Live-- Enchantment of the Seas 8-night SE Coast and Perfect Day: March 25- April 2, 2022

[DELTABLUE]

Dragon...Just saw some video of tonight's storms that had lots of lightening over Louisa, VA!  Hope all is well at home.  A little spitty around here and bad wind all day as I was running around to get my antigen test done.  Took from 10AM-7:30PM!  Glad I got the right answer after a long and drawn out day.

[luvcruzing]

7 hours ago, DELTABLUE said:

bad wind all day as I was running around to get my antigen test done.  Took from 10AM-7:30PM!  Glad I got the right answer after a long and drawn out day.

Did you have it done at Walgreens?

[DragonOfTheSeas]

10 hours ago, alex_drew said:

Dragon, thank you again SOOOO much for taking the time to take us all along with you!  Have really enjoyed all of your pics and posts!

 

Joanne

Glad to do it. I found that when I do these live threads that I really look at where I’m going and what I’m doing to give others a good picture of what the port and the ship is like. And that actually helps me to enjoy it more. So win-win.

[Rogueperson]

6 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Glad to do it. I found that when I do these live threads that I really look at where I’m going and what I’m doing to give others a good picture of what the port and the ship is like. And that actually helps me to enjoy it more. So win-win.

See!!!  Didn't I tell you it would change your perspective?  😄

[DragonOfTheSeas]

The ship was really rocking and rolling last night. We had a closet door and some drawers open when we got up this morning. And I could hear the wind howling last night; it woke me up a couple times.

 

The captain made an announcement at eight this morning. He said how strong the winds were and how high the seas were but I didn’t get to the door in time to open it and hear. he said that all outdoor decks are closed, use the handrails and for women not to wear high heels. Like you see many of those these days on the ship.

 

 

 

He said we should be out of the worst of the weather by this afternoon and it would improve. 
 

 

The staff is using the time without guests outside to power wash the decks.  It’s not a very good picture because I took it through the glass with ocean spray.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

We’ve been on the ship now for a week so I think it’s time I comment on the pros and cons. A couple of days before boarding the ship I read a thread that explained the experiences another passenger had on the enchantment in a previous week. They were not generally very positive. So I decided I would check it out this week and let people know what I thought.

 

I have found the ship to be clean. The crew seems to work hard cleaning off tables wiping down railings pushing water off the deck. I don’t expect it to be as dazzling as the Harmony or the Symphony. Our cabin attendant has done a good job. The cabins are showing their age a little bit. But upholstery on our chairs and sofa were in pretty good shape.

We have not had any issues with our toilet not flushing. But I know that is something that is a problem on some of the older ships. There was an unbelievable amount of banging on pipes near us yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours. And we worried that something might be wrong. But it wasn’t.

We found the crew to be very friendly and very helpful. For example this morning we went to the park café for breakfast. And of course the ship is rocking a little off. We saw staff members asking people if they were all right and if they could  carry their food to the table for them.
 

The one negative example I have was our waiter for the first four days at My Time Dining. It was a combination of a poor waiter and the pacing. There were 6 two -top tables in a row. Five of them eat at 7 PM and our time was 7:15 PM. So of course he gave more attention to the five tables than us stuck out there on the end. And it meant we had incredibly long wait times for each of our courses. And two different nights he brought us the wrong food and the wrong desert. I think he just got us confused with someone else. The next night we asked the head waiter, Maria, for a different table. That was not a problem at all.
 

And I must say that Maria is one of the best head waiters I have ever encountered. Usually the only time you see them is the next to the last night when they come around and say hello and tell you their name because they want to make sure that you Don’t remove the automatic gratuity. But Maria has been around all of her tables every night she cleans dishes, helps set up the tables with silverware and glassware between passengers and generally makes herself helpful every night. I’m going to give her a shout out on the survey.
 

OK this is a really long post so I’m gonna stop here and I’ll pick up the pros and cons again later.

Edited April 1, 2022 by DragonOfTheSeas

[OnTheJourney]

Thanks for taking us along on the journey!  Sorry you had the rough seas. We had similar after leaving Charleston during the preceding cruise. Safe travels home..unless you're staying on for the 12-day (?)  

 

I think your last post and mine must have crossed mid-stream!!!  Just saw your longer one a moment ago. 

 

Our MDR waitstaff was fantastic. The entire team stopped by every night. It felt like they really got to know us. Food came quickly and was all really good. We eat right at 5:00 though so perhaps that makes a difference compared to later. Always had the same table at a window. 

 

Funny you mention that 'banging on the pipes'. Same experience here. The one day we enjoyed sitting out on our balcony and there was this banging going on below us. Agreed that parts of the ship are looking just a bit 'tired' at this point. I swear the solarium is pretty much the same as when we were on the Enchantment 11 years ago. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood

[Rogueperson]

5 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

 

And I must say that Maria is one of the best head waiters I have ever encountered. Usually the only time you see them is the next to the last night when they come around and say hello and tell you their name because they want to make sure that you Don’t remove the automatic gratuity. But Maria has been around all of her tables every night she cleans dishes, helps set up the tables with silverware and glassware between passengers and generally makes herself helpful every night. I’m going to give her a shout out on the survey.
 

 

 

We LOVED Maria when we were on Enchantment in March.  She is such a firecracker.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

4 minutes ago, AnyWayIsGood said:

Thanks for taking us along on the journey!  Sorry you had the rough seas. We had similar after leaving Charleston during the preceding cruise. Safe travels home..unless you're staying on for the 12-day (?)

No, we will be departing tomorrow. I like the 12 day itinerary. And we would have booked that one instead of this 8 day, however, we have several family birthdays in April and didn’t feel we could miss those. One of the birthdays is my mother. She will turn 89 next week.

 

The motion was not enough to bother me. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

3 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

 

We LOVED Maria when we were on Enchantment in March.  She is such a firecracker.

That is a good word to describe her. She is the best.

[OnTheJourney]

3 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

She will turn 89 next week.

Happy B-day to her!!  My Mom turns 100 in November...what a blessing to be thankful for. 

 

3 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

The motion was not enough to bother me. 

I wear wristbands constantly during a cruise unless the sea is very calm or if we're coming or leaving port while going slow. So, I notice the stronger movement but acupuncture effect of the wrist bands blocks any  possible 'motion sickness' signals to the brain. I think the events of 3/23/19 on the Viking Sky probably made me permanently immune to any future seasickness anyway. If I didn't feel sick then I doubt I will any other time. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood

[OnTheJourney]

5 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I like the 12 day itinerary.

Never did that one yet. I have relatives who enjoy those 8 and 12 day combinations. 20 days is actually a tad longer than I care to be on a ship. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

11 minutes ago, AnyWayIsGood said:

Never did that one yet. I have relatives who enjoy those 8 and 12 day combinations. 20 days is actually a tad longer than I care to be on a ship. 

We actually had a back to back  booked in March 2020 and we did the 12 day. And then Covid stopped all cruises and  they canceled the second one. So that’s another reason to take this itinerary we figure we would use the future cruise credit on the cruise that we had to cancel

[OnTheJourney]

12 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

I only saw one tuxedo and a number of long dresses.

Formal night has become a really mixed bag...you see it all, from very casual to, as you say, some tuxedos. 

[OnTheJourney]

4 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

use the future cruise credit

Yeah...that 'FCC / canceled/ rebooked' relative to schedules has become the norm for probably thousands of cruisers over the past 2 years. The recent 3/17 cruise was our 3rd attempt - original booking was on the Grandeur back in March '20. We had hoped to sail on her one more time but then it never happened. So now we have several cruises booked much closer together than we usually do. Same story for many people I'm sure. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood

[DragonOfTheSeas]

11 hours ago, DELTABLUE said:

Dragon...Just saw some video of tonight's storms that had lots of lightening over Louisa, VA!  Hope all is well at home.  A little spitty around here and bad wind all day as I was running around to get my antigen test done.  Took from 10AM-7:30PM!  Glad I got the right answer after a long and drawn out day.

It’s never a good thing when they mentioned Louisa, VA on the news. It’s a fairly small place and we only get attention if things are not good. Thanks for the heads up. 
 

that would be nerve-racking to wait that long for your results.  Ours came back in 30 minutes. We are glad all is well now. 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

1 minute ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

It’s never a good thing when they mentioned Louisa, VA on the news. It’s a fairly small place and we only get attention if things are not good. Thanks for the heads up. 
 

Our one claim to fame is the  earthquake about eight or nine years ago. Most people in the MD, Virginia, DC area remember that.
 

that would be nerve-racking to wait that long for your results.  Ours came back in 30 minutes. We are glad all is well now. 

 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

The weather is almost perfect! What a difference a few hours make.

 

We are almost back in the Chesapeake Bay.

[retiredgram]

4 hours ago, AnyWayIsGood said:

Never did that one yet. I have relatives who enjoy those 8 and 12 day combinations. 20 days is actually a tad longer than I care to be on a ship. 

Love combining the 8 and 12.  Try it, you may like it.  👍

[BND]

4 minutes ago, retiredgram said:

Love combining the 8 and 12.  Try it, you may like it.  👍

We're boarding and doing exactly that.  The hardest part is packing for 20 days.  I don't think being onboard for 20 days will be difficult lol.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

2 hours ago, BND said:

We're boarding and doing exactly that.  The hardest part is packing for 20 days.  I don't think being onboard for 20 days will be difficult lol.

We always use the diamond plus free bags of laundry.  We find that works well for us and we really don't run out of clothes.

[BND]

1 hour ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

We always use the diamond plus free bags of laundry.  We find that works well for us and we really don't run out of clothes.

We use the D+ bag of free laundry too but only for underwear, socks and t-shirts.  Never for my regular clothes.  Very hot water and very hot dryers are not a good combo.  I accidentally put a skort (skirt short combo) in the bag one time and it came back wrinkled and shrunk and faded.   Fortunately, we're just over an hour from Baltimore and can take as much luggage as we want.  Just finished packing 2-30 inch bags and 2-28 inch bags for tomorrow.

Edited April 1, 2022 by BND

[OnTheJourney]

3 hours ago, retiredgram said:

Try it, you may like it.

Probably will at some point....

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Tomorrow after breakfast we return to our cabins to wait to be called.  We have the number 4 and are scheduled for 8:15am.  [right after "the Key passengers.]  

 

There are three changes due to Covid we hope become permanent.  1.  The electronic safety briefing with muster station check-in. 2.  Staff serving food in the Windjammer. 3.  Remaining in your cabin until called to disembark.  

[OnTheJourney]

12 minutes ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

There are three changes due to Covid we hope become permanent.

I disagree completely with #1. Having been on a ship that went into an emergency mayday situation and subsequent evacuation of over half the passengers by helicopter, I feel that any muster procedure that doesn't include getting out there and putting on a lifevest is insufficient. When the actual emergency came, nerves and adrenaline kicked in such that I didn't even know how to put the lifevest on.

 

For our cruise on 3/17, muster check-in was a bit of a disaster. Several names (including ours) did not get entered into the system. Thus the captain making announcements that we could not sail before everyone completed muster. That's why we were delayed sailing out of Baltimore.

 

Next day at sea was the safety briefing. We got a notice that we need to attend even though after checking in at our muster station the following day we were told we could just disregard the briefing. So we questioned it. As it turned out, we were NOT checked in to the system. I'm sure others weren't either - hence the announcements. I made sure to mention this in our post-cruise survey. 

 

Any 'watered down' muster procedure is not enough - at least this is my thought having gone through what could have easily been a maritime disaster. I think you can understand where I'm coming from. This change in muster in terms of just having to watch a video, etc., in my mind, doesn't quite cut it.

 

#2 and 3 are great. It was nice to just relax in the room till the appropriate disembarkation time. 

Edited April 2, 2022 by AnyWayIsGood