Enchantment 5-17 December 2011, Southern Caribbean - review with pictures

[Eng23]

It is about 30 minutes each way, and the heavyweight aircraft don't usually start arriving until 12:30 and later. Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to get back. It is a 2 lane road and accidents can really foul things up. :)

 

Maho beach is great fun. Here's one of our photos...very similar to yours: http://www.herbytoys.com/Vaca_Images/Cruise05/AP_737.jpg

Thanks for that info Coralc! :)

[Mr. Bungle]

@Sandie... Will be joining you on the 27th!!! GO RAVENS!!!

 

Thanks for the full review. We are super-excited for this trip and cannot wait. It will be my DW, a buddy, his wife and their 3 kids going.

[Eng23]

@Sandie... Will be joining you on the 27th!!! GO RAVENS!!!

 

Thanks for the full review. We are super-excited for this trip and cannot wait. It will be my DW, a buddy, his wife and their 3 kids going.

Yes! Yes! Go Ravens!:D

[apk1389]

I know the review is almost over.. i kinda wish i started looking at it later so i could have gone through it all at once.. great review.. cant wait to finish it

[sea shepherd]

This is too funny :D on the Day 9 - Tortola, BVI ferry photo.

the couple to the left. the guy with the red flower shirt. and the lady with the black shorts and blue top and hat. Are my sister and her DH.

 

[Cotswold Eagle]

Thank you for your great reviews and photos. When you are able to post again, would you mind letting me know how many formal nights were held during your cruise? We sail on Enchantment on Feb. 27th. The order of the ports is the reverse of what you experienced. Can you recall any one particular evening in the dining room where the menu was one that we could "miss" and dine in the Specialty Restuarant instead?

We are from Maryland, but loved visiting the Cotswolds! So glad that the "Crab ornament" found a special place on your Christmas Tree. We enjoyed lump meat crabcakes for dinner with friends who are sailing on Enchantment with us during a New Year's Eve dinner. We are Ravens fans and are totally delighted that they are in the Playoffs!

 

Thanks again!

Sandie

 

Thanks, Sandie. We had three formal nights,two of which are still coming up in the review :) There is only one speciality restaurant, Chops, and I wouldn't want to say which menu I would have skipped,as I found something great on them all!

 

How did this review turn into a Ravens fanfest?! Is no one reading my screen name :D

[Cotswold Eagle]

I know the review is almost over.. i kinda wish i started looking at it later so i could have gone through it all at once.. great review.. cant wait to finish it

 

I wish I had got it all up in quicker time, but wanted to get posting without having done all the prep I should have :)

 

You can always read it again once you know how it ends!

 

Cheers,

 

David

[Cotswold Eagle]

This is too funny :D on the Day 9 - Tortola, BVI ferry photo.

the couple to the left. the guy with the red flower shirt. and the lady with the black shorts and blue top and hat. Are my sister and her DH.

 

 

Cool! I saw you guys around the ship, I think, and I hope you had a better time than you were expecting after your 5-day.

 

Happy New Year,

 

David

[Cotswold Eagle]

We pushed back from the dock under beautiful blue skies at about 4 pm, the Captain no doubt keen to start our long cruise back to Baltimore. I always enjoy being on deck at sail away, you never know what you might see. As we followed the coast round out of the harbour, I noticed a paddleboarder furiously paddling off our port bow. It seemed as if he was trying to get across our path, but the Captain/pilot were having none of that and five blasts on our horn persuaded him to give up and steer down our port side. Meanwhile on deck, guests and crew were taking advantage of the fabulous weather in the Pool Games Challenge.

 

Leaving Road Town behind - next stop, Baltimore

 

Good effort, but no match for the Enchantment

 

Pool Games

 

The headline show tonight was a comedian/juggler, Billy Prudhomme. I have seen several acts like this before (as will most experienced cruisers, I suspect), but Billy was a good example and had some great one-liners. And a ridiculous shirt!

 

Billy Prudhomme…and his shirt!

 

Tonight’s dinner dress code was a little unusual – Casual/Holiday Colours. I had another shrimp cocktail, Angus steak (ooh, that will be beef AGAIN, won’t it?) and a creme brûlée, all of which was pretty tasty. Tonight we were treated to dancing waiters, some of whom had imaginative headgear fashiuoned from kitchen items, but my attempts at photos failed quite badly – I think I was still eating my brûlée!

 

After dinner, at 10.15 pm in the Centrum we had a Holiday Celebration, hence the dress suggestion, of course. Santa had arrived in a reindeer-pulled sleigh today, the late night work of some chefs and apparently all made in the workshop on-board, and was now flying over the Centrum. Fortunately, as I have previously mentioned, we had very few children on board, because the pile of reindeer parts I saw the previous night outside the elevators on Deck 5 could have proved very traumatic…. The celebration consisted of a short show by the entertainment and activities staff (including Mr and Mrs Claus AND a Grinch), followed by communal singing of Christmas songs and carols (word sheets were provided), led by Officers and Crew gathered in the Centrum. It was all very festive and jolly, and a good effort by the crew, led by Mitch.

 

As a final holiday treat, there was a late night serving of Fudge Brownies & Ice Cream Under the Stars, which was very popular and tasty! I preferred something like this to a full-on midnight buffet, especially coming off a late seating, where one might finish dinner only an hour before the buffet is served. I certainly managed to find space for a brownie! The Captain very sensibly decided to turn the clocks back an hour tonight, putting us back on Baltimore time, but more importantly giving us all an extra hour in bed after the holiday celebrations. We have three sea days to go and plenty to do.

 

Holiday Celebration show

 

Fudge Brownies Alert!

[Cotswold Eagle]

Thanks, Sandie. We had three formal nights,two of which are still coming up in the review :) There is only one speciality restaurant, Chops, and I wouldn't want to say which menu I would have skipped,as I found something great on them all!

 

Oops, that's not quite right, is it - I have mentioned two of them. Three formal nights were:

 

Day 2 - At Sea

Day 7 - St Maarten

Day 11 - At Sea

 

David

[golfer1966]

I like the Maho Beach photo's! I'll be there in October on Allure of the Seas and Maho is my destination for the day! Thanks for a very good review. :)

 

 

Please keep an eye on the time. The roads to to get back to Phillipsburg from Mahoe are usually busy and full of road construction and traffic. We missed the ship once because of this. Trust me .... :)

[samatha]

We pushed back from the dock under beautiful blue skies at about 4 pm, the Captain no doubt keen to start our long cruise back to Baltimore. I always enjoy being on deck at sail away, you never know what you might see. As we followed the coast round out of the harbour, I noticed a paddleboarder furiously paddling off our port bow. It seemed as if he was trying to get across our path, but the Captain/pilot were having none of that and five blasts on our horn persuaded him to give up and steer down our port side. Meanwhile on deck, guests and crew were taking advantage of the fabulous weather in the Pool Games Challenge.

 

Leaving Road Town behind - next stop, Baltimore

 

Good effort, but no match for the Enchantment

 

Pool Games

 

The headline show tonight was a comedian/juggler, Billy Prudhomme. I have seen several acts like this before (as will most experienced cruisers, I suspect), but Billy was a good example and had some great one-liners. And a ridiculous shirt!

 

Billy Prudhomme…and his shirt!

 

Tonight’s dinner dress code was a little unusual – Casual/Holiday Colours. I had another shrimp cocktail, Angus steak (ooh, that will be beef AGAIN, won’t it?) and a creme brûlée, all of which was pretty tasty. Tonight we were treated to dancing waiters, some of whom had imaginative headgear fashiuoned from kitchen items, but my attempts at photos failed quite badly – I think I was still eating my brûlée!

 

After dinner, at 10.15 pm in the Centrum we had a Holiday Celebration, hence the dress suggestion, of course. Santa had arrived in a reindeer-pulled sleigh today, the late night work of some chefs and apparently all made in the workshop on-board, and was now flying over the Centrum. Fortunately, as I have previously mentioned, we had very few children on board, because the pile of reindeer parts I saw the previous night outside the elevators on Deck 5 could have proved very traumatic…. The celebration consisted of a short show by the entertainment and activities staff (including Mr and Mrs Claus AND a Grinch), followed by communal singing of Christmas songs and carols (word sheets were provided), led by Officers and Crew gathered in the Centrum. It was all very festive and jolly, and a good effort by the crew, led by Mitch.

 

As a final holiday treat, there was a late night serving of Fudge Brownies & Ice Cream Under the Stars, which was very popular and tasty! I preferred something like this to a full-on midnight buffet, especially coming off a late seating, where one might finish dinner only an hour before the buffet is served. I certainly managed to find space for a brownie! The Captain very sensibly decided to turn the clocks back an hour tonight, putting us back on Baltimore time, but more importantly giving us all an extra hour in bed after the holiday celebrations. We have three sea days to go and plenty to do.

 

Holiday Celebration show

 

Fudge Brownies Alert!

Can't even tell you how much I am enjoying review, daughter is crew member. Do you have any other pics of Christmas show? Thanks so much for sharing with us.

[Cotswold Eagle]

Can't even tell you how much I am enjoying review, daughter is crew member. Do you have any other pics of Christmas show? Thanks so much for sharing with us.

 

Thank you. I do have some, but of pretty poor quality (I was learning to use my new camera!) If there are any worth sharing, I'll add them later.

 

Which department is your daughter in, if you don't mind sharing - maybe I have some other relevant photos?

 

David

[Cotswold Eagle]

We are back in the Atlantic today, and it shows. It is a cloudy start to the day, with a swell causing the ship to rock – I think this is the worst sustained rolling we have had. The weather is still warm, but clearly we are heading north.

 

There are various activities are in our Cruise Compasses to keep us entertained on this first of three days at sea on our way back to Baltimore. For those who prefer to be outside, this afternoon brings the promise of the Make-a-Wish walk, as well as the Mens International Belly Flop competition. For those wishing to improve their knowledge, there are art collecting or acupuncture seminars; for those wishing to use their hands, arts and crafts tapestry, jewellery making and napkin folding. For the body, we have dance or tai chi classes. If things go badly there, a back pain seminar. And, poignantly after our fudge brownies treat last night, we are promised the secrets of a flatter stomach.

 

Me? I went to a gingerbread house making demonstration in the Centrum.

 

One of the chefs responsible for the great Xmas display showed how to build and decorate another house, naturally with the able assistance of a couple of passengers, who do very well. You can see in the second photo how the Christmas decoration in the Centrum has developed over the past 10 days.

 

That's the way to do it (great shirt, by the way, sir!)

 

The demonstration drew a crowd, but the reindeer seem disinterested

 

But there is another sensational development to tell you about. Overnight, Cafe Latte-tudes has been transformed, with, er, a new menu and new cups and is now serving Starbucks coffee. This news caused one of the RC dancers to go into melt down with joy! At least he noticed, unlike most passengers, according to a poll I conducted at dinner (not just my table, I included eight people next door to get a proper scientific sample). To be very honest, I didn’t notice much of a difference in my habitual afternoon iced latte, but the cookies were still very good.

 

There is another busy evening tonight. I started at 7 pm at Production Showtime in the theatre – the RC Singers and Dancers in their second production show, from Stage to Screen. The show contains songs from shows that made it onto the silver screen. It’s not full of instantly recognisable numbers (to me) but has impressive staging and costumes. I notice (and Mitch confirms) that the dancers are in their flats due to the ship’s motion.

 

 

 

 

After a dinner of breaded shrimp, smoked duck salad (very, very tasty), and salmon, which was billed to be in rice paper, but wasn’t (at least it wasn’t BEEF, right?!) it was straight up to the Spotlight Lounge for the Quest. The lounge was packed, participation was enthusiastic, and the Quest was the Quest! Actually, Mitch claims to have tweaked it a little, with the express purpose of defeating those who turn up with bags of 'props', and good for him. Rest assured, I won’t break the code by posting photos, but it was great fun.

 

After those fun and games, there was still more entertainment to come, with comedian Dean Austin doing a Late Night Adult Comedy show in the theatre. It was late night (11.30 pm), it was certainly adult themed, and it was very funny, so I guess he lived up to his billing.

 

Dean Austin - a little disappointing in the shirt department

[BND]

Starbucks!!! Yay!! We'll be on Enchantment in 66 days and I guess we'll be spending more money on coffee.;)

[Cotswold Eagle]

Starbucks!!! Yay!! We'll be on Enchantment in 66 days and I guess we'll be spending more money on coffee.;)

 

Glad to be bearing good news at this time of year :)

 

I was surprised they didn't make a big deal of it on the ship - as I say it just changed one day (it's entirely possible I only noticed the day after, actually!) The main change seemed to be a more extensive Starbucks-esque menu - and new logo, of course.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

David

[Cotswold Eagle]

Today the seas are slightly calmer, and after a grey start the sun comes out mid-morning. The Cruise Compass promises 92 degrees, but those of us familiar with the Celsius equivalent (and the concept of latitude) realise this must be a mis-print! Low 70s only, I’m afraid, and the shops do a brisk trade in sweatshirts and hooded fleeces in a sale outside outside the Windjammer.

 

It’s another busy day on board the Enchantment of the Seas with all the usual shipboard activities. At 1 pm I notice a clash of two things I’d like to do (well, three, actually – it’s lunchtime too!) There is a backstage tour in the theatre and David is doing his final destination lecture, this time on Caribbean Pirates & Finding Their Treasure, for which he enters character! I skip the theatre tour, having done one before, and enjoyed the lecture. In the afternoon there was another art auction and an ice carving demonstration was scheduled (I don’t know if it took place due to the weather?)

 

My other main activity today was to go along to the Captain’s Corner in the theatre, which was well attended. The panel consisted of our Norwegian Master, Captain Anders Ingebrigtsen, Chief Engineer Jerzy Gramcznski from Poland and Hotel Director (and my fellow Brit) Gary Davies. This is the first time I have been on one of Captain Anders ships, and I would say he is one of the less outgoing Masters, but he seems to run a good ship, sets a good tone from the top and has a wry sense of humour. The trio answered questions for the best of an hour, if I remember correctly. Naturally they have to deal with ship enthusiasts in the audience who think they know better or are going to catch three experienced officers out, but they had some interesting things to say about Baltimore and the Enchantment.

 

The Captain confirmed that the bridges limit anything bigger than Enchantment going in to the current port of Baltimore and that there are no plans to move the Enchantment, even though it adds nine hours to the journey to get up to the port. According to him, Norfolk needs major improvements to be even considered as a home port, and Philadelphia was closed by the local authorities, so is not an option anymore. The market served by Baltimore is very important and successful for RCI, but the Captain says build a bigger port further out to attract the bigger ships!

 

Enchantment will go into dry dock in Freeport next December. Improvements planned include pervasive WiFi, flat screens in staterooms, interactive display systems (i.e. the system that displays what’s on and how to get there in the public spaces), possible improvements to the theatre (new seating or they may expand balcony, it is still being discussed – they recognise it is under pressure after the enlargement of the ship). Park Cafe will replace the solarium café (hoping to take some of the expansion pressure off the WJ) and Izumi, Doghouse and Giovanni's are expected (no indication where). The biggest cheer was reserved for the announcement that new ‘wet units' (bathrooms!) will be put in all the cabins – with shower DOORS, not curtains.

 

The production show tonight starts with a special treat – a specially written and filmed 12 Days of Christmas video. The RC singers are filmed singing the song round a piano and then for each item there are appropriate film drops involving crew from around the ship, such as “10 waiters waiting”, or “One Cruise Director and his Christmas Tree" (sing it, it just about scans!) I had seen Mitch being filmed earlier in the week with a small tree and then hugging the large tree in the centrum – this all now makes sense (to those who saw the video, if not to my readers!) This has taken some effort (for example, each time a line is repeated the xx whatevers are doing something slightly different in the film, so Mitch has filmed 12 different scenes) and involved people from all departments on board.

 

One Cruise Director and his Christmas Tree

 

The headline act was Tribute, a salute to the Temptations (some of who turn out to be staying in the cabin next to me _Tribute, not the Temptations, of course). This is not my sort of music, and I have no idea how good a tribute band Tribute are, but they go down well. They do run long (the video adds to the time) and so I am quite late for the higher tier C&A event in the Spotlight lounge. But I get a free drink, some canapés (it’s hours since my afternoon cookie, you know) and listen to the incomparable (and frequently nearly incomprehensible) Danney again. If I remember correctly there are over 1300 C&A members on this cruise, with a large proportion in the upper tiers (it is Diamonds in December time, of course).

 

Tribute - a tribute band (who would have guessed)

 

 

Tonight’s dinner consisted of mushrooms in pastry, seafood salad, fisherman's platter (i.e. lobster and a shrimp), and a trio of desserts (which is ONE dish, consisting of samplers of three desserts; I didn’t have six courses tonight). The appetiser and the dessert were highlights, but I know many people live for the lobster - there was plenty for those who wanted, and who’s counting! As I mentioned earlier, this was our final formal night. It was also a Thursday, so I caught some NFL in Boleros at some point – suit and tie, strawberry daiquiri (yes, still!) and the Falcons embarrassing the Jags.

 

Of course, tomorrow is our final day on this wonderful voyage. And that means the dreaded luggage tags and all the other paraphernalia for disembarkation have been delivered to our staterooms. This obviously depressed me so much that I took few action photos today, but here are a couple more of the Centrum decorations.

 

 

Fly, Rudolph, fly (a little Eagles reference for you there!)

[Cotswold Eagle]

I'm afraid time has defeated me again :( We have one sea day, some random reflections about the ship and cruise, and disembarkation at Baltimore to cover, so hopefully I'll get that all done tomorrow.

 

Thanks for reading :)

 

David

[samatha]

Thank you. I do have some, but of pretty poor quality (I was learning to use my new camera!) If there are any worth sharing, I'll add them later.

 

Which department is your daughter in, if you don't mind sharing - maybe I have some other relevant photos?

 

David

Youth staff ans she was Mrs. Claus.

[Jeepers385]

David, can't wait for the final chapter and loving the Eagles references. And yes Andi Reid is still our coach.

And to add to what you've stated I think the meals in the dining room on this cruise were really good.

 

[Cotswold Eagle]

Youth staff ans she was Mrs. Claus.

 

Ah, ha - good for her! In that case I do have some, not of a quality I would normally post, but they will give you a feel for the event, hopefully.

 

This one is actually a reflection in the ceiling

 

Staff and crew carolling

 

 

Mr and Mrs Claus pose for photos

[Cotswold Eagle]

David, can't wait for the final chapter and loving the Eagles references. And yes Andi Reid is still our coach.

 

And to add to what you've stated I think the meals in the dining room on this cruise were really good.

 

 

 

 

I'm glad you are enjoying it - annoyingly I am having had to do some work, but final installments tonight, hopefully.

 

It will be interesting to see what Reid does with his coaching staff, but great news that Mudd is coming back for the O-line, especially with a full off-season to work with. I bought an Eagles Xmas tree ornament in Philly - supposed to be Santa Clasu in his Eagles gear, but it has a hint of Howard about him!

[Cotswold Eagle]

As I mentioned earlier, I have been lucky enough to have two long cruises this year on Vision class ships – this 12-nighter on Enchantment and a 14-night transatlantic on her smaller sister Grandeur in the spring. For those who don’t know, the Enchantment was stretched by the addition of a new 22m mid-section in 2005 – you can see how it was done here http://www.amazing-planet.net/cut-and-stretch-enchantment-of-the-seas.php (future Enchantment cruisers of a nervous disposition may not want to look – it’s unnerving to see your ship literally cut in half!)

 

So I thought a quick comparison of the two ships might be interesting – how did RCCL use that extra space, other than adding new cabins? To me the most obvious improvement is the pool deck, which is much bigger and seems to ‘flow’ much better than on other ships, including the Grandeur. It is also the best place to understand the magnitude of the task undertaken, as the two ‘bridges’ either side mark the extent of the new section. A long pool bar flanks the port side and the corresponding space on the starboard side was used to set up the late night buffets etc. You can see the pool area and bar in my photo of the pool games on Day 9 and here are a couple of other views, from our sailway at Baltimore, all those days ago (I said the sun did its best to see us off):

 

 

 

Skipping the cabin decks on 8 & 7, the next new public space is in the shopping area on Deck 6. Here I could tell there was more space, but it is hard to say exactly how it is being used – just more shopping opportunities, really (and an extra wide crossover through either side of the ship, aft of the main shops heading towards the Centrum). Unfortunately, I always meant to take some photos around the ship, but never quite got round to it, I was concentrating more on ports of all and activities this time.

 

More obviously on Deck 5, we have a whole new bar area added, Boleros. This works quite well, despite being amidships, as the walkway through to the casino from the Centrum is demarked and out of the way of the bar/dance area - unlike the Schooner Bar on Vision class ships, which is a real corridor through to the Spotlight Lounge. Boleros has a small dance floor and is also home to several TVs and a big screen, which as I have mentioned above did NFL duty on our cruise (sports are also shown in the bar in the casino). It allows more flexibility when putting on events such as lectures or seminars – some are in Boleros, larger ones in the Spotlight Lounge, so was another definite plus for the stretch.

 

And finally, it seems as if RCCL resisted the temptation to add a bigger Champagne Terrace on Deck 4 at the bottom of the Centrum – I think the new section just has cabins here? That’s a shame in a way, as the area is quite cramped on these ships, especially if there is an art auction or demonstration going on.

 

There are some other differences in layout on Deck 6 where the mostly useless space that is outside the conference centre on the port side in the original Vision design (aft towards the Spotlight, the opposite side to the Schooner Bar) has been turned in to a Chops Grill. I seem to recall this was due to happen to the Grandeur too when she goes in to dry dock (it is not part of the new section). This is a better use of the space (especially from a revenue point of view), but it does put all the traffic heading to the Spotlight Lounge through the Schooner Bar.

 

I had read comments that areas such as the Windjammer and theatre struggle to cope with the extra passenger load after the stretch. It would be unfair to compare my half-full Grandeur with the full Enchantment, but I think from observation that these comments have some merit. Of course, it is easier for a singleton like me to find a table or a seat, so I never had a real problem, but both venues were pretty full sometimes (although it seemed easy to guess when and avoid them, if need be). The Windjammer is a circular design, which I found works well, but I know some folk hate! I found it hard in the theatre to get down the sides (people normally fill from the centre aisles), so I’m not sure if some extra seats may have been added to the ends of rows, but my tip would be to use the balcony on Deck 6 to get to the front of the theatre and then work back up the sides in the main body of the auditorium on Deck 5.

 

There is also a diifference in some of the facilities around the Centrum on the higher decks - the Enchantment has a Concierge Lounge on Deck 8, which means no card/games room, as we had on Grandeur, and the library is smaller and open to the balcony, which I though was a shame - the one on Grandeur was more peaceful. The 'sleeping man' sculpture has been moved to the Latte-tudes area, probably because the libray is so small (I suspect this may have happened during the stretch - more cabins on Deck 7 maybe).

 

One final difference is that what I think is called the “Observation Deck” on the Grandeur, i.e. the small circular raised deck area above the Windjammer (you can just see it in some of my sail away photos throughout the review), is now a trampoline area – there are four (I think) bungee trampolines, open to kids of many ages.

 

Jumping over the moon!

 

And finally…yes, the Solarium roof really does open!

[Cotswold Eagle]

And now….the end….is near. Bring back Joey Van, that’s what I say, his Sinatra was quite good!

 

It was still quite warm and sunny, on this our last day at sea, but a bit blustery and only the brave or foolhardy are sunning on deck. As the day wears on it obviously got cooler and I started to see birds and other ships, clear signs we are nearing the East coast. But there is still plenty going on inside the ship!

 

In the morning, I watched a cake decorating contest in the Centrum. Taking part are Cruise Director Mitch, Captain Anders and one of the pastry chefs. By popular acclaim, and saving Darren his job by not having to choose between his boss and his boss’s boss, the professionally trained chef wins. As is traditional, the Captain’s effort clearly shows why he is a ship’s officer not a cook and Mitch does quite well, until he gets distracted by decorating Darren’s head as well. Naturally we all get some cake afterwards!

 

Spot the pro....

 

Nice work, Capt'n

 

A little while later, the traditional Parade of Flags was held (also in the Centrum). 61 nations are represented in the crew and representatives from all departments proudly parade with their national flags.

 

 

In the afternoon I spend an interesting hour (maybe a little over) at a presentation and Q&A session by Mitch and Gary Davies (the Hotel Director, who had also been on the panel at Captain’s Corner yesterday) in the theatre. They called this ‘Life at Sea’ and spoke about their careers and how they had got to the positions they now hold. Gary has had a particularly interesting time, having ‘taken out’ 11 new ships for RCI and he was also Project Manager for the installation of Central Park on Oasis – he showed a couple of interesting videos about that process. This was a much more personal session than a Captain’s Corner and well worth attending (and kudos to the two of them for laying it on). Of course, Gary did have to drop in that he had married a dance captain off one of his ships (who is now producing shows and is responsible for the new Centrum aerial show, which I think is on the Splendour?)

 

The Mitch 'n' Gary show

 

Other entertainment on board included various game shows and a guest talent show in the main theatre (which I am afraid I skipped – sorry, guys!) The shops were doing their usual last minute sales and there was particular carnage at the 2 for $20 T-shirt table.

 

We had a good farewell show, with comedian Dean Austin's clean version, the RC Singers and Dancers and, of course, the representatives of the crew on stage to say goodbye. And in the dining room at dinner the waiting and kitchen staff are honoured too. I paid particular homage by enjoying my onion soup, turkey, chocolate brownie sandwich. I should mention that Samuel and Jeshua have both coped much better with these last three days at sea than they did with the first two, so I am trying hard to persuade them to cruise again! We take photos, exchange email addresses, and hand out tip envelopes to complete the cruising rituals.

Farewell show

 

I saw the lights of what I think was the tunnel bridge during dinner and two boats (presumably USCG?) take up station and escort us towards Baltimore. Lights on shore are visible either side as we make our way by, but a quick walk on deck reminds me that we are back in northern latitudes and it’s December - it's turned very cold indeed. So I wander the ship for a while in a last-day-of cruise mood, and finally head back to my home for the last 12 days and admit it is all coming to an end by putting my luggage outside my stateroom.

 

Don't you hate to see this....

[Cotswold Eagle]

We pulled alongside the terminal in Baltimore just before dawn at about 0630 (the Captain explained yesterday that he would try to arrive 30 minutes early, as he was expecting a full immigration check for the crew). As the sun rises over the Baltimore harbour, the first walk-off passengers start to disembark into a cold Maryland December morning.

 

 

 

I was due off in the second or third group and after a quick Windjammer breakfast I headed for the 'upper tier' waiting area, in the upper level of the main dining room (5th floor). My number was called a few minutes late and I followed Danney through the ship to the gangway and walked back down onto American soil. The passengers on this cruise had been mostly US citizens, so I was pleased to find just one person in front of me in the foreigners queue. I had a quick conversation with a very pleasant lady from CBP and was looking for my luggage a matter of moments later.

 

Through the roll call for this cruise, I had ‘met’ Debbie and Jeff (Jeepers385), fellow Eagle fans from New Jersey. I had mentioned that I was heading up to Philadelphia for the weekend, and they had very kindly offered me a ride. They had stayed at the Sleep/Comfort Inn at BWI (sorry, Debbie, I get confused which one was closed!) and when we called for the shuttle it seemed as if it could be quite a long wait - some of the walk-offs from our roll call were still there waiting and they had much lower numbers for the shuttle than we had. Taking a quick executive decision, we grabbed a cab, somehow managed to load all our luggage into the poor guy’s sedan and headed back to the hotel, no more than 10 or 15 minutes away. I suspect we got there before anyone waiting for the shuttle – it cost us $30, money well spent. We transferred our luggage to the Jeepers-mobile, which had been parked here, and were soon on the road. Thanks, guys!

 

And that’s the end of my cruise story – just to complete the vacation, I was delivered by my new best friends to a hotel near Philadelphia airport, visited some friends in a lovely town called Doylestown on Saturday evening and, OF COURSE, was at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday afternoon to see the Birds walk all over the Jets. The temperature was somewhat different to the Virgin Islands of a few days ago – a high of 39 degrees in Philly on Sunday, but at least it was dry (snow flurries in Doylestown, though).

 

 

I spent Monday morning at the Independence Seaport Museum on the Delaware in Philly – highly recommend it, especially if you have always wanted to explore a WWII submarine! I also wandered round Independence Mall, which has changed a lot since I first came to this town in 1995, and then headed to the airport for my overnight flight home. What a fabulous time I have had - new experiences on new islands, plenty of time to relax, met new friends, and saw some old ones.

 

Thanks, Enchantment of the Seas - I’ll be back!