My recent voyages on Majesty of the Seas, and Enchantment of the seas

For anyone who might be interested in bit of comparison, I recently have taken a short cruise on Majesty and a short time later a short cruise on Enchantment. Long story as to why I ended up on two short cruises within a little over three weeks apart, but since I did, I will share my observations of the two ships.

So, first up, I booked three cabins for a family sailing on Majesty with a sail date of March 31. It was my husband and I, my adult daughter and her boyfriend, and my sister and her husband. We had window cabins on deck 8. (Much to my daughters dismay, she is used to a balcony, but Majesty doesn't have many balcony rooms.)

My daughter wanted to take her boyfriend who had never been on a cruise, so that was the reason for the trip. I could have gone one of two ways, 1) he has never been on a cruise, so Majesty will be fine, or 2) he has never been on a cruise, I should book big and knock his socks off. Well, I went with option number 1. I needed a short cruise as my daughter is in college and had limited time she could be gone. Unfortunately you are pretty limited on ships for short cruises, I figured if he likes it we will go again and then we can go all out. And finally there is the $$ factor since I was footing the bill and there were flights involved.

I have been on Majesty before, so I knew going into it what the cabins were like, and what things we would be missing that are on newer ships. But, that was several years ago now, and I was frankly a little surprised at how beat up the ship looked. It was fine mind you, I don't get to worked up about rust, or wear or dingy/dirty windows. But it did really surprise me. Our cabin was very small, I knew it would be, but it was also frankly dirty looking, and the bathroom was really showing wear. The TV in the room was tiny, and the beds were pretty much cots. We didn't find them uncomfortable however.

Our MDR experience was fine. Not over the top, not even excellent, but fine. Along the theme of wear, one of the first things I noticed is that the menu holders are really, really beat up looking. Worn and tattered. Not a big deal, but odd to me. How hard/expensive can it be to get new ones of those? Are times that tough RCI? Our servers were EXCELLENT as always, and the food was good. Overall, we enjoyed the MDR for the important things. Menu holders are not important, but again, just my observations....

We always enjoy Johnny Rockets, which they have on Majesty but not on Enchantment. Also, there is a basketball court on Majesty, but not on Enchantment. Two things that my daughter had put in the plus column when looking at the Majesty or Enchantment. Lastly they really enjoyed late night pizza from Sorrentos. I don't recall that there was Sorrentos on Enchantment, but it could be that I never found it.

The pool deck was very small. When walking on the top deck, the walkway between the chairs on either side made the area VERY narrow. And the carpet, you guessed it... was very worn in places.

When we boarded Majesty, rooms were not yet ready, which is not a big deal at all, HOWEVER, we had to really look hard for an open restroom. Many were closed, one was overflowing. My daughter really had to find a restroom, so we started asking the crew where the nearest open one was, but they really didn't know. We finally found one, but it was a hunt!

They played movies on the big screen at night, but they don't have this figured out very well IMO. There were many people enjoying the pool deck, so my husband and I gave up and left because we couldn't hear the movie. On Princess, it is glorious to watch a movie on the pool deck. People are there to watch the movie so people seem to be pretty respectful of that by in large. Not so for us this time on Majesty.

Disembarktion seemed organized, but for some reason we waited in line for close to two hours. I have never waited that long before. Must have just been our timing. But we were not in a hurry, we didn't fly out until the following day anyway.

Overall, while I realize my review so far is not favorable for Majesty, the cruise was fine. The crew was great and we enjoyed ourselves. Would I go on this ship again? Probably not, but only because there are so many ships to choose from! (I am not a loyal to Royal person, I cruise many lines and am pretty happy with them all so far.)

Now, fast forward to April 20th. My sister in law wanted me to go on a short cruise with her. I had the time, so why not? She IS a loyal to Royal person (but I am working on broadening her horizons...) but for now we booked on Enchantment, and away we went.

The first thing that struck me was how much better/cleaner Enchantment looked. We had an inside cabin, but it was spacious, and while not new, it didn't look worn out. The TV was decent size, and the beds seemed more comfortable. We usually like to sail with balcony rooms, but we booked this one really late so we took what we could get, and it was fine.

This trip was all about relaxation. We enjoyed the solarium (something Majesty does not have) and we sat by the pool on the deck as well, as it was much more spacious. Our MDR experience was very good as usual, and we enjoyed the shows. The shows were not great, but they were OK.

There were movies offered on the pool deck, but we didn't go, so I can't compare that. There were plenty of activities and we participated in some fun trivia games.

Would I go on Enchantment again? Probably not, but again only because there are so many ships to choose from. I will say, I wish that a cruise line would offer at least one short cruise option (3 or 4 day) with a newer ship. I find myself going on several short cruises a year because many of the people I cruise with can't take more than a week off at a time, and when you have to fly to and from the North East, you need 8 to 9 days for a 7 day cruise. I have plenty of time, I am headed out on a 10 day cruise this Saturday, but usually it is 3 or 4 day cruises that are 5 to 6 day trips for us. I have done a few 5 day cruises on the Freedom class, but this time around the dates/departure ports didn't line up with what I needed.

Sorry I am a bit all over the place with this comparison. Hope you got something out of your investment of time to read it!

Great comparison. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing your experience on both ships.

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Great comparison. Be patient. The Mariner of the Seas will be coming to Miami, I believe next year, after a major refit. It will run 3 and 4 day Bahamas cruises. It's a Voyager class, and tops any short cruise any ship doing 3 & 4 days. The Independence, which is a Freedom Class, does 4 & 5 days out of Port Everglades.

... Lastly they really enjoyed late night pizza from Sorrentos. I don't recall that there was Sorrentos on Enchantment, but it could be that I never found it. ...

Park Cafe in the Solarium has late night pizza on Enchantment.

Thanks for the review.:)

Thank you for your comparison. I always wondered about Enchantment's non - expanded sister ships.

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We have sailed both more than one time! I wonder how a ship such as Majesty can be kept up to date.

We enjoyed our short cruises on her but not surprised of what you observed-almost expected this.

Same for Enchantment. It is time for RCL to add some newer up to date smaller ships but I doubt that will happen.

Would love to see Radiance return to the US.

... Would love to see Radiance return to the US.

We get Radiance in the summer and Jewel, Serenade, and Brilliance in the winter.

Good comparison review. 😁

Were the MDR menus the new ones that are being rolled out fleetwide or the older versions? Thanks!

Good review and comparison. I went on Majesty for the 1st time in January and was shocked that RCI would keep Majesty over the Monarch. I thought I wasn't a big fan of Enchantment until I went on Majesty. I disliked the ship for all the reasons you mentioned but I am a FL resident and can take the quick 3 day out of Port Canaveral so easy that I am going on it next weekend. For the price and convenience I will take more cruises on Majesty but wish we could get a different ship.

Were the MDR menus the new ones that are being rolled out fleetwide or the older versions? Thanks!

Hello! I am sorry, I don't know the answer to this, perhaps someone else can chime in?

Great comparison. Be patient. The Mariner of the Seas will be coming to Miami, I believe next year, after a major refit. It will run 3 and 4 day Bahamas cruises. It's a Voyager class, and tops any short cruise any ship doing 3 & 4 days. The Independence, which is a Freedom Class, does 4 & 5 days out of Port Everglades.

Good to know! That would be great.