Enchantment of the Seas - Cruise Report

 It was a hectic morning, even though, or probably because the port is only 45 minutes drive away from the house, my partner decided that important remodeling decisions need to happen this morning. Once that crisis was over, Richard, our neighbor and his daughter who are also going to be on the cruise drove to the port. For Saturday after Thanksgiving, the drive was uneventful – no traffic problem in sight. 45 easy minutes later we were at the port, parking the car. We did have luggage tags, but once we figured that out (courtesy of a nice parking attended who went to bring them to us) we started the check-in process. Being an elite on Celebrity cruises has its perks, and I am a Platinum of Royal Caribbean because of that. That means I had priority check-in and fast boarding. The waiting area in the terminal is nothing to write home about, and they very very sensitive about the use of cell-phones, for some reason. Be it as it may by 11:45 I was on board. By 12:15 all of our party was on board, and we went to have a lunch at the Lido. Enchantment of the Seas was lengthen some years ago (yes, they cut it in half and stuck a whole new middle section in). But as the number of cabins increased, there was no increase in the number of seats in the restaurants or the theater. On embarking day it showed as the Lido was packed to the gills. By 1:30 everyone was allowed to their rooms. Unfortunately, my luggage had not arrived yet. We went to the sail away; we went to the gym ruffle; we walked around a little – and my luggage is nowhere to be found. Going down to the confiscated luggage area did not discover the luggage (as expected). It was 6:00 already, and no one could tell me where the luggage is. The front desk was useless, so I resorted to the time-proven  tactic of making a pest of oneself. I just plumped my ass on the stairs on floor one where the luggage is brought in and looked everyone in the eyes. It was very uncomfortable 45 minutes for me, but much more for senior staff that was around that started to make phone calls to discover where my luggage is. It has arrived around 7:00 in the evening. Now that is what I call totally unacceptable. My neighbor’s luggage had arrived before 3:00 and it was on the same cart. I completely do not understand how the system works. In order to save money I guess there is no bar-code system so no one actually knows where one luggage is.

We ate dinner every day at 8:00 as part of my-time-dining option. We had probably one of the best waiters on board Ehran from Turkey. The man is a ball of energy and fun. Unfortunately, the my-time-dining for two is very limited in its sitting area which are not that desirable at all. Very close and confined by the service station that leaves the whole section feeling crumped and uninviting. Food in general was good. Major disappointment were the desert. On the 11-day  cruise, there was only one day that the deserts were extremely good. Other days they were barely passable or worse.

Now having getting back from all-gay cruise couple of weeks before, it was a strange cruise indeed. All my previous none charted cruises were on celebrity, which has quite different demographics. Maybe it was the port of call, maybe it was the ship, maybe it was the cruise line – but this cruise was not even comparable to celebrity cruises. In addition, the two days sail from Baltimore, and the two days sail back to Baltimore were too much. This is strange, because on the charted cruises they are my favorite days. Maybe it was the weather; maybe it was the rough seas, maybe because they were just boring.

One thing that did surprise me for the better was the quality of the singers and dancers on the ship. Usually, the level is just barely adequate – but this time most of the singers could really sing quite well; most of the dancer could really dance (and you could see the classical training they had). The troop put on two shows, which are the standard Royal Caribbean shows, but they were quite good and entertaining. The other acts on the boat were not technically good, but they know how to grab the attention of the crowd which made the show as a whole entertaining.

The ports of calls were the usual Caribbean variety – San Juan, St. Thomas, Samana and Labadee. The only problem with San Juan was that we arrived only in the afternoon. The ship was cleared around 4:00-4:30 which left a very short daylight time to enjoy the city. In St. Thomas we took an excursion directly to St. John and spend a couple of hours on the beach which was just what I needed. A perfect day and a nice beach to boot.

In Samana, we took a private excursion through Tour Samana with Terry. Despite being suspicious that this port is probably the worst one ever, it turned out to be one of the best excursions days ever. Terry was a pleasure to deal with through e-mails and the guys were waiting exactly where they said they will be. Terry was in the port as well greeting the guest on the different excursions. We chose to take the horse ride trip which was a blast. After about 45 minutes on the horse we stopped at a local hut/shop, where local food was presented for tasting plus information given on it as well as local merchandise. It was very low-key and no pressure to buy anything. Following the stop we continued for about another 60 minutes on the horse, alongside the river, crossing the river multiple times and even a short while in the river. The ride ended with galloping on the beach with the sea in front of us – perfect. Following the included lunch, we went to the waterfall for a quick swim. On the way back to the ship money was collected – up to this point no money exchanged hand and no deposit was required. All in all, a perfect day.

Labadee is just one big beach, after a couple of hours on the beach I opted just to get back to the ship. I could skip Labadee altogether.

There was a big mix-up with the gratuities. As my time dining it was supposed to be paid. Every time I checked with guest services they said it was not, and every time I’ve submitted the form they said it was. What they did in the end is to charge it to the credit card with which I originally paid for the cruise, and not the one that was given at check in (it never showed up on the bill). Which is not the way I wanted it to happen. No one there could seem to give me a straight answer of what is going on and what had happened.

All in all, it was OK, but just OK vacation. Will I do it again? Probably only on Celebrity.

A short trip to California

It was just a short business trip to California. How do I hate those short ones. I don’t even bother to change the time for two days, as it is an exercise in futility.

Unfortunately, the carrier of choice between Washington and the Bay Area was US Airways. Since I have a very bad experience(s) with them several years ago I try to avoid US Scareway like a plague. I hoped that this trip will change my mind. It will at least carry some point toward my *G status on Aegean airlines. I was though quite disappointed that *S status means nothing on US Airways as my boarding zone were 4 and 5 (more of that later).

Security in DCA is always a breeze, this time no exception. As I received the invitation for a trial membership in the American Express SkyGuide Executive Privilege Club which I accepted, I decided to go to the lounge and buy a day pass. The program supposed to re-imbrues you for up to 12 day-passes a year. $50 later I was in the club, enjoying the free wi-fi and the not so appetizing snacks. The pass should have worked at my connection flight in Phoenix as well.

Boarding was orderly and as a zone 4, I’ve missed the “we have to check your carry-on” by an inch. The flight itself was surprisingly uneventful. The room leg is not much, the recline is not much, and in a very long flight (5hours +) you notice it quickly. On the other hand, the flight attendees were friendly, the BOB salad option was quite good. However, Airbus 320 is still Airbus 320 and after five hours all you want to do is to get off the damn plain.

Luckily, the flight was slightly early. My connection was at the adjoin gate – so life was good, or so I thought. I went into the lounge (mainly to use the bathrooms) and my day pass was not recognized by the computer. After 5 minutes of trying, they just let me in despite the fact they could not log my pass. Several snacks and a bathroom break later, I was back at the gate. This time in zone 5. I was not so lucky, by the time I’ve boarded all the overhead space was gone. Well, not exactly, if people do not put their coats and small items up there, there should not be a problem. But, to make a long story short, my carry-on went in the belly of the plain.  

This flight, although much shorter, had a feeling of a typical US Airways flight. Harried, cramped and uninviting. I don’t know what was it about this flight, maybe it was my bag situation, but it was nothing like the flight into Phoenix. Short 2 hours and my bag and I were united at the baggage claim.

On the way back, I’ve learnt my lesson (or so I thought) and when they offered to check baggage at the gate I gladly complied. It turned out that the overhead's space in both flights were ample. I did not need to check my carry-on after all. The most infuriating thing is that the carry-on handle was damaged, and not it is utterly useless (cannot open the handle). US Airways, conveniently enough does not cover damage to handles. I’ll keep you posted about my battle with US Airways about this one.

November Cruise

I’m sure most of you have noticed that the October post was all about getting to the cruise port and coming back from the cruise port, but no description of a cruise. As I alluded, it was a charted cruise – a gay cruise to be precise. Now gay cruises are a lot of fun. So much fun, that one has little time to document what is going on. In reality, until one is on a gay cruise, no matter how much pictures and videos one sees, the experience cannot be comprehended. Therefore, I did not even try.

However, this month I will be going on a straight cruise. As straight cruises go, my favorite cruise line is Celebrity. Simple, elegant, understated upscale cruise line. I just love the design of the ships and the level of service. However, this time I wanted to avoid flying. As my local port is Baltimore, this only gives me the options of either Carnival (never, ever, ever again – a story for another time), or Royal Caribbean. While I have been on Royal before, it was part of a charted cruise. On the whole, they are not the same level as Celebrity, but they would do.  

My partner does not have the same amount of vacation that I have, so on the straight cruises, I tend to go without him. As I am paying double as it is, I tend to invite a friend to come along for the ride. This time I was planning on going with my friend Danny, but he could not go in the last minute, so my friend Joe will join me for this cruise.

The problem of leaving Baltimore in the end of November is that the first two days and the last two days of the cruise are going to be quite cold. Be that as it may, I am insisting on enjoying some time off in the warm weather.

Before the cruise, I am going to California for a short business trip; so the next two weeks, prior to the cruise are going to be very busy.

DCA - SAN and back (long over due)

At 7:15 AM, as planned, our neighbor was waiting to take us to the metro station. It is only 20 minutes away (by foot) or 2-minute drive, but with luggage, it would have been quite a trip. The trip to the airport through the metro was uneventful. I was surprised to see how much I did not feel the crowds. Not traveling at this time of the day usually, it was nice to see how comfortable the ride is. DCA security is always a breeze, and it was the same today.  

DCA Fire Dep. Drill

AA DCA – DFW

My (slightly oversized) carryon was quickly taken away from me and sent a luggage. That is what you get when you fly without status on group 4 boarding, I guess. The flight was uneventful but somewhat late. We had a very short time to connect to our flight, so a dash through the connecting train system to our connecting flight was due. The connection train in DFW is very efficient and a fast way to transverse the big airport.

Rainy day in DCA

My leg space

AA DCA – DFW

My (slightly oversized) carryon was quickly taken away from me and sent a luggage. That is what you get when you fly without status on group 4 boarding, I guess. The flight was uneventful but somewhat late. We had a very short time to connect to our flight, so a dash through the connecting train system to our connecting flight was due. The connection train in DFW is very efficient and a fast way to transverse the big airport.

AA DFW – SAN

Getting to the gate was a breeze. However, the plain had some mechanical issue and the game of staggering delays started. Everyone who’s been through DFW knows how it works. The AA automatic notification system calls you every 15 minutes just to let you know that your departure time had changed again by another 15 to 30 minutes. All in all, we were not worried as there were other flights to SAN that day, despite the fact that the earlier DFW-SAN flight was canceled. We were delayed for about an hour before taking off to SAN. Even my luggage made it.

As all good plans go, the plan to stay in the Indigo did not survive reality. A couple of days prior to our departure, I’ve noticed a $110 rate in the Hilton Gaslamp. Considering being Hilton Gold member, I would receive a free breakfast and a possible upgrade, I’ve jumped on the deal. I even did the unthinkable and put in for a NOR-1 upgrade to the Jacuzzi suite in the hotel within the hotel. I was pretty sure it would clear out as the reservation system allowed booking it easily.

The hotel itself was nice, but just OK. For a category 7 Hilton’s hotel not in a major city I did expect more. The check-in was courteous but a little slow. The Jacuzzi suite was big, but a little disappointing. Clearly, the finishing touches had been forgotten, as there were broken cabinets, and roughed out features in the room. The design of the room itself was lacking as well, as moving between the Jacuzzi to the shower requires making the whole floor wet. It was also quite a shock to discover that there is only one sink in the bathroom. The concept of open bathroom to the living room is interesting, but I’m not sure it works with the space provided. Service was sketchy at best – request for extra towels was not met for the whole 24 hours we were there, and the wait time for someone to answer the phone to make the request was unacceptable. Breakfast was uninspiring. Check out was slow, and compounded with a mistake on the bill that took about 20 minutes to correct, was disappointing.

All in all, it is an OK hotel – will I be back, maybe if the price is right. If ever back to San Diego I will make sure to try out other properties in the area.

AA SAN – DFW

San Diego is not a very user friendly airport, and AA terminal doubly so. The flight was delayed by the fact that there were plenty of wheelchair passengers on the arriving flight (probably all boarding HAL’s Oosterdam we just debark). The 30 minutes delay in boarding will cost us greatly, as our connection time in DFW was vanished to nothing.

AA DFW – DCA

Another mad dash through the airport only to find out we have missed our flight by 3 minutes. Quite maddening in fact, as there were several other passengers in the same predicament. They could have waited for us to board. Be it as it may, we were booked on another flight 3 hours later. DFW is not a place I would like to spend 3 hours in without status and lounge access. Again, my carry on, which was just fine on the flight to DFW had to be checked-in. Not that I understand why, as the flight was literally half empty and it would have fit in just fine. The flight itself was uneventful.