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MAJESTY 3-NIGHT BIRTHDAY CRUISE
SEPT 30, 2005 - OCT 3, 2005
THE PLAYERS: TONY (37), KATY (36 TURNED 37 ON TRIP)

09/30/05 Departure Day Got up at 3:00 am this morning to make it to Logan International for our 7:00 am flight to FLL. We booked this trip semi-last minute (about 6 weeks before sailing) and I have been VERY excited about the weekend away. We had decided that we didn’t feel like checking bags on this trip. So we were going to take all of our stuff in backpacks and skip formal night in the dining room. No problems with the flight down, in fact, I think it was one of the smoothest flights I can remember. Went to baggage claim after landing and easily found the RCCL rep (we had booked the ship’s transfers to the port at Miami). While waiting for a bus to pick us up, we met a very nice young couple that were going on their first cruise. The bus showed up within about 15 minutes of our getting to baggage claim, and we were the last stop, so it was off to the ship!!
The ride over to the port took about 30 minutes, and the Majesty always looks amazing when you’re pulling into the port. Check-in was a breeze, there were no lines and we were onboard within about 10 minutes of getting off the bus. Tony and I headed straight up to the Windjammer since we were starving. We purchased our soda packages at the pool bar on the way into the Windjammer. I know some people have mentioned trouble using their soda cards, but I can honestly say that we have NEVER had any problem with poor attitudes when refilling our mugs. We had smuggled (*gasp*) a bunch of the little nip bottles of various libations in our backpacks, and just added our choice to the soda in our mugs. Lunch in the Windjammer was yummy…nice selection, hot food, good flavor. After lunch our rooms were ready to we headed to the cabin, unpacked our bags, changed into shorts, and headed out to wander around. Tony made an appointment at the salon for a mani/pedi, and I made and appointment at the spa for a facial/massage combo for my birthday on Sunday. We saw the couple that we had met at the airport in the pool, so we went downstairs and got changed into our suits then hung out with them at the pool for a few hours until the muster drill.
After muster, we hung out at the sail-away party for awhile, this was one of the best sailaways I’ve seen with RCCL, with lots of staff present and lots of audience participation. Next we went to the free gaming lessons in the casino. This trip, I really wanted to spend the time in the casino, but all I really knew how to play were the slots…which I find boring. The lessons were fun, and I felt like I learned enough to play some of the games. We came back to the casino, and all of the tables that I learned to play were full (of course), so Tony and I hung out at the 3-card poker table a while. Once we had figured it out Tony played for a while and I watched so I could get a good feel for it. Tony hit big with a straight flush, so we cashed in our chips and headed to the Schooner Bar. Non-Smoker alert: This bar is not for you, if you are a vehement non-smoker!! Tony smokes and it’s never bothered me, so this was our hang-out all weekend, but there are very few non-smoking tables, and they’re pretty much surrounded by smoking tables. To compound the problem, the ceiling is very low. If you don’t mind cigarrette smoke, this is a great place to hang out! We met our favorite bartender “G,” who took care of us all weekend long. After a before dinner drink we headed out to dinner. We were at table 78 (a six top). For a while we were the only two there, then a VERY drunk Indian man showed up. When I say VERY drunk, I mean totally obliterated. He staggered up to the table…sat down…got back up and wandered off to find a bathroom. Wandered back in, collapsed into the table, and proceeded to tell us how drunk he was. He was so out of it, his mouth could barely form words. Also, he was a spit-talker, I know because he was sitting next to me. Well…we eventually ordered, and then another girl showed up. She was also obliterated, and mad as hell!!! Tony and I could never definitively figure out if she was this guys wife, or the wife of his friend. Anyway, she was pissed, and crying, and they started arguing in Hindi (?). Through all of this, Tony and I kept trying to look anywhere but at the train wreck going on in front of us, or at each other since I was afraid we’d burst out laughing!! The whole episode was like something from a Cruise Critic worst tablemates thread. The whole time this was going on, I was looking around going…”Where the hell is that bar server!!” Eventually, the girl must’ve realized how uncomfortable we were, because she began to apologize for being so drunk! We heard in great detail how she had two very strong Long Island Ice Teas, how she looked so nice all dressed up with her hair done, but she threw up all over herself and passed out in the cabin for a few hours. But that she deserved this trip…and she was going to get drunk tomorrow too!! LOL! We finally gave up on dinner when the guy next to me leaned over to tell me how drunk she was and spit on my dinner!! ACK! As we were walking out, Tony said, “We’ll be eating in the Windjammer both nights, now!” I was very grateful…LOL. After our disastorous dinner we headed up to the Library so Tony could have a cigar, and I could have a cosmo. We met up with quite a few nice people in the Library also having cigars, and ended up sitting there talking for several hours. Headed to bed around 12:30 am, since we had been up for 21 1/2 hours.

10/01/05 Coco Cay Day Our cabin was 5516 which was almost all the way forward on the fifth deck. Let me tell you, it’s a great location as there is very little foot traffic during the night, however, when the anchor drops it sounds like it going right through your cabin!! LOL…we jumped out of bed when the anchor started dropping at 7:30 am. I would probably still take the forward cabin because of the quiet nature of it, even though the anchor woke us up every morning. Since we were up, we got ready and went up to the Windjammer for breakfast, then we headed down to deck one for the tender to Coco Cay. We were on one of the first tenders over, and the island was deserted. We had our pick of locations. We set up camp in the shade and relaxed for several hours. A little after 11:00 Tony was ready to head back to the boat (he’s not really a beach person). Normally, I’d have wanted to stay longer, but I actually was more in the mood to lay-out by the pool, so I headed back over with him. We ate lunch at the Windjammer, then he headed off on his own while I went to lay out by the pool. After a while I headed down to the cabin for a nap, while Tony headed off for his mani/pedi. While we were at the Windjammer for lunch, we noticed another guy and his wife?/daughter? at the pool bar, also totally obliterated!! I could not believe that these people were still able to walk. At one point while I was laying out at the pool, the guy fell off his bar stool and security escorted him off the pool deck. After my nap, and Tony’s salon appointment, we headed to the casino for some more 3-card poker…it is now my new obsession!! We played for a while, then who shows up? The drunk from the pool bar. His head had a couple of cuts on it, but he was still drinking!! He was way too out of it to continue playing at the tables…he slowed the table way down, and the dealer had to keep stopping him from playing incorrectly with his bets and his cards. However, the pit boss let him stay, which I think was very unfair to the rest of the table. After being incredibly annoyed, we headed over to the schooner bar for a drink. Tony was really beat, so I suggested we head back to the room for a nap before dinner. Well, we took a nap, but I could NOT wake Tony up at 8:00. So I headed off for the Windjammer without him…LOL. I have to say I feel the Windjammer has come a long way from when we started cruising in 2000. We noticed this on the Navigator in April of 2004, and it really hit home on this trip. The mood was very nice in the Windjammer, with subdued lighting, tableclothes on the tables, and servers moving around to bring you drinks or anything else you might need. The food was tasty and hot with a very nice selection. I have to be honest, after 10 cruises, I actually think I prefer the Windjammer for dinner. It was much quieter, without all of the hustle-bustle of the dining room. I think I’m not alone, since about 1/3 of the people that were eating there were dressed for formal night.
After dinner, I headed back to the cabin to see if Tony had rejoined the world of the living. He hadn’t so I headed out to the casino for a while. After the casino, I sat out on deck 7 on the Promenade with my book and enjoyed a quiet evening with the sea breeze in my hair.

10/02/05 Nassau Day Woke up with the anchor again this morning. Opted to have breakfast in the dining room this morning. It was very good!! I love the french toast in the dining room. After breakfast we left the ship to do some shopping in Nassau. When we got off the boat, almost nothing was open! We walked all around just looking at the downtown area. I know alot of people really have a negative opinion about Nassau, but we saw some really nice looking archeitecture back off the main thoroughfare, and honestly, I’ve seen worse looking areas in Boston. Eventually some stores stared opening up, and we did a little shopping, but I guess I’m just shopped out, we had trouble even finding a t-shirt we felt like buying. We got back on the ship just as a lot of people were getting off, and enjoyed another day with a very empty ship. I laid out by the pool, while Tony wandered around. Then we ate lunch at the Windjammer, and went to the Schooner Bar to watch Sunday NFL Football. I’m a huge football fan, so I had no trouble spending my birthday afternoon hanging out watching the games. It was nice, they had hot dogs set out in the Schooner Bar, and had turned all the chairs so everyone could see the game if they wanted. There also was plenty of waitstaff to keep everyone’s beers filled up. It was fun watching the game with a bunch of people, everyone arm chair quarterbacking!! At 4:00 I headed to the spa for my 100 minute facial/massage combo. It was awesome, and the girl gave absolutely NO hard sale afterwards. After my spa time, I showered, and we headed to the casino. Back to the three card poker table!! I was doing great, when the drunk from yesterday showed up again. This time his girlfriend/daughter showed up with him. She was climbing all over me, trying to play his money for him!! Again, nothing from the pit boss! Tony and I gave up and headed to the Windjammer for dinner again. I have to say, I LOVE the atmosphere of the Windjammer at night. It’s much more intimate, and what I look for when picking restaurants (I normally wouldn’t pick a buffet, but I do like to eat where it’s smaller and quieter). Had a very nice meal, and headed back to the casino (the drunks had wandered off to a different table). So, we picked up where we left off, only Tony lost all of his money…but I hit big with three-of-a-kind!! Yeah for me! We cashed our chips in ($360) and walked the money right down to the purser’s desk to put on our account. All in all, we came out of the casino $160 ahead for the weekend. Not bad! Headed to the Schooner bar for Tony to have one last cigarette and to finish his drink. Next thing I knew “G” showed up with a Midiori Sour for me to wish me a happy birthday! Tony felt bad because he didn’t have any cash on him (poor planning on our part) to tip “G” for the great service he gave us all week, so he ordered a rum and coke and added a hefty tip to the bill. After our drinks we headed to bed.

10/03/05 Debarkation Day Anchor’s aweigh my friends!! Yep, that’s right, we had our own alarm clock go off at about 6:30. Showered and headed to the dining room again. After breakfast we gathered up our stuff and headed to the Schooner Bar to wait for our color tags to be called. We sat there for awhile chatting with people we had met there (that’s one thing I love about this ship…you tend to run into the same people over and over again…although in our case, it was also sometimes a negative!), until I realized…all of our stuff was in our backpacks…we didn’t NEED to wait for our color to be called! We wanted to get to the airport early, our flight wasn’t scheduled to leave FLL until 6:00 pm (frequent flyer miles) to arrive in Boston at midnight, and we were hoping to catch an earlier flight. We boarded the transfer bus to FLL, and proceeded to sit for 1 hr and 15 minutes. Apparantly, they don’t move the buses until they are full! Luckily, two very nice girls that we had met at breakfast that morning were on the bus with us, so we chatted. They were also trying to catch an earlier flight, and were also getting very irritated by the long wait. The four of us finally decided to bag the bus and split a cab. We climbed off the bus and the coordinator was very ticked off that we were going to leave. We politely explained that we had been sitting on the bus for over an hour and that we were hoping to catch early flights, so we were just going to eat the cost and get a cab. First of all she told us that we had NOT been on the bus for an hour, and that the bus would be leaving in 5 minutes wheter it was full or not. Tony said we got on the bust at 7:41, it’s now 8:45, so yes…we’ve been sitting on the bus for over an hour. At this point I had to take a pit stop thanks to all the coffee with breakfast. I hustled up to the terminal only to notice that there were three other buses in spots labeled Ft. Lauderdale Airport, and they were filling one of those buses at the same time!! Well, the bus did leave soon after (about 10 minutes, not 5) and we got to the airport with a minimal amount of excitment, although the bus driver did almost hit a sign on the way out of the port! US Air was able to get us on an earlier flight (thank you US Air), and we were back to Logan Airport by 5:30 pm. Drive home was non-eventful, and we got a good night’s sleep. I’ve spent the day today back at work, and suffering from the worst case of “land sickness” that I’ve ever gotten from a trip. Really weird since we didn’t have any rough seas.

Final thoughts: I really enjoy these short 3 and 4 day trips!! It’s a great weekend away that requires little effort to pack, and requires a minimum amount of time away from work. I’ll never give up my 7 nighters, but I wouldn’t mind cutting back to one seven nighter and two 3 or 4 nighers a year…LOL! We consistently have had great service, great food, and a lot of fun on the Majesty of the Seas! She may be small, and getting a little older, but I hope it’s never put out of service!