Majesty of the Seas 5 day thoughts

[luvavacation]

Recently home from the Majesty of the Seas.  We did a 5 day that went to Cozumel and Costa Maya.  This was the second RCCL cruise for my husband and I (our first was in Star Class on the Anthem to Bermuda).  I have no real order for this sort-of review, mostly just random thoughts, if that's ok.

 

Our room was on deck 9, room 9504.  Our porthole looked out over a crew walkway below us and then the ocean.  Being at the front of the ship, we were one of only 3 or 4 rooms on that side that didn't have a lifeboat in front of our view.  I was happy with the view, considering how inexpensive this cruise was.

 

For the record, in the 25 or so cruises my husband and I have done over the last 20+ years, this was only our second porthole room (previous on Disney).  We always have a balcony, and we did miss having a balcony, but we managed.  It helped that the room layout was the larger porthole category, because the other rooms would have been way too small for our comfort level.  

The bathroom is small and smelled faintly of sewage constantly (just how the ship was, could not be changed).  The toilet was like an Eastern European toilet, with a ledge in the bowl that holds everything (including liquids and paper!) unless you push it down with the toilet scrubber.  Very weak flushing water. Oddest toilet ever in our cruising experience.  Definitely take Poo Pourri spray and air freshener!

 

Our shower had very low flow, and it took a long time to get hot water. Running the sink first helped.  The handheld shower head did not even have enough water pressure to shoot the water up when it was turned over.  Others on our floor had the same issue, and according to the room steward, this was the norm, nothing could be done for the water flow or temp.  I was happy to come home to our not water-conserving but so very water-blasting hot shower!

 

The shower had a pump that was shampoo/conditioner combo, and we had one little round hand soap.  Our room steward provided more hand soaps at our request, no problem.  If you are particular about your shampoo and conditioner being separated, bring your own.  I am, and I always do bring my own, but others traveling in our group did not and their hair was not appreciative of the RCCL offering.

 

The bed was hard, so very hard, but I requested a mattress topper after the first night and that was a great improvement.  Sheets were smooth and not pilling.

 

The room needs refurbishment - it has definitely seen better days.  There are also only two outlets, right under the telephone on the wall, and they were so loose that nothing we plugged in would stay.  I had to prop up our cords with my makeup case.

 

The pools were much too cold for this Floridian, and the hot tubs were more like what I prefer for my pool.  Hot tubs were not at all hot, at least not when we went in them.

 

The crew was very friendly and always offering to assist you in any way!  We were very impressed, and felt the crew was on par with our gold standard of great crew, the Disney Cruise Line crews.  My husband and I were very impressed by the great service and pleasant interactions.

 

Food is subjective, but for my husband and I, we were not impressed.  Desserts were never good, always much too sweet or just tasted off (though admittedly, I grew up with good European chocolate, and detest Hershey's, but even my Hershey loving, all sweets loving, husband did not like the desserts).  Actually, the apple pie at dinner was my husband's go-to dessert. He liked that pie.  The ice cream, not so much.  Very icey, not creamy. 

 

If you like seafood, I hope you like lots of salmon.  There is a lot of salmon.  I do not like cruise salmon, as I find it too fishy (fresh salmon, however, fantastic!) so if nothing else was offered, I usually just skipped the main course.  FYI, the swordfish, at least the fish we and others at our table received, was very bad.  As if it had been boiled, then heated up, and turned into mush.  Very bad.  

 

Our waiter and our drink server were excellent.  The head server was also very attentive.  What I did not care for was how rushed the meal was (we had late seating at 8:00).  This is the first cruise ever where our table was done with dinner within an hour every night.  Some may prefer shorter dining times, but we enjoy catching up with our tablemates over a leisurely dinner, but menus given and orders taken with minutes of sitting down and food courses were brought out so quickly.  Much too rushed, but this was the norm for the dining room, so we made do.

 

Johnny Rockets was not worth it, for the price, at least for us.  My husband said the burgers were just fine elsewhere on the ship, we didn't need to spend the money.  Service though was great.

 

The Compass Grill is fantastic!  Go there for salad - much fresher, not picked through, and the food, though limited, was good quality.  Excellent paninis and sandwiches, too.

 

Buffet was fine.  We usually headed past the first food section at the entrance to the one at the very front of the ship.  Usually it was less crowded.  The people walking around cleaning tables and such were also very pleasant and friendly.  You don't witness usually every crew member smiling and seemingly to be happy to clean tables!  We were really so very impressed with all of the crew on this ship!

 

Overall, this was a fine cruise to take with friends, but if it was just my husband and I, I think we may have been bored.  I prefer larger ships with lots to do, but admittedly, navigating a smaller ship is definitely easier, and it is much faster to walk from the dining room back to my room at the other end of the ship for my forgotten shawl!  That was a definite advantage for the smaller ship!

 

Our one really low point - getting off the ship was absolutely ridiculous.  It should not take almost 2.75 hours to go from the line on the ship to the exit of the terminal.  I don't know if this is the norm for Fort Lauderdale or this was due to the lack of customs agents during the government shutdown, but we did a whole lot of waiting and not moving. Worst debarkation ever, but admittedly not RCCL's fault.  Just a bad way to end the vacation.  But the crew was smiling, so there's that!

 

If you have any questions, please let me know and I will answer to the best of my ability.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2019 by luvavacation

[Paulette3028]

We have sailed on Majesty 12 times, and the best rooms IMO are the superior ocean views that are on deck 9, the one we like is 9070.  It is close to the gym, which for me is a plus.  In all of our cruises on MJ we never had a problem with the bathroom or smell, but it has been a few years since we last sailed on her and as she gets older, more and more periodic maintenance might be needed rather than waiting 5 years for a 'refurb'.    Compass Grill or Deli as it was called years ago, is a true gem and many cruisers don't know about it so they don't experience the great food to be found there, even though it does have a small menu.  The crew has always amazed me....they do always smile....they seem to enjoy the ship itself as their 2nd home.

 

We are very easy 'foodies' to say the least and the entertainment and activities has always been enjoyable and fun.  If you have enjoyed her bigger sisters, don't be disappointed in what she doesn't have, enjoy what she does give you.

 

Who was the Activity Manager on your sailing?  I keep a list on Cruise Critic and the best information is from recent cruisers.

Edited January 13, 2019 by Paulette3028

[luvavacation]

I am so sorry, but for the life of me, I can not remember who the Activity Manager was!  We only went to the first show with the comedienne, and if it is the guy that came out and spoke before and after, then I can tell you that he spoke Spanish and English, I think he said he was from Peru, and he seemed enthusiastic but not irritating (we have experienced a couple of these people that we just didn't care for, but he seemed personable). 

 

I am sure that is not much help, but we spent most of our cruise catching up with our friends, so we didn't attend many events and I managed to leave my folder of collected papers behind on the nightstand.  Hopefully someone else from that cruise will be able to help with your list.

[Paulette3028]

16 minutes ago, luvavacation said:

I am so sorry, but for the life of me, I can not remember who the Activity Manager was!  We only went to the first show with the comedienne, and if it is the guy that came out and spoke before and after, then I can tell you that he spoke Spanish and English, I think he said he was from Peru, and he seemed enthusiastic but not irritating (we have experienced a couple of these people that we just didn't care for, but he seemed personable). 

 

I am sure that is not much help, but we spent most of our cruise catching up with our friends, so we didn't attend many events and I managed to leave my folder of collected papers behind on the nightstand.  Hopefully someone else from that cruise will be able to help with your list.

Chances are the person who came out at the beginning of the show was the Cruise Director.  It isn't usually the Activity Manager.  Many times the Activity Manager co-hosts the Morning Show with the Cruise Director as well as hosting many of the events around the ship.  Patricia Honores was the CD up until 1/7/19 and then Tornado Tanya took over and will be onboard as CD until April.

Edited January 14, 2019 by Paulette3028