twangster

Lazy day in Key West.  When at the NAS pier there is a shuttle used to get "downtown".  I stayed on the ship like a few others did today.  It's my 3rd visit in a month so I decided to skip it this time.

Soon enough it was the Diamond event.  Service has been great, long before my drink is empty another one magically appears.

Sunset from the aft section of the VCL.

Maybe I've been at sea too long, I'm seeing faces in the sunsets now.

Or a Jack o' Lantern... 



In Boleros there was live music.

Viking Crown Lounge when it's not hosting the nightly Diamond event.






There is a bar but I've never seen it used.  When waiters are present they use the area behind this as a service bar for serving drinks during the Diamond event but also I saw them serving non-Diamonds in the aft section of the VCL (paid using a SeaPass card). 

Fitness Center






There is a steam room in the change room.  I'm assuming the ladies change room has one as well.

Adventure Ocean and the Living Room Arcade

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.

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

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.

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

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. ?
 

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). ☺️
 

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. 

They were in the Table right next to us in the MDR!!! ☺️

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

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!!

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.

I thought I'd start the day with a morning snorkel.  
I asked about the submerged plane at the Snorkel Shack.  It's "Permanently cordoned off, for now." 
The water was a little rough and the currents had stirred up more stuff to reduce visibility so it wasn't the best conditions today. 




More jellies on this visit.

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.

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.  
 

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. 

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. 

SMH...
Thanks for another great live blog!  Safe travels home @twangster!

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.