Sob. Home again. What a wonderful time I had on the Enchantment of the Seas, on her Western Caribbean sailing from 6/19-6/24.

I scheduled my leave from work and booked my airfare and cruise only 5 days before embarkation. I had doubts about going on a cruise by myself, but felt sure I wouldn't be bored. Though I payed the single cruiser surcharge (an unfair practice by the cruiselines, especially for last minute bookings), my agent got me a handicapped room (I'm not handicapped) which is double the size of a customary interior stateroom, so the sting of the surcharge wasn't as bad. The airfare cost was another story. Here's a tip. The internet travel agency whose name starts with EXP does not arrange travel via discount airlines, at least in the Philadelphia area. I didn't know this in advance, and paid a lot for airfare.

Anyway, I made it to Ft Lauderdale without a problem, and was whisked to the cruise terminal. Because I embarked on a Monday, the terminal wasn't busy, so I got on the ship quickly. I had cruised previously on Adventure of the Seas, a mega ship, so was concerned that Enchantment would seem small to me. Well, I was pleasantly surprised as I boarded this ship. It is huge. The first thing I saw was the atrium, which is a bright wide open 9 deck high 'foyer'. I found my stateroom (again, it was huge) was close to the main dining room on deck 4. I then walked up to the buffet for my welcome aboard lunch. I walked across the pool deck to get to the Windjammer Marketplace (buffet), and was surprised to see two swimming pools on the pool deck. What I didn't know, was that Enchantment had been put in Drydock, cut in half, and had a large section (including a pool, a club, and more staterooms) inserted between the two sections. So, as far as size goes, I much preferred Enchantment to the larger Adventure, because on the latter I walked miles and miles between elevators and pool decks and dining rooms. Enchantment, with it's additions, is PLENTY BIG, yet you are closer to everything and there is less wasted space- at least if you don't need to play basketball everyday or see an ice skating show on a cruise ship which you can do on the larger ships. As a single guy, cruising by myself, I was concerned about the dining situation. I thought I'd feel awkward sitting with couples. Well, I was seated with a married couple celebrating their 25th anniversary, their daughter, and 4 of her friends. It was a perfect situation for me, what a warm group of people (and 5 cute girls!!). The staff was great, as was the food, though toward the end the desserts weren't all to my liking. The Windjammer for lunch and breakfasts was quite good. Better than last year on the Adventure in my mind. One night, I went to the Solarium cafe for a late night piece of pizza and cheeseburger (ahh, the indulgences) and I enjoyed that. Read more