Enchantment of the Seas, Nine-Night to Canada and New England Review

[tuffy0317]

Regular review up on the review section.

 

Some good, some bad, and some misc thoughts:

 

1. No Quest :(

 

2. Really, all the entertainment and activities were lacking a bit. Not many planned activities, other than bingo and gambling, for people of any age, which is disappointing, especially since we had 3.5 sea days. The public areas were jammed with people trying to find a quiet place to read during the sea days and people in the library (rightfully so) got very upset when this "quiet zone" was less than quiet. Also unfortunate that the Solarium isn't really "adults only" - it's 16 years and up, or even younger with a parent. The ship really needs a quiet, truly adults only space.

 

3. The poor kids who were on the ship - almost no activities for them and it showed. Packs of teens and tweens roamed the ship and/or ran through the hallways morning, noon and night, seemingly extremely bored. My husband and I were even "kicked out" of a hot tub one evening at about 11pm by a group of eight teens who thought they deserved to be there more than we did (Guest Relations did not share my concern, unfortunately). Not sure if this is Royal Caribbean's fault, or the kids parent's fault, but it's something that Carnival definitely handled better on our cruise last year.

 

4. Many mistakes, typos and misinformation in the Cruise Compass throughout the trip. There were nights when we would go to something that was on the Compass, only to find it not there and no one knowing what we're talking about. Additionally, there were often things advertised more than once in the Compass, with different times written for the same activity. How hard is it to proofread? I feel like volunteering to be their official writer/copy editor!

 

5. Our Meet and Mingle was never scheduled, or if it was, no one was told about it. This was disappointing.

 

6. Many of the lounges on board that play live music after dinner allow smoking - thinking specifically of Boleros and the Viking Crown Lounge. This was EXTREMELY disappointing, as deck 10 and deck 5 outdoor areas also allowed smoking. My husband and I always enjoy listening to music before and after dinner and found our options limited because of the smoking.

 

7. Our dining room team of head waiter Collins, waiter Cruz and assistant waiter Ender were top notch - the best we've ever had on a cruise! We were seated at a table for six, but unfortunately none of our other tablemates ever showed up. Cruz and Ender showed us a good time regardless, and kept my waistline ever expanding with a parade of desserts nightly!

 

8. Bravo to Royal Caribbean for the Vitality menu. Being able to find healthy options in the MDR was great. Additionally, Cruz always brought us a plate of steamed vegetables. Only gaining four pounds on a nine-day cruise is an achievement!

 

9. Our stateroom attendant was also great, and he kept a whole zoo of towel animals coming to our room! By the time we walked out the door, we had an elephant, monkey, rabbit, sting ray and swan decorating our room :)

 

10. Yes, they served lobster on the second formal night. It was pretty good, but hard to not compare to the awesome Maine lobster we enjoyed in port each day!

 

11. The Tutti Salad in the MDR at lunch time is a god-send!

 

Let me know if you have any questions - I'd be happy to try and answer them. It was a great cruise, with a great itinerary. I took photos of the MDR menu each night, which I'll post under a different thread.

[dixieva]

What sort of room did you have and how was it?

 

It's disappointing to hear the negatives about your cruise. Especially the part about not enforcing the rules when kids run wild. You have to wonder where were the parents??

[tuffy0317]

What sort of room did you have and how was it?

 

Good question -forgot that part! We were on deck 2, about mid-ship. It's the lowest passenger cabin deck and the first time we sailed without a balcony cabin. I believe it was a "Large Oceanview Stateroom (I)." We actually didn't miss the balcony at all, as we were hardly in our room.

 

The room was a pretty big size and had tons of storage - room for suitcases under the bed and ample hanging room in the closet. The seas were very calm throughout our whole trip, but this would have been the cabin location if they hadn't been.

 

The wait for the elevator was long-ish sometimes, so we often took the stairs. But I would only take the stairs up to deck 7, so we did use it some times :)

 

I wouldn't hesitate to stay in an oceanview again if the balcony cabins are limited and expensive, as they are on EoS.

[yogimax]

The Viking Crown Lounge was probably half smoking, half non-smoking. Unfortunately, the smoke can carry easily to the non-smoking areas. This is disappointing for those who prefer a non-smoking venue.

[tuffy0317]

The Viking Crown Lounge was probably half smoking, half non-smoking. Unfortunately, the smoke can carry easily to the non-smoking areas. This is disappointing for those who prefer a non-smoking venue.

 

No idea - I know that RCI advertised it as "smoking" and hosted a cigar night there every night. The one night we went, it wasn't too smoky at first, but it was also pretty empty :)

[karrie0208]

We are taking the same cruise in October and are also on deck 2..I think 2560. So it's not too bad down there? We've never been on a cruise before and was sort of regretting our room choice.

[tuffy0317]

We are taking the same cruise in October and are also on deck 2..I think 2560. So it's not too bad down there? We've never been on a cruise before and was sort of regretting our room choice.

 

Definitely not a bad choice! Even the inside cabins didn't look too tiny. EoS has so few balcony cabins, that we actually didn't even meet anyone who had one, but met many people who were down on deck 2 or 3. This is the first time we've been that low and we didn't regret it for a minute (although I admit I was nervous about it before we left). Added bonus was that the gangway was often on deck 2 or 4, making it easy to get on and off the ship.

[emmoms]

I'm looking for some information about theme nights on Enchantment? Did they do a theme every evening? For example, was there a Caribbean night? I know there will be the Captain's Gala and the Farewell dinners? Which others were included?

 

Thanks in advance for your assistance with my packing list!

[emmoms]

Not that it makes a huge difference, but could you tell me which evenings where the Formal Nights? Thanks!

[tuffy0317]

My memory is a bit fuzzy, but they had the Captain's reception the first formal night. As for the other theme nights... well, except for the 70's party, there weren't any activities around the other themes - no one dressed up or anything and you wouldn't have known there was a theme if it hadn't been in the Cruise Compass. I believe the theme's were 50's night, Caribbean night and 70's night. On 70's night, they had a big "dance party" in the Centrum and the cruise director's staff dressed up, but passengers did not.

 

Formal nights were day 2 and day 7 (the sailing day from Boston to Halifax).

[tuffy0317]

Oh, and nothing really special on the last night as far as a "farewell dinner"