Saturday, February 29, 2020

Nights of Enchantment- Galveston

Foggy, Foggy Night
Embarkation Day 
Galveston, TX
Fog or no fog... We are going to have a GREAT CRUISE! 


Disclaimer
In February 2020 Chris and I took a 4 day Mexican cruise aboard the
Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas sailing out of Galveston, TX. We have sailed Royal Caribbean many times but never on the Enchantment nor a ship this small (74,000 GT).

This gorgeous floating hotel took us to the following destinations:
Cozumel, Mexico (Fog Delay made this impossible) 

Progresso, Mexico
The Enchantment of the Seas… Our home away from home for the next 4 days!

I have been on 17 other cruises prior to this one and Chris has been on 16 (thanks to the Girls Cruise);
10 with Carnival, 4 with Royal Caribbean, 2 with Norwegian and 1 with Princess.  This blog will include a
review of the Enchantment of the Seas, daily entries of our 4 days aboard, a "Foodies" blog highlighting all of the food options available on the Enchantment, a post linking all the Cruise Compass as well as an extensive photo review of the ship. Thank you SO MUCH to all my followers... without you the blog would not be as popular as it is today! Be sure to stay tuned as the posts come through over the next few days and weeks.

MORNING
Our typical “Cruise Day” excitement started early, and we were up and at em’, even out the door, by 7:30AM. We had received a notification the night before from Royal Caribbean about a possible foggy morning and possibly delay but that didn’t stop us. We were ready to get on the ship! It had been 8 months and that is TOO LONG! When we left at 7:30AM, the Enchantment was not at the dock yet, but the fog “looked” to be lifting… at least to our non-weather expert eyes. We made our Galveston embarkation traditional breakfast stop at Kolache Factory in The Woodlands and made our way south. This was the very first time we had ever set sail on a Monday and were not sure how the HOUSTON traffic would be.

A view of Galveston Cruise Terminal webcam before we left The Woodlands.

There was little to no traffic on our commute and we were at our 2nd pit stop, Buc-cee’s in Texas City, by 9AM. During the commute we received our 1st update from RCCL explaining there would be a change to our check-in time and to stay tuned for another update to come at 10AM. We grabbed some caffeine at Buc-cee’s and got back in the car to get to Galveston. At this point, I had looked on the Galveston Cruise Webcam and it looked like the fog was still lifting. By 9:15AM we were in Galveston and it was VERY FOGGY. So much so that we could not even see the “Galveston” sign as we drove over the causeway.  I looked at our Facebook Voyage Specific Group Page and there was gossip that the ships (The Carnival Dream was supposed to set sail on a 5 night voyage on that same day) were moving.

Our 1st UPDATE from Royal Caribbean. 

This is ALWAYS a must- stop, even without a fog delay! 

IT was FOGGY! you couldn't even read the Galveston sign. 

 TIP- Be sure to look on Facebook for a Group Page for your specific sailing. It is a GREAT way to meet people prior to embarkation and getting all kinds of tips and tricks. Just search for it with the exact sailing date for your cruise (ex- Enchantment of the Seas February 17th sailing).  In fact, there are even Cruise SHIP pages specific for the ship you will be sailing. I think I am part of at least a DOZEN different Facebook cruise groups. It is a GREAT tool to have so be sure to check it out!

We got to EZ Cruise Park in Galveston and the gate was closed. I walked up and asked if we would be able to park and the owner told us to get into the “line” that was forming from passengers waiting to embark. We did and then got the 10AM notice from RCCL that the Enchantment of the Seas was starting to sail through the Galveston channel and would be docked within an hour. The noticed said that the check-in time was changed from 10:30AM to 2PM and to not arrive until 2PM. This seemed SO LATE to us.

The line of cars ready to park at EZ Cruise Park around 10AM. 

TIP- EZ Cruise Park is a GREAT place to park in Galveston and offers a walking only option or a shuttle. PLUS, they now offer a loyalty program. It is our favorite place to park in Galveston. You can pay for parking and reserve your spot online... HERE

By 10:30AM, the owner of EZ Cruise Park had us pull into the East lot that was for Enchantment of the Seas only. We got parked and unloaded our luggage from the car and started to walk to the terminal to drop off our luggage. The Enchantment of the Seas docked at Galveston at 10:52AM.
She's coming... She is FINALLY coming into port. It's OUR TURN! 

More of the Galveston  Cruise Terminal Webcam.
I'll be honest, I watch this frequently on cruise days, even if I am not cruising... I know, I am an addict! 

Check it out- HERE

Even at 11AM when the ship had LITERALLY just parked at the dock, the porters were waiting to accept our luggage. We dropped it off and contemplated going to a restaurant nearby, but Chris didn’t want to walk all over so he just got in the line to get checked in. He was the 9th person in line. I walked and got us some waters from the nearby convenience store and then joined Chris in line.

Another FIRST for us... As we arrived at the terminal, there were 2 chartered buses being unloaded with new crew members. It was really neat! 


While in line we met some great people from SHAWNEE, OK of all places. In fact, we talked about people we mutually knew. It was neat to get to talk to them about how much our 1st little hometown had grown. By 11:15AM, the Enchantment of the Seas was starting to unload its outgoing passengers while we waited outside. It was not hot or cold really, but it was very damp and gross.

AFTERNOON
By noon we were able to move inside the cruise terminal getting ready to check-in and go through security. When we got to the actual check-in line, it went INCREDIBLY smooth. In fact, it was the smoothest we have ever had from Galveston. INSIDER INFO- I will say, with all the Corona-virus scares going around, Royal Caribbean was pretty loose with this feature of the check-in. They simply asked us if we had traveled to China in past 14 days or know anyone or been in contact with anyone from the area. Then just moved right along. They also asked about sickness, but we didn’t even fill out a paper like we used to have to. We just said no! Now of course, Chris and I were not lying but it seemed like anyone could have just said no and gotten on the ship. They were not inspecting anything or doing any type of further investigation. I am not a conspiracy theory person, but I did expect a more vigilant check in with this going around. Chris and I were SO STRICT the week prior to the cruise thinking that if even one of us sneezed we would be denied boarding due to the new Royal Caribbean updates from Corona-virus.

We waited in the Galveston Cruise Terminal #2 until 1:45PM when the 1st set of announcements was made to board the ship. This 1st group to be called were suites and Diamond members and other “important people” as we like to think of them. THIS cruise made us PLATINUM so in April when we set sail on the Liberty of the Seas we will be in this “IMPORTANT” group because we will now be PLATINUM!


Just 52 days and we will be in this "Important People" group! 

The Galveston Gangway is currently broken (although it was also broken as we got off the ship in June 2019 when we sailed on the Carnival Dream), so we had to get on the ship via Deck 1 on the ground outside. It was really neat because we saw a lot of crew get on and off the ship, as well as a nice little CREW STORE just beside the ship! Even after 18 cruises, this was a 1st for us!

We heard the first DING at 2:01PM.


Boarding the ship from the ground floor. It was such an experience and BUSY! 

We made our way to our cabin thinking it would be ready since it was already after 1PM but it was not ready. TIP- Royal Caribbean is starting to have your SeaPass cards delivered to your cabin on embarkation day. This is the card you use for EVERYTHING! Including drinks and any extra food. We were a little set back that we didn’t have cards to order drinks right off the bat, but we were able to use our boarding pass, even on our phone, which made it fairly easy.


This was really neat large sized ship... But it was the JEWEL of the Seas. Seemed weird to me! 

Lunch from the Windjammer. 


This was the 1st time I realized RCCL had a Gluten Free buffet option. 

We enjoyed lunch in the very small Windjammer and it felt as if our cruise had FINALLY begun. After lunch we wandered around the ship as best we could. I went to the My Fair Lady Dining Room on Deck 4 to ask to switch our dining time to 8PM instead of 5:30PM. We had requested the late seating with our travel agent but our SeaPass cards said 5:30PM. It was an easy switch and the Maître D, Lorwin, was exceptional in meeting my request.

It was still damp and foggy out, but it seemed to become clearer as the afternoon passed. Our staterooms were ready at 2PM and we had hoped to change into swimsuits to enjoy an empty Solarium hot tub and pool while we could. But once we got to our cabin we realized that Chris did not put his swim wear into the carryon bag! ROOKIE MISTAKE… We should know better! TIP- ALWAYS pack a change of clothes, swimsuit and medicine in your carryon luggage.
The Walk to our cabin from the Centrum (Forward) elevators. 
Inside Stateroom 3517! 
The SMALLEST, most crowded stateroom we have EVER stayed in! 

Enchantment Lido Deck area. Small but the pools were large! 


Yep... It's Cruising Time! 

 FOGGY, FOGGY night! 
Headed to the Muster Drill!  
At 4PM, just 30 minutes later than usual, we had the Muster Station meeting. TIP- We say this every cruise but WAIT until the last minute possible to go to this or you will be stuck IN THE BACK and packed in like cattle. This time I just moved to the front because I was just too claustrophobic. I asked for forgiveness not permission and it worked out fine.

My view from the front of the Muster Drill. Still foggy but we had hope... 

You could barely see the Carnival Dream. 

After the Muster Station meeting we kept anticipating to set sail, but we never moved. At 5:30PM the Captain came on the speaker and said the Port of Galveston was closed and there was nothing he could do about it. To just enjoy yourselves. So, we did just that! We were not mad or upset at all! We were just happy to be on the cruise ship.

We went back to the room in hopes of our checked luggage being there, but it was not so Chris just wore regular shorts to the Solarium. We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening in the Solarium and Solarium Bar with one of our favorite bar tenders, Dwight! It was a great way to relax and let our worries fade away.

Till to CHILL! 

This Solarium is easily the BEST part of this ship! We loved it and spent the majority of our cruise RIGHT HERE! 

#TeacheronBreak

EVENING
We were not hungry at all due to the weird boarding and lunch times and nothing on the main dining room menu looked good so for the first time in 10+ cruises, we ate dinner in the Windjammer Buffet. Let me just say, it will take another 10+ cruises to get me to do that again. I just do not like buffets. It did NOTHING for me and Chris agreed. It was good for the situation we were in, but we would not do this meal again. TIP- This particular Windjammer was TINY and crowded. It was not laid out very well due to the ship being built in the mid-90s. We did not frequent it very much but when we did, it was VERY crowded and hard to even get in line; let alone get a table once you got your food. I would say to go at non-peak times to ensure a smooth dining experience. Although, I will say that service was EXCEPTIONAL for a buffet area.  
The Windjammer is small and crowded but is a good option for many. 

After dinner we ventured right back to the Solarium pool and hot tub where we spent most of our evening until they shut it down. TIP- This Solarium was very large with a covered awning and the hot tubs also had coverage over them. It was also hardly ever crowded, and this was a cruise sailing where 90% or more were adults. In fact, this was our lowest percentage of child cruisers ever with only 244 kids. Yet were ALWAYS found chair next to each other in the Solarium and often in prime-time places. This became my favorite part of the ship and we spent a lot of time in here during our cruise.

Around 9:30PM we decided to go and change clothes and FINALLY our checked luggage had arrived. We showered and then changed and planned to go back out but instead took a brief nap. (We’re starting to show our age… I know!) The excitement of the day and the delay in boarding made us very tired. We got up at 10:30PM just in time for the Disco Inferno Dance Party in the Centrum. We grabbed a few drinks at the Centrum Bar and enjoyed the party as much as we could. INSIDERS INFO- This would be the one and ONLY time we saw the Cruise Director Bobby. He seemed nice enough and funny but will be forgettable in our CD experience.

Afterwards we went out to the promenade deck to walk around and noticed the Carnival Dream (who was also setting sail and delayed in boarding and sailing) was pushing off the dock.  We thought “The port must be open” and sure enough… We were pushing off too. It was still foggy, and it was hard to see but we finally officially set sail around midnight. No announcement was made, and you could not feel the ship moving too much so unless you were outside watching, a passenger may not have known we had set sail. We were headed out to sea… Not sure where to just yet but we were on our way.


The Port is OPEN! The Carnival Dream is starting to set sail! 


It's OUR TURN! The Enchantment of the Seas is FINALLY setting sail to...? 
We're not sure yet but we are EXCITED! 


"I see the tug boat... I see the tug boat"- That was me yelling to Chris as I realize we are about to leave! 


WOOHOO... It's time to set sail! We were SO EXCITED! 


It may be 11PM but we are leaving this place... Headed for CRYSTAL CLEAR BLUE WATERS! 


Goodbye Carnival Dream!
We had friends on this sailing... I hope you have a GREAT cruise! 


My standard Buoy picture! 

The lido deck around 11PM. 


The Enchantment also offers a large movie screen near the forward pool. 

We crashed for the evening around 1AM feeling the movement of the ship as we sailed into the Gulf of Mexico. Overall, it was a very good day and we were just happy to be on a Cruise Ship. A day on a ship is MUCH BETTER than ANY DAY on land! TIP- Remember, a cruise is what you make of it! Yes… we were delayed in boarding and stuck at port until midnight, but we tried to make the best of it!

Step counts for the day, Me: 13,377
Chris: 12,676

Stay tuned for more of our FOGGY CRUISE ADVENTURE!
Next Up… Sea Day 1!


God is Good... All the Time!


 




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2 comments:

  1. Mary SmithFebruary 29, 2020 at 9:39 PM

    I was on this sailing (and met you in the Solarium pool!) and so far I'm loving your Blog. Your description of day 1 is so perfect! I was up on the Lido deck watching the movie on deck when we set sail, I only knew at first because I suddenly heard people near the railings start CHEERING! It made for an interesting cruise.

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  2. RheaMarch 3, 2020 at 7:17 AM

    It absolutely was! Even after 18 cruises, we have never experienced that so it was pretty neat!

    And hey, I mention you in Day 3 blog! Haha! Thanks for following along!

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