bluegirlum

I have not sailed either Enchantment nor Majesty, but I did book Majesty for a 3 day "ALL GIRLZ WEEKEND" coming up in 30 days..2 Beach days, lots of music dancing and fun to be had, so Iv'e been told. I am the Matriarch (he he he) and will wear my Tiara :D my princesses ( 5 daughters and daughters in law) range in ages 26 to 38 will sail with me. We like leaving from Miami so we can fly in a day early and hang out in South Beach. I can't wait to start the party :D

I like where your head's at! Have a great time!!! :)

Single digit dance :):):D not long to go now.

 

First time cruise so a bit clueless.

 

I'm sure I read somewhere (might have been in our travel documentation) that you should take a carry on for the first day in case you don't get your luggage until late.

 

What would you put in it?swimsuits? What else?

 

Surely we will have our luggage available before the evening meal so that we can get showered and changed?

 

Thanks

Yes, you should have your luggage before dinner. Dinner the first night is very casual anyway.

Know that you'll be walking around with 1500 of your new best friends until your cabin is ready at 1, so don't bring a huge carry-on with you (note--do as I say, not as I do :eek:). It can be a pain going to the Windjammer and walking around with a big bag; bring all the stuff Bob recommended, but keep your bag as small as you can.

Have fun!

I actually prefer Majesty. My best friend from college and I (2 40 year old ladies) did the 3 nighter and had a blast. We rented a cabanette at Coco Cay and had a wonderfully relaxing beach day, and spent a lot of the day in Nassau at Senor Frogs and met a ton of fun people from our ship, who we then hung out with later that night back on board. She had never cruised before and now she can't wait to go back! I prefer Majesty to Enchantment, and I think it's easier to leave out of Miami.

Either one will be a lot of fun. Majesty is just my preference.

We loved Papito's. I've been very lucky to go to several places in the Caribbean and Hawaii and this was one of the best I've been to. The water is clear and once you get out not too far you can snorkel and see a lot of fish. I don't know if you have kids--there aren't a lot of "kid" things to do at the beach other than snorkeling and playing in the water--but the water itself is amazing. We picked it over Money Bar because it is actually a beach. I think it just depends on what you want.

I would do some more research here and on Trip Advisor. I think there quite a few places where you would be really happy.

Everything is right there. Make sure you go to the Tortuga rum store and get some rum cake! Have a great time! :)

When I was on my last Liberty cruise, they had the dance party one night in the Solarium and that was a blast.

On Brilliance, the Star Bar (?) was packed every night. It was a lot of fun. The bar rotates, which freaked us out at first.

The Senor Frogs at the International Pier has it. You just have to ask for the password.

I will be asking for help with the ports when it gets closer, trip is in Sept 2016, will also keep a eye out for other cruises to same area and possibly try another line.

Many of the cruise lines use the same vendors. So people on your excursion in GC could've been on a Carnival ship that day. Changing lines won't necessarily make for a better excursion.

And seriously, if you had such a bad time, you should let RC know. If they get enough complaints, maybe they'll revisit their vendor.

As someone else said, check your roll call. Don't be afraid to try independent tours. Looks like you have plenty of time to plan. Use the port forums here and on trip advisor. These vendors in these ports have a monetary incentive to give you a safe, enjoyable excursion.

They should all sign a release exempting RCL if anything happened to them.

Even if people sign releases, they can and will sue, and can and will win.

Beachin2, where do they bus you to? I've never heard of this. Is there a travel warning for that port? (I'm not being sarcastic--just curious).

I think RC was in a no win situation. I think they had to cancel because as someone said, what if something happened if they didn't.

I agree, I understand that I will be paying more, but I have done dozens of similar cruise sponsored excursions before and they never been this bad, did Sting ray city a couple of times in the past. My main concern is when I do ports that I am not familiar with like I will doing next year in Europe, I feel safer on a ships tour. All other similar boat tours had crew of about 5 not 2. Also I thought that since I did injury myself and report was filled out that someone from RCCL would do some kind of follow up? that really surprised me that it was not done.

It probably takes a while for RCCL to get the report. Also, think of all the excursions that they have every day. Not that it's ideal or what you want, but I think you should probably follow up in this case. That way you'll know that they got the report and you can express your concerns.

It's unfortunate that you didn't enjoy your excursion. Most buses aren't made for tall people, so unfortunately even if you would've taken a private excursion, you probably would've had the same problem (my 6'2 dad and brother had the same problem in GC on a bus for a private excursion). A lot of the excursions booked through the ships are run through a 3rd party and are used not only by RC, but by other ships and by people who use them as a "private" excursion. I always do my research for private excursions to make sure it's not the vendor used by the cruise ships precisely to avoid a big crowd.

It's too bad you didn't enjoy your time in GC. I found seeing the stingrays to be a very cool experience, but I can see how you might now feel the same way. It's possible that RC didn't get the report about your injury. I would follow up with them if you feel that they are using a bad vendor.

I feel like most of the things at the spa are weird. Other than massages and manicures, I don't even understand them. Seaweed wraps?!?!?!

I'm sorry, I meant to say we are looking at Deck 9, Cabin 9562. Yes it is a M-F cruise.

This particular cruise and itinerary is my favorite of all the cruises I've been on. As the other poster said, the ship is missing in most high tech amenities and she is old, but the staff and itinerary can't be beat. It's just a fun cruise. You'll mainly be on the ship at night, and there is plenty to do if you want. Ditto on the Compass Deli--it's the best!! It also has a Coke Freestyle machine, which is nice for a pop lover like me. :)

Have a great time!!!

OP, this is probably obvious, but if you have anything valuable, put that stuff in a little bag and take that as a carry on with you. Also, you SHOULD get your bags before 5, but if you want your swimsuit or a change of clothes for dinner, I would carry those on too. You just never know. I always carry on a swimsuit, flipflops, shorts (I'm coming from WI, so...) and clothes for dinner, as well as my prescriptions, and anything I think I might need the first day (which always seems to be way too much!!).

What would happen if people decided to wear formal wear every night, not just on formal night? Do you think people would mock them and stare at them and there would be threads and polls about it on CC?:D

Agreed that's a great price. That being said, they'd have to pay me to take a week's vacation to go to the Bahamas in December on the oldest,ship in the fleet, soon to be retired. I might look at it for a weekend cruise, but for an entire workweek, heck no.

 

With $12 drinks, $138 is probably about what that cruise is worth :p.

Seriously? Why? Maybe because I live in WI and I know what the weather is going to be like here, but this seems like a great deal. I love Majesty. This is VERY tempting!!!!

Yes. There are only a few small areas that aren't free. My personal favorite is Barefoot Beach. It's a little bit of a walk, and away from the buffet area. The main beach area is close to many bars and the buffet.

It's my favorite stop. Enjoy!

That's interesting. I reviewed my trip from last July on the Oasis. We flew Delta and our flight was at 1:40pm. I know we got to the airport around 9:30am. We use RCI Luggage Valet so we had no checked bags and our boarding pass was printed. When we arrived we went directly through security and I didn't notice and signs, hear any announcements, or was asked to wait before going through the TSA check point.

 

I have another trip for this fall from FLL so I'll have to keep an eye on others observations.

 

Shak

I was relaying my experiences. If that wasn't the same for you, then great. Again, why would I make this up? I have no personal interest in how anyone spends their time at the airport. I don't come on CC just to boost my post count or give people purposefully misleading advice. This has been my experience and I was trying to help. It's nice that you had nothing else to do than to go out and try to prove me wrong, especially when other people confirmed that this was their experience too. :eek:

I first went on Brilliance in 2007 and didn't love it. I went on her again 2 months ago and thought she was fantastic! It was a lot of fun. It was my BFs first cruise, so he wanted to eat in the MDR, which I haven't done in quite a few cruises. The food was excellent. The Solarium looks a little dated, but it's still nice. We really enjoyed it. I can answer specific questions, but I would suggest looking at some recent reviews (there have been a few in the past few months). I think you'll really enjoy it.

Where exactly did you find that policy. I looked at both Delta and Ft Lauderdale airport and don't see that policy. Actually I don't see why TSA would care as long as your travels are for that day.

 

Shak

You're right. I just made it up. :rolleyes:

As someone else mentioned, it's not posted anywhere. It's just from experience; it's happened to me 3 times. Space inside security by the gates at FLL is limited and this is how they do crowd control I guess. From what I've heard, Delta is the only airline at FLL that has this policy, as the other terminals have more space.

If you're on Delta, keep in mind that they won't let you go through security at FLL until 2 hours before your flight (at least that used to be the case--someone will correct me if that has changed). If that is still the case, and you have a flight anytime after noon, you'll spend a lot of time just sitting in the main lobby, where there is free wifi, but not much else. So that may impact people's thinking on what time they book their flight for...

Re your walking tour, there isn't a ton to see in Nassau. We walked to Fort Charlotte, which was cool, but otherwise I don't remember there being much but the stores. As others have said, I would do the beach first then come back and shop.

OP - I understand what you are saying about the elevator but it is very difficult for us to take full advantage of the Unlimited Drink Package and then take the stairs.

THIS is why CC needs a "like" button! :D:D

They clearly need people enforcing hand sanitizing in the WJ, checking disability paperwork by the elevators on each deck (if we're not in US waters, it's probably not illegal to ask someone if they have a disability that causes them to need to ride the elevator, right?), and enforcing the "dress code" in the dining room. That sounds like an efficient use of manpower and a cruise line I want to sail on.

I would get some bonine before the trip and bring it with you. I start taking it the day before we board and I've never had a problem. I tried the patch and while it helped with seasickness, the side effects were not fun. I then did bonine and a bracelet and that worked. I forgot the bracelet on my last trip, and the bonine alone was just fine. The bonine isn't going to harm you (it may interact with alcohol) and it's better to have something with you than to have to worry about whether the ship's doctor's office is open or having to go down several decks to get something.

Yes, you'll probably feel the ship moving, but it shouldn't be too bad. I don't know if you have to take any tenders or smaller boats during the trip, but you may actually feel the seasickness more on those than on the big ship. You'll definitely want to take something before you go on one of those boats.