Newbie Going Crazy

[cruise_newbie]

Hi everyone:

We are seriously thinking of taking our first cruise ever this October. We never had the chance or the money to take a honeymoon,so we thought this would be a great way to celebrate.

Neither of us have ever been on a cruise or an airplane for that fact, so we are newbies in every sense of the word..lol

We've already been to our closest AAA and got some quotes. We are leaning towards taking Majesty of The Sea,4 night in Bahamas cruise departing from Miami on the Oct. 24th.

Has anyone had any experience (good or bad)with the particular ship? I have more questions,but i'll get to those later.

Thanks in advance
patty

[kclvt]

My husband and I took our 2 sons and their spouses on this ship last April. It is a really nice small ship. This was the second cruise for my husband and I. Our first ship was the Explorer of the Seas which is really grand. We kept comparing the 2 and Majesty is older but still is grand! This is a good ship for a new cruiser in my opinion. It is an older ship but well kept up. Now we are going on the Serenade of the Seas on Sunday (to Alaska!) and wonder how this is going to compare to these other 2 ships.....can't wait and I'm sure we will be equally impressed.
You will love cruisin'...my husband and I are now hooked and won't vacation any other way! We are looking for a 2006 cruise now - either Southern Caribbean or Western?? Can't decide!

[cruise_newbie]

Enjoy yourself on your cruise!

patty

[Tracey and Bryan]

Originally posted by cruise_newbie:
Hi everyone:

We are seriously thinking of taking our first cruise ever this October. We never had the chance or the money to take a honeymoon,so we thought this would be a great way to celebrate.

Neither of us have ever been on a cruise or an airplane for that fact, so we are newbies in every sense of the word..lol

We've already been to our closest AAA and got some quotes. We are leaning towards taking Majesty of The Sea,4 night in Bahamas cruise departing from Miami on the Oct. 24th.

Has anyone had any experience (good or bad)with the particular ship? I have more questions,but i'll get to those later.

Thanks in advance
patty

You are going to have a great time on your first cruise! Be careful, you will be "hooked" and will want to cruise more and more! You even be talking your friends and family into cruising with you. It's so much fun. I've never been on a ship I didn't like. ha-ha

Tracey

You can't go wrong with a Royal Caribbean ship, new or old. My husband and I sailed on Majesty last July and had a great time. The ship is well maintained ! The crew was always friendly and helpful. Remember your cruise is what you make of it, the ship always has plenty of things to do....get out there and do them, you can rest when you get home.
We just returned from Alaska on Serenade of the Seas, great ship !! Very impressed with staff, I beleve that they went over and above. The bar tender at the Champainge Bar was our favorite, everynight he had a new trick for our kids. He went as far as reserving the window seats for us so we were able to have the best views while cruising. This is when you give that extra tip! Shows and activites were top notch....Alaska is fantastic I would recommend this cruise to anyone. Next cruise we are leaving the kids behind and Sailing Aug 3rd of 2006 on Brillance of the Seas, 12 Night Mediterranean Venice cruise. Hoping to book Freedom of the Seas for 2007....
Enjoy your cruise

Our first cruise was on Majesty of the Sea and we had a wonderful time We loved the ship Food was faboulous and so many choices to choose from Staff was excellent for evey need Entertainment was great We are panning on rebookimg a cruise on Majesty in the near future If you have any questions, feel free to ask Have a wonderful time You will have a lot of great memories

[cruise_newbie]

Ohh i have plenty of questions to ask..lol..

I'm not sure about what type of clothing to pack or what to take with me. I don't have alot of money to out and buy clothes for a cruise, our money is tight. I don't own a cocktail dress or anything fancy and my hubby can't wear a tie cuz he can't wear around close to his neck...*sigh*

Packing is always hard....but your going to a warm climate so shorts and shirts, bathing suits, comfortable shoes for the day. As far as night, just dress nice....in the formal dinning room no sneakers, short or jeans are allowed. Some people go all out on the formal nights, tuxes and gowns but as long as you look nice know one really cares. A summer dress for you and dress pants and a shirt for your husband would be great....Remember you don't always have to eat in the main dinning room, there are plenty of other places....
Remember its all about having fun !

[802couple]

My wife and I took our first cruise three years ago and are taking another one soon.

Concerning air travel, just make sure that anything you carry on cannot in any way conceivably be turned into a weapon as air security is very strict now (nail clippers, toothpicks, extra stiff playing cards, handguns...)

Concerning the cruise, I will assume you are at a higher lattitude so wear sunscreen the first day or two pretty thick, you dont want to have to stay indoors after the first day out because you are fire engine red. You dont have to spend money on excursions to have fun, pick up a cab and say "take me somewhere fun." The cruise people will lay everything out day by day for you, so dont worry about planning what you'll do everyday. You'll have fun no matter what.

[Tom]

Hi, Patty! Welcome to Cruise-chat! You'll find this site is a great resource for cruising. My wife and I and another couple went on the Majesty 1 1/2 years ago. It is a great ship! I know it was referred to as a "small" ship in the first post. Indeed, it is small compared to the mega-ships that are being presently launched. However, it is quite large. In fact, it is larger than the Titanic (2 feet shorter, but much larger in terms of gross tonage). You will be overwhelmed by the size of these ships. I live near Portland, Oregon, so prior to my first cruise a little over 2 years ago, I had never seen a cruise ship. When I first saw these behemoths, I was astonished by their size. My first cruise was on the Sovereign of the Seas (a sister ship to the Majesty). I had never seen a ship so big (until later when I saw one of the Voyager-class ships...holy cow, those are gigantic! Twice the size of the Majesty!).

Anyway, here are a few quick/random suggestions re: your cruise....

-seating: get late seating so that you can spend as much time on shore as possible without having to worry about getting back to the ship for dinner
-CocoCay: try to get on the first tender off the ship; that way you can find your "perfect" spot on the beach (and claim your hammock or beach chair). Also, snorkeling there is better in the morning (at least, the 2 times I was there it was)
-Nassau: take a taxi/bus/water taxi to Paradise Island and walk around the Atlantis resort. You can even use the beach there for free (at least we were able to...maybe we weren't supposed to
-Key West: if you want to splurge, take a catamaran and go snorkeling...it's one of the offered shore excursions; if you want to save money, walking around town in Key West is really cool
-enjoy yourself...do things that you maybe don't normally do (karaoke, dancing, eating more than you're supposed to, etc.)

Have fun and keep the questions coming...

Tom