Live from the Majesty of the Seas - July 20, 2012

[Cybercsp]

Thanks so much for this comprehensive review. We took our first cruise on Majesty 20 years ago during her inaugural year and we are returning to check her out this month. I am looking forward to seeing the changes.

[Daghis]

One question, as for tipping, are they not auto actually added to the room account? It sounds like one has to ask to have that done, if so, what happens, is it still the ol enevlope system ?

 

That's correct. Royal Caribbean doesn't have a "daily service charge" like other lines have. Instead, you are expected to pay your gratuities in full in one of these ways:

1. Have them included with your final payment in advance of the cruise
   
2. Have them charged to your onboard account during the cruise
   
3. Paid in cash at the end of the cruise in the provided envelopes

 

The envelopes are provided even if you've prepaid the gratuities in case you wish to tip extra above the amount otherwise prepaid.

 

It used to be that they provided vouchers showing that you had prepaid your gratuities for 1 and 2 above so that you could put them into the envelopes, but they no longer do that. The servers/attendants are given a list of those who have already paid their gratuities, so it was considered redundant.

[clean1owner]

I'm trapped and I can't get off the ship!

 

They took away the gangway due to the weather currently in Nassau. It's currently raining with scattered thunderstorms. I suspect it's also windy and that's why they removed the gangway due to the weather. Dave, the Cruise Director, said that when the weather gets better, they'll return the gangway. So, we're not sure what we're going to do. Although I had considered staying on the ship here in Nassau, I didn't think that it would be forced to be that way.

 

I'm sure the weather will clear up eventually, but if it's going to be rainy today, I'm not inclined to walk around much. So, we'll see what happens.

 

Meanwhile, I'm starting to think about food. If Bryan can get ready soon enough, we may get a bite for breakfast, otherwise we'll wait until noon for lunch.

 

 

Cruise Director Dave..... as in Chapman? Dave Chapman was the Cruise Director when we sailed the Majesty July of last year. As I have posted before, he is the best I have seen on any ship.

[Buffett fan]

Hi - this might be a little premature, but do you think you'll also be doing a live thread for your cruise in October? No worries if you're not, but if you are...I'll have to set a little reminder for myself to follow along :o

[taxatty]

I remembered that I had a few more pictures that I wanted to share.

 

We were staying in cabin 6506. For those who aren't familiar with this cabin, take a look at the deck plan sometime. You'll see that it has a very unusual shape. When you walk into the cabin, you're basically walking into the middle of it, with the beds to the left and the bathroom and desk on the right.

 

I didn't get really great shots, but here are a couple to give you a general idea of the separation between the two sides. First, this is what the bed looks like:

 

 

And, once we had the beds separated, they looked like this. Note the pop-up table between the beds which was actually pretty cool.

 

 

Now, if you're standing at the head of the beds, looking toward the rest of the cabin, this is what you see:

 

 

The desk is in a little alcove part of the cabin. Note the window on the left... there's enough room there on the ledge that leads out to the window to unpack most of one's stuff!

 

All in all, I liked the arrangement of the cabin and am looking forward to being in it again on the Monarch of the Seas in October. I'm not looking forward to the noise of the anchor being dropped or the other docking activities that go on in the early morning hours, but at least they're a convenient wake-up call to start one's day. :)

I've stayed in this room before. It may be an optical illusion, but it did seem larger than the usual miniscule OVs on this ship, and it was quite comfortable. As the OP mentioned, the anchor noise is a bit of a distraction, and it's a long way from the elevators (so it's very quiet), but I'd definitely stay in it again.

 

 

Les

[MrFunInTheSun]

Looks like I'll be on the Monarch just after you in October. Would have been cool if they coincided and we had duel "Live" reviews again. :-)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Please excuse typographical errors.

[Daghis]

Cruise Director Dave..... as in Chapman? Dave Chapman was the Cruise Director when we sailed the Majesty July of last year. As I have posted before, he is the best I have seen on any ship.

Yup, it was Dave Chapman. I wouldn't put him as my favorite, but he did a good job. I think that my cruising heart goes to Graham Seymour. :)

 

Hi - this might be a little premature, but do you think you'll also be doing a live thread for your cruise in October? No worries if you're not, but if you are...I'll have to set a little reminder for myself to follow along :o

 

I haven't decided yet, but it does seem to be a trend that I'm doing. Given that it's a back-to-back, I'm kind of inclined to do a pair of live threads since I'll be able to contrast the two cruises, and that may be an interesting perspective to share with others.

 

I've stayed in this room before. It may be an optical illusion, but it did seem larger than the usual miniscule OVs on this ship, and it was quite comfortable. As the OP mentioned, the anchor noise is a bit of a distraction, and it's a long way from the elevators (so it's very quiet), but I'd definitely stay in it again.

 

I didn't bring a tape measure (although I debated it), but you're right, it did feel larger than a traditional cabin. I did roughly measure (with my nearly foot-long feet) the bed area, and I seem to recall that I figured out that part was about 7' x 8', or about half the size of a traditional cabin. I'd bet that this cabin is slightly larger, but the way it's arranged is its key differentiator and that makes it kind of cool.

 

Oh, and as far as being so far away from the elevators, I thought that might be a concern, but it wasn't that bad. Plus, when you're used to walking down the long corridors on larger ships like Freedom or Oasis class, the hike on the Majesty from the lobby to the cabin ain't that bad! :)

[Daghis]

Looks like I'll be on the Monarch just after you in October. Would have been cool if they coincided and we had duel "Live" reviews again. :-)

I just saw your other post saying that you were going on the Monarch in October, and I was a bit disappointed to see that it wasn't October 15. That would have been very cool to have dueling live threads. :D

[mrsfecura]

Great, great review!!!

[Daghis]

Thank you very much!

[mrspurple92]

And, lastly, for those who may want copies of the various papers they gave us during the cruise, here are:

• The Planner
  
• Useful Information
  
• Officers and Staff Onboard
  
• Cruise Compasses
  
• Cruise Specials
  
• As You Depart
  

I hope this information will be useful to some for her future sailings.

 

Bon voyage!

 

 

Wow thanks so much for ALL of the helpful pictures and info! It's so helpful to have a better idea of what to expect!

:)

[Daghis]

You're very welcome! I'm glad that it's finding itself to be useful.

[cirman52]

Daghis, didn't I see someplace where you did a breakdown of suggested tips for the crew ? I can't seem to find it, if you could repost it, thanks.

[aurelius180]

Daghis, didn't I see someplace where you did a breakdown of suggested tips for the crew ? I can't seem to find it, if you could repost it, thanks.

 

 

I'm not Daghis but here is a breakdown of the suggested gratuities by day:

 

Dining Room Waiter - $3.75

Assistant Waiter - $2.15

Head Waiter - $0.75

Stateroom Attendant/Other Housekeeping Services - $5.00

Suite Attendant/Other Housekeeping Services - $7.25

 

We had gratuities added to our seapass and it was charged $46.60 per person for the 4-night Majesty (non-suite).

[cirman52]

Thanks for the numbers, it's been many years since I've used the envelopes. The last time was on the Big red Boat.

[Daghis]

Thanks very much for posting the amounts while I was traveling today!

 

Do note that it's either the stateroom attendant or suite attendant. If you're in a suite (and not a Junior Suite), your suggested gratuity is only the $7.25/person/day, otherwise it's $5.00/person/day.

[BillOh]

aurelius180, thanks for the site. I see Majesty!

 

Daghis, is the Embassy Suites close to the port ?

 

If its the one I stayed at, its closer to the airport and the shuttle was about a 20 minute ride.

[ginevra]

Thank you Daghis for your information about Majesty of the Seas.

I will have this cruise next year leaving from Miami on september 16th. I hope the weather is fine on that period.

[DRHolcomb]

The cabanas at Labadee are definitely nicer. These at Coco Cay were basically huts with loungers inside them. The Labadee ones seemed to be more solidly built, included a "porch" that allowed time in the sun, and even had a fan overhead to help circulate the air (although the Coco Cay ones, by their design, caught the breezes pretty well).

 

They did appear to be building new cabanas at Coco Cay that appeared to be more like the Labadee ones. Here you can see some of the new ones being built.

 

 

And here's one that was pretty much finished.

 

 

I guess we'll see more of these in the future. They've got to be a good money maker for Royal Caribbean, especially with larger ships like the Freedom of the Seas where you have more takers of the amenities in the Cabana Club. (I found that the Cabana Club was fairly deserted when we were there. Almost all of the cabanettes went empty.)

 

Thanks for the helpful review! I'm wondering if you recall where on Coco Cay these cabanas were being built? It looks like the Cabana Club is on the side of the Cay with a rocky beach and, more or less, away from everything else. Are there Cabanas elsewhere on the Cay, on the other beaches, or just in/around the Cabana Club on the left once you leave the tender?

[Daghis]

The new cabanas were being built in the same area as the old cabanas (the Cabana Club area), I suspect eventually to be replacing them.

 

I don't think they're putting them anywhere else. I think they'd like to keep all the cabanas in one general area.

[poodog]

Thanks for the review