liberty of the Seas vs Enchantment of the Seas

[lovetotraveltx]

Just took our first Royal Caribbean Cruise on Liberty, going on Enchantment in 5 weeks. Please compare for me. What should I expect on this smaller ship? Anything not to miss doing or eating on Enchantment? Thank you!

 

 

[kenevenpar]

My comparison would not be valid as it has been more than 16 years since sailing on Enchantment.

 

My comment is that Enchantment was "stretched" at some point after our 2003 trip on her, by cutting the ship, and inserting a section, to make a larger ship.

 

Maybe more information than you wanted LOL.

[Clarea]

22 minutes ago, lovetotraveltx said:

Just took our first Royal Caribbean Cruise on Liberty, going on Enchantment in 5 weeks. Please compare for me. What should I expect on this smaller ship? Anything not to miss doing or eating on Enchantment? Thank you!

 

 

 

Completely different ships.  No Royal Promenade on Enchantment, but a huge main pool deck.  Park Cafe in the Solarium takes the place of Cafe Promenade and Sorrento's. 

 

No Flowrider on Enchantment.

[1Texansgo]

We leave the 15th of January for 5 days on Enchantment; have been on Liberty four times and love everything about Liberty; will give you our thoughts on Enchantment when we return but here are our anticipations:

1. More pool time and relaxation time

2. A bit less entertainment choices in the evening

3. All of our dinners in MDR since we did not purchase a package as Chops and Chef's Table are only alternative venues

4. Don't know if we will like enclosed solarium

5. Less lines

6. More quiet time

We will see if this proves true or false but we are looking forward to sailing Enchantment soon and again in September for 7 days to Bahamas and Coco Cay.

[Clarea]

3 minutes ago, 1Texansgo said:

 ...

4. Don't know if we will like enclosed solarium

 ...

 

We enjoy the Solariums on Vision class ships.  Excellent visibility outside and Park Cafe is a nice addition.

[c-leg5]

Unfortunately we had a poor and disappointing B2B cruise on Enchantment out of Galveston in the summer, but I wouldn't say it was due to smaller size.  
 

We had sailed several Vision class in the previous 18 months including several times on Vision, and a Transatlantic on Rhapsody so knew what to expect regarding size, although as has been stated Enchantment is stretched so slightly unique.

 

We found the vibe to be totally different on Enchantment, with a lack of “spark”. A different captain, cruise director etc and your experience could be totally different.

[ssb]

Everything is relative to what your expectations are and wants . We love Vision Class . And we love just being on a cruise ship , any time , any where , any how . At this point in our life , our cruising is about who you are with , not where we are at. Go and enjoy and look past your expectations. Attitude can be the difference between an conceived Ordeal  and a wonderful Adventure. 

Edited January 6, 2020 by ssb

[snl2000]

We’ve sailed both in 2019. I think the solarium roof opens. It’s nice. Our cruise director was Bobby Broughton and he is a hoot. On the smaller ships, it seems you get to know the cruise director/staff much better. It seem like there are more activities too but that may just be a feeling we get. Our MDR staff was the best we’ve ever had. Not crowded when we were on board. That varies week to week though. 

[rimmit]

We love the Vision class ships,  but the enchantment is really in sad shape.  Not that the look of the ship should be something that affects your enjoyment,  but there is a bare minimum level of exterior maintenance I expect from RCI and sadly the Enchantment does not meet that level.  The amount of rust and wear to the exterior of the ship is truly depressing. The interior is in reasonable shape,  but just lower your expectations on the ship maintenance aspect and you will be ok.

The Liberty is nothing like the Enchantment.   There is a rock climbing wall and some trampolines,  and a pool but that is about the limit of kids activities outside of Adventure Ocean.  Not sure if you have kids or not.  If not the smaller size is nice as it’s a lot less walking.

[Becoming]

I was on both ships last year.  The 5 day cruise on Enchantment is OK but I probably wouldn't want a longer cruise on her.  

 

There seemed to be a lot of activities on Enchantment and the entertainment was better than I expected for a small ship.  It seemed they took all the favorite activities from the larger ships and rearranged it into a 5 day schedule.

 

The worst thing on Enchantment was a cloth shower curtain and the shower barrier on the floor is only about 2 inches high.  I was usually mopping up the entire bathroom after a shower.

 

Enjoy your Enchantment cruise!

 

Patti 

 

 

 

 

[lovetotraveltx]

5 hours ago, 1Texansgo said:

We leave the 15th of January for 5 days on Enchantment; have been on Liberty four times and love everything about Liberty; will give you our thoughts on Enchantment when we return but here are our anticipations:

1. More pool time and relaxation time

2. A bit less entertainment choices in the evening

3. All of our dinners in MDR since we did not purchase a package as Chops and Chef's Table are only alternative venues

4. Don't know if we will like enclosed solarium

5. Less lines

6. More quiet time

We will see if this proves true or false but we are looking forward to sailing Enchantment soon and again in September for 7 days to Bahamas and Coco Cay.

Please let me know what you think after next week. Also, fill me in on must do and eat. Thank you

[chiguypaul]

12 hours ago, lovetotraveltx said:

Just took our first Royal Caribbean Cruise on Liberty, going on Enchantment in 5 weeks. Please compare for me. What should I expect on this smaller ship? Anything not to miss doing or eating on Enchantment? Thank you!

 

 

 

Have been on both. Few things come to mind.... lack of ice skating shows, lack of broadway style shows, no flowrider, not as much stuff for kids.

[CruisinMama2003]

10 hours ago, snl2000 said:

We’ve sailed both in 2019. I think the solarium roof opens. It’s nice. Our cruise director was Bobby Broughton and he is a hoot. On the smaller ships, it seems you get to know the cruise director/staff much better. It seem like there are more activities too but that may just be a feeling we get. Our MDR staff was the best we’ve ever had. Not crowded when we were on board. That varies week to week though. 

 

We just got off Enchantment last Thursday and this was our experience as well. There are several different activities that the bigger ships don't have such as Friendly Feud Game, Egg Drop Challenge, just to name a couple. Great crew everywhere on the ship! We had a GREAT time!

[RCCL Fan]

This is so tough --- we just did Enchantment, it was my least favorite RCI cruise.  Mostly for the same reasons others cited.  The ship needs work, and for us the staff was a real mixed bag.   A tired ship, and rough staff.   

 

That being said we LOVED vision when she sailed out of Galveston earlier this year, amazing crew, ship in great ship  and would say Vision beats the big ships.

 

The size of Enchantment won't be a problem,  staffing and maintenance  could be.

[rimmit]

2 minutes ago, RCCL Fan said:

This is so tough --- we just did Enchantment, it was my least favorite RCI cruise.  Mostly for the same reasons others cited.  The ship needs work, and for us the staff was a real mixed bag.   A tired ship, and rough staff.   

 

That being said we LOVED vision when she sailed out of Galveston earlier this year, amazing crew, ship in great ship  and would say Vision beats the big ships.

 

The size of Enchantment won't be a problem,  staffing and maintenance  could be.

Yes, for some reason RCI has neglected the Enchantment for years in regard to maintenance.   We sail the Grandeur regularly and it’s maintenance while not spectacular is still reasonable and the staff excellent.   They give excellent service and really work hard.  The Enchantment for reasons I don’t understand seems to

just mail it in.

 

The Vision was docked next to us In Nassau earlier this year in February and it was a night and day difference in maintenance.  I thought the ship had just come out of drydock.  It was beautiful.  Windows pressure cleaned and sparkling.  Virtually no rust to be found.  Fresh costs of paint everywhere.  It was embarrassing being docked next to her in Nassau as it showed just how neglected the Enchantment was.  We didn’t realize just how bad it was until we parked next to the Vision.

[RCCL Fan]

I have no idea what RCI is doing with Enchantment either.

 

When we were on Vision and told some crew we had booked Enchantment for a few months later, they all reacted, "oh..."  and talked about the lack of upkeep and no clear idea why.

 

I will say this, they were trying to paint Enchantment when we were on her in October, but it was impossible to do while she was at sea.  She needs a dry dock to fix her up.

 

I was shocked they're getting rid of Grandeur over her, seems like a big mistake.

[rimmit]

15 minutes ago, RCCL Fan said:

I have no idea what RCI is doing with Enchantment either.

 

When we were on Vision and told some crew we had booked Enchantment for a few months later, they all reacted, "oh..."  and talked about the lack of upkeep and no clear idea why.

 

I will say this, they were trying to paint Enchantment when we were on her in October, but it was impossible to do while she was at sea.  She needs a dry dock to fix her up.

 

I was shocked they're getting rid of Grandeur over her, seems like a big mistake.

 

Glad to hear they are at least attempting some maintenance.   It really just needs 2-3 weeks in dry dock for maintenance.   I thought I was gonna get tetanus on the pool deck from all the rust.

They likely prefer the Enchantment as they stretched her and thus it can bring in more revenue.  I was crushed when I found out the Grandeur was leaving Baltimore and being replaced by the Enchantment in 2021.  Such a downgrade. 😞 

 

 

[kruzerci]

That’s really sad to see about Enchantment being neglected. We loved the Enchantment and did a number of long weekends on her when she first moved to Port Canaveral in 2013. 
 

Aside from the exterior paining, what are the issues with the appearance and maintenance?

[George C]

I prefer voyager class and larger for ice show and rest of entertainment, smaller ships are fine for Europe 

[rimmit]

10 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

That’s really sad to see about Enchantment being neglected. We loved the Enchantment and did a number of long weekends on her when she first moved to Port Canaveral in 2013. 
 

Aside from the exterior paining, what are the issues with the appearance and maintenance?

Cabins are tired, more so than other vision class ships. Drawers don’t close properly.  Crew seems tired and less enthusiastic compared to other ships.  Rust everywhere around the pool area.  As in the actual pool.  Not just the deck area around the pool.  Although the deck area around the pool also has notable rust.  Windows look like they haven’t been properly cleaned in forever, especially the areas around the bar in the stretch section.  Talking with some people who never cruised RCI before, they were noting the lack of maintenance.  I just stated this is not typical RCI and before they write off RCI to give any other ship a try first.

 

We still had fun, but it was obvious the ship had been neglected as it was only doing the 3-4 night booze cruise market for years.  It was easily the worst maintained ship out of the all ships we’ve been on and we’ve been on a fair amount.

Edited January 7, 2020 by rimmit

[Junkhouse]

I have been on LOS 4 times and EOS 2 times (4 and a 5 day cruise). 

 

EOS

-Enclosed solarium is great for 1st and last sea days that tend to be iffy

-Viking Crown Lounge is huge and a good place to chil-lax

-It’s hard to walk around entire deck, upper deck is sometimes cutoff by rock        

    climbing and lower deck can’t access the bow

-Park cafe seems a lot better then Cafe Promenade and they will have hot dog, hamburger and nacho buffet during the day

-MDR is not as good, no lobster on shorter cruises

-Special area on buffet for gluten free

-Easier to get around but spa and Windjammer are on opposite ends opposed to LOS, got confused a lot

-More audience participation in shows especially quest and battle of sexes

-Only two showers in men’s locker room and no sauna or steam rooms

-More relaxed vibe

-Shops are tucked away so they don’t interfere with ship activities

-Pictures are old fashioned not electronic

-Easier to see activities in the centrum because of multiple open decks but can get

 as congested as Promenade

-Schooner bar is narrower and is divided in half by walkway hard to enjoy the venue

-Trampoline bungee is a lot easier, and safer (at least for me) then standup

  Flow-rider

-Casinos on both have not been kind to me lately

 

I have to say I enjoyed both but for different reasons.

 

 

       

[JupiterTwo]

I just uploaded this picture of the Enchantment docked next to the Symphony in Cozumel a few days ago. The Symphony is larger than the Liberty, and Enchantment is on the lower end of the fleet, larger than the Majesty but smaller than the Brilliance.

 

 

>

[Alaska59]

One big difference is the lido deck buffet area is in the front of the ship on Enchantment and aft on the Liberty.

[dude_hdt]

Piggy-backing on this thread...I'm sailing on EOS on Jan 24...5 nights.  Is there formal night on a short cruise of 5 nights?  Along that line, is free lobster on the menu?

 

Just considering my packing options of bringing nicer attire or not for dining room.

 

thanks,

[Clarea]

7 minutes ago, dude_hdt said:

Piggy-backing on this thread...I'm sailing on EOS on Jan 24...5 nights.  Is there formal night on a short cruise of 5 nights?  Along that line, is free lobster on the menu?

 

Just considering my packing options of bringing nicer attire or not for dining room.

 

thanks,

 

One formal night, usually night 2.   I have seen reports that indicate no "free" lobster on short cruises, but I'm not sure this is a fleetwide policy.