Which one to pick

[letsgosailing]

We are looking at booking either Majesty of the Seas or Sovereign of the Seas for May 2006. We are not first time cruisers, but this will be our first time with RCCL and we are not familiar with there ships. Could anyone help us out? When was the last time they were refurbished? Is there any outstanding differences in the ships?

 

The ship is the destination for us, not the itinerary.

[Murphy]

You will find some fans of both of these ships, but if you are picking the ship as the destination, I personally wouldn't pick either of them. Sovereign was refurb last November. I'm not sure about the Majesty.

 

Since you've picked these 2 ships as options, I'm assuming you want a shorter cruise. If it were me, I skip these and try the Enchantment instead. Newly refurbed, much better cabin layout/size and a lot more onboard venues than either of the afore mentioned ships.

[danajjj]

We sailed in April on the Sovereign and had a great time. We chose the Sovereign over the Majesty because we liked going to Nassau first and then Cocoa Cay and we preferred to sail out of Port Canaveral. The Sovereign was recently refurbished and looked nice. My only complaint would have been the rooms are small (but it is an older ship). I think the itineraries are the same for both with the Majesty calling in Key West on the four day. I hope this gives you a few things to think about.

[letsgosailing]

You are correct, we are looking for a shorter cruise. This trip is for me and Hubby (no kids) but we don't want to be away for a full 7 days.

 

Can you recommend another line/ship that does a 3 or 4 day out of Florida or east coast?

[pfleer]

From what I've heard on these boards, definately stick with RCCL for the shorter cruises. I've heard that the older RCCL ships are much better than the older Carnival ships. I went on Sovereign a fews years ago and had a blast. She was just refurbished and has some new dining options now. True, rooms are small, but with the shorter cruises, you'll have that. Don't really care for Nassau at all though.

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

I have been on both ships in the past year, and I would DEFINITELY vote for the Sovereign. We certainly enjoyed our Majesty cruise, but the refurbishment of the Sovereign made all the difference in the world, in my opinion. She is such a beautiful ship.

 

Another advantage is that we found Port Canaveral MUCH easier to deal with than the port of Miami.

 

I'm sure you'll enjoy whichever you choose. :)

[mrg0433]

Carnival Fascination from Miami to Key West and Cozumel is a great ship. I like the two pools because the one in the back of the ship is a great get away from it all place with two extra hot tubs adjacent to the rear pool. Carnival Fascination cabins feel nearly double the size of Majesty of the Seas. Showers on Majesty are really tiny--no room for large people.

 

I enjoyed Majesty of the Seas from Miami to the Bahamas as well because of the ports each day with no sea days. However, the Bahamas can be cool in January and February--so I would choose Carnival to Cozumel during that time. Majesty of the Seas is a lovely ship as long as you can handle a cramped cabin. The rest of the ship is very nice.

[wrp96]

What about the 4-night on Enchantment of the Seas out of Ft. Lauderdale going to Key West and Cozumel? It departs on May 4 and May 18th. The Enchantment is a larger ship than Majesty and Sovereign and was literally just redone 2 months ago. In fact it was stretched, and lots of new features were added.