paddingtonbear

DH has an airsense11 for home but uses a travel CPAP when we aray because it is 1/10th of the size and much lighter. Also works on a battery if required. No water required for the humidifier as it is built in.  It’s a tiny bit noisier than the air sense so putting it on the nightstand shelf will be perfect.  Whatever works for you to get a safe good night sleep is the way to go. 
 

Thanks for the info about the under the bed power point and adapters. 

Hi I was thinking that the medallion wrist band looked like a useful accessory. 

But some on the various websites look the same as an apple watch band.  

Would an apple watchband fit the medallion?

Or is the lanyard the way to go?

On 5/19/2024 at 6:38 AM, Bemidji Ty said:

OP here.  Thanks to all for your responses.  We appreciate it.  We've decided to stay in the mini-suite and have increased our bid for the Reserve Collection.  The clincher for us is that we really enjoy what a private balcony adds to the cruising experience - especially in Alaska.  Whatever happens, we are looking forward to another cruise.  As our daughter stated, "First world problem."

 

Cheers

Personally, I think you made the right decision (such a difficult one!).

We had a balcony in Alaska and it was fabulous.  We went in early July and the weather was great.  We spent so much time on the balcony eating and drinking and watching the scenery and taking photos.  Especially in Glacier Bay. 

I love the balcony for the quick and easy access to the outdoors and would never sail without one.  You can take fabulous photos without the obstruction of the glass too. 

@walkingsoonThat is good to know.  We did the Royal around the UK. Not my first preference as I thought the ship too large but it fitted the itinerary.  But when we were on board it wasn't crowded at all, so many quiet places and we had a couple of tender ports which went smoothly and quickly.  I was impressed. 

We've also sailed on the Star to Alaska.  Again I would have opted for the smaller Island Princess but the Star fitted our itinerary.  It was great as well.  So I think we are easily pleased!

Thank you all very much.  I really have no idea where we will be spending a lot of time as I don't know the ship at all.  I have a lot to learn about the ship.  We finally got a balcony cabin on Deck 11 Baja mid aft close but not right next to the lifts and stairs. If you think we should go lower I can keep my eye out for vacant cabins as we get closer. 

Luckily I have a fair bit of time to research the places to go on the ship.  We don't mind walking up a few stairs.  We were on the Royal in 2015 on Caribe deck which seemed ok but my memory is pretty vague. 

31 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Is that mid-AFT on deck 9 or deck 14?

I would choose by deck.  I would go with deck 9.  We ended up on deck 15 way  forward when booking late...  Never again after the motion on that cruise.   SO much better when we were down in the Piazza on deck 5/6/7...   

Both deck 9 and deck 14 have mid aft cabins available.  We’ve been on deck 10 (caribe) on the Star princess but the Majestic is a much bigger ship and DH thought there might be a better view up high! I think we’ll go for deck 9 as it might be rough in September.
Thank you for your advice. 

Thank you both for you insights. Both deck 9 and 14 have cabins above and below. We’ll go for mid aft. Thank you. 

3 hours ago, Rubyfisch said:

I'm not sure it matters. We've been facing the port in Halifax and Charlottetown. I think I'd rather face the port in Charlottetown and the harbor in Halifax. I'll let you know which way we dock in Quebec City.

What about the view while sailing? Your view of the other land masses looks great from the port side. Thank you.
Looks like you are having great weather! 

I noticed your cabin is on the port side. Is there a preferred side for this cruise or are the views from both sides good? 

Hi The Majestic Princess has just about sold out for Sept 2025 New England Cruise.  

Which is better level 9 or 14?

And since I can't go mid ships is a tiny bit aft better (quieter and smoother ride) than a little bit forward?

I know to avoid the lifts, stairs and laundry.

Thank you. 

If you get the princess plus package does that mean you don't have to pay the mandatory gratuities?  Is it included in the $65 a day?

Hi We are thinking of doing a New England Cruise from Quebec City to Boston with a balcony in October is there a best side of ship?

I am thinking of views and less winds.  

Thank you very much for that rundown.  It was very helpful.

Hi, I haven’t been on Cruise Critic for ages but we have done two cruises - on the Star Princess (4300 passengers) and the Royal Princess (3080 passengers).  They are both big ships but we weren’t bothered by the passenger numbers but neither cruise had very many children.

We are looking at a New England cruise either on Emerald Princess (3080 passengers) or the Majestic Princess (3560 passengers) or HAL - Zuiderdam (1964 passengers) and the Volendam (1432 passengers).  Are any of these ships streets ahead of the others? We are in our 60s. 

Other than the ship size the main differences are the ports.  We really like nature and quiet places so we’d be looking for walks and things like that rather than cities.  To help us decide on one cruise over the other can you please tell me if any of these are must see ports or if are any not so memorable: Saguenay, Portland, Rockland, Bar Harbour or St Johns.

Thank you very much for your help.  I know I over think things but we will only be doing this once and we are trying to make the most of the trip.

We did a 10 day British Isles cruise on the Royal and were impressed. The buffet was well organised and excellent. Great food selection no matter what time you went. We ended up having breakfast, lunch and a few dinners there.

I was so worried the ship would be too big but it was big enough to hide the people it seemed! Lots of places to go and sit quietly. Lots of entertainment choices and lots of food choices.

Only one problem with crowds and that was at a tender port that made disembarking and embarking slow but we got to meet some nice people in the line so it worked out well.

Glacier Bay.

Also, if you can, go to Juneau for whale watching with Marv and Harv.

Absolutely sensational 8 people on the boat and we got close to so many whales, seals and eagles it was incredible.

In my experience the ships internet is slow. Really really slow. The premium package allows streaming so it is probably going to be quicker. Thinking about how much you are going to need to use it will determine your choice.

The Surf package would probably be fine but I’d probably go for the premium because although I don’t stream I don’t like sitting there waiting for pages to load and email to download.

While you can accomplish this if ALL your ID is stolen' date=' the more you can provide, the easier and better it will be. A photocopy of your passport, either on paper or stored in your phone will facilitate things. Sounds dumb, but get a digital copy, e-mail it to yourself, and store it under a file like "Stuff to save" or "2018 trip." It will be there if you ever need to pull it up.[/quote']

 

We always take a photo of documents with our phone but emailing it is a great idea just in case you lose your phone as you would still have access to it.

 

Thank you.

Looking forward to your reports.

Have a fantastic trip.

Princess and MSC are 2 very different types of cruises. I have sailed twice on both. In my opinion the only things MSC do better are that their rooms are larger and they have a very reasonable all inclusive drinks package. Princess is only in English and very American, with a lot of Americans on board. On MSC everything is announced in 5 languages (though English is the first) and it is very European, with people from all over the world. English speakers are the minority. Service is good on both lines.

 

By the way, I enjoy every cruise I go on.:D:D:D

Thank you for your thoughts.

I’ve been in a few overnight European ferries so think I know what you mean.

I’ve enjoyed every cruise I’ve been on too!

We have sailed with Princess twice and really enjoyed the Star and the Royal.

We are looking at doing a Venice to Greece cruise and were wondering if anyone had done an MSC cruise and could compare them to Princess for me?

We are doing a chilkoot tour in July- friends are doing the dog sled we are on the same tour but not doing the dog sled but still get to see the puppies. You get a better lunch (included) on this tour. We get to see the south end of Bennett lake I think!

The lake Bennett one sounds great but not worth the extra $$ if the weather is poor. You eat your lunch (included) on your lap in the train in this one.

Most say train up (leaves early) and leisurely bus back for better wildlife viewing time.

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The Royal and regal are large and crowded. The buffet is to big to look at everything first and then go back and get what you want and then find a seat. I prefer a small ship. There are as many opinions as there people. I would not sail on the Regal (same as the Royal) again, didn't care for it. YMMV.

I was amazed at how uncrowded and open the ship was when we had a full ship. I don't like crowds and would happily sail the Royal again. We were on the British isles cruise. The buffet is fantastically laid out and well worth walking around it entirely to see all the selections.

The staff were great.

The navigation is a little difficult. The problem is that only the forward stairs seem to go all the way top to bottom. Other stairs stop on different levels. Even the forward stairs require walking through club 6 (which was often reserved) or the casino. No other way to access the forward stairs on that level.

I really wanted to use the stairs and often did if the lifts were crowded but sometimes, as I got used to the layout of the ship I realised the lift was the way to go because it took you all the way top to bottom and you land centrally.

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I see what you mean. I guess it's just a shock, having paid for the cruise and then being hit with another $1,000+ just for drinks! Thanks for those prices, it's good information to have.

 

However taking into account that this cruise has so many days in port, I still don't think it will be worth it. We'll be on excursions every day we're in port, so we're only going to be drinking on board in the evenings and on the 3 "at sea" days. I'm hoping I'll have time to buy bottled water at the ports so I don't have to pay the high prices for it on board (and maybe the odd bottle of Prosecco as an aperitif on the balcony before dinner...). I'm thinking of taking some Tang or one of those little bottles of concentrated cordial to flavour the ship water.

 

On my only previous cruise (on RC), the fruit juice with breakfast was free and I used to have several glasses to "stock up" for the day. Do you know if it's free on Princess?

 

It's such a shame Princess don't have a wine package. RC had one on our last cruise and it was perfect - the ability to drink half or three-quarters of a bottle then keep the rest for the following night was ideal. We're mainly wine drinkers so we didn't drink much else - RC always had one cocktail on special every day and we had that, plus maybe one or two G&T's or bourbon & cokes in the evening.

 

Apart from that, we're Australians and our taste in coffee is very different from Americans, so I doubt we'll be buying any specialty coffees.

Princess have several wine packages. The coffee card gets you good espresso coffee at the international cafe. I suggest if you don't like instant or syrup coffee you but the coffee card. DH thought it was gods and he's very fussy.

There is also a beverage card about $8 a day which gives you yummy unlimited mocktails (and milkshakes- on some ships).

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