Enchanted Princess Review WITH PICS - April 20, 2024

[bassmk]

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, bassmk said:

I had the goat cheese souffle, which was about the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten.

I wonder if the goat cheese souffle (which is my favorite thing about Princess) is for Reserve dining only, or whether it's available to mere mortals. I always get two if we are lucky enough to have it on a cruise.

[bassmk]

14 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I wonder if the goat cheese souffle (which is my favorite thing about Princess) is for Reserve dining only, or whether it's available to mere mortals. I always get two if we are lucky enough to have it on a cruise.

I'm almost positive it was on the menu and wasn't one of the specials that day. Next time I will get two for sure! I wanted to lick the plate!

[memoak]

17 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

I wonder if the goat cheese souffle (which is my favorite thing about Princess) is for Reserve dining only, or whether it's available to mere mortals. I always get two if we are lucky enough to have it on a cruise.

It was on the regular menu 2 months ago on the Ruby

[bassmk]

At Sea – Thursday, 4/25:

We were up a 7:00a, had breakfast in the buffet, and then went down to the Piazza. Bob drank espresso from the IC and did some work while I read and watched all the stuff going on. Bob finished up what he was working on and we talked about what we might want to do. We decided we might want to go swimming, so we went back to the cabin to change.

 

We thought the aft pool would be the most fun, but it was pretty full and there were no available chairs. So we went up to the Retreat pool and found some loungers on the upper deck. It was VERY windy, but we were going to try to stick it out. We were rocking and rolling, so the pool looked like a wave pool. I wasn’t interested in dealing with that, but sitting out in the sun felt pretty good. After a while, the wind got to be too much for us, so we went down to the buffet for lunch. I noticed there was a chocolate buffet, and made note of that for later!

 

Around 1:00p, we took some dessert from the chocolate buffet back to the cabin and settled in for some more reading and working for a while and then took a nap. To us, there’s not much better than a good nap on a sea day! Around 4:00p we went back down to the Piazza for coffee and some people watching. We did that for about an hour and a half before going back to the cabin to get ready for formal night dinner.

 

We had dinner in Capri at 6:30p, and I watched my 10 y.o. nephew’s baseball game online while we ate. (Gotta be a good auntie!) The special appetizer tonight was escargot, so Bob of course ordered that while I had a wedge salad. As our entrees, Bob had some kind of fish…I can’t remember what kind! I had the surf and turf. We both really enjoyed them. For dessert Bob had the sugar-free cherry mousse thing, and I had cheesecake and crème brulee.

 

We finished up about 8:00p and decided to sit at the Crown Grill bar for a while. I got a couple of drinks and we sat watching the goings-on and talking. We didn’t hang out for too long for several reasons. The couch smelled like someone’s terrible perfume. It was VERY strong, and it was heavy like patchouli. Absolutely awful. There were people yelling…like they were having an animated conversation and I guess the combination of alcohol and the loud music was causing them to have to yell at each other. Very loud laughing and talking over each other. I’m all for folks having a good time, but it really was kind of over the top. Lastly, the singer in the area that night wasn’t very good. He was playing the guitar and singing, but we didn’t like his style or voice at all. It got to be too much so we wandered around, went over to Crooner’s, thought about finding a spot to sit, but realized maybe we were just overstimulated in general, so we went back to the cabin around 9:00. We watched more Always Sunny and read a little until we went to sleep.

[bassmk]

[bassmk]

Tried to post a video of the wavy pool but I didn't work. 👎

 

Edited May 26 by bassmk
deleted video that didn't post correctly

[bassmk]

At Sea – Friday, 4/26:

We slept in today! We got up around 7:45a, half the day wasted away already! LOL For a change, we decided to have breakfast in the buffet. LOL There was a general knowledge trivia game in Princess Live at 9a, and I had a PITIFUL showing…only 9/20! So shameful. I couldn’t believe it. Do I even know ANYTHING? Is my entire life a lie??? LOL

 

I gathered up the shattered remains of my self-worth and we went down to the Piazza for espresso and reading/scrolling/people watching. In case you hadn’t noticed, we are creatures of habit. The relaxation and lack of schedule was so welcome, too. Our jobs are so stressful and regimented that once we get some downtime, we really take advantage. (Bob couldn’t stay away from work completely, though. His anxiety won’t let him do that!) We sat so long down there that I finished my book and got halfway through the next one! We did take a break during that time to have lunch in the buffet, but we went back down to IC for dessert and more coffee and continued our slothful behavior.

 

It got to be about 3:30, so we decided to go get dressed for dinner and then come back down to hang out until we got hungry. We listened to the band in O’Malley’s again, and the singers in the Piazza. We eventually got hungry enough to go up to Capri. Bob’s appetizer was the seafood medley and the ravioli, I got the crab cake with a poached egg and hollandaise on top (YUM). For the main dishes, I got prime rib, and Bob got the bacon-wrapped meatloaf. We also got the bacon-wrapped shrimp to share. Since it was the last night, they had the Baked Alaska Parade! Always fun. I got the baked Alaska for dessert, Bob got apple pie, and we got something to share…I think it was chocolate mousse cheesecake? Terrible that I can’t remember, but I’ll post a photo. Of course everything was delicious and we were entirely too full. I guess we were trying to make the most of our last night onboard.

 

We got back to the cabin about 8p and started the whole sad business of packing up and getting ready to leave in the morning. We watched the remaining episodes of Always Sunny that were available, then did some reading before going to sleep.

[bassmk]

[bassmk]

Disembarkation – Saturday, 4/27:

We had an alarm set for 6:30a, but we were up at 6a on our own. We did the Walk-off option, carrying all our own luggage, and we were in group C. We were to meet down in Santorini, so after we got dressed and did a last once-over to make sure we didn’t forget anything , we gathered up our luggage and made our way to the Piazza. Bob was on the hunt for coffee, and I don’t remember if he found any. I know I didn't. On our way to meet the group in the Santorini dining room, someone from staff, who was posted outside the elevators to help folks find their way, asked if we were in the Walk-off group. I said yes and he pointed us right to the gangway. We went right on out, and were in line for Lyft by 7:30a. I absolutely couldn’t get any service over in the rideshare area and I was getting super irritated. Disembarkation day is always stressful for me that way. I’m annoyed my vacation is over (LOL) and I just want to teleport home. So I gave up trying and we went over to the cab stand instead.

 

We got to the airport by 8a, got our luggage checked, and immediately found the Centurion lounge. We finally got our coffee and some breakfast, and that helped my mental state immensely. We had about 3 hours to kill, and the lounge was pretty comfortable. About 15 minutes before boarding, we found our way to our gate. The gate area was WAY too small. I was very glad we had access to a lounge because it was crowded, hot, and stuffy at the gate.

 

We had another long stop in Charlotte, and yet again we made use of the Centurion lounge. (Hey, I gotta take advantage of any and everything AmEx wants to offer me!) Both flights went smoothly and were on time. On our plane back to Nashville, there was a sweet little nugget baby, maybe 6 months old, who was UP. SET. It was a tiny plane, and the flight attendant mentioned that he had been flying for 20 solid hours. She paced with him for a minute up and down the aisle, and he’d cry occasionally. It was so pitiful we couldn’t even be annoyed. When he stopped, you could tell it was only bc he wore himself out and dozed off. He’d wake back up and just SCREAM. I felt so bad for him and his poor mama! He was the cutest little thing and I sure hope he slept good that night.

 

We were home by 6:45p, greeted our old blind pup, and I immediately started laundry. LOL We were so offended we had to make our own dinner, and the frozen pizza didn’t come anywhere close to the amazing food we’d had all week.

 

Thoughts and Reflections:

This was our 3^rd cruise on Princess, and our 2^nd on Enchanted. We’ll be back on Enchanted in October for a New England/Canada itinerary, the same cruise we did in 2022. My parents will be with us in October, and they’ll be in A429 like we were this week. I have yet another cruise planned for Enchanted (I can’t help it…that’s the ship they assign to all the itineraries I like!) next May, and we’ll be in the same cabin we had in 2022 and will have in October! Like I said…creatures of habit.

 

We had such a good time on this cruise. We love Princess, it’s so laid-back but with plenty of activities still. The food is great. The amenities are great. We like that there’s fewer kids. I know that might be a controversial Hot Take, but we just like being around adults. Enchanted is a beautiful ship and the layout is nice. It didn’t take long to get used to, as long as I could remember which way I was facing. LOL The staff is amazing, and I can’t say we had any complaints.

 

The first Princess cruise we took was our honeymoon, and we reserved a Sanctuary cabana. That’s where we got hooked on that. I’ll always do that as long as they’re available. We even did it on our New England cruise in 2022, even though it was a bit chilly. They provided blankets and hot cocoa and coffee…it was still so cozy! I highly recommend to anyone wanting a quiet lounge day. Knowing that, I knew I would enjoy the Sanctuary cabana on Princess Cays. They book FAST, so if you book a cruise stopping in Princess Cay and want to try one out, be sure to purchase that on the excursions page right away. (I’ve already done it for our May 2025 cruise!)

 

That’s my review, and I’ll happily give more info if there anything else anyone wants to know! Thanks for reading!

[NRWPA]

Thanks for the great review and it was everything I've experienced on my Enchanted cruises. One hint regarding wifi service once off the ship...I used to have trouble getting service in order to get an Uber/Lyft at the end of the cruise. Some things to remember are to turn off airplane mode, logout of the Princess wifi, then log into the Port Everglades free wifi when you get outside. Since I started remembering to do these three things, I've not had any problem getting Uber app up and running and an Uber driver to pick me up. I hope this helps someone 😉 I'll be back on board in a week!

Edited May 26 by NRWPA

[bassmk]

34 minutes ago, NRWPA said:

Thanks for the great review and it was everything I've experienced on my Enchanted cruises. One hint regarding wifi service once off the ship...I used to have trouble getting service in order to get an Uber/Lyft at the end of the cruise. Some things to remember are to turn off airplane mode, logout of the Princess wifi, then log into the Port Everglades free wifi when you get outside. Since I started remembering to do these three things, I've not had any problem getting Uber app up and running and an Uber driver to pick me up. I hope this helps someone 😉 I'll be back on board in a week!

I tried everything! I had 5G service, even, but I think it was just overloaded. I couldn't get the Lyft app to load. Other apps were working okay, but Lyft just got stuck in that loading phase for me. There were a ton of people in the area trying to get cars, so I'm sure it was just too many. I should have connected to the app before I got over there.

[NRWPA]

23 hours ago, bassmk said:

I tried everything! I had 5G service, even, but I think it was just overloaded. I couldn't get the Lyft app to load. Other apps were working okay, but Lyft just got stuck in that loading phase for me. There were a ton of people in the area trying to get cars, so I'm sure it was just too many. I should have connected to the app before I got over there.

Sorry it didn't help

[suzyed]

On 5/23/2024 at 6:59 PM, bassmk said:

Love your dress, so cute!

[suzyed]

On 5/24/2024 at 12:54 PM, bassmk said:

I'm almost positive it was on the menu and wasn't one of the specials that day. Next time I will get two for sure! I wanted to lick the plate!

I get it every time we sail so it's not just in reserve dining.

[bassmk]

11 hours ago, suzyed said:

Love your dress, so cute!

Thank you! I bought it on sale for Easter 2020 and...well, it got buried at the back of the closet. I found it with the tags still on while packing for this cruise.

[bassmk]

11 hours ago, suzyed said:

I get it every time we sail so it's not just in reserve dining.

I have NO idea how I've missed it on my other sailings! It was one of my favorite things I ate all week.

[Scottdalfonso]

Thank you for this! Sailing on Enchanted for the first time (and first Princess cruise in general) in August so it was nice to see some of the dishes and reviews or areas around the ship.  Oh, and Yes- that WAS Icon in the picture across St Thomas, it's the only one that has the little arch type thing on the back like that as of now. It sure is a monster! 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Great review, thank you! We'll be on Enchanted this Saturday. 🙂

 

I wouldn't leave the ship by 7 am just to sit at the airport for 3 hours. 🙂 We'd have a leisurely breakfast on the ship and then disembark. And we wouldn't bother with self carrying the luggage either. 3 hours is plenty of time not to be in an awful hurry.

[bassmk]

On 5/28/2024 at 9:24 AM, Itchy&Scratchy said:

Great review, thank you! We'll be on Enchanted this Saturday. 🙂

 

I wouldn't leave the ship by 7 am just to sit at the airport for 3 hours. 🙂 We'd have a leisurely breakfast on the ship and then disembark. And we wouldn't bother with self carrying the luggage either. 3 hours is plenty of time not to be in an awful hurry.

Unfortunately, the "walk your own luggage off" options are the early ones. And the way my anxiety is set up...I need to carry my own bags off. 🤣 I'm pretty much a rule-follower, but has anyone had any experience carrying their own bags off and disregarding the assigned meetup times? Like could I just drag my bags up to the buffet and hang out until I'm ready to leave? Is that rude? Does it cause a backup or inconvenience anyone? I'm willing to experiment with that if it's not going to be a nuisance.

 

Also your username is excellent.

[bassmk]

On 5/28/2024 at 8:58 AM, Scottdalfonso said:

Thank you for this! Sailing on Enchanted for the first time (and first Princess cruise in general) in August so it was nice to see some of the dishes and reviews or areas around the ship.  Oh, and Yes- that WAS Icon in the picture across St Thomas, it's the only one that has the little arch type thing on the back like that as of now. It sure is a monster! 

It was HUGE and we were so far away!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, bassmk said:

I need to carry my own bags off.

we tried that once, many years ago, and unfortunately, I hurt my knee badly in the process. So, no, somebody else can get the bags to the terminal.

There are 5 of us, with 4 suitcases and 5 backpacks, we are not lugging them around to the buffet and then to the terminal ourselves, no, thank you. Especially, if we don't need to leave the ship that early. Considering your 3 hour wait at the airport, you didn't have an early flight out, so no need to get off the ship among the first wave, especially in Port Everglades.

 

[BamaVol]

On 5/28/2024 at 9:32 AM, bassmk said:

I have NO idea how I've missed it on my other sailings! It was one of my favorite things I ate all week.

It’s even better when you order two at a time.  I’ve had it as an appetizer and the size is okay.  Mrs BV ordered it as an entree and even with her small appetite, it wasn’t adequate.  But still delicious.

[JamieLogical]

2 hours ago, bassmk said:

Unfortunately, the "walk your own luggage off" options are the early ones. And the way my anxiety is set up...I need to carry my own bags off. 🤣 I'm pretty much a rule-follower, but has anyone had any experience carrying their own bags off and disregarding the assigned meetup times? Like could I just drag my bags up to the buffet and hang out until I'm ready to leave? Is that rude? Does it cause a backup or inconvenience anyone? I'm willing to experiment with that if it's not going to be a nuisance.

 

Also your username is excellent.

 

You can walk your own luggage off the ship any time you want to. I *promise* they won't make you stay on the ship if you miss your "scheduled" walk-off time, no matter how much you might wish they would! The scheduled times for walk-off are the *earliest* times you are allowed to walk off, not the latest times. If I have a later flight, I will literally stay on the ship until the officers start coming around to the lounges and gathering everyone up to kick them off the ship.

 

Edit: I should mention that I am the most rule-abiding rule abider that has ever abided by rules. I promise you that it is not a rule for you to get off the ship during the allotted time. The main thing you need to make sure you don't do is get off the ship before they call your luggage tag number if you have checked your bags because then you will have to loiter in the terminal until your bags are ready to pick up and that does gum up the works. Plus there is usually nowhere to sit inside the terminal while awaiting bags.

 

Edited May 30 by JamieLogical

[bassmk]

22 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

You can walk your own luggage off the ship any time you want to. I *promise* they won't make you stay on the ship if you miss your "scheduled" walk-off time, no matter how much you might wish they would! The scheduled times for walk-off are the *earliest* times you are allowed to walk off, not the latest times. If I have a later flight, I will literally stay on the ship until the officers start coming around to the lounges and gathering everyone up to kick them off the ship.

 

Edit: I should mention that I am the most rule-abiding rule abider that has ever abided by rules. I promise you that it is not a rule for you to get off the ship during the allotted time. The main thing you need to make sure you don't do is get off the ship before they call your luggage tag number if you have checked your bags because then you will have to loiter in the terminal until your bags are ready to pick up and that does gum up the works. Plus there is usually nowhere to sit inside the terminal while awaiting bags.

 

This is excellent, thank you! We usually only have 1 large suitcase plus my backpack, so we wouldn't be *too* in the way I don't think. We could for sure be able to post up somewhere and hang out for a while. Maybe we'll try this next time!