Enchantment of the Seas: Western Med Cruise. June 2nd-June 12th-Pre/Post Cruise trip report

[HWeb13]

3 hours ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Excellent report.  It seems like you definitely were super organized as far as port exploration.  I can also definitely see how bringing the nanny enhanced the trip so the kids could have a day of rest and relaxation while you were off exploring.  Then, you met up with them afterward.

 Thank you.  It really worked well to have the nanny so I didn't have two exhausted kids.  Plus when we get to places such as Florence and Rome, they didn't care about some of the historical sites we visited and much preferred the pool and Adventure Ocran

[HWeb13]

2 hours ago, topnole said:

What are your thoughts on the ship?  We will be on her later in the year with kids.  They are used to Oasis class, but they know this will be different.  The wife and I have been on grandeur so we know what the feel will be like in general   We will be bringing plenty of games and activities for the kids.  Any thoughts or suggestions?   They will be 8, 6, and 3.  
 

Is park cafe good?  Particularly ok for the kids given it is in the middle of the solarium?  How is the food overall?   We consider the Ultimate dining plan but with only chops it would likely be too repetitive.  If food is ok in WJ and MDR no need.  
 

Are the regular pools keeping your kids happy.  Any good suggestions for a place for them to run around and not bother others?

 

Thanks for the reviews.  Looks like a great trip.  

 The ship is definitely small and amenities are limited, especially to the Oasis class.  However, I feel like with the right expectations, you will enjoy it.  We knew that the ship wouldn't have all the bells and whistles that we have experienced before.  The entertainment options are limited but with a port-intensive cruise, we didn't really miss it. 

 

Park Cafe was ok. We mostly went there at night for pizza.  We did take the kids once and it isn't a problem in the solarium.  It is towards the back of the solarium and we just made sure we tried to keep the kids as quiet as we could while ordering so that we didn't disturb the peace in the solarium.  

 

The food was average.  This was probably my biggest complaint(if I had one).  I would never starve on the ship but I felt like it wasn't as good as past cruises.  I was always able to find something edible.  We ate in the MDR every night but we did take the kids to the windjammer for their supper a few times so I was able to sample the food up there and I thought the windjammer's food was pretty good.  It was the MDR I was more disappointed with.  

 

The pool was great for my 4-year-old.  There were quite a few other kids on board so he was able to make new friends and swim.  My 2-year-old presented more of a problem since she isn't quite potty trained, she was only able to use the splash pad which is small.  I think it would not have been such a big deal if her brother wasn't playing the big pool right next to the splash pad without her.  

 

Whenever they needed to blow off steam, we would take them up to deck 10 by the rock climbing wall.  Usually, there weren't many people there and I felt like they could run around a little more.  During the day the starlight lounge was usually empty so that was also a good spot to give them a little more freedom without disturbing other guests.

 

It was a wonderful trip but I will admit that I am looking forwards to going on an Oasis-class ship instead soon. 

[Etta1213]

5 hours ago, little britain said:

@HWeb13 Tapenade is a paste made with olives, anchovies, olive oil, capers and some herbs and garlic originally from the Provence region of Southern France. Despite it often being translated as an olive spread, the name actually comes from another ingredient - "tapenas" is the Provençal word for capers.

I've never tried making this, but it's on my list! Has to be amazing.

[fromaustin]

On 6/28/2023 at 3:42 PM, HWeb13 said:

 

 

If I was going to Europe with my children, I wanted to make sure I had the best of both worlds.  I wanted them to enjoy the experience, but I also wanted to enjoy the experience.  I wanted to see the historical sites of places like Florence and Rome…..while my kids….wanted to have time at the pool.

It was at that moment, we decided we were going to bring a nanny.  Now to most folks like me, taking a nanny to Europe sounds like something only rich people do, but I assure you that is not my family.  We are straight up middle class.  We used travel point, etc to supplement her plane tickets and hotel rooms.  We used Air BNBs that had extra room as well.  We made it work with less over head cost than you would think.  (If you would like a post about this, let me know.)

 

So this is how we got to this point:  Travel day.  8 of us including my parents, my husband, sister, my kids….and now the nanny, Morgan….heading to the airport for our 2 week European adventure.  

 

We live in a small Midwest town where the closest airports is 150 miles away.  So we loaded up in two vehicles and hit the road.  We had a direct flight to LaGuardia in New York.  We had made the decision months before that we were going to spend the night in New York and spend the day sightseeing before getting on our flight to Barcelona the next evening.

 

Our Southwest flight left without any problems.  I sat next to my son with our Nanny Morgan and my husband and sister sat next to my daughter.  My parents had a row to themselves.  The flight was uneventful.  We had packed a lot of games and snacks for the flight and there were no major meltdowns or issues. 

 

My husband and sister had the party row.  They had a glass of wine and beer on the flight while my row was the boring row.  We had water and ginger ale.

When we landed in New York, our driver met us and took us to our hotel. 

 

 

We stayed at Hyatt Grand Central using Hyatt point transferred from our Chase card.  We had one standard room that my parents and sister stayed in and one Junior suite that had a separate bedroom with pullout sofa that the kids and Morgan stayed in.  It was only for one night so I feel like we had enough space but if we were staying for longer, I would have booked a separate room for Morgan as there was only one bathroom that made getting ready in the morning a little hectic.

 

 

 

We got to the hotel and freshened up.  We were meeting family friends at a nearby restaurant for a late dinner.  We went down to the Grab and Go at the hotel and got the kids and Morgan some supper that consisted of chicken strips and fries and we headed out.

 

Walking through Manhattan at night is an experience.  The energy was unbeatable.  This was my parents first time to New York and they enjoyed the walk to the restaurant. 

 

We ate at The Smith on 2^nd Ave.  When we arrived we were greeted by family friends Melissa and Cole.  They are both from the Midwest and moved to NYC over 10 years ago to work in fashion (They lead much more glamorous lives than we do.)

I had the Pot of Mussels which was served with a chardonnay broth and tarragon fries.  To drink, I had the basil lemon drop cocktail.

My dad had the smith burger and my mom and sister both had the salmon.  I believe my husband had a steak.  Everything was really good and service was excellent.

 

After dinner, we said our goodbyes and planned to meet up tomorrow for sight seeing.  We walked back the Hyatt.  The kids were asleep in our bed and Sean and I climbed in bed to rest after our long travel day.

Next post will cover sight seeing day in New York and our flight to Barcelona with two kids under the age of 5.

I would love to know more about the nanny setup. How did you handle the schedule of when she would work vs have time off? What did you pay…like an hourly wage or just a flat rate with an outline of expectations?

[fromaustin]

On 6/28/2023 at 3:42 PM, HWeb13 said:

 

 

If I was going to Europe with my children, I wanted to make sure I had the best of both worlds.  I wanted them to enjoy the experience, but I also wanted to enjoy the experience.  I wanted to see the historical sites of places like Florence and Rome…..while my kids….wanted to have time at the pool.

It was at that moment, we decided we were going to bring a nanny.  Now to most folks like me, taking a nanny to Europe sounds like something only rich people do, but I assure you that is not my family.  We are straight up middle class.  We used travel point, etc to supplement her plane tickets and hotel rooms.  We used Air BNBs that had extra room as well.  We made it work with less over head cost than you would think.  (If you would like a post about this, let me know.)

 

So this is how we got to this point:  Travel day.  8 of us including my parents, my husband, sister, my kids….and now the nanny, Morgan….heading to the airport for our 2 week European adventure.  

 

We live in a small Midwest town where the closest airports is 150 miles away.  So we loaded up in two vehicles and hit the road.  We had a direct flight to LaGuardia in New York.  We had made the decision months before that we were going to spend the night in New York and spend the day sightseeing before getting on our flight to Barcelona the next evening.

 

Our Southwest flight left without any problems.  I sat next to my son with our Nanny Morgan and my husband and sister sat next to my daughter.  My parents had a row to themselves.  The flight was uneventful.  We had packed a lot of games and snacks for the flight and there were no major meltdowns or issues. 

 

My husband and sister had the party row.  They had a glass of wine and beer on the flight while my row was the boring row.  We had water and ginger ale.

When we landed in New York, our driver met us and took us to our hotel. 

 

 

We stayed at Hyatt Grand Central using Hyatt point transferred from our Chase card.  We had one standard room that my parents and sister stayed in and one Junior suite that had a separate bedroom with pullout sofa that the kids and Morgan stayed in.  It was only for one night so I feel like we had enough space but if we were staying for longer, I would have booked a separate room for Morgan as there was only one bathroom that made getting ready in the morning a little hectic.

 

 

 

We got to the hotel and freshened up.  We were meeting family friends at a nearby restaurant for a late dinner.  We went down to the Grab and Go at the hotel and got the kids and Morgan some supper that consisted of chicken strips and fries and we headed out.

 

Walking through Manhattan at night is an experience.  The energy was unbeatable.  This was my parents first time to New York and they enjoyed the walk to the restaurant. 

 

We ate at The Smith on 2^nd Ave.  When we arrived we were greeted by family friends Melissa and Cole.  They are both from the Midwest and moved to NYC over 10 years ago to work in fashion (They lead much more glamorous lives than we do.)

I had the Pot of Mussels which was served with a chardonnay broth and tarragon fries.  To drink, I had the basil lemon drop cocktail.

My dad had the smith burger and my mom and sister both had the salmon.  I believe my husband had a steak.  Everything was really good and service was excellent.

 

After dinner, we said our goodbyes and planned to meet up tomorrow for sight seeing.  We walked back the Hyatt.  The kids were asleep in our bed and Sean and I climbed in bed to rest after our long travel day.

Next post will cover sight seeing day in New York and our flight to Barcelona with two kids under the age of 5.

I would love to know more about the nanny setup. How did you handle the schedule of when she would work vs have time off? What did you pay…like an hourly wage or just a flat rate with an outline of expectations?

[CynBeth6]

We are on Enchantment right now and do not miss the things Allure had which is the one time we were on a bigger ship. We are pretty much at ports all day but when there always seems to be an activity so are busy and have enjoyed everything we have attended. The staff has been wonderful. We have found the food pretty good in both the WJ and MDR. My other family members have food allergies and they have done a great job accommodating them. Our cabin steward is so fantastic. He introduced himself on day 1 and we saw we needed extra towels as we are 3 and only enough for 2 so asked and he brought one and every day he has made sure to bring that amount and a few times we have gotten towel animals. He also leaves a paper Cruise Compass either in our door or on our bed.

[dannysporea]

Which terminal is Enchantment of the Seas departing from? Is it WTC or the big terminal? Thank you

[heymonkey89]

We are on the same cruise on July 31. I'm a little concerned about the plans I made in Nice now that I've learned it's a tender port and reviewed the tender schedule.

 

We have a bike tour planned for the morning and right after that we hop a train to Monaco. Our return to Nice via train has us arriving in Nice at 6:28 pm.  Last tender is at 7:00pm. Seems a little tight to me. I read the train station is 10 mins from port.

 

Any thoughts? 

[Cruisefanatic71]

On 7/3/2023 at 10:04 AM, HWeb13 said:

 

It has been a long weekend.  I am back to continue my trip report.

 

We woke up the next morning in Barcelona, albeit a little slow.  It is hard to explain to a 2-year-old what jet lag is.  She was wide awake at 3 am.  We got around and headed downstairs to the lobby in the Adante Hotel.  The rest of my family looked like they were dragging on energy as well.

 

We went to the closes metro stop and purchased our tickets to Sagrada Familia. 

 

I had booked our timed entry tickets for 9 am.  We arrived at the metro stop and made our way up the stairs where we were rewarded with a stunning view of the structure.  We were shadowed by the massive church. 

 

We walked around the building to the entrance and were directed through security.  I had downloaded the audio guide prior to arriving at the church but the rest of my family had yet to do this.  There is wifi at the entrance to download the audio guide that comes with your ticket if you forget to do this prior as my family did.

 

 

It was hot outside, even at 9 am and the kids were restless.  We made our way into the church and admired the architecture.  Architecture is not a huge passion to me, but this was impressive. 

 

 

The inside was beautiful.  After about 30 minutes inside, the kids were starting to melt down, so we headed out to the back left.  I think we were there for about an hour in total time.  I know that much longer could be spent at the attraction, but an hour was long enough for my family. 

 

We then headed to a café right next to the church to get a coffee and pastry.  My dad at this point wanted Mcdonald's (I know right?) so he headed there.  

 

We met back up by an outdoor table and finished our breakfast.  We then hopped back on the metro to head back to the hotel to head to the cruise.

out

 

 

The metro is easy to use and efficient.  We arrived back at the hotel.  Check-out was at noon so it was now about 11:15. We had plenty of time to get packed and check out.  There is a taxi stand right in front of the hotel, so we grabbed two taxis and away we went to the cruise port.

 

The port was less than a 10-minute taxi ride from the hotel and soon we were handing our luggage off to the porters. 

 

We did purchase “The Key” mostly to get priority tendering as this cruise had 3 tender ports.  At the terminal, however, it was not busy, and we did not need priority embarkation.  We were immediately shuttled through check-in and were on the ship in about 10 minutes' time.  

 

We booked this 7-night cruise on Enchantment of the Seas as we were intrigued by some of the smaller ports such as Portofino.  We knew Enchantment was older and smaller than Symphony, which was also doing a med cruise, but we wanted to go to Portofino and Genoa. 

 

I had been on Enchantment one other time and was familiar with the boat.  We went immediately to the main dining room to have our Chops Grill Lunch which was included with our Key program.  It was a nice lunch and the convenience of not having to fight embarkation crowds in the windjammer was a nice treat.

 

After this, we headed to Boleros to have a welcome drink and wait for our rooms to be ready.  My parents went to do their muster drill and my sister, the kids, and my husband relaxed and enjoyed knowing that we were about to get 7 days on the ship.

 

Our rooms were ready at about 1:45. We were in an interior room on deck 8 aft.  When we got to the room, the wrong keycards were by the door, so I immediately had to go to guest services to get this worked out.  After she printed our new sign and sail cards, we could finally get to the room.

 

Once inside, we unpacked a bit before heading to get Parker signed up for Adventure Ocean and to muster drill

 

Signing up for Adventure Ocean was easy and painless.  Parker loves Adventure Ocean and always asks to go.  My 2-year-old isn’t old enough and we had our nanny so we didn’t sign her up. 

 

The muster drill went seamlessly.  Again, it can’t be said enough how much nicer the muster drills are post covid. 

 

We then headed up to deck 9 to watch sail away.  With a mojito in my hand and the music playing, we watched the ship pull away from Barcelona and start our sailing. We enjoyed relaxing, laughing, and dancing on the deck for a while and then headed back to the room to get ready for dinner.

 

 

Jet lag was starting to catch up to us and the kids were exhausted.  My 2-year-old was nodding off while we were sitting on deck 9, so we decided to order them room service and then put them to bed. 

 

Our nanny came at about 7:50 and Sean and I headed to dinner in the main dining room. 

 

This night I had crab cakes, strip steak, and cheesecake.  I know there have been endless threads on the new menus so I won’t go over that, but I will say that the food was “just ok” our entire trip.  It wasn’t inedible and there were some good things, but overall, I could tell that it wasn’t up to par with previous cruises.  That’s my only real comment on the food.

 

After dinner, the jet lag hit me like a freight train, and I went straight to bed.  My sister and husband went to karaoke.

 

The next day would be a sea day and I was ready for a day of rest and relaxation.

I was curious about cruising an interior for a Med. Cruise. What was your biggest factor in deciding on an interior. I was looking at a cruise in the Med. but have always only looked at balcony rooms. I have stayed in interior in the past as well as open view and balcony. Thanks in advance. 

[CynBeth6]

I just got off our cruise yesterday and it ended up they decided we did not need tender tickets for Nice so could get off when they gave the all clear. We took a taxi to Monaco for the day and back. It is about a half hour ride but could be longer with traffic. Maybe skip the bike tour and just do Monaco for the day. We went to the palace and saw the changing of the guard at noon and then went to the oceanographic museum. We are slow so that is all we had time for but there are other attractions as well.

[little britain]

On 7/7/2023 at 8:53 PM, dannysporea said:

Which terminal is Enchantment of the Seas departing from? Is it WTC or the big terminal? Thank you

Barcelona she is docked at Moll Adossat

[Saab4444]

On 7/10/2023 at 7:42 PM, heymonkey89 said:

We are on the same cruise on July 31. I'm a little concerned about the plans I made in Nice now that I've learned it's a tender port and reviewed the tender schedule.

 

We have a bike tour planned for the morning and right after that we hop a train to Monaco. Our return to Nice via train has us arriving in Nice at 6:28 pm.  Last tender is at 7:00pm. Seems a little tight to me. I read the train station is 10 mins from port.

 

Any thoughts? 

The ship tenders in Villefranche and not in Nice, this is about 20 km away from Nice station but your train from Monaco might stop in Villefranche before Nice. 

[heymonkey89]

1 minute ago, Saab4444 said:

The ship tenders in Villefranche and not in Nice, this is about 20 km away from Nice station but your train from Monaco might stop in Villefranche before Nice. 

Oh my, I think you have saved me and my family from a lot of annoyance on our vacation. I didn't realized that. It simply said Nice on our route and on the app it was giving errors for that date with no excursions offered for the longest time. I need to dig back into this. Thank you! 

[hancock]

2 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

The ship tenders in Villefranche and not in Nice, this is about 20 km away from Nice station but your train from Monaco might stop in Villefranche before Nice. 

We were on the Enchantment's TA. While we tendered out in the Villefranche harbor, the tender took us around the corner to Nice.  We did not tender into Villefranche.

[mimmy52]

I am enjoying your review and look forward to more. I think bringing a nanny with you was brilliant.

[wnycruisefam]

Enjoying your trip report, thanks for taking the time to post!  We are on the same cruise in September.  It's interesting to hear what you're doing in each port.  We also have a food tour booked in Genoa.  Wonder if it's the same one?

 

On 7/12/2023 at 4:42 PM, hancock said:

We were on the Enchantment's TA. While we tendered out in the Villefranche harbor, the tender took us around the corner to Nice.  We did not tender into Villefranche.

I'm curious about this.  We have a private tour booked & are meeting the tour in Villefranche.  I sure hope the tender doesn't take us to Nice!

 

[gail-s]

I was on the trip with cynbeth (July 3-10 Barcelona to Rome) and we did go to Villefranche.  I'd check though before booking an outside trip.  The tenders there were the big ones from the port. In Portofino they used the lifeboats.  We had a tour booked through RCL and got off very early (7:30am) and it was fine.  Later in the day they had trouble with the lifeboats and tenders were way behind.  We met some people who missed their privately scheduled tour because of it.  For us Villefranche and Portofino were the only tender ports.  

I agree, I was disappointed in the food in the MDR.  The new menus are lackluster and I felt like I had to try to find something that I liked to eat for dinner.  I hadn't thought we'd eat in Chops at all but we ate there 3 times.  Staff there were fabulous (say hi to Theresa and Ben!) and the filet was cooked perfectly.  We also did the Chef's Table and it was amazing.  DH wanted to do it again and I said no, my stomach couldn't handle all that food twice.  It was so so so so good.  I'm not a crowd or buffet person and I couldn't get out of the Windjammer fast enough.  People coughing and sneezing and not covering their faces.  Being rude and pushing past people.  It did nothing for me. We went in there on day 1 to get something to eat and twice for breakfast and that was way more than enough for me.  I was disappointed in Park Cafe as well.  At night the only thing available was pizza which I suppose is great unless you're lactose intolerant.  I remember always being able to find food on Enchantment years ago and this time we had to go searching for it if you didn't go to the MDR for meals.  There were no snacks anywhere.  I would have killed for pretzels or chips or nuts sitting at the bar.

Speaking of the bar, go to the Schooner Bar and say hi to Nester.  He was fabulous.  It was normally pretty quiet in there and we could always sit and chat.  Had a wonderful time with him and the other bartenders there.  I remember there being more things to do at night.  There was music in the center of the ship and in a couple bars but that was it.  No parties on the pool deck.  The Viking Crown Lounge was empty every time we walked through it.  We only went to the Concierge Lounge once, the first day.  Well, we went up two more times looking for the concierge but it was empty.  Seemed a bit of a waste.  

If you have any questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them for you.  

[wnycruisefam]

gail-s:  Thanks for the tender info!  I hope it works the same for us in Nice/Villefranche.  Our private tour is with another group of 4 from the ship & we are going to try to meet up before the tour & all take the same tender.  In Portofino, we are looking at a ship's tour or just walking around Portofino on our own.

[cuzzoni]

Doing this exact cruise in September, would love to hear how the rest of the ports went. I'm planning to do official RC excursions in the tender ports in France and go off on my own the rest of the way.

[dannysporea]

We will be on the same cruise in September and I wish the OP would come back and finish the report... I was enjoying this report so far, still hoping for some more insights before our cruise. @HWeb13 please come back to us 😄