sunviking90

Sometimes yes, sometimes no has been my experience. They aren’t calling it Greek yogourt, but here on the Majestic it is definitely strained and thick. It’s really good! On the Crown back in July, they had it for the first few days then it was just plain yogourt.

I was told there are 2023 guests on board, so about 60% capacity. We are really enjoying the break from “full” cruises. Reminds us of 2022. I wasn’t expecting formal night to be yesterday as we were in port until 1:30, so we made reservations for Crown Grill. Service was wonderful, but we didn’t feel the food quality was as good as our other recent visits in other ships. Oh, well. Everything else so far is great. We are looking forward to being back in the MDR tonight. The first evening we had 3 waiters taking care of us and they were a lot of fun. We have also met some lovely people on board. And I found my first duck!

We just joined you and are already impressed with the friendly crew. Smiles all around. We arrived at Canada Place at 10:30 and after a 5 minute wait to pick up our medallions and get checked in, we hustled through security, and were on the ship by 11 am. No waiting in chairs. Looking forward to 5 days of relaxation. I am also kicking myself for not booking the entire trip to Honolulu. Oh well. We just enjoyed our embarkation lunch in Allegro. Salmon was excellent (and we know our salmon here in BC!), and the orange soufflé had the highest rise I’ve seen in a while. A great start!

On thé Discovery (and all other Royal Class ships) the veranda cabins are “balcony” which has no sofa, “deluxe balcony” which DOES have a sofa, and a premium deluxe balcony which also has a sofa, but a larger balcony also. You don’t need to go up to a mini suite. This is one thing we like on this class of ship. It’s usually not much more to get a deluxe balcony.

I have ordered soy milk in the past.

This is great! It’s about time too. We are not vegan, but are also not huge meat eaters and try to base our meals around vegetables at home. It’s great to see more options than the usual traditional saucy meat and chicken dishes. Now I’d really like to see some Buddha bowl options at lunch too. The sad salads don’t really do it.

We like the smaller ship, but as @seaoma says the balconies will come at a premium. An advantage for the Zaandam is that she is small enough to leave from Montreal instead of Quebec City. Much easier to fly into, and you still get a stop in Quebec City.

I’ll be looking forward to following along. Wishing you a smooth, and healthy sailing.

So glad you’re enjoying the Majestic! We are joining you in 2 days and super excited! The Royal class ships are not our favorite but we love the Majestic. I’m not sure what the difference is. She also has a soft spot in our hearts as our first post Covid cruises were on her in early 2022. Of course 30% occupancy helped! She was one of the first Princess ships brought back into service and the crew at that time all loved being on her and were a tight knit group having all started back together. It sounds like that friendly culture has continued. Can’t wait for Tuesday! The weather in Vancouver is beautiful today, but it looks rain on Tuesday. Hopefully it’ll hold off for us.

I also find Princess MDR breakfast menu pretty limited, but on the Emerald last month I asked for and got sliced avocado with whole wheat toast, with poached eggs on the side, so I could assemble my own avocado toast. Unfortunately I didn’t realize they would do this until the 17th day of a 19 day cruise, lol. Avocado is nowhere on the menu. I think the toast was actually multigrain. Whole grain seems scarce on Princess. A lady next to us also ordered the James Beard French toast (if you like the sweet things) even though it wasn’t on the menu for breakfast. It was on the lunch menu only as a brunch item.

I wouldn’t call the ramen an extra “entree”. More of a starter IMHO. I would hope the extra entree in Reserve Class is something more substantial than that. On the Emerald Princess a few weeks ago, our waiter would let us know every night of an extra entree in the regular MDR. It was always an Indian dish. I asked him if the chef was Indian (South Asian) and he said no, but they often will add a dish that they think the will appeal to the passengers on that particular cruise.

We usually write in 2 boiled eggs and a fruit plate. The fruit plate was always different, but very generous and enough for 2 we felt.

Glad to see you’re posting on here. We follow your adventures on your blog and really enjoy it. It’s very well written and laid out with great photos!

Hazelnut bar is the best!

This was an extra item daily in the MDR when we were on the Crown in July. I enjoyed the option of something a little different.

We’ve found this varies from ship to ship. Some are better organizing this than others. We also make reservations for 5:20 or 5:40 to avoid the “scrum”. It can feel like an airport boarding gate at 5 pm.

Yes, but it sounds like he hasn’t booked the Vancouver to LA yet, so was giving him a heads up in case that was his intention.

As long as you are not on the previous sailing from Whittier to Vancouver and planning a B2B. That may run you into a PVSA violation regardless of where in the US you plan to disembark. If you’re just doing this cruise, you just need to request a deviation. You will have cleared US customs in SF though, so customs won’t be an issue.

We usually start to feel pudgy and boated about halfway through the cruise. We get home and in 2 days or so our weight is normal and we feel “healthier”. It’s for sure water retention from all the salt. I have asked for steamed veggies in the past hoping for something healthier, but they tasted like they had been cooked in salt water or brined. It’s certainly easier to better options in the buffet, but I really don’t enjoy eating up there.

Yes, our first cruise on RCCLs Sun Viking in 1991 was also out of Ballantyne pier. RCCL often ended up there as Princess and HAL had priority at Canada Place. Canada place increased their berths about 20? years ago.

Wow! The Storm they’re hyping is supposed to hit western Vancouver Island this afternoon/evening. I wonder if they’ll bring you into Vancouver early?

Agree, Canada Place was never designed to accommodate so many passengers. They are now using the old convention halls to process people, but nothing can help the fact that almost all those people will then have to file through US customs which is unique to Vancouver. There is also almost no way to expand the terminal. The upside is that is is right in downtown Vancouver. There are not many cruise terminals in the world anymore where you can walk a few steps to your 5 star hotel or a world class dining and shopping.

We absolutely find the newer ships the be priced lower obviously due to higher numbers and operating costs. More bang for your buck in stateroom choices (couches!) too. Having said that, we prefer the older ships. Now that ships are back at capacity, we find the public areas always feel crowded on the newer ships.

Your download doesn’t work for me, but my SIL said she heard on the news a “storm” is coming. It’s a beautiful, partly sunny and calm day here (Coquitlam) so far. If you’re feeling it, I guess the island will get the brunt of it.

I actually saw these used long before I was reading CC on a Disney forum probably 20 years ago. I just thought it was a thing on forums. Doesn’t bother me.