After three sailings on three different Disney ships, it was time to try another cruise line. This time, with no children in tow, my husband and I took a short 3 night trip to CocoCay and Nassau on RCI's Majesty of the Seas (sister ship of the Monarch of the Seas). Since it is a smaller, older ship, we found it natural to compare our experience to our previous voyages on Disney's Magic and Wonder ships.

Boarding: RCI gets a point here for fast service and early boarding. We entered the terminal at 11:10 am, walked right up to a representative, got our picture taken, boarding started at 11:30 and we were at the pool, settled in with drinks and snacks by 11:45. Amazing. It made that first day seem pleasantly longer. Our rooms were ready with our luggage at the door at 1 pm sharp. RCI's terminal building is less fancy and there aren't any good spots to get a picture of the ship unlike Disney's outside patio.

Liquor policy: Disney wins, hands down, for letting people bring liquor on board. We had to 'sneak' alcohol onto RCI. We were successful, but our friends tried to fill a water bottle with flavored vodka and got caught. The security attendant shook the bottle looking for bubbles. Water doesn't react to shaking the same way alcohol does. All security did was throw it out but it was a waste. Drinks on board the Majesty were wonderful with a very long mixed drink menu and prices at $6-8/drink for some pretty fun concoctions which seemed a little cheaper than Disney. Read more