Michael Vitale

I'd love to hear what y'all recommend for parking at Port Everglades.   Cruise terminal ?   Offsite parking ??  

On 2/15/2024 at 7:26 PM, twangster said:

It's not very hard to finance a new build when they have iconic numbers to show as predictions for estimated returns.  That billion dollar+ ship also secures that billion dollar new debt for that new ship so it's a lot different than spending a billion fixing up old ships or servicing $40B in debt for example.

Cost cutting and new charges are a way of the mass market cruise industry.  Everyone who plays in the mass market space is doing it.   Cost cutting or "service optimization" does allow debt to be repaid faster.   

As much as I hate the service changes I also recognize why investors would demand it.  The company also has to keep the future on the radar screen.  All these mega ships generating mega profit will allow them to work on a smaller less profitable platform such as Discovery.   More LNG capable ships prepares them for when they will have no choice but to get rid of Voyager and Freedom class.  That day isn't in the near term but it's not that far off either. 

You're not wrong, and I don't disagree.  It's just a bit off-putting that so many reviews (and I agree with them) show that cruisers who are basically loyal to Royal are growing disenchanted with the decreased quality of the experience.  Unless of course you spring for a mega bucks cruise on a mega bucks ship.  

By the time this ship is built, if Icon is any indication, it will cost $10,000 for an interior guarantee.  No thanks.  

It's said in some quarters that they're still recovering from the Covid shutdown/losses.  That's why the obvious cost cutting measures on board, such as blah, unimaginative dining choices, elimination of the turndown service, and institution of charges for room service, among other things.  But throwing another $1B+ onto the debt load ???  No problem. 

Just finished 5 nights on Radiance.  Service was wonderful.  Food in MDR was acceptable for the most part.  Portions small, menu limited.  Prime rib ok, beef tenderloin very good.  Skipped the MDR the rest of the cruise based on menu.  However, the drop in quality in the Windjammer is stark.  When we began cruising, the Windjammer was an event.  Officers wandered around proudly.  Roving bar, fruit carvings, huge displays of deli, fruits, desserts.  Chocolate night !!!  I remember cookouts on the pool deck with again, huge displays of fruit carvings, and bread offerings.  Sadly, the WJ has become a small version of Golden Corral.   Who ever heard of carving stations serving chicken ?? 

9 hours ago, Pima1988 said:

@Michael Vitale.  I might be wrong, but I believe Liberty is being repositioned to Florida, so that might be the reason.

@Kpak  we did Enchantment 3 yrs ago this Nov.  This was after her being stretched.  Empress is her sister ship.

I have both positive and negatives about the ship.

Positives.

1.  I love the lay out of schooners bar  More windows to watch the sea.
2.  I did like the WJ, because again due to the design and size of the ship, there are a lot more areas with ocean.  
3.  Our itinerary was more port intensive than larger ships which need bigger ports to dock.  
4.  Not a lot of kids because the ship does not have the bells and whistles.  This is a plus because it made it so we never had problems finding a pool lounger
5.  White night party was held on the pool deck which gives it a unique vibe
6.  The staff really get to know you, and you them.  

Negatives

1.  I did not really care for the shows.  They just lacked umph!   I think by night 3 we stopped going to the shows.
2.  Our CD was not great, eh at best.   I am a huge fan of their 70s night and Quest.  To me this is where the CD can make or break it.  If you have a good CD than that is a different story

Goes both Positive and negative

1.  Solarium pool has the café in it for snacks in the back of the area, so really isn't adults only because kids will come in and grab food and sit down to eat, which means the tranquility level is not the same like other Solariums.
2.  MDR food was fine, but I am someone that is just as content to eat in the MDR as I would be in a specialty.  I do feel due to the size of the ship, your waiters really  get to know you faster than the larger ships.  They truly will do everything to make you enjoy your meal.  However, what I did not like about their MDR was the size, shape of the room.  Of all the ships I have been on it just felt squashed.  Basically don't think about backing out your chair if the chair at the next table is backed out.  We did not like the location of our table on the 1st night because of this issue, so we asked to be moved for the next night.  The 2nd table was better bc it was adjacent to the balcony, but again, the tables were just as close.  I think this might be due to the fact there are very few specialty restaurants, so more people are using the MDR
3.  Loved the Centrum.  Great place to hang and have your morning starbucks.    Again, has amazing ocean views.  Negative is formal nights, it gets crazy there, almost like a human parking lot.  This is where they set up the photo stations, or at least when we sailed her.  they use both sides of the staircases, which is right next to the elevator banks.  They than have more stations set all around that small area.

Hope my review of Enchantment helps.  

For me I think everybody has to find their sweet spot when it comes to cruising.  My husband and I will be doing Oasis next yr. because it is a 1 season only positioned in NJ.  We would rather drive to port than fly.  We have done both Anthem and Adventure (Liberty's sister ship, but has yet to be stretched).  For us if it was same itinerary as Enchantment I would go on Liberty.  That size ship is our sweet spot.  Nothing against Anthem, but basically a lot of their things on the ship is been there,  done that and collected the check after you do it 1x.  IE North Star, I Fly, bionic bar, whereas, Adventure, although smaller, has more things to do over and over again, such as the slides, mini golf, ice skating.  

OBTW you will love sailing out of Cape Liberty, especially when you go under the Verrazano bridge (@30 mins after leaving the port).  The NE cruise is a great cruise.  I don't know when you will be sailing on Empress, but beware.  The ship is smaller, and if the water is rough, sea sickness is more likely than on a ship like Symphony.  Right now Dorian will hit NJ as a Tropical Storm or Nor'Easter.  The ocean will be rough.  We did the NE on Anthem after Hurricane Jose, and you could feel it on that ship.  We were all laughing that everybody was walking like a drunk due to the rocking.  

Yes, you are wrong    There’s been much speculation about Liberty being replaced by a larger ship at some point, but nothing has been announced yet. Liberty will be in Galveston until at least the end of the spring 2021 season. 

18 hours ago, Kpak said:

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

Just curious, if you’re sailing out of Galveston, and you’re concerned about how small Enchantment is, why not book on Liberty ??  She’s a great ship, my fav, and has all the bells and whistles. Certainly she’s not Oasis class, but she’s an awesome ship. 

While I can’t say I remember cruising back in the old days, 10 years ago, I have cruised 10 times over the last 4-5 years. With all due respect to the original poster, I cannot believe any of that story. Sorry. I can’t remember one time where I wasn’t treated as a valued guest. Oh sure, the occasional Windjamaire busperson who isn’t smiling perhaps, or the random pool bartender who looks like he just can’t pour one more drink of the day. But outright rudeness????  Nahhhhh

I agree with the others. I booked a couple of JS’s to get to Diamond. Mission accomplished. I may do it again someday, but as others have said, it’s a little bigger, has a tub and walk in closet. Is that a game changer at ANY cost ?  Nahhhhh

It’s my understanding that at the very least you will have to purchase a soda package for her in lieu of the deluxe package. And that’s if they permit you to do that. 

You will be 2 adults and 2 teens in ONE stateroom ???

I have a nifty RC over the shoulder bag w zipper. It’s kinda geeky, and I’d never be caught dead with it outside the actual travel scenario. But for safety & convenience, it works.

My 2 cents:  in doing some preliminary research for a May 2020 sailing out of Barcelona, it looks to me like flights from EWR to BCN are much less costly than from JFK to BCN. For whatever reason.

Another odd thing, it looks like I can fly to EWR from here in DFW, then EWR to BCN for about half of what it costs to set up a DFW to BCN flight. 

Ok peeps, I’m looking for tips on sailing out of Barcelona. Sailing day is Sunday May 24, 2020. I’m thinking we’ll fly Thursday night into Friday. So hotel Friday & Saturday night recommendations. Also, the proximity of the hotel to the port, and the best way to get there. I swear, after 10 cruises I feel like I can do it with my eyes closed, but for this trip I’m totally a nervous wreck ?

I’ve done Sol y Mar. Was a last minute deal. Found some Victor Bodden people in the port area. Took us there for $40 total. Sabrina was the driver, very nice young girl. It’s a really nice place. Weather wasn’t great, but I could see having a really nice day in sunny weather. Drink choices limited. It’s not exactly Mr Sancho’s. It’s a very new place, I think someone said it’s only been open a year or so. 

There really isn’t any dress code for the dining room anymore. I wear jeans and collared polo shirt. I saw shorts. It’s basically just look decent. No swimwear. 

22 hours ago, Matt said:

The reality is night clubs were useful for a few hours each night and otherwise remained unused space for a majority of the day.  Removing them allows RC to offer more for guests to do, while still offering a night club experience in another venue.

This makes sense,, which leads to another perplexing question. Vintages ?  Seriously ??

Im not a wine guy, but my impression of wine people is that wine is best enjoyed with a meal. Not at a bar. I just can’t imagine what RC’s end game is with that space, which is perpetually empty.

Seems to me RC is aiming directly at the “family” market. Splashaway Bay, bumper cars, mini golf, water slides, etc. The nightclub crowd is a totally different demographic. Certainly not an absolute, but judging by the comments here it’s apparent their numbers are decreasing. Heck, just think of cruise ship demographics overall. Isn’t the largest percentage group 50+ ?  That’s me. And I’m not going to any nightclubs any time soon. Heck, I’m not even awake at that time any more

I’ve been there after the fire. The only thing not available because of it is the animal sanctuary. However, that said, it was our least favorite excursion ever. $89 for 1 drink, 1 plate of lunch, and not much of a beach area. We accessed the water from a dock-like area. The entire resort is carved out of a jungle environment. I realize I’m in the minority on this, as most people rave about it. I would never recommend , or go again. 

It’s funny, whenever this topic comes up, those who swear by the package will rationalize it by adding up all the drinks they anticipate having, and how it will surely rise to the $47 or $50 daily cost. That may well be true in some cases, but why on earth would you commit to it by giving them say, $400 pp IN ADVANCE, and then playing catch up all week ?  IMO, this is like calculating how much gas you use each week, and paying for 3 months worth up front, and then not paying each time you fill up. 

#teamNOdlxe

My advice: if you’re “not a big drinker”, you don’t need to be committing $47/day to an alcohol package. #alacarte

FWIW   The following is just an opinion. By no means am I criticizing anyone. 

  I totally understand the frustration of feeling slighted by not being treated differently than a first timer in any situation. That said, for the life of me, I DON’T understand going on a cruise, and spending all that time, and inevitably losing all that money, in a casino. This is 2018. There are casinos all over America for the most part. The cruise seems a perfect time/place to have a drink, bask in the sun, see a show, beautiful meal, etc. Just about anything BUT sit in a smoky, dank, dark casino.  In 10 cruises, I’ve walked through the casino to go from forward to aft, or vice versa, and it strikes me every time, what are you people doing in here ??!!!  LOL    To each his/her own   I hope they make good on their program to all y’all.

I agree w those recommending those vinyl tag holders. Additionally, if you go on eBay, you can find plastic, engraved address tags for next to nothing. I think I paid under $8 for 2. Up to 4 lines included, so I have our complete address, and phone number on the 4th line. A great value. 

I drove down on Sept 8.  Not only was this not an issue,  I didn't even notice any construction

58 minutes ago, LWG_UK said:

Our Deluxe Beverage package was $56 without VOOM  + Surf, $63 with - $7 per day extra to include it, worth it if you are getting the Beverage package (unless we've overpaid for DBP?)

I would never pay $56 without VOOM.  But then again I don't ever get the BP anymore.  $56 is more like the ONBOARD price.  Internet pricing for BP is more in the $42-45 range usually.  

I booked for 11.99   Never seen it lower