Majesty 7/31-8/7...I'm back!

Well my first cruise is over....we had a great time. High points...We really enjoyed bingo (ridculously priced, but fun), room service, the casino....we loved the towel animals our housekeeping staff left, mints on pillow, the twice daily housekeeping...usually service in the dining room was excellent...We also enjoyed some of the shows (I was in "Who wants to be a bazillonaire? :))...The chocoholic buffet (especially the strawberries!)...

Lower points...1)Due to the weather, a lot of excursions were cancelled on Wednesday. When the weather got better, for some reason they cancelled more...a lot of people were upset. I mean, Friday morning it had to be 90 and sunny...I saw a lot of angry people. Our Coral Reef Fishing was cancelled, which stunk because I had to go to Shore Excursion multiple times the first day when my tickets never appeared in my room!

2)I'm a sub teacher, so I like kids. But...when they are unsupervised, all in the adult hot tubs with no adults (there is a sign!)....all literally laying on staircases and hallways with no supervison so you couldn't get by....it got me annoyed. Some parents were not watching their children! We also met a woman (in a wheelchair) that has extreme diffuculty getting around the ship due to children playing in the elevators with all the buttons! In fact one of them (young teen) told us she was bored so it was fun to play in the elevators....I can't tell you what the disabled woman said to them! :) I think that they need to plan more activities for kids so they aren't as disruptive.

3) Two crewmembers in particular...the DJ in the club, who refused to play any requests even though there was no one dancing and the casino manager, who believed my husband (who is almost 23) was an underage minor and accused him of such even when presented with ID. The manager thought my husbands ID was fake!

Recommendations: Definitely go to Tobacco Bay and go snorkeling. It's the closest beach to the boat, maybe a 20 minute hilly walk...it was amazing. Schools of fish swimming all around you...awesome! Great beach for children, beautiful water and formations....:)

Because of the tropical storm, we didn't see as much as we would have liked....but it was fun! I can't wait to book another cruise!

If anyone has any questions, please ask away...I'll try to help!

Thanks for the review! I'm glad you had a good time, but I wish others would have been more courteous. I hate that!! Precisely why I booked my cruise on the Majesty Sept 25th.....kiddies will be back in school. :-) I love kids, but I know what you mean....I've sailed on her before and am looking forward to seeing her again. Was Ricky still the CD? I've had him 3 times already.....just thinking about him makes me tired..hahahaha and I KNOW you know what I mean. Welcome home!

-Sarah

Did you book excursions when you got aboard or did you research and book prior to departure? did you get to do any excursions?

just curious as to how much the bingo costs to play because I keep hearing about how it is so expensive:rolleyes:

Ricky was still the CD....he was hilarious, tons of energy and very approachable!

We booked our excursion prior to getting onboard. They landed up cancelling a lot of excursions for three days straight, all the ones that took place on water (snorkeling, helmet dive, fishing, etc). Disappointing, but hopefully next time!

Bingo was rather expensive. Every time we went, it seemed to get more expensive. There are a variety of price options, the lower ones (which were usually 19 and up) were only for paper cards that you had to reuse for each game. Usually you would get 3-6 cards per game for that option (there were only between 1-4 games per bingo session!)

The option we used was with a handheld machine they have. This option usually ran between 39-59 dollars, but had usually 12 cards per individual game (the most it ever had was 24). All you had to do was type the number they called, hit enter, and it would mark it off on the electronic cards for that game.

All said, we spent almost 200 on bingo and never won. It was fun....you also got raffle tickets with each purchase for a free cruise giveway on the last sea day. Of course, the woman that won that only played bingo once all week! (You only get the raffle tickets from playing bingo)

What did you book prior to tour and how did you find it? iternet? Would you go back on the majesty again?

We went snorkelling on our own twice at Tobacco Bay - on Tue and Thu - and both times had a blast. We've heard from several people that snorkelling there is better than with excursions (and can't be cancelled ;) ) so I highly recommend that. My sis did the aquarium-and-caves excursion on Wed morning with her family, that wasn't cancelled. I went to the aquarium on my own with my 3 boys. It was $20 total to get there, $20 total to get back, plus $10 each to get in. My sis's family didn't really like the caves, so it seems like it might be better just to go to the aquarium on your own. Also they said they didn't get as much time as they wanted at the aquarium, where we were able to stay there until we'd seen everything.

On one hand I agree about the kids - but on the other hand the under-12 kids that I saw were usually in the Kids Club group and being handled. The problem is with the above-12 kids who do have programs but who refuse to go to them because they are too "cool". In our party we had a 12 yr old, three 16 yr olds and two 17 yr olds. *All* of them refused to do the organized events :) Luckily the reason I brought 2 friends for my 16 yr old son was so they'd stay occupied together, and they did. However, especially during at-sea days, the 12 yr old and two 17 yr olds were bored and sat around in the lounges. I had brought a laptop, DVDs and PS2 for the three 16 yr old boys and that kept them well entertained.

The pool was FULL of unruly kids whose parents just abandoned them there. We tried using the adult hottub one day and kids were leaping wildly into the pool right next door splashing us even though several signs clearly said no jumping. One kid got into the adult hottub with a frozen slushie. The kids hottub was JAMMED with kids literally wall to wall with kids standing in the middle. I really think some adults let their kids go wild and figure "it's a vacation" i.e. a vacation from them being a parent, without caring what impact that has on other cruise travellers who also paid good money to be on the boat.

Bob and I won $45 in the casino, and my sis won $75. We didn't play Bingo tho :)

What did you book prior to tour and how did you find it? iternet? Would you go back on the majesty again?

We booked the excursion using the NCL website. There are descriptions and pricing online there. Yes, I would go on the Majesty again....We met some great people to hang out with and had an awesome time. Next year it will either be the Majesty or the Spirit!

I went to the aquarium on my own with my 3 boys. It was $20 total to get there, $20 total to get back, plus $10 each to get in. My sis's family didn't really like the caves, so it seems like it might be better just to go to the aquarium on your own. Also they said they didn't get as much time as they wanted at the aquarium, where we were able to stay there until we'd seen everything.

 

The pool was FULL of unruly kids whose parents just abandoned them there. We tried using the adult hottub one day and kids were leaping wildly into the pool right next door splashing us even though several signs clearly said no jumping. One kid got into the adult hottub with a frozen slushie. The kids hottub was JAMMED with kids literally wall to wall with kids standing in the middle. I really think some adults let their kids go wild and figure "it's a vacation" i.e. a vacation from them being a parent, without caring what impact that has on other cruise travellers who also paid good money to be on the boat.

Bella, we went to the aquarium/museum/zoo as well. Very small, some exhibits were missing animals, but it was nice to see. We got the $12 bus pass for each of us (which was a crazy experience, I felt like I was in Nascar!) The excursion seems very overpriced...

I don't mind the children having fun, but laying around staircases is ridiculous!

Ok this is my first ever posting...bear with me..lol We were also on the cruise out of Boston to Bermuda. We were very very disappointed with alot of things. I wonder if we put too high of expectations on this cruise being that it was our first. We took our two daughters (9 & 11 yrs old)whom were with us the whole time. They were bored. I do clearly remember alot of children unsupervised running crazy & cursing in the halls. I did not appreciate this either. We really didn't take the elevators much since eating all of that food we liked the option to walk up 6 or 7 flights of stairs..lol We also did have our shore excursion canceled on Wednesday night, the Harbor Nights cruise to Hamilton. We used the bus/ferry to get around ,which my kids loved. It was an experience but worth the 3 day pass. We went all over. I personally liked the Crystal Caves. It wasn't anything like any of the other caves that I've seen. We ended up doing everything on our own. It was better than sitting on the ship. We also enjoyed the Zoo & Aquarium. On the day of departure from Bermuda we walked up past Tobacco Bay to St Catherine beach which was really nice. My kids wished we had time to go there but we had to get back to the ship. Didn't want to miss it! I guess all in all Bermuda was nice but the trip was NOT the trip that we had hoped for. Next time if there is a next time..lol it will be on a bigger ship with more activities for my kids and hopefully get family or friends to cruise with us. Sorry this sounds so negative but we couldn't wait to get home.

FroggyEyes - the ship has a very full kids club schedule - is there a reason you didn't have the 9 and 11 yr olds in there? In fact the 12 yr old in our group took a look at the group and said he didn't want to be in with the "younger" 9-11 yr old crowd at the Kids Club, so there were a fair number of that age group in there ...? I saw the kids club events a number of times and the kids there seemed quite happy, and were being well supervised ...

As you said, there is a *ton* to do on Bermuda, so the only days they should have had a chance to be bored would be the at-sea days ...? I can't imagine sitting bored on the ship when Bermuda is right there :)

Bella...actually my 9 year old had fun with the kids crew but my 11 year old found it to be boring. There was only one other 11 year old. If she stayed she was with 6 year olds, I really couldn't blame her. So she sat with us the whole week looking miserable wanting to be in the room reading Harry Potter! lol It was very hard for us to really enjoy ourselves when your children were not having fun. Bermuda days were busy days, we took any chance that we could get to get off of the ship. I was not relaxed at all on this trip..I couldn't believe how much better my Florida vacations are looking right now...We were off of the boat at 7:50 am and on our way home.......sad to say we couldn't wait to get home. One other thing, I found other passengers to be very rude at times. They think that the people on the ship (employees) should be at their beck and call. I watched one woman "make" one of the employees get her a box of cereal 2 feet from her. She couldn't walk to the other side of the buffet line and fetch it herself! I'm "not" talking the buffet line on the whole other side of the ship, how lazy can people be??? lol It was an experience.

Bella ....you have a posting with pics right?? with the 3 boys?

This will be my 3rd cruise with my now 12 year old daughter, on her 1st cruise she was 9, she never left the pool, except to go to the kids club. Last year be brought along a friend for her and I never saw the 2 of them, except for meal times. They would go over the kid club schedule and go when they were doing thing that interested them. This year will be a little different, we are bringing her step sister who is also 12, they have already informed me that they are too old for the kids club, and they will find their own fun.

I plan on bringing them to the kids club and signing them up. Hopefully there will be some cute boys there, that will get them back!!!

All in all they make their own fun, if they want to sit in the room and read thats up to them, I wont let it ruin my vacation.

Patty

i love reading when people have minor bumps in there cruise but manage to have a great time anyways..... thats how life is!

Thanks for the review! I'm glad you had a good time, but I wish others would have been more courteous. I hate that!! Precisely why I booked my cruise on the Majesty Sept 25th.....kiddies will be back in school. :-) I love kids, but I know what you mean....I've sailed on her before and am looking forward to seeing her again. Was Ricky still the CD? I've had him 3 times already.....just thinking about him makes me tired..hahahaha and I KNOW you know what I mean. Welcome home!

 

-Sarah

Sarah, I was on the 7/31/05 sailing and they had a late night (Ship-n-dale)like (Chip-n-dale) in the disco. Ricky stripped down to his underware. What a body! Though, that kinda of thing isn't really my thing, I did laugh. There is just something not right about seeing the CD in his underware! It's like seeing the principal in his underware!:p

Cruise should be a lot nicer is Sept with less kids aboard. It is true that the kids, especially the teens, get very bored. I was glad my 18 & 19 year old were not with me. Ship is too small and not enough to do for them. If you go on a cruise with a lot of ports of call, then they are kept busy. The Bermuda cruise isn't the greatest for teens. Don't get me wrong, some teens enjoy it, but I saw and listened to a lot of bored unhappy teens.

Pathubia: My DD was 12 on last year's Majesty cruise. She made some friends in the Kids Crew the first meeting. After that, they did the same thing your kids did, check the schedule and pick and choose what they want.

Would you believe on the Carnival Glory this year, she was never bored but she said she prefers the size of the Majesty and wants to go back on it again!

Well my first cruise is over....we had a great time. High points...We really enjoyed bingo (ridculously priced, but fun), room service, the casino....we loved the towel animals our housekeeping staff left, mints on pillow, the twice daily housekeeping...usually service in the dining room was excellent...We also enjoyed some of the shows (I was in "Who wants to be a bazillonaire? :))...The chocoholic buffet (especially the strawberries!

 

 

Lower points...1)Due to the weather, a lot of excursions were cancelled on Wednesday. When the weather got better, for some reason they cancelled more...a lot of people were upset. I mean, Friday morning it had to be 90 and sunny...I saw a lot of angry people. Our Coral Reef Fishing was cancelled, which stunk because I had to go to Shore Excursion multiple times the first day when my tickets never appeared in my room!

2)I'm a sub teacher, so I like kids. But...when they are unsupervised, all in the adult hot tubs with no adults (there is a sign!)....all literally laying on staircases and hallways with no supervison so you couldn't get by....it got me annoyed. Some parents were not watching their children! We also met a woman (in a wheelchair) that has extreme diffuculty getting around the ship due to children playing in the elevators with all the buttons! In fact one of them (young teen) told us she was bored so it was fun to play in the elevators....I can't tell you what the disabled woman said to them! :) I think that they need to plan more activities for kids so they aren't as disruptive.

3) Two crewmembers in particular...the DJ in the club, who refused to play any requests even though there was no one dancing and the casino manager, who believed my husband (who is almost 23) was an underage minor and accused him of such even when presented with ID. The manager thought my husbands ID was fake!

 

Recommendations: Definitely go to Tobacco Bay and go snorkeling. It's the closest beach to the boat, maybe a 20 minute hilly walk...it was amazing. Schools of fish swimming all around you...awesome! Great beach for children, beautiful water and formations....:)

 

Because of the tropical storm, we didn't see as much as we would have liked....but it was fun! I can't wait to book another cruise!

 

 

If anyone has any questions, please ask away...I'll try to help!

I can, as Jimmy Buffet's song is titled: "A Pirate Looks at Forty", relate....will someone pleeeaaase card me!?

Ok this is my first ever posting...bear with me..lol We were also on the cruise out of Boston to Bermuda. We were very very disappointed with alot of things. I wonder if we put too high of expectations on this cruise being that it was our first. We took our two daughters (9 & 11 yrs old)whom were with us the whole time. They were bored. I do clearly remember alot of children unsupervised running crazy & cursing in the halls. I did not appreciate this either. We really didn't take the elevators much since eating all of that food we liked the option to walk up 6 or 7 flights of stairs..lol We also did have our shore excursion canceled on Wednesday night, the Harbor Nights cruise to Hamilton. We used the bus/ferry to get around ,which my kids loved. It was an experience but worth the 3 day pass. We went all over. I personally liked the Crystal Caves. It wasn't anything like any of the other caves that I've seen. We ended up doing everything on our own. It was better than sitting on the ship. We also enjoyed the Zoo & Aquarium. On the day of departure from Bermuda we walked up past Tobacco Bay to St Catherine beach which was really nice. My kids wished we had time to go there but we had to get back to the ship. Didn't want to miss it! I guess all in all Bermuda was nice but the trip was NOT the trip that we had hoped for. Next time if there is a next time..lol it will be on a bigger ship with more activities for my kids and hopefully get family or friends to cruise with us. Sorry this sounds so negative but we couldn't wait to get home.

Froggy...don't let it get you down...We were on the Majesty in February and it wasn't our first cruise but it was our last on that ship with children...our kids aren't into "relaxing" like Mom & Dad--they want fun!! It's a lesson learned...definitely look at the bigger ships when you travel with your children...

Hey all, you have me thinkin' Im bringing my 17 yr old boy and 15 yr old DD... im concerned that from some postings they too will be board.. kids crew is for the younger ages 13 and under? will my kids be board? any suggestions... does the Majesty have a little somthin for them to do?

Manugit

We sailed on the Dawn when my son's were 16 and 18 and to be honest

there was not a lot for that age group on board.

They were too old for the kids programs and too young for the disco, casino, etc...Since they brought along hand held computer games and a deck of cards and reading material for sea days, and met up with other kids on board to pal around with, they were ok.

Hey all, you have me thinkin' Im bringing my 17 yr old boy and 15 yr old DD... im concerned that from some postings they too will be board.. kids crew is for the younger ages 13 and under? will my kids be board? any suggestions... does the Majesty have a little somthin for them to do?

We returned from the Majesty on 8/14, had a wonderful time!! I had 2 teens along (among others!) boys, 13 and 17. There is a kids club for 12 and under and teen club for 13-17 year olds.The first night I insisted that they go to the teen meet and greet. They were totally against it but like I said I insisted!!They made friends immediately and went to most scheduled events, scavanger hunts, hot tub party, planned dinners and dances.There were certain times that different areas were reserved for the teens, like the disco and the palace theatre for dancing. They had a fantastic time and we had to track them down every night so we could go to bed!! i think my son will be disappointed on our next cruise as he will be 18 and too old to go to the teen club.

Ddelfarn, do you remember the name of the DJ on the Majesty?

Coka

thanks folks, maybe a gameboy is needed...i will have to check the teen program, is there a charge for this? also you mention disco, can my teens go there?