lcccbeloeil

Thanks for the photo info FLACRUISER99.

The employees were great on board the Majesty of the Seas. No complaints there (except maybe 90 minutes and four phone calls is a little long to wait for maintenance at 1 a.m. when all I wanted was to go to bed). But, we came away thinking that, in Royal Caribbean's eyes, this ship (and everything this ship encompasses from staterooms to toilets to entertainment) is not worth the effort to keep it in line with RC's high standards.

How many people will never sail again on RC because this is the only ship they know and they have never experienced the superior accommodations, entertainment, and public areas found on their other ships?

We just thought that Majesty of the Seas is not a good example of the luxury experience cruising can be. I would actually expect more even from a discount cruise line.

And public toilets that don't flush and are being used as nothing more than outhouses and open pits to poop in - and no one was doing anything about that!! - is totally unacceptable.

Gee, I followed the size restrictions for photo attachments, and you can hardly see anything.

My husband and I were on the Majesty last week on the 4-night to Nassau, CoCo Cay, and Key West in a Junior Suite.

We had a wonderful stateroom attendant named Dyre Ortiz. He was attentive, so nice, and very helpful. Our bed was rock hard and he managed to get it softer by putting down a double mattress pad and five duvet interiors under our sheet.

The stateroom was large and we had a bathtub (yay!). We don’t take baths, but the extra room for a shower was very welcome.

First let me say that I know this is a fairly inexpensive short cruise, and an older ship.

Like everyone who cruises, there are things we liked, things we loved, but this cruise had a fair number of things that made us wonder about RC.

If this had been our first cruise, I think it would have been our last on Royal Caribbean. If we judged the whole fleet by the Majesty, then we would have switched to another company. Here are the reasons:

- Our bathroom smelled like a sewer for the whole cruise (nothing could be done about it).

- Our toilet blocked on the first night (very late) and it took maintenance 90 minutes to come (someone on the previous cruise kept flushing wipes… the toilet in the next cabin completely overflowed onto their carpeting).

- The sliding glass door threshold was so old and bent that closing and opening the door required a lot of effort (see photo).

- The “white” balcony chairs are now gray, dirty, and worn (see photo). Ditto for the table.

- The curtains had parts missing (see photo).

- On the Key West day, I looked for a bathroom on Deck 4 before leaving the ship. Every single toilet in the women’s bathroom was blocked and full of excrement. My husband told me to try the men’s while he stood guard. They were even more full of you know what. I wretched. I told an employee and he just stood there, thanked me, and then told no one.

- The bed was rock hard. Some might love that, but we didn’t.

- Our fridge had a huge crack down the middle of the door. Didn’t affect the temperature, but that just isn’t up to RC standards.

- The upholstery on our orange couches was threadbare.

- Our cabin’s carpet was worn.

- The carpeting next to the stairs in the pool area was a tripping hazard. It was no longer glued down so it kept flipping in the wind. I flipped it back down and a bar server just laughed and shrugged his shoulders. Par for the course on Majesty, I guess.

- The white sides of the ship and where the anchor goes in were rusty. Usually we’re proud to take a photo with the ship’s name (see photo... I cropped myself out of it).

- The noise coming from the pool deck right above us was considerable until about 2 a.m. (we like to sleep with the door open). Deck-chair moving and pool-deck vacuuming start at 5 a.m.

Oh, and we missed CoCo Cay.

Well, you get the idea. We knew going in that this was a smaller, older ship. But, we weren’t prepared for how tired parts of the Majesty are.

As I said before, if this had been our first cruise, we would have assumed that some of the other RC ships were as in bad shape as this one, with less attention to detail than we have come to expect. We had encouraged some friends and family to come along with us - some who had never cruised before. We’re always touting how great RC is. We were relieved they all said no.

Not sure what to answer you, tinykygal. I think it also depends on the ship. There was a Norwegian ship in port when we arrived at 10 a.m. and we could see that their passengers had already disembarked. The immigration agents were late getting on our ship and maybe that was because they were busy processing the Norwegian ship.

Not being allowed to get off the ship before 1 p.m. is absolutely ridiculous, in our opinion.

I guess you'd have to look at what time your ship is due to dock. Maybe our experience was not the usual Key West immigration experience.

Ship - Majesty

Deck - 10

Stateroom # - 1060

Stateroom Category – Junior Suite

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard center

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – Not quiet. Deck 10 is just under the pool deck. Very noisy. Music, loud card playing (yes... a group of spring breakers just above us), dancing at night. Vacuuming and moving of deck chairs at 5 a.m.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – No obstruction but there is an overhang from the pool deck so not much sun or rain... which is a good thing.

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - Good size balcony. Plenty of room for the two chairs and a table.

Was wind a problem? - No. We could leave our door open at night.

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? -

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Sewer smell, but that was the whole deck. Majesty, in our opinion, is a tired ship. Our furniture was worn. The bed was rock hard (eventually we had a double mattress pad and five duvet interiors over the mattress). The sliding glass door threshold was so worn and the metal deformed, that sliding the door was difficult. The balcony furniture, which should be white, was gray, worn, and dirty. Both curtains were not attached at the end and just hung off the tracks. The fridge door had a large crack down the middle.

Any other comments? - We know this was a short, cheap cruise on Royal Caribbean's smallest ship and we were grateful to be in the heat and sun (even though we missed Coco Cay), but if this had been our first cruise, we would not sail on a Royal Caribbean ship again based on the appearance of the Majesty. Majesty, in our opinion, is a tired ship.

We're just off the Majesty and our bathroom had the sewer smell for the entire cruise. On the first day, our toilet blocked. I watched a maintenance man unblock it from the hallway. Not pretty. I felt so sorry for him. The next morning, the toilet in the cabin next to us overflowed and maintenance had to vacuum up the water and waste. Our cabin steward said that they had had major problems on the previous cruise because a passenger on our deck (10) had flushed wipes.

As I said in another post, on the Key West morning, I tried to look for a bathroom on Deck 4. Every single toilet, both women's and men's, was blocked and full of excrement. I wretched. It was disgusting.

I'd like to tell you about our experience on Majesty of the Seas going through immigration in Key West last week, March 27, 2014. This is somewhat of a warning.

My husband and I had tickets to the Key Lime Bike Tour and we were to meet on the dock at 10:15 for a 10:30 tour start. We arrived in port shortly before 10 a.m.

Passengers with excursions bought from Royal Carribean (and that's the important part here) have priority for going through immigration. My husband and I were first in line and we disembarked at 10:45! That was after finding every single public toilet - both women's and men's - on Deck 4 near the Centrum blocked and full of excrement... so I had to go back to my cabin... but I digress. BTW, I told an employee about the toilets. He said he would tell maintenance, but he just kept standing there.

Anyway... the order for going through Immigration is by Muster Station number. If you didn't have an RCI excursion, then you had to wait for your Muster Station to be called. We were Station #1, so even if we didn't have an RCI excursion, we would still have disembarked fairly early.

People we met on board, first-time cruisers (and probably last-time cruisers) were already disappointed that our stop in Coco Cay had been cancelled. They had Muster Station #9. They were called to Immigration at 1 p.m!! So they saw very little of Key West. They were very upset and rightly so.

Anyone who reserved a non-RCI excursion for early morning probably missed their excursion.

Those who complained about the extremely long wait for going through immigration were told that it was the fault of the US government sequester. Fewer immigration agents, longer wait times.

I'd like to tell you about our experience on Majesty of the Seas going through immigration in Key West last week, March 27, 2014. This is somewhat of a warning.

My husband and I had tickets to the Key Lime Bike Tour and we were to meet on the dock at 10:15 for a 10:30 tour start. We arrived in port shortly before 10 a.m.

Passengers with excursions bought from Royal Carribean (and that's the important part here) have priority for going through immigration. My husband and I were first in line and we disembarked at 10:45 (after finding every single public toilet on Deck 5 near the Centrum blocked and full of excrement... so I had to go back to my cabin... but I digress).

The order for going through Immigration is by Muster Station number. If you didn't have an RCI excursion, then you had to wait for your Muster Station to be called. We were Station #1, so even if we didn't have an RCI excursion, we would still have disembarked fairly early.

People we met on board, first-time cruisers (and probably last-time cruisers) were already disappointed that our stop in Coco Cay had been cancelled. They had Muster Station #9. They were called to Immigration at 1 p.m!! So they saw very little of Key West. They were very upset and rightly so.

Anyone who reserved a non-RCI excursion for early morning, probably missed their excursion.

Those who complained about the extremely long wait for going through immigration were told that it was the fault of the US government sequester. Fewer immigration agents, longer wait times.

Thanks, Scubagirrl. The walk back, then, is not a problem. I had read about a junkanoo being a parade, but I couldn't imagine a parade being held for an excursion. Maybe they give us all small instruments.

I wonder about the catamaran part... anyone?

We'll be on the Majesty in March and in Nassau until midnight.

Has anyone taken the Sunset Champagne Catamaran Cruise excursion lately? Some reviews rave about it and others hated the excursion (awful champagne, loud music, stale food, leaving late, shorter trip because they left late, long walk to the catamaran in the dark).

Also, what is "a mini-style Junkanoo rush back to the cruise ship dock"? Someone suggested it was maybe a quick 3/4-mile jog back to the ship in the dark to avoid danger :eek:

Any opinions appreciated. Thanks.

Mary,

I think you won't be disappointed. Please ask if you have any questions.

We booked our air with RCI because we were traveling with another couple. We would have booked on points but they couldn't. Plus, we wanted to make sure that RCI was responsible for us should anything happen (my husband and I had booked our air with Carnival for a hurricane-season cruise and we were glad we did... the cruise was extended by three days and they had to find alternate flights to get us home!). Nothing happened and the RCI flights were more expensive than they would have been had we booked the flights ourselves.

In Venice we stayed at the Hotel Carlton on the Grand Canal. It was a beautiful hotel and centrally located for shopping. It's right across the canal from the train station and a two-minute walk from where the buses park when they go to Venice (Piazzale Roma). But, when we were on our way to Piazza San Marco by private boat, our tour guide mentioned that RCI was thinking of booking a newly refurbished hotel on the island of La Giudecca (if you look at the Google map of Venice, it's just south of Venice). When we got back, I wrote to RCI to tell them that that was a bad idea (hard to get to, can't walk to anything, must take water transportation, etc.) and they wrote back saying they would take my comments into account when choosing this year's hotel. So, I have no idea which hotel they booked.

You're not likely to find much info about the cruisetour here. We were only 16 and no one on our tour had ever heard of Cruise Critic. I don't know about the others who took this cruisetour on a different date.

For Alaska we are going with Princess. They other couple had cruised with them before and highly recommended them, we liked their itinerary best, and they gave us a really great deal because we are sailing with past passengers! Even though we had sailed with RCI before, they would not give us a penny off the cruise price when we went to Europe.

If you think of other questions, let me know. I know there was so much I wanted to ask last summer and there was no one to answer!

Okay... let's try that again. No strange things attached this time I hope.

If you have any questions, please ask.

The wrong emoticon showed up (I used the keyboard instead of picking it from the list below). I meant to use a smiley face.

Hi MJWCruising,

We did the cruisetour last year (and the same cruisetour is so much less expensive this year!). It was fantastic... well the tour part was excellent while parts of the cruise were not (our guide in Turkey... see below).

I don't think I posted a full review but I spoke about our bad experiences, that's for sure.

The tour leader makes a big difference, I think. We had Sharon and she was wonderful!

All of the tour hotels were outstanding, especially the Albani Firenze in Florence. The free breakfasts were always delicious. The rooms are not huge but certainly bigger than a balcony cabin :o)

Yes, in Rome and elsewhere we never stood in line and always went in by a special door... except at Pisa. Pisa was not on the route but our bus driver and tour guide arranged for us to spend an afternoon there and I hope that every cruisetour goes there... but there’s no guarantee. There was no time to climb the stairs up the tower because there was a four-hour wait and we were there for just a short time. We did pay a little extra for this side-trip (maybe 20 Euros per person... can’t remember), but it was well worth it.

Our tour guide also arranged for a group deal for the gondolas in Venice and that was also worth it. We saved a lot of money there. She also arranged for the bus driver to take us to the top of a hill to get a fantastic view of Florence. She was excellent with restaurant suggestions, too.

In many locations the RCI tour guide is not allowed to guide us (only local guides who have been specially trained are allowed), so the RCI guide always stays with you but hands the job over to the specialist. Only one was less popular because her accent was very pronounced and it was difficult to understand her in the Whispers (headsets visitors have to wear in many churches and museums to listen to just your guide and not all the other guides that are everywhere).

You do have some free time, so plan it well. Visit the boards and ask questions about what you want to do. In Rome, we went to the Spanish Steps. Can’t remember any free time in Florence. In Venice, we walked and shopped A LOT! Take the Vaporetto water bus to get back to the hotel. Well worth it to save your feet. A little pricey (but much, much less expensive than the water taxis!!).

The cruise itself was superb. Taormina in Sicily was the highlight of our cruise. Athens was great because we took a private excursion with Petros at Athens By Taxi. I think we saw everything there was to see in Athens! Turkey is beautiful and we did the Virgin Mary House and Ephesus/Terrace Houses (loved it all) but hated the private tour we booked with ... EKOL. Our guide and driver insisted on lying to us twice... once to get us into a leather store and then to get us into a carpet store. Keep in mind that even the RCI tours take you to a carpet place or leather store, but because of our bad experience we’re not likely to return to Turkey. Our guide insisted that his behavior is perfectly normal in his country.

By the time we got to Crete we had planned to go see the ruins at Knossos, but we were “ruined out” and so we shopped in the city instead (it’s a short day... you have to be back on board early in the afternoon). Shopping in Crete was pleasant and stress-free compared to the high-pressure shops in the Turkish port of Kusadasi. In Kusadesi, the farther you walk away from the ship, the better the shopping is... better prices and no hassle from the shopkeepers. The shopkeepers closer to the ship were really unpleasant.

I highly recommend this cruisetour. If you plan to book a private tour guide in Turkey, ask around on the boards for recommendations and make it clear you do not want any surprise stops when you book and when you get there. I’m sure Turkey will be a much better experience for you.

Sorry for the late reply, travelteach326, I was away. We were only 16 on the cruisetour. That was great... we always had a huge bus for our small group so we could spread out. It was a good group... we all got along.

Everywhere we went we had our "Whispers" with us. We were issued an earpiece and a receiver that we wore hung around our neck. In many of the places we visited, the tour guide is not allowed to speak loudly (good thing because there are a lot of groups!), so she would speak softly into her microphone and we could easily hear everything she was saying through our earpiece. Allowed us to look around while listening to the guide. Came in very handy when we would split up and then gather again... she would call us on our Whispers and tell us to meet at a specific spot.

I had asked for advice about the land portion of the Italy cruisetour and Eastern Mediterranean cruise before we left and no one answered. I had assumed that a lot of people doing the cruise were also doing the cruisetour... but I was wrong! We were only 16!

What a fantastic tour it was! Our guide was Sharon Kivity (from England) and she was excellent. We had luxury four-star hotels in Venice, Florence, and Rome, with private guides in each city. We skipped the line-ups everywhere.

Sharon even arranged for our bus driver to take an expected detour to Pisa and a trip up the hills overlooking Florence. In Venice, she arranged for all of us to go for gondola rides... at much less than we would have paid had we done it alone... and she even bought each gondola a bottle of bubbly for the ride. I can't say enough positive things about this land portion and I wouldn't hesitate to take another land tour organized by RCI.