Eric

Age: 29
Occupation: Pilot
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Ship: Majesty of the Seas
Sailing Date: November 29th, 2004
Itinerary: Bahamas

Overall the cruise was excellent. It was my second cruise, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Like many of you I read all of the reviews on this site prior to sailing to get an idea of what to expect and also to pick up any hints, tips or suggestions from previous cruises so I will try and include some of my own suggestions as well.

We used the airport to pier transportation through Royal Caribbean and it was very easy. One of RCCL’s staff was waiting for us at the baggage claim and directed us to the bus. We dropped our luggage at the curb and RCCL checked it to the cabin. The first suggestion I would make is to make sure to pack a change of clothes (especially shorts and a short sleeved shirt if you are traveling from a cold climate like me!) in your carry on luggage. We got on board the ship about 2:00pm but our luggage didn’t get to our cabin until after 6:00pm.

After arriving at the pier, check-in took about 20 minutes. We had filled out all of our paperwork before hand and were ready to go, unfortunately the group in front of us in line was not so organized and they took 15 minutes to get processed. So suggestion number 2 is to make sure you have all of your documents filled out ahead of time.

We had heard some complaints on this website about waiters harassing you when you board. I did not find this to be the case. I walked right by the table where they had the wine pre-order going on. They did not pressure us into buying anything. I decided to buy the soda sticker for unlimited soda during the cruise. You will need to decide for yourself if it is worth it. They have free lemonade, ice tea and water. If you purchase the sodas from the bar they are $1.50 each.

After dropping our carry-on luggage at the cabin, (interior room on deck 2) we went up stairs to the Windjammer Café, where they were serving lunch. Another tip, they have 4 lines for the buffet, there are two right when you enter and two more further forward. Since most people are new to the ship they get in the first line they see so that line gets rather long. If you continue forward through the double glass doors you will find two more lines, (one on each side of the ship) with additional seating and less of a wait.

There was a mandatory Life Boat Drill at 4:30pm with the ship sailing at 5. The drill was straight forward. One bit of advice: before the drill walk around and find your lifeboat muster station, if you are on the side of the ship that is in the sun you might want to bring a hat and sunscreen since the drill takes about 20 to 30 minutes.

We had selected the second seating for dinner. On my first cruise we were on the first, or main, seating and I enjoyed the second seating much better. On the first, or main, seating it always felt as if we were rushed to get to dinner. The ship sailed at 5 and dinner was at 6:00 so you were always rushed to get back to the cabin, change clothes and get to dinner. At Key West the ship sailed at 6:00 so some people had to hurry to get back from the island and off to dinner. The wait staff at our table was excellent. My wife and I joined 3 other couples at dinner and had a very good time. Some people complain about having to have dinner with “strangers”; we actually enjoyed it. Everyone introduced themselves the first night and we had a great time. If you really want to be anti-social and dine by yourself you can always take advantage of the Windjammer Café or room service.

A word on cabins, many people have made notes on this site about how small they are. We were in the smallest category, inside cabin on deck 2. It was just my wife and I and it was fine for the two of us. There was a queen size bed (actually the two beds in the cabin pushed together.) The room is small but you really don’t spend any time there since all the action is in the dinning room or on the upper decks. The bathroom is proportionally small, but it is about 4 times the size of an airline bathroom. The shower is narrow. I would guess it is about 3 feet wide by about 2.5 feet deep. If you need more room close the bathroom door and open the shower curtain. There is a drain on the main bathroom floor in case you splash water out of the shower. We had no problems with the size of the shower. Also the shower head is removable to help make rinsing easier.

( A picture of the bathroom for your information)
Being a pizza lover, I was curious to see how the pizza was at the Mast Bar up on deck 12. I had read mixed reviews on this website. I thought it was pretty good. You shouldn’t expect California Pizza Kitchen, since you will be disappointed. It was better than frozen pizza but by no means gourmet. They have plain cheese and Cheese and Pepperoni every night plus one special of the day. They were vegetarian, Hawaiian (pineapple and ham) and Barbeque Chicken. The Barbeque Chicken was very good.

There was some concern on this site about being able to catch a Monday Night Football game. We found the game on the on board Television in the rooms, and also the game was played on the big screen TV’s in both the Schooner Bar and the Mast Bar.

If you like ice cream they sell Ben and Jerry’s up by the pool and they have a self serve soft Ice Cream machine at the Windjammer Café that is free. (Vanilla, Chocolate and mixed).

The first stop was Nassau, Bahamas. We didn’t take any of the ships excursions; instead we just walked around the city. There is some shopping, jewelry, watches and liquor being the most common. We took a water taxi to Paradise Island (Home of the Atlantis Resort.) Atlantis was ok. We walked around the public areas and went back to the ship; if you don’t go over there you won’t be missing anything. The water taxi was definitely unique. It is a marginally seaworthy rig they try and stuff as many tourists into as possible. It is cheaper than a regular taxi ($8 vs. $6 round trip) The water taxi looked like one of the boats that you see the Coast Guard picking up the refugees fleeing Cuba in. Several of the excursions looked like fun. If I went again I would skip all the who-ha in downtown Nassau and go on one of the Snorkeling trips or the Seaworld Explorer.

We went back to the ship and tried out the rock wall. It was fun, I had never done it before and the instructors were helpful and some fellow passengers waiting for their turns offered encouragement. If you want to try it, a good time to do so is while the ship is in port.

The next stop was Coco Cay. Coco Cay was the highlight of the trip for both of us. We went snorkeling. I have been diving or snorkeling in a lot of places but Coco Cay was the best. If you like to snorkel, go early. We were on the first tender over and were about the 4th and 5th people in the water. It was incredible! The water was cool at first but felt ok after a few minutes. The visibility was great. Be sure to go early since the reef in close gets murky in the afternoon from all the people stirring up the sand. The fish were incredible they were everywhere. We saw tons of Yellow Snapper and Sergeant Major fish, they were everywhere. We also saw a lot of other stuff including a Barracuda about 4 and a half feet long and several Sting Rays, Grouper, among others. There is a “shipwreck”, a mock up of “Pirate” ship they have placed in the area to dive on. There is also 2 airplane “wrecks” that have been sunk as artificial reefs. (For you aviation enthusiasts the airplanes are a Piper Aztec and a Beech 18.) There are three lifeguard towers in the snorkeling area and the lifeguards will feed the fish when there are people snorkeling in the area. The fish are well aware of this easy meal so they gather at the lifeguard towers and swarm around you since they know that when the divers show up a meal is sure to follow! If you decide to go snorkeling on your cruise a couple of tips to make it more enjoyable. Wear a t-shirt while diving. This will keep the sun off your back and avoid a nasty sunburn. I wore a t-shirt and was fine; we saw several people that didn’t and they were burned badly! Also bring along an old pair of socks to wear while snorkeling, especially if you rent equipment. The fins can start to rub in places after a little while. I noticed this and put socks on and it prevented blisters and made the fins much more comfortable. If you plan to do any snorkeling, before you leave home, go out and buy a disposable underwater camera. You will be able to get some great underwater pictures. If you buy the camer at home you will pay $10 to $15 for it. If you wait and buy one at Coco Cay or on the ship it will cost you $20.

One of the couples we met did the wave runner experience and they loved it. We walked around the island and had lunch at Blackbeard’s Grill. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have the Aqua Park up and running which had looked like it would be fun. At the end of the day the line for the tender back to the ship was really long but it didn’t take that much time since each tender held 300 people. (The tenders are much better than the water taxis in Nassau!)

The third stop was Key West, FL. Key West was a pain. Since we were back in the US we had to go through Customs which was a complete goat rope. The Customs Service insisted that everyone on the ship present documents (passport is best although they would accept a birth certificate with a picture ID) The process started at 8:45am and went fairly quickly except for a few people that didn’t show up holding up the entire process. We finally got cleared and could leave the ship about 11:45am!

We opted to skip the excursions and walked around downtown Key West. We walked to the “Southern Most Point in the US” marker, and shopped on Duval Street. Mel Fisher’s Museum is interesting. We talked to a couple who went on the Snorkeling tour and they were disappointed, it seems the water was rough and the tour was more about drinking than diving. Although there were several tours to choose from.

The last night of the cruise is when you tip the wait staff and your cabin attendant. There was some discussion on this site about tipping. The cruise line sends out a letter with suggested amounts. I will include them here for your information and planning. For your dining room waiter $3.50 per guest per day. For your assistant Dinning Room Waiter $2.00 per day per guest. For your Stateroom Attendant $3.50 per guest per day. We chose to give our stateroom attendant more than the suggested amount since we felt she did an outstanding job.

Disembarking in Miami was no big deal. They give you color coded luggage tags and then call your color to get off the ship. The whole process was fairly smooth. Since we had 8 hours until our flight we booked an Everglades excursion through the ship. The tour included an airboat ride and an alligator show. It was ok, I wouldn’t call it a must see, but if you are have a long time before your flight out it is something to consider. One other point to ponder, check the availability and prices for flights out of Miami and Orlando. The Majesty’s sister Sovereign of the Seas sails out of Port Canaveral on the same route and depending on where you live airfare to Orlando might be cheaper. Either way I am sure you will have a good time. Get out there!

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