My Review of this Cruise

Day Prior

We sailed on the Enchantment of the Seas, Eastern Itinerary and this was our second time being on this particular ship.  This trip included just me (32) and my mother (51).  We had decided we wanted to take a mother-daughter trip and we both enjoyed ourselves immensely.  We thought it would be fun to take a cruise with just the two of us so that we could better enjoy some of the things our men don’t, such as dressing up for dinner.  Our trip began in Salt Lake City, UT, the day before our cruise was supposed to leave.  We boarded the plane on time but while on the runway the plane attempted to take off several times except it wasn’t going anywhere so they turned the plane around to head back to the gate for repairs.  We waited on the plane for a half hour before they decided the repairs were going to take longer so they asked everyone to de-board the plane and wait in the airport.  After about an hour we were told the plane could not be repaired so they were bringing in an entirely different plane.  By the time we actually left the ground we had been delayed 4 hours but I must say that Delta handled the situation as best they could and were very courteous.  We were given lunch while we waited in the airport and were given another meal on the plane.  Of course we missed our connection in Atlanta and had to move things around a bit but it all worked out just fine in the end.  To be honest, I was glad they got a new plane because I was a little worried about having to get back on the same plane they were having problems with and with my mothers fear of flying it made it even worse.  We arrived in Miami about 7:00 PM, which was fine because we were able to arrive in the dark and see the beautiful city lights.  It was a good thing we had decided to leave the day before because if we hadn’t we very likely would have missed our cruise since we arrived in Miami well after the departure time.  Because we booked our airfare through Royal Caribbean we were given the Hotel for free and they put us in the Miami Airport Hilton Hotel.  The Hotel in my opinion is very nice and very clean, something that is important to me.  We decided to order room service for dinner since we were so tired and due to the fact that we practically froze in the hotel’s restaurant on our previous trip. 

Day One - Miami

The next morning we went to the assigned room for the pre-booking of the cruise, a definite advantage of the day prior program with Royal Caribbean.  This is where we showed them our identification and in return were given our SuperCharge card for purchases on the ship.  The whole process is very efficient and is over with fairly quickly (about 20 minutes tops).  After that we roamed around the hotel for a while, we then gathered with everyone else in the lobby area to wait for the bus to take us to the pier.  Once at the pier we were able to walk right on to the ship without waiting in any lines because of the pre-booking.  The whole boarding process only took about 5 minutes. 

We entered the ship on the 5th floor and the first this you see is the beautiful Centrum.  Although I had just been on the Enchantment 4 months earlier and the Grandeur 1 year earlier, I still found it to be a magnificent experience.  We were quickly directed to the elevators in front of us and went to the 8th floor where we were greeted by another Royal Caribbean representative who gave us our cabin keys.  Our cabin was 8516, Category B, Grand Ocean View Suite.  I had seen this category of cabin on our previous cruise, which is why I chose this particular category.  The room is very large and very spacious with a lot of added amenities.  When we first entered the cabin, off to the right are 4 full-length closets with a full-length mirror on the front of each door.  There is a small bar area with a refrigerator and a lot of drawer space.  On the right was the bathroom, one of the reasons I wanted this category cabin.  The bathroom has plenty of room with two sinks, storage drawers beneath the sinks, mirrored cabinets for your toiletries, and a shower with a tub.  I had decided that since there would be two women trying to get dressed for dinner at the same time, it would be nice to have a cabin with a larger bathroom so we could both be in there at the same time.  I was not sorry for my decision as there were many times when we both needed the bathroom.  Going further into the cabin was a small living area off to the left and to the right is the bed.  The balcony of course is the best part of the cabin, which we used every chance we got.  Some of the amenities that are worth mentioning would be the TV with a VCR and a stereo system with speakers in the ceiling.  Because I knew about this I was prepared and brought several CD’s with me so we could enjoy our own music while lounging on the balcony.  The VCR wasn't so important but it was kind of fun to bring along the movie Titanic to watch while getting ready for our next activity.  Our cabin steward (Perry) was quick to introduce himself and let us know what he would be doing for us during our trip.  He was extremely courteous and very efficient. 

So after getting over all the excitement we decided on our plan of action for the day.  First we went to the beauty salon and made our appointments to have our hair done on the formal nights and then we went to see what our table arrangements were.  We were assigned to a table of 8 and so we decided we would try to get a table for two.  We talked about it and decided we didn’t want to have to worry about offending anyone or worry about what to talk about.  I am a very shy person when it comes to groups (although I do fine one-on-one) and feel very uncomfortable around people I don’t know.  I didn’t really think we would be able to get a table for two but I thought it would be worth a try anyway.  The headwaiter who helped us (Julian) remembered us from our cruise four months before and he gave us our table for two.  It was perfect.  It was located at the top of the stairs giving us a view of the entire dining room.  By the time we finished with the table arrangments, we were feeling a little hungry so we went up to the Windjammer for a bite to eat.  I was still so excited I wasn’t able to eat much.  I was however more impressed with the food in the Windjammer on this trip.  While eating we saw our waiter (Sylvian) from our previous cruise and he also recognized us.  He came over and said hi and asked where the rest of our group was.  You see, on our last cruise we had a group of 10 people which is probably why he remembered us, because we were so obnoxious.  Next was the Muster Drill, a tedious but necessary part of the experience.  We then returned to our cabin to unpack and had plenty of storage for everything we had and more (something quite amazing considering our packing tendencies). 

Before long it was time for the ship to leave so we went to our balcony, popped our bottle of champagne given to us by our travel agent and watched as the ship left port.  The weather wasn’t ideal so as we got further out from the harbor the seas got a little rougher but still manageable.  I had plenty of seasickness medication and planned in advance so I was never bothered by the seas, which were rough for most of our trip.  There was one evening when the ship was rocking so much that no one could walk a straight line and walked like they were drunk.  Maybe that was better because that way after a couple of drinks you felt like you were walking straight.  It is a bit odd though when you are sober but you can’t keep yourself from bouncing off the walls.  I’m really not exaggerating here and anyone who was on this particular voyage would agree with me.  While we were lying in bed you could hear the walls creaking and the bathroom door kept swinging back and forth before we finally decided to get up and close the door.  It was obvious who hadn’t come prepared and hadn’t taken anything for seasickness.  My mother on the other hand took nothing and was fine the entire trip. 

We chose the 8:30 dinner seating this time because on our last cruise we had the 6:00 seating and always felt rushed to get ready for dinner in time.  On my two other cruise we had the 8:30 seating and I have now decided that I prefer the later seating.  Dinner this evening was casual.  Our waiter was Shahein, (from Turkey) and our assistant waiter was Eric (from the Philippines).  They were both very good but I felt the assistant waiter was a bit more fun.  Shahein was very nice but very professional too.  For dinner, we both had the New York Steak and Butter Pecan Ice Cream for dessert, all of which was very good.  After dinner we roamed the ship a little then went back to our room, jumped into our pajamas and sat on the balcony listening to the waves with a little Kenny G in the background.  Although there’s not much to see at night it is very relaxing for me to just sit there and listen and one of the nice things about having a private balcony is the ability to do it all in your pajamas. 

Day Two - At Sea

Today we were ready for a slow and relaxing day at sea but first we went to the shore excursion desk and picked out which excursion we wanted.  We were going to turn in our request form on the fist day but time got away from us and by the time we remembered, it was too late.  We still got everything we wanted but not the times we wanted.  We decided to spend an hour laying by the pool and enjoying the calypso music.  While enjoying the sun they had a “Sexiest Legs” contest for the men and it was very entertaining.  My favorite contestants were the elderly men because they seemed to really want to show it off and of course it was an elderly man who won.  After that we showered and then took a quick stroll through the casino.  OK, so we might have stopped at a couple of slot machines but unfortunately we didn’t win anything.  Our next stop was the “Wine Tasting”.  I’m not an expert in wine but I always find it a lot of fun to taste the different types of wine and see how my tastes have changed since the last time.  Neither of us drink much so the tasting left us feeling a little tipsy and we returned to our cabins for a short nap. 

At around 6:00 we went to the beauty salon for our hair appointments.  The girl doing my hair was very quick (I was done in 20 minutes) but the guy doing my mothers hair took forever (we didn’t leave until 7:00) and he didn’t do a very good job.  Regardless, it saved us the time and hassle of trying to do our own hair but unfortunately we missed the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Party.  Tonight's dinner theme was Captain's Favorite Dinner.  My mother chose to have the Rib Eye Steak and Pecan Pie for dessert and according to her was done to perfection.  After dinner we attended the headliner show, featuring Kenny James.  We truly enjoyed the show and felt it was well worth our time.  Of course we had to pass through the casino a couple of times and pulled the handle on a few slot machines but won nothing.  After a very exciting day we decided we had better turn in and decided to call it a night.

Day Three - At Sea

Today was another relaxing day at sea so we slept in a bit and ordered room service for breakfast.  It was delivered promptly and the food was warm.  We decided we would try our hand at Bingo because we were just sure we would win the big jackpot and be able to pay for another cruise but no such luck, although it was still a lot of fun.  By now our tans seemed to be fading a little so we felt it was necessary to spend some time in the sun.  Of course we were having a difficult time trying to find available chairs so we finally decided to move someone’s stuff being used to save the chairs and claimed them as our own.  It’s amazing, everyday in the cruise compass they put a special note on the front asking people not to save chairs but every morning we would go out to the pool and there would be chairs saved with various personal items.  Well since people are told not to save chairs we decided we would just move their stuff and if asked about it we figured we would just quote the compass and go on with our tanning.  We laid in the sun for about an hour and never saw the people who had saved the chairs so we didn’t have to worry about it.  After baking for an hour or so we decided to have lunch in the Windjammer.  We had a nice relaxing lunch with a perfect view of the ocean in front of us.  The Windjammer is a great place to get out of the sun and enjoy a great view no matter where you sit although we always try to get a table next to the windows.

It was time to return to our cabin to get ready for dinner.  We were also invited to the “Return Guests Cocktail Party” so we headed down to the Carousel Lounge for some pre-dinner hors d’oeuvres and drinks.  The room was quite crowded but it wasn’t anything special.  The Captain was more entertaining than most.  He spoke for a few minutes and then answered people’s questions.  After the repeater’s party we went down to the dinning room for dinner.  Tonight’s theme was Italian and the dress was “Smart Casual”.  I chose the Panzarotti Melanzane and my mother chose the Calzone, both of which tasted very good.  After Dinner we attended the performance of the Wave Revue Singers & Dancers, “Sweet Dreams”.  The show was full of fantastic costumes and amazing special effects, especially when considering the limitations on a ship.  The show involves a lot of illusion type stuff and wonderful dancing.  This was my second time seeing this performance and I would have seen it again if given the chance.  We decided to call it a night since tomorrow would be our first island since boarding the ship and we wanted to get an early start in the morning. 

Day Four - St. Maarten

We had breakfast in the Windjammer while we waited for our tender ticket number to be called, nothing spectacular but a good place for a quick breakfast.  Finally we were on the tender and headed for the island.  We chose the “Butterfly Farm and Marigot” excursion and we were greeted by a representative holding a sign when we arrived at the pier.  Once everyone was gathered we headed for the buses, a short walk from the pier.  The street vendors were a little aggressive, and especially the taxi drivers just as you get off the pier, but not quite as aggressive as those in Jamaica so we handled it just fine.  After boarding the busses we were taken first to Marigot where they stopped for only 20 minutes, not much time to do anything and not near as much time as I thought we would have here.  We barely had time to find a restroom and snap a couple of photos before it was time to board the bus again.  Next we stopped at some little shopping site off the side of the road for a little sight seeing but I felt it was done more so we could spend money with their preferred vendors.  The only sight seeing here was a large rock which they called the “Love Rock” which was suppose bind a couples love (or something like that).  Oh yes, there was also the view of Orient Beach but from that distance it looked like any other beach.  In my opinion I would have much rather spent more time in Marigot and skipped this little stop altogether.  Finally we stopped at the Butterfly Farm.  It was a very small enclosure with a few butterflies but nothing like what I was expecting.  We only spent about 20 minutes looking at the butterflies and it would have been much less but I spent about 15 minutes chasing the beautiful blue butterflies trying to get a picture unfortunately every time they landed their wings would close and then the blue didn’t show anymore.  You could only see the blue if their wings were opened but I never had any luck and ended up with a lot of pictures of nothing.  Oh well, it was fun trying.  The tour was over so we boarded the bus again and headed back.  Once dropped off by the bus we spent a short time shopping as we walked back to the pier but didn’t buy much besides a couple of T-shirts.  Once back on the pier we boarded the tender back to the ship.  If I had to do it all over again, I probably wouldn’t have taken the ships excursions but hired one of the taxi drivers instead to take us where we wanted to go.  I already knew from experience that it is usually better to arrange for your own transportation rather than use the ship offered activities but I was a little unsure of myself since it was just me and my mother so I didn’t stick to my own advice.  It’s much nicer if you can make your own schedule rather than having to go along with someone else’s.  Once back on the ship we grabbed burgers and fries in the Solarium and went back to our cabin to enjoy lunch on the balcony.  After taking a brief nap we woke up just in time to see the ship pulling away from St. Maarten and what a beautiful sight.  The sun was just beginning to go down creating the perfect end to a great day. 

The entertainment this evening was a pre-dinner show, “The Magic and Grand Illusion of LaRaf”.  We had heard these guys really weren’t that great so we skipped it and just went to dinner.  The dress was casual and the dinner theme was Caribbean.  I chose the Vegetarian Jambalaya (assorted vegetables simmered in a chile and cayenne spiced tomato sauce, served with steamed rice, chayote and baked potato).  It was the first dish I had tried that I didn’t care for.  I don’t know that it was the quality of the dish or the way it was prepared because I had never tried it before but I believe it just wasn’t something I would like anywhere.  I guess that’s part of the fun in cruising is the opportunity to try things you have never tried before.  My mother tried the Sassy Snapper and loved it.  We did our usual roaming around and then returned to our cabin.  I just love coming back to your cabin after dinner to find it recently cleaned and prepared for sleeping.  In our cabin all of the lights had the ability to be dimmed to your desired level and each evening our cabin steward would dim the lights just enough to provide a very relaxing and pleasant environment in our cabin.  Of course we spent our time on the balcony talking and then retired for the evening in order to be charged for the next morning in St. Thomas.

Day Five - St. Thomas

We were up early this morning to enjoy a nice leisure breakfast in the dining room.  Breakfast in the dining room really is a lot better than the Windjammer.  You have a much larger selection to choose from and you can enjoy the table service rather than the hurried buffet style.  After breakfast, we headed up to the Schooner Bar to gather for our Atlantis Submarine excursion and from there down to the boat ramp to board the tender to take us out to the submarine.  When climbing down into the submarine you will find there isn’t a lot of room to maneuver and the stairs go straight down.  Once inside you are seated in a row of 10 seats on each side with a porthole for every two seats.  Although I had been on the Atlantis Submarine before I was hoping I would see more this time but I was sadly disappointed.  We saw very few fish and because the submarine didn’t have lights attached to it, the fish you did see weren’t the colorful topical fish one expects to see.  Everything is just blue with no color whatsoever, quite disappointing.  When I did the Atlantis Research Submarine in Grand Cayman, it was equipped with high-powered lights enabling us to see all the beautiful colors of the coral and fish.  I wouldn’t have taken the Atlantis Submarine again if not for my mother’s sake.  She had never done this before and wanted to try it.  I think it’s something worth doing once but not twice.  Next we went back to the ship for a brief lunch and then hoped on a taxi to take us down town for a little shopping.  Neither one of us is much into shopping but we wanted to pick up a couple of T-shirts and possibly some jewelry.  As we were shopping we found ourselves being talked into going into a small cigar shop/bar to try one of their specialty drinks and ended up really enjoying ourselves.  My mother and I were the only two people in the place but Carl made us a wonderful drink (enough to have two drinks each) all for the price of one.  The owners were quite friendly and gave us a lot of great advice.  They suggested that we should at least take a taxi up to Mountain Top to see the view assuring us it would be well worth our time.  According to them you haven’t really seen the island unless you have gone to the other side of the island.  We told him we would be back next April so he gave us a map and told us where we needed to go and what was worth seeing on our next trip here.  When I mentioned I was looking to buy an emerald he suggested I buy Tanzanite instead.  He said it was a fairly new stone and would only go up in value so it would be more of an investment.  Now I don’t know how true this really is because I really don’t know much about jewelry but after seeing the stone I thought is was beautiful.  He walked us over to a little shop called the “Gold Mine” and introduced us to the owner (I’m sure he probably got some sort of a kick back but who doesn’t).  After showing me a few different rings I finally decided on one and paid what I felt was a pretty fair price.  After that we decided to take our friends advice and take a taxi up to Mountain Top and he was right, it was well worth the trip.  The taxi driver, William, was pretty quiet but extremely nice and considerate.  He was very patient and waited for us while we looked around and then he drove us back.  As we were leaving another couple needed a ride too so we dropped them off at their hotel on our way back, giving us a chance to see a little more of the island.  They had been on the island for the entire week and this was their last day.  We chatted with them and then once at their hotel they insisted we try a local drink called a Bushwacker (a very strong drink).  William waited for us while we went into their hotel and had a drink with them.  The had a fabulous view of the beach.  After a few laughs we thanked the couple for their company and were on our way back to the ship.  William seemed a little stressed about getting us back to the ship in time but we made it in plenty of time with a half hour to spare.  We thanked William and left him with a very generous tip for his patience. 

Tonight’s dress for dinner was casual and the dinner theme was French.  My mother had the lobster tail and loved every bite of it and I chose the Chateaubriand, also very delicious.   After dinner we attended the Wave Revue production of “Flash Back”.  I felt the show was very well done and what beautiful costumes.  They go through the different music from the 50’s all the way through the 90’s so it’s filled with a lot of different types of music.  It’s a very active and colorful show, definitely worth seeing, and since this was my second time seeing this show I enjoyed it even more.  Tonight was the millennium party but we decided to skip it and get a good nights sleep instead. 

Day Six - At Sea

This morning we had a leisure breakfast in the dinning room and then we were off to do a little baking in the sun.  It didn’t take us long to decide it was just too hot and only stayed out there for about 45 minutes before we returned to our cabin for a shower.  After cleaning up we wondered around the ship for a bit and then went back to the cabin and chit chatted on the balcony.  We enjoyed a nice cool glass of ice tea and talking.  Being able to spend this individual time with my mother is something that I will cherish forever and I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to do. 

Soon it was time to get ready for dinner.  I headed up to the beauty salon for my appointment.  I had the same person my mother had before and he wasn’t doing any better.  He took a very long time and after putting me under the dryer with curlers in my hair for over 20 minutes he took me back to his chair only to discover it hadn’t worked so he stuck me under the dryers again.  After about 45 minutes I think he could tell that I wasn’t very happy because the girl who had done my hair on the previous formal night finished me up.  He said he had only been working on the ship for about a month and I think that was very apparent.  He was a lot slower than the others and I didn’t really care for any of the styles he was doing on other passengers.  Again I was late getting out of the salon and was a little late getting to dinner but we made it.  The dress was formal and the dinner theme was Captain’s Gala.  The seas were extremely rough all day and it amazed me how well the waiters were able to handle their food trays when the ship was rocking so much.  I’m sure people have seen worse seas than what we experienced but it was the worse I had ever experienced.  Even some of the staff members were talking about how bad the ship was rocking.  We stayed up for the Captain's Gala Buffet and took a lot of pictures.  As usual it was beautifully done and I hated to eat such a display but it had to be done.  Since we couldn’t really walk around without bumping into each other because of the rocking we went back to our cabin and got ready for bed.  It wasn’t too difficult for me to fall asleep but the next morning my mother said she didn’t get more than a couple hours of sleep because of the walls creaking.  I do however; remember having a lot of dreams about rolling or falling off something.  My mom said she kept thinking the ship was going to eventually go too far to one side and just tip over on its side so she couldn’t get to sleep.

Day Seven - Cococay

We arrived at Cococay on time but because of the high winds, the captain announced he was having trouble getting the ship anchored and if he couldn’t get it maneuvered within the next half hour we would have to skip the island.  Well needless to say he did get it anchored and we were only about an hour late in starting the tender service to the island.  I have been to this island before and on my previous trip it was so hot I only did a little snorkeling and then went back to the ship.  My husband on the other hand stayed behind and did some exploring of the island and found some beautiful secluded beaches so I had already decided that this time I was going to find the same beaches he had found last time.  He had told me where to go and once there it was really easy to find.  I think the reason no one discovers these beach areas is because the first area they see when they get off the tender is the beach directly ahead which naturally would be the most crowded.  Once we got off the tender we went straight ahead until we connected to the road and then we went right and followed the road as far as we could.  Once there we walked onto a virtually empty beach and walked along it enjoying the tranquility and beautiful scenery.  The sandbars along this area of the beach allowed us to walk out into the water in only ankle deep water for quite a ways.  We got some really great pictures and enjoyed a nice quiet beach.  You would have to see it to believe it but it’s exactly what you picture when you think of being on a deserted tropical island by yourself and maybe a significant other!  Lucky for us the day was a little overcast so it wasn’t too unbearably hot like it was on my last trip to this island.  We didn’t ever take the time to take out our beach towels and lay on the beach (we opted for just roaming and exploring instead) but we had come prepared since I already knew there wouldn’t be any lounge chairs in this area.  After an hour or so of enjoying ourselves we headed back to the main area of the island to have some lunch but by the time we returned, the island lunch was over so we just headed back to the ship.  We did stop for just a few minutes in the shopping area and purchased a couple of T-shirts but that was the extent of our shopping.  The T-shirts weren’t the best quality but would be just fine for as a souvenir.  Once on board we opted for burgers and fries from the Solarium to enjoy lunch on our balcony.  It was now starting to sink in that this was our last day on board and our last night.  The last night always seems so sad to me because my short little paradise is coming to an end and soon enough it will be back to reality.  What a rude awakening.  The worse will be tomorrow morning when all of the rush of the disembarkation begins.  Oh well, I say lets enjoy the moment and have a great last night on board.  We decided to get started on our packing so that we wouldn’t have to come back to the cabin early to get it done. 

Tonight’s dress was casual and the dinner theme was International.  I had the Linguine del Giorno and my mother had the Chef’s Halibut both of which were fantastic.  After dinner was the Farewell Show but we chose to skip it and just do some lounging.  We went down to the Champagne Bar, found a small secluded area and enjoyed a couple of drinks while listening to some music and enjoying a couple chocolate covered strawberries.  We finally returned to our cabin to finish the last little bit of packing and put our luggage out.  I wish Royal Caribbean would allow you until at least 1:00 AM to have your luggage put outside your door rather than Midnight.  Midnight just seems too early, especially since it’s your last night on board and you want to make it last as long as possible.

Disembarkation

We got up early enough to have a last breakfast in the dining room and then returned to our cabin to gather our things and leave.  We headed up to the Viking Crown Lounge because as we noticed on our last cruise there are very few people here and you can take your pick of seats.  Besides my mother and I, there were only two other people here.  Anywhere else on the ship is extremely crowded and not a seat to be found anywhere.  Once our luggage tag color had been called we headed down to the Centrum area and left the ship.  As we were leaving it seemed like just yesterday when we were filled with excitement in anticipation of our upcoming week and now we were filled with sadness anticipating the upcoming workweek ahead.  We boarded a bus, were taken to the airport and checked in.  Before long we were back home and ready for work. 

Summary

In short, we had a fantastic time and couldn’t wait until our next cruise!  The food was great and the service even better.  I wouldn’t hesitate to do this ship and itinerary again.