SoFlaCruzer

I'll have no issues taking my suitcase on my own. I don't pack heavy anyways.

I'm looking to book my first cruise in 2 years. Typically, I have no rush getting off, but this time I have a class on the same day as arrival. I have some flexibility and can arrive late to class, but I want to estimate to make sure I would have no problems or miss the day altogether (class is a 30 minute drive from port, and is from 8:00AM - 12:30PM)

The Oasis arrives into Ft. Lauderdale at 6:15AM on a Saturday morning, assuming it is on time. I believe we are assigned groups and such, but can I request to be one of the first to disembark? Can I disembark even if the rest of my party stays and disembarks at the times they are assigned?

For what it's worth, I will have a cabin to myself. Thanks in advance!

Maybe we got lucky, or monitoring this is totally inconsistent ship by ship.

We just recently cruised the 3 day Bahamas trip on the Majesty. It is our first time doing a quick weekend getaway, as we usually do the weeklong trips. In the past, we have bought the alcohol beverage package as in our "calculations" we end up very close to breaking even. But this is post is not to discuss the beverage package.

Being a 3 day trip, the beverage package is unavailable. So we took 4 bottles of wine, and 2 of champagne on board: Myself, DW, DS (21), DD (celebrating her 16th), and 2 of her girlfriends. We had 3 cabins, 3 adults, so we were allowed 6 bottles. We were fully aware of the $25 corkage fee policies.

3 nights = 3 dinners in the MDR. So we took 2 bottles of wine the first day. Red wine, not needed to be chilled. We opened and served the first one ourselves before even meeting our server. When that one ran out they opened the second bottle for us, brought us clean glasses, etc. Did not discuss corkage fees and we left without them bringing us the bill.

Night 2 we brought a champagne bottle chilled in our room fridge (which I noticed was much colder than previous ships). Also took another bottle of red. Upon arriving at the MDR, our server took the champagne and put it on ice, and through the evening served us the champagne and the red wine. Again, no corkage fee. I told our server I had another champagne bottle for the final evening and he told me to take it to him about 45 minutes before dinner.

Night 3 I went to the MDR at 5:45PM. Just entered through the closed doors and found our guy. Took the champagne and started to chill it. When we got there for dinner it was perfect, and included our last bottle of red wine. Again, no mention of a corkage fee even though everything was done in the open and all 6 bottles were opened at the table.

The wine and champagne made our bar bill go way down, and saving potentially $150 in corkage fee was really nice. Of course, I know they expected a nice tip and they sure got it.

Moral of the story, seems to be hit or miss. But with 6 bottles in a 6 person (3 adult) table in 3 nights - I think we got a grandslam :)

I am just off the Majesty and they showed both conference championship games in 3 venues:

- Schooner Bar: smallish TV for the area, but I was able to view it OK.

- Casino Bar: again, not large TV's, and you may not like the smoking environment. Best viewing sitting at the bar, not the most comfortable.

- Viking Crown: cant comment as I did not go there.

All 3 venues were given out in the cruise compass.

Maybe for the SuperBowl they will show it in larger screens in the Disco Spectrum, or in the theater. This did NOT happen for the conference championships.

We (party of 7) sailed her last year on the 8 day Eastern itinerary. We found her to be great!

She had yet to be upgraded with a couple of things (Coke freestyle machines, TV screen on the pool deck), and I am not the most up to date so those may be done already - I dont know.

But we had a blast.

I use a TA. There is absolutely no harm in doing so and you may get some extra benefits as mentioned before. The actual stateroom price point is pretty much the same.

Of course, for me personally, the #1 reason I use a TA is because my father owns a franchise that specializes in cruises. A no brainer for me ;).

Majesty of the Seas

1/17/14

No escargots :(

But I only asked day 1. Of course, I don't think they materialized day 2 or 3. I enjoyed other appetizers.

I use a CPAP. On my cruises I have gotten an extension cord from the cabin attendant with no issues. However, this time (I board tomorrow) will be the first time my CPAP has a humidifier (I changed machines). I hope I can get distilled water, but I probably will pack a small bottle just in case. Only a 3 night cruise so I dont need alot.

We sail on the Majesty tomorrow, and also got this email from @everbridge.net with a link to acknowledge receipt of the message.

Seems legit from what I am reading here. I have no concerns. If they are spending the extra time cleaning the ship the better it is for us. I had planned to arrive about Noon anyways so it doesnt affect me (except that the initial lines may be longer). No biggie.

You may already know this, but if you are traveling with minors that are not your children (your DD's friends) whose parents are not also traveling, you must get permission from the parents, and I think it must be notarized. Make sure you read all the info about that and have all necessary documents if that is the case.

 

Have a fabulous trip! What an awesome birthday present!

Yes - thanks for the reminder. We have traveled with a minor before on a similar trip and did need a notarized permission. We leave in 4 days so reading this reminded me to get this soon!

For my DD's 16th birthday, she came up with an idea of going with a couple of her best friends on a weekend getaway cruise. Living locally in South Florida, its easy to just jump on the Majesty for a weekend getaway to the Bahamas, so we are doing just that this coming Friday the 17th. Prices were under $100 a day per person with taxes included for a "superior" oceanview on deck 9 (Total 6 passengers, 3 cabins). I notice they do have obstructed views, but at least are not the smallest cabins on the ship.

The Majesty is not mentioned as much as the other ships on these boards. It's obviously the oldest and smallest on the fleet (less bells and whistles), and I don't think that many people travel from far for a short itinerary. But for our purposes, it should suit is just fine.

We have been on the Radiance (Alaska), Legend (Mediterranean), and Independence (Caribbean), so we do have experiences on different ships. This will be our first time on the Majesty, and are planning for an Oasis/Allure trip maybe next year or later this year.

I'm not a big reviewer, but for those interested I will probably share some highlights and hopefully not lowlights. If anyone has anything to share about this ship, let me know! Until then, safe travels everyone.

25

come on clock - do your work.

Excellent review - been reading it nightly before going to bed. Maybe it helps me sleep knowing I'll be sailing her end of month :D

Disclaimer: I have not bought this package before, these are just my thoughts-

My wife and I will probably purchase the package. Liquor based drinks are in the range of $7-$9 before the 15% gratuity. We dont drink alot of beer and we like wine, but I heard the house wine is not very good. So we will focus on liquor - which we both love :rolleyes:.

I think more realistically 6 drinks is the breakeven point. My wife likes a mimosa or a bloody Mary in the morning. I dont drink in the AM. I figure we will have at least 2 cocktails/frozen/miscellaneous drinks each throughout the day in the pool area, solarium, bars, etc. I figure one drink at dinner each, AND no less than 2 drinks (most probably 3) for the rest of the evening. We stay up late usually.

That's 6-7 drinks a day for each of us, and spread over say 14 hours is not unreasonable. We are social drinkers, not everyone will drink as much (and some alot more!)

Things to keep in mind is your itinerary and port days. The more you are in land, the less you will obviously drink in the ship. For us, we have 4 port days (IOS 8 day Western Caribbean). One of them is Labadee, where drinks would be included. One is San Juan where the ship leaves at 2:00 (so most of the "drinking" hours on the ship).

Our goals is not to make sure we drink enough to break even. We are much too old for that. But not having to worry about the bar bill and not worrying about ordering something we dont like is worth alot as well.

I'm really on the fence on this one, but am leaning to purchasing it in the IOTS 8 day Eastern.

We do have 4 ports, but one of them is Labadee (where the drinks would be included), and another is San Juan (where departure is 2:00PM, so most "drinking" hours on board the ship.) Only 2 ports we would not be back on the ship until say 3:00 - 4:00PM.

Everyone is different, but I see us having at least 2-3 drinks each during the daytime - pool area, daytime bars, etc. Dinner will have at least 1 drink, probably 2. Then at night another 1-2- maybe 3 drinks at the later after show bars, nightlife areas.

I don't see us averaging anything less than 6 drinks a day spread over 12 hours, which is probably close to breakeven. Prepaying this package, we can be more aggressive ordering drinks we may not otherwise do so. Dont like it, no problem

At no point is our intention to drink as much as we can, or make sure we have our 6 a day to make it "worth the cost". We're too old for that nonsense. It's just nice to not worry about the bar bill at the end and know its taken care of. If we would have spent $100 less at the end, so be it. The convenience for us - and we like to drink - is valuable as well.

This has to be a very individual decision. For some it makes no sense, for others it makes perfect sense.

Maybe you could order a mixed drink and then say, without any alcohol.....that would equal....JUICE!

I've never actually ordered a virgin screwdriver, but hey - sometimes you want something different :)

(Knowing me though - "virgin" used in the same sentence as "insert drink name here" is not quite in the vocabular)

54...sigh