Finally my review: Majesty of the Seas March 12, 2007

[tarababy18]

Majesty of the Seas 3/12/07 Review

 

Sorry it has taken me so long to write/post this, but there was a big ordeal on getting home after the cruise and I’m in grad school so I had lots of work to come back to.

 

We traveled with a group of 8. All between the ages of 20 and 24. One (22) is a cop, one (24) works in a hospital, I (23) am in grad school. Two (22 and 21) are graduating this semester and one (20) is a junior. We are not partiers (most of us skipped that scene by commuting to a local school), 2 people don’t drink and one cannot drink. This was my bf’s 3rd cruise and my 4th cruise, 2 with carnival and 2 with rccl. This was a first cruise for the other 6 in our group.

 

We flew into Miami the day before the cruise. We stayed in the Holiday Inn across from what I think was call the Bayside Center. It was a huge area with shopping and restaurants. If someone needs the info for this hotel I can get it. It was a very nice hotel in a great area and it was very close to the pier, something like an 8 mins cab ride or so.

 

Our cabin 9026: very nice and clean, the steward Ronald was an absolute doll and always friendly and checked if we need anything often. Another couple had the room next door and at one point during the cruise found dentures under their bed while looking for his hat (Ronald apologized and explained that because we were there early, he didn’t get the chance to do a final check of the room). They also had problems with their toilet at one point. (Cabin 9024) [Our other friends were on the 2nd deck]

 

Day 1:

Embarking was very easy and quick. We didn’t have to stand on many lines at all and they moved very quickly. We finally got on the ship a little before 1:00pm and only stayed on line and doing check in for about an hour total. As soon as we got on the ship, we got on the excursion line and booked our excursions. We were allowed in our rooms at 1:00pm so we put our stuff down (some of our bags were already there) and went to get some food. We went to the buffet in the windjammer and the food was delicious. My bf and I went back to the room after eating to take a nap because I wasn’t feeling well. After our nap we explored the ship a bit and went to book couple massages at the spa. We went to the top deck and drank some good drinks while we sailed away, which was an hour or so after the scheduled time. At dinner, we had to switch tables (which our friends arranged) bc they left 2 of our friends off of our table requests. No biggie and dinner was very good. Later, on that night I just remember exploring more and hanging out on the top deck watching people day and enjoying the music. We called it a relatively early night because we had been up early.

 

Day 2: Nassau, Bahamas

In Nassau we did the Historic Harbor Cruise and Atlantis Break/Tour. This was a great excursion that the 4 of us who went thoroughly enjoyed. Atlantis aquarium is gorgeous. We took the tour and on our way out, my bf put a dollar into on of the slots and got $50! We shopped a little in the market outside of Atlantis, had some ice cream and then headed back to the ship. We boarded the ship to change and get some more money and then set out for some shopping and senor frogs. Now remember this is spring break, so you can only imagine the number of drunken people in this bar. It was absolutely insane how some of these people were acting. Many of the girls had absolutely no class what-so-ever and appeared to drunk to know what day it was. We got back on the ship because it was formal night so we wanted to have plenty of time to get ready. Many of the people by the 8:30 seating time had sobered up and were dressed very nicely. There was however a family sitting a table away that was in shorts and tanks. The food was delicious and I can’t really tell you what exactly we had because my friends and I kept ordering multiple entrees. After dinner we went up to the pool deck to enjoy the weather and basically just hung out until bed.

 

Day 3: Coco Cay, Bahamas

My bf and I had our appointment for the couple massages early this morning before our friends even thought about waking up. It was very very very relaxing. Definitely worth the money. The spa staff were exceptionally nice and the spa was beautiful. We also got free massage oil and a discount thanks to our coupon booklet from C&A. After our massages, we both showered off the oil, changed into our suits, met our friends for breakfast in the windjammer and headed out to Coco Cay. We shopped for a while, sat on the beach enjoying the scenery and some friends went in the water. It was too windy for me where we were sitting to go into the water. My bf and I took a walk around the island and realized it was warmer and not so windy on the other side, but my friends didn’t want to move. No difference to me. My bf and I went back to the ship before our friends, napped, relaxed and enjoyed the sailing away time. Dinner was great, I think it was the best night as far as selection goes, but it was a close call with the previous night’s selection. I think this was the night that my friends and I had trouble getting drinks in the bar. (It could’ve been the night before but I’m not sure). My friends and I were trying to get a drink in the Schooner Bar and the bar tender was extremely rude and ignored us all together when we couldn’t get our id’s to him fast enough after waiting for 20 mins. We then decided we wanted nothing to do with the college kids who were rowdy and belligerent, so we headed up to the Viking crown lodge. We could not even get a drink here. We waited for almost 30 mins to get our first waitstaff and then when we tried to order more than one drink for each, we couldn’t bc “the bar staff was told that each person could only get one drink in a 15 mins time span”. We didn’t think this was fair because it was going to take longer than that to get a waiter to come over to us again. My friend and I went down to talk to the bar manager who was very understanding and friendly and he phoned up the Viking crown and explained to them that we were ok to get more than one at a time. We were under the impression that people were getting out of hand, but they were nowhere near the Viking crown and the bar tenders should’ve cut them off if they realized they were getting out of hand. We also don’t think it was fair that just because we look young the staff assumed that we were like the rest of the college students on the ship. The bar manager completely understood where we were coming from.

 

Day 4: Key West, FL

This was by far the best day of the cruise. All 8 of us did the catamaran snorkeling with Fury Catamarans. This was absolutely amazing. We didn’t get the chance to go to the reef because of the water conditions and visibility, so we went to another area to snorkel. (It was nice, but it was nothing like the southern Caribbean.) The boat and the staff were incredibly friendly and funny and an all around good time so just being on the catamaran was a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend this excursion to anybody visiting Key West at any time. After the catamaran my bf and I went shopping for a bit before having to get back on the ship. According to the pictures I’ve seen from our friends, they were fooling around in the area taking silly pictures, suggested by the few that were a bit tipsy. After we got back on the ship, we went up to the top to watch us sail away (which was late again) and then relaxed before dinner. Dinner this night was nothing impressive or worth writing home about. It, in my opinion, was a weak way of ending the cruise. The selection wasn’t very good. After dinner we hung out and enjoyed our last day of vacation before going back to NY. Quest was also this night and it was absolutely out of control. Picture a bunch of teams of tipsy or drunk college students trying to find the things needed by the cruise staff. Hysterical. Definitely one of the highlights of the cruise as far as college students being on the ship.

 

Day 5:

Getting off the ship was easy because we took our own luggage to ensure that we would be off in time to get to our flight. We had to pick up our liquor purchases by the shops, I much rather them delivered the night before because they we can pack them in our luggage better. We left the ship and were on our way to the airport. We got to the airport to find out that every flight into NY and NJ were cancelled due to snow. AA was absolutely horrible in handling the situation and the luggage. They booked us on 2 flights into Philly and didn’t bother to mention that Philly was destined to have the same weather. We checked every airport from Miami to Atlanta and flying into any airport from Richmond to NY, but there were no flights available at all. The Philly flights were then cancelled at about 2pm and we needed to figure out a way home from Miami to NY and they couldn’t get us any flights until at least Wednesday. Since we had people with us who needed to be at work (one a cop and one works in a hospital), and 2 people that needed to be in class by Monday, we had no other choice, but to rent a minivan for 8 and drive home to NY. After sitting in the airport for 10 hours, we finally began our journey.

 

We stopped at the 3rd exit in Georgia for the night and then drove the rest of the way to NY arriving home at 5:30am in NY on Sunday. We stopped for the needed food and bathroom stops and switched off between 3 drivers, myself, my bf and my bff. We each drove about 7 or 8 hours straight before switching. Btw, we had no luggage because aa sent it down and couldn’t get it back. So we had to stop somewhere in FL at a walmart to get essentials and of course some snacks and a green mullet wig being that the next day was st patrick's day. (My bf drove the entire length of his turn wearing this green mullet wig.) We didn't get our luggage back until Wednesday and Thursday but it was delivered to my house. My luggage was damaged, but that's another issue in itself.

 

 

**side notes**

-The service on this cruise was extremely lacking compared to the other 3 cruises I have been on. It truly seems like they knew they were getting jipped with tips so they didn’t have the same attitude as I’ve seen on past cruises. I also noticed that they treated us differently than the older group of people, leading us to believe that it was because we all look young.

-There was no 24 hr pool or hot tub like there should’ve been because of all the drunk spring breakers. There was also no deal on drinks/buckets of beer, which would’ve been worth it for our group of 8. We weren’t looking to get drunk, just to enjoy a few drinks and relax.

-There was this one photographer who seemed like he had no patience and was extremely rude. Other than that the pictures came out really nice and we purchased a few of them. I do believe that they are outrageously overpriced for a picture that isn’t the size that they’re charging you for usually.

-The entertainment/shows were bad. The comedian wasn’t funny and thankfully we were sitting in the back so we could leave early. Our friends that stayed said it wasn’t funny at all during the entire show. The Broadway style show was bad in the beginning and then got better as it ended; however, it was not good compared to the other entertainment on the other ships. The dancers were off with their steps and one of the singers yelled and screamed instead of singing.

-I will never again take a cruise during spring break and I will never again take a cruise so short or without any sea days, as I’ve come to realize that I enjoy the sea days and the break from running around on a time schedule.

-Please don’t assume that because of the bad things I didn’t enjoy my time, because I did… I just know that it could’ve been better. The friends that went with us had never been on a cruise before and thought it was one of the best vacations of their lives. I believe that having other cruises to compare it with helped me pinpoint the things my bf and I like and dislike on cruises.

[Dremac373]

Well after reading your review I can not see that you had a bad time, from one NY'er to another I am glad that you had a great time and got home safe, sorry to read about the flight troubles though!!! I cant wait for my turn in two weeks and lucky me to be flyin from Richmond to MIA with only one layover in Char. N.C. Thanx for the review :D

[gopher's girl]

Hi do you have any photos of your room? Also, was your view obstructed? Were any views obstructed on this deck?