"Live" Enchanted Princess, 26 Days, Nov 12th to Dec 8th, Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale (+ Madrid Pre-Cruise)

[LACruiser88]

 

Next week we will be leaving for our pre-cruise trip to Madrid prior to sailing on the Enchanted Princess from Barcelona.  We booked our Business Class flight via EZair on Air France, LAX>Paris>Madrid.  EZair had the lowest BC fares by far!  We booked our return non-stop flight, Miami>LAX, directly via American Airlines.

 

This will be my first time in Madrid.  Debbie visited Madrid during her three-month long 18th birthday Europe trip.  That was many moons ago and she is curious to see how much of the city she remembers.                 

 

We will be staying at a Hyatt Hotel in the city center.  As a Cuban-born Spanish speaker we will not have any language difficulties in Spain.  While in Madrid, we have booked an "Ultimate Spanish Cuisine" 4-hour walking (and eating!) tour with "DevourTours.com"  We also plan to do a couple of day trips via train to Segovia and Valencia.  We have been to Valencia on a couple of occasions and really loved the city.

 

After seven nights we will fly to Barcelona via Iberia Airlines on the morning of embarkation.  We booked this flight with our Amex points.  We have spent LOTS of time in Barcelona and feel very comfortable with the 1 hr & 20 min flight on embarkation day (embarkation is from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm).  Iberia has many flights throughout the day from Madrid to Barcelona. 

 

We have arranged for a car service to pick us up at the airport and take us to the ship.  We will be using the same car service in Madrid.  As a side note, we use the same car service (www.Blacklane.com) worldwide.  

 

We booked our cruise as a 26-day voyage.  The cruise was also available to book as an 11-day and 15-day back-to-back voyage.  After evaluating the fares and all of the OBC scenarios, it was financially advantageous for us to book this cruise as one voyage.

 

We are in a mid-forward mini-suite on the Riviera Deck.  This is a location that we have really enjoyed on previous cruises on Royal Class ships.  This will be our first time on the Enchanted Princess.  We booked with the Princess Plus Package, which for us saves us a ton of $$$!

 

We have only a couple of pre-planned excursions for this voyage.  We were on the Regal Princess last year at this same time for 37 days and visited many of the same ports.  This will be our 12th westbound transatlantic crossing.  We are not fans of excursion groups and prefer to wing-it on our own.

 

In Toulon we have arranged for a private tour for the day to St. Tropez and a couple of wineries in the Provence sub-region of Bandol (known for their Rose wines).  We are using the same fantastic guide we used last year for a tour of Marseille. 

 

In Naples we will be doing the Naples Underground Tour for the first time.  Having been to Naples many times over the years, we had never heard of this tour.  We were told about it last year on the Regal Princess by our good friend, Maitre'd Nicola Furlan.  Nicola transferred to the Enchanted from the Regal on Oct 8th and will be onboard until January.  It will be fantastic cruising with him again! 

 

Below is a brief description of the tour:

 

The term underground Naples indicates the dense and complex network of tunnels and cavities, which are found in the Neapolitan subsoil and which form a real city that follows, in negative, the surface city. The underground city extends under the entire historical centre, linked to it are myths and legends still alive today in the collective imagination of the Neapolitans. The galleries underlying Naples have been used in various ways over the centuries. Born following the extraction of tuff for the construction of the city, they were then used as an aqueduct and as a refuge during the Second World War.

 

Descend with us into the bowels of the city to discover its history and mysteries through the most fascinating underground tour of Naples .

 

The guided tour is suitable for everyone and is particularly appreciated by children. It is a real 2400-year journey through time that begins in one of the alleys of the Spanish quarters, near Piazza del Plebiscito , and ends in Via Chiaia, a few steps from the meeting point in Piazza Trieste e Trento .

 

In Genoa we will be visiting with a friend that lives in the city.

 

And there will be shopping, LOTS of shopping!  I think Debbie knows the location of all the Zara and H&M stores throughout Europe.  She tells me that the European stores have different items than what we have at home.  Who am I to argue with a professional shopper?

 

We always look forward to strolling through Rome, Florence, Naples and several of the other ports on this itinerary.  We usually take trains, local buses or Uber/taxis to reach our destinations.  Along the way we will pick-up local wines to bring back to the ship.  Our cabin usually ends up looking like a Total Wines store!

 

We are a little bummed that our day in Corfu will be on a Sunday.  We were in Corfu last year, also on a Sunday, and just about everything was closed.  It would be great if the cruise lines avoided European ports on Sundays!

 

We are very excited to see our dear friend (and former Maitre'd), Carlos Justina, on this cruise.  Carlos is currently the F&B Director onboard the Enchanted Princess.  We have known Carlos over 20 years and last saw him several years ago when we were hosted at his home in Portugal.  Carlos' wife and youngest daughter will be boarding with us in Barcelona.  They will remain onboard until our last European port of Madiera.

 

During the past several weeks, we have had our Flu and RSV vaccines, latest Covid boosters and have our Paxlovid prescriptions.  We are also packing a good supply of Covid tests.  We are eager and ready to go!

 

Feel free to ask questions and I will try my best to provide answers.  I will usually post the "Princess Event Listings" on the daily.   

 

To our fellow passengers, I encourage you to add your experiences, observations, and answer questions on this blog as we all have different perspectives and experiences.

 

Cheers!

Rafael

  

 

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Sun. Nov 12	Barcelona, Spain		07:00 pm
Mon, Nov 13	Toulon/Provence (La Seyne), France	08:00 am	06:00 pm
Tue, Nov 14	Genoa, Italy	07:00 am	07:00 pm
Wed, Nov 15	Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy	07:00 am	07:00 pm
Thu, Nov 16	At Sea
Fri, Nov 17	At Sea
Sat, Nov 18	Kotor, Montenegro	07:00 am	06:00 pm
Sun, Nov 1	Corfu, Greece	09:00 am	10:00 pm
Mon, Nov 20	At Sea
Tue, Nov 21	Sicily (Messina), Italy	08:00 am	06:00 pm
Wed, Nov 22	Naples, Italy (for Capri & Pompeii)	07:00 am	07:00 pm
Thu, Nov 23	Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy	05:00 am	07:00 pm
Fri, Nov 24	Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy	07:00 am	07:00 pm
Sat, Nov 25	Corsica (Ajaccio), France	07:00 am	05:00 pm
Sun, Nov 26	At Sea
Mon, Nov 27	Gibraltar	09:00 am	06:00 pm
Tue, Nov 28	At Sea
Wed, Nov 29	Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Spain	08:00 am	05:00 pm
Thu, Nov 30	Madeira (Funchal), Portugal	08:00 am	05:00 pm
Fri, Dec 1	At Sea
Sat, Dec 2	At Sea
Sun, Dec 3	At Sea
Mon, Dec 4	At Sea
Tue, Dec 5	At Sea
Wed, Dec 6	At Sea
Thu, Dec 7	At Sea
Fri, Dec 8	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida	05:00 am

 

 

 

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by LACruiser88

[Kmkub]

We'll be joining in Civitavecchia. I was thinking about doing one of these, but I'll just hang out here, instead.

 

See you soon!

 

 

[fannym123]

What a fantastic itineraries! Madrid has so much to offer. Wishing you & Debbie a safe & wonderful trip! 😀🥰 We'll join you on the Transatlantic Cruise in Rome. 

[jwattle]

Following your adventures!

[PacnGoNow]

We really enjoyed the Enchanted this March.  We felt they have one of the very best PCL crews!

 

Enjoy every minute.

 

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, jwattle said:

Following your adventures!

I didn't forget that you guys were originally booked on this cruise.  We'll miss cruising with you two!  🍷🍷🍷

[hllwdcruiser]

We had our first transatlantic booked pre covid but then life got in the way and we had to cancel. We had planned a 2 week land vacation in the Uk and Italy and then we were going to sail back from Civitavecchia to our home port in Fort Lauderdale. It looks like we may not be able to do this bucket list trip for another year or two and until then I can only live vicariously through these live reviews. So thank you and I'll be following along! We'll be boarding the Enchanted for a 10 day on the day you disembark.

[JoseyP]

Thanks for the good information.  I will be on the trip with you, and hope to meet at meet and greet. I leave Nov 5 for 6 days in Barcelona beforehand.. This will be my 5th Transatlantic, but by far the longest cruise.  Still getting ready for the adventure.

 

joseyP

[Kmkub]

44 minutes ago, hllwdcruiser said:

We had our first transatlantic booked pre covid but then life got in the way and we had to cancel. We had planned a 2 week land vacation in the Uk and Italy and then we were going to sail back from Civitavecchia to our home port in Fort Lauderdale. It looks like we may not be able to do this bucket list trip for another year or two and until then I can only live vicariously through these live reviews. So thank you and I'll be following along! We'll be boarding the Enchanted for a 10 day on the day you disembark.

This is a big bucket list item for me. We had to cancel the first one we had scheduled, because life got in the way. I feel for you! Your consolation prize is a pretty darned good one, though!! The Enchanted is beautiful. We can’t wait to get back to her.

[LACruiser88]

Looks like our Medallions were shipped yesterday.  Hopefully, they will arrive before we leave home next week.  If not, it's not a big deal.

 

 

Great news - your OceanMedallion™ for your upcoming Princess MedallionClass™ vacation is on its way. Please keep the information below as your receipt. Please be sure to wear your Medallion® device to your port of embarkation to allow for an expedited, contactless arrival experience. ORDER DETAILS Your order number is OCEAN-XXXXXXX.

Complimentary Medallion® Device 0.00   Complimentary Lanyard 0.00   Complimentary Lanyard 0.00   Complimentary Medallion® Device 0.00

Subtotal: 0.00       Shipping: 0.00       Sales Tax: 0.00       Total Sale: 0.00

[hllwdcruiser]

5 hours ago, Kmkub said:

This is a big bucket list item for me. We had to cancel the first one we had scheduled, because life got in the way. I feel for you! Your consolation prize is a pretty darned good one, though!! The Enchanted is beautiful. We can’t wait to get back to her.

I can't wait to hear your impressions, especially on all those days at sea and also because you and I have a similar sailing history.
This is our second time on the Enchanted although the itinerary is a little different. We are going mostly for the ship experience. It's been a tough couple of years and we need some Princess coddling!  

[jwattle]

7 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

I didn't forget that you guys were originally booked on this cruise.  We'll miss cruising with you two!  🍷🍷🍷

We'll be thinking about y'all and following you! We leave in a week for our switched-out trip! We'll be trading "Live-froms" 🥂🥂🥂

[nv2hogs]

I really like your plans. Having been all over Europe since I lived in Vienna for so long, I have never heard of the Tunnels in Naples. We have been in Naples so many times now that we are just walking around and maybe finding things we haven't seen yet. I have to see about that excursion if there is something private or on the port when we get there.  We also have done several T/A's ( 8 or 9?) and we loved it because of the sea days. Would love to go back to Madrid one of those days, its been years.....have a safe flight and we see you soon

 

another day walking, eating and doing things..

 

Margarete and Mike

[LACruiser88]

It is going to be chilly for our week in Madrid.  At least the rain situation looks better, it has been raining all of this week.

 

[Marshyone]

On 10/25/2023 at 9:42 AM, LACruiser88 said:

 

Next week we will be leaving for our pre-cruise trip to Madrid prior to sailing on the Enchanted Princess from Barcelona.  We booked our Business Class flight via EZair on Air France, LAX>Paris>Madrid.  EZair had the lowest BC fares by far!  We booked our return non-stop flight, Miami>LAX, directly via American Airlines.

 

This will be my first time in Madrid.  Debbie visited Madrid during her three-month long 18th birthday Europe trip.  That was many moons ago and she is curious to see how much of the city she remembers.                 

 

We will be staying at a Hyatt Hotel in the city center.  As a Cuban-born Spanish speaker we will not have any language difficulties in Spain.  While in Madrid, we have booked an "Ultimate Spanish Cuisine" 4-hour walking (and eating!) tour with "DevourTours.com"  We also plan to do a couple of day trips via train to Segovia and Valencia.  We have been to Valencia on a couple of occasions and really loved the city.

 

After seven nights we will fly to Barcelona via Iberia Airlines on the morning of embarkation.  We booked this flight with our Amex points.  We have spent LOTS of time in Barcelona and feel very comfortable with the 1 hr & 20 min flight on embarkation day (embarkation is from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm).  Iberia has many flights throughout the day from Madrid to Barcelona. 

 

We have arranged for a car service to pick us up at the airport and take us to the ship.  We will be using the same car service in Madrid.  As a side note, we use the same car service (www.Blacklane.com) worldwide.  

 

We booked our cruise as a 26-day voyage.  The cruise was also available to book as an 11-day and 15-day back-to-back voyage.  After evaluating the fares and all of the OBC scenarios, it was financially advantageous for us to book this cruise as one voyage.

 

We are in a mid-forward mini-suite on the Riviera Deck.  This is a location that we have really enjoyed on previous cruises on Royal Class ships.  This will be our first time on the Enchanted Princess.  We booked with the Princess Plus Package, which for us saves us a ton of $$$!

 

We have only a couple of pre-planned excursions for this voyage.  We were on the Regal Princess last year at this same time for 37 days and visited many of the same ports.  This will be our 12th westbound transatlantic crossing.  We are not fans of excursion groups and prefer to wing-it on our own.

 

In Toulon we have arranged for a private tour for the day to St. Tropez and a couple of wineries in the Provence sub-region of Bandol (known for their Rose wines).  We are using the same fantastic guide we used last year for a tour of Marseille. 

 

In Naples we will be doing the Naples Underground Tour for the first time.  Having been to Naples many times over the years, we had never heard of this tour.  We were told about it last year on the Regal Princess by our good friend, Maitre'd Nicola Furlan.  Nicola transferred to the Enchanted from the Regal on Oct 8th and will be onboard until January.  It will be fantastic cruising with him again! 

 

Below is a brief description of the tour:

 

The term underground Naples indicates the dense and complex network of tunnels and cavities, which are found in the Neapolitan subsoil and which form a real city that follows, in negative, the surface city. The underground city extends under the entire historical centre, linked to it are myths and legends still alive today in the collective imagination of the Neapolitans. The galleries underlying Naples have been used in various ways over the centuries. Born following the extraction of tuff for the construction of the city, they were then used as an aqueduct and as a refuge during the Second World War.

 

Descend with us into the bowels of the city to discover its history and mysteries through the most fascinating underground tour of Naples .

 

The guided tour is suitable for everyone and is particularly appreciated by children. It is a real 2400-year journey through time that begins in one of the alleys of the Spanish quarters, near Piazza del Plebiscito , and ends in Via Chiaia, a few steps from the meeting point in Piazza Trieste e Trento .

 

In Genoa we will be visiting with a friend that lives in the city.

 

And there will be shopping, LOTS of shopping!  I think Debbie knows the location of all the Zara and H&M stores throughout Europe.  She tells me that the European stores have different items than what we have at home.  Who am I to argue with a professional shopper?

 

We always look forward to strolling through Rome, Florence, Naples and several of the other ports on this itinerary.  We usually take trains, local buses or Uber/taxis to reach our destinations.  Along the way we will pick-up local wines to bring back to the ship.  Our cabin usually ends up looking like a Total Wines store!

 

We are a little bummed that our day in Corfu will be on a Sunday.  We were in Corfu last year, also on a Sunday, and just about everything was closed.  It would be great if the cruise lines avoided European ports on Sundays!

 

We are very excited to see our dear friend (and former Maitre'd), Carlos Justina, on this cruise.  Carlos is currently the F&B Director onboard the Enchanted Princess.  We have known Carlos over 20 years and last saw him several years ago when we were hosted at his home in Portugal.  Carlos' wife and youngest daughter will be boarding with us in Barcelona.  They will remain onboard until our last European port of Madiera.

 

During the past several weeks, we have had our Flu and RSV vaccines, latest Covid boosters and have our Paxlovid prescriptions.  We are also packing a good supply of Covid tests.  We are eager and ready to go!

 

Feel free to ask questions and I will try my best to provide answers.  I will usually post the "Princess Event Listings" on the daily.   

 

To our fellow passengers, I encourage you to add your experiences, observations, and answer questions on this blog as we all have different perspectives and experiences.

 

Cheers!

Rafael

  

 

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Sun. Nov 12	Barcelona, Spain		07:00 pm
Mon, Nov 13	Toulon/Provence (La Seyne), France	08:00 am	06:00 pm
Tue, Nov 14	Genoa, Italy	07:00 am	07:00 pm
Wed, Nov 15	Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy	07:00 am	07:00 pm
Thu, Nov 16	At Sea
Fri, Nov 17	At Sea
Sat, Nov 18	Kotor, Montenegro	07:00 am	06:00 pm
Sun, Nov 1	Corfu, Greece	09:00 am	10:00 pm
Mon, Nov 20	At Sea
Tue, Nov 21	Sicily (Messina), Italy	08:00 am	06:00 pm
Wed, Nov 22	Naples, Italy (for Capri & Pompeii)	07:00 am	07:00 pm
Thu, Nov 23	Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy	05:00 am	07:00 pm
Fri, Nov 24	Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy	07:00 am	07:00 pm
Sat, Nov 25	Corsica (Ajaccio), France	07:00 am	05:00 pm
Sun, Nov 26	At Sea
Mon, Nov 27	Gibraltar	09:00 am	06:00 pm
Tue, Nov 28	At Sea
Wed, Nov 29	Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Spain	08:00 am	05:00 pm
Thu, Nov 30	Madeira (Funchal), Portugal	08:00 am	05:00 pm
Fri, Dec 1	At Sea
Sat, Dec 2	At Sea
Sun, Dec 3	At Sea
Mon, Dec 4	At Sea
Tue, Dec 5	At Sea
Wed, Dec 6	At Sea
Thu, Dec 7	At Sea
Fri, Dec 8	Ft. Lauderdale, Florida	05:00 am

 

 

 

 

 

[Marshyone]

HI YOU TWO.  LOVED YOUR POST AND,  DEBBIE I'M WITH YOU.  DISCOVERED ZARA SOME

25 PLUS YEARS AGO IN BARCELONA.  STILL MY FAVORITE.  SEE YOU BOTH SOON.  ENJOY THE TIME IN MADRID.  MARCIA

[LACruiser88]

21 minutes ago, Marshyone said:

HI YOU TWO.  LOVED YOUR POST AND,  DEBBIE I'M WITH YOU.  DISCOVERED ZARA SOME

25 PLUS YEARS AGO IN BARCELONA.  STILL MY FAVORITE.  SEE YOU BOTH SOON.  ENJOY THE TIME IN MADRID.  MARCIA

Hi Marcia, Debbie says hello!  See you soon...

[LACruiser88]

We are still a week away before leaving for Madrid and Debbie has clothes and "stuff" all over the house.  We will be checking 4 bags and will have a carry-on bag and a small backpack.

 

Debbie loves her shoes and likes to have outfit "options" (and jewelry options too!)  🤷‍♂️

 

Luckily, we are flying BC and we get to check 4 bags at no extra cost!  Happy wife, happy me! 🤣

 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by LACruiser88

[LACruiser88]

Our Medallions have arrived!

 

[jwattle]

And the adventure begins! 🥂😊

[Ombud]

Eagerly waiting for my medallion.  Still says that its ordered / shipped to home. Hope it stays like that. 

 

Question: I've heard that some ships have Gigi pizza by the slice in marketplace.  If you have time can you find out?? Otherwise I'll just go to Gigis. Yes I need pizza with a crispy crust

[LACruiser88]

3 hours ago, Ombud said:

Eagerly waiting for my medallion.  Still says that its ordered / shipped to home. Hope it stays like that. 

 

Question: I've heard that some ships have Gigi pizza by the slice in marketplace.  If you have time can you find out?? Otherwise I'll just go to Gigis. Yes I need pizza with a crispy crust

I'll check that out once we are onboard.

[Kmkub]

19 hours ago, Ombud said:

Eagerly waiting for my medallion.  Still says that its ordered / shipped to home. Hope it stays like that. 

 

Question: I've heard that some ships have Gigi pizza by the slice in marketplace.  If you have time can you find out?? Otherwise I'll just go to Gigis. Yes I need pizza with a crispy crust

Me too. I’m from Chicago. What’s your reason?

[Ombud]

5 hours ago, Kmkub said:

Me too. I’m from Chicago. What’s your reason?

Thats the only kind I've ever had here. And yes, Chicago knows how to make a good pizza

[LACruiser88]

Stateroom Upgrade Bids:  Several folks on the roll call for the first segment of our voyage have reported successful bids from a balcony to a mini-suite over the past two days. 

 

Hopefully, there are more to come!