Cruising Enchantment of the Seas Part Two

Yours truly enjoying the quiet of the Solarium aboard the Enchantment of the Seas.

Day 2 started well even if the bathroom drain did bubble overnight, it did not overflow and Cryson was quick to call for repairs as soon as he found out about the drain from us in the morning. He has been a pleasure to have as a stateroom attendant! Things then started to go downhill as it looked like rain was setting in and we decided not to chance taking the tender over to Royal Caribbean's private Island Coco Cay. We instead opted to go to breakfast in the main dinning room, and entered through the Diamond and diamond Plus members doorway. Usually you are seated immediately but they seemed to be very disorganized this morning and we had to wait 10 to 12 minutes to be seated. It was not as it was very busy as there were many empty tables in the dinning room and maybe 13 or 14 other Diamond Members already seated at tables. They explained that they were trying to get us a table for two. This would have been very nice if it had gone a little faster as our head waiter was sent every where to get silverware and wound up having another dinning room supervisor tell her to just take the set-ups from another table right by where we were standing. This couldn't have been done 10 minutes before? We left the dinning room after breakfast (which was OK) and then headed for the Solarium. For those not familiar with Royal Caribbean ships, this is considered the adult area 16 and older.  In the many cruises we have taken, this is the first time I have ever had a pool attendant actually ask someone to leave who was under age. They were 12.  They politely left and I commend the attendant for actually following the rules. It made for a relaxing and enjoyable time in the pool.

After the pool we just came back to the room and enjoyed sitting on our balcony, Linda reading and I doing my day one blog. Eventually it was time for dinner and we decided to actually go to our own table on deck four of the main restaurant. We met our waiter Mary, who was from the African Island of Mauritius. She had started out working in the business class hotels on the island but wanted to experience the world and jumped at the chance to work on a cruise ship. She was an excellent and personable waiter. Mary's assistant waiter was always there offering more bread and watching my Coke glass and had a refill on the table just as I would finish the first glass. I really enjoy that kind of service.The food was good but the escargot was a little gritty and they never have been in the past. The strip steak and the vegetables were very good. The deserts were excellent.

After the dinner we were invited to a Crown & Anchor Captain's loyalty reception. Usually the Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members have a private reception with drinks and a talk about what is on the horizon for the Royal Caribbean fleet. and then the ships Officers are introduced. On this ship the reception was held in the Centrum (center of the ship for those not familiar with the cruise ships). Anyone walking by could just sit down and listen, there were no drinks offered and no discussion about new ships in the fleet or where Royal was headed as a company. My wife found this to be very disappointing and uncharacteristic of a loyalty reception.

So as Day 2 ended, the euphoria of a cruise was still not there. We went to bed and hoped for better on Day Three. Stay tuned and see how it went.

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