Our cruise day is here! Believe it or not, there was some doubt that I would make this cruise as late as yesterday.
Yesterday I threw out my back and was barely able to walk. We went to the hospital to seek treatment and luckily modern medicine helps mitigate the pain quite a bit. In the end, I told my wife if I am going to be somewhere with back pain, I would rather be on a cruise ship than at home.
We drove to the Port of Tampa from our house in the greater Orlando area. Since it is the Fourth of July, there was no traffic and we arrived to the Port of Tampa right around 10:30am.
Majesty of the Seas was docked in the main terminal, so I took advantage of the valet parking ($95 for the duration of the cruise). Check-in was a breeze and by the time we got our SeaPass cards, they were already boarding guests.
We entered Majesty of the Seas in the Centrum and instantly we noticed how different Majesty looks compared to other ships in the fleet. It still feels like a Royal Caribbean ship, but it is probably the first time in a long time that I really have no idea where anything is.
Like any cruise we go on, we started with lunch at the Windjammer.
After lunch the kids wanted to hit the pool. I enjoyed sitting in the shade and watching the stuff.
Our staterooms were ready at 1pm. We have two non-connecting Oceanview rooms.
The word “oceanview” is a stretch, as it has a window that looks out to the promenade deck outside and the ocean beyond it.
While not the largest room ever, it does the job and it will work for the port intensive itinerary we are sailing.
We then headed up to Adventure Ocean to register the kids. I was quite surprised how large the Adventure Ocean area is, especially considering how small it was on Rhapsody of the Seas.
I decided to stop by the Vitality Spa to book a massage for me. I rarely get massages, but I felt that it might help with my back.
At this point, I was feeling pretty tired, so I decided to take a nap. One of the side effects of my back pain medicine is sleepiness. I guess a lot of naps are in my future!
Muster drill was at 3:30, followed by sail away.
Unfortunately the sail away celebration was hindered by a passing afternoon thunderstorm.
On the bright side, the storm kept temperatures down and it was enjoyable to be outdoors for muster drill and sail away.
We walked around Majesty of the Seas a bit to try to get our bearings.
I am intrigued by how large venues like the Schooner Bar and Boleros are, as well as the elevator bank that goes to every other floor.
Next it was time for my massage. The procedure for all spa services is pretty standard: arrive, fill out paper work, wait, wait, wait and then take massage. My masseuse was running late and she offered me either a discount or extra time. I opted for the discount as I was not sure how my back would fare.
The good news is the massage felt great and she was quite gentle around my back but was not afraid to work it a bit. Walking back to the room, I felt “normal” again.
We are in late seating dinner, so we took the kids up to the Windjammer for dinner and then promptly dropped them off at Adventure Ocean.
I must have missed the sailing underneath the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, but I did see the weather cleared.
Dinner was in the main dining room, and we were seated with a couple from Puerto Rico who were on their first Royal Caribbean cruise and second cruise total.
Following dinner, we thought about seeing the entertainer show, but opted to call it an early night.
Tomorrow we will be in Key West by 1pm.
Stray Observations
- Adventure Ocean started combining Explorers and Voyagers already. It did not seem there that few kids onboard to me.
- The pier agent who checked us in at Port of Tampa recognized me for my work on this blog. My kids did not understand exactly why this person was so excited to see daddy. Shout out to Justin!
- There was a sailaway buffet set up on the pool deck.
- After sailing on Explorer of the Seas last week, the internet wifi on Majesty of the Seas is super quick!
- The main dining room features the “new menu”
