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Royal Caribbean International

MV Majesty of the Seas

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Reviewed by: Raymond Ouellet
# previous cruises: 4
Date of Trip: March 21, 1999
Itinerary: Caribbean - Western

We had a very pleasant cruise. The rythmn of the cruise (1 day at sea, 4 days: ports of call, 1 day at sea) was very nice. The weather cooperated (100% sunshine). The ship was very well appointed. Food was good. We only have two negative comments: the airfare with Northwest was atrocious, and our dining room waiter had a tendancy to talk too much, too fast, putting himself in the center of all conversations, rather than the food.

We found the ship's architecture spectacular. Decks offer plenty of room for all passenger, although immediate pool areas soon become crowded. Windjammer cafe is marvelous for casual meals. Many quiet sitting areas are found all over the ship. We appreciated the natural plants, and fresh and cut flowers throughout public areas. We found the ship's public areas very clean, and well maintained.

Food was very good, although not exceptional (as expected, with 2600 mouths to feed)....and plentiful. The menu card was more helpful than the waiter in making meals choices. Our waiter had developed the bad habit of reminding us daily of the importance of receiving an "excellent" on comments card, and how badly he needed money, money, money, more than taking the time to explain the menu. But from talking with several passengers, it seems he was the exception.

Tiny would describe the cabin. With 2 lower bed, there was barely enough room for one to sit on the straight chair. Even if we travel rather light (1 medium suitcase/person) we left half our clothes in the suitcase, because there was insufficient space in the closet. We had 8 drawers, but those were only large enough for plane tickets, underwear and socks. But do we really need more on a 7 days cruise ? Our cabin was very quiet, and room service excellent. Bathroom size was in accordance with the rest of the cabin: no need to step out of the shower to pull a towel hanging above the toilet on the opposite end of the room.

We attended 3 shows. Two were quite good: a tribute to the Beatles, the male singer (sorry, I forget the name); and we stayed till the end of the third (a review), only because we were too shy to get up half way through. That evening we were happy the show only lasted 1 hour, because when the show is not good, one soon finds his seat most uncomfortable.

Labadee is very nice and relaxing. My advice: don't step into the shops unless you are really desperate for harassment. But my wife is quite proud of a couple mahogany vases she bought there. Ocho Rios is not the cleanest place on hearth. We enjoyed the Dunn's River fall tour, and had fun with the peddlers on the street. At Grand Cayman we went to Sting Ray City and Turtle farm, and don't regret: it was very interesting. In Cozumel we went snorkeling on a catamaran, that also took us to a beach for a while; again most appreciated. We a fully satisfied, with the tours we took.

The Majesty entertained an excellent crowd. We met nice people, (we exchanged address with our dining room companions), and all the crew members, throughout the ship, were nice, attentive, and offered help readily. All went smoothly on the ship: we never saw anyone being unpleasant or rowdy, no loud voice, no rushing, pushing, yelling....The atmosphere was excellent throughout, from boarding until we were back on the pier after debarkation.

If I have a negative comment, it goes to the Air-Sea program. Coming from Canada, and flying on Northwest, we felt treated like flies in the soup: from late planes, to overbooked flights, to "left behind" luggage, we have tasted it all. We even managed to change our flight arrangements at Miami airport, at the Northwest check-in desk, (thus avoiding a 3 hour+1 airport detour through Minneapolis), after RCI Air-Sea had declared such a detour impossible to avoid, 2 weeks before. I guess Northwest must have purchased a whole wack of aircraft in the mean time, not telling anyone !