Majesty 11/28-12/1 Review with Lots of Pics!!

[ebandive]

And then you walk around a corner of the island, and you see this:

 

You can see that way out here there are barely any people.

 

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Looking the other direction:

We settled on a great quiet spot to lay.

We laid until we got restless, then snorkeled. I will post the pictures to that incredible experience when I get them back.

 

After snorkeling, we ate lunch.

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And then it was:

On a side note, I read that "Cay" is pronounced "Key." However, I heard everyone pronouncing it "Kay", including the captain. I guess it can be pronounced either way?

 

This time we rode on the top deck back to the ship.

Once on the ship, we walked one flight of stairs up to our room and crashed. Well, first took a shower, but then crashed. But this leads me to two minor complaints.

 

First, the electrical outlets. I was glad to see two of them under the phone. Perfect to recharge my batteries and dry my hair.

But here is the problem. The outlets were too big for all my electronics. I plugged them in, they'd stay for a minute, then fall out. Now they simply wouldn't fall out gracefully. They would fall out of the outlet, hit the light (turning it off), then crash onto the metal ice tray making a horribly loud noise, then finally crash to the floor. I can't tell you how many times this scenario repeated itself. I should have brought duct tape! I made do doing a delicate balancing act and trying to prop the appliaces in the outlet to charge. LOL.

 

My second complaint is that I was rudely awakened from my nap. I really think that Royal Caribbean should do more to control noisy sports fans. I mean really. :p I am not a sports fan so I do not understand this craziness. Fortunately I married a man who is also not a sports fan, so at home I am blessed with never having to watch them or having my husband engrossed by them. Unfortunately, the man in the cabin behind us was an insanely maniac Gators fan. There was pounding, cheering, booing, clapping. We got a play by play without ever seeing the game. We knew about evey touchtown and every fumble. So finally about 4:00 we gave up on napping and went up to the pool deck. :rolleyes:

 

This turned out not to be so bad because we watched the always graceful bellyflop contest.

[ebandive]

After watching the bellyflops for awhile, we decided to try out compass deli. Yum! My favorites there were a glorified grilled cheese with 3 types of cheese, and the cuban sandwich.

 

At the back of compass deli is this great little spot to sit.

It overlooks this:

It's a great spot to relax and people watch, and there is a stairway that leads down to the regular buffet if you have a hungry Charlie with you.

 

We stayed there until the sun was low in the sky.

Then we headed outside for the rest of the sunset sailaway. The last tender from Coco Cay was at 4:30. Our friends chose to spend the afternoon napping in a hammock on the island. We met them again at dinner time.

 

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Here are a few more sunset pics:

Then we headed to dinner. On the way I snapped this picture of the Atrium. BTW, the first night for dinner, everyone made this huge long line by the dining room doors on the left side of the Atrium. Knowing there were doors on both sides, we walked to the other side and were among the first in the dining room, no waiting necessary!

I forgot to mention that this was formal night. But formal is not really very formal on this ship. I felt perfectly comfortable in my black skirt and shirt, and Charlie wore black slacks with a button down shirt and tie.

 

I had the fillet of beef which was excellent. After dinner was the Captain's reception which meant free drinks! We loaded up on rum punch.

 

After that we went to the room to change before the show. We got our first towel animal of the cruise-- a stingray.

Oh, and look we got our C&A gifts too. Our hats. We will absolutely never wear them. What do you do with ugly hats? (sorry if I offend someone who likes the hats, but I never wear hats, especially not ugly hats).

 

Then we went up to the show. It was "Signed, Sealed, Delivered". I told Charlie that this was the same show we saw on Grandeur last year but he disagreed. If it's not the same show it was pretty similiar. Does anyone know for sure?

[ebandive]

At last it was time for Charlie's favorite part of the trip, the midnight buffet. They had cheese and fruit, then some finger foods like corn dogs. They also had a roasted pig that was staring at you as you try to get your food. I can't eat something that is looking at me. But that's just me. There was also icecream and a dessert table, and there were ice sculptures.

 

After people ate, the dance party started. All Charlie wanted to was the electric slide, so we stayed for awhile but not too late. It was already WAY past our bedtime!

 

We went to bed, and I somehow managed to make it up shortly before sunrise the next day. I really wanted to watch us pulling into Nassau. It all seemed very familiar because I had seen so many pictures of the lighthouse, Atlantis, and the pink-turned-white house by the dock.

 

 

 

 

[zgs]

Thanks for the great pics of Coco Cay. Now I'm really excited to go there.

About how long did it take you to get away from the crowded areas of the beach? Are there designated areas to snorkle or can you go anywhere?

Thanks!

Gina

[ebandive]

Check out the beautiful water!

I took a bunch of pictures of the places I recognized from my research.

 

The first is the free beach (Junkanoo) that is located just past the British Colonial Hilton.

Here's the formerly for sale, pink-turned-white house

The British Colonial:

The straw market and senior frogs.

And of course Atlantis:

[ebandive]

Thanks for the great pics of Coco Cay. Now I'm really excited to go there.

About how long did it take you to get away from the crowded areas of the beach? Are there designated areas to snorkle or can you go anywhere?

Thanks!

Gina

 

I didn't really time the walk, but I'd say about twenty minutes. If you bring your own equipment I'm sure you could snorkel anywhere, but I think the snorkeling is only really good out by the rocky side of the beach.

 

Speaking of, when you are entering that area, it is pretty rocky on your feet. Just a warning. ;)

[ebandive]

This next picture I like for sentimental reasons. That is the Carnival Imagination, taken from the Majesty.

The Imagination was our first ship back in May of 2007. She is responsible for my addiction. So this leads me to a brief Royal Vs. Carnival comparison.

 

When I went on my first RCI cruise, I was especting a big "step up" from what I read at the time on these boards. I was disappointed. I thought the lines were extremely similiar, and RCCL was pumped up to me to be so much better. I must say that our service on our first Carnival cruise has beaten both of the RCCL cruises. Not to say that we have ever had bad service, it just happened to be exceptional on the imagination.

 

I also heard that Carnival is just the "party line." I both agree and disagree. It was a bit more rowdy, but it was during May and I'm sure we had more spring breakers. I'm sure that contributed to the party atmosphere. I saw my fair share of drunken people on this past Majesty cruise as well.

 

Royal's ships are definately more beautiful and elegant. Though if the price is cheaper, I would not hesitate to go back on a Carnival ship. It just so happens that the last two cruises I've taken, Royal has been the cheaper of the two, which also disproves that Carnival is always cheaper.

 

I noticed a big difference in the demographics of passengers. Imagination had a large portion of African American passengers, and they played hip hop from the speakers. Royal had a good variety of all sorts of nationalities, I noticed a lot of Latin and European folks.

 

Bottom line is both lines are great, and each experience is very subjective. Even Charlie and I disagree in some areas about our experiences. I would jump at the chance to sail either line again.

 

Also, I have only been on older, smaller ships so keep that in mind.

 

Ok, back to the Majesty!

 

We docked in Nassau and shortly after we docked, Imagination sailed away, leaving us as the only ship in port. I found this odd for Nassau, but realized that it is probably because we are here on a Sunday and many stores are closed.

 

In order to get into the city, you must walk through Festival Place where people will try to sell you their stuff.

Looking back toward the ship.

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Our friends wanted to go to the straw market, so we headed there first. I was a bit nervous about this, because I read that it can get pretty scary in that tent. I was pleasently surprised. Though people pushed their stuff, a simple "No Thankyou" was all it took. I showed some interest in a purse, was told it was $65, put it down, and was offered $40, walked away, and was offered $20. I ended up getting a pretty good knock-off purse for $30. Charlie bought some cuban cigars at a nearby shop, about $40 for four.

 

Right next to the straw market is Senor Frogs. It was closed, too early yet I guess.

 

[phabric]

Do you remember which area had the hammocks from the sign, my husband would love to have one while we are there.

 

In Nassau on a Sunday, are there places open. We will be there Easter Sunday.

[ebandive]

Do you remember which area had the hammocks from the sign, my husband would love to have one while we are there.

 

In Nassau on a Sunday, are there places open. We will be there Easter Sunday.

 

There are hammocks all along the beach. You can't miss them.

 

There are places open on Sunday, just not ALL the places all day. Many places were closed. We were told by the cruise staff that Sundays are a holiday for the locals and many choose to take off or at least close early.

[phabric]

Thanks for the information. We were on Carnival Imagination 3 day cruise in Oct so we will be comparing the two cruises.

[seeshore]

Thanks so much for posting your great pictures and your informative and honest review. Reading it has really helped build the anticipation for our cruise in January. Can't wait to see more!

[ebandive]

So on with Nassau. After the straw market adventure, we started our walking tour. I found a couple different walking tours from the Nassau boards. All I was really interested in seeing was the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle.

 

We started our walk. Our map didn't have clear directions, it was just streets, so we just made our way in the general direction. There is a water tower atop Queen's Staircase, and you can see this from many parts of the walk towards it. Just keep walking in the general direction.

 

On the way we passed some parliament buildings.

 

I knew we were getting close (I finally saw some more tourists). First we saw the Fort. I started walking towards it, but Charlie stopped it and said, "NO way am I going up the back way. There has to be a better entrance." So we walked a bit farther, and there it was! The Queen's Staircase!

 

The following history is from destination360 dot com.

 

"The Nassau Queens Staircase is a set of steps located on Nassau Island, and is a prominent part of any Nassau tour for guests. The set of 65 steps was carved out of the natural limestone wall that once rested in its place by slaves between 1793 and 1794. The Queens Staircase is 102 feet tall, and was so named in honor of Queen Victoria.

 

Originally, the Queens Staircase was built to provide British troops a protected route to Fort Fincastle, and the slaves used were local peoples from the island. Fort Fincastle was built on the highest point of the island as a lookout by the British captain Lord Dunmore in 1793. The Queens Staircase and Fort Fincastle were inspired by a desire to watch for encroaching marauders and pirates, however, none ever attacked and the fort is now a lighthouse that tourists can view."

 

 

There were these super skinny palm trees, and other trees that roots just grew on the wall.

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When you got to the foot of the stairs, there was a vender selling T-shirts and such. I tried to get some good pictures at the base of the stairs, but was interrupted by a tour guide telling me all about the history. I nodded politely and kept moving on because I had already researched the history online before coming. This guy then insisted that I hand over my camera so we could get our picture together. Here is the result.

I knew this guy would now expect a tip, and although I thought it was unnecessary because I didn't ask for a history and our friends could have easily taken our picture (and probably a better one) I don't mind giving a few bucks to a local. However Charlie had all the cash, and he claims he didn't know what kind of bills we had. Charlie told the guy that we would have to come back later because we needed change!!! :eek: The guy proceeded to cuss us out. I said, Charlie, it's OK, give him a few bucks. So he did. And the guy left us alone to take pictures of our own.

 

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Here's the view from the top looking down:

And when we go to the top there was a sign declaring where we were. Go figure.

We walked around the corner and there was the water tower:

That's all I can post now. Tomorrow I will bring you Fort Fincastle.

 

I hope you all are still enjoying it!

[zgs]

Erin -thanks again for a great review and beautiful pictures. I just got back from a root canal :eek: and visualized your sunset pictures to get me through it.

[MarinerGroom]

Thanks for all of the pictures & information. I'm really looking forward to our cruise now.

[cruisefromct]

Erin,

 

Thanks for posting all your pictures. Looks like you had incredible weather for your cruise. Will be cruising on the Majesty again this friday. After seeing all your beautiful photos I am getting excited about getting out of the cold of Connecticut and getting to the warmth of the Bahamas

 

Lisa

[ebandive]

Erin -thanks again for a great review and beautiful pictures. I just got back from a root canal :eek: and visualized your sunset pictures to get me through it.

 

LOL. I do what I can! :rolleyes::D

[ebandive]

Thanks for all of the pictures & information. I'm really looking forward to our cruise now.

 

I"m glad you are enjoying it. Have a great anniversary!

 

Erin,

 

Thanks for posting all your pictures. Looks like you had incredible weather for your cruise. Will be cruising on the Majesty again this friday. After seeing all your beautiful photos I am getting excited about getting out of the cold of Connecticut and getting to the warmth of the Bahamas

 

Lisa

 

OMG are you cruising all winter long? I am so jealous. Take me with! :)

[ebandive]

I realized I forgot to mention the Love and Marriage game that was Saturday night. I've tried to hit this on past trips and always find it hilarious.

 

On this trip, the newlywed couple was from Fort Myers, the middle-agers were from Cape Coral, and the Long time married couple were from Naples. If you are familiar with this area at all, we are all extremely close. I think the ship was pretty full of florida residents. We got our trip about six weeks before sailing at only $129 per person. When you live close to port, how can you pass that up?

 

We booked a Next Cruise on our last tip, and our $50 was applied to our onboard accout. Our friends got $50 OBC as well because they used our Next Cruise "friend" coupon. This was out first time booking directly with the cruiseline and everything worked out fine. There was a little confusion because the $129 was only for new bookings, so they had to transfer me to the Crown & Anchor office to decide if a Next Cruise deposit would still qualify me for the new booking price. Turns out it did, and to top it off I only had to pay the fuel surcharge that was from last December, half of what it is now.

 

Anyhow, the show was great. Ricky (cruise director) hosted it and did a great job keeping us entertained. I'd recommend going to this show. A lot depends on the passengers involved, but with the questions they ask, it is hard to go wrong. :)

[The Big Booper]

Terrific photo essay. We sailed on the Monarch (Majesty twin) in 1995. It is interesting to see that with proper updating these pioneer big ships still can compete with the newer big ships. We will probably book the Majesty next May, as part of a combo trip. Yes, I know we will have to sit thru a 2 hour timeshare spiel, but 4 days on the Majesty plus 9 days in Florida for a pittance is worth it.