Royal Caribbean - Enchantment of the Seas Cozumel & Key West Review

Embarkation: I thought it was a pretty smooth process, but there were long lines. We got to the port around 1ish and were onboard probably an hour later. Our room was already ready, so we dropped our stuff and started to explore.

Ship Info: I loved this ship. On all of my Carnival cruises, the ships had a promenade where everything was located. I liked how on the Enchantment everything seems more spread out (although basically all connected to the Centrum). The public areas are gorgeous, and with the exception of The Viking Lounge everything looked in nearly perfect condition. Well, the main pool deck area looked rather worn, but I think it's probably impossible to keep that area perfect.

Activities: We aren't ones to attend lots of activities; however, we did use the workout facility. The machines were in good condition, and we didn't have to wait. The only show we caught was the singing/dancing revue of movie music. It was pretty entertaining. I did the bungee jump/trampoline, but my husband wasn't allowed to because he was 5 lbs over the weight of 220. The other activity we did was the wine tasting. It was $9.95 a person for a tasting of 7 wines. I can't remember if that included champagne or if champagne was the 8th. Each taste was a little less than 1/4 of a glass. At first, our waiter was giving us literally a sip, but my husband complained because clearly others around us were getting 1/4 of a glass. The waiter was rather rude and pointed out how this was a "tasting" but when we pointed out how much others around us were getting he didn't say anything. We ended up getting the same amount as others. The wine tasting is rather rushed feeling, though. Overall, we did enjoy it.

Service: Personally, I feel this is where Royal Caribbean really shines over Carnival. Everyone seemed a little more pleasant and a little less stressed out. Our stateroom attendant was able to provide us with bathrobes even though we didn't qualify for them in only a balcony stateroom. Our waiter and assistant waiter, frankly, seemed like rookies but they were always pleasant and were obviously trying their best. This sounds vague (and I hate vague reviews) but it just seemed like people cared.

Shore Excursions: Grand Cayman ~ First, let me say the cruise director (Mark) was saying that there was an issue with the tender company and that is what the hold up was about; however, I know they didn't have enough people run the line up process. We were group 3 and we didn't get off the ship until over 2 hours after the process started. That's ridiculous. We stood in line for an hour after they called our number. Once ashore, we caught a taxi and went to Royal Palms. I convinced another family that they wanted to go to Royal Palms so that we would have a full taxi and could leave right away. They didn't really care/know where to go. They just wanted to go to the beach. It was a hot day, but the beach was fairly empty. The water is a perfect blue, and the sand is that fabulous white powder sand. We stayed for only 3 hours and felt like we were starting to burn. We wandered around the shops near the port. I really love Grand Cayman. The beach is so perfect, and the town is so safe (absolutely no hassling). Yes, the food, drinks, souvenirs are expensive, but it's a great port. That being said, I don't think I will ever take a cruise that stops there again. As someone who struggles with anxiety/claustrophobia, I was just at the breaking point when we were finally able to get onto a tender. Perhaps we could've waited until a later tender, however, we were only in port until 3:30.

Cozumel: No tenders! Yay! We were docked at the International Pier, and we were immediately accosted by people - rent a car, rent a scooter, go in this shop, go to this hotel. I made the mistake of saying "No, thanks, we're going to Paradise Beach" and a guy started arguing with me that that's a bad beach to go to and how they charge you $15 pp just to get in. I, not one to turn down an argument, replied, "No, I've read plenty about it online." His response, "I live here, and I know what I'm talking about." Anyway, we finally found our way out of the maze of shops/people, and considered renting a scooter but watched a couple immediately crash theirs..so we decided to just get a taxi. $12 later we arrived at Paradise Beach. We paid $10 pp to use the snorkel equipment, climbing activities, and floating mats. Other than that, there's no admission fee for chairs/umbrellas, etc. The water sports activity fee was optional, too. The weather was perfect, but the water here is somewhat cloudy. Only part of the beach (within the water) is sandy. Most of it is rocky. The sand is more of what I call "oatmeal" rather than powder. The beach is somewhat small but there are other . Even with these negatives, this is still a fabulous place for a day. If you snorkel around the pier (at PB), you will see lots of fish. We spent a good 5 hours here, and then did a little shopping at the shops at port. Do not go upstairs!! There's nothing up there that isn't downstairs, and the salespeople won't let you leave. We didn't look at jewelry but our tablemates said it was all fake - even the silver.

Stateroom: We had a balcony stateroom on deck 7. It was one of the "new" rooms, but I didn't really think it looked new. It did have the shower doors instead of a curtain. The decor was nice, but everything seemed rather used. Our stateroom attendant decided to hide things in the couch (extra towels, sheets) which we thought was odd. I guess it was a pull out bed. She also took all the books/literature/including the room service menu on the morning of our last sea day and stuck them all above the desk. We were rather frustrated when we wanted to order room service and no longer had the menu. I looked around until I found the stash. She also took all the extra paper and pen and hid it, too. I was rather offended by this, because I had been using the paper when I left the room, and she had to move my stuff in order to take the remaining paper away from me. We decided that even with the tacky decor (vs. elegant decor of the Enchantment) we liked the Carnival stateroom better. There is a ton of storage in this cabin; I will give them that.

Dining/Food: Room Service - decent amount of options, but it took FOREVER. It took about an hour each time. Carnival took about 20-30 minutes. Plus, it was usually messed up each time - for example, no ketchup for a burger or extra items we didn't order.

Dining Room - We didn't really have anything we didn't like. Generally, I thought the food was better than on Carnival. We did have lobster tail on the last night. I had 2! We gave in and had the pricey after dinner shooters one night. Yum! I think the seafood tends to be better than the steak.

Windjammer - Excellent buffet. I like the station concept. However, this ship desperately needs more seating in the Windjammer. I despised going there because it was literally a battle to get a table. Maybe we just went at the wrong times. The other annoyance was the drink station always had a line. My theory is that they don't like the change out the drinks from one meal to the next, so they just close one of the stations for each meal. The food, though, was fabulous. There were plenty of workers cleaning tables, getting drinks, etc.

Lattetudes - excellent coffee and the barista knew our order after the first day. It's an upcharge, but it's much, much better than the house coffee. There is no free coffee (some have reported free regular coffees), but the pastries are free with purchase.

Debarkation We were worried about making our noon flight, so we jumped our color by about two levels and got in line early. There really wasn't any need for this, though, We were easily off the ship in about 30 minutes maybe and at the airport - through security and everything - by about an hour and a half (at the most) after we first got in line to leave the ship. We flew Midwest out of Ft. Lauderdale.

Summary: I think we may be Royal Caribbean converts, but we may be taking a break from cruising. I have done 4 now, and my husband 2. I think the hardest part about cruising is dealing with all the people (getting on/getting off/etc). There are ways to avoid people but not always. Ultimately, though, this ship has a great crew and is still in really good shape for its age.