Royal Caribbean International
Enchantment of the Seas Cruise Review
Western Caribbean

Brian Sibbald
Age: 44
Occupation: Transportation
Number of Cruises: 3
Sailing Date: March 22nd, 2007

This was my third cruise to date. My second cruise on the Enchantment of the Sea. My first cruise was one week before they cut the ship in half to add the new suspension bridges. That trip was absolutely perfect. The ship was clean and the crew was fantastic.

My second cruise was on a Holland American ship, which is also owned by Royal Caribbean lines. This too was a perfect cruise with friendly and personal crew.

This brings me to my last cruise on the Enchantment of the Sea. Leaving Ft. Lauderdale sailing to Key West, Cozumel, Mexico and back to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

What a change. Not only in the ships appearance, but in the attitudes of the crew. Now don’t get me wrong, the ship is beautiful with all the new bridges, rooms and decorations.

I was really put off at the rudeness of the new crew. Most crew members acted is if we were in the way or interfering with whatever they were doing. We were cut off in doorways with no excuse me. On past cruises, they would open the doors for us and wish us a great day. We saw crew members roll their eyes at us, shake their heads in disgust and just stand and stare at us with distaste. We even witnessed a member telling other passengers how after a few days with us they all get irritated by us. Now we did have two very wonderful ladies in the Bolero lounge sing to us and treat us great. (Jennifer Lopez and a girl we called Lakisha…she looked like the girl from American Idol) They need a raise.

We also had an issue with our table in the main dinning room. We had reserved a quiet table for two as this was our anniversary cruise. When we arrived at the table…#159, it was a four top. There was a pair of very young girls sitting at it and we were forced to sit across from each other. We asked our main waiter if we could have a table for two. Well, he couldn’t speak or understand English well enough to figure out what we were asking. He kept telling us that there was a large group of people at the window and he could do nothing for us. We didn’t care about the window. We just wanted a table for two. He said we could talk to the head waiter. I asked if it would help us get a table for two and he said no. Frustrated and dressed to the nines, we left. We changed our clothes to go to the Windjammer buffet. Just before we left the room, the head waiter called and said he would seat us at a table for two. We said we had already changed, our mood was not that great and we would just try again the next day. We proceeded to the Windjammer for dinner and we were turned away at exactly 9:00pm. We ended up eating, and paying for Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Happy anniversary honey. No food on the ship between 9:00pm and 10:30pm. The rest of the trip we sat at table #201. Great seats and the waiter treated us like royalty. I wish I could remember his name as he was outstanding. Patsy the drink girl for our table was a hoot as well. Oh yeah, our room guy shorted us pool towels twice. Enough bad.

On the other end of the spectrum, the ship was beautiful with more than enough activities to keep you hopping. Key West was fine with plenty of art shops and small museums to check out. We did the Hemmingway house to see the cats. The back corner of the property over by the new bathrooms just reeks of cat urine. Didn’t even have a real copy of “old man in the sea” Some interesting art in this very small home.

Next stop was Cozumel, Mexico. For us, it doesn’t get any better than this. All the bad was worth the time had in Cozumel. We would recommend staying away from the six and eight hour excursions and rent a car. $77.00 gets you a funny little Pontiac, Matia. (I think it was a one cylinder Briggs and Stratton) Or a Jeep or a VW slug bug. That includes insurance. Head south and follow the new road until it turns into the old road and keep going. You will come to an opening and end up at Bob Marley’s. From there on it is the most beautiful beaches you have ever seen. Crashing waves, little souvenir shops and tons of sand. We continued back north on the east side of the island to a small place with a natural cove. The water was much calmer and we snorkeled for an hour and a half. We saw hundreds of fish and I even found a new pair of sun glasses. Back through the middle of the island to the center of town where we bought a ring for my lady. We saw street musicians and many street vendors all selling there goods at what they call “almost free”. The day was perfect and we will vacation back to Mexico next year. At an all inclusive resort of course.

The next day was at sea. All food stations and bars reminded us of herds of cows pushing and shoving for the best place in line for the grazing. The pool area was the funniest display of a runway fashion show. Granted, we were in the midst of spring breakers. What a wondrous group of adult children. Again, not the ships fault. We just had to find our own hideaways like Bolero’s and the Viking crown lounge. Great place to sit and watch the show.

The Orpheum Theater had the same show that I had seen in 2004. The jugglers dropped stuff each show. The comedian told the same jokes I had heard on two previous cruises and the singers were…well, cruise ship singers. The cruise director, Paul Rudder had the personality of a rock. No enthusiasm at all. The pirate children at dinner said it best…Blah, Blah, Blah! All would be great fun for first time sailors. It was for me.

Would we sail with Caribbean cruise lines again?...no. Would we sail with any cruise lines again?... doubtful. Too much time on the ship and not enough time to explore ports of call. I also want to feel as if the crew is happy that we are there, not disgusted. Last but not least, the ship's representative at the shuttle busses who loaded us for our shuttle to the airport was a complete jerk. Look for Jay Mendelson and run with all your might. He was totally rude, arrogant and argued with another rep about the bus count. Which the other rep was correct and Jay overloaded the bus forcing four people to get off and retrieve there luggage. Jay even said to a third rep that he would like to punch the second rep right in the head over the count issue. How professional Jay.

The ship is beautiful. Key West has great art and history. Cozumel just plain rocks. Boarding and departing the ship was a breeze.
 

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