Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas – renovated and looking good!
Written: Jun 23 '06 (Updated Jun 23 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great staff, quality entertainment
Cons: it is never long enough
The Bottom Line: I will definitely go again, because it was everything I expected, good food, good company, good service and good fun!
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| HJS33's Full Review: Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas |
www.rccl.com
Background
After taking a NIGHTMARE cruise on Royal Caribbean last January (2005), I was not very encouraged to take another cruise with them (or any cruise for that matter). Since a bunch of my family spent most of the nightmare cruise quarantined to their cabins (yay for the Norwalk virus), Royal Caribbean offered them $$ off toward a future cruise, and a couple of them wanted to cash in on that. After winning a cruise on another cruise line (March 2005) and having a fantastic time, I was a bit more willing to try again; plus, it was going to allow some quality time with my mom.
Thus began the planning for a new cruise. The itinerary (5 day Western Caribbean cruise with stops in Key West, Cozumel & Belize) was picked and the cruisers signed up. It turned out to be an all-girl extravaganza with 7 of us (me, my mom, my aunt and 4 cousins) enjoying it aboard The Enchantment of the Sea.
Booking the cruise was another story, and I'll tell you about my icruise.com experience at another time, but let me just give you the heads up to AVOID them at all costs. There were multiple problems with them and I would not want anyone else to end up in that same situation. Cheaper is not always better; the experience was pure stress!
Now on to the good part
the cruise!
Pre-Cruise
We flew into Fort Lauderdale the night before the cruise. I have heard various horror stories about people having plane problems and missing their cruise, etc., so I wanted to make sure that we were early. Plus, the cruise departed on Monday, so this gave us one more day of vacation in warm weather! We stayed at an AmeriSuites, which was not luxurious, but did the job (feel free to check out my review if you want details).
Boarding
The pier was nothing special. I remember feeling like the security at Port Everglades was not as hard core as when we cruised out of the Port by Cape Canaveral, but I never felt unsafe. As soon as the shuttle dropped us off, there were attendants right there to take our luggage. Now, if you book through Royal Caribbean directly, you get a nice big book with all your papers and information in it sent to your house. In this book there are luggage tags, so you can put these right on your bags yourself and give them to one of the attendants. Easy as pie. I think that some other cruise booking companies do the same, but if you do not have your tags, like in my case, they have blank tags that you can fill out and put on your bags. We tipped the luggage attendants and then noticed later, as we walked past the building that there were signs telling us that tipping was not necessary as they were salaried employees, or something of the like. I just find it kind of odd that the signs are in such an awkward place, and pretty much cannot be read until after the deed is done.
Just a side note, before you give all your luggage away to the attendants, you probably want to make sure that you carry on some personal items with you, like perhaps a bathing suit, your medicines and/or a change of clothing, because sometimes you will not get the rest of your luggage until later that evening. Should you want to swim during the day, you will have the suit, sunscreen, etc. with you.
Onward toward the sign in process before boarding the ship. Once inside, they ask you to have the documents you need with you. As of the end of this year (2006), the laws regarding documentation to go to anywhere outside of the U.S. has changed (yes, even Mexico and Canada); you will have to have a passport. Royal Caribbean's website has a nice little area under Before You Board called What To Know Before You Go that explains most of what you need to know before leaving for your trip, including how much time you should allow to board the ship, etc. Also, Royal Caribbean's website has a fast and easy way to fill out the documentation you will need when you board the ship online, before you even get to the boat. I highly recommend using the online process.
Back to the boarding process. Alright, so you stand on line (and if you are a higher level Crown and Anchor society member, you get to go to a special line that seems to be a bit faster). Once to the front of the line, they ask for your seapass documentation and then all they do is confirm your credit card (or whatever you are using to charge things to while onboard (you can use cash if you want) and off you go.
Basically, there is no money exchange onboard the Enchantment of the Seas or any Royal Caribbean cruise ships that I know of or most cruise ships for that matter. Everything is charged to your seapass card, which also serves as the key to your room. At the end of the cruise, you receive an itemized bill and whatever amount that has accumulated gets charged to your credit card (or the money is taken from the cash you leave and you get the rest back). If you are not careful, you can easily rack up a lot of charges, but it does make everything a bit easier.
Now you are almost onboard, but of course, you need to get your picture taken. Have I mentioned you get your picture taken a lot? When you first get on the ship. Whenever you are at a port. At dinner. Before dinner. You can buy these shots in the picture gallery onboard. They are expensive, but the quality is generally pretty good, and if you do not like them, you do not need to buy them.
So, they take your picture in front of a sign, usually a welcome sign that has the name of the ship on it. Then you stand in line again and get another picture taken, but this one is being attached to your seapass card. Now you are free to get on the ship!
Overall, it is pretty quick. I think of all the cruises I have taken, which is 5 now, this one was the fastest, or at least it felt that way.
First Impression
When you walk on the ship, the first thing you see is the Centrum, which is three or four stories of open space decorated with artwork, marble staircases, glass elevators, a lounge with a bunch of chairs, all very bright and welcoming. Definitely a good impression. Classy and clean.
Now you are going to want to run right to your cabin once you get on the ship, but be aware that cabins are generally are not available until after 1pm (if you have a 5pm sailing time). We hopped up to the Windjammer and had some food before checking out our cabin to kill the time, but lots of people were out at the pool or just walking around the ship trying to learn what was on each of the floors, etc.
The Cabins
My cousin and I shared an inside cabin on the 7th floor. We were supposed to have an inside cabin in the middle of the ship (the rooms are newer in the middle of the ship because of the renovation), but our reservation was messed up by RC, so we ended up with a cabin that was much more forward than we would have liked. The nice thing is, RC felt bad for the mixup, so they offered us a credit that was applied on our seapass card. That helped.
If you have previously sailed, and have been on newer ships, the cabins aboard Enchantment are generally smaller, and our inside cabin definitely felt that way. That was not a big deal to me though, because you really do not spend that much time in your room anyway. As long as I can sleep comfortably without getting seasick, then I'm good. If you are claustrophic, I do NOT recommend getting an inside room.
Once you are in the door, there is an area to your left where there are two beds. I have to say, I was surprised at how comfortable they were. Each bed had its own nightstand, and when the beds are apart, both nightstands fit in between. I think the cabin feels larger when the beds are apart (and if they are together when you get in the room, just ask your steward to separate them).
In the main room area, which is right as you walk in, there is a small chair to sit in (or in our case, to store clothing on) and a big mirror/dresser. The dresser has large drawers on one side of it and a couple of cabinets to one side of the mirror (this is where the safe is). The safe is free, you just need a credit card to open and lock it, but if you share the room with someone else, only one person will be able to open it with their card. We also found out that a AAA card can work on the lock as well (just in case you do not want to use a credit card). FYI, it is suggested that you do not use your room key. There is also a TV on the desk that pulls out of a cabinet and swivels. They say they offer three movies each day on various channels, and granted I was not searching too much, but I often only found that one movie was playing at a time. Perhaps I missed something. Not that it mattered, because I did not waste too much time looking for the movies (except at night when I wanted to go to bed). They did offer some of the newer movies (like King Kong, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (the newer one), etc. etc.). They also offer a couple of their own channels where you can watch past events that happened onboard.
There is also a glass table in the room, but we found this to be a real pain in the butt, especially because it often blocked our door and one of us was bound to either hurt ourselves plowing into it, break the table or both. The steward found a nice spot behind the bathroom door, which worked out just great. We also had an ice bucket (which was already filled for us!) and a bottle of wine already being chilled (this was part of the package we purchased, a bottle of wine each day). They also have some water bottles and soft drinks on the desk that you are able to purchase, but I think they were pricier than if you buy them elsewhere on the ship. When I say purchase, I mean that these charges will show up on your seapass card (on whoever is the main person listed on the reservation).
The bathroom was really very small, but workable (again, how much time do you really spend in your cabin). There was a shower, toilet and sink and a couple of areas with various size towels hanging. Also, there was ample light in the bathroom. Good enough for me. Also, getting towels never seemed to be a problem, and there were times when we used a lot (showering multiple times a day after sitting in the sun, swimming, etc.)
Last but not least, they have life jackets placed on the beds for each party in the room (and if they forget someone, you can ask the steward for another vest or a special vest for children). Before you depart, they have a mandatory drill, where you are required to show up with your life vest on to a specific station (it is on your life vest). It is a very simple drill and does not take too long, but is important for the safety of everyone onboard.
Now, my mom, aunt and cousin had one of the newer rooms located more mid-ship. They also had a balcony room. I thought the room was a nice size (think the size of a small one room suite, such as Amerisuites has, only a little bit smaller), but I have seen balcony rooms on other ships that were larger. For two people, I think it is the perfect size.
Finally designers have gotten smart about the design of a room, especially when there is a third person sharing a room. Their room had a third bed, but instead of a couch that pulls out, this bed comes down from the ceiling. What a space saver!!! This makes a HUGE difference when you have three people in a room. The pull out couch used to be such a pain to use because it ate up all the remaining space in the room and made it difficult to move around for whoever gets up first in the morning or goes to bed last at night.
Their bathroom was slightly larger than ours, but it looked to me like they had basically the same amenities in the room as we did, with the exception that they had a mini-fridge, a couch, a balcony and a bit more space. Even though they had a newer room, they had a lot of problems with the air. Their room was extremely hot, and although they called the problem in at least twice, it never really felt like the problem was fixed.
Deck By Deck
Before I get to each individual deck, it is important to point out that the Enchantment of the Sea has recently had quite the renovation done. In early 2005, they basically cut the ship in half and added a whole new section (73 feet) to the middle. Some new things added in this extra space were 151 new staterooms, new indoor/outdoor public areas and bungee trampolines. Just because they added a new section does not mean they left the rest alone. There was a lot of refurbishing of other areas, such as staterooms and dining rooms. The tell the truth, my cousin and I shared an old stateroom and my mom, aunt and cousin had a newer room, and other than the fact that they were different classes (inside room verses outside with balcony) there was not a big difference as far as the look was concerned. The major difference I saw is that they had a nice glass door to their shower and we had a curtain. Now on to the other decks!!
DECK 2
Staterooms, staterooms and more staterooms. Should you become ill, you would have to visit this deck as well, as the medical facility is located down there. I have to happily say that I did NOT have to go to this deck or visit the med facility.
DECK 3
More staterooms.
DECK 4
In addition to yet more staterooms, here is where a lot of the public areas are. Deck Four has the champagne bar, which is a nice area to just lounge around and order a cocktail. It is outside of the main floor of the My Fair Lady Dining Room, the perfect location for a pre or post dinner cocktail. You can hang out and enjoy the view of the Centrum or enjoy the live music played there from time to time (I remember a small group with a woman vocalist, who wasnt bad.)
DECK 5
Here is another fun deck that houses only public areas (no staterooms). This floor has the balcony area of the My Fair Lady dining room (where we sat). It also has explorations desk (where you can book your excursion
Im sad to say they did not have the book by TV option). There is also the main help desk where you can ask a variety of questions. We went there a few times, to make sure we knew the procedure on how to get off the ship with the first bunch of people (one of our folks had an early morning flight), to cash in a coupon for $5.00 off the internet and to get a printout of our seapass account. They were helpful every time!
There is also a fantastic bar/lounge called Boleros on this floor. They played great latin music and had wonderful drinks. The bartenders and staff were fantastic as was the live music. Two times during our cruise they had latin dance lessons that were really fun (simple, but fun). I found this bar to be really comfortable. You could just hang out in one of their chairs, have a drink and just relax. The décor was fun and enticing, but not overwhelming or cheesy.
This floor also houses the casino. Their choices of slot machines were really rather limited and old, but I find this to be true on most of the cruise ships I have been on. At least they had a fair amount of 5 cent machines (even though the labeling is weird
instead of stating they are 5 cent machines, it says something like 5 credits for 25 cents
same thing, but weird), but not enough of the ones that I like. They did have something I havent seen before, a large machine where you could play 3 card or blackjack against an automated dealer. An interesting idea, but I still like to play with a live person. They also had table games, all of the standards (like blackjack, Caribbean poker, etc.) as far as I could tell, and they even had a texas hold-em poker table. I didnt try it, but you play against the dealer, and it looked like a limit game to me. This is an area people can spoke in, so be prepared to inhale lots of smoke should you play here, and it seems to be especially worse in the evenings.
Last but certainly not least is the entrance to the Orpheum theatre. This is where to see the pre or post dinner show (depending on what dinner seating you have, just check your seapass card if you do not know which seating you have). I loved this theatre. The setup was great. They had nice cushy chairs, and the view of the stage was good, even from the back. They had cup holders on the chairs so you had a place to put your drink. I have found that Royal Caribbean tends to put on the better shows. The show the first night was just a teaser, and it was alright. The second show had all sorts of music from television/Broadway and was fantastic! The third show was a rock n roll show, and truthfully, was my least favorite. The singers were fine and the dancing was good, but the show seemed choppy. They also did a show at the end of the cruise where you got a teaser of the video of the cruise and then we saw a great juggling act.
DECK 6
Here is another floor that has a variety of public areas (again, no staterooms). I think my favorite place on this floor is the Spotlight lounge (although, if you check out RCCLs website, it is still called Carousel Lounge on the deck plan). This is a nice sized lounge with a stage and dance floor area. We spent a lot of time in here. They had karaoke and rockaroke (karaoke with a band as your backup). They also had an adult show called Quest in here that was hysterical (and be warned, they mean adult and you must participate!).
Next to the Spotlight is a fairly small bar called the Schooner Bar. They had a piano player in there who was just alright. He never seemed to get the crowd going, which is a shame. Im a bit fan of piano bars, but I just couldnt get into it. The setup was nice though
they had chairs all around the piano so you could throw out requests, etc. very easily, and if you wanted to sit back and enjoy the music. There were tables and comfy chairs set up all around the bar area, or you could sit at the bar itself.
This is also where the conference center and Chops Grille is located, but I didnt use either of them.
Now onto something I went to a lot. They have a place called Latte-tudes which serves Ben N Jerrys ice cream and coffee. Although this costs extra money, I came here a lot (Im a BIG latte lover). Prices were fairly reasonable for a latte, and the wait was never unreasonable.
This floor is also home to the photo gallery and art gallery. I cannot remember the photo gallery hours, but I thought they were kind of odd, so make sure you check your compass (it is a paper that they give you with the events of the day on it) before you go. It is a nice setup, and there is most definitely a picture of you in there somewhere.
Since you are in a buying mood, you might as well check out the various shops they have on board. They are all located on this deck, and although the area seems small, they do seem to pack quite a lot of items into the area. They have a lot of nice jewelry, perfume, souvenirs, etc. and you can even get duty-free items. If you choose to buy liquor, they give it back to you on the last day of your cruise.
DECK 7
This was our floor. It is basically made up of a bunch of staterooms, but should you want to visit the Study or Library, you would need to go midship on this floor to find them.
DECK 8
Here is another floor full of staterooms. It also has RC online (internet room), which was never too full to get a seat, but VERY expensive and a VERY slow connection. If memory serves, and depending on what package you pick, it costs about $.50 cents a minute. If you are a Crown & Anchor member, I suggest that you use your $5 coupon out of the book they give you, bring it to the desk to get your credit, and try and do whatever you need to do in 10 minutes or less (and it is possible, I printed out my return airline ticket in about 2 minutes, but I wasted 20 minutes going through emails and trying to find out what happened on Lost and Survivor
so sad.) If you need the Concierge Club, this is the floor. I didnt use it, but perhaps some day.
DECK 9
This deck is fantastic. The indoor and outdoor pool areas are here, as is the Fitness Center and Spa. If you should miss your meal time in My Fair Lady, then the Windjammer Café is most likely where you will end up (although if it is late at night, you end up at the Solarium for pizza, etc.) The food in the Windjammer is buffet style for breakfast and lunch. Im not sure about dinner, as we ate in the My Fair Lady every night. I thought it was surprisingly good, and they always had a great selection of food. I find it hard to believe that a person cannot find something they like in there.
I found the Solarium to be a bit hot for my liking. It has a huge glass roof, that apparently can be opened or closed, but I guess they kept it closed, because it was like being in a sauna to me.
The spa was beautiful to look at, but the prices were more than I wanted to pay. A 50 minute massage was around $100, and this is without tipping the therapist. It you look for and take advantage of the specials they offer during the cruise, then it is probably worth it. We were just too busy to do that. Plus, their spa is an Elemis spa, which has amazing spa products, but on our last cruise together, my mom ended up having to endure a really hard sell by one of the therapists who was insistent that she buy a couple of products. Needless to say, that is a big turnoff.
I am sad to say that I did not even step foot in the Fitness Center. We only had one full day at sea, and we spent a lot of it playing and participating in the shipboard events, and after hiking all over the ruins in Belize, the last thing I wanted to do was work out. Perhaps I could have went and sat in one of the hot tubs though. Next time.
DECK 10
This deck has an observatory, where you can stargaze.
It also has places for kids, such as Adventure Ocean, which is full of toys and such (sorry, did not go in there).
There is also a teen center up here, where they concentrate on things that are a little more entertaining to teens, such as pizza parties, arcades, etc. Again, sorry, I did not go here, and even if I wanted to, there is no way they would have let me. I definitely cannot pass for a teenager anymore.
This is the floor with the jogging track and rock-climb wall and trampoline (weather permitting). The trampoline looked incredibly fun, but was ALWAYS packed and had limited hours.
DECK 11
The Viking Lounge!!! Royal Caribbean loves these types of lounges. It is the highest part of the ship and has a fantastic view. There are glass windows all around you so you can enjoy the view. There are a good amount of places to sit (lounge chairs and tables), but if you want to sit near the dance floor, you will need to come early. At night, this is where the party is. They have different types of music each night, and the dance floor is packed (sometimes too packed), but it is fun, and the drinks are fabulous here. If memory serves, the lounge is open to 3am or maybe that was just the last night. Regardless, this is where the action is at night, and it is open late.
Food in a Nutshell
I enjoyed the food very much. Just for background purposes, I am NOT a morning person. I never made it to the My Fair Lady dining room for breakfast. I did have breakfast one morning up at the Windjammer, but the rest of the time, I ordered room service. With one exception, the room service food was good. I would not say it was amazing, but it did its magic on me. They also give you plenty of food if you order just for one person. I think we received 4 different pastries with one breakfast. Also, they are wise enough to know that one cup of coffee will not do the trick, so they give you a carafe of it. The Windjammer breakfast gives you many more choices. Personally, it is not breakfast for me without eggs, and I was satisfied.
Lunch is still a blur to me, probably because we did not have much of it on board the ship. Three of the four lunches were not eaten on the ship, as we were off on an island or excursion. I am blanking on the fourth one, but then again, I did not have a terrible meal the whole trip, so it could not have been too bad.
Dinner is always fun to me, especially in the dining room. If you eat in the My Fair Lady Dining Room, you are assigned either early seating (6pm) or late seating (8:30). We had early seating. You do have to remember that there is a dress code in the dining room, but it is not really strict. For example, no shorts, but you can wear three quarter pants without problem. Although we did not really like where we were placed in the dining room, it is just such a beautiful room (large high ceilings, beautiful rich wood, great views, etc.) that it really did not matter after a while.
They do have a formal night and a night that you get to meet the captain. Also, the wait staff performed one evening. And, not only do you get to enjoy a variety of the chefs food choices, but you get to meet and get to know your wait staff. I have to say, this is the first time EVER (and this is my fourth Royal Caribbean cruise) that I saw the waiter that oversees the whole experience on a regular basis. When you leave tips for everyone at the end, I always thought that it was strange to leave that guy money, but let me tell you, the gentleman we had this time was amazing. He talked to us every day and always made sure that we were comfortable and took care of. The head waiter and assistant waiting were also wonderful and very friendly. They knew all of our names by the second day, which just amazes me. I went with family on this cruise, so we all sat together, but should you happen to go with a smaller party, it is a great time to meet new people.
I am sad to say that I never had dinner in the Windjammer. It was difficult to pass up on the good food the dining room offered. You can order as much as you want. If you want 4 entrees, you can get it. Two appetizers, three desserts and no entrée; go for it! I am a sucker for a good Caesar salad, so I had one every night. I also recommend that you do not ignore the low/no sugar desserts. Mom and I shared a coconut cake that was fantastic (and I do not even like coconut that much). I enjoyed the shrimp and lobster they offered one night. Im blanking on some of the other meals, but they were all good.
Now on to the Midnight buffet. I am still amazed that we actually missed the main one on this cruise (although we did hit the buffet that they had poolside). The buffet they have in the dining room is usually amazing. They put out all these incredible sculptures in addition to some splendid food. I just remember running on empty that night, so I went back to my room for a nap that turned into an all night sleepfest.
Entertainment/the Staff
I really liked almost all of the entertainment on this cruise. They had reggae music poolside, which was always a lot of fun. The RC shows in the Orpheum were all good (very talented dancers and singers). The jugglers were great. The bands that they had in the Bolero and in the Spotlight lounge were extremely entertaining. The only one I was not too fond of was the piano player in the Schooner lounge, mostly because he never seemed to be able to get the crowd into what he was doing, but honestly, I think I am spoiled by my experiences with the absolutely incredible piano bars in New York City (and one really amazing piano bar in Ogunquit, Maine!).
Of everything about this cruise, what really made it memorable was the staff. Our Cruise Director, Carly (not sure of spelling) was EVERYWHERE and so approachable. This is the first time I remember seeing such an active staff since the first cruise I took on Royal Caribbean many, MANY years ago now. Having the staff so into their roles was great, because it made the cruise more personal and fun. That is a problem I have with some of the larger ships now; there are so many people onboard that the experience just does not feel personal. I did not feel that way at all on Enchantment.
There just seems to be something for everyone. There are all sorts of games, like Bingo, belly flopping contests, mens sexy legs contests, dance lessons, dancing in general, etc. etc. All you need to do is check the cruise compass that they leave on your bed the evening before and plan out your day.
The Ports
I had a wonderful time at all three ports of call, Key West (Florida), Cozumel (Mexico) and Belize. My only negative comment is that the time at Key West was too short. We were there bright and early in the morning and only stayed until early afternoon. From what I understand, Key West has a killer nightlife, so sunset was probably the best time to be there. Im bummed that we missed that.
The fact that we could not partake in more of the nightlife was disappointing, but Key West itself was lots of fun. Bars and shopping all within walking distance of the ship. There is some KILLER coffee at Bad A$$ Coffee Company (sorry, only way epinions would accept the name). If you like strong coffee, this is the place to be. You can get to a lot of places by walking around, and bars a plenty. Bars open early, so no worries about that. We went to Sloppy Joes, which was alright. The drinks were what I would expect at a college bar, but the prices were a bit higher than the college bar prices I remember, then again, it has been some time. At one bar, I called my husband and gave him the internet address of the bar we were at. Call me silly, but I had some fun knowing that my husband could see our crazy antics on the world wide web.
Also, Mom and I rented an electric car, which was not horribly expensive (around $45 for an hour), because we wanted to drive around and see the whole area and did not think we could walk and actually see it all. We were able to see most everything, including a very nice beach that is too far from the port to walk to.
I had been to Cozumel before, as did most of my family, so we decided to make that day a beach day. I do not feel that there is a need to buy a package deal from the ship when you are just going to sit on the beach all day, so we piled into a cab and off we went. It cost us much less and we were still able to enjoy the beach all day. Unfortunately, last years hurricanes devastation is still evident in parts of Cozumel. While driving to Paradise beach, you could see where all the trees were either knocked down or stripped. The beach was still nice, but there were limits as to where to go in and out, again, a result of the hurricane. Regardless, it was worth it.
Belize was really interesting, but boy was it hot. We did an organized excursion through Royal Caribbean to Xunantunich (ruins), and then had lunch at San Ignacio hotel before being brought back to the port. It was a LONG day, but really interesting and hot. We climbed El Castillo, even though it was around 100 degrees. The view of Guatemala was breathtaking, and Arlette, our guide, was a lot of fun.
Overall
Royal Caribbean most likely has my business again. Each cruise line seems to have their own style/flavor, and Royal Caribbean seems to fit me well. It appears that they have learned from their past mistakes and/or customer feedback, because the staff and service was excellent this time around. I was even offered a coupon for $50 off my next cruise. Even though I will not be able to use it, because it expires in a really short timeframe, I appreciate that they are working hard to try and entice customers back.
Thanks to all who read/rate. I apologize for being so long-winded; there was just so much to say!!!
Heidi (hjs33)
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
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