Majesty misses Coco Cay and Key West!

[canuckcruiselover]

I just returned today from a 4-night Majesty cruise. It was very windy much of the time so I wasn't surprised when the Captain announced that we can't stop at Coco Cay because of the high winds but I was shocked when he announced the next day that we couldn't stop at Key West either. One of the crew members said that it has been about 5 years since they didn't make it to Key West. So, we had 2 extra sea days and one day in Nassau, which was the only day with warm temperatures and less wind. Last night's sailing back to Miami was probably the roughest I've ever experienced in 13 cruises. The line-ups were very long at Guest Relations with angry passengers demanding some kind of refund for the missed ports.

 

This was my 5th cruise on Majesty. I won't be sailing on her again as there really isn't a lot to do on sea days when it's too cold and windy to go outside and even with a revised activities schedule, it was pretty boring. Some passengers braved the elements and sat on the pool deck wrapped in towels to keep warm!

 

Aside from all the above, the MDR food was better than I remember; the WJ was worse than I remember and all the crew members were top notch and are still the friendliest of all the ships I've sailed.

 

Can't blame RCI but I felt really sorry for all the first-time cruisers (my DS and DIL included) who were so disappointed that we only stopped at one port.

[riclop]

You can't predict the weather. Too many storms out there and it's better safe than sorry.

[CyberTag]

That's too bad about missing the ports. They should at least give you your port charges back.

[LMaxwell]

What do they substitute in activity wise on ad hoc sea days? Does MDR open for lunch since there would never normally be a sea day for this ship?

[canuckcruiselover]

What do they substitute in activity wise on ad hoc sea days? Does MDR open for lunch since there would never normally be a sea day for this ship?

 

The MDR was open for lunch on the day we missed Coco Cay but I'm not sure about the Key West day. The Key West day didn't include anything extra that I could see aside from some extra entertainment in the Centrum. The Coco Cay day had more trivia and cooking demonstrations in the Centrum. The usual pool activities - belly flop competition, sexiest man, etc. were cancelled. Many people were just sitting around the Centrum, even on the stairs. Others were playing cards in the Schooner Bar and Viking Lounge. Of course, the Casino was open on both sea days and was pretty full! As there wasn't much else to do, I'm sure the Casino did very well.

[Perry1180]

It is really unfortunate when that happens, missed Coco Cay in December, it really hurts, especially when you look forward to it, and I empathize....

[hallsn3961]

It is really unfortunate when that happens, missed Coco Cay in December, it really hurts, especially when you look forward to it, and I empathize....

 

As Floridians, we know not to go to islands in the Atlantic near the US because the waves are awful. Its shocking to me that a giant ship says no, but will sit in the ocean instead. It is much safer to dock. The fast ferry to the Bahamas will brave the waves, however, when you buy your ticket, they do say that October to January are the worst seas. We as Floridians never take our boat out during those months and its a 28 footer.

[Aquahound]

As Floridians, we know not to go to islands in the Atlantic near the US because the waves are awful. Its shocking to me that a giant ship says no, but will sit in the ocean instead. It is much safer to dock. The fast ferry to the Bahamas will brave the waves, however, when you buy your ticket, they do say that October to January are the worst seas. We as Floridians never take our boat out during those months and its a 28 footer.

 

Coco Cay gets skipped because of the dangers of tendering.

 

Key West wasn't skipped for sea conditions. Key West was skipped on this particular cruise because of fog. It occurred at the same time Brilliance was having fog issues in Tampa.

[reallyitsmema]

As Floridians, we know not to go to islands in the Atlantic near the US because the waves are awful. Its shocking to me that a giant ship says no, but will sit in the ocean instead. It is much safer to dock. The fast ferry to the Bahamas will brave the waves, however, when you buy your ticket, they do say that October to January are the worst seas. We as Floridians never take our boat out during those months and its a 28 footer.

 

Coco Cay does not have a pier, it is a tender port. They will not tender if the seas are too rough, it is too dangerous.

 

As far as it being safer to dock the "giant ship", why is it common practice for the ships to ride out the storm at sea if it is safer to be slammed against a pier for hours?:confused: Ships will leave port to avoid damage and then try to outrun the storms. Ships are made to withstand rough seas.