As we watched the sun sink slowly behind downtown Miami's wall of skyscrapers, my wife and I toasted our good fortune. We were in the high-up Viking Crown lounge aboard Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas, sailing out of Miami on the first pure weekend getaway we'd been on in many years.

Leaving Miami by ship is a cathartic thing. We were on an island in the sea, leaving behind soaring gasoline prices, job worries, expressway road rage and all the other things that make modern life something of a struggle.

One reason we chose the Majesty of the Seas as our getaway vehicle was its recent upgrades. Built in 1992, the Majesty of the Seas underwent a 28-day renovation last year, so we trusted it would be fresh and up-to-date. We booked a superior outside cabin, which meant we had a decent-sized room with window overlooking the sea. (Regular outside cabins are snug and have only a porthole; inside cabins are tiny. Like most ships of its era, the Majesty has very few balcony cabins.)

Courtesy of the ship-wide renovation, everything aboard looked fresh and clean. Besides completely refurbished staterooms -- yes, with Wi-Fi access and flat-screen TVs -- we were especially delighted with new features, including a reconfigured self-service restaurant, updated spa, Latin bar and teen club.

We boarded the ship early enough on Friday afternoon to sample the new casual eatery, Windjammer Café. This large restaurant on the pool deck spreads its selections over several island stations, a far better arrangement than the slow cafeteria-style lines on some rival cruise ships.

Food quality both here and in the main dining room was quite good. Breakfast offerings included eggs cooked to order; among dinner options during our three nights were escargot, duck and filet mignon.

But those weren't the only new dining options. The Compass Deli offered sandwiches and salads; hamburgers and milk shakes awaited at Johnny Rockets ($3.95 charge); Sorrento's served up pizzas; and Café Latté-tudes brewed Seattle Best coffees ($3-$5).

A major change on the renovated Majesty was the relocation and expansion of its spa and fitness center. The new contemporary-style Majesty Day Spa now has 10 treatment rooms as well as the virtual Elemis SpaBar -- a nook where guests can download Elemis health and beauty tips from a computer. The new teen-only area consists of the hip Living Room with games and chat spaces, and Fuel, a high-energy dance club.

Teens were fewer on our late-May cruise than in summer, but there still were dozens of young people among the 2,578 passengers. We watched some of them playing in a pick-up half-court basketball game on the open deck while others tested their physical agility on the new rock climbing wall at the ship's stern.

PRIVATE ISLE

When Saturday morning dawned, we looked out our window to see we were already anchored off Royal Caribbean's private island, CocoCay, where the ship would spend the day. Passengers could stay aboard if they pleased, but most went ashore.

On CocoCay, we browsed through some of the shops, ignoring what I call ''tourist junk'' -- painted coconuts, souvenir key chains and the like -- and bought a pretty handmade dress for our 4-year-old granddaughter.

For passengers wanting to work off some of the hefty portions of foods they get on board, CocoCay is ideal. We saw guests playing volleyball, line dancing in the sand, riding on personal watercraft, parasailing, swimming and diving. Less active types stretched out on the beach sand or on chaise lounges to improve their suntans. Everyone had plenty of room ashore, as the Majesty was the only ship anchored there that day.

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