RCL - Enchantment of The Seas Questions

[jsrj21]

Hello everyone-

I had a few questions about Royal Caribbean as I've never cruised before and hoping to do it this summer in August [which I worry a little being close to hurricane season]. Planning on going out of Port Canaveral - for no other reason than having an excuse to go to Disney afterwards....

I am thinking of renting a car either from Orlando Airport and driving ourselves or taking transfers to Port Canaveral and then renting a care there. I looked into it and it's an easy process from what it seems. I've found the rates to park a car at the Port....just have to do the numbers to figure out what's more cost effective.

My questions are:
1. Do the cruise lines have transfers from MCO to Port Canaveral and back?
2. Should I be in town the day before or risk flying in on embarkation day?
3. Do I need a passport for the cruise?
4. What level/floor should I try to get a room on? I suffer from a little motion sickness [hence why we've never been on a cruise].
5. What time do we have to get off of the ship on the last day?
6. Any thoughts on booking through AAA or RCL directly?
7. Any other thoughts on the Enchantment of the Seas or for first-timers would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[bumbershoot]

My questions are:
1. Do the cruise lines have transfers from MCO to Port Canaveral and back?
2. Should I be in town the day before or risk flying in on embarkation day?
3. Do I need a passport for the cruise?
4. What level/floor should I try to get a room on? I suffer from a little motion sickness [hence why we've never been on a cruise].
5. What time do we have to get off of the ship on the last day?
6. Any thoughts on booking through AAA or RCL directly?

1. Royal has transfers. They are about the same cost as Disney's, around $35 per person each way. Call Royal to get this arranged. I personally would go with the rental car if the money works out better. PC's rental agencies can get busy, but they have shuttles to the port.

2. I think it's a grand idea to be in town ahead of time. From the National Hurricane Service: "Hurricane season in the Atlantic begins June 1st and ends November 30th." So there *can* be disruptions in August. Keep an eye on the weather, keep an eye on your airport's website and your airline's website. If something's going on that will affect them, they will announce it, and you can have the chance of switching things around if needed. Don't ever wait for the airline to contact you; as the flight approaches, check your reservation often, and make sure they haven't announced weather issues that allow you to move things without extra costs.

3. If you are a US citizen, if it's a Bahamas or Caribbean cruise that goes from and to the SAME US port, then it's called a closed-loop cruise and a passport isn't necessary. Proper, certified birth certificate for all, and government ID for the adults is all that's needed. Make sure it's a certified BC! No BCs from the hospital; you need the one from "vital statistics" in your state/county of birth. Now, if there's some sort of emergency where you need to *fly* home from another country, you'll get to spend some time in an office somewhere, paying lots of money, for emergency passports before flying home.

4. Many people say that closer to the "bottom" of the passenger decks, and more towards the middle, is best. It's hard to state for sure if that works, because you can't be in two places at once, and everyone feels movement differently. But...that's what they say. First night out of Port Canaveral in otherwise fine weather can be the rockiest; crossing the Florida Straits is like having turbulence on an airplane, and is bumpy. Don't let that throw you into despair, it will likely be fine when you wake up in the morning. There are many western medicine drugs you can take, there's ginger pills, real ginger candies, SeaBands, and even sliced green apple dipped in salt. That last saved my mother in law; her dining server saw her turning green and brought her a bowl of that, told her to eat it and she perked right up. It was the only seasickness she felt the whole (Alaska) cruise.

5. Can't remember on Royal, but expect that final call is going to be before 9am.

6. I book RCCL through costcotravel.com. I just love the onboard credit I get with them.

I know nothing about Enchantment specifically!

 

[jsrj21]

Thank you so much! Helps alot.

 

[SevenWonkas]

All the above answers are very helpful.

As for Enchantment of the Seas herself.... We went on her last month. It was our 9th Royal Caribbean cruise (all 7-day cruises); we have been on three DCL cruises also. Enchantment is an old ship, there's no better way to say it. You'll still have a very nice time, but the ship doesn't have all the bells and whistles as newer ships. I say this because I don't want you to base your opinion of Royal, or cruising in general, off this ship.

I was expecting a "spring break" crowd on our ship, because it was a 4-day cruise.... But the average age definitely was older. I would say most people on the ship were over 60. We're 32.

The staff were friendly and helpful. We never encountered anyone who gave us pause, but of course people's experiences will vary (no matter what ship you are on).

We like Royal's food, but food reviews are always subjective anyway.

I encourage you to check out the message boards on cruisecritic.com. You will find a lot more people discussing Royal Caribbean on those forums.

Have fun!

 

[BelleBeautyandtheBeast]

We just got back from a 4 night Enchantment of the Seas cruise. This is the first cruise we have ever done, so we have nothing to compare it to.

We stayed midship on deck 2, which I loved, we were in 2578 and 2580. The hallway was quiet. There was less motion felt down there compared to the upper floors. On our last night we ran into rougher seas. My DH had some motion sickness that night but bonine took care of it.

On disembarkation morning the ship was cleared around 7:30 am and those carrying their luggage off were allowed off first, we had until 8:40 am to leave the ship. Beginning at 8:40 am they called group numbers (I have no idea how those are assigned, ours was 16). From 8:40-9:15 they called group numbers and once off the ship you collected your luggage, which was on a rack with your group number.
Breakfast was served that morning from 6:30 am - 8 am in Windjammer or 7 am - 8 am in My Fair Lady dining room.

I booked through Dreams Unlimited for the onboard credit.

My kids were so impressed with the cruise they wanted to book another on the first night we were there. Even my DH loved it, and he had no interest in going on any cruise. I know Enchantment is an older and smaller ship but she still offers a great vacation. I loved deck 10, the views are fabulous and I enjoyed walking on the track in the morning and watching the sun rise.

We parked right at the cruise terminal 1 parking garage, which was convenient.

Like SevenWonkas, I expected the ship to be filled with a younger college crowd due to spring break. I was pleasantly surprised to see a wide variety of ages. There were just as many families as older people and some college age kids.