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Enchantment or Liberty out of Galveston


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Hey everyone, my wife and I are looking at a 5 night cruise on the Enchantment and a 7 night on the Liberty.  Also tossing around the Oceanview vs Balcony.   This will be our first sailing so what would you recommend between the 2 options?  We were booked for Alaska and just cant make it this year so are wanting to atleast get a cruise in this year.

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Liberty.  Newer ship, larger ship, more activities and better entertainment.  Promenade, Ice Skating shows, water slides, more balcony cabins mean they may be cheaper if booked far enough in advance.  

Enchantment is an older, smaller ship.   It's okay if the price is right and you will have a great cruise on her but she is nothing like Liberty.  

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I agree with Twangster 100%.. Liberty is the way to go.. Enchantment in my opinion is too old and is really showing her age.. I know some people really love small ships but I think Enchantment is just not holding up very well and I would go with Liberty no questions asked.. Especially since your a first time Royal Cruiser. Liberty is much more like what you see in the commercials. Enchantment has no bells and whistles at all so again my vote would be for liberty. 

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I agree with Twangster.  I have been on Enchantment and if it is your 1st cruise it is a great ship to start your cruising experience.  I also feel that not only price, but also itinerary too should play in your equation.  When we sailed on Enchantment we had 1 sea day, the rest were all port days, and long port days at that.  I think the shortest port day we had was 8-5.  Thus, we were only on the ship at night, so the bells and whistles did not matter much to us.  Enchantment also being smaller, the staff really gets to know you.  

Personally for me I would take a balcony on Liberty if that was in my budget.  However, if it came down to Enchantment having better ports and I could afford a balcony on her, but only an oceanview on Liberty, I probably would take the balcony on Enchantment.  

Lastly, be honest with yourself about your true budget and your night time ideas.  Cruising at the start can seem a value vacation, but it can quickly add up to another 1K more.  For example, the deluxe beverage package (alcohol) will run @50 pp/day.  Right there for 5 nights you have 500.  Voom (their internet) or the Key, and you have another 100.   You want to do dinner at the specialty restaurants for a couple of nights, you are looking at another 125+.  Now add in maybe an excursion at 2 of the ports, and that could be another 250 for the two of you.  I just put you over 1K in a blink of an eye, at nothing outrageous regarding costs...Chefs table is 85 pp.  If you go to Labadee and want a beach bed, bungalow, or cabana that can be pricey.  You don't have to do any of that, but just illustrating how it all adds up.  Also remember that grats are not included in your original price.  It is @15 pp day.  Now add that all upp together, and you will see that the bev., the internet, the key, the grats are all pp per day, which means it will be another couple hundred as a couple when you compare Liberty (7 days) vs Enchantmen (5 days)

What I mean about night time,  is not only the shows on board, but are you a couple that likes to go to the dance theme parties (70s, silent, white night) after seeing the late night comedian,  or would you rather go to bed at 10?  Liberty due to the size of the ship will have more venues and more people attending those things.

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Nothing wrong with Enchantment...and for your first cruise and a great price you would have a great time I am sure....but if you have the option for Liberty, its a much bigger ship with much more to do and see on her.

 

As for Oceanview vs. Balcony..it all comes down to money. Usually balcony will be close to double or more the cost of an oceanview......if its your first cruise I would take the oceanview and see how much time you spend in your room and then decide for future cruises what you want to do.

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@monctonguy touches on a point regarding cabins since it is your 1st cruise.  Once you go to a balcony, it is really hard to go to an ocean view or interior after that.  Mu husband and I could probably take 2-3 shorter cruises a yr if we took an ocean view or interior, however, for us, we would rather do one long cruise in a balcony cabin than the other option.  Mind you we are up and going by 7 a.m. and do not go to bed until midnight, so if you are talking amt of time in the room it isn't a lot.  Yet, we love having continental breakfast(free) delivered to our room and eat on the balcony instead of in the WJ.  We love sitting on the balcony as we pull in and out of port.  We love taking late night snacks and enjoying them on the balcony while we discuss that day or plans for tomorrow.  Final reason why is simple,  my husband and I sometimes have trouble sleeping on their beds, instead of waking up the other person, we go out on the balcony, curl up on one of the chairs with our tablet and surf/stream until we are tired enough to go back inside to fall asleep.  The sound of the ocean usually speeds this along ?

 

 

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While it might not be unanimous, Liberty will almost certainly garner the majority of votes here.   Newer, larger, more to do.  There's nothing wrong with the Enchantment, but unless you're a confirmed fan of the smaller ships, she's more for the regular cruiser just looking for a quick sailing.

O/V vs Balcony?  Comes down to price (imo).  Some are on their balcony all the time so it's a must.  I like having a balcony but never use it as much as I think we would so if it's a couple of hundred $ more, I'll spring for it.  If it's many hundreds of $ more, I'll take an O/V or a promenade view interior.

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I'm also in agreement with @twangster in choosing Liberty over Enchantment. I too believe that every ship in the fleet still has it's place, but for a first RC cruise I would definitely go with Liberty.

As a point of reference, our first RC cruise was Majesty (smallest and oldest in the fleet) and our last was on Liberty (which is part of the Freedom class, 3rd largest class of ship behind Quantum and Oasis class for RC). Liberty is in another league when it comes to options for food, activities and entertainment. We enjoyed Liberty and would definitely sail another Freedom class ship again! Yes, we are currently in the bigger and newer is better group at this stage of our lives (on Allure in 4 days)!

I would go for the balcony room if cost is not a concern. We find just sitting on the balcony in the early morning or evening watching the ocean or watching the ship dock just so relaxing. As many have stated, once you go balcony, it's tough to go oceanview or inside stateroom (not that we would ever rule those cabins out for the right price!). We are going with friends on Allure next week so we "compromised" ? and booked adjacent Central Park balcony cabins.

If you are not planning on spending much time in your cabin, then I would save the money and get the Oceanview cabin. You can always go up to the public areas of the ship, find a comfy chair and enjoy the views and fresh air from there. 

Either way, I'm sure you will have a great time!

 

 

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I absolutely agree that Liberty is the better ship.  If there is no significant difference in cost/night, then no doubt Liberty is a better option.  If there IS a significant difference in cost/night then you will need to consider things like itinerary.  I am also not a particular fan of short cruises so I will almost always opt for the longer cruise, regardless of ship.

I have never sailed on Enchantment but from recent reports, it seems she is showing her age.

I will always choose a balcony over an OV but that's just a personal preference. Price is definitely a consideration for this option.

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Thank you all.  Looks like we are going to do the 7 night on the Liberty and the Balcony wasnt much more on the Liberty so we are going balcony as well.  

We have an open mindset going on this cruise.  Im sure there will be a shore excursion or two we will do but for the most part just going to take in the experience and see what happens.  I kind of like the idea of having my own private balcony to use whenever we want.  Guess we will see if we utilize it or not.

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17 hours ago, Yo2slick said:

Thank you all.  Looks like we are going to do the 7 night on the Liberty and the Balcony wasnt much more on the Liberty so we are going balcony as well.  

We have an open mindset going on this cruise.  Im sure there will be a shore excursion or two we will do but for the most part just going to take in the experience and see what happens.  I kind of like the idea of having my own private balcony to use whenever we want.  Guess we will see if we utilize it or not.

I think you made a good decision even though we haven't been on Liberty YET. We will be on the Christmas Cruise this December and I have worn my computer out researching everything Liberty. I never find any complaints, always positive. Good luck on your cruise! Can't wait for ours!

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24 minutes ago, Todd W said:

just got back from our first trip on Liberty and everyone loved it (including 4 who had never cruised Royal before).   we wouldn't hesitate to cruise her again.

Look through @twangster blog of the Ovation that he is posting now, somewhere, 2nd or 3rd page he shows the humidor by Vintages I think he says and the then the price sheet, considering they have a captive audience I didn't think the prices were to bad, at least not as bad as they try and gouge you in Vegas,

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2 hours ago, tiny260 said:

Look through @twangster blog of the Ovation that he is posting now, somewhere, 2nd or 3rd page he shows the humidor by Vintages I think he says and the then the price sheet, considering they have a captive audience I didn't think the prices were to bad, at least not as bad as they try and gouge you in Vegas,

Thanks @tiny260!   first time i've seen a free standing humidor outside of the Con Club.  prices surprisingly weren't too bad.   Nice to see a Davidoff and Hemingway in there.   AF Hemingway WOAM's are some of my all time favorites when i can find them.    I always try to travel with my own when i can, as you noted, the crazy price gouging can get ridiculous depending on location.    Liberty Con club was a little crazy during our cruise with the Rockets Warriors games on air, it was as crowded as i've ever seen it.

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