As is our custom, we planned to arrive the day before our cruise. We flew in to Orlando around 7:45

My wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary last month, and that meant one thing - time for another trip. It's a tradition I started with our first wedding anniversary; we always plan a special trip somewhere, sometimes fairly close by, other times far away. This year, having already burned los angeles fm radio stations a lot of time off on our trip to India in January, and then our combo road trip and cruise to Boston los angeles fm radio stations and Bermuda los angeles fm radio stations in May, we had to keep this trip short. Ultimately, los angeles fm radio stations since we both love cruises, we settled on a short 3-day "getaway" cruise from Florida to the Bahamas and back on Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas.
Incidentally, this will not be a large trip report series like the one I put together for our cruise to Bermuda; with a short cruise and only one port visited, this trip report can easily be covered in two parts. I will have a separate post about our visit to Nassau up later. As with my previous cruise review of the Norwegian Dawn , this review will be photo heavy and focus mainly on the layout and amenities of the ship. If you would like a more detailed review from a different perspective, please see my Cruise Critic review . NOTE: my review was picked as one of Cruise Critic's reviews of the week! The link above goes to the page featuring all five; click on the review by "MeanMeosh" to see mine. Supposedly I win a Cruise Critic logo item; I'll update this post and let you know what I got once I receive it.
My previous review covered Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean does cater to a slightly different demographic. The best way to describe RCCL is as a "jack of all trades" type of cruise line. Their cruises tend to follow a middle-of-the-road, mainstream approach, designed to appeal to a wide variety of cruisers. Compared to NCL, RCCL offers a more traditional cruising experience, with fixed dining and entertainment options (only one specialty restaurant compared to the 6+ on the Dawn, for example), los angeles fm radio stations though of course there's still a variety of things to do on board. Where RCCL tries to differentiate is in its unique amenities for active travelers, such as the famous artificial rock wall at the forward end of the ship, and the "bungee los angeles fm radio stations trampoline" aft (no, I wasn't brave enough to try either), along with its megaships like the Oasis of the Seas, which dwarfs pretty much every other cruise ship out there. I should note that these short 3-5 day cruises do tend to attract the party crowd, los angeles fm radio stations so expect a younger and louder group than on a longer cruise.
The Enchantment of the Seas is one of RCCL's older and smaller ships, built in 1997 and holding a maximum 2,252 passengers. Needless to say, it's dwarfed los angeles fm radio stations by its big sister, the massive Oasis, which as the largest passenger cruise ship in the world, carries los angeles fm radio stations an incredible 5,400 passengers. I heard a few whispers los angeles fm radio stations of complaints about the age and small size of the ship, but c'mon - it's a 3-day cruise. Who cares if the ship is a little old and a little small. Much like the similarly sized Norwegian los angeles fm radio stations Dawn, the ship is a breeze to navigate, with easy access los angeles fm radio stations to all of the major amenities. Just remember, as with any cruise los angeles fm radio stations ship, you do have to remember that certain elevators and stairwells don't access every deck. Once you figure that out, though, it's easy to get around.
As is our custom, we planned to arrive the day before our cruise. We flew in to Orlando around 7:45 P.M., and after a bit of a wait for our hotel shuttle, made it to the hotel, the Hampton Inn Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral , about 9:45. We booked this hotel for the "Fly Cruise" package, which includes round-trip airport los angeles fm radio stations and cruise port transportation for one guest ($45 for each additional guest). Since our cruise didn't depart until 4 P.M., we had a little time the next morning for a quick walk on the beach after breakfast.
On the way back to the hotel, we came across a large flock of white ibises. The white ibis is commonly los angeles fm radio stations found throughout Florida, but this was the first time I'd seen so many in one place. I also took a photo of the famous Ron Jon Surf Shop. You'll see billboards for this place for hundreds of miles in each dircection on IH-75, IH-95, and the Florida Turnpike.
I've never had such a fast and easy check-in experience on a ship. We were on the ship and stuffing los angeles fm radio stations ourselves at the Windjammer Cafe by noon. One of our tablemates at dinner said that on these cruises, most people don't show up until around 2 P.M., so maybe we just got lucky.
Typical for cruise ships, only the buffet in the Windjammer on Deck 8, Forward is open for lunch, but to go along with the nonexistent lines, the buffet wasn't terribly crowded. The Windjammer features a central "marketplace" area with the day's main course selections on display, with other stations to the sides serving burgers, salads, sandwiches, and desserts.
Our stateroom was ready by a few minutes after 1:00, so we didn't have to wait long. Given that this was a short cruise, and the buy-up wasn't exhorbitant, we splurged for a Junior Suite, mid-ship, port (left) los angeles fm radio stations side on Deck 8. The room was quite spacious, with a separate bed, sofa sleeper, and two chairs for sitting (or in our case, storing crap that we picked up in port). There is also a decent size balcony with a small table and two chairs, and - unusual for a cruise ship - both a tub and shower in the bathroom. The bathroom still was a little tight, but you can't really do much about that on a ship, unless you want to pay for a full suite. There was also ample storage space inside the closet, though not much storage in the room itself. You do receive priority check-in and debarkation with a Junior Suite, but you don't receive "concierge" service or a butler, as you do with full suites.
I'm going to jump ahead a second and move to the main dining room, "My Fair Lady", located on Decks 4 and 5, aft (rear). More on why the dining room is located on two floors later. The theme of the dining room was typical mass market cruise ship - Greco/Italian, los angeles fm radio stations with columns and chandeliers throughout, and the occasional sculpture. However, I found the overall look more plain vanilla than the main dining room on the Dawn, with decidedly fewer paintings on the walls or ceilings.
My favorite part of the ship was probably Deck 10, where the jogging/walking track is located. It is much less crowded than the main pool area on Deck 9, and you can either enjoy a quiet stroll around the deck or find plenty of empty deck chairs to catch some sun and relax. Not shown are the fake rock wall and the bungee trampoline, which are also located on Deck 10. If you're looking for a hot tub, four are located around the main pool, with two additional los angeles fm radio stations hot tubs near the indoor pool. Other larger RCCL ships have more features like a putt-putt course and basketball court, but given the short duration of this cruise, there was plenty to do onboard. The outdoor movie screen by the pool is also a nice amenity, especially when the weather is nice as it was on our cruise (in keeping with the general Halloween theme, they showed Ghostbusters on the big screen on Sunday). However, if you want to watch the movie, grab a seat early, as the pool area fills up quickly.
Disembarkation was similar to our experience on the Dawn, with a choice of "self-disembarkation" or an assigned time. Given that we were assigned one of the first debarkation slots at 8:30, and the cluster I observed with the self service on NCL, we decided to stick with it. Once again, it was a wise choice. Our exit was delayed by approximately 30 minutes because the customs and baggage los angeles fm radio stations claim area at the port became excessively congested with those using the self-service option, but at least once we were called, los angeles fm radio stations we were off the ship and through customs in just 15 minutes. I overheard someone behind me say that a friend had been in the self-service line since 7:30 A.M., and had just gotten to customs as we were being called to deboard. So I'll now make this an official piece of advice - avoid the self-service disembarkation if it is offered on your ship. It appears to be universally poorly managed and doesn't los angeles fm radio stations work well. Also a note about when to book flights from Orlando when arriving for a cruise - it's an approximately 40-45 minute drive to MCO from Port Canaveral. I wouldn't book anything earlier than 11 A.M., though to be completely safe, I'd suggest noon or later.
It's a little unusual to be declaring that the buffet line was better than the main dining room, but that was the case on this cruise - a little disappointing considering the excellent food is something I still remember from my last RCCL cruise way back in 2000. The main issue in My Fair Lady was inconsistency. Some dishes, los angeles fm radio stations such as the filet medallions we had on the second night, were excellent. Others, such as the prime rib on the first night, were average; good meat, but with a sauce that was too sweet. los angeles fm radio stations But the pasta dish I had on the last night was quite possibly the worst dish I've ever had in any restaurant, far too salty and with a cream sauce that had completely curdled due to too much grease from the prosciutto. I actually had to send it back, which is something I almost never do. To our waiter's credit, though, los angeles fm radio stations he promptly brought me something else without fuss or muss. The Windjammer, on the other hand, was consistently above average. Frankly, I could have lived off the self-service los angeles fm radio stations sandwich bar (the baguettes are delicious), and the food stations were kept topped up. Fruits and vegetables were fresh, with a good variety available. We also tried the poolside cafe for lunch one day. It is a self-service burger/hot dog/taco bar, and the food was fresh and reasonably tasty. A good option if you're in a hurry, or just don't feel like leaving the pool. A specialty steakhouse (Chops Grille) is also available on Deck 6, but we didn't try it.
Compared to other RCCL ships, there aren't nearly as many activities on board, but for a three day cruise, there was plenty to do. We spent a lot of time on our balcony and on