Enchantment of the Seas-Dec 6, 2010

[mejoe39]

Hi,

 

I was just interested to see if anyone else is taking this cruise. My partner Tim and I will be on this cruise. It will be our first cruise leaving from Baltimore. We usually fly down to Florida. Since we live in Maryland this will be convenient.

 

Joe

[mejoe39]

I thought I'd check again to see if anyone else was on this cruise. I'm sure there must be someone.

[CruiserInMD]

Hi! My wife and I will be on this cruise, just booked it today. We'll be traveling with our son who will be 19 months, so it's going to be new and challenging for us! Totally understand not wanting to hang out with a couple who has a kid, but wanted to let you know we'll be aboard. We do plan on taking advantage of Royal Caribbean's babysitting service. ;)

[mejoe39]

Hi! My wife and I will be on this cruise, just booked it today. We'll be traveling with our son who will be 19 months, so it's going to be new and challenging for us! Totally understand not wanting to hang out with a couple who has a kid, but wanted to let you know we'll be aboard. We do plan on taking advantage of Royal Caribbean's babysitting service. ;)

 

We enjoy meeting everyone who is out to have a good time. We will have to get together when you are using the baby sitting service and make sure you have some fun.

 

Joe and Tim

[CruiserInMD]

Sounds good! Ok, so now there are two gay couples on the ship at least lol. Do you ever post FOD meetings onboard?

[mejoe39]

Sounds good! Ok, so now there are two gay couples on the ship at least lol. Do you ever post FOD meetings onboard?

 

This will be our first time on Royal Carribean. I read somewhere on these boards that RC won't list FOD meetings in the daily itinerary but that you can post messages on a bulletin board somewhere. I think it said it was located in the library?

 

We have mostly been on Carnival, Holland America, and Norwegian which all listed the FOD meetings in the itinerary. But even when they were listed they generally weren't well attended. So I guess we will have to find out where the bulletin board is and post something.

 

Have you sailed Royal Carribean before? If so, how would you rate this line to others?

 

Joe

[CruiserInMD]

What you read is true- FOD meetings are not listed in the itinerary, but there is a bulletin board (not sure where it will be on our ship) where people can post any events they like with times and locations...but of course, you have to swing by and check every day. We haven't had much luck with the meetings in the past...as you mentioned, they were very lightly attended, if at all. We have a funny story about one meeting in particular, but I'll save it for onboard conversation :)

 

This will be our third cruise with RC, having sailed on HA one other time. We really disliked that HA cruise and have always liked RC. I think you'll be pleased. Our longest cruise has been 7 days, so we're thrilled to be thinking about 12!

[mejoe39]

Same here regarding the cruise length. We have generally taken 7 day cruises. That was after upping it from 5 days which seemed OK at first but now seems too short compared to 7. It will be hard to go back to 7 days after 12.

 

I'm curious as to why you didn't like Holland America. It was generally an older crowd than you typically find on Carnival but there always seemed to be a couple of FOD on those cruises when we went. I may be a little partial because we also had one of the best cabins ever when we went on that cruise line. It was an aft wrap around balcony. It was nice because you could lay out and get a decent amount of sun without having to fight the crowds for a seat.

[CruiserInMD]

I definitely think a good room can vastly improve a cruise experience, although we've only ever done interior cabins. We did find ourselves to be the youngest people by around 40 years on the HA cruise lol. We found problems with there not being food around when we wanted it. I mean, it's a cruise...you expect there to be food practically all the time, right? There were times when we'd come back to the ship after we were done with a port and there would be NOTHING but the ice cream machine available. And this happened a few times. Also, at dinner, our food was never all served at once. We were a group of four, and two people would get their food, and then 15 minutes later, the other 2 would get their food. That happened almost every evening at dinner. I don't remember if we did any FOD stuff on that cruise...I think the times may have clashed. But there did seem like there was a lot less to do on board. Having been on RC and then gone on HA, we're much happier staying with RC.

 

I totally agree with you that after taking a 7 day cruise, 5 day cruises just don't seem worth it anymore ;)

[mejoe39]

The food situation doesn't sound good. My partner Tim would not like people getting their food at different times when you are all at the same table. And you are right, there should be food available when you come back to the ship after being in port.

 

I think we are doing the traditional dinner (late) seating. I'm hoping we get a nice group of people at our table. You never know how accepting people are going to be but in the past things have always worked out.

 

I also hope there is plenty of sun. I love going to the beach.

[CruiserInMD]

Yeah, first seating for dinner is always an adventure ;) Most of the time people assume my wife and I are sisters and are either shocked when they find out (especially since we're both feminine), or are so confused they just never get it. lol. The worst we've dealt with were 1) our dinner table mates not returning after the first night...although that could've been due to anything and not just our announcement 2) lunch table mates changing the subject immediately...very obvious it made them uncomfortable and 3) when I posted an FOD meeting, one of the crew asked me how it was possible that girls could be gay and I had to try and "explain" it to him. Oy.

 

Are there any excursions you're planning on doing?

[mejoe39]

That's funny about the tablemates. We took our moms with us on one cruise and there were two other couples. One turned out to be another gay couple and the other a straight couple. The straight couple never returned after the first night. We think they knew that they were at a table with not just one gay couple but TWO...plus our mothers. Not their idea of a good time I guess.

 

We don't have any excursions planned. We have been to most of the places before (except Samana). I do enjoy going to the beaches so if the weather is good I would like to go to the beach in St. Thomas and St. Maarten. There is a beach on the other side of the island in St. Thomas that I've seen pictures of but we never seem to get there. St. Maarten has some nice beaches as well. While we have "been" to Tortola we didn't really get much further than the dock. We tried to get a cab to go to the beach but they only had these trolley-type buses where you had to wait until it was full before they would leave. I think they are trying to limit the number of cars on the road. So we didn't really see Tortola but I think if you want to do anything there you need to plan an excursion.

 

How about you? Do you have any plans yet?

[CruiserInMD]

That's cute that you took your moms on a cruise. We're trying hard to get my wife, Sarah's, parents to take this cruise with us (free babysitting!), but not sure if they can take that much time off. We'll see.

 

As far as excursions are concerned, we're mostly interested in Salto De Limon (horseback riding to a waterfall) in Samana, Skyride to Paradise Point in St Thomas, and Norman Island snorkelling in Tortola. Usually we prefer to go off and do our own thing in port :)

[mejoe39]

Hey - Tim here , Joe's partner. (Don't know your names, sorry).

The horseback riding sounds fun - would love to get Joe to do that as he has never been on a horse before. I am a little too "big" right now - but on a serious (for real serious, lol) diet to get ready for my daughters wedding in September and our Cruise in December. SO if all goes well - the horse would be willing. LOL. Now we just have to talk Joe into it!

We are like those "old people" on your Holland cruise (48/55) but do enjoy the beach. Not so much para-sailing anymore - more of the " view the ocean from a cabana with a mai tai in one hand, a margarita in the other, while the ceiling fan and misting lounger are in full swing" kind of excursion. LOL.

[CruiserInMD]

Hi Tim! I'm Lori and my wife's name is Sarah. It's always fun to see people ride a horse for the first time, so I hope we can get Joe to do that...and for you to join us.

 

Trust me, you're not "Holland America old"...I was talking around 70's or so. We have a handful of friends your ages and don't find that age matters as long as we can all have a good conversation. And as much as parasailing may appeal, so does lounging on the beach with a drink in hand ;) Especially when a lot of the time we're going to be chasing our son around the boat!

 

Congrats on your daughter's upcoming wedding!

[mejoe39]

Hi, Joe here.

 

Man, Tim made it sound like we will just be lying there like bumps on a log. I don't feel like I'm that old. I (and hopefully Tim) like to do some activities. I wouldn't mind trying horse back riding. My fear would be sliding off one side or the other as the horse is going along.

 

Also, I know Tim wouldn't do it but that zip line in Samana looks fun (but very scary). There are videos posted on You Tube of people doing that.

 

But I do have to say I also mainly enjoy the beach and swimming. I'm originally from California so we spent a lot of weekends at the beach.

 

Did you sign up for the meet and mingle? Someone on the other thread posted the names of the ones who signed up but I don't think I say your names.

 

I also think there may be another gay couple but I'm not really sure. I just draw these conclusions from what people write.

 

Joe

[CruiserInMD]

The zip line does seem intriguing, but I think I would shake like a leaf. I kind of have a fear of heights (but would suck it up to do that). I just don't know if the cost is worth how quick the experience would be. The horseback riding really appeals because it seems unique and lasts a few hours. Looks like we're all interested in that one which is nice. Do you guys like snorkeling?

 

We did sign up for the meet n' mingle...Sarah did anyway...I haven't been over to that thread to check what's going on.

 

I think I also saw the other gay couple, deduced from it being two men's names at the bottom of the post.

[mejoe39]

I (Joe) haven't done much snorkeling. Tim and I did it one time at Half Moon Cay where they just hand you the equipment and you go out. Tim's mask was leaking so it gave him the experience of drowning...not good. So, I don't Tim would necessarily do it but I would.

 

Your probably right about the cost of the zip line relative to how long the experience lasts. Where are they doing the horse back riding?

 

We don't have are cabin number yet because we saved money by going for the guaranteed interior cabin where they assign the cabin to you at a later time. I'm hoping by doing so that there is a remote chance that we get an upgrade. Probably not but I've read that that is the best way to possibly get one since they can sell the cheaper rooms to others who book late.

[CruiserInMD]

Sarah's not so much into water activities, but we do enjoy snorkeling in more shallow areas. We'll probably do that once, although not sure on which island. Leaking masks are awful! The horseback riding is in Samana, DR.

 

So, we originally booked an interior guarantee like you did, and then Sarah's parents decided to book the cruise, too, but we wanted rooms across from each other (so we can use the baby monitor sometimes). So they booked a balcony and we got bumped up to a 'large interior' (which is really only 6 sq ft larger than the other interiors) across from them. Anyway, we're on the 7th deck.

 

We've so far never achieved a spontaneous upgrade to my dismay, but I wish you luck!

[mejoe39]

We went to Samana on our last cruise but we didn't actually get off of the ship. We stayed on board and enjoyed have the ship's pool pretty much to ourselves. I kind of like that because you don't have to fight the crowds and if you get hungry or thirsty you don't have too far to go. But I would like to try the horse back riding.

 

I'm not really holding out too much hope for an upgrade. We got the cruise pretty cheap as it was so I'm sure we are the last ones they want to upgrade.

 

Joe

[CruiserInMD]

If you've been keeping up with our cruise's 'other' thread, it seems like a few people are going to book the horseback riding excursion through Terry, who is a local and offers a better tour than the cruise line. You have to book fairly early in advance I'm told. We're thinking about it...

[mejoe39]

The description of the horseback riding excursion sounds like it might be too much for me as a beginner. I'm looking for a smooth ride along the beach and maybe in the water.

 

Joe

[CruiserInMD]

We're going to do Terry's excursion #6 which is MUCH lower-key sounding. Once people posted details of the other horseback riding excursions, I was starting to get weary.

[mejoe39]

We're going to do Terry's excursion #6 which is MUCH lower-key sounding. Once people posted details of the other horseback riding excursions, I was starting to get weary.

 

I will have to look into that.

 

Joe

[mejoe39]

We've been to St. Thomas a couple of times but only got off the ship the very first time we went there. We were talking to the piano player on an NCL ship and he said that St. Thomas had a pretty bad crime problem. I didn't think anything of it until the recent news about the death of a Carnival Cruise guest.

 

I would like to go to Magen's Bay beach but this sort of makes you stop and think.