Late Review of 12/5 EOS

[mikefromny]

Sorry about not posting this earlier, but better late than never. Hope this is a helpful review of our 12/5 - 12/10/05 cruise on the Enchantment of the Seas. I know it's long, but once I got going I couldn't stop. :o

 

We were two couples traveling together. This was our second cruise (first was Carnival Imagination last year) and our friends’ first.

Arrived in Ft. Lauderdale and took a van to the pier. Embarkation was no problem. I don’t think it took a half hour from entering the terminal until we were on the ship. Once on the ship there is only one thing to say – beautiful. The ship looks great and is not too glitzy.

We were in adjoining balcony cabins (7626 & 7628). The cabins were much nicer than we expected and much nicer than our outside cabin on Imagination. The shower was small, but so are we. There is a nice sitting area and the balcony was terrific! I would hate to do another cruise without one. Almost every morning we would order room service of just coffee, tea and fruit and danish (had to prime the pumps for the real breakfast). Since we had such great weather there was nothing nicer than sitting out in a robe (don’t forget to ask your stateroom attendant right away – we got four robes no problem) and enjoying a cup of coffee. On the down side, the beds are not up to the rest of the cruise. They were thin and hard. Fortunately, there was enough to do to wear you out.

Once we were settled into our cabin we went to the Windjammer for some lunch. I keep saying it about most of the ship, but again, the Windjammer looked great. The food was okay, not great. But I don’t usually expect too much for a buffet. I was not disappointed and we ate there a number of times.

We then took a look at where our table was at the main dining room. We were lucky with a table for six on the balcony floor by the windows. The My Fair Lady dining room was very elegant looking. Not cheesy at all. From there we decided to check out Chops Grill. I was not big on the idea, but our friends wanted to try it and I didn’t really care. There was a waiter from the restaurant outside answering any questions. He told us that Tuesday was formal night and Thursday was lobster night. We decided on Wednesday and the earliest reservation we could get was 9pm. Since we were the late seating for dinner anyway, we took the reservation. More on Chops later.

We finally made it up to the Viking Lounge and had great drinks with a great view of the newly enlarged pool deck.

Dinner was in the main dining room. The four of us were at a table for six and unfortunately the other couple did not come to dinner. Our waiter, Maurice, was very nice and the food was very good. As I said before, the My Fair Lady dining room is very nice and the service, food and decor help dinners to have a very elegant feel.

After dinner we went to the welcoming show and saw a very funny comedian, who gave an "adult" show the last night that was equally funny. After the show it was time to gamble! I like to play craps, but being poor and cheap, shy away from expensive tables. Luckily, the craps table only had a $5 minimum bet. I was in business. I managed to win $45 off an original $100 pull from my sail pass.

My wife and I went to Disco night at the Viking Lounge. Unfortunately, the dance floor was so crowded with people watching we couldn't dance. We wound up going back to the cabin, relaxing on the balcony, reading and to bed.

Tuesday we awoke to the sight of pulling into Key West. Again, the advantage of a balcony really paid off. After room service coffee and a light bite we were off to Croissants de France for breakfast. We walked all the way to the far side of Duval St only to find that the restaurant had a fire and has temporarily relocated. We got to their temp digs and were disappointed for two reasons: the new location had no garden seating and they were only serving pre-made items. If you ever go to Key West find out if they are back on Duval and go! Croissants de France has a beautiful garden with the most fantastic egg on croissant sandwiches. Definitely worth the walk once they are back. Good Luck rebuilding.

After breakfast it was back to the ship to meet up with the pub crawl excursion. It was a blast! I don't remember the last time we were drinking at 10am, but was it fun. The tour guide brought us to 5 bars - some with regular mixed drinks, some with GREAT special rum punches. The guide was funny and friendly and the whole group was a lot of fun. Not only would we recommend this excursion, we would probably do it again. Another advantage of Royal Caribbean over Carnival was the docking at Key West. Last year with Carnival we had to dock at the old Navy pier. This meant that we had to take a tram into and out of town and coming back we needed to go through security. RCI docked right in town. This made it MUCH easier. Especially since we went to town for breakfast and then had to come back to the ship to meet the excursion.

After getting back on the ship, we headed to the Windjammer for some lunch. Tuesday was formal night. Tuxedoes and gowns for all. We relaxed until the Captain’s cocktail party. The cocktail party was held in the Carousel Lounge. The room was nice, but since we got there on the late side we were all the way in a back corner. We were able to get enough hors d'oeuvres which were pretty good, but the drinks were slim from where we were. Then onto the My Fair Lady dining room for another nice dinner. We were joined by a couple of honeymooners from the mid-west who were extremely nice. After dinner a little more gambling and then relaxing on our balcony.

Wednesday was Cozumel. Since we weren’t docking until 10am, this was a late morning. We again had room service and then headed to the main dining room for breakfast. I love a big formal breakfast and I was not disappointed by the kippered herring, smoked salmon or eggs benedict. The open seating was nice and we were seated with a woman and her grand daughter. As I usually find, the conversation was very pleasant and the service was terrific.

 

We then got our tender ticket for Cozumel since we were not booked on an excursion. I should have listened to the boards and gotten the tender tickets first thing in the morning, but I was foolish and listened to the ship’s crew that asked you to wait until you were ready to go before getting your tickets. We did not get off the ship until after noon.

Upon coming into Cozumel the only thought that came to mind was of disbelief. The destruction was beyond words. We came into what amounted to half a pier. Obviously the people of Cozumel are not letting a little storm stop them because everyone was EXTREMELY friendly and people were working wherever you looked. We grabbed a cab and headed to Playa Palancar (thanks PB Tom for the recommendation). A little about Playa Palancar, if you are looking for a lot to do and luxurious accommodations – stay away. There was an open restaurant and bar, tables and chairs on the beach and lounge chairs on the beach. The bathrooms were mediocre at best. Also, the lounge chairs were very hard, but on my way out I saw they had cushions and would ask for one next time. The “shower” amounted to a shower head right outside the men’s room that dribbled water. The last negative thing I will say about Palancar is that the first 15 feet into the water was very rocky – my guess is that Wilma is to blame for that. I think they lost about 4 feet of beach (that’s four feet HIGH of sand). Now, the real scoop about Palancar. The service was terrific, the food was great, the strawberry margaritas were fantastic (didn’t like the original ones) and the beach was so quiet and relaxing! Just what we were looking for. If you want a spot away from crowds and kids – this is your place. Our waiter, Jose, was terrific and we were not wanting for anything.

After a little shopping we headed back to the ship, relaxed and got ready for dinner at Chops Grille. As I said before, I was ambivalent to against the idea of going to Chops. Not that $40 is a lot, but if I want to go out for a nice dinner I’ll head into Manhattan (we live on Long Island, so NYC is 30 minutes away). That said, Chops Grill was one of the most surprising experiences on the ship. The food was FANTASTIC. For $20 pp plus tip you get as many appetizers, salads, soup, dessert and side dishes. Additional main courses are another $10. You won’t need another main course. All of the food was terrific. I had the French onion soup, tomato and onion salad and we shared a grilled Portobello mushroom. For a main course I had the veal chop and our sides were asparagus, hash browns, creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. We were so full from dinner that we wound up bringing dessert back to the cabin for later. If you have a chance to eat at Chops, do it!

Thursday brought us into Belize. We took the Land Rover 4x4 excursion through RCI. We started with a boat ride up the river, then they offered us drinks and rice and beans (it was still about 11am), then we drove the Land Rovers for about 45 minutes to their camp near the caves. We then went through the caves, had a snack of fruit and awesome rum punch and took a party bus back to the pier. All sounds good, right. This is an excursion I doubt I would take again. The river ride was nice and the river and jungle were amazing to see. We didn’t try the rice and beans because it was still early and we had breakfast on the ship. We got into the Land Rovers and I drove ours (anyone who wanted to drive could with no problem). We then drove for 45 minutes. All but about 10 minutes were either on a bumpy dirt road or the highway. There was only about 10 minutes of real off road driving. What little there was very fun, but there should have been more. If you have read the description of the excursion you would think that you go through one cave quickly and then go swimming – not the case. There was about 45 minutes of caves with no swimming on the other end. This was a real problem for us as my wife is VERY afraid of bats and would never had agreed to this had she known.

The ride back to the pier was uneventful, but the shopping village at the pier was a waste. The only think worthwhile was the rum. Other than that I felt ripped off.

Back on the ship we grabbed some lunch at the Windjammer. Lunch was tacos and was pretty good. Since it was late, they were winding down and there wasn’t much else left. A run over to the Solarium (which is also very nice) lead to a quick cheeseburger that I liked a lot.

Dinner in the My Fair Lady dining room was lobster night. It consisted of a broiled lobster tail that was very good. A quick word about the head waitress. I don’t remember her name, but she was fantastic. On the first night there was a table next to us with two young boys that were very tired. She came over to them, rubbed their backs and asked if there was anything special they would like. The next night she came to our table to ask one of the men at our table if he would like another entrée since he looked hungry. On lobster night there she was taking the lobster tail out of the shell for everybody. She was the most proactive of all the crew.

Friday was at sea and our luck with the weather continued. We found some lounge chairs back near the rock climbing wall and relaxed and played shuffle board. The only negative was that there was never anyone coming around with drinks. I know people complain that near the pool you get accosted every five minutes (which we didn’t experience), but back where we were there was no one coming around. Luckily you’re never too far from a bar and we still found a way to get our Love Connections (pina, strawberry and mango coladas mixed – very good). I also tried the rock climbing wall, but being too big for my britches I tried the harder course and only made it up about two thirds of the way – boy is that harder than it looks. We didn’t have a chance to try the bungee trampolines.

Saturday was debarkation day. It went pretty well for us. We had a 12:50 flight out of FLL, so we were in the red group. We got to breakfast about 8:15am. We were off the ship and at the gait waiting for our flight by 10:50. A lucky aside, FLL has free wireless internet access for your laptop, so I spent the two hours web surfing for our next cruise. This is something that I could not get to work in our cabin. While I could connect to the ship’s wireless network from the cabin, I could not get the sign on to work. Too bad for my email that piled up, but my wife was very happy.

In short, the Enchantment of the Seas was a beautiful ship with a crew that did everything I expected and asked. The food was very good and Chops was fantastic. This is definitely a cruise I would do again!

[momof4girls1boy]

Thanks for the post. Sitting here with the snow falling and in just 4 weeks we'll be on the same cruise you took. Do you know about any of the other excursions in Belize? We were thinking about booking an independent tour but hear a lot of negatives.

This is also our second cruise. We were on Costa the last time. Thanks again for your details. Any extra info would be appreciated.

[mikefromny]

Thanks for the post. Sitting here with the snow falling and in just 4 weeks we'll be on the same cruise you took. Do you know about any of the other excursions in Belize? We were thinking about booking an independent tour but hear a lot of negatives.

This is also our second cruise. We were on Costa the last time. Thanks again for your details. Any extra info would be appreciated.

 

We heard the zipline excursion was very cool. I would be nervous doing an excursion outside of RCL since this is a tender port. I would not want to risk missing the excursion by getting a late tender off or missing the ship because the excursion didn't get me to the tender in time.

[momof4girls1boy]

Thanks again. We had a pre cruise get together tonight and I told them to check out your thread. We got about a foot of snow and talking about the cruise helped us feel a little warmer.Looking forward to next month.

[cruisinkitten]

I am trying to decide on the enchantment or carnival imagination for spring break cruise with my sister. Since you have done both which would you recommend? I am 25 and my sister is 18. How did the nightlife compare on both ships? the food? overall experience? Both cruises go to the same ports ochos rios and grand cayman but the enchantment stays a little longer.

Thanks so much

[mandms40]

Hi Mike,

 

It was so good to read your rendition of the cruise, it still would have been nice to meet up with you. I took my laptop with me and it worked just fine, did you go up to the internet library to sign in first?

 

Mom of 4,

My family did the Cave tubing with ReggieTours.com I booked them thru the internet at $45.00 per person, we had a ball, the best thing of the whole cruise, the only thing that would have been better was to have a bud light by my side. LOL

Have fun cruising!

 

P. S.

Mike, what cruise are you going on next? We're thinking about going back to Holland America and doing partial panama next year.

[mikefromny]

I am trying to decide on the enchantment or carnival imagination for spring break cruise with my sister. Since you have done both which would you recommend? I am 25 and my sister is 18. How did the nightlife compare on both ships? the food? overall experience? Both cruises go to the same ports ochos rios and grand cayman but the enchantment stays a little longer.

Thanks so much

 

Cruisin Kitten,

 

We like EOS better. But, we're also 40 and have kids (even though they stayed home). We found Carnival to be a lot more of a party boat.

 

We found EOS to be a much nicer ship also. It didn't hurt that on the Imagination we had an outside cabin and on EOS we had a balcony. The balcony EOS cabin was MUCH nicer than the outside on Imagination. The food on both ships were comparable except Chops on EOS was fantastic. Overall, I would vote EOS - it seemed more refined ship than the Imagination.

 

You won't be unhappy either way! Even though I'd go back to the EOS first, I'd recommend both ships.

[mikefromny]

Hi Mike,

 

It was so good to read your rendition of the cruise, it still would have been nice to meet up with you. I took my laptop with me and it worked just fine, did you go up to the internet library to sign in first?

 

Mom of 4,

My family did the Cave tubing with ReggieTours.com I booked them thru the internet at $45.00 per person, we had a ball, the best thing of the whole cruise, the only thing that would have been better was to have a bud light by my side. LOL

Have fun cruising!

 

P. S.

Mike, what cruise are you going on next? We're thinking about going back to Holland America and doing partial panama next year.

 

Hey MandMs,

 

I'm sorry that we missed each other. It would have been great to meet up and have a drink. As for the laptop, I did go to the internet library to sign up first, but they still could not get me up and running. As it turned out, it kept me from checking my office email (that made my wife happy) and I still got to use the laptop to play music.

 

Next up is NCL's Spirit in February, 2007. We've finally decided to take the kids with us for winter break. I'm a little nervous about leaving from NY in February but a rocky day on a cruise should be better than a day at work. And if it's too rocky the kids should stop complaining when we go without them.

 

Panama sound very COOL. I hear the partial is perfect to get the feel of the canal without the long trip through. Holland is also supposed to be a nice step up from RCL. Have a great time!

 

Mike