NCL Majesty

[maybesomeday]

Ok, I am booked on the Majesty for our honeymoon in November, and I have been reading some horrible reviews, so now I am scared.

 

I booked this ship, because I want to go to Cozumel and swim with dolphins, my fiance wants to do stingray city in Grand Cayman, and we both wanted to do a sunset Catamaran and Key west has one and we would be in dock late enough to do it!!!

 

So, we picked the cruise that got us to where we want to go and do the things we want to do, instead of going based on ship entertainment and luxuries, but he really wants to have great food and experience on board as well.

 

Is the Majesty really that horrible? This would be our first cruise with nothing else to compare it too. We both recently graduated college so we still eat the occassional Ramen Noodles and frozen pizza. Since we aren't used to living big, will we enjoy all the food, or think it is cafeteria grade as many people have referred to it as??

 

I have thought about changing cruise ships a few times, but I don't want to take the reviews too seriously, because they could be from people who are used to eating 5 star meals, and of course they aren't going to be happy with 4 star meals. Of course a 4 star meal will be a huge step up from Ramen for us... ahhhh, please help I am stressed because I want to have a GREAT honeymoon, and am afraid that by going with the great deal of Majesty I might regret not paying more for a better reviewed ship!

 

Thanks for any/all advice or help!

Liz

[Don Haynes]

If you are so conerned and negative before a cruise, you will be unhappy after a cruise. Stop!

 

Think positive. You have already searched the ships, got the cruise ship you wanted, got the itinerary you wanted, and the price you wanted, I say go for it.

 

It is true, the Majesty is one of the oldest smallest ships in NCL's inventory. She does not have all of the bells and whistles of newer larger ships. But she does have enough food to feed a city, and no one has yet to drink the ship dry. Plus the Majesty has a great reputation of wonderful service.

[hotspur]

I always have to wonder why someone would make such a negative posting while ignoring a recent, obvious thread like this one:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=591714

[OhioGirl]

I always say, a bad day on a cruise ship, is still better than a good day at work..

That being said...

I have to say, go and enjoy your self and your new husband. I have sailed on the Majesty twice, (most recent Nov 2006) we had a great time.

You are always going to find to different views of the same trip.

We did...my family hates Freestyle, where I love it...

the food was hot, good, and we never waited more than 30 minutes for a table..(which is good, since we were sailing with 28 more people...and wanted to sit together as much as possible)

 

If you are going to do the stingray swim in Cayman, I would highly recommend Soto Cruises...they are about 1/2 the cost the ship charges,

I have used them many times...and have sent alot of friends and family members with them...Tell Kerry I said hello!!

 

I hope this helps, and if you have any questions you would like to ask me, feel free to email me...

 

I'll end this by saying...I wishing you...

Smooth sailings!

[heelfan94]

We've sailed the Majesty twice, and I'm planning our next cruise for this coming winter. Know going in that it's an older but beautiful ship. Have a great time. :)

[delaney86]

Look at it this way your not at work your on vacation you will be visiting some awesome places, Your on your Honeymoon. Just go with a positive attitude. I have been on 3 Cruises and before going I read horrible things about the ships we went on, There will always be someone who has something negative to say but that is only based on their experience. HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Harleyy87]

We have been on here 5 times out of Boston and will be going again this Sept. went end of May this year. She is a good ship and crew is awsume food is good and plentyful. We have never regreted going on here and you will see that your time on her will be fun.

 

Pat;)

[cruiserssandr]

We will be on the Boston to Bermuda cruise on the Majesty on Sept 30. This will be our 10th time on this cruise and all since May 2002! It was our first cruise and now we are hooked. Not to sound like a broken record but she is a great ship with an awesome crew. Have a wonderful honeymoon cruise.

[angeljt]

Hope you both have the time of your life. We loved the Majesty, and the food was good, there was plenty to do, and the crew and staff were great.

Enjoy!

[Bill Meyers]

I understand your apprehension. I was one person who wrote a more negative review of the Majesty. My suggestion to you is to go on the Majesty for the following reasons:

 

1) As a first time cruiser, you WILL have a good time.

2) Your next cruise will certainly be better than this one.

[NCmom]

maybesomeday: We sailed the Majesty last April from Charleston, after sailing Disney for 5 times, RCCL once, and NCL Wind once. We had a great cruise and really enjoyed the Majesty, especially her staff. As a first cruise, the Majesty would be great. Here are my suggestions:

 

I would recommend making reservations at the Pasta Cafe--you don't have to pay extra, and the view is really pretty. I think the menu looks good too; we were sailing with 8 people and didn't even try to get a reservation.

 

If you are eat in between 6-7, expect that there may be a wait for a table. We sailed with early diners, eating most nights at 5:30, and experience no wait for tables (and this was Easter week with a full ship).

 

Bring an insulated mug for drinks--the glasses provided at the buffet are really tiny.

 

Try to get a room that is a "superior" vs. "regular" whether inside or out. The superior rooms are located mid-ship, and were done after the expansion of the ship, so they seem much larger than the regular rooms.

 

We loved swimming with the stingrays. We booked independently through Soto's and had an awesome time. I normally do book excursions independently, but would recommend that you booking the Sunset Catamaran through the ship--we were really late getting to Key West, and this might help insure that you get to do this excursion, if time is running late.

 

If you can, build in time to spend in Charleston (I assume that is where you're sailing from), so romantic, perfect for a honeymoon.

 

Have a wonderful trip, go into it knowing that the Majesty is an older ship without lots of bells and whistles. and don't be surprised if you come back addicted to cruising.

[electricron]

I never sailed on a horrible ship, and I have sailed on the Norwegian Majesty.

Does it have all the features many expect today, to be truthful no.

But the Majesty has all the features passengers expected when it was built in 1992.

 

Even though the Majesty lacks many features newer cruise ships have today, it has one advantage over them, the fact that it is smaller. Being smaller, it can sail into and dock at St. George and Hamilton Bermuda, a feat larger and newer ships can NOT do. Therefore, it's a perfect ship for a Bermuda itinerary.

 

The Majesty was stretched in 1999, giving it a second Main Restaurant (with NCL new jeans policy, it's a good to have a second Main Restaurant) and a Le Bistro (a surcharge restaurant with French menus). Along with more restaurants, the stretch job gave it more cabins, and more passengers.

 

You'll find all the basic, what everyone expects, on the Majesty; a casino, a show theatre, a disco, tax free shops, a buffet, pizza, and pasta, swimming pool, gym, spa, and many bars and lounges.

What you will not find on the Majesty are cabins and suites with balconies, bowling alleys, rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks, and a huge, multiple deck atrium or promenade.

[hotspur]

I understand your apprehension. I was one person who wrote a more negative review of the Majesty. My suggestion to you is to go on the Majesty for the following reasons:

 

1) As a first time cruiser, you WILL have a good time.

2) Your next cruise will certainly be better than this one.

 

Cruised Majesty twice. No reason for apprehension unless you are inherently sour. Nice little ship. Great crew. Food on par with all mass-market cruise lines. Wonderful destination. Anyone "more negative" about this cruise, well...

[bakechef]

Before I cruised this small ship, I had only sailed very new, very large ships. My cruise prior to this was RCI Voyager it is one of the largest most impressive ships that I have ever seen, with what seemed like endless things to do. With that said, I think that I enjoyed my Majesty cruise more, not because the ship was more impressive but the staff was just so warm, helpful, and more personal.

 

This will be a nice first cruise, kind of a good way to ease into cruising. The ship lacks a lot of glitz of the newer ships, but it is still easy on the eyes.

 

Go with an open mind, I read some less than favorable reviews on this ship, and they do seem to stick in your mind. Most of these reviews are from people who did no prior research and were disappointed when it wasn't just like their last cruise. This ship isn't built for freestyle, but we found that going early or late we walked right in to the dining room, if you choose to eat during peak times (7pm, most other cruiselines don't even offer a 7pm dining time) you may have to wait, just like a popular restaurant on land.

 

This was a perfect ship to recharge your batteries, it is very easy to get around.

 

This ship really won me over, I wasn't sure that it would.

 

MAC

[Mainelybubba]

I hope the replies have calmed your fears somewhat. If you'd like, check out my review of the June 17th sailing: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=580087

 

What everyone has said is so true - specially about the crew. In my opinion, the Majesty crew is simply wonderful. (Apparently some people have encountered less than pleasant crew, but that has never been my experience). You can have all the bells and whistles on a ship, but if the crew is not pleasant, that can definitely take away from the experience.

 

The food may not be 5 star but it is very good. I can't vouch for the buffets as we never eat (lunch/dinner) at them - if I wanted to wait on myself, I would have stayed home. :p We did do the breakfast buffet, which I believe I talk about in my post.

 

Go, have a great time.

[maybesomeday]

Thank you for each and every one of your responses.

 

I have been fretting, because I want it to be great, you know? I am so excited, even with the bad reviews, but I have had some hesitation brewing like did I make the right choice in changing ships just to go where I want and get the excursions I wanted. We were on the Grandeur of the Seas out of Maryland, but out of 4 stops, NO dolphin swim!!! I want to swim with dolphins on my honeymoon, it is how I pictured it for the last year and a half I have been engaged, so I changed ships!

 

I guess if the ship holds around 1900 people and they go out each week in the year, the Majesty caters to over 98,800 if all the ships go out full. I suppose out of the 30 or so bad reviews I have found on this site and other opinion sites, if it were REALLY that bad and people didn't feel they got their money... I would see a lot more unhappy posts.

 

I am going to have fun!!! My new husband, sunsets, and caribbean warmth and blue water.. how could the possiblility of bad food not make me excited for this trip!

 

Thanks again everyone!

[cruzeluver]

Seems to me that a lot of the negative Majesty reviews come from people who did no research prior. If you know what it is you are buying and keep your expectations realistic, you will have a great time.

 

I just don't get the people who come back with complaints like:

 

1.) the ship was too small

 

2.) it didn't have a (insert amenity here)

 

3.) the time in (insert port here) was too short

 

All of these things are stuff any reasonable person would have known prior.

 

We loooooved the Majesty. I don't require all the "bells and whistles" to have an enjoyable cruise. I require a clean room (no problem there), reasonably good food (in some cases it was quite outstanding), some quiet places to hang out and visit with friends or read (plenty of those) and a crew that is friendly and gets me in the vacation mood (the Majesty does this better then any other crew I have sailed with, bar none!)

 

Have a wonderful time!! :p

[mmceachn]

I have sailed the Majesty to Bermuda five times, and the NCL Dawn twice.

The Dawn is a bit nicer. but i enjoyed the Majesty every bit as much

 

Food is subjective, and what one person likes, another may not. That being said, I liked the food on the Majesty just fine. Some dishes were good and some were not. The nice thing about cruising is if you don't like your meal, they will bring you something else.

 

I would suggest that you make reservations in LeBistro for a special meal.

MY DH loves the Bistro, and we usually eat there at least twice during the cruise. The cover charge of 15.00 is well worth it for us.

 

 

NCL has a "honeymoon package" for 79.00 that includes a dinner in Lebistro with a bottle of wine, a bottle of wine in your cabinat embarkation, Chocolate covered strawberries delivered to your cabin one night, a champagne and cake party for 'honeymooners" and a photo. If you don't drink alcohol they subsitute sparkling cider

 

You can find the details on the NCL website if uou are interested.

 

 

Sometimes I read the negative reviews and wonder if the person was on the same ship that I was. The Majesty doesn't have a lot of fancy features, like the new megaships, but she has a loyal following of repeat cruisers who appreciate her charm.

[have fun now]

We have sailed the Majesty twice in the last year. I happened to prefer the Bermuda sailing over the Western Caribbean, although both were fun and very enjoyable! The Majesty is a good selection. It is the most rebooked ship at NCL!

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=25536

 

Participate and mingle a bit, have a few drinks and people watch, you will experience a great time! Hope you create some fun memories.

CONGRATULATIONS!