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Majesty of Seas review


Lbicklel
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We were on the February 8, 2020 sailing of the Majesty of the Seas. We chose this cruise due to low cost and being a small ship.   This was my sixth cruise.  My previous cruises have been on the Disney Magic and the Norwegian Escape. I loved the Disney magic but hated the Norwegian escape. It’s just too big. I found the Majesty to be much more similar to the Disney magic (minus all the Disney stuff of course.)  we have no interest in all of the big features on the ship. 

 

Embarkation was a mess due to the late arrival. The line was unbelievable going all the way to the far far end of the building and then snaking back around. But considering the situation I guess it wasn’t that bad as it took us about an hour and a half from the time we got in line until the time we boarded.

 

My travel party was myself and my BFF, both 55-ish-year-old women. Our main goals were to sit in a lounger in the sun with a drink and a book. The cruise was a seven day Key West and Bahamas leaving from New Orleans.

 

On first impression the outside of the Majesty looked tired and worn. But inside was perfectly fine. Loved the small size of the ship and how quick and easy it was to get anywhere. The only complaints I have was that the food in the buffet was absolutely awful (and I’m not that picky), there were very limited options for food outside of main dining times, and there wasn’t a huge variety of activities going on on sea days, or at least not a lot that interested us. 

 

Main dining room food was good but not exceptional. The buffet was passable for breakfast and lunch but just absolutely horrible for dinner. Severe lack of variety, things that didn’t seem to work together, and flavorless or cold food. The café had strange hours and never seemed to be open when I wanted something from there but what I did have there was very good. The only other place to get food outside of main dining hours was the pizza place and that’s not what I usually wanted. Was also surprised by the lack of lines at the coffee shop. We were able to get our Starbucks every morning without much wait at all.

 

I will never sail out of the Gulf in the winter time again.  The ship was delayed getting into port on embarkation day until about 1 PM so boarding and sail away was late. The delay was due to bad weather in the Gulf. Our first day was a sea day and it was cold and windy. I figured that was just the remnants of the same storm. But our last sea day coming back into the Gulf was even colder and more windy. Had that last sea day been nice enough to be outside we wouldn’t of even noticed the lack of activity said appeal this.

 

Loved Simon playing piano in the Schooner bar in the evenings.   Over all the bars and lounges seems spacious with decent bar service.  We never did encounter a line to get a drink really at any venue or bar.  We only saw a few shows in the theater and they were just OK. 

 

We were in a spacious oceanview, cabin 9024. I was pleasantly surprised with the cabin. Even being a spacious ocean view it was smaller than any cabin I’ve had on any other ship - even insides. But I knew that going in. Storage space was fantastic. Probably more than I’ve had on any other ship. Although there was really no storage space in the bathroom there were wonderful little shelves built in on cabinets on either side of the mirror by the desk and that was the perfect place to keep all of my make up and other miscellaneous toiletries. We actually had storage spaces that we didn’t end up needing to use.

 

The bathroom was better than I expected. It was small but the shower was adequate and no issues with the shower curtain not staying in place or anything like that.

 

As with most of this cabin category we did have a lifeboat below our room. It did not impede our view unless we wanted to look straight down.

 

 We absolutely loved Coco Cay. We did buy the beach club day pass. I mainly did that because I found an exceptional price of $39 and I was fearful of crowds. As it turned out we were the only ship in port that day so that wouldn’t have been an issue. We were originally scheduled to be there with I believe the Navigator but it’s itinerary got changed. The lunch in the beach club was fantastic. We were able to snag a para loungers right at the waterfront and we spent the day sitting there drinking and reading. Although the ocean was a bit chilly we were able to get in and be perfectly comfortable and enjoy a little time floating around. The floats are at no additional charge in Beach club area.

 

We didn’t arrive in Nassau until 2 PM so that kind of made that a wasted port. At that hour it didn’t seem to make sense to pay for a beach so we just walked around Atlantis after finding a four dollar per person shared cab and did actually enjoy walking around Atlantis. We walked through The Dig and that was actually quite interesting.

 

We did enjoy playing a little bit in the casino but I was very disappointed with a number of machines that weren’t functioning by the end of the cruise. I personally like Quick Hit and there was a bank of six of the type I like. One was down from the beginning of the cruise and by the end of the cruise two others were down,  including my favorite one. They quit taking money and the tech pulled up the error message that said the bill slot was full and they couldn’t do anything about it. Doesn’t make sense to me.  But I did end up breaking even in the casino for the cruise so that’s good!  

 

Disembarkation was a breeze. We did self disembark. However they never called for self disembark so the first announcement we heard was when they called for the first group. It took a few minutes to get an elevator but then we were off quickly. We had prearranged somebody to pick us up and had to wait about 15 minutes on him. In total it was about an hour and a half from leaving our state room at 8:15 to arriving at the airport.  A crewmember did say that the line to get off the ship has been crazy earlier but when we left there was only a handful of people in front of us and it went very quickly. 

Edited by Lbicklel
Forgot embarkation and disembarkation info
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28 minutes ago, Lbicklel said:

We were on the February 8, 2020 sailing of the Majesty of the Seas. We chose this cruise due to low cost and being a small ship.   This was my sixth cruise.  My previous cruises have been on the Disney Magic and the Norwegian Escape. I loved the Disney magic but hated the Norwegian escape. It’s just too big. I found the Majesty to be much more similar to the Disney magic (minus all the Disney stuff of course.)  we have no interest in all of the big features on the ship. 

 

Embarkation was a mess due to the late arrival. The line was unbelievable going all the way to the far far end of the building and then snaking back around. But considering the situation I guess it wasn’t that bad as it took us about an hour and a half from the time we got in line until the time we boarded.

 

My travel party was myself and my BFF, both 55-ish-year-old women. Our main goals were to sit in a lounger in the sun with a drink and a book. The cruise was a seven day Key West and Bahamas leaving from New Orleans.

 

On first impression the outside of the Majesty looked tired and worn. But inside was perfectly fine. Loved the small size of the ship and how quick and easy it was to get anywhere. The only complaints I have was that the food in the buffet was absolutely awful (and I’m not that picky), there were very limited options for food outside of main dining times, and there wasn’t a huge variety of activities going on on sea days, or at least not a lot that interested us. 

 

Main dining room food was good but not exceptional. The buffet was passable for breakfast and lunch but just absolutely horrible for dinner. Severe lack of variety, things that didn’t seem to work together, and flavorless or cold food. The café had strange hours and never seemed to be open when I wanted something from there but what I did have there was very good. The only other place to get food outside of main dining hours was the pizza place and that’s not what I usually wanted. Was also surprised by the lack of lines at the coffee shop. We were able to get our Starbucks every morning without much wait at all.

 

I will never sail out of the Gulf in the winter time again.  The ship was delayed getting into port on embarkation day until about 1 PM so boarding and sail away was late. The delay was due to bad weather in the Gulf. Our first day was a sea day and it was cold and windy. I figured that was just the remnants of the same storm. But our last sea day coming back into the Gulf was even colder and more windy. Had that last sea day been nice enough to be outside we wouldn’t of even noticed the lack of activity said appeal this.

 

Loved Simon playing piano in the Schooner bar in the evenings.   Over all the bars and lounges seems spacious with decent bar service.  We never did encounter a line to get a drink really at any venue or bar.  We only saw a few shows in the theater and they were just OK. 

 

We were in a spacious oceanview, cabin 9024. I was pleasantly surprised with the cabin. Even being a spacious ocean view it was smaller than any cabin I’ve had on any other ship - even insides. But I knew that going in. Storage space was fantastic. Probably more than I’ve had on any other ship. Although there was really no storage space in the bathroom there were wonderful little shelves built in on cabinets on either side of the mirror by the desk and that was the perfect place to keep all of my make up and other miscellaneous toiletries. We actually had storage spaces that we didn’t end up needing to use.

 

The bathroom was better than I expected. It was small but the shower was adequate and no issues with the shower curtain not staying in place or anything like that.

 

As with most of this cabin category we did have a lifeboat below our room. It did not impede our view unless we wanted to look straight down.

 

 We absolutely loved Coco Cay. We did buy the beach club day pass. I mainly did that because I found an exceptional price of $39 and I was fearful of crowds. As it turned out we were the only ship in port that day so that wouldn’t have been an issue. We were originally scheduled to be there with I believe the Navigator but it’s itinerary got changed. The lunch in the beach club was fantastic. We were able to snag a para loungers right at the waterfront and we spent the day sitting there drinking and reading. Although the ocean was a bit chilly we were able to get in and be perfectly comfortable and enjoy a little time floating around. The floats are at no additional charge in Beach club area.

 

We didn’t arrive in Nassau until 2 PM so that kind of made that a wasted port. At that hour it didn’t seem to make sense to pay for a beach so we just walked around Atlantis after finding a four dollar per person shared cab and did actually enjoy walking around Atlantis. We walked through The Dig and that was actually quite interesting.

 

We did enjoy playing a little bit in the casino but I was very disappointed with a number of machines that weren’t functioning by the end of the cruise. I personally like Quick Hit and there was a bank of six of the type I like. One was down from the beginning of the cruise and by the end of the cruise two others were down,  including my favorite one. They quit taking money and the tech pulled up the error message that said the bill slot was full and they couldn’t do anything about it. Doesn’t make sense to me.  But I did end up breaking even in the casino for the cruise so that’s good!  

 

Disembarkation was a breeze. We did self disembark. However they never called for self disembark so the first announcement we heard was when they called for the first group. It took a few minutes to get an elevator but then we were off quickly. We had prearranged somebody to pick us up and had to wait about 15 minutes on him. In total it was about an hour and a half from leaving our state room at 8:15 to arriving at the airport.  A crewmember did say that the line to get off the ship has been crazy earlier but when we left there was only a handful of people in front of us and it went very quickly. 

Thank you for all the INFO.  We will be on next month and this was very helpful.

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Thank you for the review!  We are currently trying to plan a wedding cruise for our son and daughter in law for July 2021.  Because they are both teachers they have very limited options for when they can cruise, and money is an issue for many of their teacher friends.  We are strongly considering MOTS due to the lower price point.  Some of the larger ship activities and amenities aren't important to us, as we basically just need a place to party and enjoy the sun for the week.  

 

We typically choose a balcony or JS on other cruise ships, but since the "block" of rooms can only include inside and ocean view, we are going with that.  I know it will be tiny but figure we will be out partying with the family and friends most of the time anyway.  

 

Here's my hesitation though - I am a clean freak.  I don't care if the ship is a bit rusty and older but I've been seeing some reviews that say the cabins are dirty and there are bed bugs, hair, etc.  Did you find this ship to be dirty??

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3 minutes ago, kidznurse said:

Here's my hesitation though - I am a clean freak.  I don't care if the ship is a bit rusty and older but I've been seeing some reviews that say the cabins are dirty and there are bed bugs, hair, etc.  Did you find this ship to be dirty??

If that is really you, don’t book any ship older than about 6 months old. 

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17 minutes ago, kidznurse said:

Here's my hesitation though - I am a clean freak.  I don't care if the ship is a bit rusty and older but I've been seeing some reviews that say the cabins are dirty and there are bed bugs, hair, etc.  Did you find this ship to be dirty??

We didn’t notice any concerns with cleanliness at all. My BFF who I was traveling with is a clean freak at hotels. She wipes down everything and won’t drink out of the glasses or anything. And I didn’t hear any complaints from her either.

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We were on the Feb. 1 cruise with the delayed return on Feb. 8. also Key West and Bahamas, but no Cocoa Cay. It was cold and windy on several days of the cruise. We came home with a lot of clean shorts and t-shirts because it was too cold to wear them. 

 

We usually cruise out of New Orleans every winter, but this year was particularly chilly. Last year was too, but Vision has tables and chairs in the casino, unlike Majesty. 

 

I thought the Compass Deli had really good food, in spite of the hours. I had a cheese or ham & cheese panini for dinner every night. Which sounds really boring, but works for me.  

 

And the staterooms are very clean, with tons of storage. The bathroom had been updated. We had a junior suite, about the size of a balcony cabin on other ships. 

Edited by Coralc
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6 hours ago, kidznurse said:

Liking things to be clean doesn't mean I can't handle an older ship.  My favorite class is actually Radiance. 

Well, then, you answered your own earlier question, cleanliness has little to do with the ship and is mainly the luck of the draw with the cabin steward and rest of the crew.

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