2013 Adventures, Boarded the Cruise Ship!

[dgbg100106]

She looks fantastic. I have never got a balcony, had OV once. For our Hawaii we have an inside and saved so much money. It is plenty of room and we only sleep in there anyway. I don't think you will be disappointed with a guarantee.

We have done a bunch on the inside, but we have always picked our own cabin, and letting someone else pick it is different for me...

I am a control freak...

 

[dgbg100106]

I'm sure I will be asking you a ton of questions!

I am still undecided about what to do as our "get away". Our tradition is to do UO/IOA for a couple of nights. They were offering a really awesome military discount this year! If they offer it again in 2014 we may stick with that.

A cruise is just so much better for us budget wise! I have a year to decide...But I am an obsessive planner so I keep researching anyway.

I cruise b/c I love it and yes you can control your budget, unless you are franandaj.....

 

[dgbg100106]

I think cruises are the way to go. Just about everything is covered. Meals, sleeping, pool and good old relaxing.

Alot of people forget to factor in the tips, which I think is mandatory, I am not sure why they don't just put it in the price to begin with....

 

[dgbg100106]

Sounds amazing!!
I have never ever been on a cruise before so I will be living vicariously thru you
We go to WDW 3 or 4 times a year (6hr drive), but we let our AP's expire on our last trip back in August and have nothing planned for this year.

That would be hard too. we had AP and let them go a year ago, and we have not been back either. It is sad....

I love to cruise it is just a great way to see the world.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Subbing in first.....then going back to read! But it already looks like one heck of a trip!

 

[dgbg100106]

I'm in! You always have such great pics!

I'm in! Can you take lots of pics on the ship? Like the public areas and dining room? We're looking at doing more cruising. I haven't seen many pictures of ships other than Disney.

Yes I can take a ton of pictures, I normally do, but I figure most people get tired of looking at them... But just for you I will post a ton of them.

 

[dgbg100106]

I'm here. The itinerary looks great! Wow on missing that giant storm in 2010, what magnificent luck.

When the Earthquake hit back in 2011 and it damaged DC, we were in Amsterdam getting on our Russian cruise... We have missed some major events being on vacation.

 

[dgbg100106]

Subbing in first.....then going back to read! But it already looks like one heck of a trip!

Thanks PIO

 

[dwheatl]

Subbing in and planning our own little cruise. We put down a deposit when we cruised two years ago, and we have to book by Feb. to get the "deal" with it. Unfortunately, they've dropped a lot of the CA departure cruises because of violence in Mexico. We're planning to do Ensenada and Catalina island in the summer.
Looking forward to hearing about your trips.

 

[dgbg100106]

Subbing in and planning our own little cruise. We put down a deposit when we cruised two years ago, and we have to book by Feb. to get the "deal" with it. Unfortunately, they've dropped a lot of the CA departure cruises because of violence in Mexico. We're planning to do Ensenada and Catalina island in the summer.
Looking forward to hearing about your trips.

I guess you could always go north right, maybe to Alaska?

 

[dgbg100106]

By booking while we were on board, we got OBC (On Board Credit) to use on the Feb cruise. Free money is always nice and I usually use them to pay for the tips, or part of the tips, but this year we wanted to try the My Time Dinning.

My Time Dinning, means that you go to dinner anytime you want between 6:00 pm and 9:30 pm. What gets me is you must make a reservation anyway. So I can dine anytime I want as long as I know when I want to dine....

One of the draws for me was if I was sitting in a bar and was having fun, I did not want to have jump up and run off to my dinning time.

So we will have to come up with a good time for us and see if it works. But you can change it night to night, just as long as you reserve your time.

Another drawback for this is you must prepay your tips, so even though I would like to use my OBC to pay for my tips, now I must pay for my tips before leaving home.

Oh well.... Live and learn. So we will find out if we like the My Time or not...

 

[franandaj]

I cruise b/c I love it and yes you can control your budget, unless you are franandaj.....

Yes I can take a ton of pictures, I normally do, but I figure most people get tired of looking at them... But just for you I will post a ton of them.

When I was preparing for my Wonder cruise, I looked long and hard for TRs FOR the Wonder, there were hardly any. Then most of the reports had mostly pictures from the Excursions and not what the boat itself looks like.

The dining sounds interesting. Do they have only one main dining room or do they have different restaurants you can eat at?

 

[dgbg100106]

I thought you might laugh at that one....


Dining Options

There are several dining options on the Enchantment.

There are a couple of complimentary options and then some that require an up charge.

Park Café, where you can grab gourmet sandwiches, salads and more is new as apart of the refurb.

Then there is the Main Dining Room with complimentary, multi-course dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner. and this is my favorite place to dine, I like sitting down and being waited on.

There is the Windjammer Café, not my favorite place, it is a buffet that serves Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

The Solarium Café, is out by the pool and served a lot of junk food, burgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings, and Wings..... David got the wings alot last time.

and then there is room service, which they have started charging a fee if you order between midnight and 5am...

For the upcharge options there is a specialty restaurant called Chops Grille steakhouse, I think it was $25 the last time but I think it is now $30, you can choose any items off the menu from appetizer to dessert (and even multiple items)

Frozen treats at Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream cost more for each item.

Café Latté-tudes, serving Seattle's Best Coffee, these are also priced per item, and were very much like the land based prices.

 

[t_daniels]

Late! But I'm here!

 

[Pinkocto]

My Time Dining has me a bit confused. Otherwise are you assigned a dining time? On Disney you either have early dining at 6:00 or late dining at 8:00. Or you can always walk in to the buffet restaurant that turns into a sit down for dinner.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

My Time Dining has me a bit confused. Otherwise are you assigned a dining time? On Disney you either have early dining at 6:00 or late dining at 8:00. Or you can always walk in to the buffet restaurant that turns into a sit down for dinner.

Which leads me to my FIRST...but surely not my LAST...Silly newbie question(that I can't seem to find a definitive answer to).

How exactly does dining work?
Is everything scheduled?
Is there anyway to just go eat when you feel like it?

I don't know if cruising would be for DH if he has to think ahead of time what time he may want dinner.(This is why we haven't made it to The World as a family. He doesn't like vacations that require too much planning)

 

[bellanotte10]

I'm late to the party as well but I'm here!

 

[mdsoccermom]

My Time Dining has me a bit confused. Otherwise are you assigned a dining time? On Disney you either have early dining at 6:00 or late dining at 8:00. Or you can always walk in to the buffet restaurant that turns into a sit down for dinner.

You can do the traditional dining where you are assigned the time and will hav the same waitstaff.

Or, you can do My Time Dining where you have the flexibility to choose the time you want to eat each night between 6:00pm and 9:30pm. It's suggested that you make a reservation each day when you've decided on a time, though you can walk in. On the Oasis of the Seas, there was a separate line for walk ins and people with reservations.

 

[dgbg100106]

Late! But I'm here!

Glad that you made it...

 

[Pinkocto]

You can do the traditional dining where you are assigned the time and will hav the same waitstaff.

Or, you can do My Time Dining where you have the flexibility to choose the time you want to eat each night between 6:00pm and 9:30pm. It's suggested that you make a reservation each day when you've decided on a time, though you can walk in. On the Oasis of the Seas, there was a separate line for walk ins and people with reservations.

Thanks for the info!