Majesty of the Seas | 10 Things to Know About My Birthday Cruise

Hello, friends! I am back from my wonderful birthday cruise. It was a four-day cruise on the Majesty of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean ship, that sailed out of Fort Lauderdale last Saturday. We stopped in Key West and Nassau in the Bahamas, and I enjoyed both stops so very much. I spent a lot of time thinking about how to recap this vacation and think a “10 things” breakdown is the best way to go about it. Let’s dive in!

1) I broke my ankle on day two.

I guess we should start off with the most disappointing thing that happened on my cruise – indeed, I broke my ankle. It’s my problem ankle. This is the third fracture (it’s also been badly sprained twice). It happened on the second day of the cruise, just after my mom and I got back on the ship after spending the day in Key West. We were walking downstairs to get to our cabin and I missed the last step and took a tumble. As I did, my right ankle twisted under me and I heard the telltale crack. I hobbled back to the room, iced it, and elevated it, but I knew I needed to get it wrapped to complete the C in the RICE protocol – compression. Off to the medical facility we went!

In the medical facility, they were able to x-ray my ankle to confirm it was broken (just in one spot, which is why I can walk on it without too much pain). They splinted my ankle, all the way up to my knee, which I thought was overkill but I understand they have liability concerns. They also told me I’d need to stay in my cabin for the rest of the trip (ha, not happening) and use crutches to get around (also not happening).

This was definitely the lowest point of my trip, sitting in the medical facility with this big, heavy splint on my right leg. I started freaking out and crying as I thought about not being able to do any of the things I wanted to do on this cruise. The doctor who was taking care of me even told me this was “the end of my cruise.” (He may need to work on his bedside manner, yeah?) But this isn’t my first rodeo with a broken ankle. I know what I need – and it’s not crutches and a heavy splint. Once I was back in my cabin (had to be taken there in a wheelchair, even though I protested), I ripped off the splint and took one of the bandage wraps and wrapped up my ankle in the way I’m used to. I’m not a rule breaker by nature, but I just wasn’t having this on my birthday cruise. I was going to enjoy the ship, goddammit, and my Bahamas excursion.

So, that’s the story of my broken ankle. I was able to hobble around the ship with my DIY wrapping just fine, and my mom was awesome about making sure I rested my ankle as much as possible. I have an appointment with an ortho this morning to get new X-rays and find out what this injury really entails. I’m strongly thinking about starting physical therapy to strengthen this ankle because I think I’m just going to keep injuring it unless I do something drastic.

2) I finally took a tour of Ernest Hemingway’s house in Key West.

I’ve been to Key West twice before but have never toured Ernest Hemingway’s house. To be honest, not really a Hemingway fan but I thought it might be fun to take a little tour of such a Key West landmark. And it was really enlightening and fun! I didn’t know we were joining a guided tour as we went inside but I’m glad we did because our tour guide gave such a great insight into the home and Hemingway’s life when he lived there. And, of course, I loved all the cats roaming around. I believe the tour guide said there were 56 on the property now! One of the cats, Miss Billie Holiday, plopped herself down in the middle of the room while the tour guide was talking and made everyone walk around her when we were ready to move on to the next room. Ha! I definitely got my fill of cat time while I was there.

3) A hop on/hop off trolley is my ideal way to see a city.

Key West isn’t a big city (it’s about four miles long) so most people can enjoy it on foot or biking. This time around, my mom and I booked a hop-on/hop-off trolley tour to take us to the specific destinations we wanted to visit. It was so ideal for us! We hopped on in the morning to go to the Hemingway house, then again to go to the Southernmost Point, and finally to bring us back to our original destination in Mallory Square. We still clocked nearly 10k steps during our day in Key West, so we definitely did a lot of walking even with the trolley taking us around the island.

4) Not surprising: living the life of a VIP is LOVELY.

Our excursion in Nassau was to live the life of a VIP for a few hours. We booked a private cabana and we were the only ones to do so, which means we got this little stretch of heaven to ourselves. We were tucked away from the people who had booked the regular beach excursion. It was quiet and serene, with only the sound of the waves lapping against the rocks. We were waited on hand and foot, everything was delivered right to our cabana. While I was hoping to enjoy the water, it was a bit too chilly to do so! The water was ice cold and the weather wasn’t totally ideal for a beach day – 70 degrees and breezy. It felt nice when I was in the sun but a little chilly when the sun went behind the clouds. But it was still a lovely day and I only wish we had had more time to be VIPs!

6) I really enjoyed the “Parade of Nations” event.

One evening, there was this unique event called “Parade of Nations.” I haven’t seen this on any other cruise, though I hope more cruises will adopt this because it was really special and cool. It was a parade of the staff aboard the ship, carrying their nation’s flag. (Well, one person per nation since many of them had numerous, if not hundreds, of staff representing that country.) It was cool to see all the flags streaming about and recognize how many different countries were represented by the staff on board. Some of the staff even danced to a song from their home country, which was a delight! It was cool to celebrate the staff and watch them have some fun! On our ship, there were 63 countries represented with the largest contingent (200+!) coming from the Philippines.

7) I will gladly pay the $10 charge to eat at Johnny Rockets.

At first, I was rather annoyed that Royal Caribbean makes you pay to eat at Johnny Rockets, one of their specialty restaurants. I thought it was similar to Guy’s Burger Joint on Carnival that’s free. However, the $10 charge gets you basically anything on the menu, as much of it as you want, so it’s really not a terrible deal in the grand scheme of things. We went to Johnny Rockets on our third day, which was our at-sea day, to have a late lunch and stuffed ourselves silly with fries, a delicious hamburger, a chocolate shake, and apple pie a la mode. We were so full that we ended up skipping dinner that night! But it was soooo good, the burger especially. Oh, and the apple pie. I’m still thinking about that pie crust! I requested that we eat there for dinner on our last night, too, because I needed more Johnny Rockets. (And more pie crust.)

8) The 5:30pm seating is way too early to eat dinner.

Speaking of food, when we booked this cruise, the only dining option available was the 5:30 seating. On our last few cruises, we’ve done the “Anytime Dining” where we can just pop into the dining room at… anytime. (Pretty self-explanatory.) Plus, we could request a table by ourselves and not have to sit with strangers. (It’s soooo awkward to sit with strangers!) Alas, we were stuck with eating at 5:30, which is just so early for us. It makes the days seem so much shorter when you have to start getting ready for dinner around 4:30-5:00. Next cruise, we’re booking more in advance and doing anytime dining.

9) I feel like I didn’t get enough “cruise” this time around.

This is partly to do with my injury and partly to do with going on a four-day cruise that had two stops. I don’t feel like I really got to spend enough time enjoying the ship, relaxing outside, and taking in the views. I missed having a balcony, missed having an adults-only retreat that was far away from the loud music, missed having more low-key days of doing little. It all felt very rushed. A four-day cruise is just too damn short!

10) I need to cruise on a newer Royal Caribbean ship.

I’ve mostly cruised with Carnival and I love their ships. I’ve gone on two cruises with Royal Caribbean, both on older ships, and they’ve left a lot to be desired in terms of food, cabins, and amenities. Majesty of the Seas, the ship we were on for this cruise, first sailed in 1992 so it’s very much an old lady in the cruise game. The next time I cruise with RC, I want it to be on one of their newer ships that has all the bells and whistles that make this cruise line so beloved by so many people. Maybe that’s a goal for 2020. 😉