Cruise Raider

When it is under $30, I just don’t bother either. I feel as though we got a lot of value for our money. Funny thing is, we gave the full bottle of wine away to another table. I’m sure they appreciated it. 😉

So, I was overcharged even though we got the premier package. I went down to the front desk several times to have the charges removed and even took a screen shot of my account before we disembarked. We had an additional $20 charge when I received my final bill for the last morning. We went right from our cabin to the exit. I can only think it was because we were charged for corkage at The Catch the last night. We specifically bought a bottle of wine onboard to enjoy with dinner. Oh well, overall, it was still a perfect cruise.

Absolutely. The bar is just before the entrance to the restaurant. I agree with @CruiserMickey about the bartenders. They are really fabulous. I never met Marvin and Anthony went home yesterday but they were all so good there.

We always found a nice place to sit somewhere by a window. There are tables in Vines, n the piazza, in the piazza bar, Good Spirits are in and near the Crown Grill Bar, each of which is close by some good music in the late afternoon and evening. The first leg of our cruise was at full capacity and there were still places to sit. The Crown Grill Bar would be the most practical replacement for Crooners. The Double Down Bar next to the casino is a great meeting spot to just visit with friends. I didn’t see any music playing in there but they did have some sporting events on the big screen tvs in there. The Hollywood conservatory also has some wonderful seating options for some wonderful relaxation, views and soothing spa music. When you walk around the ship, they had so many little cozy seating areas that you wouldn’t necessarily expect.

We had our last meal onboard and again chose the Catch by Rudi. It really is that good and the third time there was just as good as the first two dinners, The ship wasn’t at all crowded as some passengers disembarked on the previous day. Disembarkation was quite easy this morning as we’d already gone through immigration the previous day. We were out of our room and off the ship to the curb in about 5 minutes. It helped that a large majority of people were staying onboard. I was impressed by the number of staff and officers that were there to help give instructions on what to do. It certainly wasn’t our first time to disembark in Los Angeles so didn’t need to ask for any instruction but Im sure that was helpful for those that did. Not only that but the number of helpful port staff was also impressive. They asked you all along the way if you needed any help to get where you needed to be, we are just waiting for our flight back home out of Long Beach Airport. We got here by 8:45 AM. Traffic was extremely light .. so thankful for that! And to think I was worried about booking an 11:30 AM flight. Lol Once I realized there would be no long lines for disembarkation, I knew we’d have plenty of time to get here wi5h so much time to spare.

I was able to book several cruises as well. I was surprised that the cruise I booked was offered, as it wasn’t originally on the half off list and nearly sold out.

We went through immigration today while in Los Angeles. They were only about 45 minutes delayed. My DH was not enthralled but I really think the whole process was done rather seamlessly. The only drawback is they didn’t have bough chairs for people that were waiting to reboard after having gone through the process with CBP and security. We are both able bodied so I really didn’t mind. So, we tried the noodle bar today. What took us so long? Wow … it is amazing! We’ve had great food everywhere onboard which is why we haven’t had the chance to try the noodle bar until today. I must say, we’ve had such an incredible trip throughout the past two weeks. The Majestic has absolutely become our favorite ship on the entire fleet .. and of any fleet! This has become a very special vacation to us. The uniqueness of this ship has been awesome but secondary to the amazing crew

We’ve been successful in the past but also had it charged. They are leaving a certain number of reservations open to be made while onboard to correct this issue. It looks like they are now selling more of the packages and not offering the free specialty dinners in the promos. They are offering lunches instead of dinners to use the package credits. I think it’s a smart move! anyway, even though you may not be able to get reservations ahead of time via the app, we have not had a lot of trouble getting them while onboard in the recent months.

Yes, the casino core OBC is added to your account as free play through the casino cage or host.

I think we are having much too much fun to leave on Saturday. We’ve decided to stay onboard until Sunday. We will miss a family event but they will hopefully understand. And yes, I think we’ve booked about 8 sailings from the half off list. We don’t have an unlimited travel budget but can afford the half off sailings so are so very happy with those. We just heard The Catch was serving sushi and oysters and the Crown Grill hosted the Crab Shack. I’m so happy they are making us of the venues onboard for lunchtime! Excellent strategic planning in play!

I wanted to mention that specialty dining, for those that are interested, was offered in both the Crown Grill (the Crab Shack lunch) and in The Catch by Rudi for lunch today. I understand that if you have the premier package, you can us your credits for lunchtime or dinner time.

We still haven’t tried the sushi because the lunch on the dining room has been so spectacular! I keep saying, for anybody that has complained about the food on Princess, they’ve never been on the Majestic. Wow .. the food has all been amazing.

That’s wonderful … what’s funny is I am from Green Bay and a big Packers fan and married a big Raiders fan! It’s all good, though. We have made a wonderful life together for decades .. both green and gold as well as silver and black in our house!

Oh yes, the Jordan was also wonderful. Another one perk of the premier package is getting discounts on bottles of wine. I think the same discount may apply to the plus package. Not all wines are sold by the glass and we took a special friend out to The Catch that night so wanted a special bottle to share. We were speaking to Chris, one of the special events coordinators for Princess, yesterday and he explained that on the Discovery, they will be swapping out the venues where Sabatini’s currently is for The Catch by Rudi. It has been reported that many people don’t like the open atmosphere. We actually loved it!

I forgot to mention, I went to the Future Cruise Sales office and booked a great deal on another cruise. When onboard, you may want to check out their current sales .. they can offer you some really great deals on some cruises.

The Catch by Rudi is the most incredible restaurant we’ve ever experienced! We went twice and have another reservation in a couple of days. The food and service are outstanding! I rarely take photos of my food but wow, the presentations were so beautiful. It is truly a special restaurant! It’s more of an experience than just a meal.

We are still onboard and having the best time. This cruise is not at full capacity and we are loving that so much! Since there are no crowds onboard, we made it to the dining room yesterday afternoon for chicken Korma and had the best meal. The waiters in the Allegro were so much fun and attentive! Last night was formal night and we checked the menu. They did have some cod and turkey dinner, both of which are always good but we had a big lunch so just got a few snacks at the buffet instead. The theme last night in the buffet was Indian food and it was so delish! Their curries are so marvelous. The evening entertainment was the production show, Fiera. Since we’d just seen it, we enjoyed the fabulous music options of the Sunset Quartet and Grace’s Secret in the piazza. Throughout the day, the cast of Dallas will be having talks in the theater. That should be interesting. They are around the ship and appear to be having a good time as well as interacting with the guests.

Sorry .. I have no idea. I will check tomorrow if I think of it.

The premier has been so worth it for us on our B2B here on the Majestic. We have gone to such excellent dinners in both Harmony and The Catch by Rudi. I love the photos and the premier brand label wines! Sit down pizza for lunch or dinner was remarkable on a busy sailing. Vines has a wonderful charcuterie board and crudités, as well. Interestingly enough, we did take advantage of the premier seating and we are so glad we did. The first leg of this sailing was at full capacity and we would have likely not gotten a seat in the new production show. For us, it is so worth it! For others, maybe not so much. I really think it sends on how much higher end liquor and wine you drink and how long your cruise is. It’s maybe worth it for a week long cruise or shorter … for anything longer than 10 days,I’d have to question upgrading to it.

We are staying B2B as far as Los Angeles and now, I wish I had the foresight to book it all the way through Hawaii. The turnaround day procedure this morning for ‘In Transit’ passengers was as easy and seamless as I’ve ever experienced. All that we had to do was to turn in our immigration for to the front desk yesterday and then relax and enjoy the ship this morning. I am excited this sailing is less crowded than the previous one, although, I really have no basis for that comment. Most everything we’ve done had no lines with the exception immigration in Astoria and the emebrkation lunch on the first day in the MDR. This ship really has the happy crew onboard!

I agree, it is such a happy ship!

We finally made it to the elite happy hour last night. It was located in the Vista Lounge. They had some snacks and we met one of the further cruise consultants there manning the door. She was very friendly and welcoming! There weren’t many passengers in attendance, though. Some of the most recent HH events I’ve attended on other ships had some live music during the event. The best snacks they’ve had were on the Ruby when we sailed on her last month. We usually just had that for our dinner instead of going to the dining room. But, I can assure you, there’s no way we are going to starve. The food all over the ship has been phenomenal. We haven’t made it up for the sushi as of yet and seeing we are in Seattle today, they aren’t open. We still have next week. And yes, we love Grace’s Secret. Jennifer and Graham both have such unique voices. Peter and Chip are still in the band but the guitarist they refer to as Elvis, maybe that’s really his name 😂 , has been replaced by Ollie. He is very talented and a great addition / replacement.

We went through immigration onboard the ship when we reached Astoria. Everyone was scheduled at a specific time for meeting with immigration officials. Those with tours set up in Astoria had the first scheduled times. Some people were still going through immigration after 2:30 PM. We were scheduled for 10:30 when they made the announcement that everyone was to proceed to the line. Because the line was so long, we let it die down a bit before standing in the line. Of course, we simply enjoyed the comfort of Good Spirits while we kept an eye on the line. Once we saw the end of the line, we made our way one deck up. We finally got through by around 12:30 PM. By this time, it had begun to rain so we merely stayed onboard. We missed the In Transit guests talk yesterday as we lost track of time in the casino. They did send a letter explaining that we don’t have to go through immigration procedures tomorrow. We still have to find out if we need to disembark to clear the ship. I really wished I’d have set an alarm to remind myself of the session for in transit passengers.

So, I made an attempt to continue my review of the Majestic and after writing out several paragraphs about the entertainment when poof, the whole thing was gone. So, let my try it now. We missed the show the first night as we were having a relaxing dinner in Harmony. It was a vocal impressionist that we heard from others to be quite good. We did catch two shows by the comedian, Sid Davis. He is one funny guy! We had seen two of the production shows a few times each in the past so didn’t repeat those but did go to the new show, Fiera, only performed twice so far. It is a circus themed show so not really to my liking but I can still appreciate it for all the hard work, talent, choreography and costumes. I wanted to comment on the seating for those with the premier package. There was a section of seats saved in a good location for those with the premier package, left side on deck 6 about 8-11 rows back from the stage. They were filled prior to even being able to release them 10 minutes before the show. This cruise is full capacity, thus the theater was filled by did not notice anyone standing in the aisles, at least not for the early show. They have two bands playing through the evening with a little different style of music but both are very good. Grace’s Secret is a group of 5 very talented musicians from England, which we’ve seen on several cruises in the past. We love them so we so happy to see them listed on Journeyview. The Sunset Quartet has a Latino flair and the lead singer is so very talented and energetic. They’ve played a lot of music to get people up on their feet in the piazza. A few times, it has turned into the Sunset Quartet without singing. We try to catch both their shows in the evenings when they play. Ercobel is a wonderful guitar player and singer and performs in both the Crown Grill Bar and the piazza. I’m sure there are another couple of duos around the ship but we really scope out the performances by the ones listed above. The casino isn’t really entertainment, per se, but we’ve had a lot of fun in there, nonetheless. No winnings but it is enjoyable gambling in a relatively low smoke environment. It’s not the norm but this sailing seems to have very few smokers onboard. The activities are pretty much all day and into the evening. We tried to see the vocal impressionist in the Vista Lounge the other night but it was standing room only 15 minutes before the show. We opted to go to this game show called The Generation Gap in Princess Live hosted by our cruise director, Christoff. Oh my word, we laughed so hard! We usually attend most of the CD staff activities as they are usually hilarious. Just of note, gone are the days with limited capacity sailings where you can go from one show to another and expect to find a seat. I missed the CC meet and greet up in the Hollywood Club area as there was an excellent enrichment lecture we wanted to attend. He was so knowledgeable, interesting and an excellent speaker. He even threw a little humor into his talk. Nicely done! We missed his lecture on humpback whales as we were waiting for our lunch to be served but, I imagine it was also a very interesting. Anyway, the Hollywood Conservatory is a wonderful area that is climate controlled, wonderfully decorated with soothing spa music playing. The cabanas are first come, first served and offer complimentary seating. I don’t know how long they will remain free but what a wonderful relaxing experience to find during a rainy day.

From what I’ve heard, it is not full.