WOW! What a great time!
Written: Oct 26 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: A great weekend get away for a couple or a family.
Cons: Too short, the debarkation process took too long.
The Bottom Line: I found the crew friendly and helpful. The buffets were good, the dinners superb. There was always something to do or you could just lounge around. A lot of fun!
|
|
|
| kegriggs's Full Review: Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas |
My husband has been bugging me for years to go on a cruise. I was reluctant only because I tend to get motion sickness. Remember the kid in school who always threw-up on any field trip? Well that was me. I did not want to go on a cruise and end up spending my vacation in a tiny bathroom on a ship in the middle of nowhere being sick. My husband finally convinced me to do a 3 day cruise as a test run - if I could handle the 3 day cruise, we could look at doing more cruises in the future. As it turned out, I felt a little sick our first night. I don’t know if it was the motion of the boat, lack of sleep the night before, or the drinks I had before dinner. Most likely it was a combination of them all. I went to bed early our first night but had no problems after that. For those who do get seasick, the ship doctor will give you Bonine or Dramamine on the ship. I took the 12 hour Bonine and had no problems.
With recent events hurting the travel industry, we were able to get a great deal on a cruise and airfare. The total for the cruise, airfare, transportation from the airport, taxes and fees totaled just over $800 for two of us. When looking into booking a cruise out of Miami, remember Fort Lauderdale is only 35 minutes away and you can get a bus for $10 round trip. We found that the airfare into Fort Lauderdale was much cheaper than flying into Miami – about $65 per person cheaper. When you make your cruise reservations they ask for your flight information so they can have someone greet you when you get off the plane. The greeters will direct you to where you need to claim your luggage and bring you to the right bus to get to the ship. The people in the airport were friendly and very helpful.
The whole boarding process was pretty quick. Once you arrive at the boat, the porter takes your luggage and you go to check in. There were about 35 people processing passengers through and they were quick and courteous. When you check in, you are issued a ship card with your name, and dinner seating assignment. This card also serves as your “charge card” on the boat as well as your ID for getting on and off the ship. On board, you do not pay cash, you use your card in the bar, casino, shops, etc. At the end of the cruise, you get a detailed listing of what you bought and then your charge card is charged for your purchases. Remember to keep your card with you when entering and exiting the ship. When you leave the ship for any shore activities, you ‘punch out’ and you must present the card to get back on.
Our cabin was very small. We had a king size bed up against the wall with about 3 feet between the bed and the other wall. We had a small desk with drawers, a small closet and a very small bathroom. We had an interior cabin so we had no window. We decided to go with the cheaper cabin because we did not plan to spend much time there. All we wanted was a place to put our stuff, sleep, and shower. The cabin stewards were wonderful – we only saw them when they dropped off our luggage. They made the beds, brought fresh towels (folded into sting rays, shrimp, etc- kind of neat). They also delivered to the rooms a “Compass” which was a listing of all the days activities with times and places. When you first arrive, you will find shore excursion information as well. We found out that you can book your shore excursions on line up to 10 days in advance of your sail date. Otherwise, you sign up when you get on board and all excursions are done on a first come first serve basis. Like everything else, they are charged to your room. Your excursion tickets are delivered to your room your first evening.
If you like to have a few drinks, ask about the Drink tickets. For a total of about $44, you get a card which you present at the bar for a total of 12 drinks. The bartender will punch your card each time you order a drink. The card can be used at any of the bars on the ship as well as the dining room. A great value considering drinks are about $4.00 - $5.00 depending on what you like. (Also available for kids under 18 is a card which allows them unlimited soda anywhere on the ship. I am not sure the cost of this card as we were not travelling with kids.) The bartenders and drinks are top-notch. They are friendly and eager to please. There is bar service in all of the shows as well as in the Casino.
We did try a couple of the shore excursions. In Nassau, we took the Harbor Tour and Atlantis tour. The Harbor Tour was pretty short – basically they pointed out some of the buildings we could see from the boat on the way to the Atlantis Hotel. The Atlantis is very impressive! They have an aquarium and beautiful grounds you can wander through. The pool and beach are for Atlantis Hotel guests only. You can wander the Atlantis at your leisure and then make your way back to the harbor to take a boat back down to the cruise ship area. The boat will let you off in front of the straw market which is much like a flea market. It is a great place to pick up some cheap T-shirts and other souvenirs. The people there are eager to sell to you. As you walk through, you will hear a lot of “Come look at my stuff” “Do you see something you like, let me get it for you”. On the streets there are people who want to braid your hair, Taxi drivers will drive up and ask where they can take you, people will try to sell you Cuban cigars and all sorts of other things. If you go to the shopping areas, there are a lot of jewelry shops – but don’t expect to find any great bargains. You will find most shops have most of the same things. Our favorite place was a place called DelSol. Everything sold in the store changes color in the sunlight – t-shirts, hats, barrettes, etc.
If you decide to get off the ship, remember to bring your picture ID along with your ship card. There is a barricade at the entrance of the cruise ship docks. The police will ask to see your ship card and your picture ID in order to get onto the dock. When you get to the boat, you must have your ship card to get back on the boat.
Our ship also stopped at CocoCay, a small island owned by the cruise line. CocoCay is basically a beach and a few activities on the beach – parasailing, snorkeling, and waverunners. There is a bar which will accept only your ship card for purchasing drinks. There is a small area with a few shops – all the same stuff that they had in Nassau except they said CocoCay. My advice – try the snorkeling, it is really beautiful. You will be shown how to use the equipment and there are areas roped off for the snorkelers. The day we were there, it was a little too windy for snorkeling but we had already paid for it. You can pay for the snorkeling on CocoCay with your ship card once on the island. My advice, wait until you get onto the island to pay for this. If the weather is bad, you can skip it and not be out the money.
There were lots of fun things to do aboard the ship as well. There were dinner shows every night with each show running twice - an early show for late diners and a late show for the early diners. There was also a show each night after the dinner shows. There was a comedian, a Newlywed Type show, and a music revue. There was also karaoke each night. I did not think the casino was much to get excited about, but then again I live near the two HUGE Indian Casinos in Connecticut. The Disco was open until 3am each night. There was always something to do.
The food on board was wonderful! Each morning you could go to a sit-down breakfast in the dining room or a buffet. The breakfast and lunch buffets were good. Nothing spectacular but good food well prepared. Room service was free and available 24 hours a day. Dining room service was top notch and the food was spectacular. There were several choices for appetizers, salads, entrees and desserts. If you can’t make up your mind, order 2 – they don’t mind!
My only complaint was the debarkation process. The last night of the cruise, you were provided color-coded luggage tags. Once your luggage was packed, you put on a color-coded tag and left the bags in the hall by 1 am. In the morning, after breakfast, passengers were dismissed based on the color of their luggage tag. You went through a Customs and Immigration line where you had to show your picture ID and passport or birth certificate. Once through there, you went and claimed your luggage at an airport-style carousel and then went out to the buses. There was some sort of hold up on the day we debarked and a friend of ours missed a 12:30 flight because she got to the airport too late.
All in all, we had a great time on our cruise. I understand that the prices on this ship are a little lower as it is one of the older ships. I found that the ship was clean and well maintained. Perhaps a newer ship would be better, but for a first experience, I thought it was fine. I wish I had done it sooner and plan on going again very soon – next time on a longer cruise!
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
kegriggs
|
|
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.