Majesty Review (4/23-4/26)

A brief review of the Majesty. This is only my second cruise and the first mini-cruise we have ever done.

We stayed at the Doubletree Downtown on Thursday night. Nice hotel with a great pool area. Great view of the city. Got it for $40 on Priceline. Ate down on South Beach that night.

Friday morning. Left for the ship at 11. On board by 11:45. Check in was very smooth. Went to our room to change into swimsuit and headed to the Windjammer for lunch. Weather was great all weekend - mid 80's and very calm seas IMO. Coronas went down smooth - service by the pool was excellent - met some very nice ladies from Kentucky and Tennessee.

Dinner Friday night was Beef Tenderloin which I thought was very good - I like my beef a bit on the rare side so did not find it tough at all. Our show before dinner featured the RCI singers and dancers. Show was good - not great. Spent rest of evening in the casino. Won about $100 each night, almost covered our bar tab for the trip.

Saturday morning we had room service delivered to our room - the normal stuff, fruit, pastries, coffee. Nothing great but nothing bad. We departed for CocoCay around 9:30 and went to the quiet area which is off to the right when you get off the tender and go to the wave runners and then keep going right. Plenty of hammocks and chairs - you don't need to worry about getting their early to save chairs. Lunch consisted of BBQ chicken, Ribs, hamburgers and hot dogs. Lots of salads, fruit, etc. Once again, nothing great, nothing terrible. We went snorkling after lunch which was great. The sting rays were in the deeper water which is closer to where the ship is anchored. The entire snorkling area is roped off so you don't need to worry about boats, jet skis, etc. The snorkling was quite a workout (the only one of the trip :}) so we headed back to the ship around 3:30 for a nap.

Saturday night was the Captain's Cocktail party which we attended. Free champagne and Bahama Mama's. Someone in our group had several drinks - definitely quantity wa snot a problem. Dinner that night was a Venetian theme. I had the Chicken Marsala and Lobster Bisque soup - both were very good. Saturday night' sentertainment was a comedian, Karl Strong was his name I believe. He was hillarious - best entertainment on the ship. He kept it "clean" but was still fun to listen to. I think if there weren't kids in the audience it may have been different. I do give him credit for being professional about that.

After a late night of gambling (shut down our table at 3:00AM) we ordered room service. A tuna salad pita and nachos. They were in our room within 5 minutes and hit the spot.

Sunday morning we woke up and were in Nassau. A pipe broke about 8AM and so all the water was shut off. I woke up around 9:30 and it had just turned on. We ate breakfast at the Windjammer again. Typical buffet food - scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, fruit, omelette station, etc. Nothing great, nothing terrible. We got off the ship around 11 and headed to Atlantis on Paradise Island. If you have been to Vegas I would find something else to do. Very nice casino but Bellagio and Venetian are much nicer. Gambled a little bit, boughta few souveneirs and headed back to the ship. My wife wanted to go shopping, I headed back to the pool and took a nice nap. Lots of businesses are shut down in Nassau on Sundays so not quite the variety of stores she had hoped for.

Sunday night (our last night) was the International theme. I ordered the Turkey Dinner (I still don't know why). It was good, but could go to the local diner for the same meal. My wife got the Mahi Mahi which looked good. Our entertainment Sunday night was El Gaucho, a South American jack-of-all trades type. He played the guitar, played the piano, attempted some comedy, but the highlight was his use of the bollos (sp?) Brought a guy up on stage and gave him a "haircut". Looked dangerous to me.

Monday morning we went to the Windjammer for one last buffet. Our color was called by 8:30 and we were headed to the airport by 9:30.

Overall grades:
Weather (A+)
Food (B)
Room Steward (A-) (ice always full, room animals, turn down every night, extra towels, etc.)
Head Waiter (A-)
Asst. Waiter (A-)
CocoCay (A-) we love snorkling and laying out
Nassau (B )(Sunday was not a great day to be there)
Entertainment (Ranges from an A to a C+)
Overall Grade (B+)

Ship is showing signs of age, just like me, but the staff was always cleaning, picking up plates, etc. We really had a great time. For a weekend geatway it was great!

[img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]Thanks for the review, gregs! We leave tomorrow and will stay at the Hyatt (Priceline) until we leave on the Majesty on Friday! Reading your review got me even more psyched up to go!

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Majesty of the Seas

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Enchantment

Majesty 4/01
Explorer 4/02
Monarch 6/02
Majesty 4/04
Enchantment 10/04

Have a great time snow...I agree with all of gregs comments...the weather down there right now is great...Cocoa Cay is really relaxing...the service on the ship is impeccable...if they still have the comedian...he is a riot...he did 2 shows...kept the earlier one clean...and the late show got real risque...but FUNNY. The Hyatt Pier 66 was a big hilight for me...what a beautiful hotel for the money...make sure to have a drink at sunset at the rotating bar!!! Have a wonderful time and let us know how you make out when you return!!!

RCCL Majesty of the Seas - April 2004
Carnival Inspiration - June 2003
RCCL Monarch of the Seas - July 2002

gregs,

Thanks for the great review. I am really getting excited, since this is my first cruise. Not much longer!!! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

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Majesty of the Seas

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Great reviews both dental chic and yourself. We'll be leaving in a couple of weeks for our first RCCL cruise. Staying at the Radisson. Has anybody eaten at any of the Bayside restaurants? We're hoping to snag an upgrade too. As of today there are plenty of junior suites available.

Every day is a journey,so make the most of it.

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til 12/12/04 Mariner

11/03 Disney Wonder