Norwegian Majesty
Reviewed by: Jim
email: socerjim@aol.com
NORWEGIAN MAJESTY REPOSITIONING CRUISE
December 8-17, 2000
Miami
Tortola/Virgin Gorda, BVI
Antigua
Martinique
St. Maarten
St. Croix, USVI
St. Thomas, USVI
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Reviewed by Jim MacQueen, Tallmadge, Ohio
FIRST, THE BOOKING STORY
It is impossible to talk about this cruise except in the context of
the booking story. My wife and I are in our 50s with several cruises
in our background. Cruising has become our vacation of choice,
although we still like Vegas, DC, New York and Chicago. Fine dining
and restaurant reviews are a hobby. Other cruise lines with which we
have experience include Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Premier in the
old days. I have moved away from using travel agents and now do
almost all my own booking. I am a very experienced traveler, having
traveled as part of work for 20 years, and pretty much know the ins
and outs of self-booking.
This particular Norwegian Cruise Lines trip was chosen for this time
period because it covered my wife’s birthday. The trip was first
booked on the Norwegian Dream because we wanted to go to islands we
had not visited before...the so-called “exotic” Caribbean. When I
booked, I used NCL’s 2-for-1 summer special to book a nice outside
cabin...about mid-grade...for approximately $1600 per person. About
one week after making this reservation and placing the deposit, NCL
called to tell us the Dream was being repositioned to S. America. We
were told NCL was no longer going to offer the “exotic” itinerary,
so they offered us a 2-level upgrade and $100 shipboard credit to
move to a different ship. We rebooked on the brand new Norwegian Sky
as the attraction of a new ship seemed like the next best
alternative at the same time period.
About two weeks later, NCL issued a press release saying they would
be moving the Majesty to the same route the Dream had covered!
I was on the phone the next day. I told them that if they had given
me this information when they canceled the Dream trip, I would have
chosen the Majesty because it was the islands, not the ship, in
which we were interested. Actually, they were VERY NICE about this!
They offered us the repositioning cruise, which was two days longer,
at the same price, let us keep the upgrades and credit, and for $200
more, I was able to further upgrade us into the Category S1suite.
What a deal...for about $1700 per person including air, port charges
and tax, we were on a 9-day cruise in a suite!
Through all of this, my experience working directly with NCL was
mixed...their phone system is particularly hard to use, and you
never get to talk to the same person 2 times in a row. But they are
very good about keeping records, faxing responses back to you,
sending billing statements, and correcting errors. In my opinion,
while they may not always get it right the first time, they are very
good at responding to the customer. And I think this 1 on 1
communication, without the filter of a travel agent who might not
take the time to look for mistakes and cover details, is one of the
advantages of self-booking.
TRAVEL TO MIAMI, CRUISE CHECKIN
I personally feel NCL is a little better on air arrangements,
meeting flights and cruise checkin than other lines. Certainly, they
are MUCH BETTER than Carnival! Our flight from Cleveland was
well-timed for mid-morning, not unGodly early. Our seats were
assigned through the regular boarding and reconfirmation
process...not bulk seats in the back of the craft. We were met at
the gate instead of baggage claim, and given pretty good
instructions on what to do including the tip to rent a baggage cart
instead of using a porter. With 7 checked bags plus carryon, that
saved us at least 5 bucks.
The transfer bus driver actually gave us a little tour of Miami on
the way to Dodge Island. When we arrived at the terminal, it was
straight off the bus, 5 minutes at the checkin desk to check IDs and
correct paperwork (no lines...much better than Carnival...and this
was true for all cabin categories) and onto the ship. In fact, the
only holdup was the mandatory pause for the “boarding picture”. I
think the cruise lines need to learn that people resent being held
up to participate in something they have no intention of buying.
There should be two lines. One for those who think they MIGHT want
such a picture, and one for the rest of us. Although there was no
one to escort us to our suite, it was easy to find on Deck 9
portside. We found fresh flowers, Champagne, and fruit waiting for
us. We had plenty of time to explore the ship as our luggage arrived
a couple of pieces at a time. And of course, we started right out
eating with the welcome aboard buffet, which actually was about the
only disappointing meal of the trip.
STATEROOMS
Of course, we were spoiled. NCL ships do have much smaller cabins,
on average, than other lines, but we were in a suite. Thr soft
clothes simply stayed in the bags the whole trip and we got them out
as we needed them. We kept some bags under the bed, and the ones we
used most often on the floor of the closet. It worked out just fine.
The tradeoff was the service. Our cabin steward was excellent,
always smiling and waving, and getting the job done without
bothering our routine. In Majesty suites, you receive afternoon
hors’derves at 4pm and a little dessert plate with the turndown
service. You also have a concierge who looks after your special
needs, and in our case, Lisa Jensen did an excellent job. She booked
my wife’s birthday dinner, and cleared up a little billing question
for me, just to note two services outside the ordinary which she
performed. And don’t forget...we paid one-half the cost of a
mid-grade outside for all this!
Over the course of the trip, we had the chance to see inside several
other cabins. Yes, they are small. But they are well planned in my
opinion, and two people would be comfortable in them. I would not
take anywhere near as much baggage if I knew I would be in one of
these cabins, however. We did encounter some passengers who felt
cramped in their cabins. Of course, on any cruise, you always meet
people who have unreasonable expectations about cabin size, food and
service on a ship. However, because the average age of the
passengers on this particular trip was older, there seemed to be
less complaining...I think there were a large number of repeat
cruisers on the trip who knew what to expect. The ship was booked at
about 100 passengers under capacity, and at the Latitudes cocktail
party for repeaters, there were about 500 guests.
THE FOOD AND “FREESTYLE” CRUISING
I have found that expectations are everything in being satisfied
with the cruise experience. If you only like grilled food such as
steaks and lamb chops, and you want them done a certain way, that’s
hard to perfect in a ship galley. On the other hand, roasts and
creative dishes lend themselves to the “hotel cooking” approach, and
even on the bargain cruise lines, I have always found the food is
better than in most hotels.
Certainly NCL is very good. I would rate the quality and preparation
as equal to or better than Carnival, although the presentation is
simply not as good. In general, dishes tend to be presented with the
food “compartmentalized” as you would do at home, rather than
“dressed” as you would expect in today’s top restaurants. So,
although the NCL recipes are better, I would rate the overall food
experience as equal to Carnival.
My wife and I loved the Freestyle Dining experience. I know this is
very controversial and does not appeal at all to those who like the
traditional ship experience. But I’ve got to be blunt and say that
being placed with other people was always the least attractive part
of cruising to us, and that having a choice of dining rooms and
times simply suits the way we like to travel. On this cruise, we ate
twice in the Seven Seas, three times in the Four Seasons, twice in
the Royal Observatory, and once in LeBistro. We also did one buffet
evening. All these rooms are very different in atmosphere and
service, although the food in the two main rooms is always the
same...a theme night of some sort. The RO is an Italian pasta room,
while LeBistro is a limited menu “gourmet” room with a $10 per
person cover charge. Frankly, of all the dining options, this last
was the biggest disappointment and not worth either the money or the
trouble.
The Seven Seas is the largest room and in the stern of the ship. It
became our least favorite because there is tremendous engine
vibration here, and when the room is full, it is also the noisiest
room on the ship. On the two nights here, we had one table for 2 by
ourselves, and we agreed to be placed at a larger table the other
time. We are very flexible this way, and that’s one reason why
Freestyle is OK for us. The Four Seasons was our favorite room. It
is midships, so there is less movement and no vibration. The menu in
the Four Seasons and Seven Seas is always the same theme each night.
The color scheme in the Seven Seas is more pastels (green or yellow)
while the Four Seasons tends to be darker and more elegant. On our
nights here, we had two tables for two and one table with others.
The Royal Observatory, which is forward on Deck 9 just outside our
room, is the hardest to get into in the Freestyle system because it
is small and tends to be the first choice on the theme nights no one
likes...Caribbean or Southwestern. Most of the people we encountered
loved Freestyle, as we did. Those who did not were either
traditionalists, or were not flexible enough. For instance, one
couple was incensed that they had to wait to get into the room in
which they wanted to eat, although it was clear the real problem was
that everyone else on the ship wanted to eat at that time too! We
NEVER had that problem...we simply went a little later at around 7
or 7:30, and we made reservations in the Royal Observatory the
nights we wanted to eat there.
As far as the Freestyle effect on service, I did not see any of the
negatives others have reported. The crew was in wonderful spirits on
this trip. There was only one section of the Seven Seas dining room
where I felt the staff was a little sloppy. Otherwise, the dining
room wait staff was fine. I do not miss the waiters and busboys
learning my likes and dislikes, frankly because I change them all
the time! I did see that moving around from place to place made the
service seem inconsistent, because after all, different crews move
at different paces. Expectations, once again. I don’t believe the
NCL policy of billing tips to room bills and then pooling them for
the staff made any difference in the attitude of the staff, level of
service, or the overall esprit d’corps of the crew. Many of them
seemed to have been on the ship a long time, and seemed to have
adjusted very nicely to the new way receiving their compensation.
Overall, a happy bunch!
THE MAJESTY HERSELF
There was a time when the Norwegian Majesty would have been a large
cruise ship, but these days, at only 38,000 tons, she is at the
“small” end of the spectrum. Nevertheless, I felt she had a great
“ride” even on a couple of relatively rough nights, and she is not
as sensitive to side wind rocking as some of the taller, more square
ships. Equipped with both bow and stern side thrusters, she seems
very maneuverable, and thus was able to dock in every single one of
the ports we visited. Great. I hate tenders!
Her layout is also very good. She has three central stair/elevator
“towers”, each of which runs all the way from topside Deck 10 to
Deck 2, where the gangway was most often placed. She has an outside
hallway down both sides of most decks, the exceptions being Deck 5
and 6 where most of the public rooms are located. This arrangement
makes her the easiest ship to learn and get around on of any I have
ever cruised. She has a complete promenade on Deck 7 which runs all
the way around the outside of the ship. This is used for walking and
jogging, and of course, it is wonderful to be able to walk all the
way around a ship out of doors. There are fore and aft showrooms.
The aft showroom, used for the largest productions, is not very good
because the ceiling is too low and there are too many sightline
problems. This limits the types of shows which can be done, so the
typical NCL Broadway productions don’t happen on the Majesty. There
are a large number of bars and smaller public rooms, and the overall
decor is restrained and very elegant, in my opinion. This ship is
finished with lots of wood and natural hues, and is very well done
from an interior design point of view...real first class cognac and
cigar club styling without all the smoke. Very nice, very
comfortable, and one never feels crowded on this ship because there
is always a bar or room which is not crowded.
I might add that the Martini Bar offers very large drinks. They are
a little more expensive than those at the other bars, but they are
so much bigger that you are really getting 3-4 drinks for the price
of 2...I found it the best value on the ship. If you drink beer,
order the draft beers. They are bigger and $1 cheaper than bottles!
But you need to check out each bar because each has different brands
on tap.
The pool and sun decks are very nicely arranged as well. There is a
forward observation lounge which is usually full of people eating
from the buffet line. There is a forward bar and a midships bar.
There is a grill and pizzeria aft. There are two pools and two hot
tubs, and one of each is reserved for adults (although there weren’t
more than 2-3 dozen kids on this trip). Although the sun deck runs
all the way around the ship as does Deck 7, it is not used
(officially, at least) as an exercise deck. There were plenty of
deck chairs whenever we wanted two of them, and plenty of tables on
the pool deck whenever we wanted to eat outside. From the outside
activity standpoint, this was one of the most pleasant cruises we
have ever taken because we never felt we had to run up and place
towels on chairs, and never had trouble finding tables to sit at.
Both pools were very nice and kept clean and fresh. They had both
open in all ports, even on the day we left Miami. The tubs, on the
other hand, always seemed to be full of people. They could use a
couple more. We do not make much use of the exercise rooms or spa
facilities on cruise ships, but we visited both and thought they
were nicely equipped. The worst feature of the ship is the
casino...one of the tightest I have ever seen. Everyone complained
about how poorly the slot machines paid off...and indeed, by the
second or third day, hardly anyone even tried to use them.
ENTERTAINMENT
Truth to tell, my wife and I are early risers. We usually are up at
5:30 or 6 AM, get our early coffee, and are on deck to watch the
pilots maneuver the ship into dock. For that reason, we are not
likely to see many of the shows unless they especially appeal to us.
We took in the bon voyage show the first night, and it was pretty
good...a salute to Broadway shows. However, shipmates who saw other
shows told us that this first one was the highlight of the
trip...that all the others were less entertaining. I don’t know...I
was usually in bed by 9 PM or still at dinner. As I mentioned, the
aft showroom is a problem on the Majesty, and limits what they can
do.
We found that the bands and individual musicians on board were very
entertaining and talented. We also heard that the show put on by the
crew was the next best of the trip. As you can probably tell, I am
not particularly enamored of cruise directors (I more or less equate
them to the talking heads on TV news shows) so how good, bad or
indifferent they are matters little. I really don’t rely on the
cruise staff to provide my good times for me. It seemed to me the
staff was competent, friendly, and kept things going for those who
need that kind of inspiration.
OUR PORTS OF CALL
While this was a repositioning cruise, Majesty will continue to call
at a number of the same ports we visited. The main differences will
be that she will start and stop from San Juan, and apparently will
omit the stop in St. Croix...no great loss in my humble opinion. In
the spring, it appears she will return to her familiar Boston to
Bermuda run.
Our first two days were at sea...a very nice way to get down a tan
base before hitting the beaches.
Our first stop was Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. We were
torn between taking a cab over to Cane Garden Beach with lunch at
Rhymer’s, or taking the excursion trip to Virgin Gorda. In the end,
we did the later and were very glad. Swimming at The Baths was one
of the trip highlights. The Baths is that wonderful beach with the
huge house-size rocks that form pools and eddies. The water was
warm, the beach sand is soft, and the bottom pretty good for wading.
My wife is the snorkler...I am NOT a water baby! But I enjoyed this
beach, and even got my face in the water to see some pretty fish. We
did not take the longer walk to Devils Beach. One recommendation I
would make is to get a pair of “swim shoes”. Some of the bottom is
made up of more large rocks which can be slippery and/or sharp. My
wife wounded herself on a bottom rock, and this caused her some
minor walking discomfort throughout the trip.
Our second port was Antigua. I have now been to Antigua and do not
need to go back. I’m afraid this particular island has one of the
lowest overall living standards I have ever seen, exacerbated by the
tremendously rich yachters who call at Nelson’s Dockyard. We took
the Historic Antigua tour which included Shirley Heights, the
British forts, Nelson’s Dockyard and town tours. St. Johns, the main
town, is a DUMP. If we had to do it again, we would get off the tour
at Nelson’s Dockyard and eat lunch at the Admirals Inn or one of the
other hotels which are located there. Then you can take a private
cab back to the cruise terminal. But I did get great pictures from
the heights, and photos of some of the biggest sailing yachts I’ve
ever seen. Learned the difference between Caribbean sheep and goats
from the taxi driver...goats have tails up and sheep have tails
down...otherwise, who can tell?
Things got truly exotic with our arrival at Martinique. This is a
French island...in fact, it is actually a French Department, the
equivalent of a state. We took a trip to St. Pierre which was
destroyed in 1902 by the eruption of the Mt. Pelee volcano...30,000
people were killed. We visited a rum distillery which is family
owned and operated very much like a small California boutique
winery. We saw many coastal fishing villages...wish they had stopped
for picture opportunities...and the botanical garden and rain
forest. Really a very nice trip, and probably the best way to see
this particular island if you have only one day. The traffic is
terrible and the roads narrow and winding...they are in good shape,
but require some local knowledge. The advantage of the trip is they
make sure you see the highlights and get it done with timing that
guarantees you won’t miss the ship. We also had an excellent lunch
on shore at a downtown Fort de France bistro and grill. Had my best
local lobster there.
The next day, we took the exact opposite option by renting a car to
tour St. Maartin/St. Martin, the half French, half Dutch island. We
docked at the brand new cruise ship terminal, one of the first ships
to use the dock. The terminal itself is not finished, which creates
some minor inconveniences in getting around. We had booked our
rental car in advance from the US by computer. We had to take a cab
to the airport to pick it up, which was about a half-hour away.
Traffic, again, is really bad although the roads are all right. The
rental car company paid the taxi cost one way, and we paid the
other, which was more than fair. It only cost $25 to rent the car!
We drove to the French side and did our shopping in Marigot, the
main French town. It was actually the best shopping of the trip,
superior to St. Thomas in every way. Better stores, better prices,
duty free if you can keep the total under $800. We had lunch at Jean
Dupont’s, a French restaurant on the marina...great food, great
view. The only real downside was that we couldn’t be absolutely sure
how long it would take us to get back to the ship, so we cut our
touring too short...we left way too much time and got back too early
without seeing more of the island. This is the chance you take when
you go off your own instead of doing the tours.
After Antigua, the worst stop on the trip was St. Croix, but that
was probably our own fault. Instead of taking the tour to Buck
Island for some good snorkling, we decided to shop and use one of
the local beaches. We also toured a local rum factory and the great
botanical garden, which was about the only highlight. The local
beach was just one block from the ship, but it wasn’t very good
either for swimming or snorkling. And there was a strong wind
blowing from our backs which kept picking up sand and blasting
us...reminds of the description of sand storms in Frank Herbert’s
science fiction classic “Dune” which can “flay the skin and flesh
off your bones!” St. Croix may be the largest of the US Virgin
Islands, but it seems to me it has the least to offer tourists...the
shopping is poor, and you actually have to go off-island to find the
real attractions.
You would think the only reason to go to St. Thomas is the duty free
shopping, but we actually found our 2nd best beach here, at Megan’s
Bay. This is truly one of the best salt water beaches I’ve ever
seen, deep in a well-protected inlet with gentle waves, white sand,
a shallow wading bottom out 50-100 yards, and picture perfect.
There’s everything you want...rental chairs and floats, a
restaurant, public changing rooms and showers, and cabs coming and
going all the time. Despite the fact that the Majesty had to dock in
the Sub Base instead of downtown Charlotte Amalie, we were able to
get in a split day between the beach and our last duty-free
shopping. One of the true wastes of time on this trip was that we
had to leave both St. Croix and St. Thomas at 5:30 PM. Of course,
the trip between St. Croix and St. Thomas is only 40 miles, and the
trip between St. Thomas and Puerto Rico only 400 miles, so we spent
most of both nights drifting around the Caribbean. It would have
been nice to stay in port at least until 9pm so we would have had an
on-shore dinner option. That’s the restaurant hound in me talking!
As they say, all good things must come to an end, and so we arrived
in San Juan just as the police were escorting Al Gore into town, and
just as some thug pumped 3-4 bullets into someone on the pier across
the bay. Lights, sirens everywhere, and we even heard the shots
while standing on deck! As a further complication, they were having
one of those spectacular building implosions downtown at 10 AM and
had half the streets blocked off. We had a late flight, and thus we
could book a rain forest tour. This allowed us to be the first off
the ship. The biggest problems were that the baggage forklift ran
out of gas before all the luggage could be taken off the ship for
the doggies to sniff, so we had to wait an extra 40 minutes in the
lounge...no biggie. We got our bags quickly, customs barely even
spoke to us, and all the airlines had checkin stations right at the
dock, which I had never seen before. That is so slick because it
lets you get rid of your bags and do some hands free sightseeing.
Then the long flight home, back to Cleveland, Ohio, and blowing snow
and –10 chill factors. Hard to believe we had been swimming in
84-degree water the day before.
THE BOTTOM LINE
My wife said this was the best vacation we ever had. I think I
agree. There is no question I would find it hard to go back to
Carnival, which I now think is a step down from NCL. I was surprised
at this as everything I have read led me to believe the opposite
might be true. I certainly would have no trouble booking another
trip with NCL, and I would love to sail on the Majesty again. So
many cruises, so little time. Obviously, this trip was a tremendous
value, taking into account what we paid for what we got. Since we
got the cruise itself for a bargain rate, we had a lot of extra
money in our budget for shore excursions, on-board expenses, and
shopping. That made it at least a “business class” trip instead of
“coach”.
