Enchanted & Regal

[1965]

The Regal is our favorite ship. We're looking at a cruise on the Enchanted. Am I correct they're very much alike since both are Royal class ships? Thanks. 🙂

[Potstech]

Very similiar in most aspects.

[skynight]

Sister ships almost. The Enchanted (and Discovery) were built with many of the improvements passengers were disappointed with on the Regal.

Improved Princess Live which is now a club with tables and chairs rather than an uncomfortable TV studio with no easy way to serve or place drinks. Crooner's returned on the Enchanted after being eliminated on the Sky. Club 6 was redesigned into a jazz club, Take Five, with better seating and live music. Bistro Sur La Mer was added, deck 7, mid ship. Alfredo's renamed Gigi's, but just a name change. Crooner's was moved to deck 6. Stairs eliminated from the casino to deck 7 thus eliminating the smoke issue from the open overhead. Vista Lounge is now more like Club Fusion rather than the bench seating on the Regal. Sea Walk now has decking all the way on the curve. Sea View Bar moved. Lido deck now has two large rectangular pools. On the negative the Retreat Pool is now narrowed and surrounded on both sides by cabins. No more window views and less seating. Wake View Pool is now aft on the Lido deck with the smoking area one deck above. Believe a 360 dining experience is coming to the circular area next to Sabatini's. No exact info on this yet.

Edited August 16, 2022 by skynight

[1965]

Skynight thank you for all the great info! ♡ Sounds like Enchanted may become our favorite ship. 😍 

Edited August 16, 2022 by 1965

[MissP22]

24 minutes ago, skynight said:

On the negative the Retreat Pool is now narrowed and surrounded on both sides by cabins. No more window views and less seating.

Your comments about the Enchanted are right on but we likes the fact that the Retreat pool has changed to the deeper pool on the Royal and Regal being replaced with waste high depth water. 

[capriccio]

There is no Vines on the Enchanted; the Salty Dog Gastropub took over that space.  Not an improvement in our opinion.

Edited August 16, 2022 by capriccio

[skynight]

3 minutes ago, capriccio said:

There is no Vines on the Enchanted; the Salty Dog Gastropub took over that space.  Not an improvement in our opinion.

Agree

[loge23]

No Vines Bar on the Enchanted and the Retreat Pool area has been radically changed for the worst - it looks like a late afterthought by the designers when someone asked "Isn't there supposed to be a pool there?" The Sea View bar, as noted, is gone - moved actually to smack in the middle of the deck. Again, a poor design decision. We did enjoy Take Five somewhat and considered that an improvement over the little-used Club Six. But again, poor design - a wide walkway from the theatre to the mid-ship area cuts through it, rendering the performers on one side and the audience seating on the other. Nice if you like to watch parades go by. 

The Bistro Sur La Mer was just awful in every way on our February cruise, hopefully they figured it out by now.

Needless to say, the Enchanted was a big disappointment to our tastes. I noted while on it that the designers were seemingly given cut-outs of all the interior features and then blindfolded. Kind of like the old color-forms game or pin-the-venue-on-the ship. 

 

[MissP22]

20 minutes ago, loge23 said:

No Vines Bar on the Enchanted and the Retreat Pool area has been radically changed for the worst - it looks like a late afterthought by the designers when someone asked "Isn't there supposed to be a pool there?" The Sea View bar, as noted, is gone - moved actually to smack in the middle of the deck. Again, a poor design decision.

We didn't go to Vines on the other ships so we never missed it on the Enchanted and we still found a place to have our drinks. 

 

What was wrong with relocating the Sea View bar?

It makes for easier access for the people walking by and they seem to have made the bar a little larger with more counter space for people to sit.

 

[capriccio]

18 minutes ago, loge23 said:

The Bistro Sur La Mer was just awful in every way on our February cruise, hopefully they figured it out by now.

In mid March our group of 6 enjoyed the Bistro Sur La Mer food but the location is horrible. 

 

First, since it is only used about 5 hours a day, it is a waste of valuable space overlooking the plaza.  Gigi's (formerly Alfredo's) pizzeria on the other side had long lines on sea days for lunch while the Bistro space sat empty except for those waiting to be called to Gigi's.  Second, since it is open to the plaza, the noise level generated by the musical acts can be loud enough to make conversations in the restaurant difficult.  Finally since it is wide open, there are people walking along the edge overlooking the plaza.

[MissP22]

18 minutes ago, capriccio said:

In mid March our group of 6 enjoyed the Bistro Sur La Mer food but the location is horrible. 

 

First, since it is only used about 5 hours a day, it is a waste of valuable space overlooking the plaza.  Gigi's (formerly Alfredo's) pizzeria on the other side had long lines on sea days for lunch while the Bistro space sat empty except for those waiting to be called to Gigi's.  Second, since it is open to the plaza, the noise level generated by the musical acts can be loud enough to make conversations in the restaurant difficult.  Finally since it is wide open, there are people walking along the edge overlooking the plaza.

Did you find that the food in Gigi's to be better or worse than Alfredo's?

[loge23]

41 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

We didn't go to Vines on the other ships so we never missed it on the Enchanted and we still found a place to have our drinks. 

 

What was wrong with relocating the Sea View bar?

It makes for easier access for the people walking by and they seem to have made the bar a little larger with more counter space for people to sit.

 

It is a bigger bar, but in my opinion, poorly placed. It was the Sea View bar, now it's the elevator or pool view bar. I found the placement obstructive of the normal traffic flow in that area. Just an opinion.

[richsea]

4 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Your comments about the Enchanted are right on but we likes the fact that the Retreat pool has changed to the deeper pool on the Royal and Regal being replaced with waste high depth water. 

Not sure I understand. Which ships have a deeper pool? How deep? Thx!

[jdacombe]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

Did you find that the food in Gigi's to be better or worse than Alfredo's?

I  found there was not a great deal of difference between the two although I did think that the tiramasu in Alfredo's was better.

Both were excellent

[capriccio]

2 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Did you find that the food in Gigi's to be better or worse than Alfredo's?

 

52 minutes ago, jdacombe said:

I  found there was not a great deal of difference between the two although I did think that the tiramasu in Alfredo's was better.

Both were excellent

I agree about the food but I would say that on the mid-March Enchanted cruise the seating area seemed more cramped and the lines were definitely longer.  We noticed no one sitting at the outside seating (this was a 10 day Caribbean cruise).  Speaking to the host at one lunch while placing our names on the waiting list he did complain about the size and the crazy idea of dedicating so much space to Bistro Sur La Mer that just sat empty on the same deck during the day. 

[kapsgp]

The Vines on the Regal is a full liquor bar. Most Vines are just a wine bar.

[loge23]

23 minutes ago, kapsgp said:

The Vines on the Regal is a full liquor bar. Most Vines are just a wine bar.

Yes, as was the Royal's as well. 

[MissP22]

17 hours ago, richsea said:

Not sure I understand. Which ships have a deeper pool? How deep? Thx!

The pools on the Regal and Royal are deep (8 feet maybe ?) with no shallow end to speak of. Most people just stay near the steps leading into the water or have to hang on to the edge.

 

The pool on the Enchanted is shallow throughout and everyone can stand anywhere (which we prefer). It also doesn't have the steps, only ladders. 

[richsea]

4 hours ago, MissP22 said:

The pools on the Regal and Royal are deep (8 feet maybe ?) with no shallow end to speak of. Most people just stay near the steps leading into the water or have to hang on to the edge.

 

The pool on the Enchanted is shallow throughout and everyone can stand anywhere (which we prefer). It also doesn't have the steps, only ladders. 

Thanks for the clarification. I had noticed the lack of steps on Enchanted in YouTube videos. Us old fogies prefer the steps; easier on the knees! And now I recall that as a non swimmer, hanging about the steps on Regal/Royal.

[MissP22]

4 hours ago, richsea said:

Thanks for the clarification. I had noticed the lack of steps on Enchanted in YouTube videos. Us old fogies prefer the steps; easier on the knees! And now I recall that as a non swimmer, hanging about the steps on Regal/Royal.

They went to the trouble of changing the pool to stasfy people who requested a more shallow pool and yet they eliminated a feature that a lot of people really needed to gain access.

It's strange.