pamici

Yes, thank you! What a great post.

Nice spreadsheet! I love to know I'm not the only geek out here.

And the sound ... ?

We sail out on Monday on the Enchantment and I am so ready I could die. I started a pre-cruise live blog on here so I could obsess over it easier (eek, sorry about the extreme close up ...) Thank you for the videos - I can't get enough of them! Oh, and please do post all about your Canada/New England trip - how gorgeous does that sound?!

Since I will be be arriving early, any suggestions for what to do on a Sunday afternoon? I think I remember a Galveston thread around here somewhere ...

The three of us will be driving in from our hometowns, Dallas, Austin, and Houston, respectively, to meet in Galveston on Sunday, March 1st. I may or may not be planning to be the first to arrive. I’m crazy about my family, but it’s been 23 years since I’ve been able to move freely about the planet on my own and I’m looking forward to some solitude where I can get it. I’ve booked a hotel on the Seawall which has the shuttle service and cruise parking option. It’s very close to one of my favorite Galveston haunts, Jimmy’s on the Pier, and we had plans for cocktails, dinner, and sunset the night before we sail. However, turns out they are in the midst of a renovation and set to re-open that day. With any luck, they will be ready and not overly crowded, but there are lots of other options, so I’m not worried.

I know, right??? Rude.

I’m experimenting with using a travel agent this time. It hasn’t been exactly life-changing, but it’s been helpful at times. I wanted a balcony, but not in close proximity to pool decks, galleys, and nightclubs. TA and I hit upon the aft junior suites, but they required a 3-person minimum occupancy. And then the lightbulb went off. We would invite my sister’s best friend to join us. With any luck, the two of them will keep each other so occupied, I can have moments of solitary bliss between the sea and the sky. By a fluke, I saw someone’s post about the $18.00 drink package just in time to sign the three of us up. We decided against the Chef’s Table because although sister and I had enjoyed it thoroughly last year, it does take up a chunk of time and this is a pretty short cruise. Ditto for the Bottomless Brunch. I’d heard that the Key wasn’t necessarily worth the expense, but when I got the Cruise Planner email, I clicked on it anyway, just to check it out. It actually seemed like a good deal for us. I liked the idea of a quiet MDR lunch on embarkation day, from the Chops menu, no less, but when they threw in carry-on drop off and delivery to the stateroom (no schlepping!), I was about half-sold. We wouldn’t make use of private hours on the rock-climbing wall (sadly), but VIP seating in the theatre is another story. The option to slip out ahead of the crowd in Cozumel sounded awesome, and then there was another seated breakfast on debarkation morning. I pulled the trigger and I have no regrets.

Nice website - thanks for sharing!

I’ve heard it said that the two longest weeks in cruising are the one just before you sail and the one right after you come home. I can’t remember which is supposed to be worse than the other, but right now, 10 days out, is pretty rough. I have a cruise crush who only sails solo, and only on another line, but he writes the best live blogs and I wait for them like I was the one cruising. I’m going to try to ease my impatience by following his example and start a pre-cruise live review. February of last year, my sister and I took our first cruise together. It was a first cruise for both of us, and I think we weren’t quite sure what we thought of it. I liked about 90% of the ship we sailed on, but was fairly annoyed by the other 10%. I decided that I could enjoy the heck out of any cruise if I had the right companion, or barring that, if I had easy access to the outdoors. I discovered that I need a lot more time on deck than my sister, or for that matter, my husband, with whom I took my second cruise last October. So I was surprised when the sister asked where we were cruising next. After I informed her that pretty much all ships go to Cozumel, at least out of Galveston, I told her that if she was serious, I thought I could put together a cruise we could both enjoy. One of the things on her wish list was a shorter cruise. We’d sailed on a 5-day itinerary, and by the end she was feeling impatient to return to her grandkids and her routines. A 4-day on Enchantment of the Seas looked like a winner. To be continued ...

Yes, thanks! I'm in 7166 in 10 days.

Thank you for this wonderful review! My sister, her best friend, and I will be sailing out in 11 days. First Royal Caribbean cruise for all of us. Do you remember if there were many loud speaker announcements from the cruise director? Our only other cruise was on a Carnival ship last year, and the announcements seemed a bit excessive ... ?

Thank you, that was a good read.

Would the same theory apply to drinks over $13.00? Like, plop down the extra dollar or two and a tip to go with it?

So this would be true of the couches in 3V and 4V interiors on Liberty as well? That would make a world of difference!