Majesty review 9/26/05

[Stacylee]

This was our first time with RCI and I must say it will not be my last!!! I traveled with my DS 14.

Going in I was automatically comparing it to Carnival from the start.

Flight on SW Mon morning - all on time. We arrived in FLL at 11:00 a.m. and we were on the ship eating lunch at 12:15! Took at taxi from FLL ($75) and walked right up to the desk (we had pre-registered online). The process took about 5 min. Had our pictures taken then walked onto the ship. The fire doors were closed so there was no way to get to the cabin before 1:00 p.m. We had lunch then went to our room (Deck 4 inside #4527). This was also our first inside cabin and it worked just fine for us. However - there are only 4 little vanity drawers to put your clothes in. So we used those for small things and lived out of the suitcase for the 5 days. The closet was big enough for the 5 days though. Bathroom - small as usual.

 

We explored the ship for an hour then returned to the room at 2:15 p.m. and our luggage was there!! That was the earliest I have ever gotten my luggage. We went to the pool as it WAS open. We had early dinner (6:00).

We had chosen a table for 8 but our table mates didn't show up the first night (more about this later). Waiter (Noemi) was wonderful as well as the asst. From the moment we sat down she called us by name. The head waiter - Jacob - was VERY impressive. Usually you see the head waiter 2 times - the first night and the last night. He came to our table every night and talked to us - also calling us by name each time. This was one of the most impressive things on this cruise - all the people you we tipped learned our name after one meeting and used it every time we saw them.

 

In Nassau we went to Ardastra Gardens which my son really enjoyed. We had lunch at Hard Rock and shopped a little. After dinner we went over to Atlantis. And YES the Digs WAS free - we were there about 8:30 p.m. It was a great place, but I am not sure it would be worth $30 a person during the day - it was a much better deal for free :) .

 

Day 3 was Coco Cay. Unfortunately, the weather was very overcast - but that made it breezy and not hot. We had booked snorkeling here (our only ship excursion). They warned us 2 times that there were ALOT of jellyfish and offered us a refund. We decided to brave it and went in the water anyway. I got about 20 yards out and freaked out! The jellyfish were everywhere and BIG! We turned around and swam as fast as possible to get out of there. I got stung once on the face but it was not that bad. We were very disappointed. About 15 min later the lifeguards made everyone get out of the water and we did get a full refund of snorkeling and the mat. Sept and Oct is jellyfish time - if snorkeling is important to you - DO NOT go then. Due to rain, we left the island by 2:00. During nice weather, Coco Cay would have been the highlight of the trip.

 

Day 4 was Key West. Due to customs and 'Anna's' family that failed to show up for customs, we did not clear until 11:00 a.m.! If things had gone smoothly, we probably would have been off by 10:15. The customs line and the line to get off were the ONLY lines we waited in during the whole cruise! We had been to Key West before and we enjoyed our day. I rented a scooter and barely survived :eek: . Much harder than it looks.

 

Day 5 back in Miami. We were cleared by 7:15 a.m. and they called our color by 8:30. We were sitting in FLL airport by 9:30 a.m. We had planned to take a taxi, but there were many people standing outside with van service, shared rides - so we grabbed one of those and save quite a bit of money.

 

Impressions:

Embarkation/Debarkation - By far the BEST ever! No waiting whatsoever. Customs in Key West was delayed because of one family - nothing the cruise line did. Also getting baggage was SO easy. Carnival had bags lined up on the floor in an unairconditioned warehouse. RCI had bags on a baggage carousel in airconditioning. RCI has this down to a science.

 

Ship overall:

Our last 3 cruises were on brand new ships - the Majesty is about 13 years old, but clean. I saw the most wear and tear on the pool deck chairs. After a few hours I never noticed that the ship was older - more subdued than Carnival but just as nice.

 

Entertainment:

I only went to 1 show, but it was pretty much the same type musical I have seen many times before. I never saw ANY pool games or activities during the day (but then again we were in port every day). There was live calypso music several times by the pool - but that was it.

 

Service: Pretty typical. Good service and I was impressed that everyone important remembered our names. The ship was sold out, but we never felt crowded.

 

Food: Overall, I was not really overly impressed with the food. I was never hungry and there was plenty of it. But I would say it was typical cruise food. The only thing that Carnival does better than RCI, would be the dinner presentation. RCI had an appetizer selection and an entree selection. OF course you got as many as you wanted, but Carnival had several more courses which made the dining experience more interesting. Our tablemates were always late! The 2nd night they were 45 min late and finally only 20 min late the last night. I wish we had 'older' tablemates - to match my age - or at least another family. Oh well, maybe next time.

 

I was extremely pleased with the ship. My only real disappointment was that I had preordered a birthday cake for my son. It never came. Our first day was his birthday, so that night I mentioned it to the head waiter when he visited our table. After dinner he returned with a dessert and they sang, but the cake never showed up. I'm not sure if I will try to get a refund or not - it was only $8.00. Also, I don't think my son used his soda card enough so next time I will probably just pay for the sodas he wants. I can't wait to go again!!!:D

[Rala]

Thanks for your review, Stacy. We are going on the Majesty in a few weeks. We have cruised a lot ,but never a short one! Glad you had a fun time. You also seem to have a "fun" attitide which sometimes can make or break any situation, including a cruise. I hope you get to cruise again soon!!

[Catseyes]

Thanks Stacey, good review, glad you had a great time. Sorry the cake did not turn up for your son.

 

Tessa:)

[jenrie]

Hi stacy, sorry we did not get to meet up on Majesty but we must have been seated quite near each other as we were also on first sitting and had Jacob as our Head waiter, we were origanally seated inthe other dining room but as Jacob is a friend of ours we always get moved onto his section we had a table for 5 I was the lady who got escorted to our table everynight by Jacob and was always greeted with a hug and a kiss we have known Jacob for years he came to our table to give us the english football results on the Wednesday night. Did you get to meet up with Jody

 

Jewel

[BambiRumsey]

I just booked cabin 4537 over Thanksgiving 2005 today. This will be my first cruise with RCI and I am concerned about the cabin size. I am traveling with my husband and our 6 year old daughter. The three of us were VERY comfortable in just your run of the mill outside cabin on Canrival in the spring. Point taken about the lack of drawer space but what about space in general. This is also our first inside cabin (there wasn't anything else left!), is it big enough for the three of us?

[sundeck]

Hi and thanks for the great review! I was glad to read you had a great time!

We'll be sailing the Majesty on November 14.

 

Could you tell me more about "the Digs" at Atlantis? What is it? when is it free and how did you get there from the ship?

 

did you have dinner on the ship and then go? was there enough time to get there and back or did you feel rushed?

 

Thanks for the info!

[Stacylee]

The DIGS is an aquarium inside Atlantis and is worth every penny of free!! After our early dinner seating, we changed, left the ship and got a taxi to the hotel. It was probably around 8 when we got there. Walk into the hotel and you will see the HUGE wall of fish straight ahead. Go downstairs and the entrance is to the right. As long as no one is standing there, just walk right in. It is in a cave setting (the lost city of Atlantis). I took alot of pics (regular 35mm camera) but most did not turn out so I imagine a digital is best for this. After walking the grounds - and dropping a quarter in the slots - we went outside and took a taxi back to the ship. Taxi's were waiting outside. The taxi was $4.00 a person. Hope that helps - it was a nice way to spend the evening.

[Stacylee]

Bambi -

 

I looked in the outside rooms on deck 4 and there really wasn't much more room there. I was actually glad I didn't spend the extra money for a window. There is light coming thru the crack in the door at night so it isn't pitch black. We did bring a flashlight so I could check the time in the morning. The 2 of us never ran into each other and I think you will be fine with the 3 of you. When we were on Carnival, we had 4 (DH, teenage DD, DS and myself) in a balcony and sometimes felt squished. I did see an inside with the pullman down. Other than the total lack of drawer space, you will do fine for the 4 nights. I just tried to keep the cabin tidy. When it comes time to pack - send DH and DD OUT!! It was much easier to pack by myself without another body in the room :) .

[Stacylee]

Jenri - I didn't hook up with anyone :( . My fault.. I was just having so much fun with my son and relaxing. We were at table 40, by a window, near the back of the dining room. I can't remember how often you have cruised on RCI, but can you tell me if the crowd on our cruise was more subdued than normal, or does this seem to be the 'norm' for RCI passengers? I was just wondering if it was the time of year etc. Typically the shorter cruises have a reputation of being a little more rowdy, but I did not find that at all and really enjoyed the peace.

[BambiRumsey]

Yeah, the packing thing...I am a little bit of what one could call a control freak (I hate how people say that like it is a BAD thing!) They get sent to the pool when it is time to pack! Matt's sole responsibility on vacation is to not lose the room key. Hannah's responsibility is to look pretty (not hard) and have lots of fun (even less hard).

 

We are of course going to see if we can purchase an upgrade at the pier but if there are none available or the price is too high then at least it is only for 4 nights. And we are in port everyday so I imagine time in the room will be limited to wardrobe changes. In a way I am looking forward to having a dark cabin in hopes that my little sunshine will sleep beyond 7am.

 

How long is the ship in port in Nassau? We also have early seating for dinner and the DIGS sounds interesting. Been to Key West bunches of times so I may send Daddy and Daughter to the aquarium or butterfly conservatory while I have a spa day.

 

I know your son is older, but did he participate in any of the children's/teen acitivities? Good, bad, ugly?

[Stacylee]

Bambi,

 

We were in Nassau from 8:00 a.m. to midnight. I do recommend Ardastra Gardens - your DD will enjoy that as it is more zoo than gardens and feeding the parrots is pretty cool to a kid. Plus, it only takes about 2 hours at the most and you would have plenty of time to do other things. Take a taxi there - no need to do the planned shore excursion. IF you check their website, they have the feeding times listed. I think the earliest was 10:15 and that was when we went. Still quiet and cool.

 

We did go to Atlantis at night - after dinner. It is such an amazing hotel.

I did consider checking out an upgrade at the dock, but decided it was not worth it to me. Even though we spent some time in the cabin, watching a little TV, napping it was fine. As far as Key West, your DD will LOVE the Butterfly Conservatory. I was there last Nov during Thanksgiving with DH and it was about 10.00 a person. He might want to take DD to Blue Heaven for lunch with the chickens too. Blue Heaven was closed last week for their annual vacation and I was very disappointed.

My DS did participate in the kids program. While there wasn't alot of kids on board, you will probably have more during Thanksgiving. I doubt the program can even be compared to Carnival's program, but the staff was great to my son and they had age appropriate activites - and it will be a chance for you to have alone time with DH.

[BambiRumsey]

I think she enjoys it more when there are less kids. On the Galaxy 2 Septembers ago there were about 6 kids in her age group (4 little girls all her age) and they got such wonderful personal attention from the counselors. Hannah gave each and every counselor a hug getting off the ship. On Disney where she was one of a jillion, I don't think anyone even knew her name and she felt sort of bored in the sea of people. But, we were less than impressed with the entier Disney cruise experience and the kids club was just another in the list of disappointments.

 

We did the butterflies on that Galaxy cruise and I know she loves it. We have a great aquarium in Baltimore but it may be fun for her to see different fish, but if Atlantis is an aquarium too....maybe one or the other. We snorkeled last time we were there in spring. Of course we could all three stay on the boat that day...

 

How late is DIGS open?

[Stacylee]

Jennifer,

 

I don't know how late DIGS is open - probably at least 10. There is no door that I noticed as it looks like a cave. It was a rope entrance and the rope was open. At the end of the aquarium there is a gift shop - surprise!! I was born and raised in Arlington, just moved down to Hampton Roads 2 years ago. We have been to the Baltimore aquarium - very cool place. I think your DD will be amazed with the DIGS. There are no signs telling what kind of fish are in the HUGE tanks so you just have to guess and enjoy.

 

There were 26 kids in my sons age group, but only 5 of them participated in the teen activities at night. I saw a couple with an infant - maybe 3 months - on board! I just can't imagine needing a vacation that bad that I would want to lug all that baby stuff onboard!

[BambiRumsey]

...if I had to pack formula, baby food, a stroller, etc where on earth would I put my shoes?!?!?!!?!?

[BambiRumsey]

...if I had to pack formula, baby food, a stroller, etc where on earth would I put my shoes?!?!?!!?!?

[premiumrican]

I am sailing the Majesty in May of 2006. Great Review

[premiumrican]

I am sailing the Majesty in May of 2006. Great Review

[jenrie]

Jenri - I didn't hook up with anyone :( . My fault.. I was just having so much fun with my son and relaxing. We were at table 40, by a window, near the back of the dining room. I can't remember how often you have cruised on RCI, but can you tell me if the crowd on our cruise was more subdued than normal, or does this seem to be the 'norm' for RCI passengers? I was just wondering if it was the time of year etc. Typically the shorter cruises have a reputation of being a little more rowdy, but I did not find that at all and really enjoyed the peace.

We have always found that it is the norm on Majesty even the bigger ships are not rowdy and even though there is a lot more passengers they never feel crowded. we must have been sitting very near to you in the dining room as we were table 32 it was a table for 5 near the waiters station we had Porciano as our waiter and Kiplin as assistant waiter. We haven't booked another cruise yet as we can't decide where to go next so will enjoy looking in the brochures and on the net to see what we can get for our money.

Jewel

[jenrie]

Jenri - I didn't hook up with anyone :( . My fault.. I was just having so much fun with my son and relaxing. We were at table 40, by a window, near the back of the dining room. I can't remember how often you have cruised on RCI, but can you tell me if the crowd on our cruise was more subdued than normal, or does this seem to be the 'norm' for RCI passengers? I was just wondering if it was the time of year etc. Typically the shorter cruises have a reputation of being a little more rowdy, but I did not find that at all and really enjoyed the peace.

We have always found that it is the norm on Majesty even the bigger ships are not rowdy and even though there is a lot more passengers they never feel crowded. we must have been sitting very near to you in the dining room as we were table 32 it was a table for 5 near the waiters station we had Porciano as our waiter and Kiplin as assistant waiter. We haven't booked another cruise yet as we can't decide where to go next so will enjoy looking in the brochures and on the net to see what we can get for our money.

Jewel