BillOh

More pics from around Bermuda. My lovely wife enjoying her 20th cruise and first excursion since 2019.

I was in our room on the balcony watching our arrival into Bermuda. It was nice to see my first new place in 2 years. It took more than an hour for the ship to clear and we were allowed off the ship. We were off the ship at 1pm with a 5:30 back on board time! Knowing we would have little time and suspecting the weather might still be spring like (turned out sunny and 85F) we just picked a Shopping/Walking tour of Hamilton. A nice boat ride over and we had about 3 hours to look around. We enjoyed it and all to soon were taking our ferry back to the ship! Onboard, we struck up a conversation with a young family from Morgantown, WV. The couple was in their late 20s with 3 kids ranging from 6 months to 5 years. (More on them later) We did have a tug assist to hold us against the dock when we arrived. That probably slowed clearing us to leave. For the first time in more than 2 years we were on foreign soil! The start of our walking/shopping tour.

For the rest of day 2, it was more trivia, time spent in the Suite and Diamond Lounge and then dinner in the WJ. (We didn’t bring any formal clothes) The entertainment that night was 4 guys singing acapella (sp?) Didn’t interest us so we didn’t go! One thing about the WJ that I may not remember correctly, but on Enchantment they had plates in front of the serving containers so you had someplace to put the serving utensils other than putting them on top of the food. The pools on Enchantment were closing early each night, so no after dinner hottub soak. We used our suite bathtub every night. Speaking of Enchantment I followed her around for a year before our cruise on marinetraffic.com and the various port webcams. Sometime around Sept or Oct of 21 she was in Cadiz Spain in dry dock for about 3 weeks. She came out with s fresh paint job. That paint job was already showing some rust on the outside the ship, but that doesn’t take long to form and it isn’t unusual to see crew out painting on port days. I did see a few areas that showed corrosion or other neglect. A few public areas were closed off and not accessible. There is a galvanized steel rack that allows maintenance people to slide the length of the ship and that was showing signs of salt damage. On day 3 I did start to see maintenance people out and working on the ship. The wood railings looked like they had never been varnished and were down to bare wood in my places. While she did look a little worn in many places, she looked good in the public area with the exception of a broken chair in the spotlight lounge where they held the Silent Disco that my wife loves. (I went and watched/listened, but Daddy don’t dance!) The big screen by the pool was working, but was showing its age, a few dead pixels and discolored areas, but not enough to take it out of service. As mentioned some of the closed off public areas started getting attention on day 3 of our cruise.

We were in 8044 just under one one of the extra WJ seating areas where the grab and go stuff was. I only heard one noise all week. The location was great for us.

I did hear both sides, but one of the most common I heard was one table was using colorful language and the other table with kids asked them to stop. I heard some conflicting stories, but it appears to me that drunks escalated a minor verbal exchange more than it needed. When I get to day 6, the 2nd violent episode caused one person to be confined to their cabin the last 2 days and take to Baltimore PD upon our return (didn't witness either myself)

I understand and I'll try! After 13 days of no work I return to my second job in one more hour, then I'll be buried in work tomorrow morning on job 1.

Day 2 was a sea day, the waters of the Chesapeake made for a smooth ride out that night. I was told there was fog and the ships horn sounded during the night, but I didn’t hear it. I woke up to a nice day around 7am and walked a mile on the pool deck in a nice comfortable 60 degrees and enjoyed the early morning sea air. I did find out that chair hogs are immune to covid and they have survived. It was the usual stuff, but not so bad that we couldn’t find two chairs near a pool when we wanted to. We decided to have breakfast at Chops since it was available for suite guests. It turned out we did that every day, except day 8. It was very nice. Simple menu of about 5 or 6 items that you could customize along with some ale Carte choices. Nothing too fancy, it was nice service and served quickly in a comfortable setting. I enjoyed this perk very much. We did manage to get some pool time in this day. On the ship there were still social distancing signs and in addition to that annoying song they play on the TV about washing your hands, there is an equally annoying song about staying apart so we can stay together! Message aside, the tune is annoying. I mention this now as the crew still crams as many chairs into as small of an area as possible on the pool deck. Not really a problem, except in the 2 years since I last cruised, I have aged 10 years and getting into a pool lounger with people in the next chair, while carrying your towel and other stuff was more of a challenge than I remember. Pool bar service was very slow on this first full day, first pool day. It would get better each day. After a few hours we brought back some WJ lunch pool side. I didn’t get a picture, but just outside the WJ on the pool deck, in a covered area with seating, was a GRAB and GO section with a Coke Freestyle machine. Without going into the WJ you could get a drink, a salad, and either a burger or hotdog. Brilliant! Chair hogs survived covid! After our pool time it was more drinks at the Schooner and trivia. Small point that will make me seem racist or insensitive, but many of the trivia games were hosted by an Indonesian girl who was nice, but English is her second language and she may be better than me in English, but her voice was like that of Jean Kasem. (Married to Casey Kasem) Kind of annoying to me and I have hearing loss that is in the frequency range of many female voices. I call that a wife filter. This was formal night and we decided not to bring anything dressier than a polo shirt and khakis so we ate a decent dinner in the WJ which included some nice BBQ chicken, steak, and even pork ribs. It was good. Tonight the featured entertainer was Puck the magician that I remembered from America’s Got Talent. We arrived about 15 minutes before the show and didn’t see two seats together, so we talked upstairs and got 2 seats in the SUITE/KEY area just before they opened it up to everyone. His act was ok, but the AV crew on Enchantment isn’t up to par with that of Symphony, or last big ship. There were no camera on him so for my 62 year old eyes at the back of the theater, must detail was lost. I think I fell asleep for a bit. Oh, I almost forgot, they had love and Marriage at 1pm on a sea day! BOO!!! This isn’t the second time this has happened in 2 cruise. IMO, this is a night time show and should stay that way. We auditioned for the middle couple and thought we had it in the bag, till the last couple to audition after us stole our routine and cranked up the adult nature of the audition just one level. They won, we watched!

We took good advantage of the drink package and hit up the Schooner Bar and met up with a few people and pretty much just relaxed until checking out the Diamond and Suite Lounges at around 5:30 pm. We went into the Suite lounge first since it was our first time. There were just a few people there. We were greeted by the Concierge. We waited about 20 minutes for a drink and couldn’t get one so we moved out into the Diamond Lounge with has a better view outside the area. Both areas had about the same appetizers. We met up with one couple out there from our roll call and sat with them. We would sit with them later quite a bit in the Suite Lounge as well. Service improved steadily each day in both area and most bars. We had the late seating (8pm) in the MDR on deck 4. Our table was a round table for 6 people. We sat down and a few minutes later a lady who was from somewhere nearby in Maryland joined us. She was traveling with a cruise friend and they didn’t coordinate their dining assignments. Since it was just the 3 of us, we told her we hoped she would ask her friend to join us and not the other way around. I guess I/we were charming enough that she did exactly that. As frequently the case, I get the pork chop on the first night of the cruise. It can either be a hit or miss. Tonight it was a miss. It was very thick, but very dry! I also frequently get the French Onion soup and tonight it was also a miss, very watery and very little cheese. (It also got better the 2nd night and every night after) As dinner was almost done, I witnessed by first actual act of violence on a cruise ship in 20 years. Before dinner we had been sitting in the Centrum watching a game called HI-LO. A guy in his late 20s struck up a conversation with my wife about the game. He was obviously drunk, but he was a happy drunk and there was nothing improper about his behavior or discussion with my wife. As we were finishing our entre we started hearing louds yells and screens from about 30 ft away. Suddenly we saw people standing up pointing fingers, yelling, with some people forcibly restraining other folks. Lots of women’s voices yelling profanities and making demands of other cruisers and the wait staff. The family of the kid who was talking to my wife before dinner was part of this melee. This was one time I saw the Head Waiters spring into action and try to defuse things until security arrived. I’m not sure how long it took as I never did see uniformed security, but both families were escorted out and wouldn’t return to the MDR again. I learned later, one family was moved and the other was switched to My time at an earlier time. It was an uncomfortable 3 or 4 minutes. We would later here from both sides of that encounter and there probably was no proven right or wrong, but we moved on. It wouldn’t be the only violent episode on this cruise, but we only heard about the 2nd one later and saw the aftermath. (That was day 6 so more on that later.) We had a couple more drinks at the Schooner Bar before retiring to the cabin and found our first towel animal in 900 days.

Time was already flying by and our rooms opened early. Again, this was our first suite! We walked down deck 8 and found our room with our seapass cards on the door ready for us and in we went. We had been in a friend’s Grand Suite before so we knew what to expect. This one seemed a little smaller than the one we were in on Jewel, but we were happy with our new home for 8 days. The balcony was nice with two comfortable loungers and a table with 2 chairs. The only negative was the overhang from the pool area above blocked most sun! From that balcony I did spend some time watching the very busy port of Baltimore.

A quick recap so I can add in a point I skipped over. I have mentioned previously how important the roll calls are to me. Above I mentioned info I didn't know till I read in our roll call. I hope I also imparted some wisdom. We made quite a few friends online prior to the cruise and we were communicating directly in the days and moments leading up till the cruise. I expressed my relief in passing my first covid test ever. (Wife and I are both vaccinated, no boosters) I did make one friend prior to the cruise and about 3pm I got a text from him. His 3 year old had tested positive for Covid at the terminal and they were denied boarding. They seemed appropriately disappointed, but understanding, up until the part that 4 hours later they were still waiting to get their luggage back. I did hear from them later that they took the kids camping to be away from people a few days. I don't believe the child ever showed any symptoms.

After 2 years I was still watching for something to happen to cancel another cruise. In April, Enchantment sucked a mooring line into its bow thruster. Fears of it being taken out of service were unfounded, but can you blame a guy for being paranoid! Next up was learning about all the new protocols and health testing. I’ve ignored this subject for the past year, but couldn’t do that anymore. We went ahead and ordered some covid tests that people here said they used for pre cruise testing. They arrived in about a week and we set them aside for my first covid testing. When April came around, I finally started looking at excursions. I think it was then I noticed for a 8 day cruise, we sure weren’t spending much time in Bermuda – We arrive around 11, and leave at 6. I also realized our first trip here wouldn’t quite be hot weather yet, so we just booked a somewhat placid shopping excursion. We also arrive late (11am) into Nassau, but stay later. We also get in later than Freedom into Coco Cay, so likely all the good spots at the beach club might be taken. Watching Enchantment’s cruises leading up to ours, I was beginning to think this wasn’t the best itinerary, but I knew we would be happy to be cruising again and we would see a lot of things we hadn’t before (1 new port and meet new people.) We also decided to stop at the Flight 93 memorial in PA on the way back. The weeks up to this cruise were a little more stressful than usual, worrying about the covid testing and Bermuda paperwork. I haven’t even had a cold in 2 years, this was my first covid test. I ordered the test from emed.com after reading people had good luck with them and the process was easy enough. In another thank God for roll calls moment, I learned in our roll call that cruisers needed to fill out a form with the Bermuda government, pay $40, upload covid results just to be allowed to board the ship! I never got the email. (30 years in IT, don’t tell me to check my spam folder) This happens a lot with Royal. Thanks to the roll call I got this done. You had to do this with about 48 hours before boarding, so the day before our road trip I uploaded our results! Several people didn’t get their responses back quickly so I didn’t worry. But the next morning still no results and it was time to leave for our 6 hour drive to the cruise. I found a toll free number and called them. I called right when they opened and got right through. Turned out when I got my emed results and saved it to my hard drive it was still password protected. (Big oops from the 30 year IT guy) I then sent them new copies and immediately got our clearance back! Great customer service on their part, but I endured more stress just to get on this ship than ever before! – 30 minutes later we were on our way to Baltimore! We arrived in Baltimore about 2pm the day before the cruise and found once again, I am out of practice in cruise planning. We booked a Marriot Courtyard less than a mile from the port. Got there, walked in, they didn’t have my reservation. They said I booked it for the day of the cruise, not the day before! Ok, remember my concussion excuse? We quickly rebooked for a Sheraton at the Inner Harbor. More expensive, but good enough! We were ready to cruise! Our new hotel was near this Baltimore landmark. The Inner Harbor Sheraton was close by to a Hooter's so we started my Blue Collar vacation there! I had heard that the Baltimore cruise port was easy to get to, in, and out of. Turns out its true. We were given a 10am boarding time, so we let the hotel for a 15 minute drive to the port around 9:15am. Got there at 9:30 and were directed to a long row of baggage carriers that were still connected in a big train like you see on an airport tarmac. I got out, they loaded by 3 checked bags that had the proper tags and we were on our way in 30 seconds. We were then directed to a drive up line to pay for parking. We were among the first 10 or so to do this, so we got a great parking spot and had a short walk to the Suite check in area, where we waited about 10 minutes in a comfortable 65 sunny day weather! Oh, yea, saw Enchantment for the first time and lots of people leaving! The check in process was very well done that this port ,Everyone at the port was accommodating. We were checked in with the additional step of having our Bermuda authorization checked. It was still before 10:30 or so and in about 30 minutes from entering the door. Around 10:40 we were walking up the gangway and our return to cruising was complete. From entering on deck 4 everything looked wonderful. We had been on Enchantment in 2018 so it was still somewhat familiar. We walked around a bit since since it had been so long since we were on a ship. We walked by the Windjammer which wasn’t yet open and went to sit in the Solarium where the Park Café was already serving and got a piece of Royal Pizza 2.0 (Improved over Royal Pizza 2006-2018 but still not Chicago or NY pizza, so save that reply) First drink of many was a lava flow. I think most cruises we start with the Miami Vice, but the bar tender recommended these lava flows. It was good, a good cruise drink.

In July of 2021 virus cases in Columbus dropped enough that I was called back into work on a 3 day at work/2 day at home work schedule. I had too much equipment to carry back and forth to do my job, so I stayed in the office all 5 days, for a while. Late July of last year we had the Delta surge and our Fuhrer, I mean Mayor, ordered that masks were required in all public and private buildings in the city of Columbus. I told my bosses; I wouldn’t sit in my cubicle all day with a mask on. Since I am a senior employee with an excellent sales record, it was allowed. The rest of the team who was working at home that day, and I just went back to full time working at home. I continued my self-imposed avoidance of anything cruise related until about Thanksgiving of 2021. I then picked Enchantment and an 8-day cruise out of Baltimore that went to Bermuda. The price was low enough and I could move my 5-day Brilliance Grand Suite to this cruise and keep the Grand Suite! The cruise was going to Bermuda and we had never been there. We booked it with the understanding we owed nothing. I started the roll call here on Cruise Critic and also found one on that not allowed to be mentioned social media page. It was good to be communicating again with future friends/cruisers. After the holidays 2021 I allowed myself to believe this cruise would happen and came back to cruise critic and started planning the cruise. I booked the Marriot Court Yard about 400 yards from the Maryland Cruise port and started watching Enchantment through the various port webcams. The only excursion I allowed myself to book was the beach club at Coco Cay. ( I had this for $48 per person for the canceled cruise and got it back for $68) We decided before the sudden gas price increases to make this a driving trip of about 415 miles each way.

I moved our first canceled cruise to our 40th anniversary (May of 2021) – A 5 day cruise on Brilliance out of Tampa. Since we were moving from a JS -9 day to a 5 day, I booked our first Grand Suite! It was to be a surprise for my wife on this historic day. My wife and I have made many friendships while cruising and at the top of that list would have been Lisa and Eddie from Boston. @redsoxgirl (something like that). We met them on our 2016 Oasis cruise, had a great roll call and started a great friendship on that cruise. We then booked another cruise with them out of San Juan in 2018. Lisa heard we were cruising again and signed up with Eddie to join us on our big event. That cruise got canceled and we rebooked for the same cabin/cruise for September. When I moved our cruise from May to Sept, I was told there would be no change fee under the circumstances. Time came to make final payment on that cruise and it was still listed as a GO! I checked my online reservation and it showed I owed $300. That was the change fee! Since time was short, I paid it. I contacted Royal Customer Service and they gave me that fee back as OBC. This cruise was the last one out of Tampa that got canceled! When that cruise got canceled, I went back into a cruise funk and didn’t think about it till Oct of 2021. I told Lisa and Eddie that I would let them know when we rebooked. Before I could pick the next cruise, I got a call from Eddie that Lisa had died unexpectedly from a non-covid issue a couple of weeks before her scheduled retirement from the Mass State Troopers. (Note to moderators and wanna be moderators - I am still in touch with Eddie and he is happy to have Lisa's information shared here and likes her being remembered.)

It was 968 days since my last cruise, so there maybe more fluff than usual in this review. (You can skip down to you see pictures if you want 😊.) We got off of Mariner back in Sept of 2019, like many of us, not knowing we wouldn’t be on a cruise again anytime soon. While on Mariner we booked our first 9 day cruise on Adventure out of Bayonne NJ for our 39th anniversary in May of 2020. I got a really good deal on it at that time. Within a month or two a fellow cruiser Mike W out of Tampa let me know that the deluxe drink package was on sale for all 2020 cruises at $18/day. That would be a really great value for a 9 day cruise! We got it and as many of you know Royal announced it was a mistake, but they would honor it. I didn’t know they would release a deadly virus to get out of it! Obviously, a joke, but feel free to stop reading if I offended you! Obviously that cruise didn’t happen. I knew Royal and their customer service team were scrambling from around Feb 2020 on with people rebooking. I waited until I heard my 125% FCC was issued, knowing prices would probably go up that much, so the 125% wasn’t that alluring. (Weak pun intended). Sometime around the 2nd week of March of 2020 I started working at home, where I still am! My wife came home from her job the same day. She went back to the office 3 days a week on 5/3/22 which was a day after our 41nd anniversary. Next on my recap of this new decade and the time passed since my last cruise came in the spring of 2021. We had just passed our 1 year working at home anniversary and I went on a bike ride. I was riding on a road with a dedicated bike lane and was enjoying my current favorite form of exercise. I was, and am still very alert while riding. I was watching a busy area ahead of me when suddenly a woman in an SUV came up beside me, in my bike lane and turned right, sending me 30 yards into a gas station parking lot. I had significant injuries that haven’t healed completely 14 months later and probably never will. I only mention it here as I had a pretty severe concussion and It still has lingering effects. If I say something happened in 2020 and it actually happened in 2021, I hope I can keep the comments about giving wrong facts to a minimum!

Just got off Enchantment, Bobby Broughton was the CD, but only saw him the first 2 days of 8 day cruise. There was a report he became ill, never saw him again.