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All text and photographs (unless stated otherwise) ©  Paul Timmerman, photographs made on a cruise in 2001

Majesty of the Seas is the last vessel in a trio of super-ships, at the time of their entry into service the largest shipbuilding project in history.

Sistership Sovereign of the Seas, the first to enter service in 1987 followed by Monarch of the Seas in 1991 are the other two vessels of this illustrious trio.

                                                 Mikado dining room, Showtime deck

Of course the Norway of Norwegian Cruise Lines started it all. In the late seventies and the beginning of the eighties, the number of newbuildings in the cruise industry was rather small. At the time the ideal tonnage for a cruise vessel was considered to be around 20 to 25.000 GRT. Suddenly, in 1979 Kloster (owner of NCL) bought the France, measuring an impressive GRT, a former French transatlantic liner that had been idle in Le Havre for 5 years. He had her towed to Germany where she was rebuilt into the cruise liner Norway. She proved to be an instant success and still was until recently when a boiler explosion forced her in lay up, over 20 years later!

RCCL’s trio of mega cruise ships were the answer and they started a period of building one large cruise vessel after another still continuing today, as even cruise lines that do not belong to the “big four” (Carnival, RCCL, Princess, NCL/ Star) like e.g. Festival , HAL and MSC order vessel after vessel measuring 50.000 GRT or (much) more……

                                                            Reception area, Showtime deck

Majesty of the Seas has a fine external appearance. It is said that RCCL has even sacrificed some cabins to give  her an elegant exterior. Her rounded stern reminds of (probably the most famous of all) transatlantic liner the French Normandie (1935-1942), built at the same yard, Chantiers de L´Atlantique at Le Havre.

Onboard..... 

Her pool and lido area are a logical development from three of the former RCCL ships, starting with the Song of Norway in 1970. There are two swimming pools, two spas, sports areas and several outside bars.

                                                                         Sun deck

The area around the pool is sheltered. One deck higher there are open decks with a view over the pool area and the ocean.

A nice outdoor feature missing on many of today ships is the walk around promenade on Promenade deck (where else....), where it is possible to stroll or jog around the entire vessel.

Indoors. Majesty of the Seas` interiors are arranged vertically, the 5 deck atrium appropiately called The Centrum separates the cabins from the public spaces which are located fore and aft respectively.

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                                                       Lido area                    Mikado dining room, Showtime deck

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