…………………..With pictures

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Embarkation – Fort Lauderdale

This was our second time cruising out of Port Everglades in the city of Fort Lauderdale. The first time was ridiculously hard, but this time was much easier, except for the parking at Q&A Cruise Parking. Read my review about Q&A parking here.

We sailed out of dock two this time. We were there after noon because of our parking debacle, but security was fast, check in was fast, and before we knew it, we were on the ship.

The Ship

I was not supported by Princess by the media department this cruise. Therefore, I didn’t blog about each day as I cruised, I’ll just do a review now as I can remember things.

This cruise was a sold-out cruise during Spring break, so it was very crowded. The worst part of the cruise for me were the elevators that were almost always filled to the brim with people. Honestly, people would see that the elevator was full when it stopped, and stuff themselves in anyway. I used the stairs as much as I could, but going from the 5th deck to the 15th or 16th was just too much to climb, so I had to use the elevators sometimes. Every elevator was the same, if you got into an empty elevator, it wouldn’t stay empty for long. It didn’t help that one of the elevators was out of order.

The ship itself is beautiful, and very large. It takes a long time to get from one end to the other. Pools were pretty busy, and of course people got up really early and saved deck chairs for the entire day. Even on the upper decks above the pools, the chairs were saved. The larger part of the casino is non-smoking. There is a separate closed off area in the casino for smoking.

Entertainment

Entertainment on the Enchanted Princess was hit and miss. We mostly went to see the production shows in the theater, and comedians and singers in the Vista Lounge. The production shows were mostly really good, and one of the comedians was good, and one was not. He couldn’t even get a laugh and he closed early.

My least favorite show was Kate Ryan with the hula hoops. It was a cutesy show aimed at the men. I could have done without that one. Joshua Jordan was good, and also the Rock Opera. Then they had a show that showcased all of the musicians on the ship, that one was very enjoyable. There was also a duo playing at the Vista Lounge now and then called The Two Halves. She was singing more in an old style with lots of the old classics. She was very good.

Be sure and get to the Main Theater early, or you will not get a decent seat. We tried to get there half an hour before the show started. They save quite a few seats for those who paid for the Premier package. At 5 minutes until showtime, they will release those seats.

Food

The food on the Enchanted Princess was mostly pretty good. When we got on the ship the first day we decided to head to the Amalfi dining room to eat our first meal. That turned out to be a good decision, we beat the crowds in the buffet, and the meals for the day were for St. Patrick’s Day. I enjoyed my Bangers and Mash, and the wait staff were fabulous.

World Fresh Marketplace Buffet

I did enjoy the buffet, we ate there every day for breakfast and lunch. They could have had a bit more variety for breakfast, and they could have had a better sugar free selection, but all in all, the food was good. It wasn’t always easy to get a table, and many times we had to share a table with other cruisers.

There are only two coffee/tea/drink stations in the buffet, but oftentimes there would be a waiter bringing around what you needed. He’d have trays of OJ or Apple Juice in the mornings, and another waiter would have trays of coffee. If you needed something you only had to ask and they’d get it.

Santorini’s Main Dining Room

The first night at the included Santorini Dining Room was disappointing. We were sat with another couple who were upset that they had to share a table. We got along with them okay, but then the waiter was incredibly slow. The other couple started getting upset after about an hour and fifteen minutes of waiting for their food and finally left. We gave him another fifteen minutes and we got up and left at 6:30 because we wanted to get to the show. Mind you, everyone around us had their food already. As we walked out the door, the waiter caught up with us and had my plate in his hand. If he had it, why were we waiting so long? Anyway, we didn’t stay, we went to the buffet and ate, but ended up having to go to the 9:00 show.

After that, we went to the Maitre’ d and requested a different waiter. We had originally not been able to get all 10 nights at the same table, but after this happened they gave us reservations for the same table each night. Plus we had the same tablemates each night. Our new waiters were Edgar and Nancy, and they were wonderful. Things got a lot better after that. Food was pretty good, we didn’t have any complaints. See the waiters and chefs with their baked Alaska march on the last day of the cruise below. It was a really good crew.

Interior Cabin

I had an Interior Cabin on deck 15 in the front of the ship. My cabin Steward was Jimmy, and he did a great job. The cabin was clean. It was small, but since it was just me in the cabin, it was adequate. I did have to adjust the temperature quite a bit, sometimes it was too hot, sometimes too cold. The shower was okay, even with the shower curtain. The water didn’t leak onto the floor like it does on some carnival ships, the water pressure and temperature were good. I had the premium shampoo and body wash in the bathroom since I was Elite, which was nice. I don’t know what the regular body wash and shampoo is like.

I forgot to show that by the big closet is a floor to ceiling cupboard that houses the safe and a number of shelves, so space is adequate for all of your items. There are plenty of USB ports and plugs. I don’t think that the USB port on the lamp to the left of the bed was working well, because my phone wasn’t charging all the way overnight. I’d bring an adapter.

There are quite a few channels and On Demand TV and Movies, unlike on my last Norwegian cruise. I managed to watch all of the Harry Potter movies in my afternoon recharge time. This cabin was pretty quiet since it was near the end of the hallway. All in all, it was a good cabin.

One annoying thing was the automatic light that would come on anytime you went to the bathroom. It was pretty annoying to get up at night to go to the bathroom only to have a bright light come on. Someone told us to use bandaids to cover the sensor, which did work, although I had to use four bandaids. The light is between the closet and the bathroom door on the ceiling. The sensor is on the side of it.

Ports

Princess Cays

Our first stop was at the Princess private beach area, on the island of Eleuthera, Princess Cays. It’s not a fancy area, and the weather was cool and drizzly, so we didn’t stay there long. You have to tender to this area, which means that you take a ferry type boat from the ship to the dock on shore. They do have two separate buffet areas, but we didn’t stay on the island for lunch.

Inside the port area is some light souvenir shopping, and if you actually leave the beach/port area there is another small shopping area. Mostly the usual souvenirs and one little eatery.

There are plenty of chairs, a few Adirondak chairs under roofs. The eating area is mostly under the roof. If you get off the tender and go to the right, there is a less crowded beach area. It also has a basketball hoop, so you may have to hear the balls bouncing.

St. Thomas

St. Thomas, VI, was our next port, and it was a very hot day. We decided to walk from the ship to the city, which was not the best idea. It’s quite a walk, and if you can, I’d take a cab. Cost for Charlotte Amalie, the town, is $6 per person each way, but it’s worth it. There is also a large shopping area right at the port if your ship docks at Havensight.

We walked around the city for quite a while, his belt broke and he was trying to replace it. Belts are expensive in St. Thomas, but he finally managed to find one at the Payless shoe store near the Havensight port area. There are a lot of shops, restaurants, and little bars in Charlotte Amalie, and many wonderful views. We’ve been there a number of times, so we didn’t do anything special.

After all that walking and the heat, my hand swelled up so much that I could not get my ring off. I think it was because I’d had some electrolyte powder, and the heat and sodium were too much for me. I decided that I needed to take a cab back to the ship and take care of that problem with lots of water, drinking some and going in the pool to cool off. After doing that, I was fine the rest of the trip, I just didn’t have any more electrolyte powder.

Barbados

Barbados was the one place that I had really wanted to go to, since there is family history there, and I’d never been there. However, it was Sunday, and almost everything was closed. We did walk the long scenic drive into town, and walk around. It would be an interesting town to visit if things were open. There were many men trying to get us to take a tour of Barbados with them, but we wanted to walk around town. They did get a bit pushy.

You can walk along the shoreline to get some good views, and there is some interesting historic architecture in town. I could see a large Market area, but it was closed on Sunday also. We walked past a large historic church, but church was in session so we couldn’t see inside. I started feeling uncomfortable because there were a lot of homeless men in the area, so I headed back to the ship where there were some open shops and restaurants. It’s a beautiful walk, although a long one.

Dominica

Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic) is one of my favorite ports of the trip. We had decided to take a ship excursion around the island, since it was supposed to be very beautiful and have a rain forest. Also, we were docked quite a bit from the main town, Roseau.

The excursion was wonderful, it took us all around the island to see the natural wonders, the waterfalls, and the rain forest. Our driver in the van was Joe, and he was great. He told us all about Dominica, and even stopped the van numerous times to get a leaf or flower to show us. One thing to mention, the roads in Dominica consist of very narrow roads with hairpin turns all the way up and down the mountains. A semi-truck was coming down the turn the same time we were going up at one point, and it was a bit stressful. Joe had to back up to let the truckdriver finish his turn. One thing that I did not like about the van was that not all of the seats had seat belts. I felt that with the roads being so winding, seat belts were a necessity.

The sites that we saw on our excursion were Trafalgar Falls, Emerald Pool with its Falls which had a market, the Rainforest, a ride through the Botanical Gardens and a stop at the lookout, and a stop for a drink and a market there too. Sometimes on the drive the roads were so narrow that Joe would have to stop and blow his horn before he drove on to be sure there was no one coming the other way.

As you can see in the slideshow below, there is a lot of natural beauty in Dominica. There’s not much to the town of Roseau in Dominica, this is a place to take a nature excursion. There will be markets on the excursion where you can buy souvenirs of your visit there.

Martinique

Fort de France, Martinique is another of my favorite ports, it’s French in origin. They use Euros, but if you have a credit card that doesn’t have foreign transaction fees, you can use that. I enjoyed walking through Martinique, with its European style buildings, including a church and a Bibliothèque (Library), which was not open while we were there. The Bibliothèque was built in Paris and shipped to Martinique and put back together. There is also a Galleries Lafayette, not fancy like the one in Paris, but it was interesting to see.

We did go inside the Catholic church, the St. Louis Cathedral. It’s not as grand as others I’ve seen, such as in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but it is still beautiful in its own way.

There is a small free beach within walking distance of the port, and the town itself is very walkable. There is a lot of shopping, and even a little shopping mall that has restrooms.

Antigua

Antigua was nothing special, just like a lot of Caribbean cruise ports. Lots of little shops right at the port, and also a rundown area of downtown shopping. There is also the obligatory market area with quite a few vendors. We did meet a sweet lady who helped us find the size of shirt that we needed even though it wasn’t displayed. You can bargain with them, they price up because it is expected.

I didn’t take many pictures in Antigua. They do have a drugstore, I managed to find some sugar free cough drops there and some Vitamin C and Zinc Fizzies. They took credit cards.

I didn’t feel safe in some of the town, we were walking towards a statue that we saw, and two men were screaming at each other. I decided that I would turn around and go back towards the port area. I went back to the ship, he went and did a bit more exploring after I returned to the ship, but said that there wasn’t much else to see.

I don’t think that most of the town would be good for anyone with walking difficulties, or in a scooter or wheelchair. Some of the sidewalks were very hard to walk on. You should be fine if you stay in the area of the port shops or restaurant. I would suggest an excursion in Antigua instead.

Disembarkation

Disembarkation went much more smoothly this time, than the last time in Port Everglades. We left the ship early, and our luggage was already in the terminal and easy to find. Customs was extremely easy with facial recognition for our passports. Before we knew it, we were out of the terminal and trying to figure out where to catch the parking shuttle.

After we found the pick-up location, we waited for the Q&A shuttle to arrive. I was pretty worried because it had taken them so long to get us at the parking lot before the cruise, but it didn’t take long for them to pick us up. The van is not marked, but I saw a white van that was similar to the one that picked us up and asked the driver if he was going to the Seabreeze Rd. location and he said yes. So, that was a much better experience than getting to the ship. I still would not recommend Q&A Parking because of the poor service getting to the ship.

• Enchanted Princess Review (Eastern Caribbean Ports)
• Enchanted Princess Interior Cabin Review – M117
• Q&A Cruise Parking Review- Fort Lauderdale Port Everglades
• Norwegian Gem Review
• London 2025 Pictures