Live from Majestic Princess, Dec 29 to Jan 8, 10 Day Sea of Cortez

[LACruiser88]

Well, we made it onboard with it raining dogs and cats!  We were soaked by the time we made it inside the terminal. 

 

We arrived at 12:30, which was our booked arrival time.  It was long lines inside to check-in, even in the Elite line.  It took about 30 minutes to make it thru the check-in process before we boarded.

 

Last month, we arrived at the same time and we sailed thru the terminal in about 5 minutes.  I don't know if folks were running late due to the heavy rain?

 

The check-in process took so long that our checked bags made it to our cabin before we did.  I think that was the first time that has happened to us.

 

After unpacking and a quick bite at the Marketplace, we made it to Vines to wind down from the boarding process.

 

It's now 4:40 and the Captain just played the Love Boat theme over the ship's horns.  We are starting to pull away from the pier and it's still raining.

 

Now a quick shower and off to Vines (again!) and dinner...

 

 

[nocl]

2 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Well, we made it onboard with it raining dogs and cats!  We were soaked by the time we made it inside the terminal. 

 

We arrived at 12:30, which was our booked arrival time.  It was long lines inside to check-in, even in the Elite line.  It took about 30 minutes to make it thru the check-in process before we boarded.

 

Last month, we arrived at the same time and we sailed thru the terminal in about 5 minutes.  I don't know if folks were running late due to the heavy rain?

 

The check-in process took so long that our checked bags made it to our cabin before we did.  I think that was the first time that has happened to us.

 

After unpacking and a quick bite at the Marketplace, we made it to Vines to wind down from the boarding process.

 

It's now 4:40 and the Captain just played the Love Boat theme over the ship's horns.  We are starting to pull away from the pier and it's still raining.

 

Now a quick shower and off to Vines (again!) and dinner...

 

 

Any idea how full the ship is?

 

We were on board in early December with only 1400.  We showed up at 11, had no line at security, just walked the route through the ropes, 1 person in front of us at check in and was onboard when they let Elites board at 11:15.

 

Sounds like you might be cruising with much higher occupancy.

Edited December 30, 2021 by nocl

[MsSoCalCruiser]

On 12/28/2021 at 11:48 AM, NavArch64 said:

From marinetraffic.com .....

 

Thank you, I just looked at the site.  It looks like the 405 Freeway out there!  

[PrincessLuver]

2 hours ago, nocl said:

Any idea how full the ship is?

 

We were on board in early December with only 1400.  We showed up at 11, had no line at security, just walked the route through the ropes, 1 person in front of us at check in and was onboard when they let Elites board at 11:15.

 

Sounds like you might be cruising with much higher occupancy.

I think the CD said tonight we were sailing with 1700 passengers....about 50% capacity.....

[LACruiser88]

18 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

I think the CD said tonight we were sailing with 1700 passengers....about 50% capacity.....

I was told tonight by a crew member that we were sailing with just over 2,000 passengers.  We were also told that they dropped around 350 passengers over the past few days via cancellations.

 

I'll try to get an accurate passenger count from someone who would know for sure, like the HGM.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Enjoy your cruise! 

[caribill]

8 hours ago, jwattle said:

Yellow status may not mean Covid cases, as the full definition is as follows:

 

Yellow Ship Criteria

• Ship is at or above CDC’s investigation threshold:
  • Restricted Voyages:
    • Cases reported in 0.10% or more of passengers (e.g., if 6500* passengers on board, CDC’s investigation threshold is met if there are 7 or more cases among passengers occurring during the previous 7 days), or
      • This percentage includes passenger cases occurring within 5 days of disembarkation that CDC was notified of by state or local health departments.
    • One or more cases reported in crew.

 

 

Although holiday cruises may have more passengers, the pre-holiday cruises on Princess were mostly sailing at less than 50% capacity.

 

So if there are only 1000 passengers on board, then 1 case of either a passenger or a crew member could mean yellow status.

 

If there are only 2000 passengers on board, then either 2 passenger cases or 1 crew member case could mean yellow status.

 

This would not be a significant outbreak as the press and politicians are trying to make it appear.

[LACruiser88]

There is one very annoying new addition since our cruise last month.

 

They have added a motion sensor LED dome light on the ceiling in front of the closet/bathroom door.  It is extremely bright and is very shocking in the middle of the night, when going to the bathroom.

 

They also added 8 inch long LED motion sensor light at the bottom of the two bed nightstands and the refrigerator cabinet.  Also, the most annoying at night!

 

We always travel with a roll of black electrical tape to cover uncovered peep holes and annoying lights.  So, I took care of all the sensors!  Our room steward told us her supervisor could cover them or we were welcomed to do it ourselves.

 

Btw, we are in a mini-suite.

[LACruiser88]

A note regarding the Kids Club:  Our 7 yr old granddaughter is one of eight, 5 to 12 yr olds, registered in the Kids Club.  So, it does not appear to be very many kids onboard.

[atobols]

Princess Patter Day 2: At Sea

Edited December 30, 2021 by atobols

[atobols]

My sons are in the teen kids club.  There are 36 registered in that group.

[trishbk]

22 hours ago, WhiteRockMike said:

We also had the all inclusive Princess plus package and it was great!  Here is a cut and paste from our feedback to our travel agent that covers a lot of your questions. 

 

"Thank you for all your help! And for the cabin credit and specialty dining!  With that, plus the Princess plus package, we ended eating in the Specialty restaurants half of the nights, which was great.  Here are some specific thoughts on the ship and cruises:

 

·        First cruise had 1400 passengers and second had 1600, so both less than half full which was great.

·        Checking in and boarding was easy and fast.

·        One of the plusses of Princess are their staff; they were wonderful; so friendly and grateful to see us; service everywhere was fantastic!

·        Food quality in the main dining room was so-so.  Has dropped a bit from pre-pandemic (which I can understand).  Similarly in the buffet; we aren’t really buffet people and only had a few breakfasts and a lunch there.  However, the Specialty dining was excellent!  Especially Sur la Mer and Crown Grill!

·        We had most of our lunches in Alfredo’s – a jewel of a restaurant just off the Atrium, that has a well-earned reputation of having the best pizza on the ocean!  That, and the International Café make up for the MDR and buffet.

·        The premium drink package included with Princess plus was great; could get excellent drinks and wines within the package, and for the odd drink or wine flight that was over, they just charge the dollar or two overage.  The wine bar, Vines was our favorite; they are also a full service bar, so could get a great Gin and tonic or Martini, etc., if I didn’t feel like wine.

·        The Majestic Princess was originally designed for the Asian/Chinese market, but the changes from the other Royal class ships we have sailed are mostly fails.  The Chinese food in the specialty restaurant, Harmony, may have been better when it was cruising in Asia, but now is poor; we love Asian food so this was a letdown.  Similarly, the Noodle bar, on the pool deck was awful! It's crazy to say but It would have been an improvement if they just bought and heated instant noodles! 

·       The biggest design flaw of this specific ship was the top front area that used to be the outdoor adult pool (quieter than the main pool), and “Sanctuary”, Princess's exclusive (for a small fee) spacious, outdoor, shaded seating area, that we would normally book on sea days.  On Majestic it is an indoor pool, and a horribly designed “Hollywood Club” indoor lounging area, that could have been nice, but is now a waste of space.

·        Princess, I understand, is one of the few lines that still did have a mask mandate on board, and most people complied. We found it to be no hardship at all; had to wear masks when walking about indoors, in elevators, etc., but when you sit down to eat or have a drink, you take the mask off.  All staff are masked.  We felt totally safe on the ship.  Same at each port of call; the local Mexican population seemed very careful, always wearing masks; indoors and out, so felt totally safe in each port."

 

Note that this was written for our two BTB cruises starting on Nov 27th, so things might be quite different by Jan 8th.

 

15 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Well, we made it onboard with it raining dogs and cats!  We were soaked by the time we made it inside the terminal. 

 

We arrived at 12:30, which was our booked arrival time.  It was long lines inside to check-in, even in the Elite line.  It took about 30 minutes to make it thru the check-in process before we boarded.

 

Last month, we arrived at the same time and we sailed thru the terminal in about 5 minutes.  I don't know if folks were running late due to the heavy rain?

 

The check-in process took so long that our checked bags made it to our cabin before we did.  I think that was the first time that has happened to us.

 

After unpacking and a quick bite at the Marketplace, we made it to Vines to wind down from the boarding process.

 

It's now 4:40 and the Captain just played the Love Boat theme over the ship's horns.  We are starting to pull away from the pier and it's still raining.

 

Now a quick shower and off to Vines (again!) and dinner...

 

 

Glad you love Vines! Trying to get an answer to my question since I have never  had the “Best Sail Ever” package deal with the beverage package before. Can you use your beverage package for a glass of wine ($12 or less) at Vines? What about the flights of wine? I saw the Vines wine menu posted on another website and it is much better than the wines poured at the rest of the bars on the Majestic which is why I am asking. Thank you. 

[LACruiser88]

1 minute ago, trishbk said:

 

Glad you love Vines! Trying to get an answer to my question since I have never  had the “Best Sail Ever” package deal with the beverage package before. Can you use your beverage package for a glass of wine ($12 or less) at Vines? What about the flights of wine? I saw the Vines wine menu posted on another website and it is much better than the wines poured at the rest of the bars on the Majestic which is why I am asking. Thank you. 

Yes, you can use Bev Pkg at Vines and also in the MDR.  I don't know about the flights, but as long as they are under $12 it should be ok?

[leet102]

42 minutes ago, atobols said:

Princess Patter Day 2: At Sea

I see there is only one Showtime, at 10:30 pm.  Is that due to low attendance?  Did anyone go and how was Improv night?

[trishbk]

57 minutes ago, atobols said:

Princess Patter Day 2: At Sea

Thanks for posting the Platter. 

Edited December 30, 2021 by trishbk

[Mike & Zen]

Just received a reply from “CrewCall Chat” there are 2,035 guests for this cruise.

[atobols]

33 minutes ago, leet102 said:

I see there is only one Showtime, at 10:30 pm.  Is that due to low attendance?  Did anyone go and how was Improv night?

The improv is tonight and we plan to attend.  Last night was a musical comedian and he was on at 7:30 and 9:30.

[LACruiser88]

49 minutes ago, Mike & Zen said:

Just received a reply from “CrewCall Chat” there are 2,035 guests for this cruise.

That works out to 64.4% of capacity.  And that number matches what we were told by a crew member last night.

[ghgeckos]

Is the Crown Grill open?

[LACruiser88]

1 minute ago, ghgeckos said:

Is the Crown Grill open?

Yes, all the specialty restaurants are open.

[AVCruzers]

2 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

There is one very annoying new addition since our cruise last month.

 

They have added a motion sensor LED dome light on the ceiling in front of the closet/bathroom door.  It is extremely bright and is very shocking in the middle of the night, when going to the bathroom.

 

They also added 8 inch long LED motion sensor light at the bottom of the two bed nightstands and the refrigerator cabinet.  Also, the most annoying at night!

 

We always travel with a roll of black electrical tape to cover uncovered peep holes and annoying lights.  So, I took care of all the sensors!  Our room steward told us her supervisor could cover them or we were welcomed to do it ourselves.

 

Btw, we are in a mini-suite.

When we were on the Majestic, we just took 3 pool towels and used them at night to block those floor sensors.  Didn't think to use duct tape for the dressing room area.  

[jwattle]

What is a "blue Cruiser Bash"??

[milogurd]

23 minutes ago, jwattle said:

What is a "blue Cruiser Bash"??

Possibly an event for first time Princess passengers? Blue Medallion is for first timers.

[caribill]

13 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Although holiday cruises may have more passengers, the pre-holiday cruises on Princess were mostly sailing at less than 50% capacity.

 

So if there are only 1000 passengers on board, then 1 case of either a passenger or a crew member could mean yellow status.

 

If there are only 2000 passengers on board, then either 2 passenger cases or 1 crew member case could mean yellow status.

 

This would not be a significant outbreak as the press and politicians are trying to make it appear.

 

Not good news from the CDC:

 

Cruise ships operating in U.S. waters reported about 5,000 Covid cases to the CDC between Dec. 15 - 29, a major spike compared with the first two weeks of the month when 162 cases were reported.

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday advised people against going on cruises regardless of their vaccination status after a recent surge in positive Covid cases onboard ships as the highly contagious omicron variant sweeps the world.

 

The CDC increased its travel warning for cruises to the highest level as the agency is investigating or observing dozens of ships that have had Covid outbreaks.

[arizonaperson]

 Well everyone on board have a great cruise. My mom and her husband are on the cruise right now with you and she was happy to see one of the crewmembers in the Effy store that she has cruised with previously.This is their first cruise since 2019 ,I believe. My mom‘s husband won a Stanley the bear I think at the shopping show or something like that this morning.Other than that the only thing my mom said via email The dining room was freezing last night and I don’t believe she brought any sweater on the cruise. Other than that sounds like she was having a good time as usual. She is elite and said yes that the rain yesterday in southern California was a challenge getting on board, but obviously they made it.  They have not mentioned the pesky night lights in the cabin. 

Julie