Enchantment - just back

[Nan59]

What a wonderful cruise! It was our 5th(3rd RCCL). We arrived a day early and spent a great day at the Harbor Beach Marriott. A little pricy, but we would highly recommend it.

On Saturday, we took our time in going to the port, but arrived by about noon. Boarding was very easy and we were on the ship by about 12:30. We were told our rooms wouldn't be ready til 1:00, but we went to drop off carry-on and they were ready for us. We had 8088 at the aft. It is a great room with plenty of storage. We had friends in 8086, so we were able to open doors between balconies and make a great party spot for the six families traveling together. Our room steward was Olson. He was always available, kept our room tidy, towels stock and ice bucket full. He was excellent.

Our dining room experience was the best ever. Sean was our head waiter. Much more attentive that I remember any in the past. He joked with our teenagers and they loved him. Our waiter was Prasad and assistant was Jerry. Both were great. They knew our names and preferences by the second night. Our teens never argued about dressing for dinner. Most nights they were first in the dining room. Prasad knew our boys were big eaters and brought extra food and desserts to them each night.

We all loved the solarium. Pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and fries were served there almost around the clock. The shows were above average for a 5-day cruise. Don't miss Beatle Maniacs. They were awesome. The comedians were also above par. The two RC singers and dancers shows were just okay. Above all, Matt Baker is an outstanding cruise director. If he was present, you were in for a good time. Overall, his staff was excellent. They were definitely above the level we've seen on 7 day cruises we've taken.

For ports, we've been to Key West and Cozumel before. No surprises there. Both are great ports for cruise ships. We did the PT boat in Key West and in Cozumel, we shopped and did scuba diving excursion. Both were good. I'll be glad to answer questions on either. Belize was a new port for us. Heed all the warnings. Take a shore excursion, wear bug spray and don't venture into town on your own. Mosquitos bit us as soon as we got off the tender. Not something you want to happen in Central America. I know the cruise lines are searching for new ports, but this might not be a good answer for some. Most excursions were long and the prices seemed considerably higher than in other ports. Some were excellent and some were not so great. In addition, we had to anchor out so far that you could hardly see the shore from the boat. Our advice, if you don't take an excursion, stay on the boat and have an extra sea day.

Overall, we had a fantastic time and are planning on booking a Voyager class ship for spring break next year so we can venture to the eastern Caribbean. The ship is in great condition, the crew is helpful and fun and the food and entertainment were way above average. I'll be happy to answer any specific questions out there.

[sunlovey]

i'm very happy to hear you report that the food was good!

[giggles1972]

hello-
so glad to hear you had a great time....we will be on this ship in sept....i have a few questions about the snorkling/scuba

1. which excursions did you take?
2. did you book thru the ship or an outside vendor?
3. did you enjoy them?

thanks so much. in belize we will be doing the cave tubing thru xstream, but we are still undecided about key west and coz....we were going to do the BOB thing, we i understand that they have cancelled it.

thanks in advance!!

Stacey

1985 M/V Atlantic
1992 R.C. Nordic Empress
1996 Carnival Fantasy
Days remaining till Enchantment of the Sea!!!
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[Daniel1313]

Hi,
I'll be going on the Enchantment in early May. Just wondering if you frequented the casino?? If so, what did you think of it and what kind of games did they offer? Did you have any luck???
Thanks
Dan

Until saiiling on Enchantment of the seas
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[FlorenceItaly]

Nan - Is the Harbor Beach Marriott, Beachfront? Also, what method of booking did you find to be most cost effective? Thank you for any information you can give me.

Great review. Thanks for sharing. We sailed the Enchantment in November 2003, and loved it too!

Marie

HAL - MAASDAM - June 2004/Canada/New England
RCI - Mariner of the Seas,
Sept 2004(CC Group Cruise)

Carnival Miracle -February 2005
RCI Majesty of the Seas - Spring Break, March 2005
Celebrity Mercury, April 2005

[csteinhauser]

Thanks for the great review. I have yet to read anything bad about this ship! I am so looking forward to our cruise in November. I was a little skeptical at first since we've only done the Voyager class but after everything I've read I think we made a good choice. Plus, because we booked early we got a great deal! I checked prices yesterday and if we were to book now our cruise (for 5 of us) would be amost $1000 more than what we paid! I couldn't believe it!

Cindy & Jonathan

Explorer of the Seas 9/21/02
Mariner of the Seas 11/23/03
Enchantment of the Seas 11/22/04
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[Nan59]

To answer questions...
We did excursions in each port. All were through the ship. In Key West we did the PT Boat. It was a great history tour of the port. My husband and son were more into the military aspect of the boat and were a little disappointed. In Cozumel, we shopped on our own and then in the afternoon, my husband and son did the scuba diving excursion through the ship. Cozumel gets such rave reviews about diving that they had high expectations. They dove at the wall. Maybe just the day they went, but they felt diving in Key Largo was much better. No complaints about the excursion. In Belize we did a snorkle excursion through the boat on a catamaran. It was nice nothing spectacular. In the end they dropped us on an island of conch shells to leave our gear. Was very difficult to walk being totally covered with shell pieces. Our boys thought it was "cool" since there were huge conch shells just piled up. In Belize, you need to do some sort of excursion or just stay on the boat. Heard others say positive things about the cave tubing, but you MUST wear bug spray. Mosquitos were in great supply.

As for the Harbor Beach Marriott in Fort Lauderdale, we booked it with reward points so for us it was a free stay. Friends traveling with us called the hotel direct and got a better price than was on the internet. You might be able to bid on some sights. We just didn't go that direction. It is right on the beach...no street to cross. It is an absolutely perfect beach location.

[cruzaholic]

Nan59,

Glad you had a wonderful cruise. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

I see that Matt was the CD. Who was the captain?

Thanks