twangster

This is our first ever back to back cruise, our first as diamond, our first cruise on Mariner and out first visit to the newly renovated Coco Cay.  We chose this cruise for the ship and the chance to visit Coco Cay since it seems EVERYONE has already had the opportunity.
We managed to get the same aft corner balcony for both legs of the cruise so that is a definite bonus.
I will try to keep this up as we cruise but I am also trying to focus on relaxation.  
I will begin at Day 0 in my next post.

Adventure's Izumi was installed at a modest cost.  It's a sitting area basically, with a sushi prep area.  If they did have to gut it and move Izumi completely that wouldn't be a huge loss on the minor investment Izumi represented, relatively speaking of course.  
Navigator had an Izumi with hot rock ovens on deck 14 prior to the amp.  They spruced it up with new decor and chairs but they really didn't have to do much on Navigator with respect to Izumi.  Gutting that and copying Mariner's hibachi didn't make sense.  Hooked did.  
At the end of the day they'll have to look at the projected revenue from adding hot rocks or hibachi to Adventure.  Will that generate more revenue than placing Hooked on Adventure and just leaving Izumi as is?   I'm guessing it wouldn't, they would get more revenue from a new venue rather than adding hibachi.  They have results now from Mariner and Navigator to guide that decision. 
Absolutely they always planned to mix up features on the ships.  That was stated early on.  It's never smart to make everything absolutely identical, if they it wrong they've lost big time.  

No Hibachi on Navigator. It got Hooked instead.  Izumi on deck 14 has hot rocks, but no Hibachi.  Mariner did get a proper Hibachi in the same location that Navigator got Hooked.
In many ways Adventure was the start of the Amplification program.  The success of Adventure's upgrades paved the way for Royal to sell the board on the billion dollar Amplification concept. 
Izumi on Adventure went into a space on the promenade that had no kitchen in it's former use.  Making Sushi doesn't require a full galley.  Galleys require a lot of electrical and plumbing infrastructure as well as fire suppression and ventilation.   Absent of any of that to leverage on Adventure they could only offer Izumi Sushi, no hot rocks, no hibachi.   

Royal has learned a lot over the years and you can see that evolution in the ships over the years.  However Radiance class is an exception to that.  Radiance was introduced after Voyager  class was close to having grown to 3 ships (Radiance and Adventure both started revenue sailings in 2001). 
At one point in time Voyager class was never to leave the Caribbean as they were too big for the rest of the world.   Radiance class was built to not exceed then Panamax standards and designed to be cleaner or greener for eco sensitive environments such as Alaska.  They were built with different missions in mind, never to co-exist in the same market.  Fast forward to modern times and Voyager class are all over the globe.  
Radiance class has the lowest suite count of any class and we all know Royal has grown to become focused on the suites.  
Earlier ships suffer in that they were built in an era prior to azipods and used conventional propulsion with rudders.  While you can add guest conveniences like slides and restaurants it's virtually impossible to replace entire propulsion systems and engines to newer technology.  Ships are built around the engines.  They are the very first components that ships are built upon.  Once installed they are there for life.  Sure they are rebuilt from time to time but changing out an entire engine or replacing the drive system is never economical.  It's generally cheaper to sell it off and build a new ship.   
The same can be said for cabins.  Moving walls and infrastructure like plumbing and electrical is rarely cost effective.  It's one thing to add new cabins in open space but moving existing or converting regular cabins in to suites is very expensive and counterproductive if it costs two cabins to create a single suite.  The resulting difference in revenue never pays for the work required plus you have reduced the number of guests on board that reduces on board revenue (four guests in two balcony cabins will spend more on board compared to two guests in a one suite). 
Smaller ships also suffer from a lack of real estate.  There can be literally no room to place slides or a restaurant, or the weight allocation can't be accommodated without making the ship unstable.  Water slides require pumps and water storage tanks that if located up high can make a small ship tend to roll over in the right conditions.  The engineering often doesn't allow it to happen despite what guests or Royal may desire.   
At the end of the day it's much like owning an old car.  An old car is old, requires more maintenance, burns more fuel and doesn't have the latest features.  However it's paid for.  A brand new car is more fuel efficient, runs with little maintenance, has better safety, performance and comfort but it involves a monthly payment.   Keeping an older car can save money in the long term if you can deal with more frequent breakdowns and not having the latest features.  

How exciting!
I suspect Perfect Day Lelepa will not be a copy of Perfect Day at CocoCay.  Already I sense a strong emphasis on sustainability and a carbon neutral footprint remaining in the South Pacific culture.  In general and broad terms the South Pacific is very different compared to the Bahamas and Caribbean, not nearly as commercialized or developed and I suspect Perfect Day Lelepa will follow suit.  I think it would be a challenge to create a massive waterpark with the tallest water slides in the region with a carbon neutral footprint but that phrase is open to interpretation.   
It will be interesting to see how far they go while remaining "carbon neutral".  
The word "Key" has long meant a small island so much so that the Florida Keys is good point of reference.  No one calls them the Florida Cays.   If anyone called them the Florida Cays no one would have a clue what they were talking about.  The Florida Keys are a string of islands that are collectively called "The Florida Keys" many but not all of which are connected by a highway.
When I was in high school I had an opportunity to spend the summer in the Bahamas at a marine ecology camp.  In the 80's I learned first hand that the local Bahamian people called them "Key".  No one on island pronounced it "Cay".   The difference is in how one pronounces vowels differently in original languages.  

How exciting!
I suspect Perfect Day Lelepa will not be a copy of Perfect Day at CocoCay.  Already I sense a strong emphasis on sustainability and a carbon neutral footprint remaining in the South Pacific culture.  In general and broad terms the South Pacific is very different compared to the Bahamas and Caribbean, not nearly as commercialized or developed and I suspect Perfect Day Lelepa will follow suit.  I think it would be a challenge to create a massive waterpark with the tallest water slides in the region with a carbon neutral footprint but that phrase is open to interpretation.   
It will be interesting to see how far they go while remaining "carbon neutral".  
The word "Key" has long meant a small island so much so that the Florida Keys is good point of reference.  No one calls them the Florida Cays.   If anyone called them the Florida Cays no one would have a clue what they were talking about.  The Florida Keys are a string of islands that are collectively called "The Florida Keys" many but not all of which are connected by a highway.
When I was in high school I had an opportunity to spend the summer in the Bahamas at a marine ecology camp.  In the 80's I learned first hand that the local Bahamian people called them "Key".  No one on island pronounced it "Cay".   The difference is in how one pronounces vowels differently in original languages.  

During Diamond Happy Hour the DL will likely be very busy whereas the CL will probably be less busy.  Both offer the same drink menu so in terms of amenities they are identical with no clear winner. 
It is very common during happy hour for the DL to overflow into all or part of the Viking Crown Lounge so between the actual DL and the potential overflow into the VCL, there are much better views to the sea compared to the CL which is purely an interior room with not even a porthole to the outside.  
Once Freedom is AMPED this will all change but since OP is asking about a pre-AMP sailing there is no Suite Lounge.
Because of the views I suspect.  The CL is not an inviting space.  It's not terrible but being an interior room without a single window it's just not as pleasant.

A strategy I used when my kids were younger was to bring them into the decision making process. 
"We're looking at this cruise but it's on an older ship.  We can find someone for you to stay with or you can come with us, what are your thoughts?"    
My kids accepted it and said they wanted to come.  Since they made the decision I wasn't under pressure to keep them occupied.  They wanted to go so they internally dealt with it.  

Hot shower, hang clothes, close bathroom door.  Works better with wrinkle release applied first.  Oh and BTW, real men do it too.  

I got by. With two weekend days and a day in Mexico where my phone works natively I was able to make it work but it definitely makes a difference.   

Day 4 in Costa Maya.
We took the $4 shuttle to Mahahual and Crazy Lobster.

$2 bucket of beers.

Some rain came through but we missed the worst of it.  Only ship in port today.

Vibrant rainbow after leaving Costa Maya.

The Magic of Puck in the theater tonight.  He's pretty good.

Time to play catch up.
Day 3 had us in Cozumel with just a couple of other ships.  Sunrise arrival.

They were exercising the lifeboats today.  It was a work day for me so I stayed on the ship.

One of the other ships in port today was one of those small specialty ships that do adventure cruises like Antarctica.  The Fram:

Definitely an adverse weather ship.  I'd love to try one of these some day.

You know it's a small ship when Majesty looks huge beside it.  From MarineTraffic.com (Majesty on the left):

The walkway in front of these cabins are well below the window level, except when crew are on top of the lifeboats securing them after the test runs today.

El Gaucho! in the theater tonight.  He was very entertaining, great show. 

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.

Day 6 Update
Back in Port Everglades for the start of cruise #2.

Voom is back to normal today and I was able to stream this morning! 
Consecutive cruisers met in the Schooner Bar at 9:45am.  We were escorted off and down to see CBP.  We caught the tail end of departing guests so we had to wait briefly in the terminal.  By 10:45am we were back on board. 
The Voom system hasn't reset yet for the new cruise so I can't validate if the platform is back to normal for this cruise but I sure hope sure as it was very slow doing anything last cruise.
This cruise was supposed to be my Cuba cruise combined with additional OBC from a cancelled chart cruise so I splurged for the Deluxe beverage package.  Last cruise I averaged around $23 per day in beverage purchases that combined with Diamond happy hour was enough to satisfy my libations but it will be nice to upgrade from the Diamond drink menu this cruise.  

I got by. With two weekend days and a day in Mexico where my phone works natively I was able to make it work but it definitely makes a difference.   

Day 2 - Nassau
Been there, done that and it's raining so I'm staying on the ship today.  Besides I'll be back twice in as many weeks.

Navigator joined us shortly after our arrival.

Galley Tour at 11:30am.  Despite it being in the middle of a port day there were a dozen or so participants. 
Here they are getting cheese plates and appetizers ready for dinner.  Formal night tonight.

Bacon.  Yum.

Beef Tenderloin and Duck getting readied for dinner.

Making whipped butter for dinner.

The bakery.  Always the best smelling spot in the galley.


Pastry chefs hard at work.

Chocolate covered strawberries anyone?

First noted on Empress so I inquired some more here on Majesty.  Powdered or "bulk" scrambled eggs are a thing of the past.  They were having trouble with the product turning black upon cooking so the fleet has standardized on fresh eggs being used for scrambled eggs, in fact for all egg purposes, only fresh eggs are used.

Day 6 Update
Back in Port Everglades for the start of cruise #2.

Voom is back to normal today and I was able to stream this morning! 
Consecutive cruisers met in the Schooner Bar at 9:45am.  We were escorted off and down to see CBP.  We caught the tail end of departing guests so we had to wait briefly in the terminal.  By 10:45am we were back on board. 
The Voom system hasn't reset yet for the new cruise so I can't validate if the platform is back to normal for this cruise but I sure hope sure as it was very slow doing anything last cruise.
This cruise was supposed to be my Cuba cruise combined with additional OBC from a cancelled chart cruise so I splurged for the Deluxe beverage package.  Last cruise I averaged around $23 per day in beverage purchases that combined with Diamond happy hour was enough to satisfy my libations but it will be nice to upgrade from the Diamond drink menu this cruise.  

I got by. With two weekend days and a day in Mexico where my phone works natively I was able to make it work but it definitely makes a difference.   

Day 4 in Costa Maya.
We took the $4 shuttle to Mahahual and Crazy Lobster.

$2 bucket of beers.

Some rain came through but we missed the worst of it.  Only ship in port today.

Vibrant rainbow after leaving Costa Maya.

The Magic of Puck in the theater tonight.  He's pretty good.

Are you looking on your cruise invoice or in the My Cruises section when logged in?
The invoice should display it.  When logged in in the My Cruises section it just says GTY for all cabin types.
 
Invoices will show something like this:
 

Voom has been problematic on this cruise.  While Majesty does have the newer O3b it's been somewhat frustrating at times with slow speeds and frequent disconnects.  Same laptop used in August, very different results all over the ship.

I went to see the Voom specialist a couple of times.  The excuses provided ranged from absurd to insulting.  However on his screen that he kept referencing I noted the maximum throughput he kept on stating as proof that everything is fine was only 37Mbps.   Back in August the IT manager told me they had 120Mbps down. 
So it seems they have cut the bandwidth commitment to the ship to save money resulting in slower speeds for everyone.  I guess with these Majesty cruises being so inexpensive they have had to cut expenses to remain profitable and Voom was trimmed towards that goal.  

Day 4 in Costa Maya.
We took the $4 shuttle to Mahahual and Crazy Lobster.

$2 bucket of beers.

Some rain came through but we missed the worst of it.  Only ship in port today.

Vibrant rainbow after leaving Costa Maya.

The Magic of Puck in the theater tonight.  He's pretty good.

Time to play catch up.
Day 3 had us in Cozumel with just a couple of other ships.  Sunrise arrival.

They were exercising the lifeboats today.  It was a work day for me so I stayed on the ship.

One of the other ships in port today was one of those small specialty ships that do adventure cruises like Antarctica.  The Fram:

Definitely an adverse weather ship.  I'd love to try one of these some day.

You know it's a small ship when Majesty looks huge beside it.  From MarineTraffic.com (Majesty on the left):

The walkway in front of these cabins are well below the window level, except when crew are on top of the lifeboats securing them after the test runs today.

El Gaucho! in the theater tonight.  He was very entertaining, great show. 

Voom has been problematic on this cruise.  While Majesty does have the newer O3b it's been somewhat frustrating at times with slow speeds and frequent disconnects.  Same laptop used in August, very different results all over the ship.

I went to see the Voom specialist a couple of times.  The excuses provided ranged from absurd to insulting.  However on his screen that he kept referencing I noted the maximum throughput he kept on stating as proof that everything is fine was only 37Mbps.   Back in August the IT manager told me they had 120Mbps down. 
So it seems they have cut the bandwidth commitment to the ship to save money resulting in slower speeds for everyone.  I guess with these Majesty cruises being so inexpensive they have had to cut expenses to remain profitable and Voom was trimmed towards that goal.  

Day 4 in Costa Maya.
We took the $4 shuttle to Mahahual and Crazy Lobster.

$2 bucket of beers.

Some rain came through but we missed the worst of it.  Only ship in port today.

Vibrant rainbow after leaving Costa Maya.

The Magic of Puck in the theater tonight.  He's pretty good.