Just off NCL Majesty 12/11/04

[Neil too]

I returned yesterday from a week's cruise on the NCL Majesty from Charleston to Cancun, Cozumel, and Key West. Prior to going I read many terrible stories about the ship and had some concern. I am a 72 year old man who traveled alone. I am not affiliated with any cruise line or travel agency and have no ax to grind in any fashion so when I tell you about this cruise you can believe me. Too much happens in a week to tell everything but here are some of the facts. Yes, I've cruised before on other lines but never on NCL.

The ship was very clean. The cabin stewardesses cleaned my cabin around 8:30 AM and again around 7 to 8 PM. My bed was made twice a day and all damp towels replaced. Fresh ice was placed in the cabin twice a day. I returned one time while it was being cleaned and one of the stewardesses was on her hands and knees scrubbing my bathroom deck (for no apparent reason I knew of) and then wiped it dry. My cabin was vacuumed every day I think and of course the trash was removed. I left money on the dresser daily and nothing was ever touched.

When you went to one of the main restaurants or the buffet, there was a container filled with a germ killing liquid. You put your hand an inch or two below it and a drop would fall into your hand so when you rubbed your hands together it would kill the nor virus and other culprits you might have gotten on the hand rails.

Sailing was very calm. Of course, we had no bad weather and I suspect it would have gotten a little too rough for some people if we had, but if you can ride a train without getting sick you would have had no trouble on this cruise. I detected no up and down motion, just fairly gently side to side motion. If you left your toilet door open when you went to bed at night you might hear it swing back and forth some. I danced some one night to the band playing Glen Miller music and only a few times did the roll of the ship make me take a step counter to the way I had intended. I took a deep sea fishing excursion at Cozumel and got sea sick pills from the reception desk just in case but they were not needed even then.

If you don’t like tobacco smoke (and I don’t), you won’t enjoy the casino or any of the bars, with one exception. There was one bar on the forward port side that didn’t permit smoking. And, of course, the Royal Theater served drinks but permitted no smoking. I saw no smoking in any of the main restaurants. There was an ash tray in the desk drawer of my cabin so I’m sure it had been used many times in the past, but I detected no stale smoke in the cabin.

I never found reason to go to either of the specialty restaurants where they had cover charges. I ate often in either the Four Seasons or the Seven Seas main restaurants and the attention I received from the waiters could have not been better. At dinner the menu always had several different appetizers, usually three types of soup or consommé, usually three types of salads, a couple of “eating light’ offerings (even a vegetarian could get by), and always at least three different main courses, often various types of seafood, beef, lamb, pork, etc. In addition, you could always order a steak or chicken from the grill. For desserts they brought samples to the table but if you preferred they always had several types of ice cream, parfaits, and other goodies you could select. And, there were several types of drinks such as tea, coffee, decaf, etc. If you wanted alcoholic drinks of any nature you would make the wine steward happy but they cost extra. The noon meals were almost as fine as the evening meals and the breakfast menu almost as extensive. Just to let you know what I selected during the week for the evening meal, I jotted it down. I won’t specify the breads or the vegetables that were served with the main courses. Sometimes I didn’t spell correctly so bare with me and if you know better just keep it to yourself. Even Microsoft spell checker has trouble with some of these.

Saturday

Norwegian Shrimp in Aquavit

Roasted Tomato-and-Red Pepper Soup

Russian Summer Salad

Roast Prime Rib of Heartland Beef

Irish Bread Pudding

Sunday

Timbale of Smoked Sturgeon with Caviar

Oysters Rockefeller

Wild Mushroom Bisque

Gala Salad

Fillet of Beef Tenderloin “Wellington”

(and I asked for a sample but was brought a whole serving of)

Broiled Nova Scotia Lobster Tail

(notice, I’ve still had no dessert ! Watching the waist line.)

Monday

Chilled Cream of Pistachios and Almonds

Caesar Salad

Veal Marcala

Tuesday

Ceviche of Mussels, Grouper, and Shrimp

West Indies Lobster and Pumpkin Bisque

Broiled Mahi-Mahi with Down-Island Salsa

Wednesday

(Every item was the favorite of some president or first lady

and some background was provided about each dish)

President Nixon’s North Atlantic Crab Soup (Extremely good!)

President Ford’s Smoked Norwegian Salmon Terrine with

Red Salmon Caviar Sauce

Nancy Reagan’s Poached Sea Bass in Champagne-and-Saffon Sauce

President Reagan’s Roast Rack of Lamb

President Reagan’s Floating Islands with Cointreau Sauce

(Yes, democratic presidents were represented too but I’m a Republican)

Thursday

Paris Bistro Escargots with Garlic-herb Butter (Extremely good!)

Pheasant Consommé “Aida”

The Captain’s Farewell Salad

Steak Diane flamed in Cognac with Sauce of Sauteed Onions & Mushrooms

Pecan Ice Cream with some type of vanilla wafers

Friday

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Smoked Hocks and Scallions

Cowboy Steak with Tobacco Onions (ordered from the grill)

Apple-in-the-jacket with Raisons and Marzipan on French Vanilla

Bean Sauce Baked in Puff Pastry Coat

(If you were trying to gain weight you could eat somewhere on the

ship any time between six AM and mid-night and I suspect you

could find something after mid-night were you to look).

What did I dislike? I thought the alcoholic drinks were too expensive. The internet terminals were much too slow and expensive (they charged by time so the baud rate was slow and the keyboard sluggish, etc.) The life boat drill on the first afternoon was not organized as well as it should have been and took too long. We had to anchor out at Cancun and use tenders to get us to shore. This was much like herding cattle and I didn’t care for it. In fact, if I ever anchor out again I’ll just spend the day on the ship. Getting aboard ship initially and off the ship was also like herding cattle but this involved customs, security, and ship personnel and moving 1600 people with their luggage, wheel chairs, babies, kids, and a couple of dogs in a relatively short period of time and had to be somewhat trying. As an after thought, there was a lot of coordination but at the time it was difficult to realize it. (I got home !)

Each evening and many times during the day there were various forms of entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed the comedians and the dancers and band were very good. The skits were funny. The Palace Theater had steel posts supporting the deck above which were hard to see through but with good imagination you didn’t miss much. I didn’t play bingo or bridge and I didn’t understand much about the bistro but they were available for those inclined. There were also kid keepers and baby sitters available. The pools and hot tubs were always in use and calypso bands were often active on the tenth deck, often with passengers dancing.

Overall, I rate this ship highly. Every member of the crew did their best to please. The passengers were mostly very friendly and quick to start up conversations. I certainly hope to sail again on this or any NCL ship. I preferred it to the Carnival cruise I took. I know there are those who probably disliked it but I suspect they would find something wrong with Christmas and the Good Fairy too.

Ask any questions you like. I’ll try to answer. If it is too personal to ask publicly, e-mail me at neilomyers@aol.com and put “cruise” in the subject line so I won’t delete it.

Neil :p

[bpear1600]

Nice job, Neil.

 

I believe you. I also believe everybody else that posts a review. People have different perspectives but I don't think anybody has an axe to grind.

 

How does it go? "One man's meat is another man's poison".

[Another Cruise Addict]

Paris Bistro Escargots with Garlic-herb Butter

 

Ironically, that's the main reason my wife wanted to sail the Majesty again. :laugh:

[Neil too]

Your wife has good tastes, especially in food. It and the Oysters Rockefeller were wonderful. I go to the scales tomorrow morning at the gym !

[Maddie444]

Neil too,

I have to agree with you! I've been on the NCL Majesty twice. This May will be my 3rd. time. A very comfortable ship and the crew are the best....

This Feb. I will be cruising on the Carnival Victory. A much bigger ship. I hope I find it as nice and friendly.

Maddie

[GregInCharlotte]

...for the detailed review and menus.

[GregInCharlotte]

Hi Neil. You wrote about tendering at Cancun. Was Cancun a scheduled stop for your cruise or was it a substitution? ( I remember some of the November Majesty Caribbean cruises scheduled Cancun instead of St.George, GCay bit I don't remember which ones)

 

Did you get off the ship at any other ports? Any impressions or reccomendations?

 

Again, thanks for the trip report. I hope to post one myself 2 weeks from today...

[Neil too]

Greg-in-Charlotte

Cancun was a substitution for Grand Cayman. Due to the hurricane the Majesty started going to Cancun. Although other ships have now started going to Grand Cayman again, I think the NCL Majesty temporarily lost out on pier space or something. Anyway, they are suppose to start going to Grand Cayman this week I think.

At Cancun I took the "Highlights and Shopping" excursion and it was poor. We ran up and down 7 mile beach and never entered the down town area. Some friends went snorkling and had a great time. The beach is nice but not as nice as Panama City, FL beaches. Extensive construction underway.

At Cozumel I did a little shopping since we were at the pier but then went deep sea fishing for 4 1/2 hours. Five men and one beautiful girl fished. She caught both of the fish that were caught. Two barracuda!

You dock at the pier in Key West and shuttles (free) take you down town. You can walk around to the bars and shops at that point or take a 90 minute tour on the same type of shuttle for $22 each. Key West reminds me of Georgetown, SC, only about 100 times larger. I'm speaking of the type construction and vegetation mostly.

A friend at Key West took the "Sunset Sail". Several two or three masted schooners sailed away into the sunset and it appeared to be something I should have taken. Of course the weather would be a major factor in considering that.

I read on someone else's posting that they were deathly allergic to tobacco smoke. I would strongly suggest they stay home as there is no way to completely avoid it when walking from one part of the ship to another.

Neil

[GregInCharlotte]

I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise

[WaxonWaxov]

Thanks to Neil. By far the best posts in regards to the Majesty in the past few weeks.

 

Cancun was a substitution for Grand Cayman. Due to the hurricane the Majesty started going to Cancun. Although other ships have now started going to Grand Cayman again, I think the NCL Majesty temporarily lost out on pier space or something. Anyway, they are suppose to start going to Grand Cayman this week I think.

I hope so.

 

 

A friend at Key West took the "Sunset Sail". Several two or three masted schooners sailed away into the sunset and it appeared to be something I should have taken.

Thanks for that tip. I might consider it now.

 

 

 

I read on someone else's posting that they were deathly allergic to tobacco smoke. I would strongly suggest they stay home as there is no way to completely avoid it when walking from one part of the ship to another.

:eek: Ut-oh. You said something negative about cruising. Countdown until post deletion: 10...9...8...7...

[coka]

Thank you for your review Neil! I sailed the Majesty twice and will do so a third time in 2005. I love the escargot and Nancy Reagan's Sea Bass!

 

Coka

[socerjim]

Hi Neil...we were on the Majesty with you. Was one of the dogs yours? The service Visla was a wonderful animal! :)

 

Kathy and I have been on the Majesty twice now, and on eight other cruises. We would agree with almost everything you say. Objectively, however, the ship was not in as good condition this time as the first time we sailed on her, and this was a surprise to us since we heard she was just out of dry dock for some refurbishing. In our opinion, there was still much to do! And I don't know if you noticed or not, but the ship was undergoing a thorough corporate inspection throughout the cruise, with Star personnel boarding in Cozumel who apparently were not pleased by what they saw...I saw a lot of long faces on the officers the next day, and lots of maintenance people being led around by their bosses. It was no co-incidence that MAJOR repainting started on Friday!

 

The food was great on this trip. Although the NCL menu has not changed much in three years, this is a plus because all the old favorites are still there on every trip, and practice has made perfect with many dishes. We are not big buffet fans, so I can't say much about pool deck food...although they still have some of the best hamburgers and hot dogs at sea! Evening meals are terrific, and far better than on some cruise lines (like Celebrity) that try to pretend their "name" chefs have a better idea. Food at sea is all about the line cooks...the guys who actually do the job...and NCL is far better than the other cruise lines in the galley department.

 

Cancun was a disappointment...we were glad we went there because we had never been before, and because Grand Cayman is not a favorite...but we wish they had diverted again to Belize as we love it there. In Cancun, there was little to do but find a beach, and since the one near the pier is as good as any other, we simply combed up and down that strand. It's amusing when the hotel security people try to convince you that the public beach you are on is "private"...there are NO PRIVATE BEACHES in Cancun! :D Biggest disappointment was that there was no really good local food on the beaches as that is one of our great pleasures on other islands. The wife said the snorkeling wasn't worth getting wet for, too.

 

All in all, a great trip once again. We got lucky on the weather, I think, as both the trip before ours and the trip after seemed to have colder, rougher weather. Actually, I thought Cozumel was a little TOO hot and was down with some heat induced dietary disfunction that night. Had it before, will have it again, got through it just fine. We found embarkation and debarkation to be very well organized and a snap for Lattitudes members...I did think Customs in Charleston was more picky than in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. We did have a downer as wifey left one of our bags in the closet in our stateroom, and I still have not got word from NCL as to whether or not they will try to track it down for us. I'll keep you posted on this issue as there were items of value in that bag.

 

Overall, we thought the trip was great value as our cruise price was under $1000 for the two of us, and we drove from Ohio to Charleston...including the $84 for parking and two nights in hotels, it was still less than one air fare would have been. :)

[Neil too]

No, SockerJim, I didn't take a dog with me but saw one man leading one around. I couldn't understand it since it was obviously not a guide dog.

 

The tenth floor buffet was fine for breakfast for me. The first two or three days I went to the Seven Seas but didn't need all the pomp and circumstance. The buffet had several fruits such as figs, prunes, bananas, even watermelon, etc., various pastries, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, grits, oatmeal, any type of cereal, several types of juice and various coffees, teas, etc. You couldn't get your eggs any way you wanted but then you couldn't get grits in Seven Seas.......

 

I know there is little chance that you knew them, but I wish I had gotten the last name of Ralph and Melinda. Please let me know if you do know.

 

I did notice the painting that started near the end of the cruise but didn't know about the inspection. By the way, the Majesty was rated 97 out of 100 on its last inspection by the US representatives.

 

Also, good luck with the luggage. I suspect you'll get it if you had tags on it along with the extra charges for handling it. They might even stick a $3.00 bottle of water in it and charge for that !

Neil

[danielp]

My wife and I basically had low expectations as it is a 3 star rated ship and considered old by todays standards. I would say that the food was reasonably good. There were exceptions. The only thing that comes to mind is the lobster, which was extremely dry and tough. If you want two I advice you order in the beginning as it will take forever. It seems like they don't really want you having more than one. Oyster Rockerfellers were horrible( I love them and know how they are to taste!). Overall service was good as was the entertainment. The ship was clean and appeared recently painted. On the second day of the cruise we had a toilet that would either not flush at times or(MUCH WORSE) would not shut off and flood the bathroom floor. Extremely gross! THIS CONTINUED FOR THE ENTIRE CRUISE! Once or twice a day we would have to have the plumber come and fix the problem. After 3 or 4 times of usage the toilet would again overfill and not shut off or not work. It was like a nightmare. After complaining many, many times by the end of the cruise they finally knocked $200 off our bill and I was assurred that I would be contacted by customer relations with in two weeks of returning for potential further compensation. It's been more than two weeks and I'm fairly certain they won't contact us so I quess I'll have to start calling. By the way, we were not the only ones to have an overflooded toilet on that cruise.

[GregInCharlotte]

No ones's expectations, low or high, includes an overflowing toilet.

[erby2283]

When we first got to our rooms, my BF opened up the bathroom and there was crap all over the seat. We called our steward and he said that the main pipe was backed up and that everyone around us (above and below) was affected. Two hours later, it still was not fixed. Our steward suggested that we call the reception desk as we would have more "weight" with our complaint vs. his.

 

The pipe was fixed later in the evening and reception followed up with us to make sure everything was in perfect order.

 

By no means did I allow this situation to affect my cruising experience. However, I can't imagine how it would have felt to have to put up with it ALL WEEK! Yuck!

[GregInCharlotte]

I'm 4 days away from hosting my family on the Majesty.

 

danielp was not immediately moved to a different cabin.

 

erby's steward suggested she go to the reception desk because he didn't have enough weight to have an emergency like this attended to.

 

While we discuss how many times to sing 'Happy Birthday' when washing our hands the toilets in the cabins are overflowing with raw sewage.

[Another Cruise Addict]

Yes, every cabin is covered in sewage on every sailing. Also, the dining room food is made from crushed rocks and glass and the employees spit on you as you walk by.

[GregInCharlotte]

That these people lied?

[bpear1600]

My wife and I basically had low expectations as it is a 3 star rated ship and considered old by todays standards. I would say that the food was reasonably good. There were exceptions. The only thing that comes to mind is the lobster, which was extremely dry and tough. If you want two I advice you order in the beginning as it will take forever. It seems like they don't really want you having more than one. Oyster Rockerfellers were horrible( I love them and know how they are to taste!). Overall service was good as was the entertainment. The ship was clean and appeared recently painted. On the second day of the cruise we had a toilet that would either not flush at times or(MUCH WORSE) would not shut off and flood the bathroom floor. Extremely gross! THIS CONTINUED FOR THE ENTIRE CRUISE! Once or twice a day we would have to have the plumber come and fix the problem. After 3 or 4 times of usage the toilet would again overfill and not shut off or not work. It was like a nightmare. After complaining many, many times by the end of the cruise they finally knocked $200 off our bill and I was assurred that I would be contacted by customer relations with in two weeks of returning for potential further compensation. It's been more than two weeks and I'm fairly certain they won't contact us so I quess I'll have to start calling. By the way, we were not the only ones to have an overflooded toilet on that cruise.

 

We were on the maiden voyage out of Charleston in November 2003 and we also had problems with the toilet overflowing. We also had yellow water all the time but no water from midnight to 7 AM. In the hallway outside of our suite was a bucket catching water leaking from an overhead pipe.

 

If that wasn't bad enough we had no AC in our suite for better part of three days and nights. Engineers came and went and once in a while it would go on but the next thing you knew it was like a sauna in there. One time they sucked in humid ocean air and began circulating it in the rooms and it was like it was raining inside. The bedside tables had a half inch of water on them and our clothes were soaking wet. The public rooms lost AC from time to time as well and the rumor on the ship was that the ship had limited power and AC had to be shut off for something else to work. What a joke... and they had been sailing for weeks under these conditions according to posts on another website.

 

Except for the omelette's in the morning the Windjammer sucked but the two DRs were very good in the evening although service was generally bad. The entertainment was excellent even if on a small scale, much better than RCI.

 

NCL Customer Service is slow but you will hear from them in a couple of months. We got 25% off a future cruise which we'll never use but, while appreciated, doesn't make up for the inconvenience we suffered during our cruise.

[Neil too]

I'm glad I didn't have your toilet problems. The toilets are vacuum type and there are warnings that if you put anything in them that shouldn't be it might

cause 50 toilets on your deck to quit working. The passenger that messes up everybody else's toilet should just leave the ship quietly.

 

I came close to causing a problem. The towel rack is directly above the toilet. I got up in the wee hours of the morning and not wanting to wake myself any more I didn't turn on the light. When I sat on the john my rear was on something wet and spongy (yuk). I reached back and flushed twice with no reasonable success. Only then did I turn on the light and discover one of my towels was in the john. It was too big to flush, thank goodness. I pulled it out myself (would be hard to get a cute room stewardess up there at that hour of the night), threw it in the shower, and cruised the rest of the time uneventfully.

 

As to the Oysters Rockefeller, mine were great but I only got two. I could have made a meal off them. The escargots were by far the best thing I ate. The steaks from the grill, even the Steak Diane, were not very good. And, forget the Cowboy Steak with Tobacco Onions. The onions were OK but the Cowboy was quite tough. I thought the Beef Wellington was very good, although rather thin.

 

I guess I would say that the descriptions of the various meals exceeded the quality in most cases, but some items were exceptionally good and I'm sure there were variations within each.

Neil

[Another Cruise Addict]

That these people lied?

 

Not at all. Why, are you?

[GregInCharlotte]

Yes, every cabin is covered in sewage on every sailing. Also, the dining room food is made from crushed rocks and glass and the employees spit on you as you walk by.

What was the purpose of this remark?

[Another Cruise Addict]

What was the purpose of this remark?

 

The purpose was to make a ridiculously extreme comment in order to hopefully bring a little rational thought into your rampant sensationalism. But, I see it failed miserably.

 

Look at it this way: According to NCL, the Majesty holds 1462 passengers. Assuming it sails 50 weeks a year and has at least 1200 people on board each time, that's over 60,000 people that travel on the Majesty every year.

 

How many of those 60,000 people do you think had sewage backup in their toilets? What are the odds that you will have sewage backup in yours?

[Another Cruise Addict]

BTW, sewage backing up is a possibility on any vacuum-flush system, which AFAIK is in use on all cruise ships. All it takes is one bad passenger trying to flush something large.

 

Do a search on these boards for "sewage" and see for yourself.