Kpak

We recently had the key on Symphony. We were going to have voom surf and stream anyhow so decided it was worth the extra. I think we paid £24.99 a night.  The early embarkation was not used as everyone who had printed off sea pass was straight on at 11 am when we got there. It was good to drop off our carry on knowing that would be in our room at 1pm. The chops grille lunch served in the main dining was fabulous . We attended 3 shows and thought the reserved key seating was ok and saved the worry of having to get there really early and queue but there were better seats. We used the reserved times on climbing and flow rider . 
 
The final day breakfast was nice but nothing to rave about. 
We were escorted straight out on debarkation day  ( past a large queue ) and had no problem just asking a steward when we felt ready to leave . 
So all in all we thought it was a great experience for our first cruise however we have decided not to purchase it for our next one and see how it goes. 
 
Feel free to ask anything else and enjoy ?

Any ship is a pleasure to be on. Our first ever cruise was on Enchantment.  She has since been stretched and refurbished a couple of times.  We thought that ship was big.   LOL   Have been on all sizes since.  They are all unique and it is really all about the itinerary.  Smaller  ships have better food and service.  Talking to most employees the majority of them prefer the smaller classes of ships.  All of the above posts are spot on.  

You will get everywhere much faster....there is not so much walking involved. Everything is so much closer together...
Enjoy your cruise!

Our first cruise was Oasis of the Seas, the next two were Grandeur and Majesty.  We were told we were doing backwards, that we would be disappointed with the smaller ships.  This was absolutely not the case.  We loved the Grandeur and even the Majesty; these two ships can't be beat for relaxing and enjoying the ship.  On the smaller ships you feel more connected to the seas and feel more like you are cruising. The Oasis was great and had lots to do; the smaller ships more laid back.  You can't go wrong with either.

I have sailed both Allure and Enchantment and as much as I adored Allure and how many things there were to do, one thing I found was that I enjoyed much less live music than I did on Enchantment. I mean, there were options a plenty to listen to it on Allure, but in my mind I wanted to see the bigger shows I couldn't see on smaller ships. I'm really looking forward to my Grandeur cruise where we can enjoy music in the centrum and Schooner bar without feeling that FOMO. 

We recently had the key on Symphony. We were going to have voom surf and stream anyhow so decided it was worth the extra. I think we paid £24.99 a night.  The early embarkation was not used as everyone who had printed off sea pass was straight on at 11 am when we got there. It was good to drop off our carry on knowing that would be in our room at 1pm. The chops grille lunch served in the main dining was fabulous . We attended 3 shows and thought the reserved key seating was ok and saved the worry of having to get there really early and queue but there were better seats. We used the reserved times on climbing and flow rider . 
 
The final day breakfast was nice but nothing to rave about. 
We were escorted straight out on debarkation day  ( past a large queue ) and had no problem just asking a steward when we felt ready to leave . 
So all in all we thought it was a great experience for our first cruise however we have decided not to purchase it for our next one and see how it goes. 
 
Feel free to ask anything else and enjoy ?

We have just come off Symphony 24th August Caribbean/ Bahamas sailing. And we absolutely loved it. So much that we have booked 2 more cruises. The 2 new cruises are on much smaller ships. We are sailing Enchantment for a New Year sailing ,  we needed to sail out of Galveston this time and this seemed the best one for us. I was a little worried that it may be too small a ship after Symphony but we went for it anyway. A few days later we realise  we have cruise credit to use and flight credit too so we started looking again. This time the best port option for us was New York and we’ve always wanted to try New England so we are now booked on Empress the smallest ship of the lot. 
We are coming from the Uk so Port locations were probably the most important factor . I’m just hoping that we love these two ships as much as we loved Symphony.  There were many things on Symphony we did not take advantage of so I’m hoping we won’t feel like there is too much missing. We didn’t use any speciality dining , we didn’t use any slides, casino. We only sat on pool deck once and found quieter places lower down like deck 5. We didn’t go on the boardwalk much but loved Central Park and did use flow rider and the climbing wall . 
I’m hoping that as long as both ships have some nice quiet out door space, good MDR and some nice cafes we should be ok. Does anyone have experience of going from the largest to the smallest ? Any thoughts ? 
Im still excited that we ve never cruised before and we ll have  done 3 in a year ??

Our last cruise was Adventure after the previous 4 cruises were Oasis class and Quantum class.  After our initial walk-through , the size difference was clear, but once we got underway, I never gave it another thought.  We found plenty to do.  It was a bit more relaxing not having to run from venue to venue, coordinating show times and dinner seatings.

We have sailed Enchantment and Grandeur.  You will enjoy the shows, the food, the Centrum, Deck 5, the pool deck, and assorted lounges for music and dancing.  Have a great cruise!

Thanks I ll definitely look for twangsters review. 
And it’s just myself and the hubby so no little ones to entertain. 

We recently had the key on Symphony. We were going to have voom surf and stream anyhow so decided it was worth the extra. I think we paid £24.99 a night.  The early embarkation was not used as everyone who had printed off sea pass was straight on at 11 am when we got there. It was good to drop off our carry on knowing that would be in our room at 1pm. The chops grille lunch served in the main dining was fabulous . We attended 3 shows and thought the reserved key seating was ok and saved the worry of having to get there really early and queue but there were better seats. We used the reserved times on climbing and flow rider . 
 
The final day breakfast was nice but nothing to rave about. 
We were escorted straight out on debarkation day  ( past a large queue ) and had no problem just asking a steward when we felt ready to leave . 
So all in all we thought it was a great experience for our first cruise however we have decided not to purchase it for our next one and see how it goes. 
 
Feel free to ask anything else and enjoy ?

Ploy, worked!

I group and photograph all my clothes using Pinterest. I had a brain injury and can be forgetful and get tired so have to pack in stages . This meant I was forgetting what I was packing But now this really works for me. I use Pinterest to save it . And make notes in the description like “ can wear black heels with 4of8 dresses “ etc.  
I wish I’d read about packing cubes before I packed . They seem awesome but not really a UK think I don’t think.  I will try them for my next trip though. 
This is my first cruise so I’m just hoping I’ve packed enough and I’ve packed the right stuff.  We fly in 4 days so time will tell. Very excited though. 
My other half hasn’t even started packing yet an dit’s stressing me just a tad but I’ve made sure he does have everything when he finally decides to pack it !!!

I group and photograph all my clothes using Pinterest. I had a brain injury and can be forgetful and get tired so have to pack in stages . This meant I was forgetting what I was packing But now this really works for me. I use Pinterest to save it . And make notes in the description like “ can wear black heels with 4of8 dresses “ etc.  
I wish I’d read about packing cubes before I packed . They seem awesome but not really a UK think I don’t think.  I will try them for my next trip though. 
This is my first cruise so I’m just hoping I’ve packed enough and I’ve packed the right stuff.  We fly in 4 days so time will tell. Very excited though. 
My other half hasn’t even started packing yet an dit’s stressing me just a tad but I’ve made sure he does have everything when he finally decides to pack it !!!

I group and photograph all my clothes using Pinterest. I had a brain injury and can be forgetful and get tired so have to pack in stages . This meant I was forgetting what I was packing But now this really works for me. I use Pinterest to save it . And make notes in the description like “ can wear black heels with 4of8 dresses “ etc.  
I wish I’d read about packing cubes before I packed . They seem awesome but not really a UK think I don’t think.  I will try them for my next trip though. 
This is my first cruise so I’m just hoping I’ve packed enough and I’ve packed the right stuff.  We fly in 4 days so time will tell. Very excited though. 
My other half hasn’t even started packing yet an dit’s stressing me just a tad but I’ve made sure he does have everything when he finally decides to pack it !!!

I group and photograph all my clothes using Pinterest. I had a brain injury and can be forgetful and get tired so have to pack in stages . This meant I was forgetting what I was packing But now this really works for me. I use Pinterest to save it . And make notes in the description like “ can wear black heels with 4of8 dresses “ etc.  
I wish I’d read about packing cubes before I packed . They seem awesome but not really a UK think I don’t think.  I will try them for my next trip though. 
This is my first cruise so I’m just hoping I’ve packed enough and I’ve packed the right stuff.  We fly in 4 days so time will tell. Very excited though. 
My other half hasn’t even started packing yet an dit’s stressing me just a tad but I’ve made sure he does have everything when he finally decides to pack it !!!

The Packing List is an absolute must.  We have maintained one for over 10 years.  The best example of how it was used was when my son traveled to Europe on a vacation, and was told 5 hours before his flight that it had been moved up by 3 hours.  He had delayed packing.  We pulled out the list and had my son, daughter and soulmate gather all of the clothes; as I called out things to gather (from the List).  He packed for a 2 week European vacation in 10 minutes.  Then to the car, and drive to the airport to make his flight.
Always have an up to date Packing List.
Curt from Canada