PurpleTraveller

Thursday November 29 - Sea Day

Today was another lazy sea day. We went to morning trivia then spent some time in the sun on deck 17. We watched some of a Crowded House concert at MUTS before it became cloudy so went and watched Mamma Mia Here We Go Again in our cabin. 

The Captain's party was at 4.30pm in the Vista Lounge. For those that are interested the figures were - 

Gold - 625

Ruby - 411

Platinum - 895

Elite - 574

The most travelled passengers were

First - 2344 days

Second - 1348 days

Third - 839 days

We then went to dinner at the Crown Grill at 6pm. We have really enjoyed the fine dining experience and excellent food and service in the Crown Grill on other Princess ships. I really hate to complain but that is not what we got on this evening. 

Firstly there is a design flaw in the layout of the Crown Grill located port side on deck 7 in that it is open to the Crown Bar. We were seated at table 14 which is right next to the thigh high divider, dividing the restaurant from the Crown Bar. After only a few minutes we realised that the noise of a full bar of people talking made it very, very noisy in the restaurant. The people opposite us walked out as it was so noisy. We asked our waiter if we could move to another table and was brusquely told "No, we are full" and he walked away. Not "I am so sorry but we are full. What seems to be the problem?" Things didn't improve from there. 

As well as the noise which made it difficult to have a conversation, our table was about 60 cm or 2 feet from the divider to the bar. We had a continuous stream of people walking between our table and the divider so that they didn't have to walk around to the entrance to go in or out of the restaurant. As we were so close to the bar it was a little disconcerting to have the people in the bar watching us as we ate and we even had one couple ask us how our food was. Not exactly conducive to a pleasant, relaxed dining experience. 

When we first sat down the hostess asked if we wanted to see the wine menu but we said no we didn't want a bottle of wine but would like to order from the bar. No one came to ask us if we would like to place a drink order - at all - for the entire meal. As we were unable to order drinks we shrugged and decided to just drink the water. The only problem was that when our glasses were empty they were not refilled and we had nothing to drink for half our meal until just before our dessert arrived when our glasses were finally refilled. Not great! 

Another strange thing that happened was that when our main courses arrived the waiter put down a plate of mushrooms. We both dislike mushrooms and I can't stand the smell of them. I said to our waiter that we hadn't ordered mushrooms and he replied "I ordered them for you" and walked away before I could say anything else. What the? Is it just me or is that not strange? 

The food was good but we did not linger with coffee as we had had enough of the noise. On the way out I hoped to speak with the Maitre D about our experience but he was not available. The meal was not worth $7.00 least of all the $70.00 we paid. We had far, far better experiences and service in the Symphony Dining Room. 

I am just writing this to forwarn anyone who is planning to eat at the Crown Grill on Majestic Princess. Maybe you can ask to be seated as far from the Crown Bar as possible and hopefully you will receive far better service than we did. I did speak with the Guest Relations desk a few days later about our experience and she apologised profusely and made a report. Later that day the Assistant Maitre D rang me and said that he had read the report and also apologised.

Before I get to our next Sea Day I thought I would show you a few photos from around the ship. Majestic Princess really is a beautiful ship and I really enjoyed spending time on her.

First up is the pool area. These photos were taken on the first day so Sydney is in the background. 

We enjoyed spending time on deck 17 on the port side near the entrance to the Hollywood Pool Club (aka the indoor pool) in these comfy seats. 

On the starboard side is an area the same as this which is a smokers area so if you don't like walking through clouds of smoke use the port side entrance to the Hollywood Pool Club or the middle doors from the lift lobby. I believe there is another smokers area on deck 7 aft on the starboard side. 

This is a terrible photo of Vines on deck 5 next to the Piazza and another one looking from the Piazza towards Vines.

La Mer the French restaurant is port side  on deck 7 overlooking the Piazza. I did not eat here but it was never full when I went past. I don't know if you hear a lot of noise from the Piazza (you'll see soon why I mention this)  but it could be a possibility. 

I didn't get a photo of Harmony as every time I went to take a photo it was closed and of course when it was open I never had my phone. Harmony is located starboard on deck 5 off the foyer with the Guest Relations and Shore Excursions desks. Whenever I went past when it was open there never seemed to be many people in there. 

I am keeping the photos of the Piazza until later - you'll see why then.

I'm afraid I didn't take many photos around the ship. I think I was too busy doing nothing much at all and enjoying being on her. 

2 minutes ago, sewgood said:

In regards to finding the Queen bee-

I haven't searched so hard since I had a Where in the World is Wally book in my hand.

And I still did not find her. I am cross eyed now.

 

Note to self- must book a tour to Hobbit town next time the ship calls at Tauranga, instead of walking up the Mount and taking photos of sheep.

 

That is so funny! 😄 I promise that she is there though I did have to search for her. In the interest of helping your cross eyedness here is a hint - she is near the middle of the photo and has a white dot on her back.

We also saw lots of sheep on our journey to and from Hobbiton! I am so glad that I went to Hobbiton as it was great to see. 

2 hours ago, Aesop081 said:

Big Hobbit fan here.  I have been reading the books since I was 8.  Almost 50 years.  Of all the sets they made for the movies I was most happy to see Hobbiton as I thought of it.  Have already made a note to book that same company for our tour.  I'd rather pay local tour companies than the cruise lines.  Working in tourism I know the huge range of percentages they keep for themselves.  Local companies = local jobs.  Not CEO bonuses.

Plus you usually have less people, can get to places that the big buses can't and have a more personal tour. 

I first read The Hobbit as a child and then Lord of the Rings as a teenager and enjoyed all the movies so Hobbiton was wonderful to see. 

1 hour ago, coo359a2 said:

Great review .  Looking forward to your review of the days to come. We are on a b2b in Jan/Feb.  you have given us directions for a nice walk in Auckland that we can do on our first stop there.  We are doing the Bridge Climb on the second cruise

Thank you. Hope you enjoy the rest of the review and maybe get some more ideas. The bus was really easy to get to Mt Eden and the walk up to the top was easy. We took the gentler (the road/pathway that is blocked to traffic to the left looking from the roundabout near the car park) but slightly longer way up and the steeper way (the road that is open to traffic to the right looking from the roundabout) down. The walk back to the ship took about three hours but we had a number of stops (the stop at the Winter Garden was fairly long) and we took our time. Enjoy the bridge climb! Hope you have a great B2B cruise next year. 

At just after 2.00pm we left Hobbiton and drove back towards the coast. We pulled off the highway and made our way along a narrow road to McLaren Falls Park. This is where the benefit of a mini bus rather than a full sized bus comes into play. The park was beautiful with lots of lovely trees and a river.

We parked and went on a short ten minute walk along a pretty path alongside the bubbling creek to McLaren Falls. 

The falls were lovely and Jennifer pointed out some birds and silver ferns. A most enjoyable interlude during our day. 

We walked back to the mini bus and next made a quick stop at a Kiwifruit farm where they grow them using the old fashioned frames. I had no idea that this was how Kiwifruit is grown! 

Our last stop was at Mossops Honey. Here we got to see some of their bees (behind glass) and tried to find the queen bee. Can you see the queen bee? 

They make Manuka honey and we got to try four different types of their honeys including Manuka and one with ginger - Yum! Jennifer also shouted us an ice-cream - mine had toffee chunks and was delicious! They also had honey and gifts to purchase.

We now made our way back to the ship and had enough time for Jennifer to drive us through the town and along the beach front for a quick look. We were back at the ship at 4.30pm after a wonderful day. Many thanks to Zealandier Tours and Jennifer for a great day!

That evening we had dinner at the Symphony Dining Room and we were lucky enough to score a table for two next to a window. We had a great meal with wonderful service as we glided out of Tauranga and we had a great view as we sailed past Mount Maungani. After dinner we went to the 9.15pm show in the theatre of the Australian Beatles. I really enjoyed the show and everyone seemed to have a fun time. 

I think I took a photo of every hobbit hole that we walked past and there were a lot of them!

We walked past the Baggins' hobbit hole and saw the tree above it that was made for the Hobbit movies. For the Lord of the Rings movies they had sourced a tree from elsewhere in New Zealand, cut it down, flown it to Hobitton, done the filming and then it of course died. When they went to film the Hobbit movies they were not able to find another tree the same and it had to be 60 years younger for the timeline so they made the tree that is now there. Even knowing that the tree is not real the only way you could tell was that it didn't move in the breeze. Maggie told us lots of stories like this as we walked around. 

The tree in the centre of the photo is the new tree above the Baggins' hobbit hole that was made for the Hobbit movies. 

After an hour and a half we had made our way to the lake and the Green Dragon Inn where we were given a drink. The choices were beer, apple cider or a non-alcoholic drink. I had apple cider and it was delicious. We had 20 minutes to enjoy our drink and the beautiful surroundings. At 1.25pm we got on a bus and drove the five minutes to the main entrance. There we had 30 minutes to have lunch and visit the gift shop. 

Wednesday November 28 - Tauranga

We woke to a beautiful morning where we were moored near Mount Maunganui. After breakfast we got off the ship and took a lovely walk along the boardwalk towards the Mount as the locals call it and took some time to simply enjoy our surroundings.

The previous time we were in Tauranga we had walked up to the top of the Mount and you get great views from up there. The seaside town is also very pretty.

This time as a mad Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit fan of both the books and movies I had decided that I would bring out my inner hobbit and go to Hobbiton. DH is not the slightest bit interested in the Lord of the Rings so he spent the day enjoying the seaside town. 

I always try to use local tour providers if possible and after doing some research settled on Zealandia Tours. Their Hobbiton tour was exactly what I was after, was a small group, they had good reviews and it cost less than the Princess tour. 

We met up just outside the port exit and we were a group of ten with 8 adults, an eight year old and a 21 month old. The two children were very well behaved and it was a pleasure to tour with all. Our tour guide was Jennifer and she was lovely and very informative. We left at 10.00am in a mini van and made our way to Hobbiton through beautiful countryside with Jennifer giving us lots of information about the area we were passing through. 

We arrived at Hobbiton at 11.10am and Jennifer went to get our tickets for the 11.30am tour. We had just enough time to use the restrooms and grab a snack before getting on the 11.30am Hobbiton bus that takes you from the main entrance to Hobbiton. It was a short drive through beautiful countryside. There was a short video played with Peter Jackson the director of the movies welcoming us to Hobbiton and also the farmer who owns the land where Hobbiton is located. Soon we saw our first view of Hobbiton.

Maggie was our tour guide and she led us off the bus and around a corner and there we were. Hobbiton was laid out before us looking exactly as it does in the movies. The valley was so pretty and the detail that has been built is amazing. Maggie told us lots of information about the making of the movies, anecdotes about filming certain scenes and the enormous detail that went into making everything just right. There were many hobbit holes, pretty gardens and beautiful scenery. 

The walk was along dirt paths and there were some that went up and down the hills and some that were quite narrow. For those that are in wheelchairs or mobility challenged there was a golf buggy that drove them around on a different route on wider paths but still went past many hobbit holes and of course still see the lovely countryside. 

2 hours ago, trbarton said:

I'm on the Majestic for the March cruise from Sydney to Hong Kong.  Since I've never been on a large Princess ship like the Majestic you review & photos are extremely helpful.

 

Waiting to see more information & photos.  Thanks again.

 

Tom

Thank you. I hope you find some more of the review helpful and enjoy the remainder. Hope you enjoy your cruise in March. 

4 hours ago, sewgood said:

You have given me new ideas on what to do next time we are in Auckland. Thanks.

Great photos and I am enjoying your review.

 

Thank you. I'm so pleased to hear that I have given you some ideas. I always enjoy spending time in Auckland. 

6 hours ago, Pantheral said:

Many complements and thanks for the review so far. Looking forward to hearing more! We are booked on her for the 2/18/19 cruise and have been waiting for a detailed review of the Majestic now that she is cruising from Australia. 

Thank you very much. Ask any questions and I will try to answer them. Hope you enjoy the rest of the review. Have a wonderful cruise next year. 

7 hours ago, Aesop081 said:

Wife and I are doing the 13 day in the opposite direction in Jan 2020.  This thread has us enthralled, we are looking anxiously forward to more information on the ship and the cruise.  Great pics so far. 

Thanks. I hope you enjoy the rest of the review and if you have any questions please feel free to ask away. Have a great cruise in 2020.

10 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Thanks for the review.

Thank you. Hope you enjoy the rest. 

10 hours ago, RLK33853 said:

Great Review as always.  Wish we had known about the extended balconies before we booked.  While we like the Royal class for a bunch of reasons, the little balconies are one thing we hate.

 

thanks for sharing

 

Ray

Thank you so much. The balconies looked to be a good size so I would definitely consider one of them in the future. 

11 hours ago, Croptop said:

Looking forward to reading more about your travels on the Majestic. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and photos with us.

Thank you. More will be coming up soon that I hope you will enjoy. 

14 hours ago, Jodieg said:

Loving your review.

Thanks

Thank you. Hope you enjoy the remainder. 

15 hours ago, emmak8 said:

Thank you for posting. Your pictures are awesome. I was on the Majestic 35 days on its first voyage from Barcelona to Singapore. Deck 17 was my favorite with its covered pool and private seating areas .

Thanks. 35 days would have been great. I really enjoyed the Hollywood Conservatory and managed to enjoy a private seating area a couple of times. 

After a short break to enjoy the park we walked back to the ship and continued on a short way to the Viaduct which was built for when New Zealand hosted the America's Cup. There are restaurants and bars and you can watch people far braver than me jump off the Auckland Skytower (attached to the tower by ropes).

We got back to the ship at 5.30pm and 15 minutes later the rain that had been expected all day came pouring down. Sail away was at 8.00pm and we were treated to a spectacular sunset where the colour just kept getting better and better. One of the best sunsets I have ever seen! 

After enjoying the view and having a snack we decided to walk back to the ship as it was mostly downhill. We headed down to the Domain to one of my favourite places in Auckland - the Winter Garden. The Winter Garden is two conservatories with many different plants and divided by a courtyard with a pond.

After getting my fill of the lovely plants we continued walking to the Old Government House, the Clock Tower of Auckland University and to Albert Park. 

Tuesday November 27 - Auckland

We weren't due into Auckland until 12pm so we had a leisurely morning.

We had breakfast at the area just outside the buffet next to the pool with comfortable padded chairs and metal tables. On every previous Princess cruise (this was our ninth) we have eaten outside by the pool if the weather is good enough and received table service and the tables are set with cutlery. On our first morning we had collected our breakfast from the buffet and made our way outside and sat down at a table. There was no cutlery so when a crew member came by we asked for an apple juice, an orange juice and some cutlery. To our amazement we were told that they did not provide cutlery or apple juice outside and that we would have to get our own. When we asked what they could provide we were told orange juice, water and coffee. We expressed our surprise at this but we were told again that we had to get our own apple juice and cutlery. For the remainder of the cruise we did this but it still seems rather odd and I don't recall ever asking for something on a Princess ship and being told to get it myself. 

After breakfast we found a seat in the Hollywood Conservatory and enjoyed the sail in to Auckland harbour. We even saw a pod of dolphins swimming alongside the ship which was lovely.

At 12pm we were docked at the Princes Wharf next to the Auckland Ferry Building. 

We have been to Auckland a number of times so didn't have anything major planned for the day so we left the ship at 12.20pm and walked the couple of blocks to the Britomart Bus Station. We got the 12.50pm 27H bus to Mt Eden which cost NZ$3.50 each and took about 20 minutes. It took 25 minutes to leisurely walk up to the top of Mt Eden from the bus stop. Mt Eden is a former volcano and the centre of the crater is considered sacred. From the top there are great views of Auckland city, harbour and the surrounding suburbs. 

Sunday November 25 and Monday November 26 - Sea Days

We didn't do an awful lot during these two sea days. On the first sea day we went to both morning and afternoon Trivia's, watched a concert at MUTS - Mumford and Sons Live in South Africa, dinner at the Symphony Dining Room and went to the 9.15pm performance of Encore in the theatre. On the second sea day we also went to both the morning and afternoon Trivia's and had dinner at Alfredo's. The food was good but the service was somewhat lacking. We waited for twenty minutes after finishing our meal and plates were cleared and then finally gave up waiting to order dessert and left. 

What we did do during these sea days was to explore the ship. We have been on both Royal and Regal Princess so we were interested to see the differences. One of the changes is the extended balconies both forward and aft on decks 8 and 9.

The other big change is the enclosed Hollywood Pool Club.

The very best change is the Hollywood Conservatory at the very front of the ship with comfortable seating areas, great views, no wind as it is fully enclosed and best of all - free! Most seating areas are taken early in the day but we were able to use the area a number of times at different times of the day and evening. It was so nice to be able to look forward and it is available to all. 

20 minutes ago, Kenswing said:

Awesome.  We're doing this cruise in March.  Can't wait to read more.

Welcome! Hope you enjoy the review and have a great cruise next March. 

Here we are just returned from our 12 day cruise from Sydney to New Zealand on Majestic Princess. I was not expecting to go on another cruise this year but it was the fault of one of those emails. You know the ones I mean - the ones you give a quick glance at as you're about to delete it and stop and think - oh! New Zealand, oh! a Balcony for less than an Interior, oh! upgrade to a Deluxe Balcony for the same price as a Balcony and the next thing I knew I was booked on another cruise. I had wanted to go on another cruise to New Zealand as on our previous cruise in 2016 we had hit bad weather and missed Dunedin and the Fjordlands and I really, really wanted to cruise Milford Sound.

Saturday November 24 - Embarkation Sydney

So we set off from home to the Sydney Overseas Passenger Terminal and we discovered the joy of cruising from your home port. We left home and were on the ship in less than 45 minutes! It took less than 10 minutes from dropping off our suitcases to being welcomed onboard. 

We made our way to our cabin - a Deluxe Balcony A124.

We set out to explore the ship and catch some great views. The Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney is right in the centre of Sydney with amazing views of the harbour, Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. 

Muster was at 3.20pm and we didn't have to take our life jackets.

Sail away was at 4.00pm and we seemed to come really close to the Harbour Bridge when we reversed away from the dock. 

There were great views as we slowly sailed through the Harbour. It took about an hour to sail to the Heads and out to sea. 

We had a quick dinner at the buffet and then went to the Welcome Show in the theatre at 7.15pm. It was Christopher Watkins a violinist who was great watch and listen to. 

1 hour ago, lorri111 said:

Thanks for that. How was LATAM as an airline, I am hearing all sorts of stories about local airlines being notorious for unreliability with times.

All our flights left on time except the flight to Cusco which was delayed due to a huge storm in Cusco which meant that the previous flight from Cusco to Lima couldn't depart on time. All the planes were fairly new and clean. Our flight from Santiago to Buenos Aires was on a Boeing 787 and the other flights were on Airbus A320's. I would happily fly with LATAM again. 

43 minutes ago, lorri111 said:

Thank you for the useful info, we are doing South America/Antarctica in Jan 2020. Can I ask who you flew with and what airport you came in at in BA? We are in Perth and I have just started looking at flight options.

Thanks. We booked through LATAM as we had extra flights from Santiago to Lima then Cusco and back from Puno to Lima to Santiago, so that we could get a better deal. However, as LATAM code shares with Qantas we chose to fly Qantas from Sydney to Santiago and return on their direct flight as flying with LATAM from and to Sydney would have meant a stop in Auckland. From Santiago to Buenos Aires and all our other flights within South America were with LATAM. We flew into Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires and it was a 40 minute taxi ride to our hotel near the obelisk.