I tried an old Royal Caribbean cruise ship that seems to get a lot of negative reviews, and I have to admit, I was worried.
I'm always one to warn that online reviews are never to be trusted, but it's hard to overlook many of them.
Right after I booked my 4-night western Caribbean cruise, I read a memorable review on Reddit that had the bold title, "As a loyal Royal customer and someone who owns 100k (ish) in Royal stocks it’s time Enchantment of the Seas was taken out back and shot."
The person said, "Enchantment of the Seas is definitely showing her age."
"2 of 4 of the wall sconces in our junior suite work (ish), the toilet seat is loose, HVAC units in the ceiling have visible rust, stains on the ceiling, the HVAC units doesn’t shut off wherever the thermostat is set. The amount of rust on the ship is kind of surprising."
They summed it up with, "I think it’s time to sell Enchantment to some smaller cruise line or send her to Germany to the scrap yard."
Of course, that's quite a knee-jerk reaction and it gave me a chuckle because of the colorful way they described the ship, but it set the tone.
As the cruise approached, I was determined to go in with an open mind and positive attitude, but I couldn't help shake the notion maybe all those people were right and I'd be disappointed.
An open mind is important for any cruise
One thing I really tried to do was not let posts on the internet ruin my cruise before I began. To that point, I tried to clear my mind of them all and come in without expectations.
With any cruise you plan, I think you want to have a balance of careful planning and spontaneous openness. You don't want to play out the entire vacation in your head ahead of time and render judgements of what was fun and what wasn't before it even begins.
With Enchantment, I wanted to reserve judgement and let the cruise come to me.
I knew this wasn't going to be Icon of the Seas, and it never expected it to be. I went in I was going on a ship that would be different, and different would not necessarily be bad.
Setting the right expectations
After about 24 hours on the ship, I realized I didn't hate Enchantment of the Seas.
It wasn't my new favorite ship by any means, and it wasn't ground breaking either. But because I had come in as open minded as I could and with expectations of a classic cruise experience, it delivered that.
One preconceived notion I couldn't shake early on was it was going to be a rusty old ship with broken features all over. It wasn't that at all.
Sure, there was rust in some places and the aesthetics and furniture looked like it belonged on a ship that was built in the 1990s, but it wasn't falling apart and it wasn't as rough as some of those reviews had led me to believe.
To be fair, I've found plenty of rust and broken this or that on just about every Royal Caribbean ship. New ships aren't immune to wear and tear, and the ocean is unkind to every piece of metal, not just Vision Class ships. If you want to look down and around for rust, you'll find it.
This is when I started to better wrap my head around this cruise, and I started embracing Enchantment as a fun sailing for a few days.
My cabin felt dated, but I though the ship's casino was impressively large and the Schooner Bar layout was fantastic.
The pool deck was particularly well appointed, and I thought it looked great. It wasn't very hot for this sailing, but the times I was up on the pool, I thought it had a great vibe with giant pool bars and lots of seats.
Without a doubt, not coming into this cruise "kicking and screaming" based on review or assuming I wouldn't like it immediately were all things that helped ensure I started off on the right foot.
You'll probably pay way less to go on Enchantment of the Seas
A friend of mine loves Enchantment of the Seas and met his wife on this ship, and he has told me for years don't listen to the naysayers.
Michael Poole has sailed numerous times on Enchantment, and he loves the simplicity and great prices you can find.
That's an important distinction, because odds are you're going to be able to go on a ship like Enchantment of the Seas for a bargain price most times.
Older and smaller ships are one of the best ways to save money on a cruise vacation and are probably the best value right now in cruising.
Right now the cruise industry is going through a major renaissance with incredible demand and rising prices.
Families that want to cruise on a budget, or those that are looking to continue to sail without spending a lot are going to find Enchantment of the Seas priced exactly where they want it.
Enchantment has its flaws, but it's fine for a short cruise
I had the right mindset for this cruise, but I was happy I wasn't sailing for a week or longer.
The lack of restaurant choices is the biggest problem I had with Enchantment, as it only has Chops Grille as a specialty restaurant alternative. Chef's Table is there too, but it's a niche offering.
The Windjammer was fine, but quite small and I felt like the selections were significantly limited compared to other Windjammers.
The only compelling alternative option for a snack was Park Cafe in the Solarium. That's an okay option, but it's far away from everything and it's still just pizza and a few sandwiches.
For 4- or 5-night cruises, there's enough going on that it won't negatively impact your sailing too badly.
Newer ships have spoiled me in how much there is. It's like a movie you loved as a kid that you grow up and re-watch and realize it wasn't as good as you remember because newer movies have evolved the genre and done more. Plus your own tastes have evolved. The same is true of cruise ships.
I wouldn't mind going on Enchantment of the Seas again, but I'd hesitate if it were for a week. Or maybe that's the same flawed approach I was trying to avoid in the first place manifesting itself and I should go for that long.
I was worried, but Enchantment isn't ready to be "taken out back and shot" yet
A major lesson I learned after trying Enchantment of the Seas is that you really can't take "reviews" posted as anything more than entertainment.
So many people have posted about seemingly all the ships that they are "showing her age", and it's a trope that gets overused among cruisers. While the decor may not be what you'd find on a new cruise ship, that doesn't make it automatically bad.
To me, a ship like Enchantment is like visiting a quaint town or a small city. It's smaller and and doesn't have as much to do as a big city, so you shouldn't expect big city thrills and options.
Just like a small town, I'd be okay going there for a few days but that's about it. And it will keep me occupied for that long too.
I was impressed by how much I found to keep myself busy during the cruise, especially considering it was a bit "chilly" on our cruise and pool deck time where it was comfortable was limited.
To be fair, if Royal Caribbean would confirm the rumored new "smaller" class of cruise ship and say they'd replace ships like Enchantment, I wouldn't lose any sleep over that.
But until that happens, I wouldn't mind going back on Enchantment again with the proper expectations.
