Majesty Nov 6th 3 Night Review

[TravelinGert]

This review is for the Majesty of the Seas 3 Night commencing Friday November 6th, 2015

 

Embarkation - Big, big problems. :mad:

 

It was not even mentioned to us the ship was boarding late until we were aboard the bus. It was explained by the bus driver. :confused:

 

Whomever makes out the signs at the port - guessing Port Authority?- really dropped the ball. It should have been prominently displayed at the start of the taxi drop off. We and most other couples we spoke with would have been happy to check in our luggage while our taxi waited and then go do whatever for a few hours had we been made aware.

 

Most of the people we dealt with in the building were exceedingly unprofessional. One uniformed woman directing people to buses flat out laughed in our faces and told us "You will find out" when we arrived and inquired what was going on, then turned her back on us. Had she been professional and said the ship was delayed when we asked about the presence of all the buses lined up waiting, our taxi had not yet left.

 

:mad: We were extremely displeased and discomfited by all aspects of how this was handled. It would have also been nice had the bus driver not locked us on the bus and left for more than 20 minutes on our return. Thank goodness the bus we were on did not catch fire or otherwise endanger us.

 

Food Very hit or miss in the Windjammer the night we boarded. There were a lot of items that didn't fit together out mainly. For example, there was hot dog chili by the taco shells, no taco meat, and no hot dogs. By the time we finished our very belated Muster Drill, they wouldn't let us into the Main Dining saying it had closed for the night.

 

After that night, we had dinner in the main dining room which was much better. Breakfasts in the Windjammer were pretty good. Lots of fruit, plenty of bacon, sausage, and eggs.

 

Ship Over all we thought the Majesty was in pretty decent shape. Like anywhere you go, there was the odd bit of wear or tear, but generally things were ok. The only significant issue we experienced was the very strong smell near the closet by the elevators at the back on our floor (2). I think the closet said it had some sort of pump or lift in it but I forget the exact wording. Guessing it was something mechanical for the drains and it was leaking. Down where our room was everything was fine, but it must have been awful for the rooms nearest.

 

Crew :D Over all, our experience with actual ship's crew was all really exceptional.

 

Our room steward was Jackie and she really went above and beyond. We were very happy with how quick and how well she cleaned our room, and of course made certain to leave her a nice tip. She said she was going on vacation as soon as she had our rooms made up for the next cruise and I hope she had a very enjoyable one because she sure earned it. Our dining room waiter was Rudy and he also really went above and beyond. I was so grateful for his kindness that I have an email composed to send to Royal complimenting him as soon as I figure out where I should send it.

 

I wish I had also gotten the name of the young woman who was kind enough to stay and help even though her shift was ending in guest services the night we left. She really went beyond requirements and we appreciated it.

 

Ports Everything went extremely smoothly at the two ports. Special thanks to the German gentleman in shore excursions for that. We had a small issue with a booking and he righted it immediately. Thanks to his quick work, we had no issues either stop. We especially enjoyed the jet ski tour at Cocoa Cay.

 

Drink Plans We decided to try out the drink plans on this cruise since we could use them on the ship and at Coco Cay. Everything worked very smoothly and we did feel we got our money's worth, although not by a lot. We're not big drinkers but we did enjoy trying some new things we probably wouldn't have tried had we been paying by the glass. If anyone is wondering, I don't think we would have broken even had we not been able to use our plan on one of our port days at Coco Cay.

 

Overall Overall, we ended up pretty happy with our cruise. After all, Royal can't entirely be blamed for the Port Authority's lack of professionalism. We would definitely consider another cruise on Majesty after her refit next year just to see all the great new arrangements. I do think given how close that refit is now I would recommend to friends to wait until afterwards, but I am not really sorry we had the experience of seeing it beforehand. :cool:

Edited November 30, 2015 by TravelinGert

[TravelinGert]

So now the long version:

 

Enough said about boarding snafus.

 

We did enjoy a long, leisurely lunch at Bubba Gump's at the mall they bused us to. We found the frozen drinks were an excellent way to stave off both the heat and our untimely demise from starvation due to our inability to board and chow down at the Windjammer. :D

 

Once we finally got on board, things started looking up pretty quickly. Everything inside was nice and cool, which was very welcome after spending the whole afternoon in an outdoor mall. Everything looked very clean in the commons areas. Our room was also quite clean with our luggage waiting. The muster call was sounded moments after we found the room, but luckily was pretty quick and painless.

 

Unfortunately by the time we were released they couldn't seat us in the dining room and I guess the buffet was trying to shut down soon as well. We still managed to pull together a plate of food for dinner and the desserts were nice. We managed to drown our sorrows in a nightcap from the pool bar before heading to bed early.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

By morning it was almost like it never happened. We put in at Coco Cay almost right on time. We enjoyed watching the boat put in while eating our breakfast with our noses pressed against the windows pretty much as it was the first time we got to watch the boat put in like that. Our previous cruise was a transatlantic, so we were frantically packing the one time it put in at the end. It is much more fun to enjoy the view from the Windjammer's windows.

 

Speaking of breakfast, it was quite nice. We found the selection was a bit less than on the Quantum, but there was still plenty of choice. I especially enjoyed the fruit selection and my spouse thought the bacon was really nice. The coffee was delicious.

 

By the time we had eaten, it was time to head to the meeting place for our wave runner tour. We were in the earliest group and I highly recommend it. There were only five of us and there was almost no other traffic out on the water that early. We enjoyed our full time and were still able to pretty much have our pick of seating when we got back to shore. We ended up with loungers in the shade of some trees not far from the launch area. In addition to enjoying the shade, we were close to the bar. :cool:

 

After a while we started seeing people with food so we mosey'd over to the food shack. We really enjoyed the corn and the salads. My ribs were really nice with lots of meat, but my spouse said his didn't have much meat. Never fear! Although sorely starved for protein, :eek: he was luckily able to drag himself back to the dessert buffet to make do with a plate of desserts. :D

 

After a swim in the ocean we lazed around for a bit on a couple of the foam floaties they rent out. The water felt lovely even though it was November.

 

We were starting to get a bit toasty despite copious applications of sunscreen, so we took an early afternoon tender back. I'll try to post some pictures in my next post from our trip back on the tender. It was quite thrilling to watch the fellow tossing lines about to lasso the tender boat to the ship so we quite enjoyed the experience.

 

They had water and orange juice waiting for everyone when we came back aboard. It was a nice touch, we thought. They also had the towel check in right as you boarded as well which made it very handy.

 

Welp that's long enough for one post. Off to read some other people's cruise stories. ;)

[cruiseapril]

Thanks for the review. What was your other port?

[crazycatlady82]

Thanks!! What room were you in? We have 2598 booked for our March cruise.

[goodml]

Great so far. Looking forward to your pics.

[Paulette3028]

This review is for the Majesty of the Seas 3 Night commencing Friday November 6th, 2015

 

Embarkation - Big, big problems. :mad:

 

It was not even mentioned to us the ship was boarding late until we were aboard the bus. It was explained by the bus driver. :confused:

 

Whomever makes out the signs at the port - guessing Port Authority?- really dropped the ball. It should have been prominently displayed at the start of the taxi drop off. We and most other couples we spoke with would have been happy to check in our luggage while our taxi waited and then go do whatever for a few hours had we been made aware.

 

Most of the people we dealt with in the building were exceedingly unprofessional. One uniformed woman directing people to buses flat out laughed in our faces and told us "You will find out" when we arrived and inquired what was going on, then turned her back on us. Had she been professional and said the ship was delayed when we asked about the presence of all the buses lined up waiting, our taxi had not yet left.

 

:mad: We were extremely displeased and discomfited by all aspects of how this was handled. It would have also been nice had the bus driver not locked us on the bus and left for more than 20 minutes on our return. Thank goodness the bus we were on did not catch fire or otherwise endanger us.

 

Food Very hit or miss in the Windjammer the night we boarded. There were a lot of items that didn't fit together out mainly. For example, there was hot dog chili by the taco shells, no taco meat, and no hot dogs. By the time we finished our very belated Muster Drill, they wouldn't let us into the Main Dining saying it had closed for the night.

 

After that night, we had dinner in the main dining room which was much better. Breakfasts in the Windjammer were pretty good. Lots of fruit, plenty of bacon, sausage, and eggs.

 

Ship Over all we thought the Majesty was in pretty decent shape. Like anywhere you go, there was the odd bit of wear or tear, but generally things were ok. The only significant issue we experienced was the very strong smell near the closet by the elevators at the back on our floor (2). I think the closet said it had some sort of pump or lift in it but I forget the exact wording. Guessing it was something mechanical for the drains and it was leaking. Down where our room was everything was fine, but it must have been awful for the rooms nearest.

 

Crew :D Over all, our experience with actual ship's crew was all really exceptional.

 

Our room steward was Jackie and she really went above and beyond. We were very happy with how quick and how well she cleaned our room, and of course made certain to leave her a nice tip. She said she was going on vacation as soon as she had our rooms made up for the next cruise and I hope she had a very enjoyable one because she sure earned it. Our dining room waiter was Rudy and he also really went above and beyond. I was so grateful for his kindness that I have an email composed to send to Royal complimenting him as soon as I figure out where I should send it.

 

I wish I had also gotten the name of the young woman who was kind enough to stay and help even though her shift was ending in guest services the night we left. She really went beyond requirements and we appreciated it.

 

Ports Everything went extremely smoothly at the two ports. Special thanks to the German gentleman in shore excursions for that. We had a small issue with a booking and he righted it immediately. Thanks to his quick work, we had no issues either stop. We especially enjoyed the jet ski tour at Cocoa Cay.

 

Drink Plans We decided to try out the drink plans on this cruise since we could use them on the ship and at Coco Cay. Everything worked very smoothly and we did feel we got our money's worth, although not by a lot. We're not big drinkers but we did enjoy trying some new things we probably wouldn't have tried had we been paying by the glass. If anyone is wondering, I don't think we would have broken even had we not been able to use our plan on one of our port days at Coco Cay.

 

Overall Overall, we ended up pretty happy with our cruise. After all, Royal can't entirely be blamed for the Port Authority's lack of professionalism. We would definitely consider another cruise on Majesty after her refit next year just to see all the great new arrangements. I do think given how close that refit is now I would recommend to friends to wait until afterwards, but I am not really sorry we had the experience of seeing it beforehand. :cool:

 

We have cruised on Her Majesty (my nickname for the ship) 11 times, with our 12th scheduled for February 2016. We highly doubt we will cruise her again, since after her refurb she will be sailing from Port Canaveral, I we see know reason to drive 3 hours when we have two ports within one hour of home to choose from. However, we have always enjoyed our cruises on Her Majesty and expect to again in February. Her age has never hindered how great a cruise experience the cruise staff provides.

 

Has everything always been perfect? No. But if I was expecting perfection, I would have to remain at home. Can things be handled better in some cases? Absolutely, as you unfortunately found out....but I don't know how much control over the information dissemination process Royal has control over vs the Port. In the end, glad to hear your cruise experience was a good one, once it was able to get started.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Paulette3028

[California kitty]

I can't seem to find anywhere which show is playing at this time...Chicago?

[Clarea]

I can't seem to find anywhere which show is playing at this time...Chicago?

Majesty has two production shows: Signed Sealed Delivered and Boogie Wonderland .