Majesty Review - June 17th Sailing (Looonng)

[Mainelybubba]

This is the second time my family has cruised on the Majesty – the first was in May of 2005. We loved Bermuda, and had planned this cruise even before leaving Bermuda in 2005! Friends of ours from Massachusetts joined us in 2005 and again this year, and we were able to convince one other couple to come with us as well (this was their very first cruise).

We initially chose the Majesty for its embarkation port – as you may detect from my name, we live in Maine, so traveling to Boston is fairly easy. Our Massachusetts friends made arrangements for a limo service to pick us up at their home and drive us to the pier. I highly recommend this if you can do it. It was so great to not have to worry about luggage limits if we flew, or getting all of our bags into a cab, etc. (Unfortunately, I tend to over pack).

We set sail on June 17th. Being past NCL cruisers, we were directed to the Latitudes entrance (the other couple was able to board with us). What a joy – very short lines and we were served water or juice while we waited. The woman who checked us in was cheerful which set the tone for the cruise and was actually the woman who greeted us on our return home. :)

We were on board by 12:15, and were told we could go immediately to our cabins. Ours was on the Caribbean Deck – a superior inside, category JJ (145 s.f). This was the same cabin we had in 2005 (by choice, not chance). Being a family of four, it helped to know how much room we would have this time around, and while it became very close quarters by the end of the week, it was sufficient. The bathroom is quite small, but adequate. It is a little strange not having daybreak to wake up to, but you can always place a wake up call if you want to get going early. Our take on cabins is this: we are seldom in them, so it doesn’t really matter if we have inside or outside. Our children (ages 15 and 13) did spend some down time in them, watching a movie and indulging in room service. I would love to book a suite someday, but for a family of four, this is a great way to get in a wonderful family vacation, for a fairly good price.

Once on board, we were told that there was a lunch buffet on Deck 10. Thanks to Cruise Critic, we knew that we could go to the Seven Seas for lunch. After dropping our carry on bags in our cabins, we met up with the first time cruisers at the Seven Seas for a wonderful lunch. We were attended by a wonderful waiter named Richard – he was fun and, as the dining room was practically empty, very attentive to our needs. He is in the Seven Seas for breakfast and lunch, and in the Four Seasons for dinner. Be sure to ask for his table!

Which brings me to the crew and services of this Ship.

Room Service was great. The kids utilized this about 3 times, I think. The food was delivered promptly, and the presentation was beautiful.

Dining room service: As noted above, we started off with Richard who was a very good waiter – and fun. We like to have fun, and enjoy it when the wait staff has fun with us. We had many other waiter(esses) and found them all to be very good. The hostess in Seven Seas took a playful liking to one of our friends so the one time we had to wait, we had fun as she would come up to us and joke before searching for the lucky guest who got the next table.

Room Stewards: Our room stewards were good – although we did not meet them until several days into the cruise. I heard some people grumble that the Stewards did not fold clothes, etc, but I wouldn’t expect them to do that. Maybe that’s just me. If you don’t have a need to be calling them for things such as sufficient towels, ice, etc. then they are doing their job. Our room was always tidy, the beds made, and the bathroom clean. They made towel animals almost every night, yet our own towels did not dwindle (one of the couples had to take apart their animals to have towels for their showers); we always had 4 towels ready for showers. I don’t want to spoil the fun, so I will not tell you what we had for animals. Some nights they made us two! We all enjoyed coming in to the cabins after an evening out to see what was waiting for us. One of our "special" towels animals was destroyed (alright, I confess, it fell apart while I was moving it for a picture). Saturday night, there it was again!

Kids Crew: Both my children signed up for the Teen program, but only my 13 year old son participated in everything they had to offer. He had a great time. There were a lot of planned activities for the teens – mystery dinner theater, scavenger hunts, going to the shows as a group etc. My son was able to meet most of the entertainers on board, and they all graciously posed for pictures with him.

Entertainment: The first few nights we were treated to Jane L. Powell – the Chocolate Goddess of Love. She is so funny (oh, and a good singer too!). Unfortunately, she was only on the Majesty for a few days, as she was transferring over to the Crown after her show on Tuesday. We also had a Magician/Comedian named Jean Pierre who did some pretty good slight of hand magic, but his comedy felt a bit forced, and a comedian named Ross Bennet who was hysterical. The Majesty Production company put on high energy shows on several nights as well.

Food: There are two main dining rooms – the Seven Seas and the Four Seasons. Both serve the same menu. The Seven Seas is larger, and noisier, than the Four Seasons. There is also Le Bistro and the Pasta Café. We dined in Le Bistro on Monday evening (dress up optional night) to celebrate our friends' anniversary. My son had the escargot for an appetizer, and since he did not like his meal, they brought him two more servings of the escargot. My daughter had the duck and thought it was very good. The menu for Le Bistro does not change each night, unlike the other restaurants. We didn’t dine in the Pasta Café, so I can’t comment on that restaurant. All in all, we enjoyed most everything we ordered, and if we didn’t, it was whisked away and a new meal brought to us. The chilled soups were out of this world. The only food item I did not enjoy was the Eggs Benedict. I ordered it on two separate occasions, and both times the English muffins were hard, and the hollandaise sauce was thick and dry. We are not buffet people, so only ate there for breakfast when we were in a hurry. The buffet food was always tasty, but we did not find it to be hot. And of course, there is always pizza/burgers/fries available 24 hours a day.

Shipboard activities were many – cooking demonstrations (our friends went to that); an animal towel folding demonstration (unfortunately, I missed that), karaoke, bingo (what would a cruise be without that?), trivia games, bridge tours (the other couple did that), entertainers in the lounges, to name but a few. If you have a chance to see Eugenio Valliano (guitarist and pianist) you will be in for an amazing treat. If anyone on ship was bored, it was of their own doing.

We arrived in Bermuda on Tuesday morning and were able to disembark fairly quickly. The beauty of this particular cruise is the amount of time we spend in Bermuda. (Even with 3 ½ days however, there just does not seem to be enough time to do all you want). We bought 3 day commuter passes at Café Latte (be sure to treat yourself to a wonderful latte – delicious and hot. My one complaint about the coffee bar – the lattes are just warm) and boarded the ferry to the Royal Dockyards. We visited the Clock Tower Mall, the Dockyard Glassworks and the pottery place whose name escapes me. Wednesday was exploring parts of Hamilton that we had not seen, and Thursday was spent back at Royal Dockyard (where much to my surprise and joy, one of the shopkeepers remembered me from our visit on Tuesday); and then to the Aquarium and Zoo in Flatts Village. Friday was spent buying last minute souvenirs and saying good-bye to St. George.

We did not participate in shore excursions, so I cannot comment on that. We did, however, utilize the Mandara Spa. My friend and I booked the scalp/neck/shoulder massage. Neither of us had never had any type of a massage before, so did not know what to expect and were a bit surprised when we were told we had to disrobe from the waist up for our massages. It seems that we were given the back/neck/shoulder massages rather than the massage we booked (which of course cost a bit more than the original massage). I will say, it felt great, and my back had not felt that good for years but it was not what we had booked. Later, after looking at our receipts and our appointment cards, we realized that we were charged more than we were quoted. My friend decided to speak to them about this the next day, and was told that they were very busy and she would have to call to speak with the manager, as he was not in yet. (We were already sailing back to Boston, where exactly would he be?). In any event, the massage was great, we just felt a bit like we were duped and that the customer service in the Spa was not good when dealing with a problem. One technician actually argued with my friend!

Sadly, our time in Bermuda ended on Friday, as we set sail at noon for our return to Boston. The one thing I missed was the bagpiper – two years ago he was at the cut playing as we left, but not this year.

We arrived in Boston on June 24th – and were already docked when we went to Deck 10 for breakfast at 7:00 a.m.

Disembarkation: We opted for the early disembarkation. Remember where I said I tend to overpack? THIS is where it is a problem. Except for having more bags than people to carry them, disembarking was very smooth. We were off the ship, waiting for our return van, by 8:20 a.m. If you don’t mind handling your own bags, this is a great way to disembark.

All in all, this cruise was every bit as enjoyable as our first. The Majesty is an older ship, and her age is showing. The Majesty Crew is fantastic – one of the best that I’ve encountered (I’ve also sailed on Holland America and Royal Caribbean – both were great, but the Majesty crew just stands out). If you want to go on a cruise that is more in the “old style” of cruising then this is the ship to sail on.

[margord]

Thanks for the great review.

[lhall85917]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. We are looking forward to our Majesty trip next month.

[Welove2cruise2]

Thanks for a great review! We're looking forward to our upcoming Majesty cruise next month (with lhall85917!!:D )!

 

When Jane Powell got off the ship, was there someone brought on to replace her? She is wonderful -- we've seen her many times on different ships. I hope she's back on the Majesty when we sail.

 

Do you recall who the cruise director was?

[rebeljohn]

Thanks for the review! We are sailing on her for NYE...........

[Nanatravel]

Thanks for the informative review. We are sailing on her this Sunday. Do you recall when the Life Boat Drill was held?

 

Thanks for the insider information about lunch at the Seven Seas Dining room. We will enjoy it there.

 

Bon Voyage

Nanatravel

[CTCruisers]

Thanks for taking the time to post this review.

 

We are looking forward to our Irish Theme cruise on the Majesty in September!

[BeachMartini]

Thanks for taking the time to post this review.

 

We are looking forward to our Irish Theme cruise on the Majesty in September!

 

How do you know if you are on a theme cruise?

 

 

Great review... we can't wait for August 5th to get here!

[CTCruisers]

How do you know if you are on a theme cruise?

QUOTE]

 

The only reason I had found out about the Irish cruises was from a brochure I had received from my TA years ago. Their website (my TA, that is) has a spot that lists all of the theme cruises available on the various cruise lines.

 

I did contact an NCL rep to confirm the theme, but the NCL website has no search function to do any research on these.

 

The first two cruises in September 2007 on the Majesty out of Boston are the Irish Theme cruises.

 

From what I heard, they a band like the Wolf Tones play in the lounge every night.

[Mainelybubba]

Everyone who has upcoming cruises - I'm Jealous! LOL

 

Cruise direction was Soozy (Kuntz?). She was very good.

 

After Jane L. Powell left the ship we had Jean Pierre (comedy/magic) and Ross Bennet. Fat City Band also was on board, but we never went to see them - it was always way too packed.

[kgm0612]

I'll pass your review (and this site) onto friends of ours who are cruising the Majesty to Bermuda on July 28th or 29th. This is there first cruise and my girlfriend said she heard the ship wasn't very nice compared to the newer ones.

 

Karen

[daisydu]

thanks for such a detailed reveiw. We are sailing on sept 2nd and I'm always eager to hear comments about the ship, etc. This will be our first time on the Majesty. Only 2 more months! I love the anticipation of a cruise:)

[daisydu]

Forgot to ask, MainlyBubba, where do you live? We're from Saco.

[cruisingadoptionworker]

silly question..but I am going on the Majesty on Sunday. If you don't buy a pop card, is there other non cost beverages to drink? For example, juices?

[mistyw]

Everyone who has upcoming cruises - I'm Jealous! LOL

 

Cruise direction was Soozy (Kuntz?). She was very good.

 

After Jane L. Powell left the ship we had Jean Pierre (comedy/magic) and Ross Bennet. Fat City Band also was on board, but we never went to see them - it was always way too packed.

I enjoyed your review! I was on The Majesty June 10-17th. Came home, got a second job so I could go again and we are booked for July 22nd!! And...I absolutely love Fat City! We try to catch them anytime we can. The band on the 10th. was The Reminisants. They were fabulous and I loved Armadeus. I danced every dance and will again in July!

[Mainelybubba]

Forgot to ask, MainlyBubba, where do you live? We're from Saco.

 

 

We're practically neighbors - I'm in South Portland, but used to live in Biddeford!

[Mainelybubba]

silly question..but I am going on the Majesty on Sunday. If you don't buy a pop card, is there other non cost beverages to drink? For example, juices?

 

There are drink machines on Deck 10 (pool deck) that has coffee, tea, and I do believe juices. The soda card is very expensive, but a can of soda costs $2.10 (with the tip added on). Enjoy your cruise!

[Warmer Climes]

Great review- thanks for the tips! We're doing this cruise July 8.

 

Barb

[Welove2cruise2]

There are drink machines on Deck 10 (pool deck) that has coffee, tea, and I do believe juices. The soda card is very expensive, but a can of soda costs $2.10 (with the tip added on). Enjoy your cruise!

 

And you can always bring your own soda -- I'm a diet pepsi addict, so I usually have a 12-pack to bring on board!

[Nanatravel]

silly question..but I am going on the Majesty on Sunday. If you don't buy a pop card, is there other non cost beverages to drink? For example, juices?

 

Welcome aboard. We are sailing on Sunday also on the Majesty. Won't you come and join the Roll Call for Majesty July 1. We plan to meet on board.

 

There are usually the self dispensing machines in the buffet area for coffee, hot water for tea, juices in the morning and iced tea, lemonade or punch during the remainder of the day. If you are a soda drinker, then buying a Card maybe worthwhile or buying by the can/glass will get expensive. There are no stores at Black Falcon pier, so you will have to bring it with you or take a taxi to a convenience store in Boston.

 

Bon Voyage

Nanatravel

[nythorn]

The wife and I are cruising the Majesty to Bermuda on Aug 26th. This is the first time that we haven't sailed out of NY so I have a question or two.

 

We plan on driving to Boston the day before and staying overnight at the Holiday Inn where we have reservations for a room. The price for the room includes parking for our car for the week for $239 which seems like a pretty good deal.

 

My question is...

 

Those familiar with the parking at the pier and their rates, security, etc.. Should we stick with our reservations at the Holiday Inn or does anyone have a better idea?

 

Thanks for your suggestions in advance.

 

P.S. We are NOT Yankee fans!

[teechadeb]

I am not sure this is the only option, but I found the information at massport.com.

Parking & Services

 

Parking for the 2007 cruise season is generally available at the BRA-EDIC (Boston Redevelopment Authority-Economic Development Industrial Corporation) Marine Industrial Park garage, a five-story, indoor parking facility owned by the City of Boston and operated by EDIC. It is located across from the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal. Embarking cruise guests holding valid cruise tickets will receive a special rate of $14 per day. Payments of cash, Visa, or MasterCard are accepted.

 

The garage has a vehicle height limit of 6’10” with additional availability for oversize vehicles and motor homes. Ample parking is available with NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED. In the event that long-term parking is not available in the garage, Massport representatives will direct passengers to an alternative parking location when you arrive at the terminal. Security patrols the parking garage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For further information about parking at the BRA-EDIC Marine Industrial Park garage, please call (617) 918-6225 and then hit option # 3

[Welove2cruise2]

The wife and I are cruising the Majesty to Bermuda on Aug 26th. This is the first time that we haven't sailed out of NY so I have a question or two.

 

We plan on driving to Boston the day before and staying overnight at the Holiday Inn where we have reservations for a room. The price for the room includes parking for our car for the week for $239 which seems like a pretty good deal.

 

My question is...

 

Those familiar with the parking at the pier and their rates, security, etc.. Should we stick with our reservations at the Holiday Inn or does anyone have a better idea?

 

Thanks for your suggestions in advance.

 

P.S. We are NOT Yankee fans!

 

I believe it's less to drive and park at Black Falcon! Or does the price include the hotel room and parking? How will you then get to the pier?

[SweetpeaOne]

Thanks for sharing your great review. I loved reading it... Glad you had a good time.

[SeaTeach]

The Majesty was the first ship that I sailed on with my husband. Needless to say, he joined me in my addiction to cruising (LOL).