We have returned from the New Year 2012/3 cruise to the Canaries on the Thompson Majesty. The Majesty is Thomsons newest ship and having been many times on the other ships we were interested to try it out and see if it is better than the older ships, so when we saw it was in Madeira for new years Eve we jumped at the chance.

The Majesty despite being a 'newer' ship is still old and in need of updating and the numerous failed glazing units spoil the appearance and despite being purpose built the design is poor. There does not seem to be a heart or outstanding feature such as atrium or staircase. The ship vibrated really badly when at low speed - which was most of the time at sea - which you could feel and hear particularly in the Jubilee Lounge near the stage area and also in some cabins.

Although not a last minute booking all the outside plus cabins on decks 3-4 had gone so we had to take the basic outside cabin which is very small, but not as bad as we feared, just no spare space and have to take it in turns to move around. The cabin only had room for a 50cm wide chest of drawers and a single wardrobe, which was just big enough to accommodate clothes for a 1 week cruise. Although it could be configured as a double this would mean pushing the 2 beds together against the wall and climbing over each other so we left it as twin. The standard size shower room was fine. The safe took up valuable space in the wardrobe and the charge for this is excessive. I think the Plus cabins would be a lot better if you don't want to be so cramped. Our cabin was quiet and we had no problems with air-con, water temperature or blocked/delayed action toilets which plague the other ships but don't know if we were just lucky this time. Read more