Majestic designed for China market?

[rentlady]

:confused:i am on this ship in March. I keep seeing that it was designed for “the China market”. What does this mean? Are the beds shorter? Food different? Entertainment? Any thoughts?

[moki'smommy]

I have no idea what that specifically means. I do know that when the Diamond is cruising around Japan, the toilets in the public areas are changed out to Japanese toilets. The food is different in the buffet and MDRs, changing to a combination of American and Japanese dishes. There is a Japanese bath on the ship. Many of the crew were bi-lingual or tri-lingual; crew who spoke fluent Japanese and English were especially valuable. The beds were the normal beds. Announcements were made in both languages.

 

There was an ACD who spoke Japanese; my daughter, who also speaks Japanese was not impressed with her abilities.

 

Entertainment included Japanese lessons, as well as traditional storytelling in both languages, traditional dancing, a chance to dress up and have photos made in several types of garments, etc. as well as the usual Princess entertainment and activities. For many activities, the language was listed (trivia in Japanese, for instance), and the language for excursions was noted.

[fishywood]

Rather than spew an offensive stereotype like "are the beds shorter?" a simple glance at the deck plans (especially side by side with the Royal or Regal) will reveal the following:

 

Vista Gaming Lounge instead of Vista Lounge, and VIP rooms in the Casino, as there are a lot more "high rollers" on Asia cruises;

Karaoke Suites inside the Spa/Enclave;

No Sabatini's Trattoria: Harmony Chinese Restaurant and La Mer French Bistro are unique Specialty Restaurants;

Leaves Tea Bar and Ocean Terrace Juice Bar in lieu of more traditional ones;

The buffet is the World Fresh Marketplace format rather than Horizon Court/Bistro;

Noodle Bar and Lobster Grill instead of pizza and burgers next to the pool;

No Sanctuary or other upcharge deck areas; replaced by enclosed Hollywood Conservatory;

An Outdoor Exercise Circuit replacing the aft pool.

 

A few years ago someone posted Patters and MDR menus from a ship (Diamond or Sapphire?) sailing Japan. Entertainment and activities were split near 50/50 between the two languages. And the 'Princess Favorites' side of the menu was miso salmon, teriyaki chicken, several vegetarian dishes, and pickled octopus.

 

Of course in March 2019 Majestic will be finishing up a brief season in Australia/New Zealand before heading back to Asia. So 'tis very possible the menus and activities will be tailored to that market, though obviously the venue differences will remain. In just over a month Majestic will embark on her first non-Asia sailings (apart from some shakedown cruises when first launched in Europe) so you have time for some first-hand reports before you sail.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Since you'll be sailing on her out of Australia the menus will be the usual Princess ones, or at least the Australian variations of those.

 

The entertainment will be standard Princess as well, with maybe some local Australian or NZ performers.

 

Even if you're doing the Sydney to Hong Kong repositioning cruise things will be very western. I'm not sure whether they have permanent Chinese signage on the ship and will just add English signage for the Australian season or whether there will be a complete changeover when the ship reaches Hong Kong. The latter occurred when I did the Golden repositioning cruise a couple of years ago, when Golden went to China for a season.

 

Note: the onboard currency will be AUD, even on the repositioning cruise.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I recommend you read this thread. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2480969

Lots of useful info and pictures there.

[Rassa]

I recommend you read this thread. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2480969

Lots of useful info and pictures there.

 

Thanks for that, it was a pleasure to read and interesting.

 

However, the bit about he would not go on Majestic again, even though he enjoyed his cruise, is a concern.

 

I am booked on Majestic in 2020 - think I will just look at the reviews etc.

Rosie

[OzKiwiJJ]

It's going to be interesting to see how she goes in the Australia region. I'm doing a six night cruise to Tasmania on her in November. I cruised on Royal last year so I know what that class of ship is like, but it remains to be seen whether the changes for the Chinese market work or don't work in Australia.

 

From my point of view the one strike against Majestic, even before I board, is the lack of the Sanctuary which is our favourite place to chill out on sea days.

 

However I think she'll be a great ship for NZ cruises with the covered pool and Hollywood Observatory forward.

[LSGDRG]

I have also booked a cruise on the Majestic Princess for March 2019. I have been hearing that there will be adjustments made to the ship to make it more compatible for the Australian market. For example, I have read that the private karaoke suits are being turned into a bar. Does anyone know if this is true or just rumor?

[BritinSoCal]

We're taking the Majestic from Sydney to Auckland in November before we explore the North Island under our own steam and are really looking forward to this, having previously cruised on the Regal. I suspect Princess know their target market, so I imagine the public areas, restaurants and bars will be "tweaked." However, as someone who has travelled extensively in Asia, I'd quite fancy a noodle bar and a Chinese restaurant. Beside which, who doesn't like Karaoke? (Dyed in the wool traditionalists can form an orderly queue way over there...)

[Petron]

We will be sailing on the Majestic in September and hope they tweak it a little for a more western audience BUT don’t take the karaoke away!!

[rentlady]

Dear Fishywood, I personally found your remark rude . I was just asking a question. Please learn to play nice.

[dides]

:confused:i am on this ship in March. I keep seeing that it was designed for “the China market”. What does this mean? Are the beds shorter? Food different? Entertainment? Any thoughts?

 

We went on her preview cruise last year - lots of tweaks for the Chinese market which we recorded in our blog post.We would cruise on her again.

Just watched an amusing

from a recent cruise out of Taiwan before any further changes are made for the Aussie market.

 

Sandra

[TheRabbit]

Dear Fishywood, I personally found your remark rude . I was just asking a question. Please learn to play nice.

I think he was just trying to be ultra PC as the "short bed" statement to some can be considered a slur. He did provide you with the main differences between the ships.

[BritinSoCal]

Dear Fishywood, I personally found your remark rude . I was just asking a question. Please learn to play nice.

 

Then again, I'd have probably thought twice before adding the phrase "are the beds shorter..."

[WAMarathoner]

:confused:i am on this ship in March. I keep seeing that it was designed for “the China market”. What does this mean? Are the beds shorter? Food different? Entertainment? Any thoughts?

Our waiter on the last cruise said that the food would indeed be different. They removed the sushi from Vines during our cruise; he said that it was going to be standard on the Majestic and that they would also be incorporating a lot more seafood and vegetable dishes. I'm wondering about the cost. We weren't completely thrilled with the food on our last cruise (Caribbean Princess) and will probably give the Majestic a try.

[PrincessLuver]

Dear Fishywood, I personally found your remark rude . I was just asking a question. Please learn to play nice.

 

I thought the post of Fishywood was right on. We sailed Majestic on her initial voyage to Asia and the ship was almost identical to the Royal and Regal except for some of the changes mentioned in Fishywood's post. It is definitely a Royal class ship and that is about it....tweaks can easily be made to some areas of the ship without much effort if Princess wants too....we found nothing off putting about the Majestic the way she was!!

[BritinSoCal]

...Just watched an amusing

from a recent cruise out of Taiwan before any further changes are made for the Aussie market. Sandra

 

Thx for posting the link - great fun.

 

 

Memo to Princess - seriously, don't change a thing.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I have also booked a cruise on the Majestic Princess for March 2019. I have been hearing that there will be adjustments made to the ship to make it more compatible for the Australian market. For example, I have read that the private karaoke suits are being turned into a bar. Does anyone know if this is true or just rumor?

 

When I was on Royal last year a senior F&B crew member mentioned that there would be changes for the Australian season however she didn't know exactly what they would be.

 

More bars is the obvious change since there is no Crooners.

[dbeckett]

Was on the Majestic for the first and last time when she was repositioning from Europe to Singapore (couldn't do the whole repositioning work were not happy).

 

At that time I would say the shops (which aren't too many on Princess) were high end clothes and jewelry - though that might have change, the Karaoke was poorly used. The change to the Vista Gaming lounge meant that for things like trivia, art shows and Captain's Circle were cramped and not as successful.

 

Then as with Royal ships the balconies are miniscule (I should have said we will not sail on any Royal ship - not just the Majestic based on this).

 

I know there was a lot of talk from Australians on the cruise that unless changes were made it would not be practical for them.

[keithm]

:confused:i am on this ship in March. I keep seeing that it was designed for “the China market”. What does this mean? Are the beds shorter? Food different? Entertainment? Any thoughts?

Beds are the same. There will be writing in Mandarin & English. Whether the writing is "removable" I don't know. You will find an Asian style eatery on board, but foods can be easily changed for the region the ship sails. Entertainment as well. It's foolish not to tap a huge market like Asia.

[getting older slowly]

I was thinking about giving the Big "M" a try , but for the moment I will wait until some reports have come back from fellow Aussies when it is here.... So from all the comments for now I think it is a "No" to Royal Class Ships.

 

Cheers Don

[Thorpe]

I’m on her first trip out of Sydney and will be waiting to hear from the folks doing the repositioning cruise on how she is looking . I am excited as any cruise is a good cruise and on a new ship I haven’t been on, then even more so [emoji1]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[OzKiwiJJ]

I was thinking about giving the Big "M" a try , but for the moment I will wait until some reports have come back from fellow Aussies when it is here.... So from all the comments for now I think it is a "No" to Royal Class Ships.

 

Cheers Don

 

We really enjoyed Royal Princess. The cabins are as nice as the grand class ships and the shower seemed to be a tad bigger, Crooners was definitely better than the grand class ships but not as good as the sun class, and it was so nice not having to fight our way through the photo gallery on deck7. Also the atrium was bigger so the IC never seemed too crowded. Yes, the balconies are small but that didn't bother us. It was big enough for a balcony dinner.

 

Majestic will be different but the differences make her interesting.

[lx200gps]

Dear Fishywood, I personally found your remark rude . I was just asking a question. Please learn to play nice.

 

Well, some could argue that making a silly statement like "...are the beds shorter?..." isn't playing nice either.

[voljeep]

KeithM - when did you sail on the Majestic? .... I thought you eventually posted that you had only one Princess cruise , and it was on the Regal for two weeks...:rolleyes: