Just back from Majesty of the Seas

[lizardhowson]

Just back from Majesty of the Seas..

 

As stated by numerous posters, the ship is well kept up, despite her age. The cabins are small, but clean and everything worked well (except the shower curtin was a bit too small).

 

Also as stated by posters the crew was very friendly.

 

The food left alot to be desired (but my wife & I eat out almost every day). I know I will get flamed for this, but in my opinion, the food we had on Carnival Triumph was a bit better.

 

My biggest gripe is with RCL as they "refused" to tell us where we were going until after we signed in. We were told the captain would make that call so we would know as soon as he decided. There was a note on the website stating we might go to Key West, but at check-in, it was hinted we were going to Cozumel.

 

After check-in, we walked around the corner (100 ft) and were given a letter stating we were going to Key West. Upon arrival in our stateroom, the "Compass" was there stating we were going to Key West.

 

I realize Hurricane Jeanne changed our itinerary, but RCL should be up front !!!

 

We had to cut short our Key West stop by 6 hours as the winds go so bad we had to leave port. It took 4 tugboats an hour to push us away from the dock at Key West because the winds were so strong pushing us against the dock.

 

We sailed into VERY rough water. The wind was blowing deck chairs completely across the deck (from one side to the other) and the ship was pitching so badly, the water in the pools was crashing out and onto the deck.

 

RCL did give us a $100 credit per stateroom on our sign & sail accounts.

 

I think a better choice would have been Cozumel.

 

...Just my opinion...

[cruise_girl_too]

Hi Lizard...sorry we didn't get to meet! I agree with you about the food....it was mediocre at best....I did meet tybugs and friends!! Hi Tybugs!!!!:D

[jasmiarowski]

I agree, we left the hurricane in Palm Beach and really did not want to go to Key West (we have property there). But, all was not lost. We did meet up with some friends there for the day. How about losing the water for hours before getting ready for the formal dinner? That was not nice. And walking over a half of a mile to get to the parking garage with all of your luggage when disembarking because of the change in piers. That was special too. Otherwise, the ship and food met my satisfaction for a small weekend getaway. I think that the weekend was a little frustrating for the FL residents. After being hit by hurricanes for the second time in two weeks. You had no idea how your homes and family fared the storm. Even the internet was not working on Sunday and CNN was limited in reporting damages. I wish we could have been offered the opportunity to cancel the trip. At least RCCL did offer the credit, but I think more credits should be coming to make up for the other problems.

[keysjohnson]

Sorry to disagree. When we got to the check in, there was a letter there stating we were going to Key West. That was at 11 AM. Nothing was hidden or "alluded" too. Plus the website the day before said Key West was the new port. That was the RCI website. I thought RCI handled everything wonderfully. We never lost our water so I can't comment on that. I am from Florida and I used to live in the Keys. I didn't mind going to Key West, we didn't spend much time there, but had a nice empty pool area to come back too. I thought the room credit was very generous considering RCI did everything possible to keep us safe and comfortable. I though the food was very good. I was on the Triumph in May and their food was good also, but the desserts on Carnival cannot compare with RCI. This was my first RCI cruise, with several Carnivals and NCL's behind me. I am impressed by RCI. People complaing because they wanted to go to Nassau have never been in a hurricane. They have no clue as to what it means. Us from Florida know very well what it means. I'm thankful we still had a nice cruise, nice sunny days, and relatively calm waters. We were warned by the Captain on Sunday that the port would be congested. All those ships had to get back. I place no blame on RCI for that. What else could they have done? The port was closed for the weekend. Ok, that's all I have to say.

[lizardhowson]

The web site did say that Key West was a "possible" alternate destination as I stated in my first post.

 

I was never told Key West was the "absolute" destination until after signing onto the cruise and going around the corner to get to the gangway.

 

I specifically asked about our destination prior to signing my cruise documents and was told "You may be going to Cozumel" by an RCI representative.

 

As far as the hurricane, I don't blame RCI for that and if you read my prior posts you will see I knew we were not going to Nassau (I called RCI on Wednesday only to be told Nassau was our definate destination even though Hurricane Jeanne was already bearing down on Nassau) I have weathered many hurricanes while overseas, even one with gusts that reached 238 mph.

 

RCI did not inform our party of our absolute destination in proper order. If you received a proper notification, then I am happy for you.

[PoohUnderstands]

I just don't understand about people with disappointments(I am trying to be nice here) about intineraries knowing about the 4 hurricane situations in Florida. I mean, I have a cruise coming up 10/8 and I am just hoping to get on it!!!! I really could care less where we end up going. I mean, really, a Caribbean port(key west included) is a caribbean port. In fact, I am glad that we will probably have a day at sea rather than at Coco Cay. That the cruise line would give you $100 free drinks,sauna, photos, etc. I think is very nice. I hope they do that for us since we probably won't be going to Coco Cay!!! Anyway, I know you guys were probably disappointed as I would be if there were no weather problems and they suddenly changed the itinerary, but coming into your cruise you should have known it was going to be interesting, right? And kind of gone more with the flow. Life is too short. My house is a mess and still waiting for electricity. See what I mean?

[keysjohnson]

Pooh, I completly agree with you. I was just estatic to be on the cruise, I really didn't care where we went. I knew that making reservations in September was risky and I was prepared to take the consequence. People were complaining like you wouldn't believe. Frankly, I was tired of listening to them. I loved the cuise, the food was good, the weather was good, and all was right with the world! Enjoy youself!!!

[APagano]

lizardhowson, I understand your disappointment. We went on the 9/17-9/20 cruise and we didn't know about the itinerary changes until we were in our cabin and saw the letter from RCI. We obviously missed CocoCay and we spent all day Saturday in Nassau. It would have been nice to know a day ahead of time, but it's tough to say exactly when the decision was made and how they could have communicated better. -

 

As to your point about Cozumel, my limited knowledge of geography tells me that Cozumel is too far away to do on a 3-night cruise. You would probably need two full days at sea, which leaves hardly any time to spend in port. In the case of the 3-nighter, it's either Key west or a cruise to nowhere if the Bahamas are unavailable.

[unkfrank]

I was on the Majesty on the 9/6 sailing, right after Frances, and before Ivan... our itinerary was changed... didn't take much to realize we wouldnt be going to Nassau and CocoCay. Even if we had, I wouldnt have wanted to be there a day after a serious storm. By virtue of the boards, I found out there was a good chance of going to Cozumel instead.

 

Did I find out officially... not until we got on board.

Would it have changed anything about the cruise knowing ahead of time where we were going? Nope - unless the ship was heading towards the Arctic Circle instead of the Caribbean :D.

Would it have mattered if the CEO of RCCL called me personally the day before to tell me where we were going? Nope (but it would have been a kewl story ;) )

 

When you're trying to reason with hurricane season, you have to accept the fact that you have to be flexible, just as the cruise lines have to be flexible, and may not know exactly what's going on when you want to know, just like you or they don't know what Mother Nature is going to do. I was just happy to be out on the water, wherever we went and however we got there :)

 

I met some good people and a top-notch crew, had to put up with A LOT of whiny (to use a polite word) passengers, but just snickered at them and felt sorry for those traveling with them, and didn't let them ruin my vacation.

 

Frank

[Tybug]

Hey Ruthann!!!! It was great meeting you onboard! :D

 

 

As for the itinerary change... I was with the majority here. We didn't care where we were going. I checked the website on Thursday before we flew out and it still said Nassau even though I knew that wasn't going to be possible. I also checked the site again before we left the hotel and saw that Key West was slated as a possiblity. I never thought to ask upon checkin so I can't comment on that. We did have a letter waiting for us in our cabin saying that we would visit Key West from 8 am - midnight. There again, I knew that that could certainly change beings we were dealing with an unpredictable storm. Later that evening when the Captain announced our Key West stop would be cut short(from midnight to 6 pm), we were dissappointed sure, but there again understood.

 

I was surprised at the credit. I felt it was a very nice gesture from RCI but didn't feel it was necessary. This was our 3rd trip on the Majesty and surely won't be the last!! :D

[lizardhowson]

lizardhowson, I understand your disappointment. We went on the 9/17-9/20 cruise and we didn't know about the itinerary changes until we were in our cabin and saw the letter from RCI. We obviously missed CocoCay and we spent all day Saturday in Nassau. It would have been nice to know a day ahead of time, but it's tough to say exactly when the decision was made and how they could have communicated better. -

 

As to your point about Cozumel, my limited knowledge of geography tells me that Cozumel is too far away to do on a 3-night cruise. You would probably need two full days at sea, which leaves hardly any time to spend in port. In the case of the 3-nighter, it's either Key west or a cruise to nowhere if the Bahamas are unavailable.

 

After looking closely at a map, you are right. Cozumel is too far away for a 3 day cruise (at least on the Majesty at 15 knots).

 

We boarded knowing we would not be going to CoCoCay or Nassau and that we would be "running" from Jeanne. We did have full trip insurance, so we could have cancelled and rebooked another date. But we wanted to sail, so we went. Other than my opinion of the food, the Majesty lived up to everything all the posters claimed she would be.

 

I guess due to my honest nature, I expect everyone to be up front and would have appreciated prior notice.

 

All things being said, the wind blowing deck chairs across the deck, the water sloshing out of the pool, watching 4 tugboats struggle for 1 hour to push us away from the docks at Key West all make this cruise somewhat unique. After all, we took 6 family members (kids and my wife's sister & husband) with us who have never cruised before. It was good to share their first cruise with them. They won't soon forget it !!

 

And RCI was nice too provide the $100 credit. Our sign & sail bill was very small thanks to the credit.

[bUU]

The way customers deal with most businesses these days, there is counter-incentive to provide any more information than the customer specifically is owed by the terms and conditions of the contract.