chiboo9

1 minute ago, rjac said:

Depends on which ship you're on. I was on an older ship this past (Serenade) and VOOM was pitiful, should have been called gloom or doom. From what I have read here, the newer ships have pretty good connectivity. Recommend you tell us which ship you'll be on and maybe someone can tell you their VOOM experience.

I'll be on Enchantment.

My only need of using it is to check in on the kids, either via texts, phone calls, or FaceTime. I have zero intentions on using it for social media or work. I want to unplug as much as possible but it's also our first time ever leaving our kids with my parents so I foresee a lot of checking in with them. It's only a 3 night cruise. Do you think it's worth getting Voom for this? I was planning on getting the deluxe beverage package and right now, Cruise Planner has the 25% deal on deluxe beverage and Voom 1 device. What are your thoughts?  

8 hours ago, mbk999 said:

I think it was $20 for partial (flippers and life vest) and either $27 or $37 for everything.   I just rented the partial set-up (I had a full face snorkel with me) and I did the snorkeling beach  Since I tried out snorkeling for the first time and the wind was blowing pretty good, I'm not a good judge to rate the snorkeling.  There's a sunken boat and plane to explore out there.    Other than that we sat on the beach and enjoyed the near perfect weather.   On a previous trip, my daughter/nephew/I did the aqua park and water slide.  More a kid/teenager thing.  Hope your weather is as good as ours was.  Breezy but very sunny.

There's plenty of other excursions for Nassau (dolphin swim, snorkeling etc), we just choose to do our own thing and hang out on the ship while it was less crowded.  

Thanks for the info!

3 minutes ago, mbk999 said:

Just got off the Enchantment.  At Coco Cay, he can rent a jet ski and/or do snorkeling while you sit at the beach.  There's a large snorkel beach area there and one can do that w/o signing up for an excursion.  You'd have to bring your own gear and rent a life vest or rent the gear from RCI (a booth on the island).   At Nassau, we followed a Frommer's walking tour which should take about 2 hours.  

Cool, thanks! How much was it to rent the snorkel gear from RCI? What'd you do at Coco Cay?

3 minutes ago, rjac said:

If you're on an Oasis class ship, stay on board in Nassau and enjoy the ship! There will be plenty for your husband to check out while you are lounging.   Haven't been to Coco Cay, so I can't say anything about it. 

We're on Enchantment. I've never been to the Bahamas so would really like to explore it even just for a bit myself.

So my husband and I unfortunately have different views when it comes to a vacation. He's all about being active and being out and about checking out new places, while I can lay down on a mat or chair on the beach all day long and I'd be the happiest person alive. What's a good compromise for both Coco Cay and Nassau that we can both somehow enjoy? How would you split the day/s up and what excursions would you recommend? We're both in good health so we have no limits as far as active excursions go. We're in each port from 8am - 5pm. I should note that I've read up quite a bit on Atlantis (Nassau) and I don't think we'd be interested in that at all, given the short time frame we're in port. It's our first cruise and we want to take advantage of what ports have to offer. We also love trying out new foods, if that helps. TIA!

54 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

No trying to hijack this thread.  Just thought I would mention that the sip and stream (or whatever that package is called) has disappeared from my upcoming Grandeur Cruise Planner. The internet package is still there and the beverage package is still there but the combo discount is now gone.

HAven't checked my other cruises so I don't know if it's univeral or not.

I see the deluxe beverage and voom one device combo for 25% off. Is that the one? It's still an option for my Enchantment sailing in September. 

I believe it's been mentioned that the Deluxe Beverage Package has been on sale for 30% off before. Anyone know how often this happens, or when the last time it happened? Currently, it's 20% off on my cruise planner. I've been holding off until I see the 30% but I also don't want to miss the boat on the 20% off and kick myself later. Should I just buy the 20% off now and then cancel and buy if/when the 30% comes around? Thoughts?

17 hours ago, fmanke said:

Are they offering the ultimate plan for your cruise?

Not sure if this question was for me. But the option doesn't show on Cruise planner for me. So probably not? Probably a good thing because Chops for 3 nights in a row for $75/person is not a horrible price and I'd be tempted to get it for us.

On ‎4‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 0:39 AM, mom2mybugs said:

Yes...this is my life!  Went back to disney  world last month and planned that trip to death,  but had to book a cruise for the next year's trip because i need something to get me through next winter!   The planning makes the trip longer...feels like im almost on that boat drinking a lava flow! And hey, if i do the next cruise booking on the ship, i can just keep planning lol!  Jane

Ha! Disneyworld is in our radar in 2020. I will be full planning mode when I get back from the cruise. :)

2 hours ago, fmanke said:

I joked with my wife last night, that I hoped we loved our first cruise, because the thought of losing 7 months of my life planning for something that we wound up hating would just be too much to accept.

I don't know what I'm gonna do after we get off the ship in September! Right now, I spend my days scouring message forums like this, stalking cruise planner, looking for recent compass for my sailing, and calling RC when there are price drops. I'm really hoping we enjoy cruising!

Sweeeeeet! Was hemming and hawing if I should purchase for my husband. He couldn't care less. Will definitely get it at this price for him. Now waiting for the deluxe package to hit 30% off for me...

On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 6:24 PM, DocLC said:

@chiboo9 There's usually a 20% discount. I'm not sure if it shows up online or not, but the will refund the difference if you paid the full price and then it is discounted onboard. 

I purchased and made our reservation without the 20% discount. I called afterwards asking about it and they said it's not applicable. Hhhmm.

On ‎4‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 11:14 AM, Spiegeje said:

Personally, I am very new to cruising, and am extremely happy with our selection of Enchantment of the Seas on a 4 night Bahamas itinerary a few years ago. The overall cost was low, the ship is wonderful, and I went in knowing that I was on a steep learning curve as to how to approach it. Many will say longer itineraries on much larger ships are better. For us, this did not apply. Approaching it the way we did gave us a thirst for more, and our focus now is not to break the bank booking as much as we can.  I guess, if you are asking on behalf of a first timer, find out what the expectation is... Ours was sitting by the pool and enjoying a couple ports...but I knew I would enjoy cruising, so I positioned it so my wife would get hooked too...and, she did...even though she still wants to book a land vacation every now and then.

Yay! I'm glad Enchantment made it on this list! :) Total newb here and I'm just going on my very first cruise ever with my husband this September. We didn't really get a chance to be picky with ships because the sailing date is what drove our decision. And then itinerary. So our first cruise is 3 nights to the Bahamas on Enchantment. I've done an embarrassing amount of research so I know it's a much smaller ship without bells and whistles. We also wanted to splurge more on excursions and dining (and maybe a little spa treatment if time permits) so we opted for an inside cabin. With it being our first cruise, figured there wouldn't be anything to compare and we'd be happy just to be away on our own without the kids. :)

1 hour ago, klaconqueso said:

If you look at your menus on board, each one has an ingredient "theme" or name that goes with that menu. There's a PDF floating around somewhere with the full menus but I can't seem to find it on my machine right now... I'll post if I find it later.

This one?

https://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/download-press-kit/7/

Thanks, all! I wasn't sure if MDR would be a better option since it's Day/Night 1 and it's our first cruise and I've heard dining in MDR on first night is best to get a feel of the dining service. But since it's our anniversary and we're only there 3 short nights, I'm aiming for as special as possible. Hahah.

Also, I think I've read somewhere that if you opt for specialty restaurant on embarkation day, there's a discount? Is that true? Where do I look into this discount?

My husband and I are going on our very first cruise ever to celebrate our 5 yr anniversary in September. We'll be on the 3 night itinerary on Enchantment of the Seas. Day 1/Night 1 is our actual anniversary - is it a good idea to dine (and splurge a bit) at Chops or should we dine in MDR?