Family of 4 spends seven days aboard NCL's Norwegian Majesty, including stops in Cayman Islands, Cozumel, and Key West

Our itinerary commenced with a Charleston, SC, departure on a Saturday morning in February--our intended destinations Grand Cayman Island, Cozumel, Mexico, and Key West, FL, finally returning to Charleston. As we exited our airport “limo” (another name for an expensive, ratty van), the unending parade of tipping and extra charges began. In the grungy, gravel lot of the Port of Charleston we were surrounded by decrepit, rusty, corrugated tin buildings, a few tattered pavilion tents and porta potties, some other travelers being dropped off, and an unpleasant lingering harbor odor.

Let the Tipping Begin

We paid and tipped the limo driver, gave our bags to a porter to put on a trolley 2 feet from the cab’s door (tip again), walked 30 feet to wait 15 minutes for a van that drove us about a hundred yards (tip jar), so we could walk into a building to wait in an enormous line for customs and check in. Our apprehensions about our money slipping away was offset by the excitement of our first cruise. Once through the check-in ordeal, we navigated our way through the first of many photographic sessions (fortunately they became more or less optional as time went on). We posed at a fake railing with a green screen behind us (later to be replaced by a photo of the ship). The giant ship itself could be seen just outside the door, but a sign forbade any photos.

Nor was our excitement dampened by the drizzle or cloudy skies overhead. We sought out our state room, which was on the lowest deck save for the crew. It was actually nice, having two windows, two twin beds, two pull-down bunk beds above them, a desk, and a fair amount of floor space. The bathroom was smaller than a jet plane’s, but we pretty much expected that. We went out to explore--not a small task as there were 10 decks! (I will admit right now it took me until nearly the end of the week to be able to remember where things were and to find my way around the ship; our kids caught on much faster.) Ten decks means a lot of stairs for exercise if you wanted to make a feeble attempt to keep your weight in check with all the round-the-clock eating. Elevators were available.