Srp431

A first look inside this little beauty.

Between you and @PRC, I am so jealous! I want to cruise, get off for a week, and cruise again over and over. Have fun ?

Fresh of the Empress with a night in a hotel in between I'm ready and pumped for my next cruise.
Did I mention...  IT'S CRUISE DAY!
I thought about starting this thread before my Empress cruise even left the dock (like some others around here do) but that just wouldn't be right.
This five night Majesty of Seas cruise was necessary.  I needed something to justify the airfare to Empress so this side-to-side was the perfect solution.
Itinerary
Ft. Lauderdale Nassau Perfect Day at CocoCay Sea Day Key West Ft. Lauderdale I love Empress but this way I'm upgrading to a much larger ship!  Plus, I gotta get back to CocoCay.  :) 
I originally booked a number of Empress and Majesty sailings when the Cuba cancellations were forced upon the industry.  I feared Royal might move these ships out of the fleet.  My plan was to take lots of pictures and document this legacy class of ship that were the foundation of so much that became even much more on later ships.  It was because of the success of ships like this that Royal has become what it is today.   Success breeds success.  As it turns out they aren't moving these ships out to pasture just yet plus I get to sail on some of the best (small) ships in the fleet!  That's a win-win.
To be fair I split my time between Empress (3 bookings) and Majesty (3 bookings).  I already had some fall bookings that were bucket list type cruises so I had push some my Majesty cruises into October but that's okay, she'll be here waiting for me.
When you stay in a hotel and pay for things like meals and drinks you quickly appreciate the value that cruising represents.  Spoiler alert - the view out my hotel window never changed and I woke up right where I was the day before.  #boring
Cabin this time is an Ocean View on deck 4.  

Interested in this too. Also if anyone knows if there is a vegetarian entree for dinner? Thanks. 

I’m not sure why those people are so mad. Frustrated yes. But most of those ports were missed because of weather/high winds. It not like the ship had mechanical problems. And to scream in the face of an officer? Terrible. What is wrong with people? Geez. 

I can understand their anger,  but as has already been stated, yelling and screaming at the crew gets you nowhere.  Put yourself in their shoes and think of how you would respond in that situation.  I am just extremely glad that I was not onboard that ship! 

Yikes, mob mentality in a confined space like a cruise ship? I'd be quiet scared by that

All I can say is .... WOW !! Yelling and causing havoc gets you nowhere quickly!!
https://cruiseradio.net/upset-cruise-ship-passengers-rally-for-refund/?fbclid=IwAR2R6T3BJ83ASzrR0sv1MyP09jZ6JX_DnLqE06N_sXvVDYxWIxPjtAUsWoE
 
 

I would recommend it. If by chance you get left behind in a port, you will need it to leave that country.

Passports are not required however they are recommended.
If you don't have passports, you'll need certified copies of their birth certificates.

Bringing too much clothes, have to reminder wife, that she can wear clothes twice and no one will even notice.

The main dining room's menu doesn't really vary any more from ship to ship. If you go through recent live blogs and look at MDR menus posted there, you'll have a pretty idea of what's going to be offered on each night.
I finally had the daily activities for my upcoming sailing show up in the app today (10 days out), and I did notice the app will say before that to check back "a couple weeks before your sail date" if you tap on the "We're getting in ship shape" item in the calendar.

The dining menus usually are there for the specialty restaurants.  The activities and times are usually not listed until a couple weeks out and even then not all the activities are listed.
Even when I was on the ship the cruise compass was the only thing that listed every activity. The app even when refreshed throughout the day did not have all activities.

Thanks for the really fun and entertaining live blog, @mk-ultra!!

Hey, Denise.  There is no cocktail hour in any Coastal Kitchen. I think you might be referring to the cocktails available in the Suites and/or Concierge Lounges.  
On the Oasis Class ships the CK and SL are basically co-located but they are separate spaces.  If you are on an O class ship and in an OS then you are welcome in the SL at any time. The SL serves beer and wine (and soda, water and specialty coffee) from 11-11 so you can just pop in any time and have a drink (and usually a snack as well !).
If you are on a Quantum Class ship, it’s slightly less convenient.  On the Q Class, you would be welcome in the Concierge Lounge, which does have limited drinks availability. The hours for the Q Class drinks in the CL are generally 1 hour prior to the early traditional dining until around 8:00-8:30. The Suites Concierge can give you specific times when they contact you prior to sailing.

Hooray for beer!!
https://tenemu.com/news/funky-buddha-royal-caribbean-collaborate-on-chilla-thrilla/09/2019

Or...

https://trademark.trademarkia.com/chilla-thrilla-88504485.html
Hmm...some sort of future Coco Cay offering?

US Patent and Trademark Office: https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=88504485&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch

I think the takeaway was that if you forgo internet the first evening (depending on where you are sailing away from it works for a few hours anyways that first night) then buy later on. 

That is correct.  The D+ discount is only good when purchased onboard.  You cannot combine your D+ discount and a cruise planner discount.
Sometimes it’s cheaper to purchase pre-cruise through the cruise planner than to wait to get onboard and use your D+ discount.  The price for one of my upcoming cruises was discounted 45% pre-cruise and my D+ discount is 30% so I purchased it ahead of time.  
Obviously if you’re using the 2 free days, that has to be done onboard.

SIDE NOTE - do not pay the $8 locker rental when you do the wave runners! There is a compartment on the front of the jet ski and one on the back you can store things in. We had a rather large bag on us, a fanny pack, our tennis shoes - and everything fit perfectly fine. They did warn us that the compartments aren't water sealed but we had no issue. Everything was still dry. 

Me, husband and our daughter were sailing on Holland and we meant an older lady who used a walker to get around.
Her walker had a bike horn on it and if you did not move out of her way she would honk away.  So thru out the cruise we'd hear her horn and laugh.
My husband was a frequent victim of getting the horn blasted at him.
So as we where waiting to collect our luggage, we hear her horn.  
We all three turn and look, there she is strolling by but we notice on her blouse, it 20 plus name tags from the crew members.
My daughter turns to us and says "Guess they did not get out her way, wonder what she did to them to get their name tags" 

Sounds like the summer of '75 when I spent some time in Alcatraz.
On a family vacation.

So, our first cruise with my brother and sister in law on the Navigator. One cruise day after a morning by the pool, screwdrivers, bloody marys, beer, etc my wife says "let's get changed and have lunch in the MDR" to which we all concur. We get to the MDR and were seated with a group of folks from Missouri. Table conversations continues (my brother in law is a TALKER, he could be a politician) our lunch arrives and I chow down. My wife asks "so where in Missouri are you folks from"? One of the gentlemen replied " just south of Platte,  just across the river from Leavenworth, KS". At that point in time, I quietly sit back, wipe my mouth and said "Leavenworth, yeah, I spent some time there." Conversations ended, there was a total silence and the Missouri folks started looking out the window, their plates and anything except us. Of course, after I explained to them that I spent a year at the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth when I was on active duty they livened up and we were all friends again. We still get a chuckle out of that.