First Time with Princess

[tlc1972]

I'm on the Majestic Princess in late December with an old friend - we haven't been on a cruise together in over a decade, so taking a quick 4-night trip out of LA at a price that was too good to pass up. 

 

It's my first on Princess, so naturally I have a few questions and couldn't seem to find answers through a search:

 

• How close to cruise dates are you able to schedule your onboarding group? I read in the forums that it could be 75 days prior, but we're now around 64 days away and the app still isn't opening up groups. I'm thinking it's probably starting at 60 days...
• Does anyone know if Princess holds formal nights on the shorter cruises? If so, I'll need to either start shopping or a week-long juice cleanse. I've got some pandemic gains and my formal clothes are running a bit tight these days!
• I splurged for Club Class mini-suite - M108 to be exact, which appears to have a massive balcony above the bridge. Does anyone know if Majestic has a separate Club Class entrance for dining? I found one video that appeared to showing Club Class took over one of the main dining rooms, but that seems excessive. Then again, with reduced capacity right now maybe that's a thing...?
• Speaking of dining, are all specialty restaurants available on the shorter cruises? I've read another topic on Bistro Sur La Mer isn't showing up on the app, but made me wonder if it'll even be open on a 4-night trip.
• Bonus question: would you book either Crown or Bistro?
• This is also my first holiday cruise, so would love to learn if Princess does anything special for the holidays. We're onboard the week of Christmas, so looking forward some holiday celebrations.

 

Thanks for taking time. Lots of questions, I know, so appreciate anyone who replies. 

PS: My cruising experience is NCL Haven, Cunard, and HAL and have a feeling Princess is going to be a lot like HAL...

[lx200gps]

1 hour ago, tlc1972 said:

I'm on the Majestic Princess in late December with an old friend - we haven't been on a cruise together in over a decade, so taking a quick 4-night trip out of LA at a price that was too good to pass up. 

 

It's my first on Princess, so naturally I have a few questions and couldn't seem to find answers through a search:

 

• How close to cruise dates are you able to schedule your onboarding group? I read in the forums that it could be 75 days prior, but we're now around 64 days away and the app still isn't opening up groups. I'm thinking it's probably starting at 60 days...

Regarding the new Boarding Groups, it seems there is no real set answer. Folks are reporting anywhere from 30 to 60 days, but it seems that the 30 day rule may be closer to the truth. Our next trip is November 20, so 3(7?) days away and our boarding group selection is still not available, as of about 10 minutes ago.

 

A good way to keep up with the availability of the boarding group selection, as well as other aspects of your specific trip, is to check the Roll Call. Ours is active and folks report on the status every few days.  Have a great trip.

[Sea Hag]

8 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

A good way to keep up with the availability of the boarding group selection, as well as other aspects of your specific trip, is to check the Roll Call. Ours is active and folks report on the status every few days.  Have a great trip.

This is good advice. We did one cruise back in August and have one coming up at the end of this month. The times that arrival groups were available varied wildly between these two cruises. If you don't want to check the app every day, then checking the roll call is definitely a good way to go.

[JF - retired RRT]

3 hours ago, tlc1972 said:

        Does anyone know if Princess holds formal nights on the shorter cruises? No formal nights              on short cruises.

• Does anyone know if Majestic has a separate Club Class entrance for dining? Yes, there is a separate entrance.
• Speaking of dining, are all specialty restaurants available on the shorter cruises? All specialty restaurants should be open.
• This is also my first holiday cruise, so would love to learn if Princess does anything special for the holidays. We're onboard the week of Christmas, so looking forward some holiday celebrations. Santa might pay a visit. Hard to say, since kids aren't allowed on board, yet. Christmas carols by live carolers (usually). Lots of decorations mainly around the piazza. In the past the stewards left a stocking with a candy cane or 2 (those may be gone along with the nightly pillow chocolates...sigh).

see above.

[Coffeeluvr05]

Just having experienced my first HAL cruise recently, I think you will find Princess to be a tad livelier than HAL.  I found HAL to be rather sedate.  We prefer the food on Princess as well.

 

We have not been on the Majestic, but experienced Bistro Sur La Mer on the Sky and it was fantastic!  Chef Emmanuel Renaut was also onboard so it made it all the more special!  The Crown Grill is great too, but I think it is on more ships than Bistro Sur La Mer so you have more chances to eat there again.  That's my take on it anyway.  

[Cruzbw]

My 5 day cruise on Ruby Princess next April has 1 formal night stated on my Travel Summary.  Check yours. Several years ago we went on a cruise the week before Christmas and it was decorated beautifully.  Very, very festive.  I don't know about celebrations.  I had plenty of fun just walking around looking at the decor!

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Cruzbw said:

My 5 day cruise on Ruby Princess next April has 1 formal night stated on my Travel Summary.  Check yours. Several years ago we went on a cruise the week before Christmas and it was decorated beautifully.  Very, very festive.  I don't know about celebrations.  I had plenty of fun just walking around looking at the decor!

The OP's is a 4-nighter.  Formals don't begin until 5 nights. 

[theborders]

On our 4 night  UK seacation cruise this summer we had 1 formal night

[tlc1972]

14 hours ago, Coffeeluvr05 said:

Just having experienced my first HAL cruise recently, I think you will find Princess to be a tad livelier than HAL.  I found HAL to be rather sedate.  We prefer the food on Princess as well.

 

We have not been on the Majestic, but experienced Bistro Sur La Mer on the Sky and it was fantastic!  Chef Emmanuel Renaut was also onboard so it made it all the more special!  The Crown Grill is great too, but I think it is on more ships than Bistro Sur La Mer so you have more chances to eat there again.  That's my take on it anyway.  

Agree that the meals on HAL aren't anything to write home about. Though, overall I ended up enjoying HAL much more than I thought I would. Good to know that Princess could be even better!