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On this cruise I had organised a Meet & Greet and 84 participants had agreed to attend, but some had other special places to be and we ended up with 76 in total . . as far as I was concerned that was a great turn-out. I sent out invitations to the Captain, Cruise Director and other Senior Staff and all attended and spoke to the group. We arranged a Cabin Crawl to be done on the next day which was the first sea day and thanks to all you volunteered their cabins we were able to visit all different types of cabins . . . Suites, Mini-suites, Balconies, Inside, aft and forward . . . Thank you everybody.

 

 

 

Now the review:

 

Embarkation . . .

 

After arriving at Sydney Airport from Port Macquarie we were escorted to a waiting Princess transfer bus that took us straight down to the Embarkation Wharf at Circular Quay and it was our first full sighting of the Majestic Princess. Boy what a ship . . . huge. We were directed to the Priority Boarding line (we are Elite Passengers) and soon were heading for the Registration Desk to get our cruise cards. It was at this point that we struck a little problem. Eileen received her card with no problem but apparently they had lost mine, so after searching everywhere they issued me with a temporary cruise card that would get me on board but not to the cabin area. Once on board I was stopped by Security and told to wait until the Purser’s Desk could check and print out another cruise card for me as their computer terminal had gone down. After three-quarters of an hour and very much apologising from the crew and ship’s officers, I eventually got my card and was allowed to proceed to my cabin where Eileen was already waiting for me. We had a Balcony Cabin on Port Side Aft and it was very nice and as expected was tidy, very clean and fresh. I checked for our little “Freebees” that Elite Passengers get and found that they were all in their right places and it looked like we were ready to sail.

 

By the way we were celebrating our 59th Wedding Anniversary and my Birthday on board this cruise.

 

 

 

The Ship . . .

 

The ship can carry 3560 Passengers with a crew of 1345. There are 36 Suites, 306 Mini Suites, 360 Deluxe Balcony Cabins, 732 Balcony Cabins and 342 Inside Cabins. Please note there are no Ocean View cabins on this ship.There are 20 Decks and the ship has 2 gigantic anchors. The ship is propelled by 2 huge propellers.

 

 

 

The ship was launched in 2017 . . . The Captain was Captain Dino Sagani.

 

 

 

After Two Sea Day we started at our Ports of Call . . .

 

The night before the first port of call, which was Noumea, we went to the Crown Grill, a Speciality Restaurant on board, and had a great evening. The food was excellent. Service was great.

 

 

 

Our first port of call was Noumea. Noumea is a perfect combination of South Pacific hospitality and European elegance. Although we had been here before we decided to do an excursion and decided on the Noumea Sights and Anse Vata Beach Break. In our opinion not worth the money and quite disappointed in the excursion. This excursion went for 4 hours.

 

 

 

The next port of call was Mystery Island. Apparently this Island is uninhabited and the islanderss who live on adjoining islands come across to Mystery Island to set up stalls only when the ship are expected. Went ashore and walked around the tiny island, had a look at the airstrip that the American Forces made and used in World War II. I think this airfield could still be used today. Got sand in our toes and had a refreshing time. The weather has been great for the entire voyage so far.

 

 

 

Sea Day today so went to the usual Trivia, then to the Enrichment Programme which was about “The Golden Age of Pirates”, did other miscellaneous things around the ship but after dinner we went to the Princess Theatre show which was The Princess Entertainer of Year winner Nathan Foley . . . wasn’t too bad but the next show in the Vista Lounge was very good and entertaining and that was the Marriage Match Gameshow.

 

 

 

Suva today, 21st September and my Birthday. I was 21 again and I felt like 25. Did not take a ship’s excursions as we have been here many times before and we decided to just hop on the free shuttle and walk around the shopping area. Some things had changed but not many and the city was still quite dusty, noisy and full of people hurrying from place to place. Headed back to the ship for lunch and then to the Vista Lounge for the movie “The Death of Stalin”, which was a disaster and we walked out just in time to get to the start of Afternoon Trivia. At this point I would like to mention our Trivia Team . . . Karryl and Warren, Terry and Bernadette and Eileen & John. We didn’t win any major prizes but we had fun.

 

We had bookings at Harmony Restaurant as a treat for my Birthday and it was fantastic. The food was just so plentiful that we could not eat it all. The staff were excellent and the atmosphere was very, very Chinese. Highly recommend.

 

Caught a bit of the “Mercury Rising” (Freddie Mercury) show but it was completely full up so decided not to wait till the late show and did other things about the ship . . . cocktails, etc. and watched the goings on in the Piazza.

 

 

 

Lautoka

 

The forecast for today was around the 27c and we had an excursion to the “Land of the Giants” and the Orchids that grow near this spot. The gardens were very lovely and we walked throughout the circular pathways and the orchid collection. Some of the orchids were amazing and after hearing about the “Black Orchid” we were intrigued to see where it was. Well we asked and it was pointed out us but it was a surprise . . . it was a white orchid with very small black flowers right in the centre of the flower. We were looking for a complete black orchid. After the excursion we went back to the ship for Afternoon Trivia!!!! Tonight was the “Hot Latin Nights Deck Party”.

 

 

 

Another Sea Day today and tomorrow we arrive at Lifou

 

 

 

Lifou

 

First of all, the island looks different – less pine trees, higher cliffs. Secondly, there are no expensive resorts awaiting you, hardly any tourists are staying overnight (although you can, if you want to, stay overnight in basic, more traditional accommodation). People on Lifou Island go by their everyday business, and on days that a cruise ship arrives they pack their traditional clothes, their home cooked meals and their imported cheap souvenirs and welcome the day guests at the tender boat pier near Easo. Once the cruise ship departs, life returns back to its normal, quiet self until the next influx of 1,000 or so tourists arrive for one day only. Most people in Lifou live in modest houses these days, however, some of them still have a traditional hut in their yard which is sometimes open for visitors. if you want to be able to wade into the water safely, consider using reef shoes or other shoes that you can use in the water.

 

Back to the ship for that famous game . . . Trivia. That was after we attempted to watch a movie in the Vista Lounge called “The Female Brain” . . . another terrible movie.

 

 

 

The next two days were Sea Days . . .

 

With all the activities that are on board we started off with the “Paper Plane Competition” then we went to morning Trivia followed later on to the “Explorers - Mapping Australia’s Coastline Enrichment Programme”. Then later in the afternoon we went to see the “Scrap Heap Boat Building Finals” which were done in windy conditions in the main pool area, then guess where to . . . Trivia.

 

After dinner we attended one of the best show we have seen and that was “Fiere”. What a show, the costumes, the sets, the singing, everything was as you would expect from a full Broadway/Vegas show. After this show we went to the Simon McKinney Show which was a mixture of comedy and voice impressions. Very good. I must mention at this point that we did see another show earlier in the cruise, “Fantastic Journey”. It was really good, colourful, and we recommend it.

 

 

 

Our last day at sea and the day before arriving back in Australia and apart from going to Trivia we went to the Enrichment Presentation which was “Famous Shipwrecks of the Australian Coast” . . . very interesting. We then went and saw the final of the Egg Drop Comp and surprisingly not one egg was broken when dropped from 3 decks above.

 

Back to our cabins and we had to start packing so that before dinner we could put out our bags so they could be collected for disembarkation tomorrow.

 

 

 

Disembarkation . . .

 

This sad episode of the cruise went extremely well and we were off the ship within the hour after having our numbers called and we then met up with the transfer bus to take us to the airport. Our cruise was over.

 

 

 

It was a great cruise and we met many nice people. We had a great turn-out for the Meet & Greet that was organised and Princess put on a great venue for us the Hollywood Conservatory. The exclusive Lounge set aside for the Elite, Suite and Platinum passengers was well attended and the pre-dinner complimentary hors d’oeuvres were excellent, changing every night. Last but not least on the two Sundays whilst on the ship we attended Interdenominational Church Services which were conducted by our Cruise Director, Andrew Kadillac. Thank you Andrew for a job well done.

 

 

 

We would highly recommend cruising on this magnificent ship . . . The Majestic Princess.

 

 

 

 

 

Hi John

What a great review [emoji1376][emoji568][emoji179]

Lovely to meet you & Eileen, & Thankyou again for organising the M&G as well as Cabin Crawl, interesting to see all the different types of cabins.

Wished we’d known that you & Eileen were celebrating your Wedding Anniversary & your birthday~ Many,very Happy, Belated , wishes for for two , what a lovely way to celebrate ~ a beautiful cruise, esp on the gorgeous Majestic Princess.

I took a pic @ the M&G~ will post here ( hope it’s ok to post it)

Thanks again John

Tracey Bayly

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Hi Chez, meant to contact earlier to say it was lovely meeting you & Andy, thanks again for all your organising for the M&G.

We reluctantly[emoji22] disembarked from the 12 day Cruise, it was beautiful too[emoji179][emoji568]

(While on that cruise we met Elsie & Keith- what a gorgeous couple, met a few times in IC for cuppa’s etc, went to dinner, did a tour w/a group, & they were part of it too & are keeping in touch with them[emoji1376]

Tracey Bayly

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Love has come to Aus/NZ CC.

 

 

 

I have known both Deb (Anglewingsflys) and Bob (RKMW) for a while now, Deb lives in my home town and Bob used too.

 

 

 

They were both travelling solo and were looking for travel partners to share cabins, so I put them in touch........and now they are engaged and enjoying many cruises booked together!!!

 

 

 

So congratulations to you both, I am sure there will be many more wonderful cruises in your future together:hearteyes:

Aww congratulations to Deb & Bob [emoji141]🤵[emoji179]what a good matchmaker you are Cheryl) we will also be on the 2020 cruise that Margaret mentioned above, so hope that will be your wedding/honeymoon cruise[emoji568][emoji179][emoji1376]

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Thanks Tracy, but I have the Conservatory booked as you know for 60-65 passengers, but now at the moment there are 75 passengers and I just hope they don't change the venue as I will not be able to notify everyone on time.

Thanks again,

John Swinsburg

Aww ok then, Could you ask Princess that if they did change the venue would they put that into the patter ?[emoji848]

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Can anyone tell me what the allowable capacity of passengers would be for the Conservatory on the Majestic Princess. I am organising a Meet & Greet and the list is getting quite big.

 

Thanks

 

John, I could try to find out for you , but I won’t be boarding until 24th,

Hopefully someone will be able to tell you beforehand

Tracey Bayly

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