Review of Enchantment OTS - Feb 9-13, 2006 - Key West & Cozumel

[AnthonyD]

Wgeddings, while I appreciate your thoroughness, is there any possibility that you paid attention to too many things...I mean, that review was far more detail than I've ever read on cruisecritic. If I were you, I'd have had to pay attention to so many things I might have forgotten to just let loose. In anycase, thanks for posting your review.

[SCOOP]

I really enjoyed your review and the details. It is great to hear the good and bad. It would be totally unrealistic if every review was wow RCCL is the bomb!!

I am going on Eos in Aug (hurricane dodging).

One thing I do do is study the ships lay out before I go. My first cruise on Granduer in 97, I felt lost the whole time even with the direction things on board. On voyager, radiance and soverign I was well adjusted before arrival. The one thing I need to know is where I am at and going on a ship. Btw, the docks are suppose to be ready by May 06in Cozumel, we shall see.

Thanks again

scoop

[SCOOP]

Oops typo, meant to say May of 07 for the piers in Cozumel.

scoop

[wgeddings]

Schpliny - thanks. I would love to give Park N Fly another chance at a different location maybe since the park and ride to the terminal was so very good. When one part is so good, it is so tempting to overlook the bad part and try again.

 

Lojill - Thanks for commenting. I am really glad to hear you had a good time. I am sure the directions thing was mostly because it was so different (the directions) from the other cruises (Disney, Carnival and HAL). The important thing is that it was not a problem for you and you had a great time! We did have a good time too.

 

hlfdzn - THANK YOU! Finally another person who much prefers the cold! :D I believe a lot has to do with the surrounding rooms since if a room above, below and beside you are all warm, I do not think any AC could really cool you down too much. Same issue in hotels. Maybe I need an Alaska cruise?:rolleyes: Now to convince the wife and bank account...;)

 

AnthonyD - thanks for the comments. Oddly enough, after our Disney cruise and from reading all the reviews on this board, I found that it is a lot of fun to write a review. I loved hearing the specifics other people experienced and tried to learn from them for my own cruise. On our Carnival and HAL cruises, making notes each night was really a big part of my fun (after the family went to bed). Not only did me a chance to re-experience the day, it gave me a chance to try to pass on anything I learned. That level of detail may be too much for some people so I would not expect everyone to find my review useful but it is the information I would like to know. Despite the details though, rest assured I focused first on having a good time!:)

 

Scoop - I hope your cruise goes great. Hopefully the new piers/docks will be up by then but I have heard the politics are really gumming things up (some want longer piers or different designs or preferred docking locations for certain lines or ...... ). Just don't let the dock situation, whether tender or not, interfere with having a good time Cozumel. I admire you for going during hurricane season and even though some people are reluctant, I am always impressed at how the cruise lines seem to work around the hurricane problems. I would like to go sometime during that season just to see what happens and expecting sudden changes.

[maggieworkman]

Thanks for taking time to write the review. We are going on the Enchantment in July and are so excited.

 

I am debating between going to Paradise Beach and Playa Mia in Cozumel. Did the people who booked excursions get off the ship/get tendered first? I am thinking that might make it worthwhile to do the Playa Mia excursion through RCCL.

 

We are probably going to do the Trolley Tour in Key West. Do you think we would have enough time to do the tour and get off at a few places (like Hemingway House) to visit and then be back to the ship in time??

 

Other than that, it sounds like we will have a good time based on your review.

 

Maggie

[wgeddings]

Maggieworkman - I am sure you will enjoy it. To answer your questions, people who booked excursions through the ship did get off first. There was a line for tender tickets but it was for tenders in addition to the ones who were for the people taking RCCL excursions. In Cozumel, a lot would depend on what you want to do. I highly recommend Paradise Beach since it is beautiful and free. You only pay for what you eat or drink (or $8.00 if you want to play on the water toys). I have not been to Playa Mia so I cannot comment but I know you would enjoy PB. Even if you are not first off the ship, you will likely have plenty of time in Cozumel for beach and shopping.

 

In Key West, we did the conch train tour but the same company does the trolley tour I believe. The conch train did not actually stop at the locations like Hemingway's house so double check the website to see if the trolley tour does stop. Since the time in Key West is so short, the conch train tour took most of our time. As it close to departure time, there is a huge line to get back onto the pier to get onboard but until then the line is quick and minimal. We overslept so did not get going as early as I had planned and if we had been early risers might have had more time there. I am glad we slept a bit later rather than wake so early but you have to use your own preferences.

 

If I can answer anything else, please let me know. I am sure you will have a great time and I wish I had one of the key lime cookies from the rooftop cafe bakery now!

[lojill]

By the way you did give a good review. I think the only difference that I understand is that I have nothing to compare mt cruise to and you did. I might see a difference once I cruise with another ship. So I can understand better on what you were trying to say. Until then I think this is the best ship in the world-SMILE because its the only one I've been on.

[wgeddings]

lojill - They always say the first cruise is always your best! My first cruise was 20 years ago and the ships were so different then that it is no comparison (so MUCH better today!). On our HAL cruise, we talked with their hotel manager for quite a while and he explained a lot about the cruise industry. If you find my review of the Zuiderdam, you will see all I learned but the important point here is that he was telling us that Carnival's philosphy is that they want people's first cruise. After that, they almost want you to use another line. They have noted that the first cruise is almost always the best and on the later cruises, people start finding things to complain about or find fault with. So their philosphy is based on the "honeymoon" atomosphere of that first experience then they would rather have the people find fault with other lines and keep saying how much better Carnival was. Interesting tactic I think. Hopefully you will get many more chances to see things and all will be better than the one before!

[hlfdzn]

Wgeddings, We took our first cruise on a last minute $199 four day on NCL back in 2003. Even though it was an older ship ( Norwegian Majesty) and smaller than all these new ones, I still think it was the BEST time. You are right..you don't know what to expect. Of course Disney was great with the kids, and it should be for what we paid. I didn't think the food on Disney was as good as the NCL or Royal Carribean food. NOT that I thought it was BAD, cuz I certainly ate enough, but I liked it better on the other lines. Everyone has their own opinion and it is up to the reader of these boards to take in all the information and do with it what they see fit. Obviously if a lot of people have the same complaints then I would think it was true. However, if we all only post the positive comments, how can we be expected to make an informed decision.

Alaska sounds good. When I went on Royal Carribean with my girlfriends, I think my roomate was a bit cold at night. We got lucky and had a room that got good and chilly for sleeping... I kept turning down the thermostat. Hey she could always put another blanket on right??? I know I am selfish..LOL

[wgeddings]

hlfdzn - Definitely on the temperature. I figure it is much easier to get warm than it is to get cool so I would rather start cool. Okay, at least it is my theory. I have to say that any cruise for $199 would have to be awesome. I would be so happy thinking how little I paid they could just about flog me and make me row and I doubt even I would complain too much! Although my family raves about the Disney food, I too thought the food on RCCL was better overall. Of course, on any line I have not found food I did not like unless it was something I knew I never liked (like boiled liver or whatnot). Still, if I had to rank food, I would have to say that all were pretty good.

 

You mentioned how if a lot of people mention the same concern, it is something worth noting and I completely agree. But I will also say that on our HAL cruise in November (on the Zuiderdam), I had read so many people commenting on how bad the carpet was and how shoddy some things were that I was really expecting it to be much worse. It was fine. If I had not read all those negatives beforehand, I might have noted the wear but I guess I had set my expectations low so it was easy for the ship to exceed them.

[hlfdzn]

When we got on the cheap cruise, hubby was joking around with the people we were with about rowing time and being in "steerage not many rats " LOL

Seriously, things were not perfect, but heck I ate more than $199 worth of food the first day!!! Our airfare was more than the cruise!!!

I guess when it comes to expectations, I wouldn't say I have low standards, but I tend not to be a picky person. As long as things are reasonably clean and there are no MAJOR problems I tend to be easy to get along with.

I try to go into it all with an open mind. One man's dump is another man's palace.

When we got advice off the boards before our first Disney trip, I have to say, we made the most of our trip because we had great advice about where to eat for the character meals.