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Steve Millay

Age: 42
Occupation: Accounting Manager
Number of Cruises: 1
Cruise Line: Norwegian
Ship: Majesty
Sailing Date: June 22nd, 2003
Itinerary: Bermuda

This was our first cruise and we had a wonderful time. Overall I was very impressed with the Ship, the room, the service, and Bermuda!

Boarding
Boarding went really smooth. I was surprised at how many people were already at the dock at 1:00. NCL has a good system in place for checking in. The line moved very quickly. We provided our credit card info, birth certificates and photo licenses to an agent who then took a CAM photo of us. This photo was called up every time we swiped our room key when boarding and leaving the ship. On the walkway to the ship expect to be stopped a couple of times for photos.

Room
We had cabin 821. This room was on the Viking deck and we found it to be a convenient location for either going up to the sun deck or down to the dining decks. We had plenty of room. We moved the two beds together to make a queen-size bed. We had a clear view out the window except on the left side there was a lifeboat blocking the view in that direction. There is a refrigerator, hairdryer, TV and safe in the room. There was also a nice closet with full mirror doors. The bathroom was small but very well designed. The shower had plenty of power and there was always hot water. One day while in port, the water was brown for a couple of hours but other than that no plumbing problems. Room service cleans the room and changes towels twice each day. They also leave a couple of chocolates on our pillows. The room was also very quiet, even though we were not too far from the elevators.

Dining Food
I have eaten at some very fine restaurants and let me say that I was very impressed with both the menu items and quality of the food. Each night the menu changed and there was always something new and appealing. While eating we felt that we had our own personal waiters. They were always right there, filling our water, bringing us the next course, cleaning up our crumbs, changing and moving around our silverware. They always served from the correct side and were extremely professional. They also always made a point of thanking us for coming at the end of the meal. We ate mostly at the Seven Seas restaurant. We always asked for a table for two and never had to wait regardless of what time we went. Freestyle dining is the BEST!!!

The Ship
I love the Ship. She is laid out very nice. Is very clean and they were giving her a fresh coat of paint while we were there. They were always polishing the stairways. There is plenty of room to lounge on the top deck and even though it did get crowded up there, we always arrived at a time where we could find a good spot to sun. The pool deck though is always crowded and finding a table to eat at is almost impossible. Several times we just had to eat in the sun on our chairs. I was not impressed with the buffet or the Piazza in the back of the ship - even though both proved to be a good way to get a quick bite to eat. The food quantity was poor and the choices of meats for sandwiches were limited. The Hot tubs were usually full, but we did manage to squeeze into one on the last day. The travel was smooth, but one night on the way home we traveled through a thunderstorm and it was a little rocky.

The Entertainment
I was really blown away by the quality of the entertainment. We did not miss a show in the Palace Theatre. They have several good seats where you do not have to worry about someone blocking your view. The Norwegian Production company is a group of about 7 singers and dancers and they really were fun to listen to and watch. They all were very professional and top quality. They also had several comedians that did an excellent job getting the whole audience to laugh. The bar people were there making the rounds before each show, so it was very easy to get something to drink if you wanted it. I never found them to be intrusive. For all drinks you provide them with your room key and they then charge the drink to your room. I always ended up adding an additional tip on top of the automatic tip because I felt the service was very professional and outstanding.

Other areas
The Casino is large, but we found the slot machines to be worthless to play. Some people were having luck but overall the ones in Vegas have much better odds of winning. We stopped after spending $25.00 on them. The gift shop is nice, but has a very limited selection and not many souvenirs from Bermuda. There are plenty of shops in Bermuda that offer a much better selection of items at much better prices. They do have some nice hand made bracelets that you can buy. We never ate at the Royal Observatory because we were very happy with the service in both the Four Seasons and Seven Seas restaurant. During the cruise expect to rock a little in the dining room. Also you can expect some loud engine noise. This was okay with us. It just helped remind us that we were on a cruise. The Le Bistro was really nice except it is located in a very tight space. When we sat down we had a very LOUD group right next to us so it ruined the first part of the meal. However, even the service in the Le Bistro is very professional and outstanding. We paid $55 for 100 internet minutes and used them all. This proved to be a much better way to communicate with our kids at home. Well worth the money. The internet connection can be a little slow though, so most of our time went to sending and reading e-mails.

Bermuda
We arrived in Bermuda around noon on Tuesday. The Island has many beautiful areas. We recommend the Kayak tour and the Helmet Dive. Both of these were very fun and well worth the money. The beaches on the south side of the Island were the best. Horseshoe beach and Jobson beach were my favorites. Tobacco Bay looks real nice but is always very crowded. We were also amazed at the Crystal Caves. We traveled mostly by Moped and will say that the drivers down there have absolutely no patience for Mopeds at all, so be careful if you rent one. We also had a very good ferry ride from Hamilton to the Dockyard. Can't wait for another cruise!!!

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