Onboard Enchantment Jan 20-28

[wolfcathorse]

1 hour ago, edrussell said:

Captain Daniel I think?  Very strong accent.  Difficult to understand.  Then again I am usually nursing a drink when he announces.

thank you, you confirmed Capt Daniel Budzelewski was on board

[edrussell]

1 hour ago, Rogueperson said:

I am just running into this post and you're almost done.

 

As a first time cruiser, I am very impressed you decided to do a live thread.  That's an advance move there.  I didn't do live threads until after my...17th cruise.  Granted, most of that time prior to that, internet on the ship was a very costly (more than now) thing.  Remember per minute charges guys?!?!?!

 

I have one question.  It appears you have a balcony.  Are you on deck 7 or 8?  I have a bid going for a balcony and I'm a little afraid of getting deck 8 for its under the pool deck, but at the same time, all the snazzy suites are also on Deck 8, which either is poor design, or they designed stuff to muffle the noise that usually occurs on the pool deck.  I'm set on the 12 night in March.  37 more days!!!!

 

And yes, I plan to do a live thread.  Internet is already purchased.

 

We are avid travelers to Las Vegas and I participate in an active forum.  On there trip reports like this are commonplace and I always do one and love reading them.  For me I wanted to share our first time perspective.

 

Our stateroom is 7146 and it has been so quiet at night.

[CBCDWV]

A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

These are the cars parked for this cruise in Baltimore. Usually this lot is filled. 

[shipgeeks]

No snow!  That's fortunate!

Safe trip home, everyone, and happy cruising to all of those arriving.

[kirtihk]

16 hours ago, edrussell said:

Captain Daniel I think?  Very strong accent.  Difficult to understand.  Then again I am usually nursing a drink when he announces.

He probably has the same accent as mine; so, it should be easier for me to understand him.

[DevonfromAcme]

He is Polish.

 

2 hours ago, kirtihk said:

He probably has the same accent as mine; so, it should be easier for me to understand him.

 

[DevonfromAcme]

18 hours ago, Rogueperson said:

I have one question.  It appears you have a balcony.  Are you on deck 7 or 8?  I have a bid going for a balcony and I'm a little afraid of getting deck 8 for its under the pool deck, but at the same time, all the snazzy suites are also on Deck 8, which either is poor design, or they designed stuff to muffle the noise that usually occurs on the pool deck.  I'm set on the 12 night in March.  37 more days!!!!

 

 

 

I was on this ship on the last sailing.  We had a Junior Suite on Deck 8 under the Solarium.

 

It wasn't particularly noisy-- maybe once a day we would hear someone moving something above, and our balcony door was open all the time.

 

I wouldn't worry about it.

[Janet524]

3 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

No snow!  That's fortunate!

Safe trip home, everyone, and happy cruising to all of those arriving.

Forecast (at least here in SE Virginia) is for the snow to start late Friday/ Early Saturday AM and move up the eastern seaboard, so the Baltimore area should see snow some time after that.  I am hoping for the sake of everyone returning from this cruise and those on the next sailing that it stays light and nobody has any problem getting to or from the ship.  

I'm glad we're sailing next Saturday 2/5.

Safe travels all.

[shipgeeks]

1 hour ago, DevonfromAcme said:

 

I was on this ship on the last sailing.  We had a Junior Suite on Deck 8 under the Solarium.

 

It wasn't particularly noisy-- maybe once a day we would hear someone moving something above, and our balcony door was open all the time.

 

I wouldn't worry about it.

We've been told that balcony doors should never be kept open.  

[kirtihk]

3 hours ago, DevonfromAcme said:

He is Polish.

 

 

and I came to US from USSR in 1991 (exact half life there and half here).

[edrussell]

We are back home!  We both needed a PCR test which RCCL provided for us at the terminal.  What an absolute gongshow that was.  So dis-organized.  I can detail that later once we decompress.  We got our results in about 30 minutes while driving.  Both negative.  

 

We arrived at the land border crossing Peace Bridge and my wife was selected to have the joy of getting yet another Covid test.  Of course we left the terminal after testing and drove straight home without stopping and interacting with anyone.  She is doing the test right now.  

 

I will have some final thoughts on this sailing but I can summarize it by using one word, fantastic.  We are both so hooked.

 

[OnTheJourney]

23 minutes ago, edrussell said:

We are both so hooked.

Despite the covid testing hurdles and inconveniences, so glad you found the cruise to be very enjoyable! If you like it under current conditions, wait till (HOPEFULLY) things will be more like 'normal cruising' for your next one...and next one...and..... 😁

[OnTheJourney]

11 hours ago, CBCDWV said:

These are the cars parked for this cruise in Baltimore. Usually this lot is filled. 

WOW!  Unreal....wonder how long cruises will be sailing at such reduced capacity. 

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, OnTheJourney said:

WOW!  Unreal....wonder how long cruises will be sailing at such reduced capacity. 

They won’t be reduced much longer. 

[OnTheJourney]

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

They won’t be reduced much longer. 

Not if covid is on the decline. 

Edited January 28, 2022 by OnTheJourney

[CBCDWV]

20 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

Not if covid is on the decline. 

Let’s hope so!

[Chas2crews]

On 1/27/2022 at 5:46 PM, Rogueperson said:

I am just running into this post and you're almost done.

 

As a first time cruiser, I am very impressed you decided to do a live thread.  That's an advance move there.  I didn't do live threads until after my...17th cruise.  Granted, most of that time prior to that, internet on the ship was a very costly (more than now) thing.  Remember per minute charges guys?!?!?!

 

I have one question.  It appears you have a balcony.  Are you on deck 7 or 8?  I have a bid going for a balcony and I'm a little afraid of getting deck 8 for its under the pool deck, but at the same time, all the snazzy suites are also on Deck 8, which either is poor design, or they designed stuff to muffle the noise that usually occurs on the pool deck.  I'm set on the 12 night in March.  37 more days!!!!

 

And yes, I plan to do a live thread.  Internet is already purchased.

 

I was on deck 8, and you will hear noise from deck 9. My guess is it was less under the Solarium where I was than under the pool or Windjammer. 

[Biker19]

[OnTheJourney]

No shovels provided in the staterooms?? 😁 So I presume you're on the sailing that started yesterday?  If so, keep us posted on how things are going. 

Edited January 29, 2022 by OnTheJourney

[Lady Hudson]

10 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

No shovels provided in the staterooms?? 😁 So I presume you're on the sailing that started yesterday?  If so, keep us posted on how things are going. 

Yes, please do.  Especially from those of us sailing next week!  Katherine 

[edrussell]

Wrapping up on this one.  Here are some details for any Canadians sailing that will have to get PCR tested.  Here is our experience:

 

While on the cruise I visited guest services a few times to get details on our return PCR test.  At first they seemed genuinely confused over it and had little to tell us.  We gave them another few days and eventually they produced a list and let me peek at it to show that yes we were indeed on the 'list' of people that needed one.  I asked for a few more details such as where (we knew it was after we disembarked but nothing else), but they never did provide me anything.  Off we went this morning and just after clearing customs we asked the first staff we saw and were brushed off with them saying 'we don't know what you are taking about and you cannot stand here'.  Not off to a good start.  We found our luggage and found a RCCL person (well they had a RCCL lanyard) and we were told there was a double wide trailer with a green roof and it would be in there.  Not quite.  We walked over and the place was deserted.  We decided to drop off bags off in the truck and wander.  We then found a person setting up the stanchions to onboard guests.  He was great and told us there would be a tent setup and there were 2 girls in black t-shirts hanging out near where you walk out of the terminal.  They were very nice but utterly confused.  They told us they had no idea when they would be done or by whom.  By that time we found another woman who obviously was seriously annoyed.  Turns out she was another Canadian who we hadn't met but she had determined someone would be there by 9.  Around 9:30am some staff rolled up in a SUV and confirmed they were testing.  However, they had no idea who they were testing, how many and how much we had to pay.  After that woman went off on these people (it was quite the scene), the staff began to ask us to walk into the terminal near the exit and they would setup.  Well a security guard came out and yelled at us to 'get the h_ll out of the terminal'.  Not good.  She explained in no uncertain terms that we were not going into the terminal to get tested.  After several arguments with the testing staff and the security guard they eventually let them go inside, but not us.  At that point we were outside in the cold for over an hour.  It took over another hour of us standing outside in the cold, with the security guard occasionally opening the door and scowling at us.  We kept asking the testing staff if we could go somewhere warm or go into our vehicle and she kept asking us to stay there.  When they finally tested the first woman that at point was even more angry they went back inside and didn't come out again for about 30 minutes.  Eventually they came out tested us and told us we would get our results in 30 minutes.

 

Now, the 'lead' staff from the testing company was trying her best.  She really was.  Before we left we asked about that 'trailer' and were told security said they could not use that.  We next asked about when they were supposed to be there, we were told 9, but the staff confirmed security held them up for a long time before letting them into the parking area.

 

We did eventually get our results and both were negative.  We tried to be patient and really did not take our frustration out on the testing staff, but only 1 person in that group had any idea what was going on.  Security were utterly rude and in my opinion didn't need to be.  RCCL were nowhere to be found.  

 

The experience may be different for others and they may sort this out, but we definitely struggled with it.  If you are flying especially this could really impact your ability to catch a flight.

 

Despite all of this our cruise itself was wonderful and we don't regret it one single bit.

 

I am enjoying my morning tea here at home (in minus 21 degrees) in my Enchantment cup and thinking of our next cruise on Oasis in Sept.

 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

If so, keep us posted on how things are going. 

[Biker19]

879 customers. No LA to host the Top Tier, CD did it. A bit unusual that a remote Captain presented the Pinnacle ascension. Show cast out of isolation. 
 

[shipgeeks]

Biker, Thank you for the photos and posts so far.  I hope you will continue as an official chronicler.

We will be pulling up to the port in one week!

[kirtihk]

17 hours ago, OnTheJourney said:

Not if covid is on the decline. 

Next 23 years or so