Srp431

Anxious to hear about the rest of the trip!  Taking this itinerary next year and trying to plan excursions!

Well my husband has been after me about blogging our trip, so here goes.  He claims that he will be helping me blog, but I'll believe it when I see it.  Atleast at this moment he is sitting next to me looking at the screen and not reddit for once.
A little background on us:
I'm Tiffany, and he's Steven.  Our circus consists of four kids who are nine, seven, one, and eight months.  Steven retired from the Army last year, and I'm a stay at home mom.  We knew we wanted more time to be able to cruise, so we decided to take a stab at homeschooling this year.  So far so good, and to make it even better, it is significantly cheaper cruising when it's not over school break.
Our cruise plans:
We were originally on the Allure of the Seas September 1st cruise that got shortened by three days due to Dorian.  We stuck with the cruise, and had an amazing time and got a nice future cruise credit since we were in a 2 bedroom aquatheater suite.  It was so great, in fact, that we had to do a "grounding cruise" in a non-Star class cabin to bring us back down to Earth.  Guess it didn't work, because here we are doing another Star class cruise on November 17th.
The ship and cabin:
Allure of the Seas 
10730 (2 bedroom aquatheater suite)
We would have loved to be back in the deck 8 aquatheater suite, but since it's a last minute booking for a family of six, we were lucky to find this one open.
We will try to keep this as live as possible but with four kids and star class food coma, no promises. 
 

Greece also uses the Euro

Most European Countries have the Euro as their currency. 
Here is a list of currencies used in European countries 
https://www.tripsavvy.com/currencies-in-europe-1626461
 

St. Maarten has the "port village" just off of the dock, but that is your typical collection of overpriced and kind of schlocky merchandise (e.g., Diamonds International). If you want some decent shopping you'll be better off going into Philipsburg proper on the Dutch side of the island, or Marigot on the French side. Going to Marigot in the morning also means you can get some great authentic French breakfast pastries. ?
In San Juan there is an area close to the port that has a nice collection of shops, dining places / coffee shops, and buskers; along with the pigeon park that is a big attraction. IF I'm remembering right, you'll walk to the end of the dock where it meets the main road, cross the street, then turn left and walk a short distance to your first right, which will go uphill to the pigeon park and shopping area.

I've seen it done on Harmony.  In their MTD seating, they had several tables pushed together to accommodate large groups.  If you are in Traditional dining, I think there are a few rounds that seat 12.  Make sure your TA links the reservations and everyone has the same dining.  When you get onboard, go right to the MDR to verify your table.  Good luck!

We had a 10 person table on Mariner. Most of us were middle age but there was one older couple who complained about the service (which was terrific) and the fact that they hadn't been invited to dinner with the Captain and they had on every other cruise. They were real pains as they talked about what experienced cruisers they were and that the ship was like staying in a Days Inn
That night they complained to the Maître D' and were moved. In their place we got a young couple on their honeymoon cruise. They were perfect and we had so much fun. We laughed and told stories.
The next night the waiter said that the older couple wanted back, but we had to agree to asking the young couple to trade. We voted unanimously to stay the way we now were. While we were still eating the old couple came by and said that we should invite them back. We all acted like we didn't remember them at all.

Ten years ago, I took my first cruise and found a different message board similar to this and looked for as many tips as I could find.   One tip that I took away was to take a small box of Cheerios from the breakfast buffet to take with us when we went snorkeling in Cozumel.  
I got all situated with my fins, snorkel, mask, life vest and Cheerios and headed out into the water.   I really have very little experience with snorkeling but was enjoying all of the fish that I was seeing.  I decided it was time to feed the fish.  Hmmm, how am I going to open this bag of cereal?  I'm floating in the water and have nothing sharp and only wet fingers.  I worked and worked and finally ripped the bag open, only to have the cereal all go flying in the water around me.  Instantly it was a feeding frenzy and there were fish all around me, touching me and gobbling up the cereal.  I freaked out - and quickly got away from all of the fish that were surrounding me.  
Needless to say, my friend's container of Cheerios went back on board with us.  Unopened.  ?

On my first cruise ever on Liberty of the Seas in 2015, I decided to try and bring a banana on shore as a snack to Cozumel (being totally oblivious of the rules at the time). 
I was with my future in-laws (before husband and I had even gotten engaged, fairly early in our relationship), and all 9 of us had walked off the ship together. As we approach security, a dog walks up to my bag and sits. At this point, all of my future in-laws turn to look at me in horror, thinking I had drugs in my bag. 
And that's how I learned not to bring fruit off of the ship. 

Following....because I'm on this cruise too!  Been on land for 26 years. See you on board!! 

We sailed her in 1996, our very first cruise, which was our honeymoon and we have been hooked on cruising ever sense. Our kids, especially our son who's 14 looks forward to each and every cruise.

October 9, 2019.
Back from the wasteland of being land locked, I'm writing this from Majesty's VCL.
Rather than creating a whole new thread I'll just revive this one.
IT'S CRUISE DAY!!!
This booking started as a Cuba booking departing on Oct. 14.  As it turns out that wasn't going to be so to drown my sorrows I added the Oct. 9 cruise.  Very recently (last week) the Oct. 19 sailing was very inexpensive.  I looked at Southwest and could change my return flight for a $2 credit.  So... YOLO, this has become a B3B.   When you can book a Royal Caribbean cruise at these rates it's hard to say no.
5 nights to Mexico, 5 nights to the Bahamas and 4 nights to the Bahamas.
Cozumel, Costa Maya.  Key West, Nassau.  Key West, Nassau.  
I've managed to book the same cabin for the first two legs but change cabins for the 3rd.
We embarked at terminal 19 in Port Everglades today.  Arriving to the terminal at 10:21am I was on board at 11:01am after a short wait in the terminal.
I'm going to be lazy from this point forward, only posting when it's blog worthy.  
Cabins are almost ready, time to go...

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. 

A last breakfast with the WJ opening right at 6am on the final morning.


There is another forward section with additional food station that was closed on this morning.
Upstairs where there is more seating, the Compass Deli and Sorrento's.

Freestyle drink dispensers for those with a beverage package.

For a small ship Majesty has a lot of big ship features.

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). 

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 4 continued...
Majesty has the old style TV's and map displays.  Our progress...

Getting my steps in before...

... heading up to the VCL for the Diamond event.

Like most Diamond events there are finger foods every night.

The bridge crew did their best to avoid the downpours as day turned into night.

Man, those night pics are just phenomenal!
And now my daughter isn't the only one thinking about a DSLR at some point in the near-to-middling future...

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.

Back to the ship to change and get my good camera.




I tested Voom on CocoCay and once again the speeds were very good for satellite internet.

Always good to avoid scaring the mermaids away.

Back to the Snack Shack for a Shack Crispy Chicken Sandwich, a Greek salad and fries.  The mango fruit drink is surprisingly additive.

Yum.

The floating bar remains popular.


The pool was hopping again.  Having been several times to the new CocoCay I couldn't imagine it now without the pool.

One last trip back to the ship.
Someone's not going to have a Perfect Day when they get charged for leaving a pool towel behind...

I would have been sorely pressed not to just pick up that entire mega-tray and walk back to my cabin while saying, "OK, thanks for the great tour! Have a nice day!"

The nightly Diamond event is hosted in the front half of the Viking Crown Lounge where Vernon our Loyalty Ambassador is there to take great care of us from 4:30pm to 8pm.  Other bars also accept the three Diamond happy hour drinks loaded on SeaPass cards.  In the VCL cards are not swiped and the servers are quick to find you when you arrive.  They even remembered my drink from the night before.  Great service.

This became a great place for our sail away from Nassau on this formal night.  Can't visit Nassau without a lighthouse picture.

Flag of Nations today in the Centrum.



With confetti falling it was time for the U.S.A. to be represented.  

Captain Per addressed the crowd.

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.

Once we sail Empress next summer, we will have done the same.  Majesty was our first ship - sailed her in 1992, when she was brandy-new! 
Edited to add, now that I think about it, once we sail on Empress, we will have sailed every class of ship RCCL has ever had!  We also sailed Song of America back in 1997.  

Following along, always enjoy your blogs and pictures, they provide great ideas for future cruises.