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Hi guys, We have been on Explorer for a week now, just starting day 8! I thought I’d give you my point of view on some stuff coming from a very first time cruiser and somebody who swore by all inclusive holidays on land. Its good. Very good in fact. The food is the best we have ever had on holiday. We went to Chops last night and it was easily the best meal we have ever had whilst on holiday. Even in windjammer I find the food to be a step or two above all inclusive buffets on land. The drink... wow. I’m not a big drinker but we have loved having a drink on board. The staff in the Crown and Kettle, Errol and Nower, are great. The live music in the most night is cool too. The entertainment is also several steps ahead of land based resorts. We usually go to the first half of one, realise it’s crap and never bother again! This last week has been really good every night. Not sure tonight’s ballroom and latin dance is for us but I’m sure it will be top quality. Everything everywhere is clean and tidy. I suppose as you’re mostly out at sea that’s why there are no flies, ants or other bugs, which is another plus point! The staff everywhere can’t do enough for you, they are so so helpful. Eric our stateroom attendant is also amazingly helpful ? A few negatives? The surf and stream WiFi is pants. We are in Marseille today but with it being a Sunday most of everything is closed apparently so we stayed in the boat. The drinks are expensive and we have zero issue hitting the break even point of the package. We have booked 1 more cruise already and looking at 2 more. We are hooked!!

This resort is BEAUTIFUL!!!! I’m making some sand art to take home too. I love it!

Even wiser - I'm a woman!! haha

Just wanted to say hello to everyone! We are new here....but not to cruising Royal. We have our 10th Royal cruise coming up in February '20 on a 9 night to the ABC islands. We are Diamond C&A members! We hope to be able to help others out from our experiences and get help from others from theirs! We love talking cruising since it's the best type of vacation there is!!! We have taken videos and photos of lots of our adventures while cruising and will try to share those as appropriate. Again hello and hope to get to know some fellow Royal travelers! Royal is the BEST! ?

I forgot our formal night the evening of Puerto Rico, day 5. Lobster was good and in one of the pics you can even catch a slight glimpse of @CruisingKat(Kathy).

Getting off the ship was a breeze this morning until we got outside to the rideshare area. The porter took us to the wrong place and when our ride came, the cop threatened to give him a ticket if he stopped. We were routed to the right area and ended up canceling our first Uber because he never came back for us. We got a new driver after what seemed like forever and we are now enjoying our stay at Margaritaville in Hollywood. The fish is in the water already.

We said our goodbyes to our waiters and enjoyed one last night time stroll through Central Park and our last sunset before disembarking. ?

On Allure, the lollipop was present on the 50th birthday cake, unlike Navigator.

Last port stop was Labadee. It was a normal beach day, beautiful day with no rain. Hubs and lil guy did the aqua park and we somehow managed to miss the bbq. I was waiting for them to finish the aqua park. We walked over at 2pm and everything was gone already. We stayed in the Columbus Cove area. Since we’ve personally last been there, they added beach swings and some more cabanas.

Our next port was Puerto Rico which is one of my favorites. We did the Rainforest Drive excursion. We had an excellent guide and the Rainforest is breathtaking. Guess what???? I even had time for my pina colada at Barrachinas!!! Hubs and lil guy continued back to the ship while I browsed for souvenirs. Suddenly a torrential downpour came and I was soaked. It was so heavy it was hard to see.

I love my cabin. It was very spacious. All the suites amenities come with the cabin. I was amazed with my views. I opened the curtains at night and looked at the sky. It was thundering and lightening one night. I tried to capture the beauty of my new lense (thanks @twangster). You are going to have a blast.

Cruise Summary My biggest complaint is the 5 night duration. Even though I came off another ship before hand it's a lot of unpacking and you just get into cruise mode when it's over. I feel like I didn't have enough time to really experience the ship properly. I have a B2B booked in the fall so hopefully that will solve this problem. Majesty definitely feels like a bigger ship than Empress (the ship I was on before this) but it is a bigger ship so it had better feel bigger. Majesty is dated in places such as decor and the outdoor carpets on the upper decks. You can tell some new carpeting has been installed in places but in certain areas or staircases the carpet is older. Crew was fantastic and I only experienced great service. It was great to visit CocoCay again and I look forward to my next cruise when I have the water park and zipline booked. O3b Voom was great and I really wish Royal would upgrade more ships to O3b. This was a relatively inexpensive cruise and there is great value at the price point I paid. Majesty has a lot to offer and I'm looking forward to going back to spend more time on her.

Our door decorations and a gorgeous sunset and rare full family pic...

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2019/08/05/three-port-canaveral-employees-praised-helping-save-mans-life/1919668001/?fbclid=IwAR1x2rgWCeomXqpx_CjoL9DcmfPOEqq5XNuOS_dagNBJNnat39ly1JrhYjg

Day 1 - leftovers. So we finished taking the photos of Venice from the ship , no doubt it's one of the nicer port to sail from . We went to get organized for dinner (walking in Venice sun has cost to it) I took a shower , in Rhapsody they still using the old curtain system , as much as I tried to avoid it the curtain kept clung to me and I felt I need to wash again . Now I might be OK with such affection but hey at least by me a dinner at chef table first. We went to the MDR for dinner (late shift) and we faced the first night MDR curse , everything was so slow , it took us around two hours to finish. Food was Ok. Post dinner we went to see the band in the centrum which was nice Also it was a good opportunity to take some theater photos Love the way they designed it Visit in the Casino and off we went to sleep , more about Dubrovnik tommorow.

Oops forgot the closeup! Also, bye to that ugly whale tail that followed us all week.

Welcome to all the new cruiding friends! This is a great place to hang out!!! Jane

Likewise!!! This is a awesome site for Blogging!! I know Matt Personally, and get to Cruise with him in 27 Days! He does a Amazing job with Royal Caribbean Blog!!! I will love reviewing your live blog! Have a safe trip home.

Welcome. we are new to this group as well and just obtained diamond +. I have enjoyed the site so far and have found the people friendly/helpful. Welcome from one site newbie to another! D Damian

I just found this place a couple of weeks ago as well and I've been cruising since '06. Can't believe I never bothered to look around. I've learned a few things already. I look forward to sharing experiences and continuing to learn (there's always something new to learn).

Second day of the cruise, we are in Dubrovnik , still smiling

@Grass Clippings and @MathiaasO Hi and welcome to the RCB forums! Here is the RCL policy: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/food-drink-onboard-policy Here is the RCB news & comments: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2018/08/28/royal-caribbean-now-allowing-guests-bring-non-alcoholic-beverages-onboard Yes, 12 cans/bottles/cartons (17oz) and 2 wine bottles (750ml) per stateroom. There may be a corkage fee for the wine, but you shouldn't have a problem drinking your non-alcoholic drinks anywhere.

i can say actually meeting the "celebrity" behind the camera on majesty was such a honor on this sailing. another great live blog with some awesome pictures too. overall experience can say was good and even if sailing a "baby" ship, she may not have all those bells and whistles but the service received from crew is well worth it. crew is extremely passionate and truly takes time to bond with passengers. friendly greetings by crew around ship and being in bars having those bartenders remember passengers by name and drink of choice is uplifting when think how many passengers sailing to sailing. each ship has its own identity and for value to go to CocoCay in my books is a win win when i could in turn be at home not on a cruise ship at all having those cruise dry dock blues.............. safe travels and cant wait to the next live blog.

Day 1 - the short version. As always on the cruise day I had hard time to sleep (well maybe the fact I still recovering from Australian time did not help eather) so I update the blog , surfed the internet and waited for the alarm to wake up my spouse. Around 7 we went down to eat , breakfast is very good at this hotel (four points Milan center if anyone ask), quick last minute packing and we started our journey to the train station (8 minutes walk) good that I fixed the suitcase wheels. It was not too hot so it's Ok. Milan central station is luggage friendly and all the tracks are on the same level and near to each other (not like Milan Garibaldi which can be a nightmare , believe me I tried it once). The train cost us 30$ and I booked it ahead of time. The train is quite fast (can get up to 200 Mph) only issue there is not much space for luggage but we managed to find. Our train tickets also included drinks and snacks which was nice. The journey took around 2.5 hours with some stops in places like Verona (did not had time to say hello to Romeo nor to Juliet). We arrived around 10:45 to Venice station and started to walk to the main transport square . One issue is that you have to cross a bridge which as some flat stairs but not something too bad , alternative you can take a porter that will take the luggage for you over the bridge. Our plan was to take the people mover which bring you to the port in 5 minutes and cost around 2 $ . You can find it inside the white building in currner of the square . I guess that was also the plan of many other people and the line was huge (well if you can call it a line, it was more like 20 different lines were everyone tries to get in , in Italy the call it casino , which mean one big mess) , We decided to skip it and just walk to the port . The way to the port is quite easy but it was quite hot , it took us about 12 minutes to walk to the port gate were the people mover drops you , another 10 minutes from the gate to the terminal. I'd it doable , I guess yes , we have just done it but I wish it was less hot. Another option is to get off the train at Mestre and take a cab to the port (around 50$). Finally we got to terminal (around 11:15) few minutes after we boarded the ship. As usual we went first to the WJ which had allot of empty tables , post lunch we went to the diamond club for a coffee, they also served some finger food. At that time the rooms were ready and our luggage appear around 1:30 Pm . We unpacked and went to get some rest following the muster drill. After the drill we went back to the diamond club for some drinks The ship starred to move so we went up to see Venice from deck 10 and 5. There are some rummers as if soon such big ship will not allow in Venice anymore. With some help from friends And there is another cruise line Time to get some rest, will continue tommorow

People who aren't going on the cruise can order you flowers and other gifts this way.

This is why I don't talk to people.

Ships are dangerous......so are airplanes, trains, automobiles, movie theaters, malls, Walmart, schools, concerts, night clubs, riding a bike, riding a motorcycle, scuba diving, foul balls at baseball games, swimming, hurricanes, tornadoes, mud slides, forest fires, ice storms, earthquakes, getting too close to wildlife, boating, guns, poor diets, obesity, smoking, alcohol, second hand smoke, vaping ...... I guess I'll just assume a fetal position in my basement and hope for the best.

I for one have stopped trying to promote the cruise industry and agree wholeheartedly with everything they said. The last thing I need is more people to book cruises (driving up the cost for me). It's terrible out there folks. The sea was 90' yesterday (away from the Promenade deck). I hear that 99% of all cruise ships got stranded (away from a boring existence) yesterday. Everyone on board is sick (of being on land). I went missing (and none of my clients know I'm on a ship). There were 75 mph winds (for anyone driving on the interstate with their hands out the window in Florida). Yep, it's not a life for the faint of heart. Avoid cruising (so I can book cheaper cruises). If they don't want to go, please don't try to correct them.

In my old age I have learned a few things. One of them is that there are always going to be negative people who don't have a good / nice thing to say about anything or anyone. They always complain, always find something "wrong" with stuff, and are the first to focus on the negative. They don't bog me down because I ignore them. I don't need that kind of negativity in my life.

If they mention getting sick from the food... ask them where they last went out to eat at. (then look at them with a very judgmental look) If the mention getting stranded... tell them, you would much rather get stranded on a luxury cruise ship than stuck on the Tarmac of an airport. If they mention people missing... tell them happens everyday on the city streets. Rarely on cruises. If they mention crime and sickness... same as walking into a Walmart. Stuck in a storm.... Cruise ships will avoid storms... they have something called navigation. lol Finally... ask them how many cruises they have been on. Then stare at them in judgement again. :-)

Day Four Antigua and Barbuda ?? Today was our first and only excursion through RC. I do like that you get to meet on board before disembarking! People on vacation have no sense of urgency.. walking into a 9:00 meet time at 9:20 with no apologies?! hahah ruthless. Same for the muster, twenty minutes late and the whole Star Lounge is waiting on you! Loved the excursion: See Antigua by Sea. About 50-100 people on the motorized catamaran Excellence, circumnavigating the entire island. We stopped to pick people up at Dickenson bay and for lunch on Green Island! We also got to snorkel the reef and had beach time after lunch. It poooured while we were snorkeling so we turned back slightly earlier than usual. The rain didn't really effect the quality of the snorkeling as you could only slightly feel it on your back. Saw two eels and lobster among lots of colorful fish. One of the guides said it hadn’t rained like that in 6 months! There was grilled chicken, rice, pasta salad and salad for lunch and rum punches all around. We started a jumping/diving off the back of the boat trend that escalated to a three-person simultaneous back flip! There was a large family reunion on the boat with us, maybe 20-30 people? And they were a lot of fun, encouraging each other to do crazier off-boat jumps. Leaving Port Dickenson Bay Off the coast of Long Island From the lunch/snorkel stop on Green Island Trusty Springfloat in action Back in Port After we were back on board we took yet another trip to the Solarium pool for swimming and cocktails! Leaving Antigua

Yesterday was our first port day. We chose to take a taxi to Mullet Bay Beach. I was going to go to the beach at Holland House, but after hearing talk of the water there failing toxicity tests I didn’t want to chance it. Mullet Bay Beach was absolutely gorgeous. The color of the water there is something out of an advertisement. We ate at Rosie’s snack shack there. Two chicken and rice platters, an order of fries, a beer and a soda cane to $24. Some catamarans came and anchored for about 30-45 minutes. We scored free rum punch from their staff because their people weren’t swimming out to where the cooler was. That was a win!! We snorkeled and saw a few different kind of fish and some crabs. We have only had one other ship docked with it’s there...MSC Seaside.

My mom and I are going on this sailing and can't wait. We saw her in Bayonne a few years ago but were unable to sail on her. Super excited to be spending a week enjoying our favorite cruise line again!! Been on Serenade, Grandeur, and Adventure, and Saw Anthem. Any advice from people who have been on Liberty?

Back in San Juan post best-cruise-EVER and sad to see my sweet angel waiting in port to set off again WITHOUT ME! Booo! ??? Will finish off this blog in the following days! In other news, the Caribe Hilton is amaaazing! Had a great day exploring El Yunque and Luquillo post disembarkation. (10 minutes from room to cab with self assist!! ?) More on PR later!

Sunil will likely still be on because he just got back mid-July and they usually have 5 month rotations (unless they get extended). Not sure when Reyno and Berty are leaving. But Andre will be back by the end of September so that means one of them will be off. And Marla left when Sunil came back and going with their usual 6-8 week vacation time, she should be back by the end of September. Sunil said she was coming back when we last saw him at the end of July. If I had to guess, I would guess Sunil, Andre, and Marla. That group is fantastic.

Hey again, you were sitting right near us in the Main Dining Room!!!

Wherever you like.

... and the liquor choices are better. Enjoy your included ONE or TWO beers and lackluster liquor selection. There is a reason an all-inclusive is "so much cheaper" and "includes alcohol" because it's no different than your buddies basement! :)

I haven't been on Allure, but I was recently in a suite on Harmony, and I recommend that you take full advantage of CK-we found the food, service and ambiance to be outstanding for all three meals. We limited ourselves to two meals per day, because the food was rich, but we loved all three menus.

We stayed in a Grand Suite on Enchantment last Thanksgiving. The concierge will help you with any issues instead of Guest Services. You'll also get water and fruit delivered to your room. You get to order free room service, and you can order room service from the MDR during dining hours. We did not use the concierge lounge at all on our 4 nighter. You also can dine at Chops for breakfast, which is nice. On debarkation, you can dine in Chops for breakfast, and then the concierge will walk you off the ship, somewhat expedited. You can also get priority lines for getting off the ship in ports, although it was never really an issue on Enchantment for us. One word of warning, we had a fair amount of noise in our GS from the pool deck above. You can follow the link in my signature for our live blog from the Oasis/Enchantment S2S we did last year.

Since I booked this cruise with the intent of capturing Majesty in photos here are some of the Schooner Bar. You don't get views of the sea like this on the big ships.

Really? You can get sick anywhere. And motion? Ask them if they know how big some of these ships are nowadays. But of course they don't because they won't give it a try. Lots of car, trains, plane etc. accidents recently too. Often that is due to judgement, the ship/Royal does not "make them" go missing. Yup. Every time you step out of your house. Tell them Royal has a full time meteorologist who is really good at his job. That's what I would say. ? Some people love being negative. Don't worry about them. You have chosen a fantastic ship to start cruising on. Go and enjoy it to the fullest!

I also love the little hidden treasures throughout the ship. If you look down into the telescopes you find scenes such as this:

There is a lot going on around the ship but I'll be back soon enough so I'm not doing the ship's entertainment staff justice. I'll post the Cruise Compasses once I get home to scan them in properly. Outside for a walk on the Promenade deck there were a lot of stars visible. That made me pull out my night sky photography app and see where the Milky Way might be tonight. Sure enough... Majesty has these shelves along the forward section of the Promenade deck that worked great for my little tripod. While we were well past sunset the long exposure catches enough light coming over the horizon to make it look like a sunset. The lights of a city were on the horizon to starboard. The big dipper was very prominent tonight. It stood out more with the naked eye compared to this 10 second exposure. In this one I caught a passing airplane with it's strobe light flashing every second. For this one I setup on the floor of the deck trying to get into the shade of those Windjammer lights. In the darkness of the forward deck I got some strange looks as random guests walking past were wondering what I was doing crouched down low in the dark. Oh well, all in the name of taking a picture. All in all not bad. Majesty like Empress is also a good ship for stargazing with it's dark forward Promenade deck.

Sorry for any misinformation, I checked with my wife and she recalls that there was a charge for the shuttle that was added to the overall package. It's been nearly five years and my recall wasn't very good. I was mixing it up with another cruise when we flew from Newark to PR and the hotel provided a free airport shuttle. We stayed in Elizabeth, I believe it was a Country Inn near a large mall. We were on a 10 day cruise and parking was included in the package. Even with the shuttle charge, it was still a good deal. By getting there a day early, we were able to watch a Pats game at the nearby restaurant, the next morning get some Christmas shopping done at the local mall and still have plenty of time to get to the ship (about a 20 minute ride). Our cruise next month will be the first that we don't stay in a hotel the night before (out of Boston, a 1 hr ride for us). We're just the types who prefer to get where we need to be a day early and leave less to chance, especially when flying.

Recently added Explorer 9 night southern Caribbean over Thanksgiving. November 20, 2020. First southern Caribbean cruise and I don't have to fly to San Juan. Visiting the ABC islands and Labadee. @Lovetocruise2002 suite life influenced us to book a junior suite. We have a aft facing room on deck 10. We might not be able to go back after previous balcony experiences.

After a quick bite in the WJ for dinner I noticed a hint of sunset in the stormy clouds. The aft of Majesty has a series of public decks at various levels. You can see why this was a very popular class of ship in her day. Maybe not a full sunset but quite dramatic tonight with the clouds.

Anthem Sept 26, 2019 Anthem Oct 5, 2019 (b2b) Allure Oct 20, 2019 Anthem Nov 2, 2019 Anthem Dec 8, 2019 Anthem Jan 27, 2020 Anthem Feb 15, 2020 Anthem Feb 23, 2020 (b2b) Anthem Mar 22, 2020 Adventure Apr 5, 2020 Oasis May 17, 2020 Adventure Sept 10, 2020 Adventure Sept 19, 2020 (b2b) Oasis Oct 4, 2020 Thank you!

Keep an eye out for @CruisingKat(Kathy) she is also on board Allure this cruise (she co-runs the RC Periscopers Group).