Majesty of the Seas; 25-29 August 2014

DW and I, both in our mid-50s, went on a 4 day cruise on Majesty of the Seas, August 25-29, 2014.

It is our third sailing on Majesty of the Seas; two previous sailings were in August 2012 and May 2014. We like this itinerary because it is easy for us to get to Miami and because Monday through Friday sailings fit into our schedules.

Although we are not most experienced cruisers, we have few cruises under our belts. We prefer smaller ships (Enchantment, Grandeur, HAL Maasdam, Carnival Imagination); we think that smaller ships offer more intimate sailing experience and that is what we prefer.

Here is a picture of the Bridge right before we sailed:

Here is a picture across the bow of the ship as we were sailing out of Miami:

On sail-away we flew into Fort Lauderdale Airport. We had a fairly early flight (around 6:15 am) and we landed in FLL around 8:20 am.

To get to Miami cruise port we used SAS shuttle. It is our third time using this company and based on our experiences I highly recommend them. They require advance reservations, every time we used them they were prompt and courteous.

We arrived to the Miami cruise port at approx. 10:15 and had to wait until registration was open at around 11 am. We went through security and were on-board by 11:15.

For lunch we went to the Windjammer on 11th floor. Our other available venues were Compass Deli, Sorrento's Pizza and Johnny Rockets. Although it is not advertised anywhere, these venues were opened for lunch.

After lunch we went to the room and took a nap until we waken up by cruise director Michelle announcing the muster drill. All I am going to say about the muster drill that it is what it is. Announcement for the muster drill was done in five (5) languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French. That is an indication how international clientele of the Majesty is. Every time that we have sailed on her, passengers were from many different countries.

That is a first glance at our room.

Few days before the sail-away, the Upgrade Fairy graced us with a visit and we upgraded to an outside room. I have to admit, I like the Upgrade Fairy.

This is a view from the bow of the ship shortly prior to sailing:

nice pictures enjoying your review. Hope you write more

Here is a picture of Carnival Ecstasy docked in front of Majesty

Crew member working to untie Majesty for sail-away:

Sail-away was not all that exciting and I will not be posting pictures of 1000 of my new closest friends simply because I did not take any.

I did however took some panoramic pictures of what Miami looked like right after the muster drill...

Here is a view from starboard side:

Here is view from the port side:

Some views of Miami as we were sailing by:

Here we are sailing by Ecstasy:

Miami astern...

This is a panoramic picture of Miami as we were sailing away. On the left side of the picture, check out the Ecstasy leaving Miami after Majesty

Loving the review. I understand how you love the smaller ships, they seem so easy to get around. Also, the staff seems more personable. I love all of the windows on Enchantment!!! I started a review on her in my signature if you are interested. :)

I have been wanting to try Majesty, but she doesn't seem as nice as Enchantment. How do the two compare?

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After sail-away we went to Viking Crown Lounge. Part of the lounge is roped of for Diamond and Diamond Plus members and another part is roped off for Concierge Lounge and suite guests.

We had a glass of vine with some tasty snacks and then went for dinner.

This trip we did not bother going to the MDR for dinner partly because we did not like the food there when we were on Majesty in May 2014. Instead we ate in Windjammer.

Windjammer is clean, well organized, it was never crowded, and although food was not gourmet quality but it was very good. Tables were bussed quickly, and every time we needed water, a server would refill our glasses. We really enjoyed Windjammer.

Welcome aboard show was good. Michelle introduced herself and then there was a comedian whose name I did not bother to remember. Comedian was good, his routine was intelligent, well written and well presented. We really liked him.

 

I have been wanting to try Majesty, but she doesn't seem as nice as Enchantment. How do the two compare?

 

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We have sailed on Enchantment quite a lot because we live near Baltimore which was Enchantment's home port.

Enchantment has a solarium that we enjoyed a lot; Majesty does not have the solarium.

Enchantment has many balcony staterooms, while I am not aware that Majesty has any.

Both ships have distinct personalities and distinct feel to them. When we sailed Enchantment, she had a huge following and there were many repeat passengers. I am not aware of the following on the Majesty.

We noticed how international passengers are on Majesty every time. Announcements were made in five languages. Enchantment was mostly US citizens.

Enchantment has steakhouse but no Johnny Rockets.

Spa is much more accessible and is much nicer on Enchantment than on Majesty. I enjoyed steam room on Enchantment; on Majesty I looked at the steam room and never came back.

On Enchantment we never even thought about skipping the MDR for dinner; on Majesty we chose to use Windjammer because food was not all that good in the MDR in May.

Hope that helps....

We have sailed on Enchantment quite a lot because we live near Baltimore which was Enchantment's home port.

 

Enchantment has a solarium that we enjoyed a lot; Majesty does not have the solarium.

 

Enchantment has many balcony staterooms, while I am not aware that Majesty has any.

 

Both ships have distinct personalities and distinct feel to them. When we sailed Enchantment, she had a huge following and there were many repeat passengers. I am not aware of the following on the Majesty.

 

We noticed how international passengers are on Majesty every time. Announcements were made in five languages. Enchantment was mostly US citizens.

 

Enchantment has steakhouse but no Johnny Rockets.

 

Spa is much more accessible and is much nicer on Enchantment than on Majesty. I enjoyed steam room on Enchantment; on Majesty I looked at the steam room and never came back.

 

On Enchantment we never even thought about skipping the MDR for dinner; on Majesty we chose to use Windjammer because food was not all that good in the MDR in May.

 

Hope that helps....

Thanks, I think we will stick to Enchantment. The only perk on Majesty is the Key West day on the 4 nighter. And that's odd about the announcements, on Enchantment we heard ONLY English. PC and Miami are not that far.

EDIT: Why don't you do the Enchantment 4 nighters? It is just MARGINALLY more expensive than Majesty.

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Thanks, I think we will stick to Enchantment. The only perk on Majesty is the Key West day on the 4 nighter. And that's odd about the announcements, on Enchantment we heard ONLY English. PC and Miami are not that far.

 

 

EDIT: Why don't you do the Enchantment 4 nighters? It is just MARGINALLY more expensive than Majesty.

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Do you know of any shuttle/limo company that can take us from Orlando Airport to Port Canaveral Cruise Port? One of the reasons we sail out of Miami is because we were not able to find a reliable way to get back and forth between airport and seaport... I would really appreciate any input about that...

As to announcements: On Majesty we met people from Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, Italy, Germany and French Canada. It was interesting to talk to them; they love Miami and they go on a cruise as a part of a larger vacation.

Do you know of any shuttle/limo company that can take us from Orlando Airport to Port Canaveral Cruise Port? One of the reasons we sail out of Miami is because we were not able to find a reliable way to get back and force between airport and seaport... I would really appreciate any input about that...

 

As to announcements: On Majesty we met people from Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, Italy, Germany and French Canada. It was interesting to talk to them; they love Miami and they go on a cruise as a part of a larger vacation.

You could do the transfers thru Royal, but after I finish typing this post I will look for some.

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Enjoying your pictures.

Here is a thread on the subject

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1589975

And there is another company called Cortrans that claims to be only $20 from MCO to the port.

There seems to be mixed review however.

It is only a 45 minute drive from MCO to the port. We live in St. Pete and could have driven directly from our house to the port, but we chose to stay 2 nights in Cocoa Beach.

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Our first stop was Nassau. Since we've been to Nassau many times we decided to stay on board and chillax by the pool.

Here is a panoramic image of Nassau that I made in Photoshop. Images to make this panorama were taken from the bow of the ship on 13th deck (above Johnny Rockets:

Here is a picture of the Lido Deck and pools:

Here is a picture taken at Johnny Rockets. Every 15 mins or so, all the waiters do a dance to entertain customers. BTW: we enjoyed Johnny Rockets a lot. Wait staff is awesome and food is great.

Here is a picture of Enchantment arriving at Nassau. They were scheduled to be at Coco Cay that day but because of storm Cristobal, they could not tender on Coco Cay; instead they came to Nassau and stayed there overnight:

Here is Enchantment docked next to us:

More pictures from around the deck:

nice pics

After the Sun went down, the temperature dropped and breeze picked up.

DW and I walked off the ship and took some night photos around the Nassau Port.

We got up early that day.

Prior to breakfast I went promenade deck to watch the sunrise. It was beautiful and I will post some pics later.

Here are some images from that morning.

View from the Cabana club:

Vision of the Seas docked at Coco Cay:

Majesty docked at Coco Cay:

Seen around the straw market that day:

Great pics, thanks for sharing. Majesty delivers a good time. Despite not having all the upcharge places the basics are done RIGHT and you don't miss all the upcharge for a shorter cruise.

Water on Coco Cay was clear, calm and pleasantly warm. We could see a lot of fish without having to snorkel...