Drew B 58

I’m planning a cruise to Alaska in September. This will be my first time sailing with Princess. I’ve done mostly Carnival cruises with a couple on Celebrity nearly 20 years ago. I’m looking at either the 9/7 sailing on Discovery Princess or the 9/8 sailing on Majestic Princess. The itineraries are pretty comparable for the most part. I’m looking to book a mini-suite for three adults (me and my two sisters). We would probably book it as Princess Premier for all three of us. Here are some of the differences I’ve noticed that I think might be significant: • Majestic has a covered pool/solarium and Discovery has the OUTDOOR Retreat pool. For Alaska, this seems like a big advantage for Majestic . • Majestic has the Hollywood Conservatory indoor observation deck concept, whereas Discovery has the outdoor, for-fee Sanctuary, instead. Again, points to Majesty. • Discovery visits Glacier Bay, whereas Majestic goes to Endicott Arm. It seems Glacier Bay is more popular, but I don’t know. Points to Discovery? • Majestic has Harmony restaurant and Discovery has Sabatini’s. I think I would prefer Sabatini’s menu. Points to Discovery. • Discovery has casual dining sushi while Majestic does not. Points to Discovery. • Discovery has Crooners piano bar and Majestic does not. Points to Discovery. • For these sailings, Majestic is considerably cheaper (like $400 pp). Points to Majestic. I have two questions: 1. Am I missing any significant differences between the ships (including less concrete ones like “better crew” or “more fun ambiance”)? 2. Based on all of this, which would you choose? Thanks!

Thanks so much!

I have never sailed with Princess but am strongly considering booking an Alaska trip with them for later this year. I’ve sailed Carnival and Celebrity. One of the driving factors leading me to Princess is the Princess Plus/Princess Premier packages. They seem to be a phenomenal value! Here are my questions: 1. For the “casual dining” (2 per cruise with Plus; unlimited with Premier), which restaurants are included? * I’m specifically interested in Discovery Princess or Majestic Princess. 2. The website mentions *Included One-Time Delivery Access Fee for Ocean Now and room service. Does that mean it only covers delivery one time and if you do it again, they charge? Thanks so much for the help!

“Trendiest clothes”? Or most garish costumes?

Interesting. On my sailing, the nonsmoking casino was far less crowded. Not empty, but a lot more open spots. I’m a smoker, but I had to play a few times in the nonsmoking casino because I couldn’t find open seats/machines in the smoking section.

The blackjack minimums are $10. The side bet is “Lucky Ladies”, and you can bet either $5 or $10. I didn’t check the minimum for craps.

I was on the same sailing. I agree that embarkation and disembarkation were bad. Worst I’ve experienced on fifteen cruises! The biggest problem is that both getting on and off, they kept calling more and more groups before the previous ones had made it on/off. It’s not rocket science! Call one group and don’t call the next until most of them have been cleared. Easy Peasy! I disagree about the rudeness. I thought these were some of the friendliest passengers I’ve ever sailed with! And they were really into participating in the parties and events. Fun crowd! I liked the fun squad overall, but I think they need remedial lessons on how to run trivia! One guy just talked and talked and talked about everything OTHER than the questions and answers. Another woman just didn’t give the answers! She asked “what did you get?” Several people near her answered and she said “That’s right!” However, I couldn’t hear what they said, and she didn’t repeat the answer on mic. After that, I stopped going to trivia… I thought the crew was mostly EXTREMELY friendly and professional, but I had one shockingly bad interaction with a bartender at the Gondola Bar. The night before, I had seen a sign for an iced coffee drink. The next day, I wanted to order it, but the sign was no longer there. I asked the bartender to try to figure out what it was called. She told me to go to Java Blue. I pointed to the espresso machine she was standing next to and said “you serve coffee here”. She pointed to the menu of coffee drinks, but I explained that the drink I was looking for wasn’t on there but had been on a separate sign. She told me to go to Java Blue. At that point, I realized there was no point in fighting with her, so I walked away without buying anything. But I was shocked at how rude and unhelpful she was. I’ve never experienced that on Carnival!

Firenze

Eh. The lines have never been particularly long. I go after I leave the casino on the last night before I go to bed, so it’s generally between 11:00 & 2:00…

No clue. I’m generally not focused on what other people are doing unless it affects me…

I’m sometimes in that line - NOT to remove tips, but to pay off my balance with cash (usually because I have either won or not lost much in the casino).

Probably. But if they don’t consistently, they probably stop receiving the offers…

Depending on the ship, I can go an entire cruise never dining ONCE at the buffet, so I definitely don’t consider it the main dining area! 😉

The main dining rooms on every ship have names. Nevertheless, they are the main dining rooms…

The main dining room is the only place with “main dining” in the name! 😀

Any given gambler might cause Carnival to lose money on these offers, but collectively, they make Carnival money. Or at least I assume they do. They’d be really dumb to offer those deals at a loss and I really don’t think they are dumb. Industry-wide, cruise lines don’t make most of their money on the fares; they make it on ancillary spending. Drinks (whether a la carte or in packages, specialty dining, excursions, shopping, bingo, etc.). And of course the casino. If they can get enough players who will play enough money for enough time, the casino will ALWAYS come out ahead!

If the ship has a Pig & Anchor, they have a variety of BBQ sauces. You can bring a little Tupperware and save some for the late night buffet. 😁

On my last cruise, it was an auto shuffler for regular blackjack and a shoe for “Fun 21” (Spanish blackjack, outside of Carnival ships).

I’ll be trying one of those in a few weeks. I’m interested to see if the room, which seems awesome, outweighs the location, which IMO is less than ideal, as I much prefer higher decks…

I’d find it interesting to see a comparison between Patti’s step count and yours on any given day on a cruise. 😉 She seems like the Energizer Bunny, never stopping! I admire that.

I haven’t sailed her, yet. 3.5 weeks to go! Yet this line alone has me questioning the veracity. I’ve seen pictures and videos of the dining (not dinning) room - both of them, actually - and I find them quite beautiful! Unless you meant the buffet. But I would never consider the buffet the “main dinning area”…

“Competitive” implies comparison to other lines. Carnival specialty restaurant prices, even with these increases appear to be comparable to (perhaps slightly lower than) prices on RCCL and HAL and significantly lower than on Celebrity or MSC. NCL restaurants seem to be mostly a la carte (unless it’s with a dining package). Princess is the only line with less expensive specialty dining than Carnival.

Lido deck, 6-8 cabins in from the pool area.

You shouldn’t ever feel pressured. Take as much time as you need to play your hand!

It’s 2024?!?!?! Oh no! I missed my November 2023 cruise!!! 😉