GARDENone

Good Evening,

I have not sailed on the Majestic.  My wife and I did sail on the Regal which I believe to be near twin of Majestic. We were in M727. The balcony is much larger and is completely uncovered. There is little privacy as the Lido deck rail where folks gather is just over your head.  Although not really different from sitting by the pool, you are much more the object of attention from those at the Lido rail. We also noticed the smell of tobacco smoke wafting down from the Wake View bar. For these reasons we would choose Baja deck over Marina.  

Don’t forget to prepare for time off ship for shopping/shore excursions.  You may find it helpful to take some manufacturer sealed foods as the ship’s prepared foods will not be allowed off.  

I often see the carts in the hallways with extra linen.  I suggest you ask for extra sets  of linen and change as often as you like.  

We have done precruise on our own as well and found it most convenient.  We stayed a week visiting from Denali south to the Kenai peninsula.   It’s really hard to get lost because most destinations only have one highway to get there once you’re out of town. On one trip, we used a private shuttle such as bearvalleyroadrunnerdotcom that provide Whittier service to/from anchorage on any day, not just cruise days. On another trip, we did the train. It’s hard to beat the train for the scenic ride.  

My wife and I, early 60s, used Seagrape tours for birdwatching.  It is a locally owned, husband/wife team.  They use small minivans so no large groups.   On our excursion it was just the two of us and the guide so the whole trip could be customized to our preferences.  The wife was our guide.  They also do historical tours, art tours as well as snorkeling/beach type excursions.  

Good Evening,

My wife has similar restrictions due to numerous allergies...no wheat, corn or corn syrup sweetened products, no cow milk, no tomato or tomato products, no citrus, etc, etc.  

We have met with the Maitre D on the first afternoon where they handle last minute changes and special requests. Check the patter on boarding for time and location. We have always been assigned to same maitre d and wait staff for duration of cruise. They will go over menu in advance and cook to order to omit non compliant items.  In practice, this means lots of plain steak, fish or chicken with fruit for desert.  

 We also take aboard our own goat milk cheese and yogurt along with spelt flour crackers and bread.  For days off the ship on excursions, we take chicken breast pouches as we have been less assured of finding acceptable choices ashore with limited time.

If eating in buffet, you will have to ask supervisors about ingredients.  For breakfast, the omelette station has always been the safest for us.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

We try to book forward cabins to greatly reduce the possibility of smoke blowing back. 

My wife has extensive allergies...no wheat, corn, corn syrup, corn oil, milk products, etc., etc. ( Fortunately for me, gold also.) Ncl handled the issues well. For us, the key was to meet with the maitre d first day and explain needs. We were set up for meals with same table and wait staff for each meal. Maitre d would bring next days menu and review ingredients to ensure allergies handled. Buffet was more problematic. You will need to ask one of the supervising maitre d or chefs, not the servers to get accurate info. We also bring our own goat cheese, goat milk yogurt and snacks. Don’t forget to plan for time off the ships. Most ports will not allow fruits and non-commercially packaged foods to enter. We were allowed to take commercially sealed dried fruits and nuts ashore.

Carefree Birding recommended Alex and Kevin Martinez to us for Costa Rica when we went solo. We had great trip. You can check their FB page or trip advisor for their B n B, Posada Andrea Cristina,for details. We used Birding Pal for other stops.

I commend the OP for continuing to reward the hard work of the staff even tho only one in thirty has responded in the manner they deem the best. For me, I find it more satisfying to make a personal presentation, including a hand written “thank you”on cards we bring along. I have always received gracious acknowledgment. Perhaps you could try this next time and see if you are more satisfied.

Good Afternoon, my wife also has numerous allergies: all wheat, corn, corn syrup, dairy, etc, etc. For a Baltic’s cruise, we carried most of one piece of luggage filled with our own crackers, chips and other bread substitutes as well as special chocolates for treats. We researched our embarkation port, Copenhagen, and located a couple of health food stores with contact information online. We asked questions of those stores by email prior to leaving home. We flew in early and purchased goat milk yogurt and cheeses prior to boarding. We also purchased a small cooler as we have found the ships refrigerators to not be very cold. On board, my wife ate lots of plain chicken breasts, plain fish, etc. At breakfast, it was best to go to the omelette station to ensure any eggs served were pure without any additives. good luck.

The excursion vendors meet the ships regularly. They will know more about your expected disembarkation time than any of us casual travelers. They schedule their tours for the explicit purpose of meeting us to provide these services. To more directly answer your question, ships usually arrive and tie up prior to the posted itinerary times. Disembarkation will begin after a variety of arrival protocols are completed and the actual time can vary by a few minutes.

I prepare my tags ar home with reinforcing tape and then use a hole punch at each end. I pack the tags along with small heavy duty zip ties in my carryon. Upon leaving the airport I dispose of the airline tags and affix the cruises tags with the zip ties. Once on the ship I find it easier to cut the tag rather than the zip ties.

For Juneau, you might consider the Alaska State Museum.

I also suggest baggies to protect phones and other expensive electronics from sudden tropical rains when on excursions.

We enjoyed M727 last January. One con is the occasional wafting of tobacco smoke from the bar area just one deck above.

You will need to order room service or assist yourself from the buffet. For reasons of food safety, stewards do not handle food service.

We cruised Regal Jan 10 - 17. Cabins were not available until 1 pm. Crew members were posted in the elevators to deliver everyone to deck 16, Horizon Court.

Good Morning,

We returned from a week on Regal, 1/10-17. We were in M727 which i believe to be identical to Royal M727.

We noticed the doorway in the hall but it was always closed. I never saw it opened nor did we hear any noise from it.

Due to comments on these boards, I did examine the balcony each day for soot. On two mornings, I did find just a few specks of soot on the table top. Presumably, there may have been some on the balcony deck flooring as well but I did not search that far.

This cabin is a standard balcony in layout and furnishings. The balcony was approximately 9' X 12'. It was completely uncovered and just below the bar outside the Horizon Grill on 16. Folks standing at the rail could just as easily look down at you as well as the horizon.

We did occasionally hear some noise from chairs and tables being moved around above us. It was not a big deal to us.

We received this cabin assignment after reserving a balcony guarantee. As such, I believe M727 is the highest balcony classification, premium deluxe aft. However, if picking a cabin, we would not select cabins in the upper decks on the aft of the ship due to tobacco smoke.

While on the balcony, we could occasionally smell tobacco smoke being blown down from the designated smoking area on deck 17, aft. Likewise, we could frequently smell smoke in the aft stairs on the upper decks when going to and fro. For my wife this is a deal breaker. Although grateful to Princess for the nice cabin, we will avoid this area of the ship when selecting our own cabin.

Hope this helps. Post again if you have a question I did not address.

Steve

Good Evening,

We were on the Regal, the twin to Royal, on 1/10-17. The primary smoking area is on Deck 17 aft around the Terrace pool. There is also a small exterior smoking area on the aft section of Promenade deck 7.

We had an aft cabin on deck 15 immediately below the smoking area on 17. On a few occasions, we did get a whiff of smoke blown down from above. Much more frequently, we would smell smoke in the rear stairs on the top few decks. This smoke was apparently blown in when exterior doors were opened.

We could also smell a small amount of smoke when walking through the atrium near the casino.

It was not a big deal to me and I do appreciate Princess trying to concentrate the smokers in one or two ghettos.

My wife tries to avoid smoke as if it was Ebola. If you are in a similar position, I suggest avoiding aft cabins, especially at higher deck levels. I would also avoid the rear stairs on the upper decks.

We have enjoyed both the Royal and Regal and recommend them greatly.

We booked Regal Princess 1/10-17/16 as a last minute deal. We booked a guarantee balcony 42 days before sailing at a rate of $549pp plus taxes/fees $125pp. Approximately 8 days before sailing our cabin assignment was updated to show we had been given a category D4, premium aft deluxe balcony, M727.

Thank you Princess.

This aft facing balcony is approximately 9' X 12" in size. It has two chairs, two ottomans and a table. It is fully uncovered. For me, a perfect cabin and balcony.

Not so much for my wife. The smokers ghetto is just above on deck 17. Occasionally the wind would blow down a little smoke. My wife avoids smoke like Ebola. For that reason only, we would not select this cabin if picking a cabin versus taking a guarantee.

My opinion is only you can decide the value of a deal against potentially missing out on a cabin selection or even availability of a cruise.

We were on Regal recently. We went to one of the sales table set up upon embarkation. We asked for the soda only package and were offered the soda and more. Twice we let them know we wanted soda only, no cocktails, shakes, etc. We were then sold a soda only sticker for 36.23 pp, including gratuity. A "Barq's"

rootbeer sticker was placed on our cards instead of the "Coke" sticker used in the past. I presume a different sticker was used for soda and more.

Good Afternoon,

You may find carefreebirding.com for ideas on birding trips. We were on the same itinerary you describe and had difficulty finding guides for day trips.

We did find and highly recommend Alex Martinez for Limon. He and his son Kevin guided us with excellent results. He may be contacted at alex6265@hotmail.com, tel 506.2766-6265.

We have never found a guide for Cozumel. We typically rent a car at the pier and go to Punta Sur eco park for birding. Be sure to do the boat ride in the lagoon. In December, we also stopped at the San Gervasio ruins to bird there as well. Both were productive.

In future trips, if you go to Belize, be sure to contact Peter Herrera at belizebirdnerd@yahoo.com. He is the best guide we have had anywhere.

Good luck, Steve

Good Afternoon,

I recently booked flights with the EZ Air flexible option, but cancelled due to an issue with an economy comfort upgrade. Delta would not allow us to purchase the economy comfort upgrades nor could Princess do this for us for the EZ Air tickets.

Delta explained that Princess places a reservation but the tickets had not yet been ticketed, i.e., paid for yet by Princess. Princess told me the flights would not be ticketed for several weeks.

As there were only a few economy comfort seats available at that point for a flight over three months in advance, we chose to cancel the EZ Air and purchase directly with Delta. We purchased on 3/10 for a 6/20 flight and got the last two econ. comfort seats for our eastbound TA.

Princess made a prompt refund and we are set to go. Hope this helps, Steve