Enchantment reviews for a DCLer

chrisd596

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Oct 5, 2000
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We've been on 4 cruisers, but have only sailed dcl. We're thinking of a dec cruise and might want to give RCC a try.

We have been very satisfied with dcl, but the cost difference is considerable so I'm thinking of trying dcl. The casinos aren't important to us, but the other entertainment is.

From those of you who have sailed the Enchantment recently and dcl before, I would appreciate you thoughts on dining, state of the ship, service, etc.

I understand the obvious, like the soda discussion and the split bathrooms, and the tub and showers.

I'm looking for reviews or thoughts on your experience in rcc island, food in the main dining areas, ship, lines, quality of shows, etc.

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated since I haven't made up my mind and would value the thoughts before making a decision.

Are children are older and wont be sailing. Even though my wife and I cruised alone before on dcl w/out kids, it still was very enjoyable.

Thanks
Chris
 
I probably wont be of much help because we have only done one cruise and it was Enchantment last week. So I cant compare to DCL. I can tell you we chose RCCL over DCL because for the exact same itinerary and room category, DCL was $150 less than double. I can tell you about our trip....

We did Cape Canaveral to Coco Cay and Nassau. We did My Time Dining so we chose our dining time but you pre-pay tips. They charge tips to your account each day anyway so that wasn't a big deal to us.

Night one dinner I had prime rib and DH had salmon. Both were very good. Not exceptional or anything but very good. Not sure what was in the theatre that night but in one of the lobby's we watched finish that lyric or something like that. We enjoyed it very much.

Day 2 was Coco Cay. Beach is beautiful, could have done that multiple days! DH and DS snorkeled just of the beach. I layed in the sun and also walked the beach with DD. They brought out a huge buffet lunch at noon and started games on the beach as well. On that particular day, 2 ships were there (both RCCL). We left shortly after that at 1:15 to participate in the sting ray encounter. Highlight of our trip for sure! Last tender back was 4:30. This was also formal night. For dinner I had another steak and DH had some seafood pasta. Again, very good. Not wowed, but good. That night we watched a singing/dancing tribute to the 60's. DD enjoyed it because she likes that kind of stuff. Im not crazy about musicals. I believe there was an adult comedy show that night but we did not go because our kids didnt like the kids club and they are 14 and 9 and I wasn't crazy about leaving them totally alone. For others who might be reading, the kids clubs can not be evaluated by my kids~they dont like anything!!

Day 3 was Nassau and not very good weather. I had tentatively planned to spend the day at Melia Resort for a fee but the weather wasnt good and we had had enough of the beach (we went a couple of days before our cruise too). So we just shopped for a few hours then hung out on the ship. That night was the Love and Marriage show which was absolutely hysterical. I had tears running down my face. Maybe not totally appropriate for my 14 year old but boy was it fun! We ate in the buffet that night, it was pasta night in the dining room and I didn't want something that heavy.

Day 4 was at sea. There were lots of contests at the pool; belly flop, sexy man etc. We hung out in the sun, DD and I did the bungee trampoline and rock wall, she used the fitness center a couple of times. That night, DH, DS and myself watched Frozen on the pool deck and DD went to the theatre for a broadway style musical. She really enjoyed it, I wouldn't have because again, Im not a musical fan. We ate dinner in the buffet again, it was just easy.

We purchased the royal replenish package which included soda, non-alcoholic frozen drinks, specialty coffees from the Starbucks, fresh squeezed OJ and bottled water. It was $20 per person per day (4). I don't think any of us used $80 worth of drinks but it was nice to not have to worry about it and the kids loved the "slushies". Not unlike the disney dining plan :) Sometimes convenience is worth a cost.

We did self disembarkation so we could get on the road to Michigan ASAP. We were at the breakfast buffet right at 6:30 am. In line by 7:30 am and on the road by 8:45 am. Our assigned time was 9;20 if we had gone that route.

Like I said, probably not super helpful since we cant compare to anything but we all would cruise again and we would all do RCCL again. ALL of the staff were superb!
Oh and for the dining, we chose a table alone. We liked our server so requested him the next night and got the same table with the same server. Then we didn't go back so I don't know if it would have gone so smoothly all nights.

The cabins looked comparable in photos. We had a balcony room and I purposely chose a room with the sofa AND a pullman bed since DD and DS don't like to sleep together. It worked perfectly. In fact DD has mild autism so we were able to hang our beach towels from the pullman, over the sofa bed to make her a little cave area for her sensory needs. It was great!

Feel free to pm me if you have any questions. I will do my best to answer :)
 
That is absolutely a fantastic review of your trip.

We had the 4 day reserved on Enchantment, and it was pretty much what you said in savings over dcl. But we backed out and will reconsider.

We love the "Disney" experience and service, since we are Disney Vacation Club members. I guess sometime we'll try it.

Thanks again for the great review.

Chris
 
We've done the Enchantment and DCL. I have to say, the $$ is must better on Enchantment---but you are definitely not paying for the same kind of experience. They are just two different kinds of trips. Enchantment is an older, smaller ship and RCCL is very glitzy compared to DCL. The meals were about equivalent as on DCL.

We found the kids clubs were really, really a poor contrast to DCL. We did Enchantment when my kids were about 6 & 8. Honestly, the kid's spaces were really bare bones and the activity times weren't very structured. They would list a few things they would be doing--but no set time, so it was hard to know when to come and go. At one point, they took my dd6's group out and about on the ship (which was fine)---but she left the group to come find me and they didn't notice she was gone. Luckily, dd6 did find me (I was standing in the hallway waiting for an elevator) and I took her back to the club--but they didn't have any record of her being checked out (because she wasn't) and didn't seem very alarmed about it. We weren't very impressed with kids' programming.

Also, the entertainment in the theater wasn't really geared toward families and kids.

The trampoline was really cool though....
 

Thanks for the review... We were ready to try Enchantment for almost 1/2 the price of dcl....thought about it long and hard and then, because we really enjoy dcl...decided to book dcl again.

If it was going to a different location, maybe we'd try it, but it's the Bahamas trip. And I think the overriding decision is based on our perfect experience on dcl, so yes it costs a lot more, but it is our vacation so why try to "budget" out an already great experience.

Plus, when reading cruise critics, it was like almost 40% of the reviews of Enchantment talking of some sort of poor experience. I know you can get one or two bad reviews of any cruise line, but it was like every other one....

Thanks

Chris
 
rrammh, thanks for your trip report! It's nice to see a first time cruiser come back from a trip and realize that some of the things we've all started to take for granted (or skip altogether), like the love and marriage show, are still very entertaining.

Have fun on your next cruise...and the next one...and the next one...and so on...now you're probably hooked like the rest of us. :)
 
I took a cruise on the Enchantment a few years ago after only cruising on the larger ships (Navigator and Voyager). We loved it - great shows and food, poolside entertainment, etc. I am hoping to schedule another cruise on the Enchantment with some friends soon.
 
I would not sail on Enchantment... This was my first and only RCCL cruise...
A small list of the problems: the bathrooms did not work in many rooms, at times the rooms smelt like fuel, the Theater was way to small to fit all the guests, disembarking was a nightmare at best... and there is more..
not saying RCCL is a bad cruise line but I would not compare this ship to anything Disney has to offer. I have been on 5 Disney cruises and I will also say I was not in love with the Fantasy but would by far take it over that thing RCCL calls a ship loving named dis-Enchantment of the seas by relatives on that cruise as well...
On the other side RCCL did give us a 200 onboard credit and a 500 certificate for future use which we never used for the gas chamber room and bathroom not working most of the week... and a manager from guest services did come down to smell the rooms :lmao:
I however know others who went on newer ships that had a great time.
 















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