Review of Enchantment - Canada/New England Cruise

[jlstwinmommy]

I've been lurking on cruise critic for a while and have gotten much help when planning this cruise, so I thought I'd write a review and maybe help someone else.

 

I'll start with a little about us. This cruise included me, DH, DS(13), my twins DS(7) and DD(7), and my mom. We have all cruised before. RCL is our cruise line of preference and the only cruise line my family has been on. Me and my mom have sailed Princess and my mom has cruised Cunard. Now, the only class we have sailed on RCL has been the Voyager class ships. I was a bit nervous when booking this smaller ship since I wasn't sure about the activities for my kids (hence the big reason I have spent the last 6 months reading up on this ship here on CC). To give you an idea, here is a conversation with DS(13) about 2 weeks before the cruise:

DS: I can't wait to play mini golf on the ship.

Me: There is no mini golf on this ship.

DS: Oh, well, at least we can play basketball

Me: No basketball court

DS: Ice skating? Can we at least watch the ice skating show?

Me: No skating rink, sorry.

DS: What??? What kind of ship are you taking us on anyway???

 

Needless to say, this just fed into my nervousness. It didn't help that this is our first cruise experiencing the teen program. We have always loved Adventure Ocean, but I wasn't sure how the teen activities would be. I have done a lot of reading and was hoping we wouldn't be disappointed. At this point, you are probably wondering why we chose this cruise if we knew we loved the Voyager ships. Well, mom and I really wanted to cruise out of Baltimore. We both live in the DC area and this is a quick drive for us. Plus, I thought it would be neat cruising down the Chesapeake Bay. We also love this itinerary. Mom and I did a similar itinerary on Princess and I knew that my DH and kids would love Maine and Canada. So, we picked this cruise a year ago and have been anticipating it ever since. So - let's start the review.

 

Day 1: Embarkation was so easy in Baltimore, much easier than Miami and San Juan (our last 2 RCL cruises). I had read that you could get on the ship around 11 or 11:30, so I wanted to be at the port at 11. We arrived at about 10:45 and breezed right through the line where the porters took our bags and then a quick line to pay for parking. There was no line in the terminal and we were sitting and waiting to board by 11:10. They starting letting people board right at 11:30 and we were in the Windjammer by noon. Very easy. Can I just say that this ship is absolutely beautiful. We all agreed that we think it was prettier than the Voyager ships (although we do love the Voyager class, it's just a different type of experience). We got into our rooms right at 1pm. Based on my reading here, we chose cabin 7666 and a nearby inside (7661). Our JS was amazing. The reviews I read on here and pictures I looked at just did not do it justice. An absolute fabulous cabin with an amazing view. I LOVED the corner balcony. The inside room was just fine as well. I was surprised how much storage it had for such a small room. Our stateroom attendant was also super nice and was great with the kids.

 

I must take a dinner break, so I will try to write more later.

 

jlstwinmommy

[mosywoes]

Thanks, jlstwinmommy. We're doing the same cruise in the fall so I look forward to the rest of your review!!

[cruisingram1]

Would love to read more about the activities your 7 yr old twins enjoyed. Both on the ship and in port. We're doing this cruise in a few weeks. My 8 and 10 yr old granddaughters are coming too. They have cruised many times and the kid's club is always their favorite activity. What did the twins like most about the ports you visited? We're thinking of doing private tours this time vs the ship's tours.

 

Good to hear that you loved Enchantment. We've done Voyager and Freedom so I was a bit concerned that the smaller ship might be a bit disappointing. We sailed Celebrity's Infinity and loved the less crowded feel. Hoping Enchantment is the same.

 

Look forward to the rest of your review.

[jlstwinmommy]

Sorry to be slow in continuing, got distracted by church and laundry (wow, there is a lot of laundry for a family of 5 after 10 days :))

 

I forgot to mention in my first post that DS(7) fractured his elbow 7 days before our cruise so he was a bit limited in his activities. We did buy him a latex arm sleeve that he wore over his cast so he could do some swimming at least, but he was a bit disappointed not to be able to do the rock wall or the jump zone. The jump zone did open on the first day (I think at 4, but I can't remember for sure). DD(7) and DS(13) loved it, but DH thought it was a bit lame. He wanted to do flips and turns, but you could only jump up and down.

 

We were late leaving Baltimore due to technical difficulties with the engine, but at about 5:30pm or so, we finally pulled away from port. Of course, the skies opened up before we got to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. We ended up sailing through rain, thunder and lightening all night that night. The show the first night was pretty good (actually, we though all the shows we went to see were pretty good). They had a comedian who was pretty funny. We did find (as I've read here) that the theater was crowded for the show for early seating. We ended up having to get there about 45 minutes early if we wanted a seat. We started brining a deck of cards so the kids would not get bored waiting for the show.

 

Day 2 (At Sea): Unfortunately, we woke to more rain, thunder, and lightening. It stormed all day which kept the upper decks closed. DS(13) spent some time in the teen club doing a few activities. DS(7) and DD(7) spent the afternoon in Adventure Ocean. They built something out of clay. Sadly, there was a kid there that decided it would be fun to smash everyone's project except his own. I'm not sure how the staff handled it or even if they did, but it may have contributed to the twins not wanting to spend a whole lot of time there for the rest of the cruise. When I picked them up that day, they were both pretty upset that their project had been destroyed. I didn't talk to the staff about it as we chose to just suck it up and move on.

 

I don't want to give the impression that AO was not good on this ship. I actually thought the AO staff was great and a couple of them were hysterically funny. My kids did seem to really like the staff. On previous cruises, they never wanted to leave AO and were always counting down the minutes until it opened. For some reason, I had a hard time getting them to go to AO on this cruise. I'm sure the incident the first day didn't help. I also think having a big brother who pretty much roamed the ship at will and didn't have a structured program contributed as well. I think they felt they would miss something fun if they spent time in AO. Regardless, the few times they did go, they had a good time.

 

A brief comment on the food. Overall, we all thought the food was great for the entire cruise. The only exception was breakfast. We had breakfast in the main dining room on Day 2 and 3. After that, we never ate there again. We usually love breakfast in the MDR over the Windjammer. For some reason, we found the food only mediocre in the MDR for breakfast. Lunch and dinner were great (I really loved the salad bar at lunch). Mom had an omelet in the MDR on day 2 and said it was terrible. We couldn't figure out how they could ruin an omelet. Especially since the omelets in the Windjammer were absolutely fabulous. Anyway - that is my only food comment for this cruise.

 

On the evening of day 2, we also ran into what could have been a real pain if we had not had 2 cabins. We found that the shower in the interior cabin had a plugged drain (DS(13) found this the hard way - he took a shower and ended up flooding the entire bathroom). It actually took 2 days and 3 trips to Guest relations for them to fix the drain. It was only a little issue for us as we just used the shower in the JS. If it had been our only shower, it would have been a bigger deal. Anyway, on the last day - they gave us a future cruise credit which was very nice and totally unexpected. We never asked for anything or really complained about the shower (other than reporting that the drain was clogged and could someone please fix it). I thought it was a nice gesture for a minor inconvenience.

 

Day 3 (Portland, Maine): We were late arriving in Portland due to being late leaving Baltimore and having to fight storms the previous day. We were supposed to arrive at 11 (or 11:30, not sure which) and ended up arriving at 1:30. The captain (Captain Gus if anyone is interested - great captain and really funny, but I think he said he was going on vacation after this cruise so I'm not sure who the captain is now) arranged for us to stay 2 hours later so we had the same amount of time in port, but most the sites we wanted to see closed at 4 or 5. I had thought about taking a lighthouse tour here, but I'm glad we didn't as we saw most of the lighthouses cruising into port. The Portland headlight is right there and easy to see from the ship as you cruise by. We ended up walking to the Victorian Mansion. If you are interested in history, this is a great house to tour. You can take a guided tour or a self-guided tour for the same price. With the kids, we chose the self-guided tour which worked out great for us. The staff in the house were very knowledgeable and it was almost like having a guided tour, but we could go at our own pace. The house was built by a hotelier in the 1850's or 1860's (before the Civil War). It's pretty amazing the detail work and the conveniences they had in that house for that time period. Anyway, I would highly recommend it. From there, we walked over to a beach trail on the east side of town. The trail isn't terribly long and is paved. The kids also took a brief stop at the beach itself to walk on the sand. They would have stayed longer, but the skies opened up again for another storm, so we hurried back toward the ship. Mom and I ended up having a lobster roll at the Portland Lobster Company a few blocks from the ship (excellent, by the way). DH and the kids ate dinner on the ship.

 

Well - must get some more laundry done. More later..........

 

jlstwinmommy

[alexkrn46]

Loving you review and looking forward to more once you get settled.

[Alysia]

I really love your review! Please keep it going............... Thank you!!!!

[jlstwinmommy]

Would love to read more about the activities your 7 yr old twins enjoyed. Both on the ship and in port. We're doing this cruise in a few weeks. My 8 and 10 yr old granddaughters are coming too. They have cruised many times and the kid's club is always their favorite activity. What did the twins like most about the ports you visited? We're thinking of doing private tours this time vs the ship's tours.

 

Good to hear that you loved Enchantment. We've done Voyager and Freedom so I was a bit concerned that the smaller ship might be a bit disappointing. We sailed Celebrity's Infinity and loved the less crowded feel. Hoping Enchantment is the same.

 

Look forward to the rest of your review.

 

Thanks for following along. We did our own thing in all the ports. The only exception was Boston. DS(13) has a thing for ghosts these days. My grandfather lived in Southern CA and died a couple of years ago. DS and I spent the last 3 weeks with him and had a lot of time to explore the San Diego area during breaks caring for him. We went to the Whaley house and spent a night in the Hotel Del Coronado. This is when he got into the whole ghost and haunting thing. He finds that stuff fascinating. So in Boston, we booked him and my mom the Ghost and Graveyard tour through the ship. They absolutely loved it and said it was very interesting and well worth the money. I think it was $40 a person. Not too terrible for a ship tour.

 

jlstwinmommy

[jlstwinmommy]

So - sadly, I do have to work today, but I thought I'd add a little more before my day begins.......

 

Another quick comment on the jump zone - they will not let you jump with any swim wear on, even if you wear a cover up. They made DH and DD go back and change. When they did go back, they gave DD a hard time about wearing a skort, even when she showed them the shorts were attached underneath. They let her jump, but told her to wear pants or regular shorts the rest of the cruise. The rock wall people were fine with the skort once they realized there were shorts underneath.

 

Day 4 (Bar Harbor, Maine): All the adults had an agenda for this port and this was definitely the one port everyone was looking forward too. For DH, it was hiking in Acadia. For mom and me, it was LOBSTER. :D Mom and I had been to Bar Harbor with our Princess cruise. We knew we wanted to eat the lobster special at West Street Cafe. So DH took the twins and got on the first tender to port. He wanted to see the island near the port via the land bridge. You can only cross it at low tide and he found that low tide was at about 8am. Fortunately, they were able to get on the first tender as they stopped tendering for an hour or so. We arrived in Bar Harbor at 7am. He called and said he got to the port at about 8:30. We were already in the Centrum waiting for our tender to be called, but they had trouble tying the tender to the ship due to high winds. Finally at about 9:30 we were able to tender to port. DH and the twins spent an hour or so on the island and then came back to town before the land bridge disappeared with the incoming tide. They then picked up sandwiches and hiked up to Dorr Mountain. They wanted to get all the way to Cadillac Mountain, but found the trail to be steep and were worried about getting back to the ship on time, so they turned around after getting up Dorr Mountain (right next to Cadillac Mountain). Mom, DS(13) and I spent time in town shopping and then headed over to West Street Cafe. We knew from previous experience that it would be busy so we headed over there a little before 11. It turned out to be a good thing as the Caribbean Princess was also in Port and the restaurant opened early to accommodate the crowds. We got in at about 10:50 and when we left (at about 11:45), there was a line at the door. We overheard them tell people that it was at least a half hour wait at that point. Anyway - we had the special - clam chowder, whole lobster, blueberry pie. Very yummy. I highly recommend this place for those who love lobster.

 

Well - I have work to do so more later..........

 

jlstwinmommy

[carter214]

Enjoying your review of the cruise, thank you for taking the time to write this synopsis.

[cruisingram1]

Thanks for the reminder about swimwear in the jumpzone. Sure to save us a trip back to our cabin.

Good tip about getting to West Street Cafe early. Enchantment will be the only ship docked the day we are there so that will make it a little less crowded. Is that the best place for lobster?

[bus man]

DS(7) and DD(7) spent the afternoon in Adventure Ocean. They built something out of clay. Sadly, there was a kid there that decided it would be fun to smash everyone's project except his own. I'm not sure how the staff handled it or even if they did, but it may have contributed to the twins not wanting to spend a whole lot of time there for the rest of the cruise. When I picked them up that day, they were both pretty upset that their project had been destroyed. I didn't talk to the staff about it as we chose to just suck it up and move on.

 

I would have complained. The kid who destroyed the other kids' projects should have been banned from Adventure Ocean, or at the very least only permitted if accompanied by his parents. It's not fair to the other kids to have one rotten apple destroy everyone else's fun.

 

If it had been my kid who had done that, I would have personally smashed his project. For starters. There's no excuse for a 7-year-old to misbehave like that.

[jlstwinmommy]

Thanks for the reminder about swimwear in the jumpzone. Sure to save us a trip back to our cabin.

Good tip about getting to West Street Cafe early. Enchantment will be the only ship docked the day we are there so that will make it a little less crowded. Is that the best place for lobster?

 

 

In Bar Harbor, I think this is the best place for lobster. I had read a lot about it before our Princess cruise and it did not disappoint. They also have the most incredible blueberry pie. The entire meal was $24 per person as I remember. Not too bad for lobster, chowder, and pie. :)

 

jlstwinmommy

[CasaSmith]

Enjoy reading your review. One of the times we were in Portland it spent the whole day raining, finally cleared up a couple hours before the ship was leaving so we walked to the stores in Old Portland.

[mcarnett]

Question, what night did they serve Tiger Shrimp in the Main Dining room? That is the night that I want to make a Chops reservation.

 

Thanks in advance,

[jlstwinmommy]

Question, what night did they serve Tiger Shrimp in the Main Dining room? That is the night that I want to make a Chops reservation.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

I don't remember the menu each night. I do know that we ate at Chops on Day 5 which was Saint John, NB. I read the menus on here. Someone had posted them a month or so before we left. I remember thinking we weren't missing much that day. There was another day (I believe it was the 2nd sea day from Halifax to Boston) where the menu didn't appeal to us. It was the 2nd formal night and we ended up just eating in the Windjammer. I don't think they had shrimp that night. I know they had a parmesean crusted chicken because we saw it in the Windjammer. You may want to do a search here for Enchantment. I think that's how I found the menu.

 

jlstwinmommy

[jlstwinmommy]

I was looking at my pictures today and wanted to mention that Pirate night in AO was on Day 3 (after we left Portland). I know I was surprised it was so early in the cruise because on past cruises, pirate night has always been toward the end. Anyway, pirate night is always a big hit with my kids and this time was no exception. DS(13) watched as this was the first time he was too old to participate. I think he enjoyed watching almost as much as DD(7) and DS(7) enjoyed participating. They still walk around chanting "We are the pirates, Adventure Ocean Pirates...." :)

 

Day 5 (Saint John, NB): We didn't have any specific plans for this day. Mom and I had been here before on our Princess cruise, but everything was closed because it was Canadian Labor Day. It was a bit disappointing because everything in both the Canadian ports were closed that cruise (except the Maritime Museum in Halifax). Even the restaurants were closed. I still can't figure why Princess would have purposely scheduled an itinerary in which 2 of the ports would be completely closed due to a national holiday. Even the Citidel in Halifax was closed for that trip, much to the disappointment of our tablemates at dinner who had walked up that hill to see it.

 

We had dinner this night in Chops as the menu we read on CC that night didn't thrill us. Also - we left Saint John fairly early, I think around 2:30, so we had time to shower and get ready for dinner. DS(13) took the twins to dinner in the MDR (we checked with our waiter the night before and he told us that we should let them go - in fact the table next to us commented the next night on how great they were. I was very proud of them). He then took them back to the cabin while they watched TV. Mom, DH, and I went to Chops. We had never eaten at any of the specialty restaurants and wanted to try it. Wow, what an incredible meal. I see what all the commotion is about. Well worth the $25 ($30 now).

 

Anyway - back to this cruise - we wanted to see some of the sites we didn't get to see on that cruise. DH saw a huge park on the hill where the Saint John sign is and decided to walk up there (he is big on hiking as you may have guessed by now). I had read there was a big farmer's type market so mom and I decided to explore the shops. This time the boys went with DH and DD came with us (she wanted to buy a present for her BFF). We walked through the shopping area near the port and followed the escalaters up and up until it ended in the infamous farmer's market. It was pretty neat as they did seem to have a little of everything - from fresh fish and meats to souvenirs. DH was pretty happy with his hike up to the park as well. The pictures he took look pretty nice. I may have to go with him next time we are that way.

 

jlstwinmommy

[jlstwinmommy]

Sorry about the above post. The Chops part was supposed to come after our day in Saint John. :o

 

jlstwinmommy

[jlstwinmommy]

Just a quick stop to add one more day...........

 

Day 6 (Halifax): Another port that was closed before that mom and I really wanted to see. We had gone to the Maritime museum before and knew the kids and DH would probably like that, so we headed over there again. We spent the morning touring the museum. The kids really enjoyed the Titantic section and watching the volunteers building new model ships (one of the volunteers was building a model of the ship that was used to recover most of the bodies from the Titantic disaster).

 

We then went to a close-by restaurant and had another lobster meal for lunch. Then we walked up the hill to the Citidel. If you get a chance to visit the Citidel, it is very neat. The people are dressed in clothes for the time period and they are really good at explaining the fort and life in the fort to the kids. The kids enjoyed the firearms demonstration as well as the school room where they had slate boards and slate used as chalk to draw on the boards. Plus, the view from on top of the hill is great too.

 

After the Citidel, the girls with DD(13) went shopping (of course) and DH and DS(7) walked over to the gardens. They said the gardens were beautiful. They also visited one of the cemetaries where the Titantic victims are buried. This port and Bar Harbor were the kids 2 favorite ports.

 

Off to work - will add more later.

 

jlstwinmommy

[mosywoes]

Thanks for the post!! We are planning the same things on Halifax day. Had to laugh that you reserved Chops for Day 5. I too looked at that menu and have reserved it 75 days prior to cruising!!

[jlstwinmommy]

I may finish this review yet.

 

Day 7 (At Sea): We took this day to relax and recover from hiking all over New England and Canada. Mom, DS(13), and I played a little bingo and hung out on the balcony. DH and the twins played some ping pong and shuffleboard and did a little swimming. I can't remember if they were able to jump again or not. I know the twins did go to AO again that night for a little while, but we picked them up fairly early as everyone was tired. This was the 2nd formal night. I thought they would have lobster, but they didn't. The only thing that looked semi appealing was the parmesean crusted turkey or chicken (can't remember which, but we were able to get that in the Windjammer as well). We decided we didn't feel like dressing up again for a meal we weren't crazy about so we just ate in the Windjammer. It worked out because since it was cool, they opened the Solarium to family swim from 4-6pm. Our dinner seating was 5:30 so there would not have been much time to swim and get ready for dinner. As it was, the kids swam until 6 and then showered and changed and we got to the Windjammer when it opened at 6:30.

 

DD is calling, so more later.............

 

jlstwinmommy

[jlstwinmommy]

Quick note on the pools: There are 3 pools and a kids play area on Enchantment. Of the 2 outdoor pools, one is a heated fresh water pool (that's where my kids spent most of their time). The other is not heated and I believe it's salt water (didn't get in as it was too cold, but the water looked different, so I think it was salt). The solarium pool was also salt water and my kids didn't like it as much. It was fine in a pinch when it was too cold out, but they preferred the fresh water pool.

 

Day 8 (Boston): As I mentioned earlier, mom and DS(13) went on the Ghost and Graveyard tour here. After the tour (which was 90 minutes), they were dropped off at Quincy Market. There was a shuttle every 20 minutes from there back to the ship and they were told they could take any shuttle back, so that is what they did. They shopped, ate lunch, and then took a shuttle back to the ship.

 

DH, DS(7), DD(7) and I decided to walk the freedom trail. We got a cab from the ship that took us to Bunker Hill where we started the trail. I have to say, it is an interesting walk and rich with history, but a lot of stops charge if you want to explore the site. They should create some kind of overall freedom trail ticket that would include all the sites you wanted to visit. Anyway - we didn't go in most the sites because it would have added up after a while for the 4 of us. We were able to go in the church where Paul Revere hung the lantern when the British were coming (that was free). It was a beautiful church. We also stopped and looked in the cemetaries on the freedom trail (actually ran into DS(13) and mom in one of them while they were on their tour). I don't think we would have had time to tour all the sites anyway as all aboard was at 2:30 that day.

 

The freedom trail ended at Boston Commons where DH decided it wasn't too much of a walk back to the ship. So, we walked back rather than take a cab. To be fair, it wasn't that far, but my feet were already tired from walking the freedom trail. We ended up getting back to the ship around 1pm.

 

Dinner on that night included Prime Rib or Lobster and shrimp. I had the lobster which was not as good as the lobster we had in port, but was still pretty good. The shrimp was fabulous though. DH had the Prime Rib and the lobster. I had a few bites of his prime rib and that was good as well.

 

Day 9 (At Sea): We awoke to a morning of high winds and the upper deck being closed. The kids were disappointed because they really wanted to do the rock wall and jumpzone one more time. Fortunately, by noon the winds died down enough that they reopened the deck and the kids were able to do what they wanted. DH and I spent a little time in the gym trying to negate some of the calories we had been taking in this trip. :p We had been to the gym a couple of times this trip. We found it to be incredibly crowded in the morning, but fairly empty in the afternoons and evenings. The menu the last night wasn't spectacular, but we wanted to eat in the MDR to get pictures with our waiter and thank them for taking care of us for the week. The show the last night was pretty good - they had a comedian who was pretty funny. We got to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/tunnel at about 9:30pm and were able to watch as we picked up the pilot for the bay. The bridge/tunnel was neat to see. I didn't realize how far out the bridge part came.

 

Day 10(Disembarkation): We elected to carry our own bags off. We had packed the night before and went to the Windjammer for breakfast around 6:30am. They let us off the ship around 7:30. It was an easy walk from the terminal back to our car. We were on the road by 8am.

 

Some last thoughts: I would definitely cruise this ship again and cruise out of Baltimore again. The port is easy to get to and getting on and off the ship was a piece of cake. Our only (very minor) critique of this cruise was the family activities seemed to be offered a lot right around the time of our dinner seating (which was first seating - when I would think a lot of families would be eating) so we missed a lot of them. DH and mom thought our previous cruises had planned better activities by the cruise staff. Not sure if that was because of the size of the ship or what. We still had a great time and that would not keep us from doing this cruise again.

 

I know I had read that some people smelled a sewage smell in the centrum. We smelled it one time - during the muster drill. Otherwise, it was fine. I also read that there was a smokey smell near Boleros and the casino. The only time we smelled smoke was when we went to trivia in Boleros and the person next to us was smoking. Just walking by, we didn't notice a thing.

 

That's it for this review. If I can figure out how to post pictures, I will post a few (we took over 200 pictures.:)) If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

 

jlstwinmommy

[bus man]

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise, and that the Enchantment is still the wonderful ship I remember her being.

 

Question: how did your traveling party sort themselves out between the two rooms? Was it cramped? Just right? Plenty of space?

[cruisingram1]

Quick note on the pools: There are 3 pools and a kids play area on Enchantment. Of the 2 outdoor pools, one is a heated fresh water pool (that's where my kids spent most of their time). The other is not heated and I believe it's salt water (didn't get in as it was too cold, but the water looked different, so I think it was salt). The solarium pool was also salt water and my kids didn't like it as much. It was fine in a pinch when it was too cold out, but they preferred the fresh water pool.

 

I was curious about the pools and glad you addressed it. I had posted a question on one of the other threads about the solarium pool being available for families when the weather was cool for outdoor swimming. I guess that is the case as your family used it. Were your children able to swim outdoors most of the time? We're traveling in mid July so I assume the weather will be warmer than your trip.

[jlstwinmommy]

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your cruise, and that the Enchantment is still the wonderful ship I remember her being.

 

Question: how did your traveling party sort themselves out between the two rooms? Was it cramped? Just right? Plenty of space?

 

Most nights we had 3 in each cabin. A few nights, mom agreed to take all the kids in the JS so DH and I could have some alone time.

 

I think we had the right amount of space for the 6 of us. Definitely plenty of storage and we liked having the walk in closet in the JS which we used as a dressing room. Our last cruise (which my dad came on as well), we had a royal family suite. This was almost the same, only the rooms weren't connected.

 

jlstwinmommy

[jlstwinmommy]

I was curious about the pools and glad you addressed it. I had posted a question on one of the other threads about the solarium pool being available for families when the weather was cool for outdoor swimming. I guess that is the case as your family used it. Were your children able to swim outdoors most of the time? We're traveling in mid July so I assume the weather will be warmer than your trip.

 

The kids did swim outside most of the time. There were a couple of cooler days as we got further north in Canada (although we really had great weather for most of the trip). Once we got north of Maine, the ship posted a sign that the solarium could be used by families from 10-12 and from 4-6. We utilized it a couple of times, but the kids really preferred the fresh water pool.

 

jlstwinmommy