NeonD7

My wife and I are sailing in an owners suite on the *cough* Majesty *cough* on March 16th...... We swore we wouldn't sail on that ship, but some friends talked us into it. We have low expectations but will try for the best, and we have really great weather forecast. And it is fresh out of a refurb, although from what I have read it was mostly behind the scenes maintenance with some new carpet thrown in for good measure. Now if you asked who is sailing in April, I would be very excited to say we are doing the Oasis on the 15th in a crown loft! We sailed Oasis last year in April and had such an awesome time we are booked it again. We LOVE the Coastal Kitchen! Actually we love everything about that ship, although we were perfectly happy when the Enchantment called Port Canaveral its home.

I know you have already made your decision on choosing the ATS, but now in the back of your mind you will always wonder if you made the right decision. My recommendation is to book another cruise later in the year in a crown loft. :-) My wife and I sailed on the Oasis last year in a crown loft and are doing it again in a few months. We have never tried an ATS, but after having such an awesome time up in the "penthouse" of the ship, we never looked back. We LOVED the breathtaking views from the huge balcony up on the 17th floor, we had a side facing cabin so it was nice and private. We also used the coastal kitchen a lot, and the concierge lounge was there as well. We found the crown loft the perfect place to call our home for seven nights.

We booked a crown loft again for the upcoming April Oasis cruise, we found a nice price dip that month. Seems that after Spring break and before Summer vacation begins seems to be a sweet spot, we booked the same room last April for that reason. The internet wasn't too bad, it was nice to have communication with the "real world" the entire time to keep up with our pet sitter and other family. Sky class rocks!!

Yet another reason to book a Grand Suite or above and get complimentary VOOM for the entire cruise! :-) It is very easy to get spoiled that way..... Of course I'm sure that cost if factored into the price of the booking.......

I feel your pain.... my wife and I have seven cruises lined up on the books. I look at the calendar and its like watching paint dry as I'm waiting for the cruises to finally get here!!

It definitely has its advantages! The pier is literally 10 to 15 minutes from my house. Ok, there is one negative, I have to drive right by the cruise terminals every day on the way to and from work. Do you have any idea how hard that is to be a cruise addict and have these ships dangling under my nose all week??? When I leave work, I see the ships heading out of the port, and my mind sits there and counts down the days until my next cruise....

As you can see in my signature, my wife and I have seven eight cruises on the books as we steadily inch our way to Diamond Plus. :-) Getting very close now! In late 2019 when the Mariner makes Port Canaveral its home, we plan on taking that ship for three day weekends on an every other month basis.

I've never experienced ship fatigue.... to me, fatigue implies time moving agonizingly slow. Instead, I suffer from time compression. Especially on my favorite itineraries such as Alaska. It seems like I've just boarded the ship when suddenly the cruise is half over... and then *poof*, the entire week has flown by and I'm stuffing my suitcase full of dirty clothes for the trip home. As some others have noted with regards to individual ships, after repeat voyages you begin to feel like "home" on that ship. You get to know some staff by name if your there often enough. After a handful of cruises on the Enchantment in GS cabin 8540, it is a great feeling to open that door for the first time of each trip and walk into a familiar place. To me, that feeling only grows stronger with each trip.

Yep - we are booked on the Harmony in May! It will do two, three day sailings when it first arrives before alternating between the seven day Eastern/Western Caribbean routes. After having such a good time on the Oasis we wanted to give the Harmony a try, but we won't have a full week of vacation to burn at that time as we will be doing an Alaska cruise the following month. The three night weekend Harmony cruise in May is perfect for our work schedules. As a Diamond Plus, we will still be able to eat in the Coastal Kitchen (my wife's favorite) and use the concierge lounge despite only booking a JS. Love those perks!! Another reason to stay loyal to RC.

My wife and I just got off the DIsney Dream yesterday, Concierge level. I'll be honest.... Disney does have a nice ship - the fit, finish, and attention to detail is incredible. The food was great as well. The concierge suites were so plush it was hard to leave when the cruise was over! That being said, the ONLY reason we did Disney was because RC has stationed the Majesty of the Seas at Port Canaveral. We live ten minutes from the pier. We had actually driven down to Miami a few months ago to go out on the Enchantment we were so desperate for a decent weekend cruise...... On Saturday my wife and I were in Nassau standing on the top of the Dream and watched the Majesty pull into the dock. Ugh.... it isn't a very pretty ship and shows its age. Thankfully RC has heard our cries and is moving the Enchantment and eventually the Mariner to Port Canaveral. Now my wife and I can get back to going out on weekend cruises every few months in addition to RC cruises from other ports. Loyal to Royal! :-)

I saw a thread on another cruise board that the February 2018 Majesty dry-dock will include the addition of a Chops restaurant, it will occupy half of the Viking crown lounge. Anyone else heard this or was it just rumor and speculation? I'll be on this ship in March and would LOVE to have a Chops to eat at!! Anyone know any other juicy rumors of what this dry-dock will include? I understand it will last longer than originally planned. I prefer to look on the bright side with that and hope it was because they will be adding lots of new & exciting updates to this ship.

What about the Mariner coming to Port Canaveral? I haven't heard from any other sources about the Enchantment coming back to Port Canaveral, what source did you use?

Regarding the Concierge tip, depending on how much we used them, we usually give $20 to $30. I have no idea of the RC pay scale to know how the concierge compares to the rest of the crew's contracts.... maybe someone knows? With the bartenders, my wife and I usually "tip as we go" in the Diamond and Concierge lounges. We give them a buck or two each drink and they seem to appreciate it. Last year we were on the Radiance for a Southbound Alaska cruise and there was a pushy group of Pinnacle's really hogging the bar and running the bartenders ragged. They didn't tip at all. Whenever we walked in, the bartenders went out of their way to take good care of us - my wife and I still laugh about the time I ordered a double and the bartender brought the glass over and winked and said "I didn't get you a double, I filled it". We got great service, the waiters got some nice tips, and everybody was happy except the Pinnacles on that cruise, who seemed to be a grumpy bunch. But that is a story for another day..... .

That happened to us once before! We had booked a March 2019 on the Serenade, which was doing a "one-off" cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. Suddenly the cruise listing disappeared, as some cruise buddies of ours were trying to book it for that sailing as well. About a week later we got the email "sorry to inconvenience you, but this booking has been chartered". We were offered compensation for the trouble..... so at least they made good on it for us.

AMEN!!! Royal Caribbean has heard our pleas and answered them..... THANK YOU ROYAL CARIBBEAN!!! Although November 2019 is a ways away before the Mariner comes to Port Canaveral, we already have a bunch of other cruises booked, so it would have been hard to squeeze an additional booking in between the already booked ones. But after it arrives, I can see my wife and I going out on it every three months or so. It has been a wonderful thing to live a short ten minute drive over the bridge to the Port, and I drive by the ships every day on the way to work. In addition, the Harmony will be a nice addition to Port Canaveral. I've been on the Oasis once, another trip planned in April. From what I've read, the differences between the ships are minor, but that will give us an excuse to give Harmony a try to see for ourselves. Anyone know what will happen with the Majesty? Sold for scrap? Artificial reef? Target practice for the navy?

Miami gets all the luck - in the meantime, we are stuck with the Majesty of the Seas up at Port Canaveral. We would LOVE to have the Mariner at our port!! My wife and I are taking my son and his girlfriend on a Mariner cruise to celebrate his 21st birthday - we are booked for February 2019, so we will get to see the ship post overhaul. We booked a Grand Suite and got them a Jr. Suite. I'll be honest, the pictures of the ship look really good even before they update it. Meanwhile, the Majesty gets a two day overhaul Feb 2018 and we are giving it a try the month after that with some friends. Hope they do wonders in those two days.......

I totally understand your concern - its always a total crapshoot if you end up with compatible table mates. My wife and I have only been seated at a four top once before, all others were six tops and up. Luckily the other couple at the four top was very nice and we had an enjoyable time talking with them. Our last cruise we sat at a 12 top and we ended up pairing off as two groups of six.... and the two groups never said a word to each other. It wasn't awkward, we just really had a lot in common with the other four people at our end of the table and it was nonstop conversation! My suggestion, see what you get and you can always get it changed after the first night. That is especially important on a longer cruise - we have been lucky and only had one cruise where we could not STAND the obnoxious drunks we were seated with and asked (insisted) to be moved to another table.

I'll have to agree with the OP, I'm also local to Port Canaveral and have avoided taking the Majesty for a weekend cruise due to several issues. For reference, I have been on two other Sovereign-class cruise ships many years ago and at this point, they are all "long in the tooth". I'm not afraid of the smaller ships, in fact the Enchantment is one of my favorites (and I'll be driving down down south next week to take it out of Miami). What do I gain for the hours of time spent driving down to Miami for the Enchantment instead of a ten minute drive and taking the Majesty out of Port Canaveral? I get to dine in Chops and Giovanni's Table, I get to enjoy both a Diamond and Concierge lounge, and much better on board shops. My wife and I are Diamond members who always book Grand Suites or above and these perks are important to us. In spite of it being older, the Enchantment is well maintained and we love the ship, with the exception of the Windjammer layout which tends to get too crowded. I've had two friends who have sailed this year on the Majesty, one a single girl and the other a family, and both came back saying "NEVER AGAIN". They both had the same story, raw sewage smells in the halls, unfriendly employees, horrible bar service, plumbing issues in the cabins, and mediocre dining experiences. Why would I want to risk a horrible experience? As for my wife and I, we have started taking the Disney Dream out of Port Canaveral for weekend cruises, we have been on one earlier this year (it was fantastic) with another one booked for December. We will also be driving down to Ft. Lauderdale next March to take the Serenade for a weekend cruise, we wanted to try the ship before we take it again later in the year on a week long voyage out of Boston on a Fall Foliage cruise with family. In short, I know some people may find the Majesty "acceptable", but we shouldn't have to settle for scraps. When given a choice, I seriously doubt many people would choose it over ANY other ship in the RC fleet. ALL of the other ships in the fleet have more amenities, specialty restaurants, and other features the Majesty just can't compete with. We truly long for the day that the Majesty takes it last sailing out of Port Canaveral and is replaced with something, anything......

We were on the Radiance on the Southbound route out of Seward at the beginning of the 2016 cruising season, the concierge booked the Skagway White Pass train for us while we were on board, no issues. We might have just been lucky, that is one excursion you don't want to miss! Next time we go in 2019 we will definitely catch the whalewatching tour at Icy Straight.

How about RC keep the Rhapsody, cut it in half and add another section like they did with the Enchantment and then sell the Majesty of the Seas for scrap. Its an old dilapidated ship and my wife and I are furious that they based it in Port Canaveral, which we live very close to. We refuse to go out on that ship and its really slowed down our weekend cruising!!! At least we got the Oasis for week long cruises.

My wife and I are going out on the Enchantment ship September 1st - it is one of our favorites, despite being a slightly older ship. We have been on it about 8 times or so. Were you doing that cruise or the following one? We might see you! We were spoiled when the Enchantment was based in Port Canaveral where the terminal is less than a ten minute drive from our house, this is the first time we will be going out on it since it was moved to Miami. We REFUSE to go out on the Majesty of the Seas which is now based in Port Canaveral, which is a total dump and needs to be replaced. We have had several friends go out on the Majesty recently and they all noted it smells like a sewer, as there are constant plumbing issues. Just gross. Anyway, about the Enchantment.....Most of the points were covered by others, so I'll add a few extra things. The Park Cafe in the Solarium is a great place to get a really delicious roast beef sandwich during the day if you get snackish. Sign up for the art auction, its a lot of fun and they serve tons of free champagne. :-) The pirate museum is a fun place to go in Nassau, as well as visiting the queen staircase and the fort above it. You asked about the snorkeling at CocoCay, its fun to do, just wear lots of sunscreen as its peak sun this time of year!! Have fun & hope to see you there!