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MAJESTIC PRINCESS - 24th August - Shanghai to Sydney

cheznandy
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BuzzBuzzen

BuzzBuzzen

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Posted
We were up early for a walk this morning, really windy up on the top deck, so made our way forward to the Hollywood pool club and found they had a tea and coffee station set up just inside the doors, starboard side, if you dont want to walk through the early morning smokers go through the port side doors.

A great place for an early cup of tea without the hussle of the buffet. We grabbed a pod lounge up front and enjoyed our cup of tea and great ocean views.

I noticed a few of the cabanas with curtains had been nabbed, people in them with curtains drawn......i didnt see any reserved signs, maybe first in .......but this was about 7am!

Tea and coffee served here from 6am to 10am.

 

Coffee from Gong Cha and a bit of reading on our Kindles in the Crown Grill bar, all seats everywhere around mid morning are taken, havent found a secret quiet place yet......will let you know!

 

Lunched at Alfredos, a great free venue on Deck 7 midship. Menu consisted of Pizza, Pastas and Calzone. I orderd a pizza with a gluten free base, i am not allergic to gluten but feel better without it. It was really nice, like an egg pancake type* base. Place is busy whenever we walk past. Great attentive staff, filling water glasses and quick clean up of tables.

 

Attended the wine tasting at 3pm, free for Elite members. A small plate of cheese n crackers between 2, 5 tastes of different wines, it was over in 30 minutes, not sure what the cost was to attend.

 

We lazed in our cabin in the afternoon before dinner, gotta love the on demand TV, then after dinner went to Princess live for Name that Lyric, and I won! Yay, go me, walked away with a cheap bottle of sparkly, I answered the questions and Andy was the runner, so I guess he can have a glass!

 

We dock in Hong Kong at 6am, a Royal Caribbean ship is in tomorrow as well, our time was pushed forward as we are first in Captain said today.

 

To answer some questions, best spot for a group for sailaway would be aft at the Wakeview bar, you dont have to compete with the noise of a band on the main deck.

 

Elsie yes, i got your email, just not replying due to internet minutes used up, so replying on here to any questions. They will make you any drink onboard so you will be fine with a long island ice tea.

Look forward to seeing you when we disembark.

 

Till tomorrow

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

Thanks for the updates Cheryl , you sure know how to cruise , cheers, Buzz.

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ETdreamer

ETdreamer

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Posted
Hi all, we are just sailing away now, 9.30pm, 3 hours late.

Apparently ship was late in this morning due to typhoon. It took 2 hours to board from when we were dropped off to getting on the ship.

 

I have never seen such a line and chaos to board a ship!

 

Captain is Craig Street

CD is Andrew Kadillac

Yes, there is Crooners next to the casino.

The Gong Cha tea place is still there, probably will serve coffees.

*No wine packages, wine starting from$29 but not much for that price range.

Exclusive lounge held for Platinum, Elite and suite guests held in the Vista Lounge

4.30pm to 6.30pm, selected drinks $6.50.

Not sure if all available or just cocktail of the day, will find out tomorrow.

Note in cabin that Elite laundry turnaround will be 72hrs due to number of Elites.

Elite mini bar arrived in our cabin after boarding.

Coffee card now loaded on cruise card, $36.

 

Ship is lovely but havent had much of a chance to look around, everyone is buggered haha

Will check out what they have done with the kareoke suites tomorrow.

The Hollywood conservatory and pool is beautiful, doesnt appear that there is a fee for the cabanas.

The aft Wakeview bar and terrace off the buffet area is great.

 

Had a lovely dinner for two in the Concerto Dining room for Anytime dining.

 

More tomorrow

 

Chez n Andy

 

 

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

Hi Chez n Andy,

 

Are the old coffee cards still valid onboard, even though they now load the new ones on your cruise card? Here’s hoping, as we swapped our suite bar on the Golden Princess for a couple of coffee cards and are hoping to use them in January on Majestic.

 

Regards,

B&C

 

 

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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Posted
The new cruise terminal at the old airport site - Kai Tak is a bit of a fizzer I think. Modern but when we were in there last year on QM2, shops were empty. Not sure about now, perhaps Chez could advise.

There was still a lot of construction going on in May, I imagine it would still be going, but once finished, it will be awesome.

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cheznandy Holiday Sharing Rare

cheznandy

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So i will start a post while i am not payying for it....no need to copy and paste.

We were up at 5am for sail in to Hong Kong, dark and misty with a few lights on.

We reversed in, so our cabin is dockside, the Voyager is in front of us, it is a turnaround cruise.

We were off at 8am, had purchased Big Bus tickets on line.

There were free shuttles to a couple of shopping centres and no one, including the destination expert could tell me where the shopping centres were. Thanks to Google maps, I realised they are north and west of Kai Tak terminal, no where near where we needed to be, so a taxi it was, about $20 AUD. By the way Princess were selling the Bus tickets for $98, we purchased for about $60 online.

We shared a taxi with some others, got our tickets from the office at the ferry terminal, took the Star ferry across the bay, did the Red loop to the Peak on the tram, then the green loop to Stanley where we had a lovely Chinese lunch of fresh spring rolls, steamed buns with duck and shredded duck in lettuce cups, yum, washed down with a local beer.

Took the green line back to the ferry terminal, ferry back across to Kowloon, then the blue line for a loop around that area.

The day was filled with laughter, rain, laughter and more rain while sitting on the top deck of the open bus, lucky we had the free ponchos!!

 

We are back on the ship now, sailaway is at 9.30pm, so will have dinner then head out to the wakeview bar for sailaway and an earlyish night.

 

So my bucket list for Hong Kong, sail in by ship in the mist of morning, tick, Star ferry, tick, Peak tram , tick, Authentic chinese lunch, tick, and a night time sailaway with the lights of Hong Kong tick......well soon if i can stay awake.

 

One sea day, then Nha trang and HCMC in a row.

 

They have a couple of cultural shows on tonight before sailaway.

 

To answer a few questions,

 

Our meet n greet was held in the Allegro dining room.

Plenty of room for dancing in the atrium, it is very large. Not good if you want quiet time!

Going to enquie re Vietnam Visa tomorrow, they have had our passports since Busan.

Onboard currency is AUD

No happy hour, just the PES drinks of an afternoon, havent been back, maybe tomorrow.

Yes, Mimosas at the Welcome party/ champagne waterfall. Have as many as you can handle, Andy doesnt drink sparkly and he handled two haha

Yes, the terminal is really empty and bare. Would have liked to look up top, but the rain started again.

I have seen people using old coffee cards, but i was sure i read on here there was a cut off date to use them, pehaps someone else will know.....or i will ask tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

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cheznandy Holiday Sharing Rare

cheznandy

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The new cruise terminal at the old airport site - Kai Tak is a bit of a fizzer I think. Modern but when we were in there last year on QM2, shops were empty. Not sure about now, perhaps Chez could advise.

 

Re the wine tasting..Chez, I hope you did not eat the crackers, they contain wheat !!! If you ask in the MDR they can sometimes find GF crackers. I take my own, a few packs of Aldi rice crackers on board, being a full blown Coeliac. Stay off the bread rolls too, in the MDR they bring you GF tennis ball rolls or GF toast for dinner, as the GF bread is often inedible.

Les, no crackers for me!!

 

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Mitte

Mitte

Posted
Posted

Thanks for all the wonderful info Chez...

 

I have 3 cruises on Majestic coming up, Tassi R203 then NZ R219 and finally Hong Kong M517. Still trying to find out more info on HK.

 

After reading your info, I'm even more excited to get going !!!

 

I now know which MDR I will be seated in for the 5:30 session.. LOL..

 

Only 81 days to go till my first voyage on Majestic ! :) :)

 

 

Cheers, Peter

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trbarton "Live from...." Rare

trbarton

Posted
Posted
So i will start a post while i am not payying for it....no need to copy and paste.

We were up at 5am for sail in to Hong Kong, dark and misty with a few lights on.

We reversed in, so our cabin is dockside, the Voyager is in front of us, it is a turnaround cruise.

We were off at 8am, had purchased Big Bus tickets on line.

There were free shuttles to a couple of shopping centres and no one, including the destination expert could tell me where the shopping centres were. Thanks to Google maps, I realised they are north and west of Kai Tak terminal, no where near where we needed to be, so a taxi it was, about $20 AUD. By the way Princess were selling the Bus tickets for $98, we purchased for about $60 online.

We shared a taxi with some others, got our tickets from the office at the ferry terminal, took the Star ferry across the bay, did the Red loop to the Peak on the tram, then the green loop to Stanley where we had a lovely Chinese lunch of fresh spring rolls, steamed buns with duck and shredded duck in lettuce cups, yum, washed down with a local beer.

Took the green line back to the ferry terminal, ferry back across to Kowloon, then the blue line for a loop around that area.

The day was filled with laughter, rain, laughter and more rain while sitting on the top deck of the open bus, lucky we had the free ponchos!!

 

We are back on the ship now, sailaway is at 9.30pm, so will have dinner then head out to the wakeview bar for sailaway and an earlyish night.

 

So my bucket list for Hong Kong, sail in by ship in the mist of morning, tick, Star ferry, tick, Peak tram , tick, Authentic chinese lunch, tick, and a night time sailaway with the lights of Hong Kong tick......well soon if i can stay awake.

 

One sea day, then Nha trang and HCMC in a row.

 

They have a couple of cultural shows on tonight before sailaway.

 

To answer a few questions,

 

Our meet n greet was held in the Allegro dining room.

Plenty of room for dancing in the atrium, it is very large. Not good if you want quiet time!

Going to enquie re Vietnam Visa tomorrow, they have had our passports since Busan.

Onboard currency is AUD

No happy hour, just the PES drinks of an afternoon, havent been back, maybe tomorrow.

Yes, Mimosas at the Welcome party/ champagne waterfall. Have as many as you can handle, Andy doesnt drink sparkly and he handled two haha

Yes, the terminal is really empty and bare. Would have liked to look up top, but the rain started again.

I have seen people using old coffee cards, but i was sure i read on here there was a cut off date to use them, pehaps someone else will know.....or i will ask tomorrow.

 

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for all of your information.

Tom😀

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S&D

S&D

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Cheznandy....Thanks for your great photos and continuing cruise blog....we look forward to all your posts...glad your bucket list was fulfilled in HK... enjoy HCM....we love it there...cheers S&D :)

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mtn_couple

mtn_couple

Posted
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So i will start a post while i am not payying for it....no need to copy and paste.

 

Is it still pay per minute? I thought I read somewhere that they now had an unlimited internet option with Platinum and up getting discounted a rate.

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NSWP

NSWP

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Posted
Is it still pay per minute? I thought I read somewhere that they now had an unlimited internet option with Platinum and up getting discounted a rate.
Chez and Andy would be Elites, so they would each get 500 minutes of complimentary internet time on their current 21 dayer:cool:
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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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New to site trying to get in contact with Cheznandy re majestic cabin they are in

Thanks Janelle

Welcome to cruise critic, in an earlier post they said they were in a Deluxe Balcony obstructed,* E412, they also said that these are nearly the same cost as an inside, and have no obstruction.

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cheznandy Holiday Sharing Rare

cheznandy

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We were so tired last night after dinner, went to the aft deck at Wakeview bar, it was quite busy, but decided to sit on our balcony as we sailed out, then climbed into bed for the best nights sleep so far.

We ordered tea to our room and a sleep in, the balcony is hot,* we have the sun on our side in the mornings as we cruise down. We decided to skip breakfast this morning, neither of us feel hungry, so just tidying up a bit in the cabin, hard to believe this time last week were on a flight to Shanghai.

 

A coffee from Gong Cha, caught up with some friends sitting in Vines, catching up on yesterdays tours etc. While there, medical staff were called to the stairs in the Atrium, someone had had a fall, they covered the area with sheets so no one could see, but it appeared a woman had taken a fall. Those are the marble, curved stairs with different sized treads as it curves, tricky even for me who is able bodied.

Seen a woman with a big bruise on the side of here face, others in leg casts, some with legs bandaged and walking sticks, i think there have been a few falls.

Second night in a man collapsed outside the lifts, was lying on the floor unconscious, hopefully he has recovered.

 

Drinks in PES lounge, noticed they have taken the gaming tables out and replaced with small round silver tables. It was packed again, not a place we would frequent for the atmosphere, only for the $6.50 drinks. Prefer Skywalkers for sure.

 

We went to the 5.45pm show at 5.30pm and it was full, geez, what time do people get there, so that changed our plans as we had 2 hrs to fill in before our 7.45pm dinner in Concerto.

We sat in the Crown Grill bar listening the the guitarist/ singer, its a great atmosphere, very much like Crooners on other ships, there is a piano there as well.

*We decided to tell staff we would not be at Concerto tonight and have dinner earlier in Symphony as its Anytime all the time, but they told us to go on in as our usual table was available, how good are they??

 

Its Country night tonight, Buddy Holly show in the Princess theatre, 3 times slots, 5.45pm, 7.45pm and 9.45pm. We have retired early to finish a movie we started this afternoon.

Nha Trang in the morning, supposedly a 8am arrival. Paperwork on our bed this evening states Elites and Suite guests are to meet in Harmony restaurant for priority tendering.

 

 

Random thoughts....

 

They are offering shuttles in Brisbane, $20 p/p, drop off at Anzac Square and Anne st, begin at 8.30am till 4.30pm.

 

Sliding doors in cabins are really hard to open and close, therefore make heaps of noise slamming.

 

Missed the light show David, was having dinner, so not sure how well it could be seen from the ship at Kai Tak, but i am sure i will find* out!! Update, apparently there was no light show due to weather, told you i would find out haha

 

Re the internet, yes we have 500 minutes each free, i also had read that when logging on for the first time we may be offered unlimited for a fee, but no, we were not.

But i just type up my thoughts during the day, then just copy them to CC, i use Tapatalk and find it great for forums.

I am only online for 2 minutes at most, happy to say that 7 days in and have only used 150 of our combined 1000 minutes.

 

Re specialty dining venues, Harmony is $29 surcharge, Crown Grill which we thought was $29 is $35 and Le Mer is $45, friends went to Le Mer a couple of nights ago, were unimpressed so we will give it a miss for $90 per couple.

We have bookings for the Crown Grill and Harmony so will let you all know.

 

Janelle, i noticed you said you were trying to contact me, hopefully Mic has answered your queries, is there anything in particular you needed to know?

 

Just received details for Vietnam Visas, they are charging us $56, we do have two entries of Nha Trang and Vung Tau, but still expensive compared to other lines.

 

 

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land lover

land lover

Posted
Posted (edited)

Love reading your posts so informative. Impressed about your ability to minimize your minute usage.

 

Glad to hear those bulky gaming tables were removed in the Visa lounge.

 

 

Your Random thoughts have helped me regarding the Brisbane shuttle, leaving for AU in a few weeks.

 

 

Also the Visa thing with Vietnam seems to be a moving target..back in June 2017, as a US citizen was charged $55+1 USD(1port stop)....but have seen posted on CC since my trip, another Princess cruiser stating their OBA was charged 35USD?? it is what it is.:)

 

 

BTW it was so humid when we were cruising in south east Asia when opening up our balcony door all the mirrors in our cabin would fog up and my camera lens had fogging problems as well.

 

 

Keep on having a great time on beautiful Majestic.....

Edited by land lover
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Sailaway John

Sailaway John

Posted
Posted

Great reading your posts, CheznAndy. Wanted to ask you about the Meet & Greet you had. I see it was in the Vista Lounge. How many did you originally have and how many turned up and do you know if the Captain and/or staff were invited. This info is for the M&G that I am organising on our cruise from the 15th Sept. We have over 84 registered and they have set aside the Conservatory for us. I also have invites for the Captain and/or staff together with the CD if any of them wish to come. Also how was the Cabin Crawl I heard you mention? Sorry for all the questions but time is getting close for us and you are experiencing the new ship right now. Thanks.;p:cool:

 

y

We were so tired last night after dinner, went to the aft deck at Wakeview bar, it was quite busy, but decided to sit on our balcony as we sailed out, then climbed into bed for the best nights sleep so far.

We ordered tea to our room and a sleep in, the balcony is hot,* we have the sun on our side in the mornings as we cruise down. We decided to skip breakfast this morning, neither of us feel hungry, so just tidying up a bit in the cabin, hard to believe this time last week were on a flight to Shanghai.

 

A coffee from Gong Cha, caught up with some friends sitting in Vines, catching up on yesterdays tours etc. While there, medical staff were called to the stairs in the Atrium, someone had had a fall, they covered the area with sheets so no one could see, but it appeared a woman had taken a fall. Those are the marble, curved stairs with different sized treads as it curves, tricky even for me who is able bodied.

Seen a woman with a big bruise on the side of here face, others in leg casts, some with legs bandaged and walking sticks, i think there have been a few falls.

Second night in a man collapsed outside the lifts, was lying on the floor unconscious, hopefully he has recovered.

 

Drinks in PES lounge, noticed they have taken the gaming tables out and replaced with small round silver tables. It was packed again, not a place we would frequent for the atmosphere, only for the $6.50 drinks. Prefer Skywalkers for sure.

 

We went to the 5.45pm show at 5.30pm and it was full, geez, what time do people get there, so that changed our plans as we had 2 hrs to fill in before our 7.45pm dinner in Concerto.

We sat in the Crown Grill bar listening the the guitarist/ singer, its a great atmosphere, very much like Crooners on other ships, there is a piano there as well.

*We decided to tell staff we would not be at Concerto tonight and have dinner earlier in Symphony as its Anytime all the time, but they told us to go on in as our usual table was available, how good are they??

 

Its Country night tonight, Buddy Holly show in the Princess theatre, 3 times slots, 5.45pm, 7.45pm and 9.45pm. We have retired early to finish a movie we started this afternoon.

Nha Trang in the morning, supposedly a 8am arrival. Paperwork on our bed this evening states Elites and Suite guests are to meet in Harmony restaurant for priority tendering.

 

 

Random thoughts....

 

They are offering shuttles in Brisbane, $20 p/p, drop off at Anzac Square and Anne st, begin at 8.30am till 4.30pm.

 

Sliding doors in cabins are really hard to open and close, therefore make heaps of noise slamming.

 

Missed the light show David, was having dinner, so not sure how well it could be seen from the ship at Kai Tak, but i am sure i will find* out!! Update, apparently there was no light show due to weather, told you i would find out haha

 

Re the internet, yes we have 500 minutes each free, i also had read that when logging on for the first time we may be offered unlimited for a fee, but no, we were not.

But i just type up my thoughts during the day, then just copy them to CC, i use Tapatalk and find it great for forums.

I am only online for 2 minutes at most, happy to say that 7 days in and have only used 150 of our combined 1000 minutes.

 

Re specialty dining venues, Harmony is $29 surcharge, Crown Grill which we thought was $29 is $35 and Le Mer is $45, friends went to Le Mer a couple of nights ago, were unimpressed so we will give it a miss for $90 per couple.

We have bookings for the Crown Grill and Harmony so will let you all know.

 

Janelle, i noticed you said you were trying to contact me, hopefully Mic has answered your queries, is there anything in particular you needed to know?

 

Just received details for Vietnam Visas, they are charging us $56, we do have two entries of Nha Trang and Vung Tau, but still expensive compared to other lines.

 

 

Sent from my SM-T813 using Tapatalk

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