. This was a bit frustrating.

Many of the shows that we attended were not impressive at all. The show people were very obviously lip synching. That was a huge turn off for me. When I go to see a singing and dancing show I fully expect the dancers and singers to actually perform the songs. They also seemed to be lacking in their desire to perform.
The comedians were pretty funny. The adult comedy show was a bit too raunchy for our taste but the other shows were quite funny. We found those to be pleasing.
The games played on ship were also very entertaining and enjoyable.

The food on the ship was nice. I was expecting something different though. On cruise ships you expect to have a wide variety of foods that are exotic or at least not what you would normally eat at home. This cruise had normal foods that I would make or get at a buffet somewhere. And the buffet items were pretty much the same everyday We were not served much seafood besides fish. That was a constant on the menu. When we cruised with Carnival we had filet mignon, lobster, specially prepared chicken and fish, etc. We did not get any of that on this cruise. There was a specialty restaurant that we could have gone to for better cuts of steak, pork and so forth but we had to pay $25.00 a person to go there. I am thinking that the ship didn't serve the better, more exotic foods at the normal dining rooms so that we were forced to pay a high price to eat them at the specialty restaurant if we wanted that.
The waiters in the main dining room were very nice and helpful. Our waiters were pleasant and very attentive to our needs. I did find the overall staff on our Carnival cruise to be more impressive though.
The food on this cruise was not available 24 hours a day as Carnival's was. There were two different places, besides the main dining room, that we could get free food from on the R.C. ship but they were not always open. The casual dining area would be open most of the day but closed from 11:00-noon and 3-6:30. These were critical hours because we would have to be back on the ship during these afternoon hours. When we got back from our excursions we would be hungry and want to eat but nothing was opened except a snack window that offered pizza, hamburger and hotdogs. Then a lot of people would be there to eat and it would take quite a long time to get the food and the staff seemed to be overwhelmed with the sudden rush of people that were off the ship for their excursions and so forth.
Another thing I noticed, small but important at the time, was the fact that the ice cream machine was not opened all day as on the Carnival cruise. There was a Ben and Jerry's store on ship but we had to pay a high price for an ice cream. Why pay when there is a free machine on board? But again, as with the dining room, I think that they closed the one and offered more at another so we would be forced to pay.

Overall our cruise was great. We had excellent weather and we had fun.
I would recommend Cozumel and Key West to anyone. They were very nice places to visit and there was much to do on your own. Belize was not so nice. We had an excursion there, an ATV ride in the Rainforest. That was fun and interesting but we had a bit of trouble finding our check point. The city was not a place I wanted to spend much time in. I did not feel safe in this city and we were even offered drugs. Not so surprising I guess, just a bit freaky. I was glad to be back on the ship after visiting there. At any of the ports there were great excursions for our group to go on.

We thank Eric Lam for all of his help and patience in booking our cruise for us. Our group will most likely book another cruise in a few years but we will probably book with one of Carnival's larger and newer ships.

Group Cruise on Enchantment of the Seas

This was not our first cruise, so we knew what to expect. Everyone we knew raved at how Royal Caribbean is the best, but we were not so impressed. The ship is very nice and updated, but we have been on three other cruises before on Carnival and think that Carnival was more impressive, especially with their food and shows.

Our stateroom was very nice, but the room steward was not very good at replenishing items in our room and didn't do the same in our rooms as others in our group. Had to ask several times for ice, pool towels and so forth.

Food was very nice and presentable, but not much for exotic foods. Carnival had more items to pick from that you normally wouldn't have had at home. Waitstaff was very good and friendly though.

Food was not available 24 hours as Carnival does. One area would have food till 3pm and then somewhere else would not open till 6pm. When we got back from excursions during the day to come back and eat, we couldn't. And had a late seating for dinner.

Many of the shows were not as impressive as to what we have experienced in the past as well. I guess we have spoiled before and had higher expectations. So, we ended up skipping the last couple nights of shows.

Overall, we had a great ship, great weather and fun. We were all just a little disappointed with the service, especially when our entire group was supposed to get wine, gaming chips and so forth and on the last night of the cruise, three of our cabins finally received these items after numerous visits to their desk. A little frustrating and guest services told me that they had computer problems.

Would recommend Cozumel and Key West to anyone. Belize was okay. Great excursions for our group to participate in. Thanks to Eric for all his assistance and patience. We will more than likely plan another group cruise in a couple years, but most likely on one of Carnival's larger ships.

Western Caribbean

Hi....I wanted to thank everyone who gave such good advice to a newbie cruiser, and to let you know how it went for us.

My wife and I returned from our fist ever cruise last week. Fantastic is all we can say!!! We took this short four night cruise to "test the waters" (no pun intended) to see if she would enjoy cruising, as she tends to get motion sickness and is an insulin dependant diabetic, who watches her diet very closely.

Both getting on and off the ship was effortless and well organized. We arrived at the Ft. Lauderdale Cruise Terminal at about 10:30 AM and were on board by 11:30-11:45. By the time we enjoyed a great lunch at the Windjammer, our cabin was ready. We met our cabin steward (sorry..I can't remember his name) and he had already made sure the refrigerator we had requested (to keep insulin at the proper temperature) was in the cabin, plugged in and pre cooled. That was the last we saw of him, but he was very efficient at keeping our cabin neat and clean with no problems whatsoever. My wife especially appreciated the towel animals (a swan with sunglasses, a hanging monkey and a sting ray with wrapped candy mints for eyes) that were left every night except the first night. We had an outside cabin, misdhip on deck three. With everything we have read on these boards, we were aprehensive about the size of the cabin and especially the shower. Not to worry!!!! Although the cabin is on the small side, it is ingeniously laid out with plenty of room to store everything...even though we grossly overpacked. Sure...the shower is small and the shower curtain sticks like glue, but the water pressure was good, the water hot and we managed to get ourselves clean. What more could we want? !!! We only felt bad for the cabin steward who had to mop up wet floors. There seems to be no way to keep the shower from spilling onto the bathroom floor.

Disembarking was well organized. We had color green and were up early. We took advantage of a good breakfast at the Windjammer. After that, we went to our assigned area and waited for our color to be called. That happened within a short time, and we were off the ship (reluctantly), baggage in hand by 10:30 AM. No muss, no fuss with very little standing in line. This was another surprise after reading some of the horror stories posted here. Although not related to disembarkation, I thought I'd mention that the muster drill, held the first afternoon on board, also was not a bad as we were led to believe. We saw only 3 or 4 people give the crew a hard time...2 ladies? wanted to bring their drinks with them and could not understand why they were not allowed to do so......another couple of ladies ? complained loudly and vociferously that the orange life jacket did not match their outfits. They were obviously not joking, either. To each his own, I guess. The drill was over with 1/2 to 3/4 hour.

The ship itself is beautiful...much nicer than we expected, due to her age. The recent "stretch job" is hardly visible and the entire ship is as clean as a whistle, with cleaning being carried out seemingly around the clock. Unfortunately, due to the short duration of this cruise, we didn't have a chance to see the entire ship, but what we did see was impressive.

In our opinion, the entertain was ok, but not great. This is probably due to our own personal tastes, as it seemed like everyone around us was enjoying it. We saw a juggler, who was just ok, a comedian was so-so and the one production show we saw was a disappointment. We did not attend the second production show as my wife had dancing on her mind, and we spent the evening at Boleros with the salsa dancing. This is not meant to be a complaint, but merely our own opinion.

We ate breakfast and lunch at the Windjammer every day, except the one morning that my wife had an early spa appointment. We ordered room service that morning and the food and service were both excellent. The Windjammer meals were more than good. The variety of choices was amazing and everything we tried was good, especially the roast chicken at lunch. The only item I didn't care for was the scrambled eggs the first morning, but I remedied that by ordering eggs over at the omelet bar the rest of the cruise. That did the trick!! One person who really merits special mention is Maurice from Jamaica, one of the Windjammer wait staff. He couldn't do enough for us and he could have been a comedy act himself!! Ya Mon!!!! We apprecited the crewmember stationed at the Windjammer entrances, making certain everyone sanitized their hands before entering. That goes a long way towards keeping the "bug" from ruining a vacation. We were also impressed by the many (though not obtrusive) announcements throughout the ship to keep hands washed with soap and hot water we heard throughout the cruise.

We had dinner every night at the My Fair Lady Dining Room, and what an experience that was!! We were seated at table 99, a table for eight.. We had pleasant tablemeates with whom we had a good time and good conversation. The best part, though, was the wait staff. They were: Head Waiter Ricardo, from the Phillipines, who visited our table at least twice each evening....Waiter Chris from the Phillipines and Jaoa (sp?) from India. These guys were GREAT!!!! They really added to the pleasure of cruising. They were efficient, helpful with suggestions, comedic and just a pleasure to be around. We had a few moments to speak with each of them about their homes and families etc. and really enjoyed talking with them. Chris, our waiter, knew of my wife's diabetes and went above and beyond in making sure he suggested the proper meals and he made sure he pointed out the sugar free desserts she could enjoy. Royal Caribbean is indeed fortunate to have them all!!!Although we opted for the prepaid suggested tips, a little extra cash went in to each of their envelopes along with the voucher. They worked very hard to please us and they surely deserved more than the suggested amount.

The dining room food was all delicious, and served at the proper temperature and with a flair. The only meal I had that was not great was the prime rib. I asked for a medium cut and it was served a little too well done and somewhat dry for my taste. Since it was certainly not inedible, I said nothing to Chris. If I had said something, he would have been apologizing the rest of the cruise!!! Everyone at our table commented at one time or another how well everything was presented and how good everything was. Have we had better meals at expensive upscale restaurants? Sure....but for the amount of meals being prepared at the same time, each and every meal was more than acceptable ....in fact, rather good. We also enjoyed the entertainment presented by the wait staff with their parade of nations, etc.

As to shore excursions, Key West was a little bit of a disappointment....only because of the short time we were in port. We arrived at 7AM and had to be back on board no later than 1:30 PM. We has only time to take the Conch Train tour and it was enjoyable, but we wished we had more time in that port.

Cozumel was a blast!!! Taking kind advice from several of you who answered my posts about being a newbie, I booked a Swim with the Dolphins tour through the ship as a surprise to my wife. She's a devout animal lover and I havn't seen such a big smile on her face in a long, long time. Thanks for the suggestion!! We both thoroughly enjoyed this tour and WILL do it again. The only suggestion we have is to have the ship and/or the tour operator suggest some kind of swim footwear be worn. A large part of the time is spent in standing on a platform, whose floor is open steel grating, and is submerged so that one stands in about waist deep water. Trying to balance against the natural wave action, in bare feet on the grating is hard on the feet and quite uncomfortable. That was, however, a small inconvenience to an otherwise very enjoyable tour. Next time we'll bring swim shoes.

As to my wife's propensity to motion sickness, she was fine until Sunday, the final day and our only sea day. We were returning from Cozumel to Ft. Lauderdale when the seas started to build. The major snow storm that hit the entire East Coast on Tuesday and Wednesday 2/13 and 14, had its beginnings in the area we were cruising. It was raining all day, cold and with high winds. The ship got to "rocking and rolling". My wife started feeling a little queazy so she took a meclazine tablet prescribed by her doctor. After lying in the cabin for about an hour, she felt much better. She got up and we went to the Windjammer for lunch. What else?!!!!She was fine from that point on.

All in all..it was a great time. We found that cruising is a ball and we will definitely do it again. Now that we have this trial run under our belts, we'll take a longer cruise next time, possibly the Eastern Caribbean. Wherever we go, it will definitely be on Royal Caribbean. In case anyone is wondering...no, I don't work for Royal Caribbean, nor am I a plant on these boards!!!

Even though, as first time cruisers, we have nothing to compare it to, we thought this cruise was top notch. I don't see how anyone in the entire crew could have done anything more to make our vacation a success. It looks to us like RCI has it down pat!! In our opinion, if anyone feels a need to complain as is prevalant on these boards, they have either had a much, much different experience than we, or they are not happy unleess they have something to complain about!

Sorry if this was too long...but I'm new at this.

Western Caribbean Cruise Reviewed by Robin

This was the first cruise for all five of us. Traveling with me (I'm 44) were my wife Barbara (45), daughter Chelsea (15), my daughter's friend Devin (15), and our friend Janice (Devin's mother, 45). I was amazed at how few rooms were left at this time. RCI kept upping the price once or twice a week. We booked a Category I cabin, # 2538, on deck 2 for my family, and Janice and Devin booked the adjacent room. I visited the rec.travel.cruises newsgroup almost daily until the cruise. I learned everything I needed to know to plan a great cruise here. Thanks to those who responded to my posts.

We felt comfortable leaving our two 15 year olds roam the ship together. They had to join us for dinner at 6:00 and be in by 1:00 AM (2:00 AM if we did not have to get up early--days at sea). We ran into them frequently around the ship and they sometimes joined us at the pool and shows. Our cabin steward, Allan, did a great job. Our room was cleaned, made up, and decorated with 'pillow art' twice daily, after breakfast and after dinner. Our waiter, Forlindo, was extremely attentive and did everything he could to see that we enjoyed our meal. Overall the entire staff were delightful. The only negative experience was that that one ship photographer, Andrew, was rude to us on two occasions.
This was our first cruise and we are hooked. It far exceeded our expectations. We will be sailing again and probably with RCI. Our friends just got back from the Carnival Destiny and hated it. We compared notes and the Enchantment seemed like a much better ship in all aspects.

Day 1 - Ft. Lauderdale
We left Pennsylvania at 7:30 AM arrived in Florida at 11:50 AM (via Pittsburgh). We had purchased the air/sea program. At the terminal RCI met us and we were herded into a lounge to await the bus to the boat. It was around a one hour wait, then a 5 minute bus ride to the dock. The embarkation line took around an hour to get through. At 2:00 we were in our room. We were all pleased with it, small, but well designed.
We went to the Windjammer for a lunch buffet, toured the pools (they were closed the first day), and signed up for excursions. Excursions fill up fast, I recommend signing up soon after you get on the ship at the pursers office. They have forms you fill out and put in a box. Our tickets for our excursions were on our bed that evening.
At 4:00 we went back to the room and unpacked. At 4:30 they had the lifeboat drill. At 5:00 there was an embarkation party by the pool with dancing. Quite a few people danced to the Electric Slide, Macarena, etc... 6:00 was dinner (early seating) in the My Fair Lady dining room. Casual dress tonight. Prime Rib. Overall throughout the cruise I thought the food was excellent. At all meals there were around 6 appetizers you could choose from (as many as you like), one salad, around 6 entrees (as many as you like), and around 6 desserts (two low-calorie).
After dinner I went to the casino. I had downloaded the game "Super BlackJack" from the Internet before the cruise and brushed up on BlackJack strategies. I played BlackJack after dinner all week and was around $10 behind at the end of the week. Better to almost break even then loose big. I had a lot of fun playing, this was only my second time in a casino. I can see how gambling can be addicting. The show on the first night is not really a show. There was a 15 minute talk by the cruise director followed by comedian who was on for 30 minutes. The comedian was Janine Gardener--we did not like her.
Map of Key West was on our bed with our excursion tickets for the week (Sting Ray City and Dunns River Cruise) when we returned to our room.

Day 2 - Key West
From 7:00 to 7:45 I watched the boat approach and dock at Key West. From Deck 10 you can watch the captain below on the left side of the boat as he maneuvers. They can turn these boats on a dime.
Last night we ordered breakfast in the room for today from a very limited menu. It never showed up. We went to the WindJammer. Although I liked the breakfasts here two people in our group were not fond of them.
At 9:00 we were on the free train ride to downtown Key West. We walked up Duvall Street and shopped. Not great shopping--mostly T-Shirt shops. If I had to do it again I probably would have done an excursion (snorkeling or glall bottom boat) and skipped the shopping.
We had lunch in Margueritaville (Conch soup and Key West Ale). I purchased a mask and snorkel across the street from Margueritaville (of Jimmy Buffet fame) at a good price.
At 2:00 we were back on the ship and at the pool. 6:00 was formal dinner. I had rented a tux (I would say around one out of every five men had one on) and plan to rent one again on our next cruise. We missed the show that night in the theater. At 10:00 we watched the "Battle of the Sexes" in the Carrousel Lounge. 11:00 we went to the Centrum Disco. Danced. 12:00 was the Galley Tour and Galley Buffet (a buffet set up in the galley). Amazing that they make close to 10,000 meals per day on this ship.

Day 3 ? Cozumel
Thank you to everyone that recommended Chankanaab Park. It was the highlight of our cruise (Stingray City was a close second).
At 11:00 AM we took a cab from the ship to Chankanaab Park. It was $8 for the cab ride and $10 per person to get in. It was beautiful. Grass umbrellas shaded free beach chairs. Snorkeling was unbelievable ($5 to rent equipment). Fish everywhere. I took some bread in as suggested and was 'attacked' by around 200 fish before I could get it out of my hand. Take an underwater camera here.
The wife and I went scuba diving. A one hour dive with lesson for $40 each. I was certified and had dove twice. My wife had never dove. With one instructor for just the two of us I felt it was safe for my wife. The 20 minute lesson they gave my wife (in broken English) was not really sufficient preparation to dive. She only stayed down 40 of the 60 minutes. Diving was beautiful, tons of fish (big and small), sponges, caves, etc... If you are PADI certified and have not dove for a while you would love this.
We went to the free showers and changed, took a tour of the Mayan ruin replicas, and at 4:00 grabbed a taxi into town to Los Sincos Soles in San Miguel. We had dinner in the back of Los Sincos Soles at Pancho's restaurant. Good food. We shopped briefly in Los Sincos Soles and then hit several other shops. If we had to do it again we would have spent most of our shopping time in Los Sincos Soles. Their prices were as good as anywhere and the sales people were not pushy as in the other shops. The $4 Mexican blankets made great gifts for relatives.

Day 4 - Day at Sea
At 8:00 AM I was the first person in the Solarium pool (By 10:00 all good seats were taken). No kids under 12 are allowed in this pool. It is a quiet area nice for sunbathing, reading, and chatting with new people you meet. At 12:00 I took a tour of the ship and walked around every deck, then back to the pool. There is a snack shop by the pool with pizza, hamburgers, and great fries.
6:00 PM was Jamaican night in the My Fair Lady dining room. The waiters did the "Dance of the Flaming BaBa-Loos". They had cakes on their heads with lit candles and danced around the dining room. A fun dinner.
9:00 PM was LaRaf (2 magicians) in the Orpheum Theatre. Everyone seemed to like them but me. They use what I call store bought magic--tricks you purchase. I saw no slight of hand or anything that required actual talent.
At 10:15 PM my table won 2nd place in the 50's-60's trivia contest in the Carrousel lounge.
My daughter and her friend often hung out in the teen club. Every night they would have many activities planned for them. One night they had karaoke, another night they had to go in groups (guys vs. girls) with a Polaroid camera in search for the most gorgeous people on the ship. The girls thought that was really fun. All the activities were very fun; they were definitely geared toward their age group. They met many new friends from all over and still keep in touch with them. Also in the teen club they would have free drinks (e.g. non-alcoholic pina colodas), which you don't often see on this ship, and free cookies, sandwiches, and fruit.

Day 5 - Grand Caymans
8:15 we departed on the Sting Ray City Tour. Not to be missed. They boat you to a sand bar around 3 miles from shore where you stand in waist deep water and feed sting rays pieces of squid from your hand. It is an unbelievable experience. A must do.
At 12:00 we walked from the Sting Ray City boat dock to the Beach Club Colony (around 3 blocks). We stopped on the way for an ice cream cone--it was $7.50 (and they would not give me change in American dollars!)! What they say about high prices in Grand Cayman is very true.
The Beach Club Colony is a resort that allows cruise ship people on their beach. Of course it costs $5 to get on their beach, and another $5 for an umbrella. They pack you in like sardines--5 rows of chairs all next to each other. The water was clear with a sandy bottom. As you looked up and down the beach at the uncrowded sections it looked beautiful. I snorkeled and only saw one fish. I would never come back to Beach Club Colony.
At 2:00 it started to rain and we left Beach Club Colony. We shopped brieflly by the pier on the way out and bought two large rum cakes ($18). I wished I would have gotten more. I'm surprised they did not kick me out for all the free samples I ate (I really pigged out).
At 4:00 they gave out sheets by the pool and demonstrated how to tie togas. 6:00 Italian night in the dining room. Waiters sang O-Solo-Mio (forgive my spelling). The 9:00 PM show Flashback was excellent. Great talent. They sang music of the 50's - 90's. The comedy juggler that followed was also excellent.
11:00 Toga party. Not to be missed. How often do you see 100-200 people in togas doing a chain dance around the pool. A small buffet was also set up by the pool.

Day 6 - Jamaica
We took the 11:00 AM Cruise to Dunns River Falls excursion. At the pier we boarded a boat with around 40 other people. Cruised along Jamaica to Dunns River Falls. Climbed the falls (took around 1 hour). The few vendors near the falls were very pushy ("Why don't you want your hair braided"!). This is another not to be missed event (the falls, not the vendors). The falls are a bit treacherous at spots (one person from our ship broke his leg here). Cruised back to ship. They served some very strong rum punch on the cruise back and sold hats, T-shirts, Jerk sauce, etc... I purchased my Jamaican mementos here.
At 2:00 I went to the pool and my wife and her friend went shopping in Jamaica. I had heard bad things about Jamaica and was surprised when my wife and Janice said they had a great time. They found a craft bazaar with hundreds of vendors and got the best deals of the whole cruise. They felt the vendors in Cozumel were more pushy than Jamaica.
6:00 - Formal night number two--French Cuisine. We went early and had our pictures taken by the ship's photographer. They came out nice and we ended up purchasing them.
The 9:00 show with the ventriloquist and his 'parrot' was very good.

We continued the evening at the Champagne Bar in the Centrum listening to jazz music.
Made it to the Grand buffet at midnight. It was around 4X bigger than I expected.

Day 7 - Day at Sea
At 8:00 AM I was at the pool and reserved 5 chairs for our group by the main pool. By 9:00 AM all chairs were taken.
A lot going on as usual-- Bingo, horse racing, slot tournaments.
6:00 - International Night in the dining room, then we went back to the room and packed (bags must be set in the hallway by midnight).
The 9:00 end of the cruise show with the staff and the juggler/comedienne was hilarious. Don't miss this.

Day 8 - Disembarkation
I was surprised we did not see anyone being checked by customs as we disembarked.
Flew back to Pennsylvania.

Looking forward to our next cruise.