Relaxing, Enjoyable - but a bit Underwhelming

Majesty of the Seas is a ship that hearkens back to the older days of cruising. A smaller vessel than many of the floating cities at sea today, it was entirely common for us to come across the same couples or passengers at least once a day, often more. This can be either a positive or negative experience depending on the cruiser:

If you crave a more intimate experience, where you enjoy making friends and bumping into them with some regularity, Majesty is your ship. There are less venues for entertainment, but the upside is that most of them feel bustling and full (but not over saturated, as the passenger count is only around 2,000 at full capacity).

If you seek the modern resort-on-the-water, Vegas-style 24-7 energy of an Oasis or Quantum ship, look else where. Most things shut down by 1:00AM, and even the casino staff get nasty the later it gets. and will let you know that they are ready to go. Passenger make-up is mostly (older) couples and families, with a sprinkle of millenials and younger. Not really a singles-meet-and-greet cruise.

Dining is a little hit-and-miss as well. Windjammer is Windjammer, a few notches above Golden Corral. The Compass Deli offered a bit of extra variety, but the hours it was open were sporadic. There is no full Sorrentos, Izumi, or Chops Grille on the ship; There is a Sorrentos Pizza Bar open late, which occasionally has pasta options. Johnny Rockets has a up-front cover charge, along with per-item pricing. Your money to waste if you want a milkshake that bad.

Main Dining was superb, though. Every meal I had was a winner, and the behind-the-scenes tour with special brunch was worth it on the second day. 

You can also upgrade to Chops-level prime steak cuts at dinner for around $20.00. We never did, but a few of the other passengers swore it rivaled a Ruth Chris or Ted's Montana offering.

My God - please, do yourself a favor and order the hot chocolate one morning. Upon returning to my house, I promptly cursed my box of Swiss Miss for daring to fill my cupboard for so long with such underachievement.

Seriously though, try it. Amazing.

You can order room service as well. Continental breakfast is complimentary with no service fee; full spread breakfast, lunch, or dinner carry an $7.95 service fee.

There are no traditional balcony staterooms on this ship. It goes Inside-Outside-Junior Suite-Specialty Suites. The Junior Suites are perhaps 10-20% larger than a standard Royal Caribbean balcony room, but the bathroom was frankly huge compared to the ones in other cabins on the ship.  

We had a starboard Junior Suite on deck 10 (1082). I have to say, we had prime positioning for what we wanted to do.  Stairs/Aft Elevator bank was right around the corner, spa/fitness center one deck down and Adventure Ocean(kids experience) on our same deck. One deck up had the pools, outdoor activities, etc.

Forward elevators were perhaps a one-minute walk away. This is one area where the smaller size of Majesty really shines - nothing ever feels like you had to hike to get there. Also great for procrastinators and the habitually tardy. ;-)

We didn't take much interest in the bars and clubs, but for easy reference you have Schooner Bar adjacent to the casino on Deck 5, Boleros on Deck 6, Spectrum on Deck 8, and Viking Crown Lounge on Deck 12. All of them are aft. I guess you could also count the pool bar? If you're used to other ships where you can quite literally stumble your way from one bar to another, you might find the lack of watering holes a little disappointing. 

Entertainment was solid across the board. Bobby, the cruise director was bang-on-target for energy level and genuinely projected that he was having a great time. Shows were spot on and funny. The entertainment crew really seemed to have fun with their jobs, and gave me the impressions that they wanted us to have a great time too.

The rest of the crew, not so much. Many of them seemed either absent-minded, preoccupied, or on the bad end like they genuinely loathed their jobs. This was most obvious in the casino. From bar personnel to the dealers themselves, only a handful looked like gave half-a-thought to the fact they are part of the fun. I left a few tables because the dealers were unmistakably rude.  

All in all, Majesty presents an inexpensive but enjoyable way to shove out to sea. If you're willing to take your time, and don't get hung up on a Cruise Compass that needs a whole booklet to describe daily activities, you'll have a fine time. Just make sure you're out of the casino by 3:00 AM. :-)