Sunfinder Vacations

Writer Rob Lovitt based this independent review on his 5-night Western Caribbean cruise departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Enchantment of the Seas is a ship with a split personality. The seven-story atrium’s abstract artwork, glass elevators, and quiet alcoves will have you thinking you’re in a four-star hotel. But step out on deck and the two pools, six hot tubs, and rum-punch–packing waiters are reminiscent of a tropical beach party. And that doesn’t even include the spa, casino, or climbing wall.

Why Enchantment?

• Class and comfort: Burnished woods, expanses of glass, and artwork in every niche and nook provide a refined backdrop for comfortable lounges, cozy sitting areas, and panoramic ocean views.
• A warm welcome: Stewards are solicitous, performers mingle with passengers, and waiters remember drinks, dining preferences, and even the names of returning guests.
• Freedom of choice: Stage shows or slot machines? Climbing wall or karaoke? From poolside parties to dancing in the disco, there’s no pressure to participate, but don’t be surprised when you do.

Who Should Go
Enchantment attracts a mixed-age crowd – from older couples to younger couples traveling in groups or with their kids – most of whom are looking for a variety of activities. Honeymooners and first-timers will appreciate the friendliness of veteran cruisers and staff alike. If you like a lot of options, Enchantment may be a good choice.

Who shouldn’t go
Guests looking for posh accommodations may find the ship’s cabins a bit small, while those in search of haute cuisine may end up hungry for more culinary creativity. The ship offers a variety of singles activities, but most folks come with their significant others.

Heard on the deck (from a middle-aged couple admiring the hanging-prisms sculpture in the atrium): “It’s hard to believe this ship is even moving.”

Hits and misses

• Don’t miss: The midnight pool party‘s live music, limbo-dancing waiters, extensive buffet, and drinks served in hollowed-out pineapples.
• Best part of the ship: Pool Deck by day for people-watching, and the Viking Crown Lounge at night for drinks and disco.
• Best experience: The rowdy, risqué Quest scavenger hunt, where several dozen people end up with bras on their heads and other people’s shoes on their feet.
• Best shipboard activities: Athletic passengers like to tackle the climbing wall, but the Shamu-sized splashes of the belly-flop contest draw the biggest cheers.
• Needs improvement: By 10 AM, the jogging track, which traverses Upper Pool Deck, is an obstacle course of deck chairs and sun-dazed strollers.
• Activities to skip: The adult shuffleboard competition -- two passengers and two staff members do not make a tournament.

How to meet the captain
The best way to meet the captain is to attend his Welcome Aboard reception on formal night. Get your picture taken together, sip free champagne and rum punch, and enjoy the vintage sounds of the nine-piece big-band ensemble. If you miss him there, he’s often at the big table of the main dining room during the second dinner seating.

Enchantment may not have the most restaurants on the high seas, but she offers plenty of culinary diversity. From jerk chicken to teriyaki salmon, the ship’s kitchen is clearly familiar with the global spice rack. The result isn’t necessarily haute cuisine but more akin to comfort food spiced with international flavors. And whether you’re grabbing a quick buffet lunch or sitting down to a four-course dinner, an equally diverse array of decadent desserts is never far away.

My Fair Lady (main dining room)
Despite the formal Victorian décor – fluted columns, wrought-iron accents, and a bronze statue of Eliza Doolittle – the ship’s main restaurant is a comfortably casual place (formal night aside). Classic dishes (steak, seafood, and lobster tails) are expertly prepared, while more exotic dishes such as Chicken Marsala and Duck a l’Orange up the flavor profile without being fussy. The waiters may wear white gloves on formal night, but their Macarena is a lot more memorable.

Heard on the deck (about the chilled banana soup served at dinner): “Wow, if it had a straw and some rum, it would make a pretty good daiquiri.”

Windjammer Café
Located far forward on Deck 9, Windjammer offers a parade of buffets with panoramic (270°) ocean views. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks, and dinner are all served here, with twin buffet lines, several standalone stations, and legions of employees keeping things bustling. Meanwhile, it’s the little touches – smoked salmon at breakfast, pine nuts at the salad bar, pre-poured trays of water and iced tea at all meals – that make Windjammer more café than basic buffet.

Other dining options

• Solarium Café: Located near the Solarium pool, this counter draws a steady crowd for burgers, hot dogs, and pizza. The café is open during the day and late night (10 PM–4 AM).
• Seattle’s Best Coffee: The truly caffeinated head to this atrium-based counter for lattes, jet tea, and coffee/liqueur concoctions you can’t get at your local coffee shop.
• Room service: Order breakfast the night before and you’ll get a call in the morning saying it’s on its way. Order off the lunch or dinner menu and it arrives within minutes. Room service is available 24 hours and is always free.

Best dining

• Dish: Shrimp Scampi Imperiali -- tender shrimp are butterflied and pan-seared with garlic and herbs, then de-shelled at the table (a la lobster tail) by the head waiter.
• Dessert: Savarin -- filled with sweet banana cream, this small, rum-soaked yeast cake looks like a bagel with cream cheese but packs a much stronger punch.
• Restaurant: My Fair Lady dining room -- innovative appetizers (watermelon gazpacho, anyone?) set the stage for hearty entrées, flaky pastries, and signature after-dinner drinks.
• Food seminar: The marzipan flowers and artistic garnishes are impressive, but it’s the aroma of sautéed Shrimp Creole that draws people to the Chef’s Corner cooking demo in the atrium.

How to…

• Get a table for two: Make your request when you book your trip (earlier is better), or see the maître d’ before lunch on the first day. Occasionally, they’ll even make a table for four a double.
• Celebrate a birthday/anniversary: Streamers, balloons, and a cake in your cabin costs $29; a cake in the dining room is $15. Arrange one or both at the purser’s desk.
• Change seating: Check with the maître d’ at any time. He or she will ask about interests (older, younger, single, etc.) and find like-minded diners whenever possible.
• Dress for formal night: Most women wear cocktail dresses (a few opt for gowns), with a fair amount of sequins and chiffon. Men opt for dark suits or sport coats and slacks.
• Dress for casual night: In a word, casually (but no shorts or tank tops). Women dress in skirts and sundresses, with men in golf shirts and comfortable pants.

Tips:

• The main dining room features two small “parlors” with four to six tables each, ideal for large groups or those seeking a quieter setting.
• Still hungry? On nights when there’s no late buffet, waiters with canapés and petit fours roam the casino, Champagne Terrace, and Schooner Bar.
• Windjammer Café offers many of the same desserts as the main dining room, and no one notices how many you take.

Heard on the deck (about the strong Seattle’s Best coffee served in the main dining room): “Back home, that’s what we call ‘stand up and walk around coffee’ -- you don’t even need a cup!”

Enchantment’s cabins are not the largest accommodations around, but their space is well-utilized. Standard cabins have narrow desks and loveseat-style couches, while upper-deck cabins and suites feature full-sized furnishings, along with mini refrigerators, balconies, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Junior suites provide a touch of class with teak-floored foyers, bathtubs, and larger balconies. (One quibble: The hair dryer should really be in the bathroom, not next to the TV.)

Cabins for guests with disabilities
Guests with disabilities will find 14 accessible cabins and suites, most of which are conveniently located close to the ship’s public areas. All offer barrier-free bathrooms (but not power-assisted doors), while those with balconies feature small, portable ramps that can be used to get over the sliding-door track. All public areas are accessible, though some wheelchair-labeled bathrooms are just barely so.

Tips:

• Forward cabins on the lower decks can be noisy and prone to vibration during docking and anchoring (which often take place at the crack of dawn).
• If you want extra bathing room, consider a suite; shower stalls in standard cabins are less than roomy.
• There are no guest laundry facilities or irons on board, but laundry service and dry cleaning are available (surcharges apply).

Heard on the deck (from two “moms” traveling together with their teenage children):
First mom: “We booked them on another deck because we knew they’d want their own space.”
Second mom: “Yeah, and we wanted ours.”

Boarding the ship through her seven-story atrium is like stepping into the lobby of an upscale city hotel: A pianist plays a white grand piano, glass elevators whisk passengers to the upper decks, and a simple décor of blond wood and white tile creates an ambience of understated elegance. The casino, theater, shopping arcade, day spa, large library, 16-station Internet café, and nearly a dozen bars and restaurants are distributed throughout the ship rather than crammed into a central promenade. Hit the jogging track or climbing wall over here, play some blackjack or bingo over there, then take in a port talk or art auction before dinner. The style is subtle, sophisticated, and nicely decentralized, which also means you’ll seldom see a crowd.

Bars, lounges, and casino
During the day, the liveliest bar is the main pool bar, where Jamaican bartenders float pools of rum atop frosty concoctions of mango and strawberry. Come evening, Schooner Bar’s wall-sized windows and nautical accents provide a seaworthy setting for happy hour and post-dinner piano music. From there, most folks head for the pirate-themed casino before ending up at the Viking Crown Lounge for disco and panoramic views of Pool Deck.

Swimming pools
With two sections (one for swimming, the other for wading), four adjacent hot tubs, and deck chairs for several hundred people, the ship’s main pool is party central. And, silly or not, the belly-flop contest, sexy legs event, and other off-the-wall activities are side-splittingly funny. For a more, ahem, refined setting, there’s always the Solarium pool, located aft, where elaborate tile work, lion-head fountains, and plenty of live plants conjure images of an Arabian oasis.

Shows
Broadway-style revues, variety shows, and musical-comedy acts fill the Orpheum Theater nightly, although the best shows take place when the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers forgo the stage and get down with the guests. Whether it’s a sock hop or disco inferno, the energy and enthusiasm is so infectious that the dance floor always ends up packed.

Shore excursions
With dozens of excursions in each port, narrowing the choices can be a challenge. Those who plan ahead can book excursions online (up to 10 days before departure). Those who don’t can usually book even as the ship is docking in port. The knowledgeable desk staff is happy to suggest appropriate tours, and by having different groups muster in different areas, the whole process is swift and smooth.

Weddings and vow renewals
All weddings and vow renewals should be arranged through Royal Caribbean prior to sailing. Weddings are performed by non-denominational officiants, either onboard (in one of several lounges) or in port, where allowed. Catering, photography, entertainment, transportation, and salon appointments can be arranged with a single call. An onboard hostess coordinates wedding details and handles vow renewals.

Heard on the deck (from a man on an elevator heading from Deck 2 to the pool on Deck 9, with no stops in-between): “Oh yeah, a straight shot. It’s going to be a great day!”

Looking for…

• Quietest spot: The library -- there are 30 plush leather chairs, yet never more than six people in them. Better yet, no kids as children’s books are kept at the children’s center.
• Liveliest spot: The main pool, where sexy legs contests, belly-flop competitions, and human-powered “horse races” foster thunderous cheers and applause.
• Most popular activity: Karaoke draws a good crowd, but bingo is huge as players punch numbers for upgrades, free cruises, and a jackpot of several thousand dollars.
• Best view: Grab a window table at the Viking Crown Lounge and you have a bird’s eye view of the pool party by day and the dance floor by night.
• Best show: “Can’t Stop the Rock” -- from “Where the Boys Are” to “Austin Powers,” the Royal Caribbean Singers & Dancers offer a high-energy history of music in the movies.
• Best drink: The midnight pool party‘s piña coladas and strawberry daiquiris in hollowed-out pineapples may explain the subsequent limbos and conga lines.

Tips:

• Get your news fix in the library, where you’ll find daily digests from The New York Times and several international newspapers.
• If you don’t need to be near the action, Upper Pool Deck has several small “islands” with shady canopies, each with 12 or more lounge chairs.
• The Fascinating Rhythm Lounge goes all but unused, making it a nice spot for reading, a game of bridge, or just watching the ocean pass by.
• The Champagne Bar, located at the base of the atrium’s grand staircase, is a great spot for people watching, especially on Formal Night.
• Each passenger receives one pool towel on embarkation day. Need an extra? There are plenty in the fitness center locker room.

Spa and salon
Step through the glass doors of the Enchantment Day Spa and you enter a serene oasis nicely set off from the rest of the ship. The staff likes to promote their newest services (teeth whitening) and best deals (book on embarkation day for discounts). But they also provide warm, personal attention during manicures and basic massages. Settle into one of the lounge chairs in the light-filled relaxation room afterwards and you won’t want to leave.

Click to view a virtual tour

Fitness areas
Just upstairs from the spa, the busy fitness center packs an aerobics studio and 20-odd machines into a fairly tight space. That’s okay, though, because many passengers would rather be running on the outdoor track or playing the nine holes of miniature golf. Scrambling up the 30-foot climbing wall is one of the most popular activities. Ring the bell at the top – 10 decks above the ocean! – and savor the sky-high view and the crowd’s applause.

Tips:

• If the running track on Deck 10 is a jumble of deck chairs, try Deck 5. A gate blocks the bow, but it will likely be a less crowded alternative.
• Pilates, yoga, and kickboxing classes are $10 per session, but aerobics, abs, and stretching classes are free.
• Even if you don’t get a spa treatment, the saunas, steam rooms, and relaxation room are all available and complimentary whenever the spa is open.
• Participate in several ShipShape activities (fitness classes, groups walks, and even line dancing lessons) and you can earn points toward free gear.
• Passengers flock to the climbing wall and mini-golf course on the last days when they remember they still haven’t tried them. Go early and beat the rush.
• A water fountain in the gym means you don’t have to carry, or buy, bottled water.

Located just off the atrium, Enchantment’s shops offer the usual goods, but they do so with more style than many. Individual shops sport unique names – check out Aromatique for fragrances and Facets for jewelry – and they’re arrayed in a stylish Galleria-like setting. Other nice touches include a floral cart, digital camera shop, and regular port shopping talks complete with coupons, giveaways, and port maps.

Tips:

• If you buy liquor onboard and take it back to your cabin, you’ll pay an extra $9.50 per-bottle fee; however, that fee is waived on the last day of the cruise.
• On port days, look for the ship’s shopping staff on the gangway. They often hand out shop coupons and taxi vouchers.
• If the bidding is slow at the early art auctions, the auctioneer will often lower opening prices during later auctions, making for even better bargains.

The Adventure Ocean children’s program offers age-appropriate activities 10 AM–10 PM (with later activities for teens and late-night for-fee babysitting for the little ones). Supervised games, science experiments, and a cool “decompression chamber” maze keep small kids entertained; older children gravitate toward the video arcade, foosball table, and “hang out” couches across the hall. Kids can also earn “Adventure Ocean” credits – redeemable for key chains, CD cases, and other merchandise – for taking part in assorted activities.

Tips:

• After organized activities end at 10 PM, kids can join the Youth Staff for late-night “hang time” until 1 AM (cost is $5 per child, per hour).
• On certain nights, you can sign ‘em up for dinner with the Youth Staff and enjoy a quiet dinner for two.

Now through April 2005, Enchantment offers 4- and 5-night Western Caribbean cruises from Fort Lauderdale (with one 7-night holiday cruise in December 2004). She then sails up north for 4- to 7-night Canada/New England cruises – departing from Boston, Philadelphia, or Cape Liberty, NJ – before returning to Fort Lauderdale in October 2005.

• Cruise line - Royal Caribbean
• Ship name - Enchantment of the Seas
• Type of cruise - Casual
• Total cabins - 975
• Private balcony cabins - 212
• Decks - 11
• Total crew - 760
• Passenger capacity - 1950
• Ship size - Large
• Officers nationality - Norwegian
• Year entered service - 1997
• Registry - Bahamas
• Ship length - 916
• Tonnage - 74,140