Entertainment & Activities

Daytime Fun

Daytime Fun

Enchanted Princess' approach to fun isn't all about the sun; the ship really utilizes the indoor space all day, so it tends to eliminate crowding.

The main pool, called the Sky Pool, is located on Deck 16. It's actually two pools, connected in the center and flanked by hot tubs. It's suitable for adults and kids, and you'll see plenty of both on sunny sea days. Shaded and full sun lounge chairs are located on the pool deck as well as the overlooking sun deck.

Movies play during the day on the giant Movies Under The Stars screen.

An additional infinity-style pool is located at the aft of the ship, with a large bar and beautiful views of the wake.

Our favorite pool is the quiet Retreat Pool, another deep plunge pool open to adults only. It has a small bar nearby and chairs for relaxing. It's also just steps from the adults-only Sanctuary, a lovely escape that offers shade, deeply cushioned lounge chairs, hot tubs and even an exclusive spa menu, with fruit skewers and the like. Guests can purchase half-day and full-day passes for the Sanctuary, though on our Caribbean sailing, both sold out quickly on sea days. Cabanas are also available for rental, and you can even get spa treatments there.

Tip: The Retreat Pool is a hidden gem that many passengers don't discover until a few days into their sailing. Look for it at on Deck 17 forward.

Enchanted Princess also has a sports court and small mini-golf course.

On most days, Enchanted Princess' vibrant multilevel Piazza serves as a hub of activity. In the morning, guests gather at the International Cafe for coffee and snacks and genial conversation with other passengers. During the day, you might catch a little light music, like a steel pan player or musical trio, and this continues into the evening.

The other daytime hotspot is Princess Live, a large venue with a stage and video screen. During the day, you might enjoy dance lessons or participate in trivia sessions. Enchanted Princess also has a good lineup of enrichment lectures, and many are hosted here. These are further enhanced by the line's partnership with Discovery. On our sailing, well-attended lectures covered topics like "Birds of the Caribbean" and "What's it Like to Come Face to Face with a Great White Shark?"

Other daytime activities include wine or spirits tastings (usually with a fee) and afternoon tea, as well as bingo (also with a fee).

At Night

Enchanted Princess spreads the nighttime fun around multiple venues, each with their own personality. Passengers tend to find their favorite spots and stick to them

Princess Theater

The two-level Princess Theater hosts the ship's big production numbers. Enchanted Princess offers two of these: Rock Opera and 5-SKIES. Both feature a mix of modern hits as well as older music and offer stunning costumes and a bit of over-the-top theater. Neither is exclusive to Enchanted Princess; if you've sailed on Sky Princess, you likely seen these before. But they're both worth a repeat viewing.

Other acts, like comedians and magicians, perform here on nights when there isn't a production show going on.

Princess Live

This space is all about fun, and it's usually standing room only here. Part of the appeal is the layout; Princes Live is set up as a lounge with a stage at the front. But it's wide open to passersby, who often will stop and check out the action, lingering near the nearby bar or straight-up joining in the fun.

In the evening, you'll participate in trivia or watch the ship's gameshows, like the Yes No Game.

Princess Live also hosts mixers and get-togethers, like the 18-20s meetup.

Tip: If you want to play trivia, you must arrive early if you want a seat. We never saw a session that wasn't full. You can check your app to see how many people have bookmarked sessions to get a sense of what the crowd might be like.

Vista Lounge

Another spot for more organized entertainment, the Vista Lounge is vast and has a great bar serving up a menu of craft cocktails. Catch live music, shows, comedians and more here. This is also the venue for late-night dancing, thanks to a DJ.

Movies Under The Stars

Movies Under The Stars is a Princess-original concept, though other lines have taken the idea and run with it as well. Each night, you'll find a different moving playing on the pool deck. To enhance the experience, lounge chairs are covered in red velvet, and crewmembers provide popcorn and fleece blankets to guests. Movies range from classics to just released.

Princess Casino

The casino on Enchanted Princess features table games and slot machines. It also hosts tournaments routinely. The Medallion app gives passengers the ability to gamble from anywhere onboard, playing the slots from their mobile devices or getting in on the onboard lotto.

Princess also offers a sports book at sea, where passengers can bet on the action of many games being played all over the world, from NBA to English Premier League soccer. This can only be done virtually; you can't place a bet with a real person at the casino. We tried it out on our sailing, putting $5 on an NFL game (we lost). The process had some kinks -- we got booted out a couple of times and ended up logging four bets even though we only made one -- but we're chalking this one up to a new ship. (Still, double-check your folio to make sure your bets are registering correctly.) Princess has told us live, in-game and proposition betting is on its way.

Bars & Nightlife

Enchanted Princess has a solid selection of bars and lounges, suited to a variety of tastes. What is especially appealing is that you can order using the Medallion app and have drinks from virtually any venue delivered to where you are -- no lines or wandering around. (We tried this one night at dinner at the Ocean Terrace Seafood Bar, ordering a drink from Good Spirits and were pleasantly surprised by how quickly it was delivered.)

Our Picks

Heart of the Action

Good Spirits at Sea is located on Deck 5, just off the ship's Piazza. Here, you get inventive drinks and a bit of a show.

For Great Jazz

If you like jazz and swanky cocktails, Take Five is your spot. The lounge hosts jazz late at night, every night, and we were impressed with the variety of exclusive gin cocktails offered.

For the Views

Visit the Wakeview Bar for the best scenery around. We love this at sunset.

To Have a Quiet Drink

You don't have to be eating at the Crown Grill to enjoy the adjacent Crown Grill Bar. It's a nice spot to get together with friends and enjoy an intimate drink, with seating at deep couches and armchairs.

For a Bit of the Bubbly

Bellini's Bar offers everything from mimosas (it's open in the morning) to high-end bottles of Champagne and sophisticated cocktails. It's also a nice spot for people watching in the Piazza.

To Get Your Martini Fix

Crooners Bar is a Princess staple, specializing in martinis. It's a favorite of Princess fans, and chances are, you'll chat with an avid cruiser here.

Spa & Fitness

Spa

One of our favorite features on Enchanted Princess is its lovely Lotus Spa. Princess smartly placed the spa on Deck 5. (Spas on many cruise ships often take up prime real estate on high decks, even though, for the most part, natural light isn't necessary. We like the approach on Enchanted Princess, which combines serenity with a beautiful space. It promotes calm without being too dark.)

The spa and adjacent beauty salon offer a range of treatments, from massages to manis and pedis and blowouts. A number of them combine treatments; we enjoyed our Couture Touch Face and Body Treatment, which combined a massage with excellent facial. The Lotus Spa uses Elemis products. Therapists will make product recommendations, but if you're not interest, politely let them know before your treatment even starts.

Of course, the best part of the spa might actually be The Enclave, a thermal suite available by purchase of a pass only. Passes can be purchased for a single day or the length of the cruise. The Enclave features a hammam, steam rooms, sensory showers, saunas and heated thermal loungers.

Tip: The Enclave is among the more reasonably priced thermal suites at sea, so if you are someone who craves this kind of space on your vacation, book a pass for the length of your cruise, as day passes aren't guaranteed and the space sells out quickly, especially on sea days.

Fitness

Enchanted Princess' fitness center is well-equipped, with cardio machines like treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes as well as a large array of freeweights and weight machines. Your workout won't suffer from being onboard. The space is well designed and well used, especially in the morning from about 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and again in late afternoon.

A few classes, Zumba or dance classes, for example, are offered free of charge on the top decks or in Princess Live. But most group classes, as well as personal training come with an additional cost. You'll get your sweat on with TRX or group cycling, but you'll pay for the experience.

A jogging track is found on Deck 18.

Tip: If you're a Peloton fan, you can take cycling classes using one of the gym's Expresso bikes and your mobile device; the ship's internet is good enough for streaming live or recorded classes.

For Kids

Enchanted Princess doesn't scream family the way some ships do, meaning you won't find big water slides or colorful splash parks. But that doesn't mean it isn't right for families. In fact, the kids programming onboard is both innovative and educational. Most of the programming for kids is included in the cost of your cruise, though group kidsitting will come with an extra fee.

Princess Cruises' partnerships with Discovery Communications and Animal Planet set the stage for ship's Camp Discovery spaces and activities that combine learning and fun. Kids can expect trivia challenges with themes from Mythbusters and Discovery channel, activities inspired by Discovery's famous Shark Week and learning from Animal Planet.

All Camp Discovery spaces are located on Deck 17.

Beyond the kids clubs and specific programming, Enchanted Princess offers a number of pools appropriate for all ages, Movies Under The Stars with family friendly options, goofy golf and Ping-Pong.

The minimum age to sail is 6 months, and on itineraries with two consecutive sea days, the minimum is 12 months.

The Treehouse

Open to kids ages 3 to 7, the jungle-themed Treehouse is brightly colored and bedecked with cute images of animals all over the place. Kids can climb and slide to their hearts content on soft obstacles. Programming is structured and includes things like cartoon and movie watching, talent shows, PJ parties and arts and crafts.

The Lodge

For the bigger kids (ages 8-11), The Lodge is a slightly more chill space, featuring a mountain motif. This tweener age can play games like Skee-Ball or air hockey and participate in some structured play as well, with Nintendo Switch and PS4, trivia challenges, arts and crafts, PJ parties, Jr.CHEF@Sea and pirate play.

The Beach House

For the most part, The Beach House, for 12 and older, skips the formality and more or less serves as a spot for like-aged and like-minded teens to meet one another and hang out, play video games and listen to music. The space is supervised and offers PS4 and Nintendo Switch, late night movies, Ping-Pong tournaments