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Majesty of the seas Havana-no-no-no Graduation Cruise June 15-June 19


mom2mybugs

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1 hour ago, Sweety said:

What a wonderful start to your cruise. The smiles on the faces tell the entire story. I hate leaving my babies(dogs) at home. they have this look that drives me crazy. Can't wait to read the rest of your adventure.

It truly almost makes you stop vacationing.  Almost lol!  Jane

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Ok... So we looked at options and decided on American icon grill.  The atmosphere is totally low key so not ambiance Central!  But it was perfect for what we wanted!  Morgan and I shared the burger and wings.

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Madison was able to get a veggie burger which was awesome!  The beer flights were great ..I have never had a chocolate lager before and  it was really good

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We will save las olas got after the cruise.  Truly the Uber/taxi cost is crazy so if you are happy renting, I would suggest it.  But I like not having to drive anywhere.  If you want to be Centrally located to things, I would not stay at this hotel, but we have really enjoyed it!  Jane

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1 hour ago, mom2mybugs said:

Ok... So we looked at options and decided on American icon grill.  The atmosphere is totally low key so not ambiance Central!  But it was perfect for what we wanted!  Morgan and I shared the burger and wings.

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Madison was able to get a veggie burger which was awesome!  The beer flights were great ..I have never had a chocolate lager before and  it was really good

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We will save las olas got after the cruise.  Truly the Uber/taxi cost is crazy so if you are happy renting, I would suggest it.  But I like not having to drive anywhere.  If you want to be Centrally located to things, I would not stay at this hotel, but we have really enjoyed it!  Jane

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Glad you enjoyed dinner.. Yeah in my opinion if people don't mind driving renting a car is the way to go.. Ft. Lauderdale is not a good city for transportation lol. we all rely heavily on our cars. But I totally get you didn't want to drive. I also don't like driving in places I am not familiar with. Glad you are having fun. Cant wait to see some pics from the boat tomorrow. 

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We Ubered around Ft Lauderdale in Sept 2017 and didn't think it was bad at all.  We stayed at an adorable place called the Oasis Hotel, which was down Federal Highway, a few minutes south of Las Olas.  We walked to Las Olas, then Ubered back to the hotel.  We also took an Uber to the port the next morning.  Each ride was between $5-8.

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25 minutes ago, KathyC said:

We Ubered around Ft Lauderdale in Sept 2017 and didn't think it was bad at all.  We stayed at an adorable place called the Oasis Hotel, which was down Federal Highway, a few minutes south of Las Olas.  We walked to Las Olas, then Ubered back to the hotel.  We also took an Uber to the port the next morning.  Each ride was between $5-8.

it depends where your going sometimes Uber is cheap sometimes expensive its a total crap shoot down here lol. I could never survive without my car.. 

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2 hours ago, AGSLC5 said:

it depends where your going sometimes Uber is cheap sometimes expensive its a total crap shoot down here lol. I could never survive without my car.. 

Our Ubers are averaging over 10... Which to me is a lot.  But again, I don't want to stress about driving and parking so I'm good with it!   Jane

   

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Ok. . It was freaking beautiful at 130am!!!! It was even pretty at 630am!!

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Now it is NOT!!!

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I've had cloudy sailaways but never torrential downpours.  Oh no!!!!!! How does one handle a sailaways when it's pouring??  Of course, it's Florida.... Wait 5 minutes and it will change! Jane

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7 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

Our Ubers are averaging over 10... Which to me is a lot.  But again, I don't want to stress about driving and parking so I'm good with it!   Jane

   

I know how to use Uber I use it in different cities but I am not sure if the rates go up just because its Ft. Lauderdale.. I live 15 min away due west in a suburb called plantation.. I recently had some friends come and when they ubered around plantation it was only $5-$10.. Now when they ubered to ft. Lauderdale it was more.. So maybe uber does charge a premium based on where you start from.. I know it also goes by the distance of trip but I guess it could also be on where you start from... I was just in Chicago last month and man let me tell you now those Ubers were expensive lol. we tried to walk as much as possible but one day it was 40 degrees, windy, and rainy and my Florida body couldn't handle it lol so my uber bill for that weekend was quite high lol. But glad your having fun. Now todays the best day! Cruise Day!! 

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1 hour ago, AGSLC5 said:

I know how to use Uber I use it in different cities but I am not sure if the rates go up just because its Ft. Lauderdale.. I live 15 min away due west in a suburb called plantation.. I recently had some friends come and when they ubered around plantation it was only $5-$10.. Now when they ubered to ft. Lauderdale it was more.. So maybe uber does charge a premium based on where you start from.. I know it also goes by the distance of trip but I guess it could also be on where you start from... I was just in Chicago last month and man let me tell you now those Ubers were expensive lol. we tried to walk as much as possible but one day it was 40 degrees, windy, and rainy and my Florida body couldn't handle it lol so my uber bill for that weekend was quite high lol. But glad your having fun. Now todays the best day! Cruise Day!! 

It definitely changes depending on time, pickup area etc!  Yes everything in Chicago is pricey which is why we unfortunately underutilize it!  Gotta save my pennies for cruising and Disney!  Jane

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Waiting to get on the ship.  We close to skip the shuttle from the airport... Mob scene... And taxi... It was 15 plus tip.  Way worth the less stress.  We left about 945 and it literally was 5 mins through security when we got here.  No wait for getting into port, scanning, check in.  The longest wait we had was deciding which lanyards we wanted to buy!  @Lovetocruise2002 I didn't buy another red wings one, but my daughter did take my new Michigan in within 2 minutes! 

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The graduate got an Illinois one!

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Now we sit and wait!! It's 1045!  I paid bills, ordered some grad photos and dreamed up my kraken lava flow!  

Here are some random photos.  It's pretty empty...I'm really wondering how fill this ship will sail with the itinerary changes. 

This was with the rain starting to break up.  I think it's not raining anymore but hard to tell inside the warehouse terminal!

 

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i forgot to post hotel pics.  We really enjoyed our stay except for the apparently thin walls last night when the very loud couple next door decided to...ummm.... Do some adult rated things.  It's the first time I've ever pounded on a wall!!

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Ok it's 1057...I want on this ship!!!  

Jane

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7 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

We really enjoyed our stay except for the apparently thin walls last night when the very loud couple next door decided to...ummm.... Do some adult rated things.

Well, at least Madison already had “health” class so you didn’t have to explain anything. ?

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On 6/17/2019 at 10:18 AM, twangster said:

Did you happen to notice the price of the deluxe drink package on board?  

Hope you cruise has been great!

Yes the drink pkg on board was 63.  We saved 19/day.   For the first time I noticed a 5 drink card which I have never seen before.  However, I have not been on a 4 day cruise before.  

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So is this because a lot of people cancelled? Or is it because it's a short cruise?   Jane

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7 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

For the first time I noticed a 5 drink card which I have never seen before.  However, I have not been on a 4 day cruise before.  

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So is this because a lot of people cancelled? Or is it because it's a short cruise?   Jane

I suspect a combination of the two. They probably lost a lot of drink package revenue with the cancellations they had, and then the people left on board probably aren't buying enough to make up for the lost revenue because they don't want to pay regular pricing (or already have the package).

I'll be curious to see if this card shows up on my 5-night sailing in October, assuming I haven't bought the package by then. #stubbornpricingfloor

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8 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

Yes the drink pkg on board was 63.  We saved 19/day.   For the first time I noticed a 5 drink card which I have never seen before.  However, I have not been on a 4 day cruise before.  

So is this because a lot of people cancelled? Or is it because it's a short cruise?   Jane

Thanks!

I've not seen a 5 drink before even on shorter cruises.   Good find.  

Royal is often trying new things.  They may try it on one ship and review sales results.  Perhaps 10 drink cards weren't popular so they are trying 5 drink cards.  Perhaps it's just a Majesty thing.

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8 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

Yes the drink pkg on board was 63.  We saved 19/day.   For the first time I noticed a 5 drink card which I have never seen before.  However, I have not been on a 4 day cruise before.  

So is this because a lot of people cancelled? Or is it because it's a short cruise?  

Eager to hear more about your trip!  Hope you had a blast! We are on in just under 3 weeks!

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We are sitting at lattetudes waiting to get off majesty.  We finally broke down and got voom on day 3 but it's hard to go back and recreate.  If voom cooperates I will have it the whole time on my vision Europe trip!  Might actually live blog instead of livish.  

I have tons of pics but it takes me forever to load then lol.  We were on the ship by 11am and in our time by 1.  The windjammer is very well set up with a middle "market" and a forward area that they open up at busy times.  The food was always fresh, hot and we hit it for lunch and the last night dinner (we were just too tired to do a 2 hour dinner!).  On the sea day we had Mongolian barbeque which was amazing!  I didn't love the Caribbean jerk meats at the last night, so I was forced (lol) to eat crepes and tons of amazingly fresh shrimp cocktail!  

The main dining room was incredible.  Best we have had since our first cruise on vision 4 years ago.  The food was very well prepared and always hot. And our wait staff was amazing!! We were at a table for 10.  They brought special vegetarian dishes out for Madison, and dealt very well with two of our tablemates who were always late (an hour on night one!) .  The bar service at the mdr was great... I was always asked if I wanted more wine and by night two they were asking if I wanted the specific type.

Service was also amazing in the schooner bar!!!  They didn't carry Oberon (the red I got to really like on Allure)...I could only find it in the main dining room.  On day 4 I asked them (should have done it sooner) if I could get it.  They went and got two bottles for me, would pour it as soon as I got up and didn't charge for the bottle, just by the glass.  It was a nice touch of service!!!  Loved the schooner bar for sure!  Andrew was a great piano player who played the whole 3 hour set with no breaks and dealt with all the drinks really well!

Our room attendant was fine... Not amazing, not horrible.  Often he left empty glasses (used) and didn't always wipe down everything, but we always had towels and we never had to wait for the room to be set up.  

We had one extremely bad service moment in the whole trip... Everyone was really super except for the guy organizing the sushi class.  We had decided to prepay and have the sushi making class for dinner on the last night.  I have to get off the ship now... Will comment more on this in a few!!!! Jane

 

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On 6/19/2019 at 5:15 PM, KathyC said:

Love to hear about the vegetarian meals.  I'd love to hear what they were and more details on what they served.

They brought currys and one night made a fried rice with tofus.  I think if she had asked for grilled cheese or Mac and cheese she would have gotten it.  We found windjammer to be a bit tricky as she is not a huge salad fan.  She did love the Sorrento's pizza... They had a cheese and a vegetarian option every day.  She also found a great nacho bar in compass deli one day.  Jane

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On 6/20/2019 at 9:07 AM, KenCP said:

Jane this was a great warm up trip for your European cruise!  We you asked me about blogging I did not realise there was a section on here for that.  I probably will do updates on the "Live Blog" page when I am on Vision.  I just hope the Voom works well over there.

I didn't get it when we were on 4 years ago.  I have heard it isn't so great but I know I also will have cell service/slow data so I will see!!!   Jane

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So...I'm back... Sitting on the hotel balcony waiting for the girls to wake up. We have bonded staying up until 2am and watching the first season of Once upon a time.  How did I not watch this show earlier?

  We have one more day in fort Lauderdale and fly out tomorrow night. To get back to service... Amazing but once again I had specialty issues.  I had cruise planner booked the sushi making class for night 4.  On day one the sushi guy was trolling for customers (ok, snarky but I'm really irritated with him). When we said we were booked, he said oh please change...I have 38 people for night 4.  We thought formal night was going to stay day 2 so we let him pressure us into night 3. And he was really pressuring us to change it to night 1.  Turns out they changed formal night to the sea day night 3 so we went to customer service at the end of dinner night 2 and explained the situation.  Customer service called and changed us back.   Things were fine.  We get a call the next day from him confirming our night 3.  We said, no we had changed to night 4.  He got aggressive then and said no, we had to go night 3, and no, them, he couldn't cancel because I would have to go down to customer service again.  He was still yelling at me when I hung up on him. He continued to call the room (I didn't answer),  I went down to customer service, complained quite firmly and said we wanted to cancel the last night.  No way was I taking a class and spending time with this guy.  So even though it was under 48 hrs they cancelled.  They must have given him an earful as he called 4 more times that night.  I finally picked up and he had the nerve to ask if everything had worked out to my liking and was there anything he could do.  Too little too late and unfortunately I will write my first negative comment on anyone on my survey.  Ugh.  Sorry to rant!!!!

Ok... Not even sure what I've previously written lol. So here are random thoughts!   Our weather was horrible...my first sea day where it rained 12 hours straight. Everything was cancelled (belly flop, etc). We spent most of the day reading in schooner and bolaros but it emphasized to me that anything longer than a 4 day (or 5 to Mexico) would be just too much.

I have really 99.9 percent positives.  I have no idea how full the ship sailed, and that could make a huge difference, but I never felt like I couldn't get a seat or deck chair (deck chair may have been I was the only one brave enough to try and beat the rain lol).  The centrum doesn't really have enough seating to sit and watch shows but there was room to stand.  The love and marriage show was bizarrely set at 230 in the afternoon on sea day (we went, it was raining) and I heard some really different questions which made it fun!  @Joe01 I know you know a lot about cruise directors.  I thought tornado Tanya was fun... She seemed around and chipper but not over the top.

The replacement trip to nassau was finr.  We did the tourist trap 3 hour tour and hit the rum distillery (I still like dark kraken best),the rum cakes, the Queen's stairs and hit a restaurant for lunch.  The tour started 45 mins late...I'm not sure if they cut it short or not but everything felt rushed.  Royal, without asking, did credit us 10 a person though which was a nice surprise. I wouldn't do it again though... Maybe a resort for a day or on a bigger ship, just staying on.

Dinner....mdr was amazing as I said before.  I'm undecided on mdr though vs my time.  Our service was amazing but the first night conversation was so stilted.  It drove me nuts that people were late every night!  But we got to try brown chicken (not on the menu) and the fried tofu rice for Madison because one of our tablemates asked for it.  That was fun.  Overall I know in Europe we could not do mdr every night for sure.  We have a 4 night PKG booked... Please Lord do not let them give me a rough time over chops as I booked this a year ago... And we decided to do chefs table again.  I think we will be tired after tours and while it would be interesting to meet people, I think we will keep our my time and just sit the 3 of us.  

Overall, I would not do majesty without Cuba or a very special port again.  I like small and love the service but this was too small of weather doesn't cooperate.

Please let me know if there is anything else people have questions on.  If I get organized I will try and put in a ton of pics but I can't figure out how to do more than 1 at a time and it takes forever!!!Jane

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2 hours ago, mom2mybugs said:

So...I'm back... Sitting on the hotel balcony waiting for the girls to wake up. We have bonded staying up until 2am and watching the first season of Once upon a time.  How did I not watch this show earlier?

  We have one more day in fort Lauderdale and fly out tomorrow night. To get back to service... Amazing but once again I had specialty issues.  I had cruise planner booked the sushi making class for night 4.  On day one the sushi guy was trolling for customers (ok, snarky but I'm really irritated with him). When we said we were booked, he said oh please change...I have 38 people for night 4.  We thought formal night was going to stay day 2 so we let him pressure us into night 3. And he was really pressuring us to change it to night 1.  Turns out they changed formal night to the sea day night 3 so we went to customer service at the end of dinner night 2 and explained the situation.  Customer service called and changed us back.   Things were fine.  We get a call the next day from him confirming our night 3.  We said, no we had changed to night 4.  He got aggressive then and said no, we had to go night 3, and no, them, he couldn't cancel because I would have to go down to customer service again.  He was still yelling at me when I hung up on him. He continued to call the room (I didn't answer),  I went down to customer service, complained quite firmly and said we wanted to cancel the last night.  No way was I taking a class and spending time with this guy.  So even though it was under 48 hrs they cancelled.  They must have given him an earful as he called 4 more times that night.  I finally picked up and he had the nerve to ask if everything had worked out to my liking and was there anything he could do.  Too little too late and unfortunately I will write my first negative comment on anyone on my survey.  Ugh.  Sorry to rant!!!!

Ok... Not even sure what I've previously written lol. So here are random thoughts!   Our weather was horrible...my first sea day where it rained 12 hours straight. Everything was cancelled (belly flop, etc). We spent most of the day reading in schooner and bolaros but it emphasized to me that anything longer than a 4 day (or 5 to Mexico) would be just too much.

I have really 99.9 percent positives.  I have no idea how full the ship sailed, and that could make a huge difference, but I never felt like I couldn't get a seat or deck chair (deck chair may have been I was the only one brave enough to try and beat the rain lol).  The centrum doesn't really have enough seating to sit and watch shows but there was room to stand.  The love and marriage show was bizarrely set at 230 in the afternoon on sea day (we went, it was raining) and I heard some really different questions which made it fun!  @Joe01 I know you know a lot about cruise directors.  I thought tornado Tanya was fun... She seemed around and chipper but not over the top.

The replacement trip to nassau was finr.  We did the tourist trap 3 hour tour and hit the rum distillery (I still like dark kraken best),the rum cakes, the Queen's stairs and hit a restaurant for lunch.  The tour started 45 mins late...I'm not sure if they cut it short or not but everything felt rushed.  Royal, without asking, did credit us 10 a person though which was a nice surprise. I wouldn't do it again though... Maybe a resort for a day or on a bigger ship, just staying on.

Dinner....mdr was amazing as I said before.  I'm undecided on mdr though vs my time.  Our service was amazing but the first night conversation was so stilted.  It drove me nuts that people were late every night!  But we got to try brown chicken (not on the menu) and the fried tofu rice for Madison because one of our tablemates asked for it.  That was fun.  Overall I know in Europe we could not do mdr every night for sure.  We have a 4 night PKG booked... Please Lord do not let them give me a rough time over chops as I booked this a year ago... And we decided to do chefs table again.  I think we will be tired after tours and while it would be interesting to meet people, I think we will keep our my time and just sit the 3 of us.  

Overall, I would not do majesty without Cuba or a very special port again.  I like small and love the service but this was too small of weather doesn't cooperate.

Please let me know if there is anything else people have questions on.  If I get organized I will try and put in a ton of pics but I can't figure out how to do more than 1 at a time and it takes forever!!!Jane

Awesome review.. Majesty was my first Royal Caribbean cruise but Its way to small for me now. Like you said just not enough to do especially when there is poor weather.. I am glad you really enjoyed it though. That Sushi guy was totally out of line. He should of never pressured you in the first place and I'm sorry you had to go through that. The more annoying thing is I bet he did it because he felt pressured by Royal and I hate that they pressure their workers in this way because ultimately it effects the guest and not in a good way lol. I think you made the right choice about keeping my time dining for Europe.. You are going to be tired some nights and might need to change some things around last minute (even though I know you are a planner and I am too but sometimes things happen.) I would of been really upset if my table mates showed up an hour late its just not right so I feel you on that too.. Also I love once upon a time. Amazing show especially for us Disney nerds.. Keep going the whole series is great!! 

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51 minutes ago, AGSLC5 said:

Awesome review.. Majesty was my first Royal Caribbean cruise but Its way to small for me now. Like you said just not enough to do especially when there is poor weather.. I am glad you really enjoyed it though. That Sushi guy was totally out of line. He should of never pressured you in the first place and I'm sorry you had to go through that. The more annoying thing is I bet he did it because he felt pressured by Royal and I hate that they pressure their workers in this way because ultimately it effects the guest and not in a good way lol. I think you made the right choice about keeping my time dining for Europe.. You are going to be tired some nights and might need to change some things around last minute (even though I know you are a planner and I am too but sometimes things happen.) I would of been really upset if my table mates showed up an hour late its just not right so I feel you on that too.. Also I love once upon a time. Amazing show especially for us Disney nerds.. Keep going the whole series is great!! 

Since we got off the ship, the weather has been beautiful.  Very depressing!!! Arghhhhh!   But oh well,  I will get lots of sun in Europe where I hear it will be very hot.  I have never been ready to get off the ship before,  but 4 days on majesty was enough. 

In terms of dining, I'm usually hugely flexible on times and stuff but I feel that Royal plays fast and loose with what they decide to do, and I'm sure he was pressured to fill every night.  But ive only had two negative experiences On a ship and they have both had to do with cruise planner dining.  It's annoying and it frustrated me how he tried to protect his eating.  And then I feel guilty.  But we actually have the sushi class booked on vision so Madison and I will get to try it then at least.  The fact that I'm stressed about the 4 night PKG now on vision kills me but the savings on the cruise planner was huge.  Other than Giovanni's on my husbands bday we can be flexible on what restaurant and when!

My kids tell me the first season of Once upon a time is the slowest... And I'm still enjoying it so I look forward to the rest!  Jane

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