CruisinQueen2013

I forgot to mention that we had Voom for free because of when we booked (before they changed it to not-for-free on Majesty) and while we didn't use it a ton, whenever we did, it seemed to work fine, no issues and honestly, it was faster than we expected it to be.

In ports like Nassau, you can typically get off rather quickly. This past week, we were supposed to arrive at 8am and they made an announcement at 8am that we had been in port for a couple of hours and that people were already off the boat. We walked down and there was no line. Tender ports take much longer. Depending on what you are planning to do, keep in mind that many shops, restaurants, etc. may not be open that early though.

So, this was my 3rd time on Majesty but the last time was 2011. We are Platinum so we've been around the block a bit but nowhere near the history of the diamond +, etc. folks on this board. Traveling was my husband and I and our 2 girls, 4 and 1. We were in a Grand Suite for the first time.

Embarkation:

We arrived early as we usually do, about 10:30am and we boarded just after 11am. All in all, easy peasy.

Day 1:

Pretty typical day 1 - lunch in the WJ, standard burgers, hot dogs, etc. no complaints. Muster was easy and quick - apparently they now do a "make-up muster drill" at 6:30 for those that "miss it". No idea what this entails but we saw it in the compass. Rooms were ready promptly at 1pm and luggage was soon after.

Day 2: Coco Cay

We did the full day beach bed rental and it was fantastic! When you get to the island, there is a open-air transport that takes you to the area where the beach beds and bungalows are. We met the bar tender and then were told we could pick our spot. We opted for #8. It was truly a perfect beach day, great weather, the kids played in the sand, we had 4 liters of water in a cooler to keep us hydrated and the beach bed was comfy and also allowed the sand to brush off easily. We did the fish tacos for my husband and I and chicken tacos for our daughter and sadly enough, I couldn't tell the difference between them when they came. They give you a menu and bring you your food, which is nice, but I would try something different next time. The excursion was great and we would definitely do that again!!

Day 3: Nassau

We have done the Blue Lagoon Island beach day 2 other times before and it's been great. It was very nice again this time with a couple of minor issues. They are expanding at the island so there is some construction going on with loud banging so if doing this be sure to head left off the dock and walk down a ways. This also means that the usual, decent-sized gift shop was a closed and a small one was open on the other side. Most items in there were made in China which was a disappointment as I was hoping to pick up an item or two for my kids but didn't really see anything. They have added a game area as well as sea lions since our last trip. We enjoyed some time on the beach and watched the dolphins swim in the walk-through habitat. One thing we did notice is that the time on the island isn't as long as it used to be. Our excursion was supposed to be 10-2 but we didn't leave the harbor until after 10 and then had to make a stop at Paradise Island so we got to the island just before 11. The boat ride was nice though. By the time we found a spot and got settled, it was time for lunch and then we watched the dolphins for a bit before the 1:45 call for us to head to the dock to grab the ride back. It really is a nice beach but we'd love to be there a bit longer.

Day 4: sea day

This was a nice, relaxing day. We took the kids to an area outside Adventure Ocean where they could play with toys and then spent the afternoon at the pool. The new Splashaway Bay area for kids was great! The kids loved it and it was nice to have an area just for them. We watched the belly flop competition, ate lunch at the poolside barbecue and had a great day.

Debarkation

We decided to walk-off with our luggage and headed down about 8am. I fully expected a big line but it was pretty crazy. The line went all the way around deck 4 and up on to deck 5. As we got about halfway through the line, an employee noticed my seapass card hanging around my neck and escorted us out the roped off area and to the front of the line. I had no idea that was a suite perk but it was very nice especially with our kids. We were able to get off the ship and through customs in just a few minutes.

Food:

Important to note here that we did not eat in the Main Dining Room at all on this trip. Our 1 year old was teething and our 4 year old was feeling picky this week so we opted to skip it. We typically only do the dining room on one night as a change of pace and then a specialty restaurant one night but since there is no nursery on the Majesty, our options were a bit more limited. I do know that we could have had room service deliver us food from the dining room but the timing just never seemed to work out. We ate in Johnny Rockets on Day 1 and got a 20% discount (we didn't know about that ahead of time) and the waiter did not charge us for our 4 year old. He said he has kids at home and doesn't think it's right to charge $6.95 when they don't eat much. We would certainly have been fine paying but it was a nice gesture. We swung through Compass Deli on one occasion but didn't see anything that really stood out to us (not big roast beef fans) so we didn't go back. Although, it was listed in the Compass that the Compass Deli was open from 7-9am for breakfast for those in Suites, we tried it one morning but when arriving at 7:15am, we found the door still locked so we gave up on that one. That brings me to the Windjammer. I've always found the WJ to be just fine and didn't agree with others that criticized it as I find if you walk in with the appropriate expectations, you can always find SOMETHING. However, on this trip, we were disappointed - especially at breakfast. Other than the omelet station, the food was below average at breakfast time. Thank goodness for fruit and yogurt. The "hashbrowns" (this always cracks me up that they call tater tots hashbrowns :) ) were burnt to an inedible crisp on all but one day. The bacon was stuck together in one giant mess and the pancakes, while edible, were stuck to the pan most times. Lunch and Dinner were definitely better - I'm always a fan of create your own pasta and stir-fry nights. I was very disappointed in the lack of seafood options though. When seafood was available, it was definitely lacking. Also, with the kids, we often had to do "afternoon snacks in the WJ" for their dinner, as they are not used to eating as late as 6:30pm. We were not thrilled to see a taco bar as the primary menu on all 3 days. A little variety would have been nice. This did not ruin our cruise by any means but definitely made us long for the food back home.

Room:

The room was fantastic - clean, updated and with nice amenities along with the biggest cruise ship bathroom I'd ever seen. I'm sure I've been under a rock but nonetheless, we were pleased. Tons of storage throughout the whole room. The balcony had 2 chairs, 1 larger table, 1 smaller table and 1 lounger. We had champagne and a fruit plate waiting for us (neither of which we ordered). Is this normal in a GS? We also had a few other "treats" left for us throughout our trip. We had a fruit, cheese and cracker plate one day and a dessert plate on another day. Our suite attendant, Joni, was great and always made it a nice place to come back to. We tipped him accordingly. Anyone that hasn't done a GS, do it, even if it's just once as the perks were really nice. The priority tender to Coco Cay was great and all the little extras were icing on the cake.

Overall

We had a great time and despite a few negatives, would do it all again. In general, the staff we encountered at Guest Services, Suite attendant, JR, etc. were all great. They two managers in the WJ were fantastic too -one of them took a liking to our two girls and greeted them by name each time. He also made them balloon animals and my 4 year old thought he was awesome. :) The only negative comment on service was that the first two days in the WJ, I don't think I had one person come to our table to clear dishes or see if we needed anything. Finally, on day 3, we started to notice someone would occasionally pick up dishes but no one ever offered to get us a drink or see if we needed anything. Again, not a major deal but just something I noticed that was very different from our experience in the past and even from Navigator just last year.

Let me know if anyone has questions!

I see what you are saying, but if you look on Navigator's deckplans, you can find a nursery. I just looked on Majesty's and I can 't see one. I think Majesty is one of the ships they didn't add a nursery during the revitalization. Pretty sure they didn't add nurseries to Jewel and Explorer either. Not sure of the others.

You could very well be right. I'll try to pay attention next week and find out.

I just noticed that the website for Navigator just says "program" as well but I know they have it as we used it last year for our 2.5 year old. The ship has not been in dry dock so I wouldn't think they've changed anything. Maybe they just say program now...

I think so but the website says "program" and doesn't mention the nursery. Perhaps call RC and ask, if they don't have the drop-off, they may have the in-room sitter option. We're on the ship on Monday with our two little ones. We weren't planning on using it this time since it's a short trip but we have used it on other RC ships. I can try to find out.

We last bought the package in March 2015 and we chose the disc (I think it was a DVD but we just put it in our laptop, never tried it on a DVD player). The images were all 7-10mb and looked great when we enlarged up to 11x14.

Is it common to have the excursions on sale? My cruise is not for a while but wondering if I should start price checking daily.

It's the first time I've seen it but this sale is date specific. I got an email saying excursions for my cruise were on sale. Its for mid Sept to mid Dec, not including Thanksgiving

I just logged into my Cruise Planner, and see that there's a sale on shore excursions, including several I already booked. My sailing is on 2 Oct. Is it possible for me to cancel my current bookings and rebook at these lower prices? Is there a downside to doing this? Thanks for the help, I can't find any T&C's for this sale on the site.

Same thing here - I called our TA and she called RCI and they did it for us. Not like it's a big deal to do yourself though. I thought maybe they would just do a price adjustment and credit back the difference but apparently not, they actually cancel and re-book so it didn't save much time to have them do it.

Incidentally, their "20% off sale" isn't exactly accurate. For one of our excursions, it was 10% off and for the other it was 33% off. In the end, we saved $71 (which we're thrilled about) but were technically shorted $6 - I wasn't in the mood to argue though. :rolleyes:

Did you price out a private town car? I would think the price would be similar, and faster.

Yes, we did, with several companies and the price was actually quite a bit more (we have 2 adults and 2 kids and some town cars are limited to 3 passengers). We found it at a similar price with a couple of companies that are not well-reviewed but thought it better to not take a chance. At most, it would be 3 other drop offs (all in the same general area) which means obviously it could be less and who knows, we could be the first drop off or the last, we were fine with that. For the cost savings and hassle savings of not going to the airport first, it seems like a good fit for us.

We are doing this in a couple of weeks - although to a different WDW resort. We booked a shared shuttle through Travelynx (now called Stylus), they have good reviews on yelp and are mentioned often here on CC. For 4 of us, it was $150. They said there could be up to 3 other drop-offs. All in all, we were much happier with this idea than navigating our luggage around at Orlando airport, even with the potential for a couple of other drop-offs, I think our commute time with be less.

Bizarre. I went through a mock booking for a cruise under this fare, and it absolutely charged 250 each, including for our son.

We booked a JS for next March under the kids sail free promo last month with our two kids and it charged us a $400 total deposit. I just went in and did a mock booking again under the kids sail free and it's still showing a $400 total deposit. Not sure RCI has a true standard but this will be our 4th cruise with at least one kid and we've never paid $250 per person.

I'm surprised to hear about the deposit, we just booked during kids sail free and paid a $400 deposit total for 2 adults, 2 kids in a Junior Suite. Not sure why your deposit would be so much. Was that what the website said or a phone rep? I think I'd call back and ask for someone else or try booking online if you haven't already.

I noticed that my cruise was up a few days ago and posted a new thread. I also had scheduled an email alert and just got the alert yesterday. The email said it was a 20% off savings from onboard but another person was on my same cruise a couple weeks ago and the onboard price they gave was just 15% more. Just FYI.

But an unknowing person could go on the website and think they are being honest and select 2 people and be billed $300 this is a little troubling. I'd hate to pay $150 and then have one person denied. I guess this could just be a Royal screw up, (Is that a pun). I'm tempted for $150. Is the buffet area the same one open to the masses?

I completely agree on that, that's why I had our travel agent call RCI. They confirmed only 1 needs to book as it accommodates 6 people. There is a note on the RCI site that is quite clear when booking the little "beach lounger for 2" where it says only 1 needs to book but for some reason, they don't have a similar note for the beach beds or the bungalows. They definitely need to make it more clear - then again, it's about par for the course for RCI. :rolleyes:

I've never been that low on a cruise ship so I can't comment on deck 2 specifically but I can say the one and only time I've ever been seasick, I was at the very front on Liberty (literally overlooking the bow). It was an Eastern Caribbean cruise though so lots of open water, on Majesty, you're only going to the Bahamas so I would think you wouldn't have as much to be concerned about but in all honesty, I wouldn't do the front of the ship again. I'd move if you can.

If you decide not to move, definitely pack some dramamine or bonine just in case.

Thanks so much for the pictures, these are very helpful! It looks wonderful, can't wait!

You will find strong opinions on both sides of this one. Do you NEED one? No. Should you get one? Depends on your comfort level. It is indeed true that if you were to need to fly home from a foreign country, you can't do so without it. So, if someone you're cruising with had a medical emergency, getting everyone home could be challenging. Also, if anything happened back home and you needed to return suddenly, again, you'd have trouble flying home without one. The odds of any of that happening though - probably small. It really all depends on if you're the type of person that wants to be prepared no matter what and hedge your bets.

For us, we got a passport before our first cruise and for each kid too. Just peace of mind. There really is no right or wrong answer here, all depends on what you're comfortable with.

I agree completely on having a kiddie splash area (especially if the 3 year old isn't potty trained yet). There are several that have one though as they seem to be adding those during dry docks. As for dreamworks characters, it all depends on the kids, I have a 4 year old who couldn't care less about those particular ones. Also, some kids are freaked out by characters so it really depends on your kids.

All the ships have the kids program so you'd be set there. I would just look for a kiddie pool area (which is how we picked this time around) and then find destinations/ports and schedules that fit for you. At those ages, they won't be into the flowrider or rock wall but the miniature golf might be fun, which several ships have as well.

I think most RCI ships would work well for those ages, we're even taking our 1 and 4 year olds on Majesty which is one of the smallest and oldest and I'm sure they'll have a blast!

Just FYI for anyone looking into pre-purchasing a photo package, I checked today and they are available again out into November (they had been unavailable past the first week of September for months)

For our upcoming 4 night Majesty cruise, the cost is $169 for all pictures. I think it's usually $20 per picture, so we'll have to think about if that makes sense for us. I can't remember if it's cheaper to buy ahead of time - does anyone know how much the package was on-board on a recent 4 night?

Thanks for the review - we're on her in a couple of weeks so the pictures are great!

Quick question, how much was the photo package you purchased?

Thanks for this info - we have one booked for the end of this month. There are 4 of us - 2 adults, 2 kids so it sounds like we should have enough room. So glad to hear it's a nice area, that was the only part we weren't sure of. With 2 small kids, we were hoping for some shallow water.

I was actually considering booking this but I am a little confused by the price. Was the amount you paid per person? I see on the cruise planner a price of $150 but when I go to book it, it changes the total to $300.00 for both DH & myself. This seems very expensive. Any input would be appreciated. TIA

FYI - it's $150 for up to 6 people - only 1 person needs to book it. We had our travel agent confirm.

We did Enchantment with our 14 month old and she loved it. I agree that the water area on Majesty would have been nice but we had a balcony and just brought a small, inflatable pool for her to use out there to splash around. I also recommend the toy loaner program, basically you can go down to the royal nursery and they have prepackaged toy bags that you can check out for free, as often as you want. They disinfect them when people bring them back. This was nice to be able to have "new to her" toys to keep her entertained and we didn't have to pack a bunch. They also have open play times where you can go and play with your child with toys they have out. It was never crowded and gave her a safe place to play.

As for excursions, I agree on coco cay, water was super shallow and clear and she loved it. Those are my favorite pictures from our trip. I do recommend water shoes though as some of those little shells can hurt. At key west, we did the city trolley so we could get off at the stops we wanted and skip others (it's like a hop on/hop off type) and she hung out in the baby carrier (i.e. ergobaby). In Nassau, we did blue lagoon island, they have a smaller lagoon with shallow, clear water for her to play with a nice beach area (including plenty of shade and loungers) and there are also dolphins you can watch in a small pool area - she loved that.

Good luck and have fun!

I've always gotten a CD and the digital images have been very high quality (over 10mb per file). I've had several images enlarged to well over an 8x10 and they've looked great. Good tip to not do it through the app.

Look at the link below that has already been discussed. This may be what you are referring to! Hope it helps.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2394971

That thread is about Labadee not Coco Cay.