IRMO12HD

By the way, this makes me happy. I was hoping you would do that. Going it alone is to stressful, one accident and it's Sunday...just no. I didn't want to say anything previously so as not to make you nervous. Great choice your going to have a terrific day! I appreciate you making me feel better, I was hoping 🫰🫰you opted for the shuttle. To stressful otherwise. 

Good morning from Florida. Accidentally caught a shot with the sun and the moon in it at the same time

Second day at sea. It's been a bit slow. I got up to see the sunrise which was just amazing. It's been a beautiful day and it's warmed up considerably. The pools were open and full all day long. I did lots of walking, got my hair done in the spa, had lunch in Windjammer. Lots of family groups at tables around the edge of the pool playing rummy and card games and things like that, lots of people reading books, tons of people in the sun loungers on the top deck taking naps. The poolside bar stayed completely full all day long.  At 1:30, they had the worlds sexiest man contest but I didn't stick around for that. I feel like if you've seen one of those shows, you've seen them all, LOL. 

The afternoon was all about reading and napping, and then I watched a lively dance session in the atrium. It was led by Moe, the activities Director, and the atrium was completely packed with people shoulder to shoulder dancing away and having a great time. There was a couple of ladies at the communal puzzle table working a new puzzle and when I went to join them they were quite unfriendly and I got frosted out so I left. I sat with a group of three ladies traveling together and we chatted a while and they were super friendly
 
Tonight is British night for the menu.
 
I went to the gym in the afternoon and met a lady who was there for the second time that day and she said, "honestly, I'm just trying to find things to do to fill up the day." She said it was their 1st cruise and they were bored to death as they are not gamblers or drinkers. And she said she was quite disappointed in the quality and portions of food.
 
Her main complaint was that there wasn't enough to do. I started to tell her about the Oasis Class ships and she cut me off with, "we're never cruising again."
 
Went to tribond trivia this afternoon in the Schooner bar and it was completely jammed, standing room only. I had a tiny table with two seats to myself and eventually someone came and dragged the other chair away. Still lots of people left standing. Everybody got every single answer right, too!(except for me.)
 
Lots of shopping available today and all of those special sales they like to do, from $10 fashion accessories to high-end jewelry. There's a show tonight called Can't Stop The Rock. I have yet to go to a show so I guess I'll go check that out. All in all, a slow day, but that's what sea days are all about. It really was a beautiful day and the perfect day to be outside. Saw lots of exhausted kids this afternoon but at least they had a full day of finally getting to be in the pools and in the splash zone. 
 
Tomorrow is my busiest day. I have booked the shuttle over to Universal Studios and will frantically run around the park seeing as much as I can see in the time we end up with there. Then the ride back to the ship and I want to catch the tail end of the football game. Bengals fan here! 🐯

Well we're coming to a close on our first full sea day. It was a beautiful, gorgeous day. Quite chilly and windy, so the pools were closed, but still a beautiful day to be out looking at the water and walking around. They did open the solarium pool to everyone today so that the kids could swim.
 
The outdoor hot tubs and the indoor hot tubs were full all day long every time I walked by. The sewage smell came and went in the centrum.
 
there were lots of traditional activities today, trivia and live music and line dancing and stretching classes and things like that. They had a good chunk of family activities in the centrum today and that was nice to see. The whole place was packed with kids having a great time.
 
I wasn't feeling terrific today so I got breakfast at Park Café and mostly did my own thing all day. I had ordered room service for this morning and put my card out at midnight last night and the card was gone this morning but the breakfast never came. I called real service and did not get an answer.
 
 On a sidenote, I got an egg and cheese muffin sandwich at Park Café. Got halfway through it and discovered that the egg yolk was super runny. Pulled the bread off planning to just eat the bread and found lots of egg shells on top of my egg. 😬
 
there is a communal puzzle table next to Café latitudes so I went there and joined a couple that had just opened a puzzle from the library. We chatted and got to know each other and took the puzzle way too seriously for quite a while. Then I shopped the shops, took a couple of walks around the walking trail up top, eventually got lunch and took it to the Viking crown lounge to eat. What a beautiful spot that is. At some point today we had dolphins swimming alongside us and jumping in the air! I had to work for a couple of hours this afternoon so that made up some time.
 
there was a crown and anchor event today and I went for just a few minutes and then decided I didn't want to stick around for the whole thing. They had started congratulating all of their new pinnacle members and such and giving awards to people who were hitting their zillionth cruise and what not.
 
I listened to lots of live music in the Centrum today, watched everybody running around having a big time at the family festival, and things like that. Didn't spend much time in my room. My room steward made my room up around 1 PM. I thought about going to the main dining room for dinner but I could not find one single thing on the French menu that I really cared about. Came to windjammers and had another salad for dinner and will hit Ben & Jerry's later. 
 
all in all a good day, other than that lady being gross at lunch licking her fingers and touching all of the salad ladels, but I think that's just something you're supposed to expect these days. I certainly wasn't going to say something, I didn't want to be punched in the face and you just never know these days. I did see a crewmember notice what was happening and they were headed over when I walked away from the salad bar, so maybe they were getting ready to replace the ladles.
 
There was the usual hard push to come to the port shopping chat, buy diamonds and upscale jewelry in the store, things like that. I did get to meet the captain today and he's about 7 feet tall.
 
beautiful sunset tonight.
 
all in all a very laid-back day and we have another one on the books for tomorrow.
 

Let's play a game: Gross or Not Gross?
 
i'm in the Windjammer at lunch making a salad at the little salad bar. There's a lady next to me with an empty plate. She spoons a little dressing onto the plate, puts the ladle back, sticks her finger in the dressing on her plate and then sucks it off her finger, decides she doesn't like that dressing, and then repeats the process over and over. So she's sucking her finger, shaking her head, and then grabbing the next ladel. And then the next one and then the next one. Gross? Or not gross?

Well day one is in the books. It was a very good day.
 
Just to get a couple negatives out of the way for those considering cruising here in the future. The sewage smell hung on in the centrum/atrium and Boleros all day long. We were supposed to have lots of live music in the atrium all day and that did not happen but there were still tons and tons of people hanging out in the middle of that cesspool smell. I avoided those areas all day.
 
The ship has some really lovely corners and nice lounges and the furniture looks updated and clean. My bed and my couch for example don't have any holes or worn spots in them and the carpet looks very nice.
 
Sailaway was fun. It was freezing cold and windy and dark and cloudy, but as we sailed away the clouds parted and the sunset came out and it was really all very beautiful. We approached a bridge slowly and this huge cloud of seagulls floating on the water all rose up and flew away at the same time, and then we sailed under the bridge and that was really fun. Quite a crowd gathered to watch that. There was some guy walking around on the pool deck blatantly smoking pot. There was not a single crewmember on deck to see him doing this, but who knows if it would have been addressed.
 
Throughout the afternoon walking through the hallways, I would often walk through a big cloud of pot smoke. So I think this is just a thing on cruise ships now. It has been obvious on the last few cruises I went on with Royal, and I thought it might be something that would go away, but now I think it's just here to stay. I think that if the smell of pot bothers me, I need to not cruise because it's definitely going to be on board.
 
Once we started moving, the music started rolling and it was all just really really good. I had an iced coffee at Café latitudes and a big piece of cake from Windjammer. My bag arrived around 4 o'clock this afternoon and I spent some time in my cabin unpacking and talking to my husband on the phone. I was determined to eat in the dining room tonight, which is not something I normally ever do on cruises… I normally always eat dinner in the buffet. But my dining time is 530 and I just couldn't get hungry in time. So I did end up going to the Windjammer this evening.  It was Tex-Mex night and I had nachos, which were incredibly spicy. Topped it off with some ranger cookies. 
 
I went to the spotlight lounge which is just the most prettiest area on the whole ship and settled in for some entertainment. First up was name that tune, and the theme was songs with colors in the title.
 
Then this happened: The lounge is largely empty and there are tons of empty seats. An older lady comes up to me and points to the chair next to me and asks if that chair is taken. I said no and she asked do you mind if I join you? I said no go right ahead. I introduced myself and thought to myself, here is a nice older lady and we're going to be friends.
 
Her name is Martha and she started chatting to me and within seconds I could see that she was wildly racist. 
 
Then she says, "we need to get some more people to join us so we can increase our odds of winning." Then she actually starts looking around and waving her arms at random groups of people, beckoning and asking them to come join us. I was like what the heck. I didn't want to be around her and I certainly didn't want a huge group of strangers coming over.
 
so there's a couple at a table in front of us. An older guy and a young girl. The girl is slamming down the drinks and batting her false eyelashes at this guy like crazy and sending out signals like mad that she wants to go back to the room. Martha leans over and gets their attention and says, "do you mind if we join you?" And indicates herself and me.
 
I was like, oh no you didn't… And the girl refuses to look at Martha but is clearly pissed. Then she freezes Martha out while the old guy says over his shoulder, sure, come join us. Martha gets up and bustles away and plops herself down next to these two and is very clearly an unwanted third wheel. She looks back at me and I said, "I'm good, I'm just gonna stay right here."

And you know what Martha did then? She looked DISGUSTED AT ME. she even shook her head.
 
I was like look lady, you crashed my party what is the deal you racist person. But I was glad to be disentangled from her. The game started and at some point, Martha's husband came to the lounge and found her and came and sat down next to her, so then there were the two of them being pointedly ignored by the couple on their date. Eventually the husband left but Martha stuck around.
 
We played name that tune and it was all big fun and then when it was over, Martha, still being ignored by the couple, came back up to me and asked how I did. I said I got 16 right and she said that "we" got 17, and then she said see you around.
 
I hung around for the next event in the lounge which was majority rules. That was a really fun game show. After that, there was a short break and then they started karaoke. 
 
Here's a question. If you're on a cruise ship and you want to call somebody to talk to them on the phone, do you do it in
A: your cabin
or
B: the middle of a packed karaoke lounge while someone is singing at the top of their lungs?
 
Yes that is exactly what happened. I can't imagine that the guy on the phone could hear anything the other person was saying, and why on earth. Time and place, buddy. And a karaoke lounge in full swing is not the time or the place.
 
Anyway… The singers were all terrific. I lasted about four songs and then I was ready for bed. I took one last wander around the ship and caught the tail end of some live music in the atrium which was really good. There's a long line of people in the solarium getting pizza and several people at Café latitudes getting coffee and ice cream.
 
we have two days at sea coming up and they should be very enjoyable. More soon.

Onboard!
The ride back to the empty Baltimore airport was uneventful and I quickly found the long line of taxis sitting there waiting for somebody to come along. The ride to the cruise port took about 15 minutes and cost a little over $40 in cab fare, plus tip.
 
My giant, somewhat intimidating driver never asked me which cruise line or ship I was on, so I assumed we were the only ship in Port today and I was right about that. It is a cold grey day so everybody is inside wearing their coats.
 
boarding was easy. I arrived at five minutes after 11 and I was on board by 1130. Just as I was stepping onto the ship the smell of sewage hit me. It hit me so powerfully I thought for a moment the guy in front of me had an accident in his pants. It was quite bad. It's faded inside but it's very prevalent in the centrum area. I'm hoping that will pass once we get out to sea.
 
it didn't take long to explore the ship. Yes, she is small and dated as I knew she would be, but she is in very nice condition and has beautiful touches and lovely art all throughout.
 
I did muster drill, then got sandwiches and coffee at Café latitudes, but discovered that all of the sandwiches have mayonnaise on them, which I am allergic to. I came up to the solarium for a salad and pizza and pretty soon this place filled up. There's not a single table available in sight. Just for kicks I did take a peek in Windjammer and my goodness. What a zoo. There was literally not one single seat to be had, not even the single seats barstool style facing the windows. And even though all of the tables were full there was tons and tons of people wandering around filling up their plates so I have no idea where they intended to sit.
 
The pools are currently empty and being scrubbed or worked on in someway by several crewmembers down in their depths working with some sort of tools. There is one hot tub on deck bubbling away just daring anyone to get in it but it's awfully cold out there and nobody is jumping in. Down here in the solarium, the two indoor hot tubs are chock full of people.
 
My lunchtime salad was crisp and fresh and made to order, and the pizza is hot and delicious. If you like your pizza extra cheesey and extra greasy, this is the place for you.
 
Rooms are ready (1 pm!)  but I'm in no hurry to get down there and start the unpacking process. We have a full schedule of events today, including shopping, free gaming lessons in the casino, trivia, a comedian this evening, and of course tons of live music. I saw the Schooner bar and it is beautiful, though it was occupied by two parties of three women each and they were all just shrieking at the top of their lungs and slamming down the drinks.
 
So far the most beautiful place on ship is the spotlight lounge on deck six. It is just gorgeous and it's right at the end of the ship so you have lovely views looking out.
 

Well, here we are, the day before the day before. Packing has begun. The cats are duly anxious at the sight of the suitcase. I will have to double and triple check that I don't pack a stowaway animal and end up at the airport on the news.
 
We are expecting tons of rain in the morning, so if the drive to Atlanta was not exciting enough, we get to add that into the mix.  But that's okay.  My husband is dropping me off, which makes it so much nicer when I get home--I hate that slog to the netherworlds to reach my car, and airport parking is the pits here. In general, Atlanta Airport is a bit of a circus. We were just on the news for someone shooting a gun at the security checkpoint---again. No one was hurt, thankfully, but this just seems to keep happening. 
 
In any case, I am packed and mostly prepared. My last cruise was in September, so of course, we needed Covid tests and all that crazy, stressful stuff. This is my first cruise since those requirements went away....and as a result, I keep thinking I forgot to arrange my Covid test. There's that moment where your heart skips a beat because you forgot something vital, you know? Like, you're whole trip won't happen because you forgot something fundamental. AGH. But no Covid test, no nothing. Whew. RCCL recommends bringing your vaccination card, so I will, but sounds like no one will need to see it.
 
Speaking of packing. I was reflecting today on how that's changed as I've grown older. I used to literally toss clothes into a bag--any bag--and GO. The most important item was my swimsuit. Not anymore. I am 55, and somehow, it has become necessary to pack all these OTC meds and comfort items...those things alone take up half my carryon. And my suitcase must have wheels. When did that happen? HOW did that happen? I still think of myself as thirty, but that's becoming a bit of a stretch. Still bringing the swimsuit though, and the gym clothes, and looking forward to the perfect day at Coco Cay, the walking trail, the activities, and lots of gazing out at the sea. A sunshiney getaway is just what I need right now!

Just a heads up: This may be a bit of a dull blog, because I'm not in a giant, two-floor suite, I don't have the Key or a genie, I don't drink--(no unlimited beverage package for me), and I'm not much of an eater, so no UDP for me, either. Just the same--I'm going to share what I share and see what I see. If anyone has any specific questions about Enchantment, I'll see if I can find the answers.  I am most definitely a people watcher, and I love to have fun.

More soon....gonna sift the clothes in the suitcase and check for cats.

Hi, everyone!

I'm back on RCCL at the end of January. Can't wait. It's been a rough year and there's a lot going on right now, health-wise, with various family members. This will be a wonderful break from reality. (Though I have to work while on board, it won't be too bad.)

We are sailing on Enchantment of the Seas out of Baltimore. Port stops are Orlando, CocoCay, and Nassau. Eight nights!


First time on Enchantment, first time out of Baltimore, first-ever port stop at Orlando, and fifth solo cruise.
 
I blogged last year about my first ever solo cruise on Odyssey, then on Allure. I was a little uncertain about solo cruising then and still finding my way into the experience. I'm not uncertain anymore. I love cruising solo and go into it with confidence and happy anticipation.
 
There are still things that challenge me as a 55 year-old solo traveler.....staying in the hotel alone the night before always bothers me. I get a little worried getting into a taxi. Anxiety can creep into such situations a bit. But those are small things. Cruising solo is awesome, and for those who are tempted to try it--do it! I love making my own schedule, not having to compromise, not inconveniencing anyone if I stay up late or get up early. I love being at sea and exploring new ships and ports! I am happily married with a husband that does not like cruising very much and can't travel right now, but who likes to hear about it all. Sending photos and texts home to my family is lots of fun. 
I have found that as a solo cruiser, even though I mostly keep to myself, opportunities pop up all the time to meet people and eventually explain that yes, I am traveling alone. People are always so surprised and immediately intrigued! Sometimes I can see the wheels turning as someone realizes that cruising solo is an option they've never considered.
 
I don't know what to expect on Enchantment, but I picture this cruise as being very laid back and peaceful. I picture being a lump in a lounge chair, or possibly asleep by the pool. (Maybe shamelessly eavesdropping on conversations nearby.) . But I'll also be walking, swimming, hitting the gym, exploring port, things like that.
 
I basically want to sail away from 2022 and not look back. You know?

I'll be blogging away when the time comes! See you then.
 

(1) True... you cannot make reservations pre-cruise if you purchased a dining package (eg. Chops+1, 3-Night Dining, Unlimited Dining). Generally speaking, only a la carte restaurant reservations can be made through the Cruise Planner prior to the sailing.
(2) We've had the same experience as @SpeedNoodles in the past. We've always been able to book the restaurants of our choice without issue once onboard (at least within 15/30 minutes of the time). It's one of the first things you will want to do once your board the ship. You can stop by ANY specialty dining restaurant and make all of your reservations at one time since the specialty restaurants share the same reservation system.
One of the reasons we love to grab that earlier boarding window is so we can explore, relax, and make our specialty dining reservations and get them out of the way. Everyone that has purchased a dining package will be doing the same thing at some point after they board, so the later in the day on embarkation day you wait, you will find the availability will start to dry up a bit.

We never bought any trip insurance until we saw someone medevac'd from the pier at Labadee.  That's when the light bulb went off about how expensive the medical flight must have been
After that , we bought single trip plans through Allianz until last year, when we bought an annual plan.  We just renewed it for 2023.
We've filed for two claims with Allianz in the past two years.
First one was for a damaged suitcase when we cruised out of Nassau.  We received a reimbursement check about two weeks after we submitted the claim.
Second was for two hotel rooms, meals for four people, and an extra day's parking at our home airport when we had to stay the night in Dallas because our flight was delayed long enough that we would have missed our connection in DC.  We felt it was better to get a room in Dallas at 530 pm rather than try to find one in DC at 2 am.  I filed a claim immediately and we had a reimbursement check in less than ten days.
The process to file the claims was simple, and I did it all online.

No delays this morning and no we had  a great flight on one of Alaska’s new planes. The first class seats were super comfortable with nice foot rests and our breakfast was great!  
Landed in LA and had to take a shuttle to the ride share lot. Got an Uber XL and just like that we were on our way to the terminal. The timing was perfect with us arriving just before our check in window!!  🎉😍
We had put our RCL luggage tags on while we were at the airport and kept our carryons up front with us just in case the porters grabbed the bags as they came out of the van.  The porters were respectful and let us make sure everything was in order then took them away with the promise that we’d see them soon, then into line we went. We waited maybe 10 mins and then made our way through security and into the terminal to check in for the cruise. A few mins later we were heading to the gangway and then we were on the ship!  Super easy check in!
We went straight to our muster station because we don’t want to be those people!  😳
We headed up to the pool deck on 11 and hung out for a bit listening to the tropical music that did not match the cold temperature!  🥶  We sat there for about 10 mins until the Windjammer opened then went and found a nice spot by the window and grabbed lunch.  Lunch was fine and we sat for a bit until we felt badly that the tables were filling up  and thenmade our way to the promenade.  
After sailing on the jumbo ships for several years the Promenade felt uber small!! We found a comfy spot in the Cafe Promenade while we waited for our room to open up.  I handled a few emails so my inbox wasn’t so overwhelming tomorrow and we people watched for a bit.  That alone could be an entirely new blog! 😳
At 1pm we headed to our room and it was ready but luggage was nowhere in sight.  We sat down on the bed to rest our backs and we just like that we were both asleep.  Our room is super warm and we think it might be from the virtual balcony - which is kind of cool. But not cool enough to make me feel like a Thanksgiving turkey.  We’ll see how it pans out. 🥵

When we woke up our luggage was in the hallway and the unpacking commenced!  We were almost done when our cabin attendant came by to introduce himself.  Which was perfect timing because we needed hangers.  We have Robert for all three cruises and so far we love him!  
We went to dinner in the main dining room and experienced the new menu.  We were excited for it because the first night has fried chicken and hubby LOVES fried chicken.  Unfortunately it didn’t pass the hubby test.  My dinner was a bit of a flop too.  I ordered prime rib and I was not very happy with it.  Not only did both of our plates come out cold, but my prime rib came out nearly rare, which I would have been okay with had it not been cold. They only offer it medium rare or medium well which I thought was odd.  It didn’t bother me because I order medium rare anyway. 


After not eating much of our dinner we went straight to the Windjammer and had a salad which was just what we needed. 

After the last three cruises in suites, I really missed filet night in Coastal Kitchen!!!!! 😢😩
We were so tired that after dinner we went back to our rooms with the intent of changing into our suits to sit in the hot tub but never left. It was a big day. We’ll sleep well tonight…even without the special star class bed! 😴😴