Majesty of the Seas to Havana -- July 28-Aug 1

We sailed on Majesty July 28-Aug 1. It was a great mini-cruise! We arrived at the terminal around 10:30am (thank you to Host Clarea here on CC for that bit of advice). There was no line! Up the escalator, through a zig-zag queue, and up to a desk to fill out papers stating whether we would be getting off the ship in Cuba. Then, directly to a check-in station where we got our SeaPass cards and our Cuban visas (that we had to fill in by hand ourselves -- no mistakes or you have to buy another one). We sat down to await boarding, but not for very long. Before we knew it, we were sitting in the shade by the pool, cold drink in hand, watching the kids splash in the pool. All before 11:30.

At some point, we decided to try Windjammer for lunch. It was ok. Standard buffet fare. Our preferred spot, the main dining room, wasn't open. That is a Norwegian thing. They announced about 1pm that the cabins were ready, so after lunch we headed to Deck 5 to check out our accommodations. Our luggage was already in the hallway outside our room -- very surprising, but nice! We found our little interior cabin, and I opened the door slowly, with bated breath, because I had heard they were very small. It was. Tiny, actually. Almost miniscule. Our cabin steward clearly had a sense of humour -- the Pullmans were still folded into the wall, and a kingsize bed took up the vast majority of the available space. Oh well. We just sleep here, right? We had sort of planned for a smallish cabin, having brought only 2 pieces of luggage for 4 people. And a carry-on. And 3 backpacks. And a beach bag. At least 2 of the 4 of us were of the child-size variety! We managed to find a spot for everything, though storage was a bit sparse.

As we headed out for the dreaded muster drill, we ran into our room steward, Osner. He would, of course, be happy to fold down the Pullmans every evening, and it would be no problem to separate the kingsize into two twins. I mean, I like a kingsize as much as the next guy, but that just wasn't going to work in that small space!

Muster wasn't too big of a pain. It was "old-school" -- out on the deck. At least we didn't have to actually don life jackets, and it only took 15 minutes or so. Our station was shaded, so not too bad.

We were already dressed for dinner, so the pool deck didn't seem like the best place to hang out during sail-away. I had read on here that the Viking Crown Lounge (VCL) was a great place to view the Skyway Bridge during sail-away, so we headed up to Deck 14. Not too many people were there, so we found a small table with 4 chairs at the front overlooking the pool right by the replica ship steering wheel. What a perfect vantage spot! A waitress came around, we ordered drinks, and settled in to people-watch until dinner at 5:30.

Suddenly, a buffet appeared almost directly in front of us. Then, a waiter started bringing out trays and trays of hors d'oeuvres. Vegetables, meats, cheeses, meatballs, egg rolls, canapes. We were thinking, "Royal Caribbean has a royal sail-away!" Some teenagers tried to swarm it, but the waiter pushed them away, saying the party didn't start until 5pm. Then it hit me -- we must have stumbled into a Diamond/Platinum Sail-Away party!

Apparently, they had neglected to put out the signs meant to keep the riff-raff in the rear of the VCL before we arrived. But, man, were those hors d'oeuvres good! And it was a good party -- not too loud, good drinks, great views. Alas, we had to head out for dinner, and at that point, they did have the Diamond/Platinum party "stay in the back you lowly Gold C&A people" signs.

Dinner, every night, did not disappoint. Escargots nightly? Yes, please! Bar service in the dining room was quite efficient, unlike Carnival. We never had a disappointing meal. Our son perused, quickly, the entrees and chose the Maine lobster tail, steamed. Every. Single. Night. He's 9. Our daughter, 7, was happy with soup and mac-n-cheese. After dinner the first night, we walked around the ship a bit and then dropped the kids off at Kids' Camp. The wife and I had a few drinks in a couple of the bars before it was suddenly time to get the kids. We were tired and went to bed.

Sunday was supposed to be a port day, but it wasn't scheduled to start until 1pm, so we slept in. We were up in time to get to breakfast in the Starlight dining room. The breakfast menu never changed. Interestingly, you could sit at your table and order off the menu, or you could walk to a buffet they set up in the center of the room each morning and get the exact same things in half the time. After breakfast, we headed to the pool deck for a little sun. We actually got to Key West early, and then the cruise director announced we would have extra time from noon to 8pm instead of 1pm to 7pm because "that's just how we do it at Royal Caribbean." Larger boats were at the main pier, so we, along with a Celebrity ship, docked at the naval base. Because you can't have 2000 tourists wandering around a US Navy base, RC arranged for buses, trams, and conch trains to transport everyone into town. We did a parasailing tour (booked privately for half the price of RC's excursion). We've done it before, but the kids liked it and wanted to go again. After, we had an obligatory key lime pie on a stick, and caught the conch train back to the boat in time to shower, dress, and make it to dinner.

Monday was CUBA! The main event. The sole purpose we booked this cruise! And it did not disappoint. Getting off wasn't bad, but communication the part of RC could have been better. Apparently if you had a RC excursion, you could get off as soon as you were ready. If not, you had to line up in Boleros and they would let off 20-25 people at a time so as not to overwhelm Cuban Customs. Once we got into Customs, they just glanced at your $75 visa and set it aside, flipped through your passport, and stamped it. Off we went down to the other end of the terminal for money exchange. There is a 3% exchange fee no matter what currency you are converting from. If you choose to convert US dollars, there is a 10% tax -- the Cubans are still a little miffed about that whole little embargo thingee. I had read about that and bought Euros from my bank at home. Voila! No 10% tax! After doing a few calculations, I think it saved me about $25.

We had a great private tour with Blexie (check the Cuba forums here on CC). Our guide was so very nice and spoke flawless English. We had about an hour walking tour in which we hit up Plaza de San Francisco, Plaza Vieja, Plaza Catedral, El Bodeguita del Medio (Hemingway's favorite spot for a mojito), an old fort, and a shopping side trip for rum and cigars. The rum prices are very good. The cigar prices, not so much. Then we picked up our 1955 Chevy Bel Air (with a Mercedes diesel engine). Our driver didn't speak English, but we still had our tour guide and my wife is fluent in Spanish. We drove all over Havana, it seemed, including through a tunnel under the ship channel constructed in the 50s by the French. We saw the Cuban Jesus statue and a monument to the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis. Lunch was at a private paladar. It's even on Trip Advisor -- El Canonazo. The food was plentiful and not over-priced by American standards. A large lunch, with drinks, for four people for CUC$98. We then headed back to the main part of Havana and saw Capitolio (which looks very much like our Capitol in Washington) and Revolution Square. We stopped at El Floridita for a Hemingway daiquiri and drove through Fusterlandia before heading back to the ship.

We managed to convert our CUCs to US dollars, make it through Customs, and get back on the ship in time to shower and make it to dinner. We dropped the kids at Kids' Camp and headed to VCL. This time, the rear of the lounge was the place to be for sail-away since we had backed into our berth. We had a panoramic view of the Malecon. Naturally, we had Cuban Libres. As we sailed out and the sun set, we headed down to the Schooner Bar for some music and more drinks. We picked up the kids and went upstairs to Sorrentos and Compass Deli. The pizza wasn't bad and the deli was something new. Our daughter has a "thing" for chips and cheese, so she was in heaven.

Tuesday was a day at sea. Which means sleeping in, spending time by the pool (when it wasn't raining), hitting up a few bars, letting the kids go to the arcade (small as it was), packing (always sad), dinner, hitting up a few more bars -- well, actually the same ones. There are only so many. And then more pizza and chips and cheese.

We woke up Wednesday to Tampa. After a quick breakfast in Windjammer, where we hadn't been since Saturday, we grabbed our luggage and did self-assist debarkation. So easy! So quick! I don't think we'll ever go back to the old way. We just walked out, breezed through Customs, got our car, and headed to Busch Gardens. We got there so early, we had sit and wait for the parking lot to open!

Majesty is an older ship, but she has aged well (and had a few facelifts). We had never sailed on such a small ship and we were a little worried about whether we'd be bored or there would be too much "motion of the ocean." I can report we were never bored, the ride was smooth, and we'd sail Majesty again in a heartbeat!

Then it hit me -- we must have stumbled into a Diamond/Platinum Sail-Away party!

Isn't that the nightly Diamond lounge event?

There was lobster on the menu every night???

There was lobster on the menu every night???

If there was no up charge on the nightly lobster, this might make it worth it to book!

OP, glad you enjoyed your cruise and Tampa!

There was lobster on the menu every night???

That's true on every ship - it's up upcharge item.

Biker, who finds it a bit strange that a 9 year old would want that.

Great review..we'll be on the Majesty in September.

Was on the same cruise!

Ditto the OP - great trip!

There was lobster on the menu every night???

Yes, at $30 a pop!

That's true on every ship - it's up upcharge item.

 

Biker, who finds it a bit strange that a 9 year old would want that.

But he did. And he didn't leave any behind, either!

Isn't that the nightly Diamond lounge event?

Apparently. Didn't know they had it while sailing out of Tampa. We just thought, rightfully, that it would be a great place to watch sail-away since we were already dressed for dinner.

We sailed on Majesty July 28-Aug 1. It was a great mini-cruise! We arrived at the terminal around 10:30am (thank you to Host Clarea here on CC for that bit of advice). There was no line! Up the escalator, through a zig-zag queue, and up to a desk to fill out papers stating whether we would be getting off the ship in Cuba. Then, directly to a check-in station where we got our SeaPass cards and our Cuban visas (that we had to fill in by hand ourselves -- no mistakes or you have to buy another one). We sat down to await boarding, but not for very long. Before we knew it, we were sitting in the shade by the pool, cold drink in hand, watching the kids splash in the pool. All before 11:30.

 

At some point, we decided to try Windjammer for lunch. It was ok. Standard buffet fare. Our preferred spot, the main dining room, wasn't open. That is a Norwegian thing. They announced about 1pm that the cabins were ready, so after lunch we headed to Deck 5 to check out our accommodations. Our luggage was already in the hallway outside our room -- very surprising, but nice! We found our little interior cabin, and I opened the door slowly, with bated breath, because I had heard they were very small. It was. Tiny, actually. Almost miniscule. Our cabin steward clearly had a sense of humour -- the Pullmans were still folded into the wall, and a kingsize bed took up the vast majority of the available space. Oh well. We just sleep here, right? We had sort of planned for a smallish cabin, having brought only 2 pieces of luggage for 4 people. And a carry-on. And 3 backpacks. And a beach bag. At least 2 of the 4 of us were of the child-size variety! We managed to find a spot for everything, though storage was a bit sparse.

 

As we headed out for the dreaded muster drill, we ran into our room steward, Osner. He would, of course, be happy to fold down the Pullmans every evening, and it would be no problem to separate the kingsize into two twins. I mean, I like a kingsize as much as the next guy, but that just wasn't going to work in that small space!

 

Muster wasn't too big of a pain. It was "old-school" -- out on the deck. At least we didn't have to actually don life jackets, and it only took 15 minutes or so. Our station was shaded, so not too bad.

 

We were already dressed for dinner, so the pool deck didn't seem like the best place to hang out during sail-away. I had read on here that the Viking Crown Lounge (VCL) was a great place to view the Skyway Bridge during sail-away, so we headed up to Deck 14. Not too many people were there, so we found a small table with 4 chairs at the front overlooking the pool right by the replica ship steering wheel. What a perfect vantage spot! A waitress came around, we ordered drinks, and settled in to people-watch until dinner at 5:30.

 

Suddenly, a buffet appeared almost directly in front of us. Then, a waiter started bringing out trays and trays of hors d'oeuvres. Vegetables, meats, cheeses, meatballs, egg rolls, canapes. We were thinking, "Royal Caribbean has a royal sail-away!" Some teenagers tried to swarm it, but the waiter pushed them away, saying the party didn't start until 5pm. Then it hit me -- we must have stumbled into a Diamond/Platinum Sail-Away party!

 

Apparently, they had neglected to put out the signs meant to keep the riff-raff in the rear of the VCL before we arrived. But, man, were those hors d'oeuvres good! And it was a good party -- not too loud, good drinks, great views. Alas, we had to head out for dinner, and at that point, they did have the Diamond/Platinum party "stay in the back you lowly Gold C&A people" signs.

 

Dinner, every night, did not disappoint. Escargots nightly? Yes, please! Bar service in the dining room was quite efficient, unlike Carnival. We never had a disappointing meal. Our son perused, quickly, the entrees and chose the Maine lobster tail, steamed. Every. Single. Night. He's 9. Our daughter, 7, was happy with soup and mac-n-cheese. After dinner the first night, we walked around the ship a bit and then dropped the kids off at Kids' Camp. The wife and I had a few drinks in a couple of the bars before it was suddenly time to get the kids. We were tired and went to bed.

 

Sunday was supposed to be a port day, but it wasn't scheduled to start until 1pm, so we slept in. We were up in time to get to breakfast in the Starlight dining room. The breakfast menu never changed. Interestingly, you could sit at your table and order off the menu, or you could walk to a buffet they set up in the center of the room each morning and get the exact same things in half the time. After breakfast, we headed to the pool deck for a little sun. We actually got to Key West early, and then the cruise director announced we would have extra time from noon to 8pm instead of 1pm to 7pm because "that's just how we do it at Royal Caribbean." Larger boats were at the main pier, so we, along with a Celebrity ship, docked at the naval base. Because you can't have 2000 tourists wandering around a US Navy base, RC arranged for buses, trams, and conch trains to transport everyone into town. We did a parasailing tour (booked privately for half the price of RC's excursion). We've done it before, but the kids liked it and wanted to go again. After, we had an obligatory key lime pie on a stick, and caught the conch train back to the boat in time to shower, dress, and make it to dinner.

 

Monday was CUBA! The main event. The sole purpose we booked this cruise! And it did not disappoint. Getting off wasn't bad, but communication the part of RC could have been better. Apparently if you had a RC excursion, you could get off as soon as you were ready. If not, you had to line up in Boleros and they would let off 20-25 people at a time so as not to overwhelm Cuban Customs. Once we got into Customs, they just glanced at your $75 visa and set it aside, flipped through your passport, and stamped it. Off we went down to the other end of the terminal for money exchange. There is a 3% exchange fee no matter what currency you are converting from. If you choose to convert US dollars, there is a 10% tax -- the Cubans are still a little miffed about that whole little embargo thingee. I had read about that and bought Euros from my bank at home. Voila! No 10% tax! After doing a few calculations, I think it saved me about $25.

 

We had a great private tour with Blexie (check the Cuba forums here on CC). Our guide was so very nice and spoke flawless English. We had about an hour walking tour in which we hit up Plaza de San Francisco, Plaza Vieja, Plaza Catedral, El Bodeguita del Medio (Hemingway's favorite spot for a mojito), an old fort, and a shopping side trip for rum and cigars. The rum prices are very good. The cigar prices, not so much. Then we picked up our 1955 Chevy Bel Air (with a Mercedes diesel engine). Our driver didn't speak English, but we still had our tour guide and my wife is fluent in Spanish. We drove all over Havana, it seemed, including through a tunnel under the ship channel constructed in the 50s by the French. We saw the Cuban Jesus statue and a monument to the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis. Lunch was at a private paladar. It's even on Trip Advisor -- El Canonazo. The food was plentiful and not over-priced by American standards. A large lunch, with drinks, for four people for CUC$98. We then headed back to the main part of Havana and saw Capitolio (which looks very much like our Capitol in Washington) and Revolution Square. We stopped at El Floridita for a Hemingway daiquiri and drove through Fusterlandia before heading back to the ship.

 

We managed to convert our CUCs to US dollars, make it through Customs, and get back on the ship in time to shower and make it to dinner. We dropped the kids at Kids' Camp and headed to VCL. This time, the rear of the lounge was the place to be for sail-away since we had backed into our berth. We had a panoramic view of the Malecon. Naturally, we had Cuban Libres. As we sailed out and the sun set, we headed down to the Schooner Bar for some music and more drinks. We picked up the kids and went upstairs to Sorrentos and Compass Deli. The pizza wasn't bad and the deli was something new. Our daughter has a "thing" for chips and cheese, so she was in heaven.

 

Tuesday was a day at sea. Which means sleeping in, spending time by the pool (when it wasn't raining), hitting up a few bars, letting the kids go to the arcade (small as it was), packing (always sad), dinner, hitting up a few more bars -- well, actually the same ones. There are only so many. And then more pizza and chips and cheese.

 

We woke up Wednesday to Tampa. After a quick breakfast in Windjammer, where we hadn't been since Saturday, we grabbed our luggage and did self-assist debarkation. So easy! So quick! I don't think we'll ever go back to the old way. We just walked out, breezed through Customs, got our car, and headed to Busch Gardens. We got there so early, we had sit and wait for the parking lot to open!

 

Majesty is an older ship, but she has aged well (and had a few facelifts). We had never sailed on such a small ship and we were a little worried about whether we'd be bored or there would be too much "motion of the ocean." I can report we were never bored, the ride was smooth, and we'd sail Majesty again in a heartbeat!

THANKS FOR SO SUCH A GREAT REVIEW.

I will be on the same ship in two weeks for an overnight, i just have a question did rccl give you a hard time with the visa since you did not book a tour with them, also what visa did you selected and did they let you. I visited havana last year before the change and i'm not sure . thanks in advanced..