On Tuesday morning Walt and I went to the hospital bright and early for my surgery.  I am happy to report that my laproscopic hysterectomy was very successful.  I was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon, and am home resting comfortably now.  On the negative side, Walt and I both caught colds and are a couple of sneezing, coughing sickies right now. 

 

I am following the doctor's orders and not pushing myself.  My days consist of lounging on the recliner watching tv, playing on the internet, and crocheting.  I may very well go stir-crazy being home for the next three weeks.

 

Well, it's time to eat some lunch now and maybe some tappioca pudding....yum.

 

- Lisa Lounsbery

A little background on us:  I am 37 and Walt, is 53.  We enjoyed laid-back vacations and are adventurous.  This was our 3^rd cruise, and second time on the Majesty.

On January 15^th Walt and I headed to Charleston for our Bahamas Cruise on the NCL Majesty.  We drove to Charleston on Thursday, because Friday was my birthday and I did not want to drive for over 6 hours on my birthday. 

I booked a room at the Holiday Inn Riverview in Charleston for two nights. Our room was on the 5^th floor and it was great!  The hotel has a rooftop restaurant and bar that serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I highly recommend the Holiday Inn Riverview for three reasons:

1.       Centrally located and convenient to the cruise port (5 minutes)

2.       Great food , happy hour, and view from the rooftop bar and restaurant

3.       Free parking during your cruise if you book a night at the hotel (and free shuttle to pier)

On Friday (day before the cruise) it was freezing in Charleston.  A nasty arctic front hit Charleston and the high was 37 degrees.  We decided to do the city tour with Charleston Tours for the morning.  It was a fantastic 90+ minute tour of the downtown historic area of Charleston.  Randy, our tour guide, is a Charleston native and told some very colorful tales of historic Charleston.  Walt and I both highly recommend doing a bus tour of Charleston. 

After having a tasty lunch at the Waffle House (directly behind the Holiday Inn Riverview) we drove to Patriot’s Point to take the ferry out to Ft Sumter.  The ferry ride is about 25 minutes from Patriot’s Point, and you have 1 hour at Ft Sumter, so you are looking at 2 hours total.  The fort is part of the National Parks System and there are rangers on site to give tours and answer questions.  Since it was so cold, the ranger gave a talk in the museum.  Walt went to listen to the talk while I toured on my own.   Walt said the talk was great.  We are huge history buffs and love going to our nation’s historical sites.

Friday night we met up with some of our Cruise Critic Roll Call Members (www.cruisecritic.com) that were staying at the Holiday Inn at the rooftop bar.  It was a very laid back couple of hours and we had a great time.  We even met some other fellow passengers that didn’t know about Cruise Critic, so of course we educated them on the wide world of Cruise Critic.  Since it was Happy Hour, we ate cheaply ($3pp) at the bar.

Saturday:  we waited around the hotel until 11am to check out (oh, and it was 19 degrees that morning).  We did not utilize the free parking at the hotel since we needed to head out of Charleston fast on our last day in order to get back to Knoxville for the EAA Banquet.  I did hear that the shuttles from the Holiday Inn were great and that there were no issues.  On the pier parking portion, it did go smoothly.  The pier opened at 11:45am, and we were onboard by 12:30.  This was the fastest embarkation so far. 

Once onboard we received our complimentary champagne and headed to the Seven Seas for lunch.  Lunch was a little slow, but we were not in any hurry since the cabins were not ready yet.  The cabins were ready at 1:45, and we proceeded to our cabin.  One thing I noticed our first day is that the bar staff really pushes the wine package, which I had to turn down several times.

Cabin:  we were in cabin 710 on the Promenade Deck once again.  Walt and I loved this cabin on our last cruise, so we booked it once again.  710 is a category CC Superior Oceanview and is approximately 145 square feet.  There was plenty of room for our 4 suitcases and carry-ons.  I like the layout of the cabin since you can walk around both sides of the bed and there is about 3 feet between the foot of the bed and the wall.  The bathroom is small, think of it being a bathroom on an RV, it’s that small. 

We spent the afternoon unpacking and then meeting a few of our fellow cruise critic members at the Rendezvous Lounge for a cocktail before dinner. 

Sunday:  this was a sea day.  We had breakfast in the Seven Seas dining room on Deck 5.  Breakfast was great!  I had Eggs Benedict which is my favorite thing for breakfast and they cooked it perfectly!  At 11am we had our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet in the House of Lords on Deck 5.  At the meet and greet were Denny , the cruise director, the hotel manager, and the restaurant manager.  They answered questions and welcomed us to the ship.  After they left we held the gift exchange which was coordinated by 1ParticularHarbor (thanks Susan!).  This was the best meet and greet I have been to and plan on doing the gift exchange at future meetings.  We ate lunch up on Deck 10 at the grill, and it was packed.  Since the temperature was finally well above 60, people were out and about. 

At 1pm we went to the Wine Tasting in the 4 Seasons, unfortunately it was canceled since we did not have 10 people participating.  So we decided to do the Martini Tasting later in the afternoon at the Polo Club on Deck 6.  The last time we were on the Majesty, the Martini tasting had an awesome bartender that did bar tricks and magic tricks.  We were really looking forward to seeing that again, but unfortunately they changed the format and now it is 30 minutes of slamming Martinis with no pizzazz.  I was disappointed in the new format and decided not to do the 2^nd tasting on Friday.

At 5pm the insanity began with the Pub Crawl.  This event was the most fun I have had on a cruise ship!  About 60 people signed up and we wandered to 4 bars on the ship.  On the way to each bar we sang “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” as loud as we could. At each bar there was a battle of the sexes game.  My favorite part of the Crawl was walking and singing past the people having their formal pictures taken.  Some enjoyed seeing us, but you could tell some of them were not pleased (I guess we will read about view point on Cruise Critic J).

Monday:  we were at Great Stirrup Cay, NCL’s Private Island.  We were able to get our tender ticket early and were on the first tender.  We arrived on the island at 9am, bought a bottle of water, and headed on the trail to the lighthouse.  The distance to the lighthouse is 1 mile, and not the 2 miles stated on the sign.  Walt and I really enjoyed the walk and had some incredible views of the ship, lighthouse, and other islands.  At the end of the trail, past the lighthouse there is a little dock that would be a nice secluded place to hang out for awhile.  Another great view is about 1/3 mile down the trail from the start.  There is an old building on the left and a trail next to it.  We took the trail to the rocks and had a great vantage point of the ship. 

After hiking Walt and I wandered to the far end of the beach away from all the crowds and checked out the hermit crabs and the tide pools.  We also went to the Straw Market and picked up a couple of gifts for people back home (the prices were fair, so I didn’t haggle).  At 11:15 the BBQ was ready, so we got some average BBQ and ate at a picnic table in the shade.  We decided to head back to the ship at 11:45 in order to drop off our camera gear and pick up our snorkel gear for an afternoon of snorkeling the reef.  Right as we stood in the front of the line (4 people) waiting for the next tender, an announcement was made that we were evacuating the island due to strong currents and winds.  Ok, so no snorkeling at Great Stirrup Cay.  It was disappointing, but I am a firm believer in safety.  After a very bouncy trip on the tender I was very happy with the Captain’s decision.  There was no way I would attempt snorkeling in that current…too dangerous.  The remainder of the afternoon we spent in our cabin relaxing.

Tuesday:  Tuesday we went to Nassau.  Well actually due to a medical emergency on Monday, we went full speed to Nassau for an evac and made it to the island by 9pm on Monday night.  We were allowed to go ashore Monday night, but we chose to stay on the ship.  Walt and I scheduled a shark feed dive with Stuart Cove’s for Monday afternoon (independent excursion not through NCL).  We were picked up on time by the shuttle and taken for a 35 minute drive to the dive shop.  The water was extremely rough with 8-10 foot swells.  Once Walt and I were in the water I decided that I was not comfortable doing this dive.  Basically my gut told me that the swells were too big and to get back in the boat.  So we did.   From the boat we saw about a dozen reef sharks swimming about.  Very cool.  There were a total of four divers that decided not to dive, and the guys on the boat were very nice to take us back to the docks after the first dive was completed. 

Since we had time to waste waiting for the buses (about 2 hours) we rinsed out our gear, got some food, watched our gear dry in the sun, and did a little shopping in the dive shop.  The bus ride back was very nice and we did get to see a lot of the island. 

I am not disappointed that we scrubbed the dive since I knew once we were in the water that I was not comfortable with the diving conditions.  There is always another day in the future to dive with sharks.

Wednesday:  We spent the day on Grand Bahamas doing the Jeep Excursion through NCL.  This 6 hour excursion was awesome!  We toured the island and saw the pine forest, million dollar row (mansions), Gardens of the Groves, Tanai Beach, Lucaya Straw Market, and much more.  Tony, our guide, was fabulous.  He was extremely knowable and funny.  In the Jeep with us were Suzie and Gary from Missouri.   Gary drove the four of us around and we had a hoot.  It was great to meet new people and explore the island together.   On this excursion lunch was provided at the Gardens of the Groves.  Both the food and the company were great.  At the Straw Market we haggled and purchased a few things.  Since we were there late in the day the prices were rather fare, but we did get them to come down on them.  Walt is now the proud owner of a steel drum and I own a coconut piggy bank (I love pigs).  The only thing that would have made the excursion perfect was if it had been warmer.  The arctic front that hit the states hit Gran d Bahamas on Thursday.  Temperatures were in the 40’s and windy…cold excursion, but fun.

At 4:30pm we had the Latitudes Reception in the Palace Theater.  This was a nice cocktail party with free hors d’oeuvres and cocktails.  The captain spoke and then they did a drawing for prizes.  Unfortunately we had to leave before it was over to go to the Honeymoon/Anniversary Party.  This was a lot of fun and we told each other a little about us and where we honeymooned, and how our husbands proposed to us.  The party was part of the honeymoon/anniversary romance package for $79 (well worth the cost).  In the future I wish NCL would not have the Latitudes and Honeymoon/Anniversary party 30 minutes apart.  I would like to enjoy both parties through completion.

Thursday:  We spent the day at Port Canaveral doing the Ultimate Wilderness Encounter excursion through NCL.  The first part of the excursion was at Air Boat Rides at Midway in Christmas, FL.  Walt and I had never done an airboat before and found the experience to be exhilarating.  We saw bald eagles, various egrets, storks, cattle, and other water fowl.  Our boat driver did a fast u-turn for us which was awesome.  After the ride we were given a soda/water.  Then off to the Banana River for a pontoon boat ride.  Our guides were very informative once again.  Port C was very cold due to the arctic front that had been haunting us for most of the cruise.  I loved this excursion, but I wish they had provided food.  The excursion was supposed to be 4 hours and ended up being 5.5 hours.  We got back to our cabin at 3:30 and were famished.  The other issue is that after leaving the airboat company, there are limited bathrooms. 

I scheduled a spa appointment for 6:15pm to get a mini facial, body brushing, and foot/ankle massage.  I decided to do this since my face was so wind burned from the cold windy weather and my feet were still aching from tweaking them on the dive boat.  I did not know what a “body brushing” was, but the other two parts fit the bill perfectly.  Victoria took great care of me at Mandara Spa.  She even threw in a neck, shoulder, and back massage.  The whole experience was very relaxing and a nice way to wrap the day.

The chocolate buffet was at 11pm, but unfortunately we missed it since we took a little “cat nap” and did not wake back up.  Oh well.

Friday:  this was another sea day.  We had a leisurely morning hanging out in the Pasta Café listening to one of the passengers playing the piano and talking to talking to a lovely retired couple.  In the afternoon we went to the wine tasting which was hosted by Leslie the head wine steward.   He provided French wines and cheese for the tasting, and it was both informative and fun.  At 3:30 we went to the crew show, which was standing room only.  My favorite part was Fountains…that was hysterical!  There were 7 crew members in togas carry a pitcher of water each.  The music playing was something by Enya.  Basically everyone would fill their mouths with water and become a "fountain".  They did different formation and had a lot of humor to the production.

Disembarkation:  out of our three cruises this was the fastest disembarkation.  We left our cabin at 9am and were in our car by 9:20.  There were no lines and so it went quickly.

Entertainment:  In the future Walt will be attending the Broadway Reviews without me.  Nothing against the performers, they do a great job with a small stage and low ceiling, I just don’t like show tunes.   I feel like I am trapped for 45 minutes of Disney horror (I know it’s not Disney, but that’s how I feel…I do not like musicals).

The comedian, Sam, was fantastic.  Well worth going to the late show to see him.  Sam had Walt and me in stitches. 

Food:  7 Seas and 4 Seasons have the same food and the quality was really good.  I absolutely would not compare NCL’s food to Applebee’s.  I prefer 4 Seasons when at sea because you don’t have the rattling and noise from the engines.  On Monday night we ate at LeBistro and the food was impeccable.  I had escargot and leg of lamb, and Walt had a salad and an interesting German dish.  For dessert I tried the crepes.  My favorite part is the soft serve ice cream on deck 10 aft.  Yum.

My only issue with the food is that it is too salty.  I do not use salt in my cooking, so the ship’s food made my ankles swell from all the sodium.  Before our next cruise I plan to call NCL and ask if I can do a low sodium menu.

Overall this was a fantastic cruise despite the cold weather.  We met a bunch of interesting people and will be staying in contact with quite a few.  I am sad to see the Majesty leaving NCL and that there are no NCL sailings out of Charleston after May.  I will keep my fingers crossed that they bring an itinerary of Charleston back…perhaps the Dream?