Enchantment of the Seas review - 1/8/16

[JMB777]

Hello. I thought I'd share my experience with you.

 

My party: 3 people, aged mid 40's to mid 70's

 

Pre-cruise history:

 

We have been on over a dozen cruises, nearly all with Royal Caribbean (RC). We set this cruise up in October through our travel agent, like we always do. A week later, we tried to pull the cruise up on RC's website, but constantly got "there's an error, try again later". We called many times, only to hear "we don't know what's wrong". Finally, I sent them an email asking them to fix our cruise please so we can see it on the website and get our info. A few days later it was miraculously "fixed". This was to have consequences later.

 

Embarkation:

 

We hadn't been to Port Canaveral for several years and liked the new parking garage. We went into the terminal and immediately encountered a problem. After 15 minutes of searching, they told us we were not in the computer. It's a good thing my brother brought all the paperwork, or I don't know how we would have proved to them we were really booked on the ship. So, they had to enter all our information over again. That took half an hour. The people at the desk were very nice. They told us that someone at RC in Miami did not "activate" our cruise. Why paying in full does not automatically activate your cruise, we will never know.

 

Day 1:

 

We were let into our D1 cabin at 1:15pm. The room was good sized and clean. The balcony was a little smaller than we were used to, but nice. We walked around the ship and it looked very well maintained on the inside. We liked the decor in the Orpheum Theatre.

 

We went to Wind Jammer for lunch, and the food was good, as with most Wind Jammers. Not great, but good.

 

The muster drill was awful. We were crammed onto the deck for what seemed like half an hour. We are used to muster drills in the theatre, but I guess they don't do it that way on the smaller ships. After that, I thought ok, fine, the torture is over, now we can enjoy our cruise from here on. I had no idea what we were to experience later.

 

After walking around a while, we get back to the cabin. We heard dull, thudding noises above us, and other banging. It turns out our cabin (middle of deck 8) was directly below the pool deck. They had setup bean bag games on the deck. People were tossing bean bags, which is what we were hearing. There is evidently little to no sound proofing between decks 8 and 9. We've never had a problem like this before on RC, but have never seen these bean bag games before either. This prevented us from

enjoying our cabin.

 

We went to dinner and found that they had no record of us and no table for us because of the previous screw up. So, we got a table right at the entrance, which was far from optimal, as there was noise coming from the Centrum, right down the hall. Our waiters were very attentive and the food was good.

 

A lot of people did not observe the dining room rules. There were people in shorts and sandals each day of the cruise. The only time we've noticed dining room rules being enforced was several years ago on a Carnival Cruise of all things.

 

The welcome aboard show, with a comedian, was ok. The highlight of the evening was the band. Unfortunately, they didn't get to do very much during the cruise.

 

Now for the first night's sleep. It was awful. The ship was swaying from side to side. I'm used to that. What I have never experienced before is the SHAKING. Yes, the ship was vibrating and it felt like someone was literally shaking our beds every few seconds. This went on for hours. I couldn't go to sleep. I even tried sleeping on the floor, but that didn't help. Finally, after praying to God Almighty to help me, I was able to nod off.

 

Day 2:

 

Arrived in Nassau with sunny, warm weather. My mom and brother went into town, but soon returned after encountering the usual aggressive shopkeepers.

 

The solarium provided a quiet place to read a book.

 

Since we were in Nassau till late, there was no bean bag tossing, so we had it relatively quiet in the cabin. The show that night was a magician, who was very funny.

 

Day 3:

 

Our next destination was Coco Cay, but it rained on and off all day, so we didn't go. The people who went over looked pretty miserable coming back on board.

 

They showed NFL playoff games on the big screen at the pool, which was fun.

 

The farewell show was dancing/singing from broadway shows. The performers did a great job, but the show was not exciting to me.

 

We heard bean bag tossing all late afternoon and into the night. It's amazing to me how many people love this game. We could not take a nap. Finally, I went to Guest Relations. They were having a party in the Centrum and Guest Relations is right there in the Centrum. You could barely communicate with the service people over the noise. It's just the way the ship is laid out. Trying to communicate with Guest Relations about a problem, with a party going on 20 feet away, is very frustrating. After explaining things, they went up and stopped the bean bags. It was 10PM after all. They also gave us compensation for our torment. The people at Guest Relations were very nice.

 

Disembarking:

 

This was easy and relatively fast. We like the terminal and how they handle things.

 

Conclusion:

 

We had a good time on this cruise, but would not do another 3 day again. We like the bigger ships and their entertainment much better. The vibe on this ship is LOUD. People were literally holding their ears at the final party in the Centrum. Do you like throwing bean bags? You will love this ship. If you do not like noise, NEVER EVER book a room on deck 8 below the pool deck. I can't stress that enough!

 

We had no problem with the staff onboard. We found them friendly. The cruise director, from Finland, was very engaging. He did a "tour of dances" number one night and turned out to be a very good dancer.

 

The channels provided in the stateroom are poor and the satellite signal goes out intermittently on certain channels.

 

The solarium is relaxing, and Deck 5 (outside) is a quiet place to read at night, if you can get a chair with enough light.

 

Safe journeys to you and yours.

[casinostreer]

Thanks for your review! We're cruising on the same cruise in February and it's great to get some feedback. Sorry about your initial troubles with boarding and reservations. Glad to hear that it didn't ruin your cruise! :)

[breeze123]

We were on this cruise as well. We have sailed Enchantment on this same itinerary before so we knew what we were in for. We also had a room on Deck 8 (as we did on our last cruise) so we were aware of the noise issue. It did seem less noisy to us this time, but I'm guessing it was more due to our location.

 

The first night was very rocky. We did notice some vibration, but not anything excessive.

 

The muster drill was how it has been for all my cruises dating back quite a few years. I've never been to a muster in the theater before. I will say that they did keep us out at the stations for what seemed like an inordinate amount of time. As everyone was talking you couldn't hear the announcements or any time of communication as to why we were standing there even after we thought the drill was over.

 

The Centrum was very loud and we could barely talk to each other during any of the shows. I can't imagine trying to talk to Guest Relations to solve any issues.

 

This cruise was more of a booze cruise crowd and every bar was packed at all times. I somewhat expected this, but again, it was not quite that bad the last time we sailed this itinerary/ship.

 

Coco Cay was a bit of a disappointment, but weather can be unpredictable. You may have seen our tender returning as we WERE miserable after taking over an hour to get back to the ship. We sat out in the water for 40 minutes as they relocated the exit/entry point. Rain and rocky seas make for an unpleasant tender experience for sure.

 

The dress code issue is one that is always debated on these boards. I do wonder if half the concern is that if they enforce the dress code, even less people will show up for dinner in the dining room and thereby reduce any added gratuities. Just a thought!

 

Overall we enjoyed ourselves as well. A few hiccups, but we rolled with it.

[Summerknight]

Thank you for your review. I appreciate everyone that takes the do them. We no longer do 3 day cruises.

[cincicruisers]

Thank you for taking the time to post a review.

[UCF_Knight]

Muster Drill was brutal on Enchantment last month. Probably the longest I've ever had to wait during one, and we were packed in tight.

 

Thank you for further validation of why I never book a cabin directly beneath the pool deck. That also applies to nightclubs and other public venues.

[cruiseapril]

Interesting review.

We were on the Enchantment last year and had a good cruise.

 

We had an Oceanview on Deck 3 and it was quiet.

 

We enjoyed the Solarium and Park Cafe.

 

We found it too noisy in the computer area- wish they would relocate that.

[poncho1973]

We hadn't been to Port Canaveral for several years

I think this links to the quote below.

 

Now for the first night's sleep. It was awful. The ship was swaying from side to side. I'm used to that. What I have never experienced before is the SHAKING. Yes, the ship was vibrating and it felt like someone was literally shaking our beds every few seconds. This went on for hours. I couldn't go to sleep. I even tried sleeping on the floor, but that didn't help. Finally, after praying to God Almighty to help me, I was able to nod off.

Two words: Gulf Stream.

 

You might not remember that leaving PC and heading East to the Bahamas puts you crossing the Gulf Stream at a particularly rough spot. At least a good chunk of the year you're pretty much guaranteed to have this happen no matter which ship, which line, which cruise you take. Unless you do a Western Caribbean that doesn't hit Coco Cay or Nassau, you're almost a lock.

[PCWalton1]

Thank you for the informative review, much appreciated. We plan to cruise on Enchantment next January and I am already reading recent reviews. :)

[cruisecrazedbrain]

Hi there,

I was on the same cruise. We had two connecting inside rooms on Deck 3. We had no issues with noise, but I'd reviewed the ship lay out before we booked to try and limit that. That first night did have a lot of movement, and I longed for a seasickness patch.

 

Being a group of 6, 30-something, women we had a blast! Yes, the bars were always crowded, but we were at them often, and for the most part we had no issues. Some of the staff seemed overwhelmed when left by themselves at the late night clubs or busy karaoke bar for a few moments, but it seemed help arrived quickly.

 

Our muster area wasn't bad at all, and we even commented about what a great mood everyone around us was in (staff included). I only have a Princess Cruise who's drill took FOREVER to compare it with though.

 

We encountered no issues in Nassau, even walking on our own up to John Watlings, and down to the Fish Fry after. The Straw Market area around dusk did bring some pushy salespeople, but we got in and out quickly.

 

Our dining staff (8 pm seating) was stellar, can't say enough. Two friends were gluten free and they bent over backwards for them. If folks were breaking the dress code, nothing sticks out. Sandals? Maybe, but with so many women wearing strappy heels who takes the time to pick out the difference?

 

Coco Cay was a little depressing at first, due only to the weather. However, we waited under tented tables for about 30-45 min during a chilly downpour while most were heading back. After that, we felt like we had the place to ourselves and loved it! So peaceful and pretty.

 

We found only the spa staff a little chilly, otherwise found the crew of the Enchantment professional, and cheerful. We even told one member such, and he humbly replied they all should be-We wouldn't have jobs if you didn't cruise. How sweet! I want to go again!

[lr657]

We were also on this cruise and had a great time. We have sailed the Enchantment 3 day cruises several times, and do find that the 3 day weekend cruises have a whole different vibe than the longer ones. We enjoy both the longer and shorter cruises for different reasons.

 

We look forward to our weekend cruises on the Enchantment. We have found the ship to be well maintained and the crew to be personable and helpful. We have sailed in several different cabin types and locations, but I will always check to be sure we are not directly above or below a venue that will be noisy. I especially avoid cabins under the pool or buffet. We were in a mid Deck 3 Oceanview for this cruise and did not have any issues with noise.

 

Coco Cay is always hit and miss on all the RCI cruises. I think the captain did his best to give the people who wanted to go to Coco Cay a chance to get there. It's a shame that the weather didn't cooperate. When we last sailed in December, we did not make Coco Cay at all. At that time, an updated Cruise Compass was issued which included multiple ship board activities.

 

Nassau is definitely not our favorite port, but we always get off the ship for a while. We frequently walk to John Watlings Rum Distillery for one of the best Pina Coladas I have ever tasted. This cruise we followed that with a walk to the Fish Fry.

 

We're looking forward to our next cruise on the Enchantment in February. Great way to get away for a fun, stress-free weekend between our longer cruises!

[N41EF]

I try to remember that a long muster drill is usually caused by our fellow cruisers. We all know when the drill is, and that EVERYONE has to attend, but there are always late people and announcements for some one from room XXXX please contact guest services. It penalizes those of us that play well with others and show up early to get it over with.

[jules71]

Does anyone remember the cocktail hours in the Diamond Lounge? Thanks!

[Summerknight]

Does anyone remember the cocktail hours in the Diamond Lounge? Thanks!

 

5 to 830 last time we were on Enchantment

[closecruiser]

Do you know if they were offering any discounts on beverage packages to crown and anchor members?

 

Thanks.

[lr657]

Do you know if they were offering any discounts on beverage packages to crown and anchor members?

 

Thanks.

 

No discounts on drink packages for C&A members.

[shipshape sam]

Hello. I thought I'd share my experience with you.

 

My party: 3 people, aged mid 40's to mid 70's

 

Pre-cruise history:

 

We have been on over a dozen cruises, nearly all with Royal Caribbean (RC). We set this cruise up in October through our travel agent, like we always do. A week later, we tried to pull the cruise up on RC's website, but constantly got "there's an error, try again later". We called many times, only to hear "we don't know what's wrong". Finally, I sent them an email asking them to fix our cruise please so we can see it on the website and get our info. A few days later it was miraculously "fixed". This was to have consequences later.

 

Embarkation:

 

We hadn't been to Port Canaveral for several years and liked the new parking garage. We went into the terminal and immediately encountered a problem. After 15 minutes of searching, they told us we were not in the computer. It's a good thing my brother brought all the paperwork, or I don't know how we would have proved to them we were really booked on the ship. So, they had to enter all our information over again. That took half an hour. The people at the desk were very nice. They told us that someone at RC in Miami did not "activate" our cruise. Why paying in full does not automatically activate your cruise, we will never know.

 

Day 1:

 

We were let into our D1 cabin at 1:15pm. The room was good sized and clean. The balcony was a little smaller than we were used to, but nice. We walked around the ship and it looked very well maintained on the inside. We liked the decor in the Orpheum Theatre.

 

We went to Wind Jammer for lunch, and the food was good, as with most Wind Jammers. Not great, but good.

 

The muster drill was awful. We were crammed onto the deck for what seemed like half an hour. We are used to muster drills in the theatre, but I guess they don't do it that way on the smaller ships. After that, I thought ok, fine, the torture is over, now we can enjoy our cruise from here on. I had no idea what we were to experience later.

 

After walking around a while, we get back to the cabin. We heard dull, thudding noises above us, and other banging. It turns out our cabin (middle of deck 8) was directly below the pool deck. They had setup bean bag games on the deck. People were tossing bean bags, which is what we were hearing. There is evidently little to no sound proofing between decks 8 and 9. We've never had a problem like this before on RC, but have never seen these bean bag games before either. This prevented us from

enjoying our cabin.

 

We went to dinner and found that they had no record of us and no table for us because of the previous screw up. So, we got a table right at the entrance, which was far from optimal, as there was noise coming from the Centrum, right down the hall. Our waiters were very attentive and the food was good.

 

A lot of people did not observe the dining room rules. There were people in shorts and sandals each day of the cruise. The only time we've noticed dining room rules being enforced was several years ago on a Carnival Cruise of all things.

 

The welcome aboard show, with a comedian, was ok. The highlight of the evening was the band. Unfortunately, they didn't get to do very much during the cruise.

 

Now for the first night's sleep. It was awful. The ship was swaying from side to side. I'm used to that. What I have never experienced before is the SHAKING. Yes, the ship was vibrating and it felt like someone was literally shaking our beds every few seconds. This went on for hours. I couldn't go to sleep. I even tried sleeping on the floor, but that didn't help. Finally, after praying to God Almighty to help me, I was able to nod off.

 

Day 2:

 

Arrived in Nassau with sunny, warm weather. My mom and brother went into town, but soon returned after encountering the usual aggressive shopkeepers.

 

The solarium provided a quiet place to read a book.

 

Since we were in Nassau till late, there was no bean bag tossing, so we had it relatively quiet in the cabin. The show that night was a magician, who was very funny.

 

Day 3:

 

Our next destination was Coco Cay, but it rained on and off all day, so we didn't go. The people who went over looked pretty miserable coming back on board.

 

They showed NFL playoff games on the big screen at the pool, which was fun.

 

The farewell show was dancing/singing from broadway shows. The performers did a great job, but the show was not exciting to me.

 

We heard bean bag tossing all late afternoon and into the night. It's amazing to me how many people love this game. We could not take a nap. Finally, I went to Guest Relations. They were having a party in the Centrum and Guest Relations is right there in the Centrum. You could barely communicate with the service people over the noise. It's just the way the ship is laid out. Trying to communicate with Guest Relations about a problem, with a party going on 20 feet away, is very frustrating. After explaining things, they went up and stopped the bean bags. It was 10PM after all. They also gave us compensation for our torment. The people at Guest Relations were very nice.

 

Disembarking:

 

This was easy and relatively fast. We like the terminal and how they handle things.

 

Conclusion:

 

We had a good time on this cruise, but would not do another 3 day again. We like the bigger ships and their entertainment much better. The vibe on this ship is LOUD. People were literally holding their ears at the final party in the Centrum. Do you like throwing bean bags? You will love this ship. If you do not like noise, NEVER EVER book a room on deck 8 below the pool deck. I can't stress that enough!

 

We had no problem with the staff onboard. We found them friendly. The cruise director, from Finland, was very engaging. He did a "tour of dances" number one night and turned out to be a very good dancer.

 

The channels provided in the stateroom are poor and the satellite signal goes out intermittently on certain channels.

 

The solarium is relaxing, and Deck 5 (outside) is a quiet place to read at night, if you can get a chair with enough light.

 

Safe journeys to you and yours.

 

We just got off Enchantment 4 day/night cruise.

 

We too will not sail to Bahamas again in Dec/Jan/Feb for sure and do not plan to book a cruise again with Coco Cay as one of the ports of call. We have missed it too many times and this past week we did make it, it was not the best weather(can't blame anyone for that).

 

I want to say that our first 2 cruises we ever took were both on Sovereign of Seas and were 3 day cruises and we got to go to Coco Cay on calm, bright sunny days. Tendering is the issue, IHMO, when you only have 1-2 ports of call and you miss 1 port. Our previous Coco Cay attempt was sunny, warm with high seas. Also, kinda tired of Nassau, which is our own issue.

 

We thought the Muster was a little 'long in the tooth' and many were on cell phones and when seen by staff told to turn off.

 

My biggest disappointment with Enchantment was that there were NO made to order omelettes in Windjammer. You had to go to MDR for breakfast to get that. We had issue with MTD too. Was told prior to sailing that we had a 7:30 pm time reserved for our group of 30. Got there and no record. We got 8:15 instead. I think one reason was that there was a group of 900 Bluegrass players sailing and they took over the main/first seating and that bumped everyone else to scramble for seating once onboard. Our dining service was great and food was very good. Did have a couple of issues, but waiters jumped on it with great attitude of 'we will fix it right now!' And they did.

Edited January 16, 2016 by shipshape sam

[Chandra76]

May I ask what your cabin number was on Deck 8?? We have a cruise scheduled at the end of March cabin 8600.

[mlambert]

Just recently was in cabin 8608. Very loud bangs and scraping noises at all hours day and night over us. I would not want that cabin again.

[Marylandteachergirl]

We sailed in the RFS on deck 8 in November, and it was, too, the worst RC cruise I have ever been on. Noise from the pool deck and music was also an issue for us. We only sail Royal, and this was just substandard in so many ways. We missed Coco Cay due to weather (not anyone's fault), but that was disappointing.

 

Sorry you didn't have the greatest experience, either.

[jdancer79]

We are going on this cruise in March with our 2 kiddos...reading the reviews makes me a little nervous, but it will hopefully be a good experience for them. We are on deck 7, so hoping noise won't be too bad. :)