LIVE - 4cats4me’s last-minute cruise on the Majestic Princess, August 29, 2021

[1emerald1]

2 hours ago, 4cats4me said:

Disembarked walk- off Group C at 8:10 made it to the airport by 9:00. As instructed last week by the Shuttle driver from Seattle express, I walked to parking space R, and there was  already a shuttle bus waiting  with a few people on it , and I was able to get a seat on that shuttle. 
otherwise, it would have been a 15 - minute wait, since the coordinator indicated that the vans circle every 15 minutes. 
Ccheck- in only took a few minutes and I was through the huge TSA line within 15 minutes. Now sitting here having my coffee and croissant.  Flight doesn’t leave for two more hours. 
 

Last night, I decided to go to dinner early, at 6 PM, and to my surprise, the dining room was already packed and they were able to get me in since I was a party of one and wanted to share a table so I was number seven at an eight top. The couple ahead of me were turned away because they basically wanted their own table and they were told no because there was nothing available. 
This was the most crowded I had seen the dining room the entire cruise. 
So, shortly after I arrived,  they did the baked Alaska parade which was interesting because I’m used to that happening at the end of a meal not before I’ve ordered LOL 

so basically I think the secret to the dining room is to time it so that you’re not overlapping , ie, if the dining room opens at 5 PM, if you show up at 6:00 expect it to be crowded , as The tables most likely won’t turn over in one hour, unlike my experience going between 620 and 640 at that point the 5 o’clock diners have had 90 minutes plus to complete their meals.  
so to me the 620 to 640 dining was perfect. 
I had occasion to dine one night at 7 o’clock and the dining room was packed. 
Last night, the company was delightful,  and we didn’t leave until 9 PM. 

 

I met most wonderful people on this cruise. and  everyone was so nice to me, being a solo traveler, and I wasn’t sure what to expect regarding the shared table situation, or if I’d even be allowed to share at all, with the new era of cruising that has been ushered in.  
I feel like we were the lucky ones,  because it seemed that many issues had been worked out by the time we boarded, and we didn’t have any of the dining room issues that I had read about previously.  
 

Regarding the stateroom,  everything was perfect,  and I never had to ask my steward for anything.  Never had to ask for the little elite amenities never had to request delivery of my pre-ordered water package never had to request items from the minibar, it was just all their upon boarding. 
I do think that is due, in large part, to the fact that our sailing was only at 53% capacity.
 

I think this cruise has spoiled me forever, not having to wait for anything,  no crowds  anywhere, and overall, it was just a fantastic cruise!

 

 Next up: Discovery Princess, (if she is delivered on time) March 27, 2022, which is supposed to be the fourth sailing, or who knows, maybe the Inaugural!

 

Thank you to everyone on previous sailing’s who started the live threads, who got me so excited that I just had to book this last minute cruise. Thank you for all your valuable input, which helped me immensely. 
Thank  you to all on this sailing who contributed to this live from  thread.  It’s so important to get everyone’s perspective, since we all view everything through a different lens.  
 

And most of all, thank you to everyone else for following along this week!

Happy Sailing

 

4cats 

I'm booked on the March 27 Discovery too!  However this booking doesn't show up on my medallion app.  I've e-mailed and had two lengthy conversations with the Ocean people to no avail.  Is your booking listed on your app?  If this ever gets resolved and I do go on the cruise, I'd enjoy meeting you!

[gvre]

Got off the ship at 9 and was at airport by 10

Using the new airport porter so far so good.

Ship was great very very friendly staff

Chefs Table was OK main course was veal very tuff and lobster not good.

This was our 5th chefs table and worst.

Salmon fishing and weather great

 

[Wavelet]

Thank you for your comments on your travels. It makes me excited for our cruise. It’s fun traveling with all of you. Just a question … is there another cruise commencing 9/5 on this ship? I see 9/12 but not this week. It seems strange that the ship isn’t in service this week. Hopefully nothing went wrong on previous cruises.

   Anyway, thank you for taking time to let us know about your cruise. Safe travels home.

[gvre]

7 minutes ago, Wavelet said:

Thank you for your comments on your travels. It makes me excited for our cruise. It’s fun traveling with all of you. Just a question … is there another cruise commencing 9/5 on this ship? I see 9/12 but not this week. It seems strange that the ship isn’t in service this week. Hopefully nothing went wrong on previous cruises.

   Anyway, thank you for taking time to let us know about your cruise. Safe travels home.

Yes they are boarding right now.

They were expecting about 2500 passengers 

We were at about 1800

[trbarton]

Thanks for your live thread. Curious was the boarding times enforced or could you show up whenever you wanted?

 

Tom😀

[KLM3164]

9 hours ago, TinaLee said:

Odd question that just popped into my mind. I have really bad arthritis in my thumbs and I have a real issue with those hair dryers where you have to keep holding down the button to make it work (not a simple on/off switch). Can anyone who has been on Majestic tell me what kind of hairdryer they provide so I know if I need to pack my own?  Thanks a million! 

Our cabin had the hair dryer where you have to hold down the button in order for it to work.

[KLM3164]

13 minutes ago, trbarton said:

Thanks for your live thread. Curious was the boarding times enforced or could you show up whenever you wanted?

 

Tom😀

We showed up at 11:15 and our boarding time was 11:30 and we went right in. 

[Sea Hag]

31 minutes ago, trbarton said:

Thanks for your live thread. Curious was the boarding times enforced or could you show up whenever you wanted?

 

Tom😀

We were on a Princess bus. Bus pulled in, we all got out and went on in. Nobody that I saw was checking arrival times. We had group A, 11:30 to 11:45 and were on the ship by 11:15.

[KLM3164]

Our flight home isn’t until 7:30 tonight so we had time to kill today. We ended up booking the Princess excursion to the Space Needle and Pike Place Market. We got dropped off at the airport at 1:30 so it’s turning into a long day but luckily flight is just under 2 hours.

 

We started our day at 6:30 with breakfast in the dining room. We got off the ship around 8:00 and got to the Space Needle at 9:00 when it opened. I’ve never been up in it so I was happy to see the views of the city and of the Majestic Princess.

 

We had about 2 hours at the PP Market and watched the flying fish, went to Starbucks and had lunch while we were there. It was very crowded and I was ready to get back on the bus and get out of there. 

Looking forward to getting home to see my cat tonight and sleeping in my own bed. I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and hope to sail on the Majestic Princess again as I thought it was a beautiful ship. Our next sailing is B2B on the Sky in November.

 

I’d especially like to thank @4cats4me for setting up this Live thread and sharing your perspective and photos of the cruise. I looked forward to reading your updates everyday! I hope you had smooth travels back to the Bay Area today and maybe we will see you on another cruise in the future. Take care and enjoy your retirement!

Edited September 6, 2021 by KLM3164

[milogurd]

Is anyone doing a "Live From" for the 9-15 Cruise?

[milogurd]

45 minutes ago, milogurd said:

Is anyone doing a "Live From" for the 9-15 Cruise?

OOPS! meant 9-05 cruise.

[4cats4me]

3 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

Our flight home isn’t until 7:30 tonight so we had time to kill today. We ended up booking the Princess excursion to the Space Needle and Pike Place Market. We got dropped off at the airport at 1:30 so it’s turning into a long day but luckily flight is just under 2 hours.

 

We started our day at 6:30 with breakfast in the dining room. We got off the ship around 8:00 and got to the Space Needle at 9:00 when it opened. I’ve never been up in it so I was happy to see the views of the city and of the Majestic Princess.

 

We had about 2 hours at the PP Market and watched the flying fish, went to Starbucks and had lunch while we were there. It was very crowded and I was ready to get back on the bus and get out of there. 

Looking forward to getting home to see my cat tonight and sleeping in my own bed. I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise and hope to sail on the Majestic Princess again as I thought it was a beautiful ship. Our next sailing is B2B on the Sky in November.

 

I’d especially like to thank @4cats4me for setting up this Live thread and sharing your perspective and photos of the cruise. I looked forward to reading your updates everyday! I hope you had smooth travels back to the Bay Area today and maybe we will see you on another cruise in the future. Take care and enjoy your retirement!

It was so nice meeting you and yours, Kim.  Really enjoyed all your pics! The Royal Class ships are gorgeous.  

The cruising world is small, so I’m sure we will encounter one another on a future cruise.  I know what you mean about missing the kitties.  😊

Safe travels!

 

[4cats4me]

3 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

We were on a Princess bus. Bus pulled in, we all got out and went on in. Nobody that I saw was checking arrival times. We had group A, 11:30 to 11:45 and were on the ship by 11:15.

 

3 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

We showed up at 11:15 and our boarding time was 11:30 and we went right in. 

 

4 hours ago, trbarton said:

Thanks for your live thread. Curious was the boarding times enforced or could you show up whenever you wanted?

 

Tom😀

Nah.   Nobody checked anything, it seemed.  

 

[4cats4me]

8 hours ago, 1emerald1 said:

I'm booked on the March 27 Discovery too!  However this booking doesn't show up on my medallion app.  I've e-mailed and had two lengthy conversations with the Ocean people to no avail.  Is your booking listed on your app?  If this ever gets resolved and I do go on the cruise, I'd enjoy meeting you!

Hi, @1emerald1

Yes, it shows in the app, but there is no ship name, only the date.  Hmm. And  it would be fun to meet you onboard.  Fingers crossed! 

[gvre]

5 hours ago, trbarton said:

Thanks for your live thread. Curious was the boarding times enforced or could you show up whenever you wanted?

 

Tom😀

Tom we were the first group but it seemed it was enforced.

In line at 11:30 in our cabin by 11:50 and in dinning room by 12

[trbarton]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

Wondering what gave you that impression since everyone else that has responded has indicated no checking of groups and they could enter terminal whenever they arrived.

I said that because some people indicated that when they went to the terminal nobody was checking what time that they were supposed to be there when they walked in.
 

Tom😀

[gvre]

51 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Wondering what gave you that impression since everyone else that has responded has indicated no checking of groups and they could enter terminal whenever they arrived.

Yeah I can't say they let anyone in earlier other than the couple next to us in the dining room that said they arrived a ½ hour early and were allowed to board right away.

We were the first group.

Edited September 6, 2021 by gvre

[jfboy2000]

On 8/31/2021 at 10:35 PM, ilovebananas said:

Are the karaoke suites still closed? Or any info about them would be appreciated!

The Karaoke rooms will no longer be used as Karaoke rooms, and will be converted into spa rooms eventually. 
Along those lines, the Gongcha boba bar outside of the Princess Live! Theater has been converted to a regular cafe/bar. 

 

 

On 9/1/2021 at 6:09 AM, Turk1 said:

Question on those with the Drink Package. If my DW and I both have the package,  is there a "link" between the two or will each of us need to have the drinks (cocktails and/or coffee) scanned to our own Medallions?

In my experience, when you're ordering together in person, they can scan just one of your medallions and they'll know to charge it separately to you two. The two of you show up on their tablet as a pair, with your profile pictures and names, so they should only need to scan one person's medallion. However, this can depend on the person scanning the order and if the system is cooperating or being glitchy. 

[jfboy2000]

On 9/2/2021 at 9:46 AM, Irisagogo said:

Hi.  I will be cruising on the Majestic to Alaska in September.  Does anyone know the hour that the Enclave thermal spa area opens?

 On embarkation day, I think it opens around 5 pm. The rest of the days, it was either 8am or 8:30am until 10:00 pm. It got busy at times, but other times, it was nearly empty. 
I was told that if you're purchasing ahead of time, the pass is discounted, whereas onboard the ship, they hike up the price a little. 

That said, every time I went, they never checked my medallion, so i do wonder if I could have gotten away with not purchasing the package and just pretending like I had it. I always just showed up and said I'd like to use the Enclave, and the desk attendant would give me a key card and locker key without asking anything (or checking their tablet as far as i could see), and I would go on my way. 

[phabric]

Did you receive the blue bag they use to put on your bed?

[h-sar]

7 hours ago, jfboy2000 said:

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by h-sar
.

[Sea Hag]

1 hour ago, phabric said:

Did you receive the blue bag they use to put on your bed?

There was a blue bag in our cabin, but we didn't take it with us. Our collection of those is large enough already. 😁

[KLM3164]

15 hours ago, milogurd said:

OOPS! meant 9-05 cruise.

@Musky Ikestarted a live thread for the 9/5 cruise this morning. 

 

 

[4cats4me]

4 hours ago, phabric said:

Did you receive the blue bag they use to put on your bed?

Yes.  There were two in my cabin hanging in the closet.  I will give them to my friends.  
 

* * Also, this is the first cruise I’d been on where the robes were already in the cabin, (unless staying in a full suite. )

I was only one person, yet there were four robes. 🤣

I’m almost positive if the cruise ahead of ours had been a full sailing, there would’ve been no robes until day two.  
 

[4cats4me]

1 minute ago, KLM3164 said:

@Musky Ikestarted a live thread for the 9/5 cruise this morning. 

 

 

Yay!!