charliedalrymple

We are indeed--and this is an awesome cruise! Best production shows I've seen on any cruise line.

Alas, they were not--but lovely nonetheless.

We are loyal to Princess because they generally offer the best price for the itineraries we want. We've never had a perfect cruise (though Alaska came close) but have enjoyed all of them.

We're tipping in Australian dollars since that is the onboard currency and we are round-trip from Sydney. Does your cruise originate in Sydney? I think the crew would be thrilled with tips in any currency, since they aren't common in Australia.

January 2 - AT SEA I simply can't bear the chaos and cacophony of the buffet at breakfast any more, so we tried the MDR for breakfast for the first time. Breakfast finishes at 9:00 and we arrived at 8:50. Our server was clearly annoyed that we had dared to arrive so close to closing time and let us know it by being surly and rude. I just commented yesterday on the great service on board, and this was the first time we experienced a crew member with such a negative attitude. Today was all about scenic cruising in the sounds, and it was spectacular as anticipated. The weather was a bit overcast, but that actually added to the experience. The low-lying clouds clinging to the hills made for a moody and dramatic view. We stayed on our balcony and thought it was the perfect spot from which to observe the scenery. It was Italian night in the MDR and for me the most disappointing dinner of the journey so far. I had barramundi with "smokey aubergine sauce." The fish was dry and a bit tough, and the sauce was barely noticeable. Still, one disappointing meal among so many good ones is a pretty good track record. I haven't mentioned my frozen margarita fetish in a while, for the simple reason that our drinking has steadily decreased as the cruise progresses. At first I felt pressure to get my money's worth from the Plus package, and as a result I was drinking more than I really wanted to (or should). For that reason, I don't think I would go with Plus in the future. That's just me, and I don't want to open a pandora's box of cost/benefit arguments. You do you. A quick note about the clueless, annoying adults and shrieking children I mentioned earlier. People from certain countries tend to be much more irritating than others, and I have to assume that is due to cultural differences more than individual personalities. I'm not going to get any more specific than that. Two more sea days to go!

We are currently on Majestic and I have no issue with the lights at all. I particularly appreciate the little nightlights under the bedside tables when I have to get up during the night.

On our current cruise (Majestic) they hold them until five minutes before showtime and make an announcement when they are available. However, it seems that non-premiere guests are taking them well in advance, and there is no enforcement. We were sitting one row behind the premiere row when a father put his two teen daughters in premiere seats and told them to save two more. He told them that they should say they are premiere passengers if anyone asked--and one daughter protested. ("But dad, we aren't!") There was one full row of great seats in the centre section, and then a large block on the left a bit further up.

January 1 - PORT CHALMERS / DUNEDIN Like most of the passengers, we slept too late for breakfast in the MDR and headed to the buffet instead. It was chaos. After roaming around for about ten minutes, we spotted an empty table for four. We were walking toward it when a woman literally raced us and got there first. We decided to sit down anyway and pull up an extra chair. Her husband came about ten minutes later and yelled at us for taking "his" seat. Happy new year. I'm sick of the buffet--not the food, which is surprisingly good, but the hoards of people who have no regard for anyone around them and children shrieking in that high-pitched whine as only they can do. Rant over. We had been to Dunedin before and decided to stay in Port Chalmers. The Royal Princess was also in port, and it appears to be essentially identical to the Majestic (perhaps someone can confirm this). Port Chalmers is not much bigger than Picton, and we had no intention of competing for sidewalk space with thousands of other cruisers in town, so we decided to walk through the hills around town. It was a good call. We followed a designated trail to the "Lady Thorn Dell" and lookout point, past a historic graveyard, and then a wide loop down the hill back and to the dock area. We had hoped to stop in a historic pub and hotel outside of town, but it was closed for the holiday. However, it looked quite charming from the outside and would probably be worth a visit in the future. The Princess Theatre featured a hypnotist, but I gave it a pass and opted for jazz by the house band in the Crown Grill Bar and karaoke at Princess Live. The singers at karaoke ranged from passable to truly awful, which was entertaining. (I would like to think that yours truly was in the former category.) Otherwise, it was a slow and relaxing day. Before I forget, I want to mention that the service everywhere on the ship has been truly outstanding in my opinion. I've seen comments on this forum about substandard service and low staff levels on other ships, but that's not the case at all on Majestic. The crew seem very happy and really take pride in their work.

Thanks, Ian. We were sitting directly behind the VIP section in the Vista Lounge, so I'm glad I didn't pay $700 for a "prime" location. I noticed that they had Veuve Cliquot. I leaned over and asked one of them whether they were suite guests, and that's when I learned they had bought a package. Yes, I also thought that was strange. However, we noticed that every bar server was being run ragged in other parts of the ship that evening, so perhaps they just didn't have enough crew to cover it. I felt sorry for them.

Thanks for a great report and photos!

December 31 - AT SEA Happy new year! It was indeed festive and extremely noisy on board today. There were two major highlights. The first was a magnificent surf and turf item on the dinner menu in the MDR. It was very similar to the steak and lobster we had on our balcony dinner, just a bit smaller portions and without all of the fanfare. As usual, the steak was cooked perfectly. It was a formal night, and most people made a real effort since it was New Year's Eve, but I was pretty shocked at some of the things I observed in the MDR, including a woman in bare feet and a man with athletic shorts, a sleeveless t-shirt and flip-flops. I understand that not everyone wants to go all out on formal nights, and I'm fine with long pants, a decent shirt and close-toed shoes. However, I honestly think these two should not have been admitted to the MDR. I said as much to the hostess, which elicited a bored shrug. The production show was Fierra, which was in my opinion the best so far. It was technically dazzling, with extremely complex (and well-executed) choreography, and it had a nice mix of up-tempo numbers and slow ballads. It also told a story of sorts, which someone had asked about before. As I have mentioned, this is the most talented cast we've ever seen at sea, and I have to single out lead singer Vicki from China. She is a force of nature. DH and I both got manicures and pedicures in the afternoon. We knew we would pay more than on land, which is fine. However, the manicurist was really aloof and seem annoyed that she had to take time out of her busy schedule to serve us. And the quality was pretty mediocre. Oh, well. I did see a couple of women getting their hair done for the evening, and their stylists were extremely friendly and seemed to be taking their work seriously. The festivities--or at least the drinking--started at around 3:00 p.m. By 9:00 there was no space on the piazza level or any of the other bars and common areas, and the noise level rose exponentially throughout the night as the drinks continued to flow. The house band was doing a lovely jazz set in the Crown Grill Bar, but there was no hope of a seat there. We finally managed to find a place for all four of us in the Vista Lounge by lurking in the shadows and swooping in when someone left, and that turned out to be the perfect venue in which to ring in the new year. The Glam Quartet was performing and was very good, but way too loud (like everything else on this ship). However, we settled into the vibe and ended up having a great time, including joining in the dancing. There was technically no drink service in the Vista Lounge (except for passengers in a roped-off VIP section who had purchased a NYE package), but I was able to order with my favourite server in the Crown Grill Bar and have him deliver our drinks to the Vista next door. The $50 I discreetly slipped him probably didn't hurt. We escaped the pandemonium shortly after midnight and headed back to the serenity of our cabin.

I am currently on Majestic and it is indeed 7:30 and 9:30--and the shows are spectacular! I would note two things. First, people arrive really early and you need to be in the theatre about 30 minutes to secure a good seat. Also, the early show tends to have more children, and they can be a bit disruptive (at least on our holiday cruise, which has hundreds of children).

I will admit that I have not requested anything special, just taken whatever is out. Perhaps I need to take a bit more initiative.

Hi, Ian. No, we were not asked to vacate our cabin. However, the helicopter did wake us up during the evacuation.

A quick note about gluten-free options on board, which several people have asked about. (I am coeliac, so this matters to me.) I have found them very limited in the buffet. There is a gluten-free station at breakfast that features wheat toast, raisin bread and either pancakes or french toast. It is the first station after one of the entrances, so many people take those items (probably not realising they are gluten-free). As a result, it is often out of one or more items. The gluten-free dessert options in the buffet are limited to two types of muffins and Jello. Rather disappointing, although the chocolate chip ones are quite good. There are no specifically gluten-free options in the International Cafe, although a couple of things are naturally gluten free (such as chocolate mousse). Somebody mentioned at one point that one or more of the elaborate layer cakes were gluten-free, but that's not the case on our cruise. They are very good about catering to coeliacs in the MDR and let me order from the next day's menu in advance. They seem to know what I've ordered even if we sit in a different dining room, so the system seems to work. Unfortunately, the gluten-free bread in the MDR is basically just white toast, which is not terribly appealing. Overall, I wouldn't rate the gluten-free options on Majestic very highly.

Thanks, Nini. I'm sure you are correct. Unfortunately, DH is a teacher, so we are tied to school holidays. I look forward to both of us being fully retired so we can cruise during the off season. My comment about doing adults only cruises in the future was (slightly) tongue-in-cheek.

A quick update: There was another medical evacuation in the early morning hours today (January 31), this one at sea via helicopter. The water is quite choppy and the captain informed us this morning that it was a very difficult maneuver. He also said that a number of people had to vacate their cabins while it was underway, which I don't fully understand.

December 30 - PICTON It was grey and drizzly as we boarded the shuttle bus to Picton this morning, but at least the wind was minimal. It made little difference, because there is essentially nothing to see in Picton. There is one main street lined with touristy shops and cafes. Once you walk up one side and down the other, you have seen the town. The cafes were all packed with cruise passengers, and I wondered why so many people would get off of a crowded, noisy ship (with free food) to sit in a crowded, noisy restaurant (with expensive food). To each their own. A word of advice: Picton is one place where you would be well-served to book an excursion in advance, either through Princess or independently. The main point of this stop is to the visit the nearby Marlborough wine region. Since there is little else to say about Picton, let me mention several interesting things that have happened over the past two days: - Somebody called security yesterday to report that a teenage girl was threatening to jump off a balcony. We saw a swarm of crew members racing around our hallway, so we assume it was on our level. We learned nothing more. - A crew member was hastily removed from the ship in Tauranga. We saw him being met by local authorities and he had several items of luggage with him. It appeared that he was being detained, but we learned nothing more. - The three occupants of the cabin two doors down from us have COVID and are isolating there. We have observed masked crew members delivering food to them on several occasions and leaving it outside the door. We are not supposed to know that they have COVID, but we were tipped off by a crew member. (I'm not saying any more than that because I don't want to get the person in trouble.). We have noticed an increasing number of passengers hacking and coughing as the cruise progresses, so I can't say I'm surprised. - There were two medical evacuations from the ship today. The first was as we were about to leave port, and the second was about 45 minutes after we left (forcing us to turn around and go back). Our departure was delayed by two hours as a result. I sent a message via Crew Chat asking whether these evacuations involved communicable diseases, but they would not answer (which is not a surprise). However, we have decided to wear masks and avoid particularly crowded areas for the remainder of the cruise, particularly the lifts. Just one other observation: We have decided that our next cruise will be adults only, regardless of how much more it costs.

December 29 - WELLINGTON The wind was howling and rain was pelting down as we exited the ship in Wellington. We considered getting right back on board but faced the elements and made our way to the shuttle into town. However, we decided to limit our adventure to two museums: The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa and The Wellington Museum. They did not disappoint. The Te Papa is particularly worthwhile for its comprehensive exhibition of Maori art, history and culture, which should really not be missed. The only other thing we did in the city was stop for coffee before braving the weather to make our way back to the ship. A lazy afternoon followed, and we decided to have an early dinner so we could catch the 7:30 production show, Fantastic Journey. Although the Medallion App always shows the MDR booked until 8:00 p.m., our party of four has been able to walk in every evening at 6:00 or 6:30 and wait no more than five minutes for a table--so I don't think we will even bother trying to reserve in advance for the remainder of the cruise. We had a pleasant but not particularly memorable dinner. We made sure to be at the Princess Theatre by 7:00 to get four seats together, but it was already quite full and there were no blocks of four seats to be seen. We noted a very large number of empty seats reserved for Premium passengers in the centre and left side of the theatre and asked an employee about them, who said they would be released five minutes before showtime. We decided to just hang around in the aisle until then and try our luck. At 7:20 we saw about 20 children and teens starting to fill those seats, and I don't think they were Premium--so we grabbed four of them while we still could. They made an announcement at 7:25 that the remaining Premium seats were still available. It's a rather chaotic system. As for Fantastic Journey: It was a technical marvel, with amazing costumes and intricate sets that moved constantly (including a very impressive segment with lighted drones flying around the lead singer in formation). The choreography was intricate and quite spectacular, and the entire show was extremely well-executed. And in spite of all that, I just didn't like it. I recognised almost none of the songs, and the overall content just didn't grab me. I will say that my three traveling companions loved it, and one even decided to see it again at 9:30, so it's apparently just me. As I said, I applaud the cast and creative crew for an amazing effort, and I almost feel guilty that Fantastic Journey didn't do anything for me. We retired to the Crown Grill Bar after the show and were delighted to find a quartet playing mellow jazz all evening. I think they were a last-minute replacement, because other performers were listed in the Patter. Whatever the reason, it was a welcome change to the usual Crown Grill offerings. (The other musicians are consistently good, but smooth jazz is exactly the kind of sound I would expect in such a venue.) I find that I'm less and less interested in all of the "filler" activities around the ship, such as ring toss and putting competitions, endless trivia contests, and the rather inane "game shows." At first I had FOMO because there seemed to be so much happening at once, but that has been replaced by a very relaxed contentment where I don't feel compelled to do anything if I don't want to.

December 28 - AT SEA We got a very late start to the day, due in large part to my multiple frozen margaritas with a Sambuca chaser the previous evening. We decided to have a light breakfast so we could try The Catch by Rudi at lunch for the sushi sampler that is included in the Plus Package (otherwise $27). We showed up at about 1:00 p.m. and decided to sit at the bar so we could watch the sushi being made by three chefs. The sushi sampler is enormous and very good--I would definitely recommend it as one of the two "casual dining" meals included with Plus. (We will likely go a second time and forego Alfredo's for this cruise.). One issue about The Catch is that it overlooks the Piazza, so you are subject to whatever high-volume activity is happening below. In addition, passengers use it as a hallway and walk through continuously, which was a bit annoying since we were sitting at the bar. (This would not be an issue at one of the interior tables.). I wished that the space could be roped off during dining hours, but that's a minor complaint when weighed against the exceptional food. A lovely nap followed lunch. Napping during the day is something I never do back in the real world and it feels like a luxurious indulgence on board. After waking, DH went to play cards with some new friends he had made earlier in the cruise, while I started happy hour in the Crown Grill Bar (don't judge). I decided to go a different direction and limited my day drinking to Cosmopolitans, which seemed light and refreshing. A group of really fun cruisers was at the next table searching the internet for drinks with vulgar names and ordering shots of them one after the other. I would have liked to join them, but they seems to be a pretty tight and self-contained group. We had booked the Balcony Dinner for the evening at 6:30. A waiter had stopped by our cabin earlier in the cruise to ask for our preferences, which included the fact that I am coeliac. He arrived at about 6:00 to set up and then started the service with cocktails (another Cosmo for me and a frozen margarita for DH--it runs in the family) and canapes. We then moved to a starter and salad before the magnificent main course of lobster and filet, which we paired with the complementary half-bottle of champage. This was a real lobster (not the large prawn they were trying to pass off as lobster on Christmas day), served with drawn butter. Both filets were extremely tender and cooked to perfection. Dessert was a range of chocolate treats that we put in the fridge because we couldn't finish them. We tipped the waiter $40 for his superb service. He told us that only four cabins had booked the Balcony Dinner for the entire cruise, which really surprised me. I definitely recommend doing it as a special treat! There was a singer in the Princess Theatre that evening who had appeared in Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. We had planned to attend, but we felt too stuffed and mellow to leave the cabin after dinner. Instead, we stayed in and watched the Barbie movie, which I found perplexing. I really don't get the hype. All in all, a blissful day at sea!

December 27 - TAURANGA I am writing this from the Ocean Terrace Bar, where below me in the Piazza some sort of inane activity is underway, featuring a shrieking crew member as host and thousands of shrieking children. I have determined that the only acceptable respite is the Crown Grill Bar, which has live music at a reasonable level and excellent service. The weather was beautiful in Tauranga and we left the ship a bit after the doors opened to avoid the mad rush. The town itself is about six kilometres from the port, reachable via shuttle bus. However, we decided to hike in the immediate vicinity of the port, along some lovely beaches and to a small mountain (more or a hill, really). I think we did about four kilometres in total and it was a beautiful walk. We arrived back in mid-afternoon and have a very late lunch at the buffet, which was relatively quiet for the first time during the cruise ("relatively" being the operative term). We were very keen to plan our evening around the first major production show (aside from the Christmas variety show), Sweet Soul--and it delivered in spades. It was a slick, upbeat production that was beautifully choreographed and executed, featuring well-known Motown pieces. I'd say this is the most talented cast we've encountered on any cruise, and I'm very excited to see what the next three production shows will bring. We had a quick nibble in the buffet after the show, as we were still a bit full from our late lunch to visit the MDR, followed by a lazy evening of drinks in the Crown Grill Bar, featuring some number of frozen margaritas that I'm pretty sure was fewer than five. I know there are dozens of activities going on all around us, but I've let go of the FOMO I felt during the first couple of days of the cruise. All of my cruise mates abandoned me and I decided to visit the Hollywood Pool Club, which is the only late-night venue on the ship when all the other bars close. I was greeted by a deafening, throbbing disco beat and a highly intoxicated crowd, the average age of which was about 30 years younger than the rest of the ship. The bartenders seemed to barely tolerate the drunk patrons. I had a quick Sambuca while observing swarthy men middle-aged men trying to pick up young blonde women before calling it a night.

In my early 20's I considered myself highly sophisticated when I asked for a TANQUERAY and tonic, specifying the brand, instead of just ordering a generic gin and tonic.

December 26 - AUCKLAND It was gray and drizzly when we arrived in Auckland. Our friends ventured out to visit the Auckland Gallery of Art and Auckland Museum, but we decided to wait and see whether the weather improved. The Majestic docked right next to the city centre, and when the weather cleared in mid-morning we decided to just walk around that area. We were afraid everything would be closed due to boxing day, but local business owners clearly recognised the opportunity presented by 3,500 cruisers let loose in the city, and almost everything near the port was open. We wandered a bit and then crossed a drawbridge into the larger harbour area, which was previously an industrial district. The city has done a marvellous job of redeveloping the area, and we strolled past a number of lovely cafes and shops. We ended up getting stranded on the other side of the harbour while the drawbridge went up so that one of hundreds of multi-million-dollar private yachts could head out to sea. We had hoped to make it back in time to have a sushi lunch at Rudi's (which I believe would count as one of our two "casual" dining experiences on the Plus Package), but we were too late and just had a quick salad at the buffet. I managed to limit myself to just one frozen margarita before dinner while listening to the "Glam Quartet" in the piazza. (They are one of the few groups performing in the piazza that is not deafeningly loud, and it was quite pleasant.) We had our evening meal in the buffet for the first time. It was Italian night and the food was surprisingly good, but the noise level and general chaos of the buffet makes for a very different dining experience than the MDR. The day's highlight was a performance of "The Disney Songbook" with Danielle Matthews, the phenomenal vocalist who had done a Shirley Bassey tribute two nights earlier. It was in the Vista Lounge, which is a delightful venue for an intimate show like this. And as for Danielle--wow!! I have decided there is nothing this woman can't sing. Her voice can be deep and booming or light and floating, and her stage presence is wonderful. I just wish her show was not limited to 45 minutes. Believe it or not, my evening featured no further cocktails and I headed back to the room with DH to relax and watch some TV. I'm probably not the only one with the Plus Package who drinks more than I normally would because I'm determined to get my money's worth, but I've decided not to worry about it any longer. It is definitely nice not to worry about how much everything costs. You are probably getting the idea that I'm a hard-drinking couch potato. The latter is definitely true, on cruises or otherwise, but I drink very little in real life. I'm not aware of anywhere in Canberra that serves a frozen margarita (nor even a decent margarita on the rocks), and I see cruising as an opportunity to splurge and live my best life.

December 25 - AT SEA Well, I had the best of intentions to post on a daily basis after my initial post covering three days. However, Medallion Net had other plans for me. While I'm on the subject, let me start with a few words about Medallion Net. After some teething pains at the beginning, I've developed a love/hate relationship with it. It has been wonderful for ordering drinks of all kinds from any location on the ship. I had originally said that it seemed to work only for coffee, but I have now successfully ordered frozen margaritas to a variety of location and they have arrived within ten minutes. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but once I was sitting in the Piazza about 10 metres from the bar, and I ordered a frozen margarita on the app. I don't think the server was particularly happy, but my drink found me quickly. I'm also loving the ability to find DH and the two other friends who are cruising with us via the app. That has saved us countless minutes of searching through the buffet area trying to find each other at breakfast. Unfortunately, it also means that DH (who likes to retire to the room by about 8:00 p.m) is able to track my pub crawling tendencies in the evening. When it comes to internet on my laptop in the room, service is inconsistent at best. However, there is a Medallion "help desk" located just outside of Princess Live on Deck 7 that is always staffed by several very friendly and helpful crew members. After two days offline, they were able to get me back on the system about 30 minutes ago--although I have no idea what they did and I will almost certainly need help when (not if) it happens again. Enough about technology. Let's get to Christmas day, which was a lazy day at sea for us, with a late breakfast and a stroll through the Shops of Princess (where I depleted our entire OBC and then some thanks to two very expensive bottles of cologne and a pair of Ray Bans). The four of us then played cards in the Crown Grill, which was full of fellow cruisers doing the same. Our friends then went to an enrichment session on WWII (which they loved) while I napped (which I loved). Christmas dinner in the MDR was the least impressive so far. Mind you, it was quite good, but not up to the standard of the previous fantastic meals we have had there. Everyone else had a traditional turkey dinner, which they said was "fine," while I had lobster thermidor, which was tasty but a very small portion. The highlight of the day was a Christmas-themed production show with the band, singers and dancers, and they were all excellent, which promises good things to come. (I generally find one or two of the singers not up to par, but there seem to be no weak links in this cast.) There will be four more production shows over the course of the cruise, and we will attend all of them. I headed for the Crown Grill Bar after the show where the server urged me to break out of my frozen margarita habit. I decided to just go down the cocktail menu and try them one by one, starting with a Mule. Apparently, most people know this drink, but I don't--and it was quite nice! I can't remember the name of the next one (because I truly don't remember, not because I was falling down drunk), but it was also good. The third and final drink of the evening was the Pina en Fuego, which was advertised as a spicy twist on a classic. It was, quite frankly, terrible--weak and tasteless, with some chunks of jalapeno floating in it. I decided it might be fun to try a spicy frozen margarita and will see whether the bartender is able to make one. Relatively early to bed and looking forward to Auckland tomorrow!

Hmmm....I'm not sure how specific I want to get. Let's just say they don't appear to be Australian. 🙂