JamieLogical's Live from the Enchanted Princess 5/4

[happy42cruise]

4 hours ago, gizfish said:

That room looks awesome.  I hope you are not upset that the tub will prevent the intimate relationship you could have had with the shower curtain.  I'm a bit scared for you with regards to the bed.  The woman in the video said it's a princess bed and one thing I do remember about my last princess cruise many years ago was how hard the bed was.  I hope you can report that has changed because that has been a big reason we stopped considering princess.  I bet if you ask your room steward for a lounge, they will accommodate you lol.

I read on a different thread that the bed has a hard side & a soft side so it can be flipped over if you don't care for the side it is currently on.  I've never had an issue with the beds so I can't speak from experience.  I think you can also ask for a topper if you find it's too hard.

[JamieLogical]

7 hours ago, gizfish said:

That room looks awesome.  I hope you are not upset that the tub will prevent the intimate relationship you could have had with the shower curtain.  I'm a bit scared for you with regards to the bed.  The woman in the video said it's a princess bed and one thing I do remember about my last princess cruise many years ago was how hard the bed was.  I hope you can report that has changed because that has been a big reason we stopped considering princess.  I bet if you ask your room steward for a lounge, they will accommodate you lol.

 

I was hoping to avoid another intimate relationship with a shower curtain. Wouldn't want my old shower curtain on the Emerald to get jealous! That's why we were determined to book a mini-suite for this sailing. Even with the tub, the bathrooms in the minisuite still seem really tight to me, but we will see how it works out.

 

I had a coworker go on the Caribbean Princess for her first cruise a couple of weeks ago in a normal balcony and all she could talk about was how tiny the bathroom was and how terrible the shower curtain was. I had tried to warn her ahead of time, but I don't think she believed me about how bad it would be until she saw for herself. I have another coworker doing her first cruise in July to Alaska on (I think?) the Ruby Princess and she is in an inside room with her family of four! I cannot imagine trying to share one of those teeny tiny bathrooms with three other people. I told her the tip about showering at the spa and she is planning to do that and leave the stateroom bathroom to her husband and kids.

[Torfamm]

10 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I was hoping to avoid another intimate relationship with a shower curtain. Wouldn't want my old shower curtain on the Emerald to get jealous! That's why we were determined to book a mini-suite for this sailing. Even with the tub, the bathrooms in the minisuite still seem really tight to me, but we will see how it works out.

 

I had a coworker go on the Caribbean Princess for her first cruise a couple of weeks ago in a normal balcony and all she could talk about was how tiny the bathroom was and how terrible the shower curtain was. I had tried to warn her ahead of time, but I don't think she believed me about how bad it would be until she saw for herself. I have another coworker doing her first cruise in July to Alaska on (I think?) the Ruby Princess and she is in an inside room with her family of four! I cannot imagine trying to share one of those teeny tiny bathrooms with three other people. I told her the tip about showering at the spa and she is planning to do that and leave the stateroom bathroom to her husband and kids.

I know it doesn’t work for you, but the regular showers are okay for lots of people. She may be just fine unless someone actually needs to be in the shower with the kids. I can imagine it being pretty difficult with a toddler who can’t shower alone.

[JamieLogical]

2 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

I know it doesn’t work for you, but the regular showers are okay for lots of people. She may be just fine unless someone actually needs to be in the shower with the kids. I can imagine it being pretty difficult with a toddler who can’t shower alone.

 

Yeah... not many people I know are 5'5" and 120 pounds. I think for those of us who are much bigger than that, the showers simply cannot work. At least on the older ships. It looks like the Royal class ships might have *slightly* bigger and better configured showers?

[Torfamm]

Just now, JamieLogical said:

 

Yeah... not many people I know are 5'5" and 120 pounds. I think for those of us who are much bigger than that, the showers simply cannot work. At least on the older ships. It looks like the Royal class ships might have *slightly* bigger and better configured showers?

I can’t say I notice a difference in the size of the showers between the ships but the cloth shower curtains are much better than the plastic ones were.
 

As for really tall people, I absolutely understand. A close friend is 6’7” and really doesn’t fit well in those showers. He only sails in mini-suites and up over it.  
 

 

[JamieLogical]

Just now, Torfamm said:

I can’t say I notice a difference in the size of the showers between the ships but the cloth shower curtains are much better than the plastic ones were.
 

As for really tall people, I absolutely understand. A close friend is 6’7” and really doesn’t fit well in those showers. He only sails in mini-suites and up over it.  
 

 

 

Trust me, it's an issue for wide people two. Here is a picture of me from our cruise in February. I am VERY wide:

 

 

My husband is a little over 6' and he hit his head on the shower head in his first shower attempt on the Emerald. Fortunately, it looks like the Royal class ships have adjustable height shower heads instead of fixed shower heads, so that shouldn't be as much of an issue for him on the Enchanted.

[JamieLogical]

9 Days to Go! We will be flying down to FLL a week from tomorrow! As I mentioned, we got our medallions yesterday. Now we just need to not lose them before the trip and remember to pack them! I also printed out our luggage tags last night, so it is definitely getting real!

 

I reviewed and revised my packing list yesterday as well. I didn't find anything on there that I still need to acquire before we leave, since we bought most of our travel supplies when we did grocery shopping this past weekend. I do have a prescription I need to refill next week, but that shouldn't be a major issue.

 

It feels weird going on a 7-day cruise. Most of our cruises of late have been 11-12 days. I am sure I am going to end up overpacking because my standard cruise packing list includes more than I will probably need for 7 days. We are flying down the night before and we are staying with friends in NYC for two nights on our way home. So the whole trip will actually be 10 days, but packing for those two days in NYC is different from packing for two days on a cruise. Also, we aren't flying first class this time, so need to be a bit mindful of packing so we can get away with only checking one bag between us.

 

Edited April 25 by JamieLogical

[Crown Cruiser]

Don't you need to purchase a pass to the Enclave or have a spa service in order to use the showers in the spa?  Otherwise it seems like everyone would go down there to shower.

[JamieLogical]

8 minutes ago, Crown Cruiser said:

Don't you need to purchase a pass to the Enclave or have a spa service in order to use the showers in the spa?  Otherwise it seems like everyone would go down there to shower.

 

My understanding is that it is free so people who use the fitness center can access the changing rooms/showers. Maybe it depends on the ship since I know that on some ships, the fitness center and spa are not lumped together.

 

Just checked the deck plans for the Enchanted, since the Fitness Center is on deck 17 and the spa is all the way down on deck 5. It does show changing rooms available in the fitness center, but not sure if those include showers.

 

On the Ruby, which is the one my coworker is on, the changing rooms are shared by the spa an fitness center, so I am sure those have showers.

 

Edited April 25 by JamieLogical

[dides]

27 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

Just checked the deck plans for the Enchanted, since the Fitness Center is on deck 17 and the spa is all the way down on deck 5. It does show changing rooms available in the fitness center, but not sure if those include showers.

 

 

The fitness center does include 2 showers each for women and men on Royal Class ships - here are pics from Sky Princess to give you an idea (one is accessible):

 

 

Edited April 25 by dides

[JamieLogical]

7 minutes ago, dides said:

The fitness center does include 2 showers each for women and men on Royal Class ships - here are pics from Sky Princess to give you an idea (one is accessible):

 

 

 

I will have to keep that in mind if I ever end up back in a Balcony or below and don't have the tub/shower combo.

[Crown Cruiser]

Thanks for that info.  I wasn’t thinking gym, I was thinking spa.

[EDVM96]

9 hours ago, Crown Cruiser said:

Don't you need to purchase a pass to the Enclave or have a spa service in order to use the showers in the spa?

Of course. They give you a door opener at the registration on deck 6. You can't get in without.

[Jim and Monika]

Looking forward to your review. We will be on the Enchanted next April, sailing Princess for the first time in many years.

[karatemom2]

14 hours ago, Torfamm said:

I can’t say I notice a difference in the size of the showers between the ships but the cloth shower curtains are much better than the plastic ones were.
 

As for really tall people, I absolutely understand. A close friend is 6’7” and really doesn’t fit well in those showers. He only sails in mini-suites and up over it.  
 

 

Actually, my husband is 6’7” and he much prefers the showers in the regular cabins as opposed to mini suites. What many people fail to account for is the fact that the tub shower actually raises the shower flooring considerably higher then the standard shower which is basically flush with the bathroom floor. However, the shower heads are the same height placement in the bath showers in the mini suites as they are in the standard room showers. So ultimately he has less headroom under the shower head in mini suites. Trust me when I say he notices these things and I have spent our entire married lives telling him to watch his head and looking for ways to accommodate his height. It’s challenging, but he has never had an issue with the shower curtain or overall shower situation in our regular rooms on Princess. Now if the water pressure is bad - then he has an issue!

[Anastas617]

Looking forward to following along @JamieLogical. I have three Princess sailings coming up in 2024 on Discovery, Emerald and Sun. I appreciate your MSC reports, so I'm definitely interested to hear your takes on Princess. My first cruise was on CB last April and I quite enjoyed it, but it seems like forever that I have been waiting to go back on Princess since these next two have been booked since last summer.

 

I'll also check out your Emerald report since I'm taking that out of Boston in July. I've been looking forward to actually sailing out of my home port.

[JamieLogical]

6 hours ago, Anastas617 said:

Looking forward to following along @JamieLogical. I have three Princess sailings coming up in 2024 on Discovery, Emerald and Sun. I appreciate your MSC reports, so I'm definitely interested to hear your takes on Princess. My first cruise was on CB last April and I quite enjoyed it, but it seems like forever that I have been waiting to go back on Princess since these next two have been booked since last summer.

 

I'll also check out your Emerald report since I'm taking that out of Boston in July. I've been looking forward to actually sailing out of my home port.

 

All I can say is that I hope things have DRASTICALLY improved on the Emerald since I sailed her so you can have a good cruise.

[JamieLogical]

Not much news on cruise progress this morning. I got in touch with our petsitter last night to make sure she is still able to check in on the cats and lizards. My husband set out his suitcases last night. He always gets them out a week or so ahead of our trips as a "warning" to the cats that we will be leaving soon. I don't know whether or not they comprehend it (he insists they do), but they seem to like to have some new and different surfaces to lay on for the week...

[Treasure Hunter]

Bid a small amount( you never know). We love Reserve (club class) because of the anytime no reservations superior service dining. 

[JamieLogical]

1 minute ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Bid a small amount( you never know). We love Reserve (club class) because of the anytime no reservations superior service dining. 

 

I did go ahead and rebid. I don't have high hopes of actually getting upgraded, of course, but it would be nice to have the better room layout, wrap-around balcony, and Reserve class perks.

[Treasure Hunter]

👍

[Mike A]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

I did go ahead and rebid. I don't have high hopes of actually getting upgraded, of course, but it would be nice to have the better room layout, wrap-around balcony, and Reserve class perks.

@JamieLogical I hope you get it. As I stated in post #23, M-L 107&108 are the absolutely best Mini-Suite's on any if the Royal Class ships. Between the HUGE balcony, and spacious separate Bedroom-Living Room, there is nothing like it. Basically, getting a Suite for the price of a Reserve Mini.

Edited April 26 by Mike A

[happy42cruise]

You can ask for a hand held shower head from your cabin steward.

[JamieLogical]

One week to go!!!! I made zero progress on cruise prep last night other than to help my husband flesh out his packing list a bit.

 

His new travel router arrived this morning. If we go on our August sailings he will need to work from the ship. His employer has a VPN that cannot be accessed from foreign IP addresses. So he would be unable to simply connect to his company's VPN from the ships's wifi. In order to do that, he basically needs to double-up on the VPN-ing. This router was recommended by his boss who travels internationally a lot. It allows him to connect to a personal VPN like Nord VPN or OpenVPN and then connect from THAT to his company's VPN. We want to test it all out on this sailing to make sure it works before making final payment on the August cruise.

[doghog]

On 4/25/2024 at 9:35 PM, karatemom2 said:

Actually, my husband is 6’7” and he much prefers the showers in the regular cabins as opposed to mini suites. What many people fail to account for is the fact that the tub shower actually raises the shower flooring considerably higher then the standard shower which is basically flush with the bathroom floor. However, the shower heads are the same height placement in the bath showers in the mini suites as they are in the standard room showers. So ultimately he has less headroom under the shower head in mini suites. Trust me when I say he notices these things and I have spent our entire married lives telling him to watch his head and looking for ways to accommodate his height. It’s challenging, but he has never had an issue with the shower curtain or overall shower situation in our regular rooms on Princess. Now if the water pressure is bad - then he has an issue!

I like using the showers in the mens change room in the fitness center and in the spa. Huge showers and huge shower heads. We were surprised that the Enchanted had a shower curtain instead of a door in the cabin shower. Standard balcony. Never an issue.