Rubyfisch

So Air Canada doesn't even use the international terminal at Logan, so it is going to be pretty much like a domestic flight except you have to show someone your passport at some point (although I'm a US citizen, so I can't say for sure there aren't other hiccups). The cruiseport and the airport are quite close, but there can be traffic - particularly because they are closing one of the tunnels to the airport this year. But all and in, I feel like if you are off the ship and through customs by 9:00 am, a noon flight is totally doable.

I was planning on doing that, but didn't because of the weather. At no point did I feel unsafe.

I flew in, but there is a massive uncovered parking lot right at the port. I chatted with folks that parked and they had no complaints. It's a really easy terminal. I don't believe there is any covered parking, so make sure you have a scraper and shovel in case of snow. Also, just an FYI if you haven't sailed from Baltimore - it takes a long time to get through the Chesapeake, so you aren't in international waters for hours after sailaway. The plus side of that is you have US cell signal for that whole time. My cruise was delayed leaving because the Coast Guard closed Chesapeake Bay (we had to spend the time on board in Baltimore). We left around 9:30 am and didn't cross out into the ocean at Norfolk until well after lunch.

Assuming you are flying in, there is a good chance you'll effectively drive past where you would walk on the way from the airport to the hotel, so you should have a sense of it.

I stayed at the Courtyard on McHenry Row pre cruise in December. It was totally fine, and very convenient - there is a grocery store with a Starbucks next door and several restaurants in the little plaza next to it. It's a cheap and easy Lyft to the port. I had to work remotely the day I arrived, and the weather was awful, so I didn't explore anything other than the area right around the hotel. Let me know if you have other questions. Here are some pictures:

I did not - the weather was awful the day I left. My gut would be it is probably doable, but I probably wouldn't. There are sidewalks, but it didn't look like there were crosswalks. It was a cheap Lyft that came right away. And embarking in Baltimore is super easy and fast (at least for Royal).

Alternatively, order room service day one and hang on to it, and use it for future trips. Or take two trips. Or, be like me, trying to take everything back, and awkwardly drop pastries on the ground. Actually, I recommend skipping that option ...

I asked for mock mojitos with just the smallest amount of sugar. I also liked seltzers with a splash of lime.

Depending on what terminal you come into, you still may have to haul your luggage quite aways to get to a taxi. In the C terminal, they've moved the taxi line to central parking (where Lyft, Uber, and the black cars are). It's a substantially shorter walk to either the Silver Line or the Blue Line bus

It has been exactly the same since my first cruise in 2017 ...

On Enchantment, Park Cafe was open from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am, with pizza, sandwiches, desserts, and I think premade salads (not that I had occasion to want a Caesar salad at midnight ...). It was also open from noon to 5:00, to fill in the gaps when Windjammer was closed.

I was on Enchantment over Christmas, and the first formal night on Christmas Eve was the dressiest formal night I've seen. There were lots of tuxes and sequined dresses. The next two formal nights (yes - we had three in a seven night cruise) were less so. By third one, I think everyone was over it ...

Just so you know, they let kids use the Solarium pool for certain hours when it was too cold to use the outdoor ones. I can't remember if I mentioned that.

I did an 8 day holiday cruise in 2017, and the extra day is really nice. Assuming the itinerary stays as it is, I think it will be a fun one.

Overall: I loved it! I loved it so much that I booked on Vision out of Baltimore for the Christmas cruise in 2023 .... Thanks for following along everyone. If anyone has questions, please let me know. And happy new year!

The Ship: Enchantment is old and small - those things are definitely both true. And therefore has rust, and some wear and some dated decor. But I have to say, I loved her. I loved the Centrum and the glasses in Solarium. I loved the Spotlight Lounge. I loved the flow of people. And, particularly because I was traveling solo, I loved that I could run into the same people over and over.

The food: food is subjective, but subjectively I liked it and found it to be in line with previous, pre-shut down cruises. I will say, the portions in the MDR seem smaller, but I wasn't bothered by that. I liked having a little room to get a snack when Windjammer opened and then still eat dinner, or to grab something from Park Cafe. The variety in Windjammer was good, although the layout is terrible.... Who thought that round thing would work well? As I've said, the worst meal I had was the chops Key lunch on embarkation day. My first thought was ... This is going to be a long week. I was pleasantly surprised with just about everything after that was good. The pizza in Park Cafe was surprisingly good and always hot.

The staff: I can't say enough good things about the staff. My room steward was great, my dining room staff was great, the CD and his team were great. I did some athletic activities for the first time, and thought those were great as well.

The itinerary: well ... It was better when I booked it ... Coco Cay seems like it would have been way better than Nassau. I can totally see why people thing Port Canaveral is a very meh port, but I kind of liked it. I look forward to walking on Cocoa Beach when I don't need five layers. Also - sailing in and out Baltimore is fantastic. It was so smooth and so easy, and the people who worked shore side were super nice.

The Refreshment Package: my vote is - fun for one cruise for me, but wouldn't do it again. Turns out I don't really like mocktails all that much. On a ship with a freestyle machine, I might do a soda package as I do like seltzer water, but otherwise... Eh. I think I would have been much better off just buying an iced coffee in the afternoons if I wanted one. The free tea bags are fine, and I found the ice tea fine as well.

Just going to some wrap up thoughts on various things. The Key: I don't think I'd do it again. It ended up being about $10 a day more than WiFi. The WiFi is fantastic. The Chops lunch in the MDR was probably my least favorite meal of the cruise. Priority boarding wasn't an issue because Baltimore moves so efficiently as I had the earliest check in. Dropping of my bag was nice, and priority departure was also nice. In the future, I think I'd just get the internet and maybe book a specialty restaurant for embarkation day lunch.

We were sailing into Baltimore around 6:30 am, so we must have crawled through the Chesapeake. I went to the MDR for the Key breakfast... It was okay ... But being able to walk off when I was done was very nice. Customs was a cursory look at my passport and off into the terminal. I grabbed my bag and headed outside. One of the black car limo guys offered $35 to Penn Station, which given what the can cost the airport, I figured it was there and more comfortable (I'm sure a Lyft would have been cheaper). I was on the 10:04 train to Alexandria, but my choice to overpay to get to the train station paid off. I hopped out of the car at 8:30, walked up to the ticket counter, bought a ticket on the 8:48 train, ran down to the track, and am now between BWI and DC headed south.

One last thought for the night - I think they are preheating the ship to keep things warmer when we are in port tomorrow and they can only run one engine... The hallways are sweltering. Note, I don't blame them one bit ...

I think it's time to wind down with a final cup of tea and piece of pound cake and an episode of the Great British Bakeoff (I decided to rewatch the 2020 season this week). I'll have more updates tomorrow on breakfast, disembarkation, and all of that. And then it's onwards to Alexandria to spend the holiday with my partner before we had home and back to reality.

We're in the Chesapeake now - I've been able to lights ashore since dinner. Current location: Current view: