Opinions please on explorer or Enchantment

[saleaaway]

I'll start this by saying I already am booked on the Carnival Dream next year but I'm having second thoughts. I have the option of going on Explorer out of NJ or the Enchantment out of Baltimore. I can see the reviews of the explorer but it looks like no one has left a review of the Enchantment in a while. Can anyone tell me if they have sailed on either and what they liked and disliked. I'm sailing with my three kids (8,11, 13 ) and want to makes sure there are fun things to do for them.

thanks so much

[KeywestK]

I have sailed on both EXPLORER and ENCHANTMENT. My personal preference is the Enchantment, which is one of the Vision-class ships, however, she is quite unique in that she was stretched a few years ago. I sailed on her twice--both pre- and post-stretch. Enchantment is a perfect size, easy to get around, and has lots of cozy spaces to enjoy the ship. The Explorer is significantly larger and is one of the Voyager-class ships. Explorer has a Royal Promenade (think mall), an ice rink, and families cruising with children seem to prefer the larger ships with the extra activities. It all comes down to personal preference. Both ships offer kids' programming/activities. Perhaps other people who have sailed both ships with their kids will chime in and offer some insights.

 

I do believe that whichever ship you pick that you will have a wonderful family cruise.

 

Karen

[celyvabeach]

I have sailed on both EXPLORER and ENCHANTMENT. My personal preference is the Enchantment, which is one of the Vision-class ships, however, she is quite unique in that she was stretched a few years ago. I sailed on her twice--both pre- and post-stretch. Enchantment is a perfect size, easy to get around, and has lots of cozy spaces to enjoy the ship. The Explorer is significantly larger and is one of the Voyager-class ships. Explorer has a Royal Promenade (think mall), an ice rink, and families cruising with children seem to prefer the larger ships with the extra activities. It all comes down to personal preference. Both ships offer kids' programming/activities. Perhaps other people who have sailed both ships with their kids will chime in and offer some insights.

 

I do believe that whichever ship you pick that you will have a wonderful family cruise.

 

Karen

 

 

I'm glad you like the Enchantment. I'm sailing her to Bermuda from Norfolk next month.We like smaller ships reason why we sail HAL more often. We sailed on the Voyager (western Med) three years ago and it was too big for us.

[Plut0]

We sailed the Enchantment last year on a five day from FLL to the Western Caribbean and also on the Explorer the year before to New England/Canada. We had sailed the Explorer once before that to Bermuda.

 

We loved both ships. They are both in great condition and we enjoyed them. The Enchantment is not as big as the Explorer both in the number of passengers (2446 on Enchantment and 3114 on Explorer) they hold and just in the overall size of the ship.

 

The Explorer has a mini-golf, ice rink and the Royal Promanade. The Enchantment has the bungee trampoline and shops, but the shops are just in one area of the ship.

 

We thought both dining rooms were beautiful. I think the Enchantment had a two story dining room and Explorer 3 levels.

 

The rooms were very similar on the ships. We had a grand suite on the Enchantment which was set up the same as the Grand Suite on the Mariner (a sister ship to Explorer) so we are guessing the Explorer grand would be the same. We had the family suite and the Owner Suite on the Explorer. Both were wonderful rooms. We prefer the mid-ship room that are closer the elevators.

 

The concierge lounge was similar on both ships, but we used it more on the Enchantment. We also used the computer rooms and both were very nice and functioned just fine.

 

Sailing out of Bayonne since we live in Delaware was great. We drove up on the morning of the cruise and arrive around 11:30-12 which was perfect and easy. From other ports, we fly in a day before which adds time and expense to a vacation. We are planning to sail the Enchantment again when it gets to Baltimore as this port is even closer than New York.

 

If you have any specific questions, I am happy to answer them.

 

Mary

[Dave85]

Loved the Explorer -- so much in fact that I'll be sailing on her again next month. Bigger ship, newer ship, promenade, almost all of the bells and whistles. Haven't been on Enchantment but I'll say of Explorer: highly recommended.

[saleaaway]

thank you all for all your help.. I moved are sailing to the Explorer for all the reasons above and more. I think the kids will like the bigger ship with more to do, which in turn gives me some freedom as well. :)

 

Also the drive from Albany to the port is probably only 3 hours max, saving the airfair.

 

again thanks so much.

Elaine