Feb 3 Majesty, Back!

[Arwenmark]

Well I can't say it was the best cruise I have ever had. And I DO see a lessening of quality overall from what my previous NCL cruises have been including several Majesty cruises.

I won't bother with a week long blow by blow of our problems, most of which were not NCL's fault. for instance weather, having to tender at Cozumel causing us to miss it completely, [not taking scooter on tender or WC either]

major problems with embarcation, and disembarcation, Charleston is the worst port I have ever seen for logistics of how they handled those items.

again Not NCL's fault but the port authority.

and when we finally got to Key West, the sun was out it was great, until we called home. this was Thursday and we called to see how things were at home. Well we were greeted with the News that One of our son's had a car accident and had been pulled from his burning vehicle by strangers right before the car was engulfed. He had been transported from Cape Cod to Boston and had four fractures to his back and facial injuries.

 

I had left the email contact info with another son but he lost it so they had not been able to contact us. FORTUNATELy by the time I heard all this he was back home and resting, so not as awful as was first thought.

 

What I did want to post a very big THUMBS UP for is the Charleston Black Cab company.

they are a company that has all ENGLISH cabs the little black ones. I had found them online before going and reserved two to take us to the ship on Sat morning since I had luggage wheel chair and scooter to transport. As it happened when we got to the airport on Friday and they called us a cab it turned out to be them as well. So we got a first intro to them then.

Well Saturday they showed up on time and loaded all into the two cabs and we set out the maybe 3 blocks to the pier, only to be turned away by security and told to come back 2 hours later. Great I thought Now what?

Well they took us back to the Charleston Place hotel where they are based out of and I figured well we sit here on the sidewalk for two hours and try to get two cabs again and pay twice! Well NO SUCH THING, the Cab driver told us our stuff would be fine in the cab and they would just try again in two hours, so they let two cabs sit there for two hours while we looked around the shops, had coffee etc. then took us back over to the ship for no extra charge!!! That is service. We did give them extra anyway of course.

well then on return to port we had found that NCL excursion which included tour or Charleston and drop at Airport, was cancelled, so we again called Charleston Black Cab and rented a cab for two hours for a private tour and drop at the airport.

So anyone going to Charleston I highly recommend them!

[Smellytoes]

Well I can't say it was the best cruise I have ever had. And I DO see a lessening of quality overall from what my previous NCL cruises have been including several Majesty cruises.

I won't bother with a week long blow by blow of our problems, most of which were not NCL's fault. for instance weather, having to tender at Cozumel causing us to miss it completely, [not taking scooter on tender or WC either]

major problems with embarcation, and disembarcation, Charleston is the worst port I have ever seen for logistics of how they handled those items.

again Not NCL's fault but the port authority.

and when we finally got to Key West, the sun was out it was great, until we called home. this was Thursday and we called to see how things were at home. Well we were greeted with the News that One of our son's had a car accident and had been pulled from his burning vehicle by strangers right before the car was engulfed. He had been transported from Cape Cod to Boston and had four fractures to his back and facial injuries.

 

I had left the email contact info with another son but he lost it so they had not been able to contact us. FORTUNATELy by the time I heard all this he was back home and resting, so not as awful as was first thought.

 

What I did want to post a very big THUMBS UP for is the Charleston Black Cab company.

they are a company that has all ENGLISH cabs the little black ones. I had found them online before going and reserved two to take us to the ship on Sat morning since I had luggage wheel chair and scooter to transport. As it happened when we got to the airport on Friday and they called us a cab it turned out to be them as well. So we got a first intro to them then.

Well Saturday they showed up on time and loaded all into the two cabs and we set out the maybe 3 blocks to the pier, only to be turned away by security and told to come back 2 hours later. Great I thought Now what?

Well they took us back to the Charleston Place hotel where they are based out of and I figured well we sit here on the sidewalk for two hours and try to get two cabs again and pay twice! Well NO SUCH THING, the Cab driver told us our stuff would be fine in the cab and they would just try again in two hours, so they let two cabs sit there for two hours while we looked around the shops, had coffee etc. then took us back over to the ship for no extra charge!!! That is service. We did give them extra anyway of course.

well then on return to port we had found that NCL excursion which included tour or Charleston and drop at Airport, was cancelled, so we again called Charleston Black Cab and rented a cab for two hours for a private tour and drop at the airport.

So anyone going to Charleston I highly recommend them!

 

I think I heard about your son's accident. I'm so glad he's o.k. I hope your next cruise goes a little smoother.

[Arwenmark]

Yes it was on Fox news I guess from what I have been told, and article in the Cape Cod Times. The accident happened on Sunday morning and we did not hear about it till Thursday evening.

I have since been to see him and he is doing reasonably well considering. I think it has all put me off cruising for a while at least. I have one booked in Dec. but thinking of cancelling it.

[retiredAF]

I am so sorry to hear about your son's accident. I am glad he is home and recovering. My fear of something like this is why I decided to lug the lap when we went.. everyone had our address and we could do a quick check each day. I hope your son has a quick recovery.

[osiebosie]

How horrible: your son's accident. Thank God he is okay. I try to leave the ship's phone number with family. I don't know if that is better or not. It seems there are just days when you are totally out of touch with the world (usually a very good thing!).

 

We saw those little black cabs while in Charleston! I thought they were so neat, but we drove to Charleston and had our own car. I'm glad Southern Hospitality kicked in for you!

 

When we were in Coz (we took this same cruise in January) there were ten other ships there besides Majesty! Many ships had to tender. We were fortunate and got to dock, maybe because we were a smaller ship, since most of the other ships were already there before us.

 

We did have to tender in Grand Cayman, and because of the winds, could only use one tender. Took longer, but we did get off and have a good time.

 

We felt that Charleston did a good job of embarking and disembarking. We just breezed right through. But like I said, we drove ourselves and parked in the warehouse.

 

We felt service on Majesty was good. There were some worn areas about the ship, but she is old, and we didn't think too much of it.

 

I hope you do cruise again, but I can see where your experience (with your son) could change that.

 

I am so glad he's okay. I know you are happy to be home with him now.

 

Shay

[Arwenmark]

With regard to the service and food on the Majesty. I have sailed her many times so I knew what to expect in terms of the condition of the ship, I actually love that ship. It was by comparision to former food and service that I say it was lacking. If I had never sailed, or even sailed NCL before then I might have thought they were fine, but it was all the things missing from the past trips, and the general lax attitude compared to the fine tuned and professional attitude I have seen on that ship in the past that make me say things have gone downhill there. Clearly there was a lot less staff than before, including managers, and both those things affect the outcome of course. It was just obvious where they were trying to cut corners, probably fuel costs have something to do with it as well.

[djay]

We are on the 3/3 Majesty cruise . Doesanyone have any coments from the last 2 weeks??

Remarks seem to have improved from early January. This is our 1st cruise in since 1988 so we are hoping for the Best.

djay

[Host CMLA]

Well I can't say it was the best cruise I have ever had.

Thanks for your review. Make sure to submit your review to Cruise Critic's official Cruise Reviews section so your comments and ratings can be included in the official ratings of this ship. Thanks again for the review.

[marinabelle]

Returned 2/10/07--thought this cruise the best bargain of any of our 8 cruises. EE (Deck 8) cabin was very large, comfortable, and immaculate. Made all the ports, very smooth seas, thought the food, shows, etc. acceptable. Our biggest disappointment was with the psgrs--very provincial --and I would advise you to keep this in mind when you are reading reviews.

[lmreiff]

Just returned from the Majesty 3-17-07 sailing.

I would agree with your original post; especially: "major problems with embarcation, and disembarcation, Charleston is the worst port I have ever seen for logistics of how they handled those items."

I have cruised out of about 6 ports and my experience in Charleston has been the worst! It is a shame that the boarding process is so chaotic since the city is so charming.

For our sailing the problems were compounded by 2 parades that just happened to be scheduled at the same time as boarding. We waited in traffic for more than 30 minutes! Lucky for us we weren't running late or we might have missed boarding.