Hello, Cruise Virgin coming aboard

Hello all,

I have booked my first ever cruise for March this year on the Majesty of the Seas for a 4 night cruise around the Bahamas.

As I have never cruised before, I really don't know what to expect, Me and my Fiancé are both 31 years old. (Well by other half will be 31 on the second day of the cruise).

Is there anything we should be weary of or look out for ? Is there anything we really shouldn't miss ?

I wont post too many questions in my first post, just wanted to say hi really.

Hi :)

naf536

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Just relax and and a great time.

Look over the shore excursions for ideas for the ports. You can take the ships excursions or in many cases do things on your own.

Welcome to CC! Hope you have a great cruise and just ask what ever questions you need to.

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Majesty is lovely but she's a casual ship. Don't go nuts over formal night. We did but we almost the only ones.

Check out the Viking Crown Lounge. The views are spectacular & it's a quieter venue.

Welcome to CC! The Majesty is a wonderful cruise! We've done her several times. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Nothing to be wary of! It's fun...a vacation! Do what you want! Don't plan on trying to do everything....it's almost impossible, and you'll run yourself ragged if you do! Read the boards, decide what interests you, and just do those things!

Thanks for the welcomes, we are really looking forward to it as it will be our first time on a cruise.

We are holidaying in Orlando beforehand and for a few more days after the cruise, we did the bigger theme parks Orlando has to offer in February last year so we decided to do the cruise this year as it would have cost the same to re-visit the bigger parks.

If we like the cruise, then we will no doubt look at cruising holidays over the normal type of holidays we have and move up to bigger ships, etc.

We have pre-paid the gratuities on our package, will we be expected to tip anyone on the ship ?

You'll like the Majesty. It's a really nice ship. If you do a search in the Photo Gallery section on here, I'm sure you'll find some photos of her, and, if you go to "YouTube", you'll probably find some videos posted. Hope you have a great cruise!

There are some great videos on youtube, thanks for the heads up :D

We have pre-paid the gratuities on our package, will we be expected to tip anyone on the ship ?

If you order alcoholic beverages on board, a gratutity will be added to your bill automatically. You don't have to tip bartenders & waitstaff extra but a few actual dollars on the 1st day will get you amazing service for the rest of the trip. B/c we treated him so well, our favorite bartender would reach over 3-4 people to refill our glasses. :)

If you order alcoholic beverages on board, a gratutity will be added to your bill automatically. You don't have to tip bartenders & waitstaff extra but a few actual dollars on the 1st day will get you amazing service for the rest of the trip. B/c we treated him so well, our favorite bartender would reach over 3-4 people to refill our glasses. :)

GREAT info to know! :p

Great to know :)

Not sure if I will be drinking any alcohol on this trip or not, I think it probably wise for me to stay away as it could put me out of action for anything up to a month as I have rapidly evolving severe relapse remitting multiple sclerosis (a mouthful i know. lol)

The last two time I got merry saw me stuck in bed a few days later for at least two weeks :(

I miss drinking.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. I am pretty new to this too, I do hope I can help you on your first cruise?

I went on my first cruise in December, only 5 days and around the Med, it was great......I have also booked a cruise this July which is the biggie....50th birthday :D

The only thing I would say is, go careful with what you buy on board, things can be quite expensive, other than that, relax and enjoy!

Cruising is the way forward!! :)

Well, I just sailed on Carnival but I'm sure many details are similar:

~If one of your plans is to lay out by the pool or anywhere on deck, wake up around 8am and save some chairs. (I witnessed an all out verbal brawl over chairs;)

~Take a power strip for the room

~Pack light, don't forget your formal wear

~If one of your stops is Progresso, either schedule an excursion there or stay on the ship (unless you are looking to buy a lot of Mexican souvenirs) this port is pretty dumpy (picture tijuana) we had a meal I like to refer to as the Tacos del Gatos ;) as we don't know what the meat was LOL. It didn't feel dangerous to us though.

~There are ironing and laundry stations on the ship

~Bring your own blow dryer as you have to hold the button down on the small one they offer

~Book excursions and specialty dining on the website now

~The boarding process is crazy but well worth the wait when you get on

~Pose for a lot of photo opportunities so you will have good options to choose from should you decide to purchase a few. (on that note, don't wait to go get your photos til the last day like we did ;)

Eat Eat Eat ;)

Oh, one more...my friend said she tipped a bartender very well the first day and got free drinks from that same person the rest of the time. I'm sure this is a case by case thing.

Great tips there Mrs F, Thanks :D