Cheapo Dad's Trip Report on the Majestic Princess (Maybe with few pictures added)...

[harryfat1]

38 minutes ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

As I was  enjoying the pictures, I was thinking - Teamwork!! Happy to work through this with you. My pleasure. In May, there was a brilliant blue sky - almost everyday on the cruise. 12 days in all.

 

35 minutes ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

Sunny, but with great clouds. Not quite brilliant blue skies. Zoom in to see the whale (sculpture)!

 

 

33 minutes ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

@harryfat1Went back to check - saw your whale in one of the pictures.

 

Oh, yeah, you guys definitely got better weather in May than us in August.  I was just happy it didn’t rain on us as the advanced weather forecast was showing rain for first few days of the cruise.

 

Here’s the whale statue (donated by NCL - I believe) and actual whales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

45 minutes ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

@harryfat1Went back to check - saw your whale in one of the pictures.

 

Where's Waldo?  

[harryfat1]

Back to trip reporting:

 

As we were on deck 7, time to go back to the piazza and take few more pictures of the atrium area.

 

 

 

 

I like the spiral stairs

 

 

 

 

 

Stopped by deck 6 at the photo gallery to see the pictures as taken by the ship photographers looked like from the first day (aka feeding the crazy aunt in the basement).

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

After that, it was time to head outside of promenade deck on deck 7 that we didn’t get a chance to see it yesterday since it was raining at the time.

 

  

I’m not a 100% traditionist when it comes to cruise ships as I like the “wow” effects on the new Carnival/RCI/Celebrity ships but I do want a wraparound Promenade deck.  The Royal class ships and their “can’t get there from here” is a big letdown. 

 

 

 

 

Obligatory wake view shot - but it's not 100% straight shot because....

 

 

The dang thing doesn't connect (WTH) as you are greeted the by the dead end:

 

 

OK, since we can't go around in the back, try to see what's in the front of the ship:

 

 

 

Keep walking...

 

 

Until you get here:

 

 

I’m the first to admit I don’t know squat about ship design but it can’t be that difficult to build a modern ship with a walk around promenade deck.  Oasis class ship was bad in their promenade deck design but at least you can walk around it.  Princess is just bad in their ship design in not having a wrap around deck.

 

[marco_polo11]

Hi, pickleball nut here. I heard there were 2 pickleball courts on this ship. I would appreciate you posting a few pics of them. Thank you!

[harryfat1]

OK.  That walk around Promenade was “fun” (not really).  Time to go back to the cabin and drop off McKinley the Moose (yeah, that’s his official name).

 

So what to do?  Well, since it’s a nice day out there today after the dreary rain welcome yesterday, let’s order some drinks and enjoy the balcony and some family time.

 

In the beginning I uploaded screen shots of various drinks from the Medallion menu as we got the first one:

 

 

 

 

I guess this picture means we are on vacation...

 

[cr8tiv1]

Two things that strike my funny bone.  No wrap around Promenade nor bow/aft accessibility is one of the main reasons I am not (notice not never) cruising on a Royal Class Ship.  But...where are all the COVID smokers smoking if there is no aft deck to take over (inside Grand Class Ship reference).  

 

Second....I love your son taking a selfie of the group.  I am not talented enough to do selfies.  Supre great job in capturing everyone!  Nice perspective of puny balcony ledges.

[nini]

Aft on the Promenade decks are currently for a crew smoking area. This is a covid invention and infuriates PAYING passengers who love their aft balconies.

Many Princess ships have a real promenade that goes all of the way around 

 

We may cancel a 30 day cruise due to this incredibly stupid decision by Princess.

[harryfat1]

1 hour ago, marco_polo11 said:

Hi, pickleball nut here. I heard there were 2 pickleball courts on this ship. I would appreciate you posting a few pics of them. Thank you!

Haha, special request, eh?

 

Sorry to disapppoint you, we only went up to the sports court once and they didn't have anything set up so I don't have pickleball pictures for you.  

 

Only thing I have are we walking around but nothing was there.

 

Are the orange lines the pickle ball court area?

 

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

32 minutes ago, nini said:

Aft on the Promenade decks are currently for a crew smoking area. This is a covid invention and infuriates PAYING passengers who love their aft balconies.

Many Princess ships have a real promenade that goes all of the way around 

 

We may cancel a 30 day cruise due to this incredibly stupid decision by Princess.

i hear you.  But that is smoking for crew (aft).  Where are the passengers smoking on the Royal Class Ships?  In the casino?  

[harryfat1]

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Two things that strike my funny bone.  No wrap around Promenade nor bow/aft accessibility is one of the main reasons I am not (notice not never) cruising on a Royal Class Ship.  But...where are all the COVID smokers smoking if there is no aft deck to take over (inside Grand Class Ship reference).  

 

Second....I love your son taking a selfie of the group.  I am not talented enough to do selfies.  Supre great job in capturing everyone!  Nice perspective of puny balcony ledges.

 

Yeah, Princess wants to advertise themselves to be the Alaska specialist but one of the thing many Alaska visitors wants to do is go to the bow and take see the scenery from there and Princess doesn't provide that.

 

As for selfies, I think it's the generational thing.  Anyone younger worth their weight in salt can do selfie well. It's the older folks like us who can't aim the cell phone the right way to take a decent selfie shot.

 

My wife bought this selfie stick from Amazon so she can use it for the cruise.  She just plop her phone on it and uses it as a regular photo as well as selfie stick.  With bluetooth connection, you just need to press the button on the stick and not the phone.  So it's fast and easy way to take pictures.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NW1YTS8?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

Yeah, the Princess peasant balconies are narrow. Many times the chairs get caught on the sliding door track and that makes opening balcony door diffcult. But have 3 connecting cabins together adds a new dimension.

[cr8tiv1]

Most often, you can reach the bow on a Grand Class Ship.  Hopefully soon, Princess will stop the smoking on the Promenade aft.  I guess if you can hold your breath long enough, you might be able to get by the smokers.

Surprise, this old lady knows how to take photos with her watch and iPhone!  But I do not take pictures of myself.  I’m shy.  😊. Most of my photos do not include people. 

 

[marco_polo11]

7 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Haha, special request, eh?

 

Sorry to disapppoint you, we only went up to the sports court once and they didn't have anything set up so I don't have pickleball pictures for you.  

 

Only thing I have are we walking around but nothing was there.

 

Are the orange lines the pickle ball court area?

 

 

 

Harry, thanks for doing that for me. Have a pickle on me! Lol. Pickleball is played on a badminton court. So it looks like it could be the green lines. There's enough space there for two courts. Very excited about that. I guess there are designated times for pickleball using portable nets, since this is a multi sports court.

[nini]

9 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

i hear you.  But that is smoking for crew (aft).  Where are the passengers smoking on the Royal Class Ships?  In the casino?  

Yes, the aft is for the crew. The smoke wafts up to our aft balcony. It is time to move them back to their crew area where they have always smoked. Yes, smoking is in the casino which rules out a very high percentage of potential gamblers. There is a smoking forum close to beginning of the Princess board.

I typically try to determine the smoking areas for the ship that we are considering so I can book away from them.

 

Keep in mind, that passengers who are quarantined are allowed to smoke on their balcony... yeah, that will help them heal. So now we need to know the quarantine deck which is challenging.

[nini]

9 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

 

 

 

Yeah, the Princess peasant balconies are narrow. Many times the chairs get caught on the sliding door track and that makes opening balcony door diffcult. But have 3 connecting cabins together adds a new dimension.

 

@harryfat1 Not all Princess ships offer only  "peasant" balconies". Depending on the ship, there are many "peasant" balconies with the larger balconies... they may not have a loveseat, but we enjoy our larger balcony. It just depends on the design and ship class.

We have a large balcony on the Grand on the Caribe deck.

[harryfat1]

2 hours ago, marco_polo11 said:

Harry, thanks for doing that for me. Have a pickle on me! Lol. Pickleball is played on a badminton court. So it looks like it could be the green lines. There's enough space there for two courts. Very excited about that. I guess there are designated times for pickleball using portable nets, since this is a multi sports court.

 

 

If you look back at post #220, there's a daily schedule that shows when the multi use sports court is used for various events.  So I guess you can just check the schedule for your sailing to see when they have Pickleball set up:

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

4 minutes ago, nini said:

 

@harryfat1 Not all Princess ships offer only  "peasant" balconies". Depending on the ship, there are many "peasant" balconies with the larger balconies... they may not have a loveseat, but we enjoy our larger balcony. It just depends on the design and ship class.

We have a large balcony on the Grand on the Caribe deck.

Appreciate the insight.

 

We were on the Star Princess 20 years ago - which I believe to be a Grand class ship - and wanted to try the newer class of ship this around.  The Royal class has certain things that are frustrating at times but not a deal breaker for our cruising style.

 

The Grand Princess balcony cabins would be out of my cheapo price range.  Here's a price example for next year's Alaska cruise.  If we book it on a Grand, it would be the obstucted window view for the best value:

 

 

 

Here's the Majestic:

 

 

The Majestic balcony starts with the obstructed balcony (peasant balcony as I call it) so it's a lower cost balcony compared to a better/bigger Grand Princess balcony.

 

Obviously the prices will change as time goes on but it depends on what each person's comfort zone is in spending their vacation dollars.

[nini]

7 minutes ago, harryfat1 said:

Appreciate the insight.

 

We were on the Star Princess 20 years ago - which I believe to be a Grand class ship - and wanted to try the newer class of ship this around.  The Royal class has certain things that are frustrating at times but not a deal breaker for our cruising style.

 

The Grand Princess balcony cabins would be out of my cheapo price range.  Here's a price example for next year's Alaska cruise.  If we book it on a Grand, it would be the obstucted window view for the best value:

 

 

 

Here's the Majestic:

 

 

The Majestic balcony starts with the obstructed balcony (peasant balcony as I call it) so it's a lower cost balcony compared to a better/bigger Grand Princess balcony.

 

Obviously the prices will change as time goes on but it depends on what each person's comfort zone is in spending their vacation dollars.

No problem. I just wanted you to know that there are other "peasant" balconies on different ships which are the larger ones.

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

[harryfat1]

Few miscellaneous items I forgot to mention relating to the Medallion phone app/device:

 

1 - there is a “crew chat” feature where you can chat with someone at Guest Service if you have any questions.  The idea is you don’t have to stand in line to ask a question if you can use the phone app anywhere else on the ship.

 

For me, the same guy/gal (can’t tell from the name if person is male or female) is on the chat the entire cruise and only in the mornings.  So, your mileage may vary as when you can connect.

 

Anyway, I asked on the passenger count for our cruise and here is the reply.  At 3,560 capacity, that’s around 61%. Much lower than what the Discovery Princess was carrying for her Seattle run from what CC people have been reporting for the summer.

 

 

As someone else already posted here earlier that the Majestic was down to around 50% last week with many of the families like ours are done with our summer vacations.

 

2 – Did couple of Internet speed test on day 1 to have an idea on what the Wi-Fi connection is up in Alaska as there have been numerous reports of bad signals up north since the satellites are positioned closer to the equator.

 

 

 

 

3 – Here’s one feature we really like about the Medallion device/app is the ability to find family members.  My in-laws are earlier risers so they like to get up and do their own things in the morning instead waiting for the to slow wake up on sea days.

 

In the prior cruises, we would just say, “meet back in the cabin at 10:30” and we will figure out what to do. With the Medallion device, you can locate family members on the app or the large touch panels by every elevator bank and it gives you step by step direction in case you are not familiar with the ship's layout.

 

 

Some people on CC have expressed negative sentiment for this feature but for us, it’s a great feature to locate family members during the cruise. 

 

Queue up the Police song for people worrying that Big Brother is watching them:

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

I love your YouTube videos more than your photos.  Off the beaten path.  Thanks

 

Theory:  Grand Class ships are more expensive because they are so much more worth it than the Royal Class Ships.  In that same thought, the Pacific Princess was more expensive than the Grand Class Ships.  

 

I don't buy the theory that bean counters have to make up for less passengers.  Conspiracy theories.  Royal Class Ships cost less because of supply and demand.  Nobody wants them (hint:  Sphere is coming).  No use arguing with me, my mind is made up.  You can keep the Royal Class Ships.  Just don't sell the Grand Princess!

[harryfat1]

29 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I love your YouTube videos more than your photos.  Off the beaten path.  Thanks

 

Theory:  Grand Class ships are more expensive because they are so much more worth it than the Royal Class Ships.  In that same thought, the Pacific Princess was more expensive than the Grand Class Ships.  

 

I don't buy the theory that bean counters have to make up for less passengers.  Conspiracy theories.  Royal Class Ships cost less because of supply and demand.  Nobody wants them (hint:  Sphere is coming).  No use arguing with me, my mind is made up.  You can keep the Royal Class Ships.  Just don't sell the Grand Princess!

Haha, no need to debate what ship everyone likes.  We all have our personal preferences and it’s a good thing to have a variety in preferences or else if everyone opts for the same type of ships, the price would go up and the choice of cabins would be limited.

 

Thus having diversity is a good thing. The world would be a boring place if we all just like one flavor of ice cream.

 

I like the YouTube videos in that many of these are less known artists and they have their take on these classic songs.  In the movies, you always have the mood songs at various parts of the story.  Figured it’s good to throw in some mood music if it fits the theme of the discussion.

[harryfat1]

Back to the trip report:

 

At 1:15 PM, my wife and younger son went to the Deal or No Deal game show and my older son wanted to participate in the Bean Bag Toss Contest so I went with him.

 

 

Here are pics from both events - 

 

Deal or No Deal:

 

 

 

 

 

Bean Bag Toss:

 

Classic music still playing when we arrived at the atrium

 

 

We grabbed a table right at the middle of the piazza before the event started

 

 

 

Got more water to stay hydrated

 

 

They sit up the bean bag event on deck 5:

 

 

Word of note - don't wear your red flannel shirt on a Princess Alaska cruise unless you want people to think you work on the ship as part of the Princess "immersive" Alaska experience, all their workers at day time activities wore red flannel shirts.

 

From various YouTube videos, we also saw on the some ships that they had the black/red flannel blankets for people to use to bundle up on glacier days.  Didn't see any on the Majestic so this must be a ship-by-ship option that's on some but not all Princess Alaska ships sailings this year.

 

 

[harryfat1]

After both events, it was time for a late lunch at 2 PM.  I can’t remember the lunch much other than the margarita was pretty good. 🤪

 

 

As always, I was full afterwards. I like the curry flavored meat. I’m not a picky eater.  I always walk away from buffet full..

 

 

 

 

You are not allowed to get your own drinks on our sailing.  There's always someone by the drinks station that stops you from going in to touch any buttons. So either tell one of the staff roaming around the buffet area what drinks/refill you want or walk up to the area and they will get it for you

 

 

 

 

 

I liked these curved tables

 

[harryfat1]

As it was 3 o’clock, time to head back to the cabin for today’s main event – Hubbard Glacier. I’m sure nobody is reading this trip report to find out what Hubbard Glacier is all about.  You have Wiki to tell you more than you care to know. 

 

Just know it’s BIG (6 miles wide) and it’s one of the few glaciers that’s expanding and if you can, try and see it for yourself.

 

Princess sells a $290/pp excursion to be on the small boat to get you much closer.  Too rich for my blood at this stage of my life.  Maybe in another 10 years next time we get back to Alaska and seeing a glacier up close & personal is on the “bucket list”, then I would opt for the extra excursion. 

 

Just note if you want this tour, book it ASAP as it was sold out months prior for the sailing.

 

 

 

 

Forgot to upload couple of these pictures as we were sitting outside earlier.  As the day wore on, more clouds came in so it wasn’t a perfect weather day but it was certainly better than our previous visit back in 2009.

 

 

 

 

Here’s more of the “Dude, we don’t care about your cruise history” part of the trip report. The biggest reason in selecting this itinerary is that it goes to Hubbard Bay and Glacier Bay.  The boys technically went to Hubbard Glacier back in 2009 on the Celebrity cruise but it was rainy and foggy that day.  We couldn’t see far past the cruise ship so we didn’t get a good view of what the actual Hubbard Glacier looked like. 

 

We just knew it was supposed to be that white thing up ahead along with the rain clouds.  Just aim the camera at the general direction and hope you capture something.  As you can see – the result was not really satisfactory. I was hoping this cruise will yield better results.

 

 

 

 

 

You can see that if you look outside of the ship, it was just a complete white background in 2009

 

[harryfat1]

Here is Google Earth screen shot of where Hubbard Glacier resides.  It’s located inside of Yakutat Bay & then Disenchantment Bay

 

Here's the bigger picture of where Hubbard is located:

 

 

More close up map:

 

 

Few pictures of the area as Majestic Princess enters Yakutat Bay and Disenchantment Bay:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by harryfat1