Back from Majesty Colourful Coasts

Got back on Friday from a fab cruise on the Majesty :D We spent our first week at a hotel in Tenerife which was really nice but I couldn’t help secretly counting down the days until the cruise!

We had about an hour transfer from the hotel and after a quick check in we were shown our cabin. We had an inside plus cabin on deck 3-4, I didn’t prebook as none of them looked to be near the dreaded rear section . We were allocated 4012 and I had forgotten to bring my deck plan, so we had a clenched few minutes waiting to see which area it was in. We needn’t have worried, it was near the front of the ship and we were pleasantly surprised by the size after the cabins we had previously stayed in on Destiny. It was lovely and quiet apart from a few minutes of the bow thrusters when arriving/leaving port. You could hear this from the front and as far back as the first set of lifts. A little rocky some nights but I wasn’t sure if this was because we were near the front or if it was the same everywhere else. We had a walk around deck 4 one night and were pleased we weren’t at the back. As previously reported on here everything to the rear of the medical centre was noisy and shaking when the ship was on the move. People in cabin 4080 said the whole room was vibrating, but they had only booked 2 weeks previously so had taken their chances with cabin allocation.

I couldn’t quite get my head around the layout and had to constantly look at the deck plans. It helped on the Destiny with the front of the ship having different coloured carpets to the back. There seemed to be a lot of mirrors which was great for making the public areas look nice and big but didn’t help with my lack of sense of direction and constantly walking into my own reflection!:rolleyes:

We ate in the Sevens Seas and also the Four Seasons and enjoyed both. The quality of the food was superb. I am a vegetarian and have always been well catered for on my previous two cruises and this was no exception. We usually arrived between 6.30 – 6.45 and always got a seat, I noticed queues forming around 8pm. On our first night we were told that if we arrived by 7pm the next night they would hold the same table for us but we didn’t bother, although we half wished we had done this so we had the same waiters throughout the week. It was nice to see Leroy from the Destiny and we recognised a few other members of staff. I wasn’t overly impressed with Café Royale…slightly chaotic layout, not enough seating (although you could go downstairs to the Royal Observatory) and sometimes food not as hot as I would like. Plenty of choice though, and some fantastic puddings! We ate at the San Marco Piazza a couple of times (pizza, hot dogs etc) and also enjoyed the BBQ they had on deck on the Agadir day.

We really enjoyed the shows, and the dance couple they now have (Julian and Clarissa?) were fab. We always went to the first show and had a choice of where to sit – I didn’t like the chairs they had in front of each row of seats, so easy for people to walk in last minute and position themselves on a chair directly in front of you grrrrrrr.

On the Agadir day we went on a tour around the bridge which we found really interesting – particularly the fascinating photos of the Majesty cut in half when they lengthened her, well worth a look.

There didn’t seem to be as much contact with the Captain this time, not as many announcements when we were departing the port and he didn’t say much at the Captain’s Night – not like Capt Psarrakis (spelling?!|) on the Destiny. I was slightly put out on Captain’s night, when we posed for our photo with him he gave us a little shove on our backs afterwards to see us on our way, I know he has a lot of people through but did think it a little unnecessary!

Ports – we didn’t go far in Las Palmas, had a leisurely walk around and went to the beach. Santa Cruz de la Palma – we went for a walk up to some fortifications (past the naval museum) and around the town which has some interesting buildings. There was a market near the Port with a band playing which we watched for a bit. Funchal – loved it here, so pretty. Quite a cloudy day which was a shame but we got the HoHo bus and did a tour around and went for a walk around Funchal. Agadir – did the Thomson trip to Taroudant. We enjoyed the trip and found the guide very informative, although my husband did say he found the Souk very similar to Skegness indoor market. The guide said we could all have free time or come with him to a shop where they demonstrated how argan oil was produced and explain about various spices, lotions, potions etc. You could tell most of the group didn’t want to be left so we all plodded after him, he couldn’t shake us off! Arrecife – we did the Fire Mountain trip and were so glad we did, my daughter loved the camel ride and we all thoroughly enjoyed the tour around Tamanfaya National Park. Again, we had a really interesting and informative guide. Thanks Kruzseeka, Julesmiles and others who recommended these trips :)

So stay and cruise or cruise and stay? Having now experienced both I would definitely do the hotel part first, then the cruise – finish the holiday on a high! When we stayed in a hotel after our first cruise it felt so flat, although the hotel was lovely it didn’t have the same friendly atmosphere as the ship and the food/entertainment wasn’t half as good. This time it was the same in reverse, so I’m so glad we saved the best until last!

I would book the Majesty again without a moment’s hesitation, I had a great week and didn’t want to leave. I would also like to try the other Thomson ships too…. Now where did I put that brochure! :p

Thank you for the excellent review Deb. We loved her in The Adriatic in Sept and didn't want to get off. Fully agree with you about variable food temperatures and seating at busy times. But like you, we and the staff went downstairs to the Royal Observatory with the food.

Berwyn

Glad to hear you had a good time Deb:D

The noise on deck 4 just past the Medical centre ..wow:eek: You have to be there and now you know first hand ,

why some of us pay the £42 to avoid it .;)

Well you have done Cruise and stay and also Stay and cruise ...

The only one left is cruise and cruise again the week after ;):D

Good review Deb :)

Glad to hear you had a go

 

Well you have done Cruise and stay and also Stay and cruise ...

 

The only one left is cruise and cruise again the week after ;):D

And the advantage of that is that you only have to pack and unpack once:rolleyes::D

Thanks for that interesting review Deb - so glad you enjoyed your trip. :) I wonder how long you'll last til you have the next one in your sights! :D

Thank you for your review - glad you enjoyed Taradount & Timanfaya. Like Kalos says, you will now had to do a B2B - we have only done 1 cruise & stay & since then have done B2B as we never want to be off the ship!

Good review, we did this cruise 2 weeks ago, your view of the captain same as mine. we enjoyed too, we were also deck 4 inside plus. but we did our hotel after cruise.

Great review Deb :) we loved the Majesty too :)

I can recommend the Dream as well. If you thought the entertainment was good on the Majesty, you should try the Dream, they have a fabulous theatre and can put on spetacular West End type shows.

Thanks for the review, Deb 71, sounds like you had a great holiday :)

Thought the Captain was pretty anonymous when we were on last year too.

I enjoyed your review of Majesty and glad you had a lovely holiday we are on Majesty in June for 2weeks and looking forward to that :)

Thanks, I'm glad you liked the review - I have gained so much information from other people's feedback so thought I would make the effort and tell you my thoughts :)

Would LOVE to do a b2b, maybe when my daughter is a bit older. One advantage of the hotel part of the holiday was that she had her own room so we had a bit of space before sharing a cabin with her for a week! My husband is also a bit of a landlubber and isnt sure if he could handle 14 days :rolleyes: Mind you, maybe I could suggest a compromise of a 10/11 night cruise.....;)

great review, many thanks for this:cool:

Great review,all you lovely people are helping me learn about cruising.