Episode 29: Show Notes
This episode on Travel Stories, we dive deeper into sharing our cruise line experiences, and if you have any of your own, we’d love to hear from you! Today, Tom walks us through his recent 10-day journey on Enchanted Princess, starting with his overall evaluation of the experience before assessing tendering and the embarkation process of the ship. We learn about the size of Enchanted Princess, the demographic it caters to, and its onboard dining, as well as its entertainment, housekeeping, and casino offerings, and we compare everything we’ve learned about Enchanted Princess with its other cruise line competitors. As Tom details the ports he visited during his trip, we discover the magic of Dominica and Champagne Beach, the beauty of Martinique, the genius of St. Lucia’s marketing team, and the wonder of the forgotten volcanic activity that occurs all along the Eastern Seaboard. Thank you for taking this journey with us!
Key Points From This Episode:
- [00:44] Tom gives us a breakdown of his most recent cruise on Enchanted Princess.
- [01:05] His experience of tendering on Enchanted Princess versus other cruise lines.
- [03:41] Why he was pleased with the embarkation process.
- [07:56] The size of the ship and the ports he visited during his 10 days aboard.
- [13:18] Dominica and Champagne Beach.
- [15:15] An interlude on the volcanic activity that occurs along the Eastern Seaboard.
- [17:10] Why Tom deems St. Lucia a forgettable experience.
- [19:34] The beauty of Martinique.
- [21:12] How Antigua’s marketing is on point.
- [23:22] Tom’s onboard dining experience and the demographic that the ship caters to.
- [27:35] How Enchanted Princess weighs up against Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and others.
- [32:06] Why we choose to talk about cruising on this podcast and what we’re planning next.
- [34:34] Tom’s thoughts on the entertainment and housekeeping of Enchanted Princess.
- [37:50] The casino and onboard gaming opportunities.
- [48:27] Final thoughts from Tom on his Enchanted Princess experience.
Quotes:
“Having to tender to get there; it added so much more time [to] both getting there and getting off the island, and it does detract pretty severely from the experience.” — @TktweetsKim [02:39]
“If you are a person with a young family, if you have younger kids or even kids that are maybe more middle-aged that need activities and fun things to do, – you might not find it on the Princess cruise because it’s much more catering to that retiree [or] classic cruiser.” — @TktweetsKim [26:15]
“May God have mercy on your soul on that Carnival cruise. Having been on a few, I’m just going to say, block out the following week or two; don’t plan a trip shortly after. You’re probably going to be in bed.” — @tmount [34:02]
“Kudos to Princess and their staff. The service was pretty good, [and] their people were definitely quality people, and that’s saying something.” — @TktweetsKim [36:52]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: