Getting Enchanted with Royal Caribbean. Enchantment of the Seas Review 10/27-10/31

[SunshineCruiser24]

ARGH. I wrote a long long post and CC ate it. >:(

[tahqa]

In the middle of the contest, this little scamp darted across the "stage". She was totally adorable.

 

 

 

That little scamp is the CD's daughter. :)

[AlexanderBeetle]

That little scamp is the CD's daughter. :)

 

This particular sailing, at least, Marc's wife was with him as well. We kept wondering how frequently they get to do that. I would figure it's a much better arrangement to get to sail together periodically than only having half a day or so together on Monday's and Friday's.

[d4nigirl]

The stores started to open, the very first one I hit was Del Sol and Cariloah. I didn't plan on visiting Cariloah but they turned out to be the same store, the first half is Cariloah and the back half is Del Sol. The T-Shirts were a bit on the pricey side. The sunglasses seem a little too good to be true, for $50 you get a pair of sunglasses and they'll send you another pair whenever they break or get lost? There HAS to be some catch.

 

I had come here for nail polish, one of my coworkers is a nail painter and I thought the color changing nail polish would be perfect for her. But at $10, a little pricey. She better be glad I like her.

 

The shirts in Cariloah were very soft, there were women with armfuls of bamboo necklaces to give out as you browsed the store, but everything was so expensive. After buying my nailpolish and some key chains, I continued on to the straw market.

 

The Straw Market is very claustraphobic. It took me a long time to work my way through here because every few feet it was "Pretty girl, come look at my shop." And every stall was the same thing but a lot of the things cost different prices.

 

This is where I found the shark from Coco Cay again. And again. And again. That teaches me a lesson, just because someone is sitting around a bunch of wood figures, apparently carving something, does not in fact mean he carved any of the things in his shop.

 

I got dragged in to several stalls mainly because I am not able to say "No" and I figured there was nothing wrong with looking, but I only bought from vendors who weren't overly pushy. I bought another wooden shark figure, but this one was more of a scene, a wooden lobster that was hanging off of a table. (This lobster, I found out later, did not stand up which is probably why he was hanging off the table.) a few string bracelets.

 

I left through the back end of the straw market to head to the Bacardi store to get some rum cakes. Making my way back to Bay Street through the alley by the straw market, I came across a small store selling Bacardi and rum cakes. It even had rum cake samples, they had coconut out when I went in. It's next to a walk up window service burger king.

 

After making my purchases (including a coke.) I got back on the main of bay street. I had my coworkers covered I still needed something for my mom. I found the perfect store for it called My Ocean. It was down in the Prince George Shopping Plaza, there is a sign where you turn off of bay street.

 

My Ocean is a store that sells candles, soaps, ceramics, sarongs, dishes and various other things for the home. Everything is made by hand in the bahamas. I spent a long time in here because everything in the shop is beautiful and smelled wonderful. I settled on some coasters hand made from sea glass and a soap dish with two soap scrolls. It was pricey, at just under $80, but I was very satisfied with my purchases. They came with beautiful postcards.

 

After I finished, feeling considerably poorer, I headed back to the boat.

 

Funny thing about Del Sol and those sunglasses.....surprisingly, they're true to their word. My DH got a pair on our first cruise together and he wanted to test out their word about a year later. It's 100% true. They sent him another pair! I believe it was for $10 (which I remember the workers telling us), but SO worth it. Its 100% true!

 

Love your review!!

Edited November 12, 2014 by d4nigirl
spelling error

[mlzangel78]

I Am a lovinnnng THIS REVIEW... I am an avid reader , you should write for a living. I would buy your books. I was on the enchantment in 2006 post stretch, and will be on her again in 72 days :) loving this NEED MORE

Edited November 12, 2014 by mlzangel78

[mickev99]

 

Wow, finally I wouldn't have to have my pockets weighted down with my phone and my wallet causing my jeans to slide down my butt! I could carry them in this cute, nautical themed bag! Or so I thought..

 

I want to hear about the purse....it looks so cute I immediately planned to look for one on Indy next July until your daunting comment....

[John&LaLa]

I want to hear about the purse....it looks so cute I immediately planned to look for one on Indy next July until your daunting comment....

 

Yes, inquiring minds minds want to know

 

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Forums mobile app

[cruisesR4me]

I Am a lovinnnng THIS REVIEW... I am an avid reader , you should write for a living. I would buy your books. I was on the enchantment in 2006 post stretch, and will be on her again in 72 days :) loving this NEED MORE

 

I could not agree more with this comment. You should really look into writing a book/books. Your writing style is very readable and entertaining. I know you would have no trouble getting published. You are very talented !!!!!

 

Thoroughly enjoying your review.

[MomtoCCC]

Found this thread and have read it all.. anxiously waiting for the rest :D

[jackinav]

More please! Who won the trivia!!!???

[BillOh]

(Chops)

But something about the room, I can't quite put my finger on it, felt like they had a spare room on the ship and thought "hey! Let's make this a thing and charge money to eat here!"

 

That isn't far from the truth. Chops was first added on the Voyager class ships back around 2005 or so and it became a standard on all the Freedom class and later ships. Not sure when they added it on this older ship, but it was indeed added as an afterthought.

 

We have very little in common, but I'm enjoying your perspective. Thanks for sharing.

[SunshineCruiser24]

We traded papers to grade. This was different than Carnival. Carnival expects you to be a trustworthy adult and NOT lie to win a plastic trophy, although I'm sure some do. I traded with this nice couple next to me, they were "Not Slytherin!"

 

Because this was based on movie trivia, and not book trivia, I was unsure of one of my answers. Unfortunately, that was the only one I got wrong. I knew from an exasperated cry from the corner of the room, Harry Potter's Number 1 Tattoo'd Fan was knocked out on question 2! So much for "Everyone just go home because it's already won!" Jerk face.

 

Three teams got a perfect score and they won hats. One guy got a hat just for being the guy the host jeered during the questions. Lucky!

 

After, I packed up and headed back to my cabin to plug in my kindle.

 

Newly programmed keycard out, in the lock, pull back. Red light.

 

Sigh!! Not again!

 

I jammed it in the lock and gingerly pulled it out. Red light.

 

Gingerly pushed it in and pulled it out like a hot potato. Red light.

 

In my exasperation I kicked the door. No room steward in sight. I was locked out.

 

As I turned to walk away, it was ex boyfriend to the rescue! He was already in the cabin, AND he'd picked up a pen from guest services. The pens were kind of lame, no logo or indication that they were Royal Caribbean pens, just normal cheap pens. Bummer.

 

I filled out my customs form, I can never remember how much everything costs, so I just make it up as I go along. $20? Sounds good. $15? Yeah sure. Something like that.

 

My ex boyfriend gave me a keychain gem stone globe that I'd seen in the shops and decided I liked but wouldn't spend the money on for myself. How sweet!!

 

It was kind of awkward when I took the keychain, clipped it to my bag and then decided to leave. A keychain wasn't going to reignite our relationship by itself. So I stood there for a moment "...'K bye!" and pranced out of the room back to guest services.

 

"Am I doing something wrong!?" I asked with a groan when it was my turn, holding my keycard out in front of me and gingerly setting it on the counter. "I've never had this problem before! Why now?"

 

He told me my phone, but I've had my phone by my keycard all cruise and it still worked.

 

Then it hit me... My Kindle case is a big magnet.... I have the origami kindle case. It's sleep/wake feature is activated by a magnet, it holds it's "folds" via magnets oh and....? It's held in the case by a magnet.

 

Apparently just a thin piece of material separating the pockets of my new bag didn't protect my sea pass from getting demagnetized by my Kindle Case!

 

So there's nothing wrong with the bag per say. It's very cute, it's the perfect size to carry all my stuff without weighing down my pockets, it's very "cruisey". It's more of a problem with my kindle case. So to use the bag in the future, I will have to either go caseless or find somewhere else to keep my SeaPass!!

Edited November 12, 2014 by SunshineCruiser24

[SunshineCruiser24]

I want to hear about the purse....it looks so cute I immediately planned to look for one on Indy next July until your daunting comment....

 

If I remember correctly, the purse was only something like 12.95. A very good price for it, and there's really nothing wrong with it! They also had tote bags with the same design. I got a similar one in pink from Payless though for $8.00. Pink is really MY color...

Edited November 12, 2014 by SunshineCruiser24

[mickev99]

If I remember correctly, the purse was only something like 12.95. A very good price for it, and there's really nothing wrong with it! They also had tote bags with the same design. I got a similar one in pink from Payless though for $8.00. Pink is really MY color...

 

Thanks! Yeah, I would actually rather have pink, too....not a navy fan because of too many years in Catholic school being forced to wear uniforms of navy....it scarred me, LOL!! I love that it is nautical looking with the ship's name, though. Hope they have them on Indy next summer. Loving your review!

[SunshineCruiser24]

After getting yet another SeaPass, I headed down to the Windjammer to get an ice cream cone. I like the ice cream machines on Carnival better, there are more of them and they're always open and I think they're more strategically placed. You can just walk by and grab one!

 

I sat on the pool deck and ate my cone until a movie came on on the big screen. Ugh. Edge of Tomorrow. They played this movie at least four times in the four day cruise. I understand they have a limited amount of movies (the only other one was Divergent) but after someone sees it once, maybe switch it up or play it at a different location. I had no interest in seeing this movie, I'm not a Tom Cruise fan, but it was on almost every single day on the big screen it seemed!

 

I retreated to Deck 10, found a nice spot to sit and see the ocean and just relaxed, until the wind left me shivering. It was about dinner time at that point, so I headed down to the Windjammer for my final dinner at sea.

[mark290]

I have been following along with great interest.

Thank you for taking the time to do a review.

 

I really hope this concludes with you saying you

had a good time and enjoyed the ship. Enchantment is

one of my favorites. Maybe it's just me or the fact that

I've read this over several days but it doesn't seem like

you enjoyed much about the ship or the cruise, even taking

into account the ex-boyfriend aspect.

 

Anyway, thanks again and I hope you enjoyed your cruise.

[SunshineCruiser24]

I have been following along with great interest.

Thank you for taking the time to do a review.

 

I really hope this concludes with you saying you

had a good time and enjoyed the ship. Enchantment is

one of my favorites. Maybe it's just me or the fact that

I've read this over several days but it doesn't seem like

you enjoyed much about the ship or the cruise, even taking

into account the ex-boyfriend aspect.

 

Anyway, thanks again and I hope you enjoyed your cruise.

 

Really? I'm sorry, that's not the feeling I wanted to project. I had an amazing time. Do you know how nice it is to sit down and read a book without being smothered by three dogs who all need your attention RIGHTNOWOMGMOMMYISTHATFOODOHNOITSBOOKPETMEPETMEPETMEPETMELETMEGNAWONTHISOHYEAHTHISBOOKNOTFOOD... :-)

 

I had an AMAZING time.

[RARcruise]

Really? I'm sorry, that's not the feeling I wanted to project. I had an amazing time. Do you know how nice it is to sit down and read a book without being smothered by three dogs who all need your attention RIGHTNOWOMGMOMMYISTHATFOODOHNOITSBOOKPETMEPETMEPETMEPETMELETMEGNAWONTHISOHYEAHTHISBOOKNOTFOOD... :-)

 

I had an AMAZING time.

 

My DH and I went on our first cruise for our 10th anniversary and everyone could not believe that I read 5 novels during the week. It was heavenly to me. We have 4 kids that would have been aged 14-3 at that time. Took the kids with us last time (Enchantment) and didn't have a chance to do any reading at all.

[mickev99]

Really? I'm sorry, that's not the feeling I wanted to project. I had an amazing time. Do you know how nice it is to sit down and read a book without being smothered by three dogs who all need your attention RIGHTNOWOMGMOMMYISTHATFOODOHNOITSBOOKPETMEPETMEPETMEPETMELETMEGNAWONTHISOHYEAHTHISBOOKNOTFOOD... :-)

 

I had an AMAZING time.

 

I didn't get the idea that you didn't enjoy it at all. Except the MDR snafu, it sounds like you are having a great time and participating in all that the ship has to offer. It's really making me rethink not wanting to do a short cruise....of course I'm not as close as you are to a port, that's my main reason for not wanting to do less than a 7 day. It's a long drive from Atlanta with 3 kids for a short trip. But it sounds like you packed quite a bit into a short time period.

[funCruise3]

Dear Sunshine cruiser24, if you are available, please consider going on the Enchantment in March 2015: you sound like a blast and total fun to be with!!!!! Live each day to the fullest has gotta be your motto. I am cruising with my DH and 10 yr old DD. All three of us are reading your review and totally appreciate hearing both positive and constructive critism about the 4 day cruise.

Keep on rocking and looking forward to the last bit of your review to be written.

Regards, Diane :o:)

funcruiser3

 

Really? I'm sorry, that's not the feeling I wanted to project. I had an amazing time. Do you know how nice it is to sit down and read a book without being smothered by three dogs who all need your attention RIGHTNOWOMGMOMMYISTHATFOODOHNOITSBOOKPETMEPETMEPETMEPETMELETMEGNAWONTHISOHYEAHTHISBOOKNOTFOOD... :-)

 

I had an AMAZING time.

[SunshineCruiser24]

Thanks you guys!!! I'm so sorry it's taking so long. I've been super busy with work and I have to renew my emt license in December and totally slacked on my education credits so I'm cramming!! I promise when I get home tomorrow I'll finish her up with a summary of my opinion carnival vs Royal.

[mark290]

Really? I'm sorry, that's not the feeling I wanted to project. I had an amazing time. Do you know how nice it is to sit down and read a book without being smothered by three dogs who all need your attention RIGHTNOWOMGMOMMYISTHATFOODOHNOITSBOOKPETMEPETMEPETMEPETMELETMEGNAWONTHISOHYEAHTHISBOOKNOTFOOD... :-)

 

I had an AMAZING time.

 

I am very happy to hear I was reading the tone wrong.

I am glad you had an amazing cruise.

[F27TW]

.

 

 

Holy krap .. that mess was the WINNER?! :eek::p LOL

[SunshineCruiser24]

Dinner was a little sad because you know the cruise is winding down and it's almost all the way over. It was also a little awkward. As I'm moving through the buffet getting my food, I run into ex boyfriend. I smile, say hi, and continue on getting my food. I know on the carnival boards a lot of people lament about there being no trays, but I've never really missed them. Maybe because of the way I sit alone a lot, even on other cruises, and I'd rather scope out a table beforehand?

 

I always get a drink and claim a table, dropping my stuff there to indicate there is someone sitting there (this may bite me in the butt one day, I'm fairly trusting and have left my phone and kindle by themselves on a table before.) I tuck the silverware under my arm or shove it in a pocket, and then fill my plate. It works pretty well for me, I've never felt like I'm struggling to carry everything.

 

So, I went to go sit down and find a seat in the Windjammer Annex, the quiet little off shoot of the windjammer, right by the soda machine, barely anyone sits there. I see ex boyfriend walking with his food, wave. He nods. Figuring he's going to come sit with me, I shift my stuff so he has room on the table. But he keeps walking... Right past me, right past my table, and right outside.

 

Okay.. Weird. I continue to eat my dinner and when I'm ready for seconds I make a detour and find him outside sitting on a chair eating.

 

"I thought you were going to come sit with me!?"

 

Shrug. "Figured I'd watch the movie."

 

Nice of him to say something.

 

After dinner, I went to the Solarium. I'd been meaning to camp out here all cruise because it was a nice, quiet area. I pulled out my kindle and ear phones and decided to watch a movie. When I started to get hungry again, I headed to the park cafe in the back and got a little mini ham sandwhich that was surprisingly delicious.

 

Once the movie was over, it was off to the cabin for my last snore filled sleep.

 

When I arrived, I found this on the bed.

 

 

How do they fold clothes so well? Next to the swan and flower is my folded pajamas. I could never fold like if my life depended on it (I've tried. It often ends in a jumbled up wrinkly mess.)

 

Ex Boyfriend arrived and reminded me to put out my suitcases but I told him no, I'm going to carry my own luggage off. I always do. He gave me this skeptical look, as I had two suitcases, one back pack, and I was going to hand carry off my stuff from My Ocean. He told me not to expect any help from him if I couldn't manage my own stuff.

 

I got this boo, I do it every cruise.

 

So I settled in for another restless, interrupted sleep.

[Canadian Tyler]

He told me not to expect any help from him if I couldn't manage my own stuff.

 

 

And you let this Romeo get away??

 

 

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