Connie Lewis

Age: 52
Occupation: Part time medical secretary
Number of Cruises: 3
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Ship: Enchantment of the Seas
Sailing Date: April 29th, 2001
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean

This was our third cruise, first time with RCCL. Had previously gone on Norway in 1992 and Majesty Cruise Lines in 1993. Did our own air, using frequent flyer miles. Non-stop flight down went smoothly. Arrived 10:45 AM, went to ship, checked in pretty quickly and were on ship by 12:30.

Overall, we enjoyed the experience. The thing that surprised us most was the age of the passengers. Much older than we expected. I'd say that 70% were over 65. I imagine the time of year had something to do with it. I'm sure once school is out, there will be more young families. No offense to older people - we just would have preferred being with people between 45-60. I would have expected an older crowd on HAL, but had not heard this about RCCL. Is this the norm?

We were in Cat. H, Deck A. First time we've had an outside cabin. We enjoyed it and will probably stick with this. The room was a nice size. I really liked having a "medicine chest" in the bathroom to put all my toiletries in. Even though I have a hanging toiletry bag, this was more convenient.

Weather was great except for Monday. Had to spend it indoors, but gave us a chance to explore the ship at beginning of cruise. Also had some rain in Nassau on Sat., but cleared up by noon. 
Tuesday was also an at sea day.

Wednesday, St. Martin : Did shopping in AM - just wanted t-shirts, then went to Orient Beach. Quite an experience. We're surprised they let people on the beach who aren't nude (like us). Hubby tried to talk me into it, but I said not unless everyone else was nude! He was all set to do it!

Thursday, St. Thomas: Did shopping in AM - again for t-shirts. After watching some parasailers in St. Martin, decided we would try it here. I'd have never had nerve to go up myself, but went tandem with hubby. A little scary - paid for the 600' ride but he took us up 1100'. Enjoyed it, but don't think we'll do it again, especially since hearing the reports about them not being regulated or inspected.

Friday - at sea.

Saturday, Nassau: Very disappointed in Straw Market. Sales people so pushy, if you showed the slightest interest in something, they just pounced on you. Who needs that. Went over to Atlantis, was rather a waste of time since we couldn't hardly see anything.

Food: We were very pleased, as were the other 4 people at our table. None of us ever had a bad meal all week. It might not have been gourmet, but I wouldn't call it plain either. Chilled soups were very good - watermelon, apple, pineapple. Didn't try the cucumber and some others. Service was good, but we were right near the kitchen so that helped. Eggs Benedict in the dining room was delicious. Windjammer wasn't bad. As someone else said, go around the back for the omelet station. Did both the dining room and Windjammer for breakfast and lunch. We had wonderful tablemates - had requested a table of 6 or 8. It was a table for 8 but only 6 ever showed up. Don't think another couple was assigned to it - can't believe they wouldn't have come to the dining room at least once. There seemed to be quite a few tables with empty chairs every evening - not just an occasional night, but every evening. Don't think the ship was full. We weren't impressed with the Gala Buffet or the Midnight Delights.

Entertainment: The theater is beautiful. However, we were disappointed with most of the entertainment. Did enjoy Nick Lewin, a comedic magician; he was great. Weren't impressed with the juggler or Beatles impersonators. The production shows were poor. Our tablemates raved about the entertainment on Crown Princess - fabulous Las Vegas type shows. The costumes for these production shows were very mediocre at best.

Miscellaneous: Bought some nice photos of formal nights. Paul Rutter was cruise director - did a good job.
Played bingo several times. Jackpot got to $6,600. Never made it to the Solarium pool. Just didn't have enough days - especially with having a bad day on Monday. Newlywed Game was funny. But even funnier was something called Novelquest. Don't miss it. We were all in stitches. Don't want to spoil it by telling what goes on at the end.

I listened to everyone about not overpacking, and ended up underpacking for hubby! For some reason, I thought he wasn't going to need too many long pants. I'll know next time to take more than 2 pair.

Had an 11:40 connecting flight home via Washington Dulles. Flight from Dulles to Pittsburgh was overbooked, so we gave up our seats for the 2 free tickets. They sent us over to Reagan National in a taxi, as the next flight out of Dulles was full. This helped to kill a lot of the time, so it wasn't bad at all - less than 3 hours delay. Plus dinner vouchers. So now we have our tickets for next year's cruise!

This is a beautiful ship. However, I don't know if we'll cruise with RCCL again. We just don't like cruising with that age group, plus with the poor entertainment. I'll need to do some research and see what the story is. I'd appreciate any comments on age of passengers on RCCL.

Ask a Question About Royal Caribbean Cruises