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.