Enchantment of the Seas - Western Caribbean 4/7 - 4/14 2002
Written: Jun 26 '02 (Updated Jun 26 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: beautiful ship, courteous staff, great destinations
Cons: the cruise had to end...
The Bottom Line: I loved RCCI Enchantment of the Seas Western Trip.... Can't wait to go back!
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| susan1118's Full Review: Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas |
Background:
My husband and I (mid-20's) took this cruise as well needed springtime get-a-way. We booked it in September 2001 for about $1750, and then in December our travel agent was able to get a reduced rate of about $1400 total. This was my second cruise, my husband's fourth - all previous cruise experiences had been on RCCI Sovereign of the Seas.
Cabin:
We are hardly ever in the room and don't mind the interior cabins, so we took an interior "L" category cabin on the Main Deck. Some things to note: The cabin was suprisingly slightly larger than the one on Sovereign. The bathroom lacked the shower door that Sovereign enjoys, it has a shower curtain instead. There was quite alot of storage space in the room - drawers, shelves, and closet space. Did bring some wire hangers to use and toss out at the end, as the ship only provides about 15 regular hangers.
Ship:
Wow, where do I start??? The ship was beautiful, much more than I had expected. From the time we stepped onto the ship, entering in the Centrum, till the time we departed - we were constantly amazed by new parts of the ship. There is so much to do... We enjoyed dining in the dining room nightly - it is an open room with balcony and floor seating. We had a table for 10, on the floor near the piano at front - made up of 5 couples, 2 of which were honeymooning. All nice people, but only had one night where everyone was there. Have to say that service is much quicker at the front - there were times we were done with desert and tables near the back were just being served the main course.
Also enjoyed the solarium pool - this is a quiet adults only type place without alot of noise. The salt water pool is done in a greek style, bordered by 2 fresh water hot tubs. The lounge chairs are very nice, but limited since this pool is smaller than the main pool. Also located at the solarium pool is the snack bar, with tasty pizza, hamburgers and french fries.
The ship is loaded with lots of small lounges and bars. Be sure to check out the schooner bar for margarita specials and chips & salsa before dinner. Also make sure to ask about the drink of the day -- these turned out to be really tasty and save a few dollars. Be sure to spend a little time in and around the centrum late at night 10pm - 1am-ish... there is a great piano player and vocalist. On our cruise we had a few fellow cruisers who performed spontaneous solo numbers.
Ship activities were extremely well planned and organized. We enjoyed an art auction, ballroom dance lessons, wine tasting (free for crown & anchor members), and bingo. Also enjoyed the casino - roulette tables especially - and even came off of the ship ahead. Shows onboard were all very well done and enjoyable, we only missed one or two over the whole cruise - the juggler / comedian was our favorite.
Ports of Call:
Key West:
We had an overclouded day, but still enjoyed walking along Duval Street, and starting off our vacation with drink specials in a few bars. One thing to note is that the ship only stops here for about half a day since it has to make it to Cozumel by the next morning.
Cozumel:
Did the Passion Island Beach excursion. Highly recommend it. We were told that the passion island beach is the same beach that the recent corona commercials have been filmed on. The beach was lined with lots of chairs and floats - the only annoying thing was the persistant camera girl who kept harassing my husband and I to take pictures in different poses and different locations. (my husband being the easy going guy that he is would have taken 25 pictures... by about the 3rd one I had to use a few choice words to get the girl to leave us alone...) Other than that, the lunch was delicious - excellent grilled mahi mahi and chicken, along with the best guacamole and chips. Also enjoyed the open bar (margaritas, tequilla sunrises, corona by the bottle) - as it was stressed to us that all water and ice was clean and purified.
Cozumel the town was quite interesting. We went into a variety of silver shops and had one vendor scream at us because after looking at a bracelet for 2 minutes I decided I didnt want it. We quit the shopping and finished Cozumel by stopping in Carlos & Charlies. Might I add that this stop pretty much "finished" me. Be careful when ordering. My husband ordered 2 margaritas and somehow we got the yard-dog sized ones. Also had a couple of visits from the shot girl - my husband enjoyed watching that.... (enough said :)
Costa Maya:
Much nicer port than I expected. We did the Jungle Beach Break excursion and LOVED it. The beach is gorgeous, although it does take about a 1/2 hour to reach it by bus. We didn't eat anything here (just had a big breakfast) and I was afraid to drink anything not bottled from the bar - but my husband did take advantage of the open bar and did not have any problems. When we returned I was a little taken back by the armed guards protecting the roads along the perimeter of the port... just wasnt something that I had seen mentioned in any of the reviews. The shops in this port were very well stocked and the shop people were all very nice - much better experience than cozumel. We also picked up some things at the beach-side shop at the jungle beach.
Grand Cayman:
This port is terrific - very clean with top notch jewelry and perfume shops (the usual in caribbean ports). We opted not to do an excursion here, as my husband refused to go near any sting rays... We liked what we saw so much, that we plan to return next summer for an extended stay at one of the hotels. Unfortunately, the day was overclouded - so we skipped the 7 mile beach and wandered around the shops thoroughly enjoying ourselves. One thing to note is that the ship has to run tenders to shore here.
All the other little things:
Food - Delicious!!! I am a pretty picky eater - only eat fish and vegetables. There is always a fish and vegetarian option at dinner, and the waiter had no problem bringing me both most nights. Lunches in the dining room are always spectacular (the best quality food) - make sure you try the fried grouper... Also, although it is not on any menu, I was able to get a veggie burger any time I wanted it in the dining room. Breakfast is not really all that exciting in the dining room, unless you order eggs benedict for 7 days straight like my husband. We did use the Windjammer for lunch one day - they provide a large range of food choices, both hot and cold foods.
Staff - Always courteous and polite, as usual for RCCI. Enjoy the towel animals at night in the cabin... Our favorite was the hanging monkey.
Spa - A great, full-service facility. Spent the last at-sea day here and enjoyed a facial and all types of hand and foot treatments. Book ahead of time, but also look for specials advertised during the week in the daily compass newsletter.
Wrap-Up:
We enjoyed this trip to the fullest. The Enchantment is not the newest RCCI ship, but it is still given as much attention as any other. The ship is great for all ages, as there was a large 50+ age group aboard (approx 50% of passengers); and also many families, as well as 20-30 something aged couples. Hope you are able to glean some info or insight from this review!!!
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
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Epinions.com ID:
susan1118
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Location: Philadelphia, PA
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 4 members
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