Majestic Princess Review Pre-inaugral Cruise

[HomelessBear]

MAJESTICPRINCESS FIRST CRUISE (PRE-INAUGRAL) REVIEW

 

Here are my thoughts on the first 5 day cruise from Trieste to Rome. I’ll also saythat I’m not that tech savvy, so unlike the wonderful photos that Dides hasposted on her thread from onboard, there are no photos here. Sorry folks – yesI will learn to do that soon (I hope).

 

DH and I are in our 50s, and have been on quite a few cruises, and are elite with Princess. We love to cruise, although due to finances and the limited days holidays DH gets, means we don’t do as many as we’d like, but we know we’re lucky to be able to cruise at all. I found this pre-inaugral cruise by accident, when DH had a few days holiday to use up by the end of his holiday year, and I was looking to see what short cruises we could get from the UK. Instead we flew to Venice (via Brussels) and got the Princess transfer to Trieste.

We had expected that being a new ship, the staff probably hadn’t yet settled into their new teams and that there may be some teething issues as you can get with new ships, but we went (as usual) with a positive attitude that we would enjoy the cruise anyway and nothing is life is prefect, so we don’t expect our cruises to be, but enjoy them immensely. We’d also received information pre-cruise informing us that there would be a number of corporate executives and travel agents on board, and that some areas would be unavailable due to private events taking place. (We only really noted that the shops section was closed twice for events and was not an issue). So we went with an open mind and looking forward to experiencing the new ship and having a relax.

 

I’ll say here that although we’ve been on many of the Princess ships, we’ve not cruised on the Regal or the Royal, so can’t comment on the differences / similarities between these and the Majestic, although we were offered the opportunity to visit the Royal in Southampton before her inaugural cruise, for a lunch and a tour of the ship, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We have sailed on P&O Britannia though, which is the same style ship, although the interior is different, but where I notice specific differences, I’ll mention these, in the hope that may be useful. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll not be comparing the two ships specifically, but just note the main differences as I see them.

I was “ruthless” with packing for this cruise, as we only wanted to take hand luggage, as according to the reviews I read, the airline carriers had a good record of loosing checked luggage. As I’m waiting for shoulder surgery after having a nasty fall before xmas and doing more damage than I first thought or expected, I’m limited on how much I can use my arm and shoulder. DH did the carrying and lifting of the cases in the plane, and I could pull one bag along with my good arm.

 

First Impressions / Boarding / Cabin:

The last part of the transfer trip from Venice had some wonderful sceneryapproaching Trieste, but the highlight was seeing the Majestic Princess for the first time. I’d seen photos that had been posted on a CC thread of the building / development of the ship (thanks Sidari), so I had a good idea of how she would look.

 

Being elite, we had the preferred check in, and were even directed through security very quickly, so no wait and we were on the ship in no time. The first thing Inoticed on a Life Buoy was that the Majestic was registered in London. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this, but it’s apparently to do with the Chinesemarket that it’s aimed at. There were around 1600 passengers on board (we were told it was less than half full), and this included us paying passengers,Corporate staff, travels agents and ship manufacturers representatives.

 

My first impressions were that the Piazza area and the ship as a whole was gorgeous and very tastefully done. It had a lovely “feel” to it, comfortable and warm. I know that sounds a bit daft, but for me first impressions count, and I was awed by how she looked and felt.

 

We went to our balcony cabin D421 midship, and unpacked our carry on bags. There were plenty of clothes hangers – I don’t know how to describe them properly,but these were “free” hangers rather than the ones which are attached by thering on the pole. This was great, as it meant I could easily move our clothes around,and for once, I didn’t actually have enough clothes for ALL of the hangers. I actually think that DH was very impressed with my packing ability this time,but now I’m worried that he’ll expect me to be as “ruthless” with what I take / leave at home next time, and we won’t be bringing one case home full of clean unworn clothes as usual! Made rod for my own back me thinks. Ooops.

The Safe was in its usual place in the cupboard, but this also had a shelf in it,which we found useful for separating our stuff rather than piling it up in top of each other.

 

The cabin was bright and airy, with a bedside cabinet on each side (with 2 drawers in each). I’ll mention here that on Britannia there is only a cabinet on oneside of the bed, the other side being the end of the dressing table. There wasa plug socket next to my side of the bed (by the dressing table), and this had 2 USB ports, which were great for charging the phone and camera.

 

I’ll share with you (but don’t tell anyone else!) something that we found out while chatting to one of the management staff on board. DH is an engineer and works in the electrical engineering industry, and he got talking “shop” to a really pleasant man and they got onto the subject. We’d wondered where the Majestic may go when the typhoon season hits (as we wouldn’t think she would stay in the China area for obvious reasons). It was mentioned that the cabins had Australian plug sockets built in. Sherlock Holmes is now mulling this information over and comes up with……..the Majestic is likely to be going to Australia! Elementary my dear Watson.

Sssshhhhh…..it’s not common knowledge yet so keep it secret for now.

 

The hairdryer is in the top drawer of the dressing table (and “fixed” in the drawer) but with a long lead, so great for drying your hair without having to lean your head over to the side.

I noticed that there is no small glass topped table in the room, which I think is better, as it gives us a bit more room to move around. We had a mini bar set up (being elite) and we exchanged the alcohol for Coke light. Our steward did this the next day, and we didn’t have to ask him for an ice bucket as he did this automatically (other Princess cruises we’d have to ask). The TV was on the wall opposite the bed, and had a good choice of things to watch, although we didn’t bother apart from catching up on the news occasionally. I took photos of the channels they had and also the films & TV programmes, so if anyone would like to know specifics, let me know and I’ll check my photos.

 

Although I’d specified that I had an allergy to feathers and requested non feather bedding, as soon as I went into the cabin I was affected and knew that there was at least feather pillows. Our steward came soon after we’d arrived and introduced himself and changed these quickly, but for those affected like me, its worth noting that requests don’t always filter down to the people who need to know (ie stewards). The same can’t be said though about our food allergies,which Princess dealt with perfectly, and which I’ll mention later in the food part.

 

The shower room was even smaller than I remember, with a shower curtain (Britannia has a proper shower screen), but the shower has a shelf opposite the shower for toiletries, and it was good to see that the tiny shelf by the shower head has grown to be a more useful size. Let’s be honest, this “shelf” on the ships (other than the Regal & Royal I expect), wouldn’t hold anything more than a bar of soap. OK I managed to get a small bottle of shampoo there once, but then the soap would fall off! Believe me I tried on many occasions to see what I could get on the shelf, but consistently failed miserably, so you can imagine my delight when I have a proper shelf for my bits and bobs. Small things please meas you have probably guessed.

There was a loud noise in the bathroom caused by the “air extraction system” (DHs words not mine as he’s the engineer). It’s difficult to describe but imagine a loud wind in a confined space. We mentioned it to our steward who said he would tell the maintenance staff, but as far as we know, no one came to look at it. It did get a little quieter (I found out DH had “adjusted” or “fiddled about” a little), but it was still noisy every time I went in to the bathroom. I was worried that it would keep me awake at night, but when the door was shut I couldn’t hear it, so it didn’t cause an issue. I also noticed a small crack inthe shower which will need to be dealt with, and which did bet a bit bigger during the short time were there. I was surprised being so brand new. Must have been the heavy handed installer.

 

While I’m in the bathroom, I’ll mention the toilet roll holder. After a few minutes hunting around thinking “it must be here somewhere”, I spotted it at the far end under the sink shelf. I had to stretch to get to it, and only ended up with two sheets of single paper before the cover cut it off! I didn’t need to go the gym, as I got my “good” arm exercises trying to get enough paper off the roll. While I’m on this subject, let me mention the dilemma I had on day 3. When were turned after dinner I noticed that the toilet paper hadn’t been replaced, so we only had what was in the holder (be it a fairly new roll). I expected that the steward would leave us a spare the next day, but when we returned after dinner, no new roll and we just had what was in the holder. So I had to “ration” myself to a few sheets per go, rather than being over indulgent. I warned DH that he was also rationed, and we managed to eek it out until we left the cabin the next day with about two turns of the roll left! You have to laugh….toilet humour if you’ll excuse the pun.

 

I like the square sink which was quite deep, and I particularly liked the fact that I was the first to use the shower. I knew this as I had to pump the shower gel / shampoo dispensers about 6 times before anything came out, and the shower curtain felt new.

 

I hadn’t realized when we’d chosen the cabin, but it was one of those under theSea Walk, and on the curve. This meant that the balcony was bigger than the standard ones on the side - we’d had a balcony on Britannia which was very small compared to the C deck ones on other ships we usually choose which are enormous. We could tell that some of these balconies were bigger by the width of the screens in-between the balconies, when we looked at it from off the ship. When I realized we were under the Sea Walk I wondered if it would be intrusive, but when we were sitting on the balcony, we couldn’t actually see the walk, which means no one could see us either, so it really didn’t bother us at all. Our balcony was next to the end one on the curve, so I don’t know if those nearer the centre would have been different. We had two chairs (which reclined 2 or 3 notches) and a table, which I used as a foot stool (made comfy with a cushion on top). We also had a bit more room to move the chairs so they weren’t directly facing each other, but more looking out at sea.

After dark when the Sea Walk was lit up, we got a blue colour on the balcony from the lights above, which was fine for this cruise, but if I was on for longer, I thinkI would have preferred not being under the Sea Walk, as I like to sit out in the dark looking at and listening to the ocean.

All things considered, I liked the cabin and the location – being mid ship it was easy to get to most areas and not far from the mid ship lifts.

 

This cabin also has an interconnecting door with D417, which we locked (as we didn’t know our neighbour) but would be useful for others. I noticed that I could hear my neighbour talking at times (word for word not just muffled sounds) and I heard her music one evening, and I think this was louder than usual due to the door being there. It wasn’t an issue though as the neighbours were not in the cabin much and they certainly didn’t cause us a problem.

The names of cabin occupants were outside the door (and could be removed if needed), but I’ve seem before where different colours were used by the names (eg. blue for new cruisers and black for elite). Everyone here had the same colour (a deep red/brown), so no one was identified by their Princess “membership” (for the want of a better word).

 

Important point to mention here and I’ve only just realised – there are passenger stairs next to all of the lifts. YES –stairs mid ships. Hurrah. The Royal didn’t have these if I remember correctly (neither does Britannia), and I’m aware of how many “complaints” have been made about this in the past, here on the boards, so maybe the powers that be have listened.

Another important point (for me anyway) is that they’ve gone back to different coloured carpets for the cabin decks – red and blue. Yeahhh!! Now I didn’t once go the wrong way down the wrong side of the ship trying to find my cabin. Not much sense of direction I’m afraid, and I was still struggling to remember which was the front end of the ship even when I was getting off.

 

Ahhhthe cabin lights……..Well you can have the bedside lights on on their own…..OR you can just have small lights on above the bed (ideal for reading in bed), but you can’t have just the wardrobe are alight on without putting on the main cabin light. I personally think this is madness, as I’d put the light on to get into the safe (to make sure I put the right number in) only to light up the whole room! Ah well…at least I’d found a way of waking DH up if he wouldn’t get up in the morning.

 

Sailaway:

We went up on deck for the Sailaway from Trieste rather than stay on our balcony,and I’m so glad we did. It was magical. There was a local band playing on the quayside who competed at times to be heard with the ship sailaway music, and lots of people had come to see us off. The Captain made an announcement and actually said that this was the Majestic’s “Maiden Voyage” (we won’t mention when someone called the ship by the wrong name as he quickly corrected himself hoping no one had noticed), so if it’s good enough for the Captain to call it that,then its good enough for me. We also had Princess’ CEO make an announcement over the tannoy system after the Captain (apologies I don’t remember her name).There were fireworks which seemed strange in the daylight but very enjoyable, as well as seeing the tugs and their water cannons. There was also a cacophony of fog horns (think Close Encounters but with fog horns), which was just amazing.

I’ll be honest here and say that as I was standing on deck taking all of this in with the happy people around me, I realized just how fortunate I was to be there and to be experiencing this (especially as I have some lovely friends who are currently dealing with lots of issues including terminal cancer). I felt myself wiping away a few tears from my eyes.

 

Library & Photos:

A small library near to the Vista Gaming Lounge. You could take the books out ontrust (not signing them out or giving your cabin number), and they were accessible even when there were no staff there. I borrowed a couple of books (as DH had my Kindle), and they were brand spanking new and never been opened. Lovely. There were only two computer terminals and only a couple of chairs in the library, so they didn’t encourage folks to sit in there and read. I’ve never used the PCs on board before (as Ilike to switch off from emails and stuff when I’m on holiday), but I used one to check us in for our return flights and print out our boarding passes (at no extra cost). The free internet minutes were useful for this, and it took me about 25 minutes to work out how to do all this and print off our passes (as I’m not that confident with technology). After reading that internet speeds were very slow on ships, I was quite surprised that I didn’t really find this to be the case here. Maybe I was just lucky.

 

There are lots of photo machines where you can view your photos after putting in your cabin number and date of birth. There was new technology here (so we were told by a very important man), although I managed to find the 3 machines that didn’twork all in one go! They also use face recognition software (similar to the Apple stuff I have on my Mac Book I assume), and so whenever you have your photo taken, it recognizes your features and brings up all of the photos you’ve had done. Bit of a blip though when they showed us how it worked – a photo of a man appeared with “our” photos. Never seem him before. The very important man said “Oh I know him” and promptly deleted the photo from our screen saying they were having some teething problems. Just be careful who you have your photo taken with, as you may end up having to explain why the face recognition picked you up with someone else.

 

Food:

We chose anytime dining and prefer a table for two. Only one of the anytime dining rooms was open (Concerto) (Allegro was the traditional dining room), as the ship was not full. We’d informed Princess beforehand that we each had a food allergy, and our experience has been that these are handled very well. This cruise was no exception and Princess are very on the ball.

The Head Waiter / Waitress came to see us the first evening we went to dinner and I must say that Paula was absolutely wonderful. She looked after us so well that we felt “safe” in her care, and she was so professional and was always smiling.

We ordered dinner for the next day, and Paula even came to us during the meal to ensure all was OK. Got a lovely photo of her on our last evening to go in the album.

 

Although food can be very subjective, I thought that the standard of the food we had in the dining room was very good – excellent. The always available crème brûlée was fantastic (I even gave the last one 12 marks out of 10 as it was that good), and although the fettucine alfredo starter could have done with a little more sauce, it was very tasty and yummy. The pina colada ‘soup’ that Princess seem to always have on the first evening – thankfully – was even nicer than I remember. The always available steak has been substituted for a beefburger (which we didn’t try), but the beef and chicken dishes I had from the main menu were very good and cooked perfectly.

 

There was one formal night, although I don’t know how jeans and T-shirts can be considered “formal” attire. Most folks dressed appropriately, but I saw quite a few jeans (not dark coloured ones), polo shirts that looked as though they’d been worn for the past two days, and even a T-shirt with a white skull on theback. Hey ho…each to their own and it didn’t spoil my evening, but the dress code wasn’t obviously adhered to by all.

 

I was pleasantly surprised that the wait staff worked so well as a team, as I know it can take some time for them to gel on a new ship. Some dining staff we spoke to were only on the ship for a few weeks, and appeared to have been brought on to “train others” and to get things up and running. Service in the dining room was generally very good and staff pleasant, courteous and efficient.

Formal night was probably the worst with slow service and it took us nearly 2 hours to get through our meal, but this was the exception. On our last evening our waitstaff asked if we wanted coffee, the appeared to forget to bring it. After waiting 20 minutes, the waiter came up to us to ask if we were ok (he wonderedwhy we were still there when we’d “finished”), but we did get our coffee when we reminded him. However it was just one of those things and we took it in our stride.

 

The buffet we used for breakfast, and had a reasonably good choice, although I found that I did a lot of walking from one counter to another and back again, as things were not always logically put out. To give you an example – I wanted Rice Krispies for cereal, but there weren’t any small boxes with the other cereals (cornflakes, bran etc). I eventually had to ask if they had any and I was taken to the other side of the buffet to the yoghurt section and told they were there. I must get my eyes checked as I couldn’t see any, so asked someone else who went in search of the elusive Rice Krispies. Eventually she broughtout a big box and poured some out in a bowl for me. Tried again the next day and when I asked someone for Rice Krispies, it was like chinese whispers…..the request went from one waiter to another…to a chef…to another waiter…to another chef – and by now it was Krispy Rice – then to a waitress…..who took me to the yoghurt section and to a big bowl. I gave up the next day as I just couldn’t face the game again and I had just yoghurt, as I knew where this was now.

I also did a treasure hunt one morning called “hunt the strawberry jam”. It wasn’t with the bread rolls or the toast, and I eventually found marmalade and apricot jam (yuk). I must have walked off last night’s crème brulee trying to find it. I was about to admit defeat when I bumped into the lovely Paula, who found some for me (although it took her a while) and brought it to the table we were at. I didn’t bother with strawberry jam again.

 

Orange juice and hot drinks are served to your table, and I noticed only one hot drinks machine on one side of the buffet area (must be once also on the opposite side). The Bakery had nice waffles and pastries and this time they actually tasted as good as they looked. The carrot cake was moist, light and very yummy.

 

We tried Alfredos for a pizza one lunchtime – well it would have been rude not toat least try it. I had salad starter which was really fresh and DH had something else not salad (but I cant remember what – must be my age). We both had a pizza (but different toppings) and they were like proper Italian pizzaand very yummy, not to mention filling. It took quite a while for the pizza to come out to us, and staff apologized, but DH had lived in Naples for 6 months and he said that this was typical of how it was there. Pizzas are made fresh and it’s usual to take quite a while over the meal. We didn’t have to rush off anywhere and sitting together chatting was really nice, as we don’t get that much time to do that except on holiday. The “head man” we passed on the way out also apologized and thanked us for waiting, but we really didn’t mind. If we’d wanted something quick, we’d have gone to the buffet.

 

I did notice (because I’m nosy and people watch) that one of the waiters in Alfredos looked miserable and as if he didn’t want to be there. He was the only one as the others were very welcoming and looked like they enjoyed their work. I noticed he had a pile of place mats in his hand that he tossed at a small table by the side of the work station. He threw them and just walked away. They missed the table and fell on the floor, where they were promptly walked on by the waitress who hadn’t seen them as she was delivering food to the table nearby. It bothered me that someone would just pick them up from the floor and use them on the tables, so I did bring it to the attention of a member of staff, who was none too pleased with the waiters’ actions. It was not my intention to “get anyone into trouble”, but I though how I would feel if food was placed on mats that had been lying on the floor and walked on (even if the food was plated). So I felt that I had to say something.

 

We didn’t try the speciality restaurants as most of the food didn’t appeal to either of our tastes (and we probably couldn’t have got in anyway on this cruise), and with our food allergies, we felt “safer” in the main dining room, which I thought had great food anyway. We may have considered the Crown Grill, but I wasn’t keen on where it was. The Crown Grill bar was next to the restaurant,o ff one of the main walkways between the Piazza and the Vista Gaming Lounge.The bar area got quite noisy at times, and for me, that wouldn’t be conducive to a relaxing meal in the Grill.

 

Entertainment:

I know we are probably considered “boring”, but we don’t tend to “do” the entertainment on our cruises, and prefer to relax and read. The first night though we came out of dinner and saw The Unexpected Boys down in the Pizzasinging a Frankie Valli song (one that I really like). We stopped and watched hem and thought how good they were.

They were on a couple of evenings later in the Vista Gaming Lounge, so we went to see them. There were only around 30 or so people there, but those of us who did go saw a fantastic show. I’ve seen Jersey Boys and loved it (although I generally don’t like musicals), and I had a brilliant evening. Well done boys –you did a brilliant show. Thank you.

 

I don’t think that the Vista Gaming Lounge is really conducive to these sorts of shows though, as the title itself tells you what it’s aimed at. There were mahjong and other tables and chairs that faced away from the stage, so this is more for gaming than singing.

 

Kotor - Montenegro:

We’d never visited here before so were looking forward to it, after I’d done a bit of research about the town and the area where we docked. We tendered at this port as Majestic was just too big to dock, and they used local tenders rather than the lifeboats, so Princess was inputting into the local economy too which I liked.

 

It was a gorgeous day with sun and no wind, and it was lovely for us having somewarmth after recent cold temps at home. We explored the old town and just wandered the cobbled street and alleys, and often went around in a circle ending up in the same place we’d started from, but that was part of the fun. I really enjoyed the town and would like to go again and see more.

 

General Thoughts:

I’ve been asking myself why I loved this cruise so much that I put it at the top of my bestest cruises list. These are my thoughts of why it’s my number one:

 

* People: Majority of staff wereexcellent and some (counting Paula in here) were superb. Friendly, professional, courteous and they genuinely looked liked they were enjoying what they did.

 

* Other people: This cruise had the most eclectic mix of passengers (Italians, Americans, French, Spanish, British and Russian to name a few). I liked that and felt that it gave the cruise an interesting mix.

We met and chatted with some lovely people – Nancy we met in Venice airport who have travelled form the USA and who we ran into everyday. She was lovely and a great inspiration for solo cruisers.

Dides (Sandra) who we met and got talking to when we were watching a wonderful painter create a masterpiece in the Piazza. She said she was doing a live thread with photos, and I’ve been reading that thread and she’s doing a wonderful job complete with pictures.

Of course I hate her really – as she’s still on the ship and I’m not. Only joking.

 

Ship: She felt very welcoming and homely, but at the same time it was classy and contemporary. We went to Guest Services (which is much better situated away from the atrium area) the day before we disembarked, as we’d not received any info about getting off. I did suggest to the nice man I spoke to that I may just stow awayrather than getting off the ship, and he said there was a bit of room under his desk, so I was very tempted. I’m hoping DH would have missed me too much though if I had…but I won’t ask him just in case.

It was a bit strange seeing everything written in English and Chinese, and the lift lady who tells you what floor you’re on (why is it always a woman’s voice?) only tells you the floor number and not the name of it (eg, Floor 9 and not Dolphin). No idea why, but suggestions on a post card please.

 

We experienced some rough weather around midnight onwards after laving Kotor, and the Captain warned us that it would feel rough for a while. However although the seas looked rough with lots of white horses and windy, the ship was really stable and to be honest, I hardly noticed any change. So very impressed with this.

* Key cards: We always use lanyards as I tend to wear clothes without pockets, so I’d lose my card in no time. Don’t worry, I stick it under my top so as not to “show off” my black elite card. We were not allowed though now to have holes punched in the cards due to the technology of what’s in the card (or something like that), so it was a good excuse to buy a new lanyard and plastic wallet.

 

* Everything new:For me there was something special about being the first to be in the cabin,sleep in the new bed etc etc. I know its silly but it did feel special. On the downside, the towels were so new they didn’t adsorb as well as those that have had a few washes, and there was fluff off the pool towels that we put over the balcony chairs. Oh it’s a hard life when this is all I can moan about.

 

Well that’s about all from me except to say a very big “ Thank you” to Captain Sagani. Not only for a safe and very enjoyable cruise, but for something special he did for me that means a lot. Now I know that some of you will think I’m barking mad or have completely lost the plot when I tell you, but I’ll risk being laughed at and share this with you.

We collect teddy bears (we have over 1000 in our lounge and dining room). Just before one cruise, we picked up a teddy bear (about 10 inches tall) in a charity shop for 20p (approx. US 15 cents), and took him with us on the cruise. And he’s been cruising ever since.

The bear (named Westlife) has been very lucky and has managed to have his photograph taken on the bridge with every Captain on every Princess cruise we’ve been on. Please note that the bear has got into places us mortals are not allowed to go.

I wrote to Captain Sagani asking if it was possible to continue this so we could add Majestic Princess to the collection (but would understand if it wasn’t possible), and he very kindly agreed. So we now have some photos of Westlife with the Captain and he even looks like he’s steering the ship on one picture.Lucky, lucky bear.

A big thank you too to all the staff on board for looking after us so very well.

 

I apologise that I’ve gone on so long and I sincerely hope that if you’ve managed not to fall asleep as you’ve read my epistle and that you’ve enjoyed my thoughts and ramblings.

 

To those who are going on my now favourite ship before she goes off to the Chinese,I wish I was coming with you. Have fun and Happy Cruising to you all.

Its after 1am here so I'll get some sleep now.

Edited April 6, 2017 by HomelessBear

[azbirdmom]

Thank you for your review! On the Royal we also found that we also could hear our neighbors word for word because of the adjoining door, and really didn't like the odd connected light situation you described either. Too bad they didn't find a solution on the Majestic, but the rest sounds wonderful.

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for such a great review.

[MGnut]

Thank you so much for your wonderful review! With a narrative like yours, pictures are not needed - you created them for me.

 

Well done. :):)

[cdngrl]

i enjoyed reading your review so much! i could picture the things you spoke of and you did a wonderful job capturing the areas on the ship. thank you for taking the time to write this for us.

[caribill]

Thanks for the thorough review.

[jefa]

Lovely review, thank you.

[TorontoTL]

Thanks for the review.

[sunsetbeachgal]

What a wonderful review, thank you! I understand completely about first impressions, we were on one of the Royal's first sailings and I loved that ship from the moment I set foot on her!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[UT-Volsfan]

Thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough review. We will be leaving in 4 weeks to board the Majestic Princess and these reviews of her first voyage make us wish we were there now.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

[luv2gonow]

Thankyou so much for your detailed review.

I am sailing Majestic on sunday and cannot wait!! I am so much more

excited now to hear so many great things.

This is my 1st Princess cruise and also 1st time sailing on a new ship.

Kerri

[trbarton]

MAJESTICPRINCESS FIRST CRUISE (PRE-INAUGRAL) REVIEW

 

Here are my thoughts on the first 5 day cruise from Trieste to Rome. I’ll also saythat I’m not that tech savvy, so unlike the wonderful photos that Dides hasposted on her thread from onboard, there are no photos here. Sorry folks – yesI will learn to do that soon (I hope).

 

DH and I are in our 50s, and have been on quite a few cruises, and are elite with Princess. We love to cruise, although due to finances and the limited days holidays DH gets, means we don’t do as many as we’d like, but we know we’re lucky to be able to cruise at all. I found this pre-inaugral cruise by accident, when DH had a few days holiday to use up by the end of his holiday year, and I was looking to see what short cruises we could get from the UK. Instead we flew to Venice (via Brussels) and got the Princess transfer to Trieste.

We had expected that being a new ship, the staff probably hadn’t yet settled into their new teams and that there may be some teething issues as you can get with new ships, but we went (as usual) with a positive attitude that we would enjoy the cruise anyway and nothing is life is prefect, so we don’t expect our cruises to be, but enjoy them immensely. We’d also received information pre-cruise informing us that there would be a number of corporate executives and travel agents on board, and that some areas would be unavailable due to private events taking place. (We only really noted that the shops section was closed twice for events and was not an issue). So we went with an open mind and looking forward to experiencing the new ship and having a relax.

 

I’ll say here that although we’ve been on many of the Princess ships, we’ve not cruised on the Regal or the Royal, so can’t comment on the differences / similarities between these and the Majestic, although we were offered the opportunity to visit the Royal in Southampton before her inaugural cruise, for a lunch and a tour of the ship, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We have sailed on P&O Britannia though, which is the same style ship, although the interior is different, but where I notice specific differences, I’ll mention these, in the hope that may be useful. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll not be comparing the two ships specifically, but just note the main differences as I see them.

I was “ruthless” with packing for this cruise, as we only wanted to take hand luggage, as according to the reviews I read, the airline carriers had a good record of loosing checked luggage. As I’m waiting for shoulder surgery after having a nasty fall before xmas and doing more damage than I first thought or expected, I’m limited on how much I can use my arm and shoulder. DH did the carrying and lifting of the cases in the plane, and I could pull one bag along with my good arm.

 

First Impressions / Boarding / Cabin:

The last part of the transfer trip from Venice had some wonderful sceneryapproaching Trieste, but the highlight was seeing the Majestic Princess for the first time. I’d seen photos that had been posted on a CC thread of the building / development of the ship (thanks Sidari), so I had a good idea of how she would look.

 

Being elite, we had the preferred check in, and were even directed through security very quickly, so no wait and we were on the ship in no time. The first thing Inoticed on a Life Buoy was that the Majestic was registered in London. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this, but it’s apparently to do with the Chinesemarket that it’s aimed at. There were around 1600 passengers on board (we were told it was less than half full), and this included us paying passengers,Corporate staff, travels agents and ship manufacturers representatives.

 

My first impressions were that the Piazza area and the ship as a whole was gorgeous and very tastefully done. It had a lovely “feel” to it, comfortable and warm. I know that sounds a bit daft, but for me first impressions count, and I was awed by how she looked and felt.

 

We went to our balcony cabin D421 midship, and unpacked our carry on bags. There were plenty of clothes hangers – I don’t know how to describe them properly,but these were “free” hangers rather than the ones which are attached by thering on the pole. This was great, as it meant I could easily move our clothes around,and for once, I didn’t actually have enough clothes for ALL of the hangers. I actually think that DH was very impressed with my packing ability this time,but now I’m worried that he’ll expect me to be as “ruthless” with what I take / leave at home next time, and we won’t be bringing one case home full of clean unworn clothes as usual! Made rod for my own back me thinks. Ooops.

The Safe was in its usual place in the cupboard, but this also had a shelf in it,which we found useful for separating our stuff rather than piling it up in top of each other.

 

The cabin was bright and airy, with a bedside cabinet on each side (with 2 drawers in each). I’ll mention here that on Britannia there is only a cabinet on oneside of the bed, the other side being the end of the dressing table. There wasa plug socket next to my side of the bed (by the dressing table), and this had 2 USB ports, which were great for charging the phone and camera.

 

I’ll share with you (but don’t tell anyone else!) something that we found out while chatting to one of the management staff on board. DH is an engineer and works in the electrical engineering industry, and he got talking “shop” to a really pleasant man and they got onto the subject. We’d wondered where the Majestic may go when the typhoon season hits (as we wouldn’t think she would stay in the China area for obvious reasons). It was mentioned that the cabins had Australian plug sockets built in. Sherlock Holmes is now mulling this information over and comes up with……..the Majestic is likely to be going to Australia! Elementary my dear Watson.

Sssshhhhh…..it’s not common knowledge yet so keep it secret for now.

 

The hairdryer is in the top drawer of the dressing table (and “fixed” in the drawer) but with a long lead, so great for drying your hair without having to lean your head over to the side.

I noticed that there is no small glass topped table in the room, which I think is better, as it gives us a bit more room to move around. We had a mini bar set up (being elite) and we exchanged the alcohol for Coke light. Our steward did this the next day, and we didn’t have to ask him for an ice bucket as he did this automatically (other Princess cruises we’d have to ask). The TV was on the wall opposite the bed, and had a good choice of things to watch, although we didn’t bother apart from catching up on the news occasionally. I took photos of the channels they had and also the films & TV programmes, so if anyone would like to know specifics, let me know and I’ll check my photos.

 

Although I’d specified that I had an allergy to feathers and requested non feather bedding, as soon as I went into the cabin I was affected and knew that there was at least feather pillows. Our steward came soon after we’d arrived and introduced himself and changed these quickly, but for those affected like me, its worth noting that requests don’t always filter down to the people who need to know (ie stewards). The same can’t be said though about our food allergies,which Princess dealt with perfectly, and which I’ll mention later in the food part.

 

The shower room was even smaller than I remember, with a shower curtain (Britannia has a proper shower screen), but the shower has a shelf opposite the shower for toiletries, and it was good to see that the tiny shelf by the shower head has grown to be a more useful size. Let’s be honest, this “shelf” on the ships (other than the Regal & Royal I expect), wouldn’t hold anything more than a bar of soap. OK I managed to get a small bottle of shampoo there once, but then the soap would fall off! Believe me I tried on many occasions to see what I could get on the shelf, but consistently failed miserably, so you can imagine my delight when I have a proper shelf for my bits and bobs. Small things please meas you have probably guessed.

There was a loud noise in the bathroom caused by the “air extraction system” (DHs words not mine as he’s the engineer). It’s difficult to describe but imagine a loud wind in a confined space. We mentioned it to our steward who said he would tell the maintenance staff, but as far as we know, no one came to look at it. It did get a little quieter (I found out DH had “adjusted” or “fiddled about” a little), but it was still noisy every time I went in to the bathroom. I was worried that it would keep me awake at night, but when the door was shut I couldn’t hear it, so it didn’t cause an issue. I also noticed a small crack inthe shower which will need to be dealt with, and which did bet a bit bigger during the short time were there. I was surprised being so brand new. Must have been the heavy handed installer.

 

While I’m in the bathroom, I’ll mention the toilet roll holder. After a few minutes hunting around thinking “it must be here somewhere”, I spotted it at the far end under the sink shelf. I had to stretch to get to it, and only ended up with two sheets of single paper before the cover cut it off! I didn’t need to go the gym, as I got my “good” arm exercises trying to get enough paper off the roll. While I’m on this subject, let me mention the dilemma I had on day 3. When were turned after dinner I noticed that the toilet paper hadn’t been replaced, so we only had what was in the holder (be it a fairly new roll). I expected that the steward would leave us a spare the next day, but when we returned after dinner, no new roll and we just had what was in the holder. So I had to “ration” myself to a few sheets per go, rather than being over indulgent. I warned DH that he was also rationed, and we managed to eek it out until we left the cabin the next day with about two turns of the roll left! You have to laugh….toilet humour if you’ll excuse the pun.

 

I like the square sink which was quite deep, and I particularly liked the fact that I was the first to use the shower. I knew this as I had to pump the shower gel / shampoo dispensers about 6 times before anything came out, and the shower curtain felt new.

 

I hadn’t realized when we’d chosen the cabin, but it was one of those under theSea Walk, and on the curve. This meant that the balcony was bigger than the standard ones on the side - we’d had a balcony on Britannia which was very small compared to the C deck ones on other ships we usually choose which are enormous. We could tell that some of these balconies were bigger by the width of the screens in-between the balconies, when we looked at it from off the ship. When I realized we were under the Sea Walk I wondered if it would be intrusive, but when we were sitting on the balcony, we couldn’t actually see the walk, which means no one could see us either, so it really didn’t bother us at all. Our balcony was next to the end one on the curve, so I don’t know if those nearer the centre would have been different. We had two chairs (which reclined 2 or 3 notches) and a table, which I used as a foot stool (made comfy with a cushion on top). We also had a bit more room to move the chairs so they weren’t directly facing each other, but more looking out at sea.

After dark when the Sea Walk was lit up, we got a blue colour on the balcony from the lights above, which was fine for this cruise, but if I was on for longer, I thinkI would have preferred not being under the Sea Walk, as I like to sit out in the dark looking at and listening to the ocean.

All things considered, I liked the cabin and the location – being mid ship it was easy to get to most areas and not far from the mid ship lifts.

 

This cabin also has an interconnecting door with D417, which we locked (as we didn’t know our neighbour) but would be useful for others. I noticed that I could hear my neighbour talking at times (word for word not just muffled sounds) and I heard her music one evening, and I think this was louder than usual due to the door being there. It wasn’t an issue though as the neighbours were not in the cabin much and they certainly didn’t cause us a problem.

The names of cabin occupants were outside the door (and could be removed if needed), but I’ve seem before where different colours were used by the names (eg. blue for new cruisers and black for elite). Everyone here had the same colour (a deep red/brown), so no one was identified by their Princess “membership” (for the want of a better word).

 

Important point to mention here and I’ve only just realised – there are passenger stairs next to all of the lifts. YES –stairs mid ships. Hurrah. The Royal didn’t have these if I remember correctly (neither does Britannia), and I’m aware of how many “complaints” have been made about this in the past, here on the boards, so maybe the powers that be have listened.

Another important point (for me anyway) is that they’ve gone back to different coloured carpets for the cabin decks – red and blue. Yeahhh!! Now I didn’t once go the wrong way down the wrong side of the ship trying to find my cabin. Not much sense of direction I’m afraid, and I was still struggling to remember which was the front end of the ship even when I was getting off.

 

Ahhhthe cabin lights……..Well you can have the bedside lights on on their own…..OR you can just have small lights on above the bed (ideal for reading in bed), but you can’t have just the wardrobe are alight on without putting on the main cabin light. I personally think this is madness, as I’d put the light on to get into the safe (to make sure I put the right number in) only to light up the whole room! Ah well…at least I’d found a way of waking DH up if he wouldn’t get up in the morning.

 

Sailaway:

We went up on deck for the Sailaway from Trieste rather than stay on our balcony,and I’m so glad we did. It was magical. There was a local band playing on the quayside who competed at times to be heard with the ship sailaway music, and lots of people had come to see us off. The Captain made an announcement and actually said that this was the Majestic’s “Maiden Voyage” (we won’t mention when someone called the ship by the wrong name as he quickly corrected himself hoping no one had noticed), so if it’s good enough for the Captain to call it that,then its good enough for me. We also had Princess’ CEO make an announcement over the tannoy system after the Captain (apologies I don’t remember her name).There were fireworks which seemed strange in the daylight but very enjoyable, as well as seeing the tugs and their water cannons. There was also a cacophony of fog horns (think Close Encounters but with fog horns), which was just amazing.

I’ll be honest here and say that as I was standing on deck taking all of this in with the happy people around me, I realized just how fortunate I was to be there and to be experiencing this (especially as I have some lovely friends who are currently dealing with lots of issues including terminal cancer). I felt myself wiping away a few tears from my eyes.

 

Library & Photos:

A small library near to the Vista Gaming Lounge. You could take the books out ontrust (not signing them out or giving your cabin number), and they were accessible even when there were no staff there. I borrowed a couple of books (as DH had my Kindle), and they were brand spanking new and never been opened. Lovely. There were only two computer terminals and only a couple of chairs in the library, so they didn’t encourage folks to sit in there and read. I’ve never used the PCs on board before (as Ilike to switch off from emails and stuff when I’m on holiday), but I used one to check us in for our return flights and print out our boarding passes (at no extra cost). The free internet minutes were useful for this, and it took me about 25 minutes to work out how to do all this and print off our passes (as I’m not that confident with technology). After reading that internet speeds were very slow on ships, I was quite surprised that I didn’t really find this to be the case here. Maybe I was just lucky.

 

There are lots of photo machines where you can view your photos after putting in your cabin number and date of birth. There was new technology here (so we were told by a very important man), although I managed to find the 3 machines that didn’twork all in one go! They also use face recognition software (similar to the Apple stuff I have on my Mac Book I assume), and so whenever you have your photo taken, it recognizes your features and brings up all of the photos you’ve had done. Bit of a blip though when they showed us how it worked – a photo of a man appeared with “our” photos. Never seem him before. The very important man said “Oh I know him” and promptly deleted the photo from our screen saying they were having some teething problems. Just be careful who you have your photo taken with, as you may end up having to explain why the face recognition picked you up with someone else.

 

Food:

We chose anytime dining and prefer a table for two. Only one of the anytime dining rooms was open (Concerto) (Allegro was the traditional dining room), as the ship was not full. We’d informed Princess beforehand that we each had a food allergy, and our experience has been that these are handled very well. This cruise was no exception and Princess are very on the ball.

The Head Waiter / Waitress came to see us the first evening we went to dinner and I must say that Paula was absolutely wonderful. She looked after us so well that we felt “safe” in her care, and she was so professional and was always smiling.

We ordered dinner for the next day, and Paula even came to us during the meal to ensure all was OK. Got a lovely photo of her on our last evening to go in the album.

 

Although food can be very subjective, I thought that the standard of the food we had in the dining room was very good – excellent. The always available crème brûlée was fantastic (I even gave the last one 12 marks out of 10 as it was that good), and although the fettucine alfredo starter could have done with a little more sauce, it was very tasty and yummy. The pina colada ‘soup’ that Princess seem to always have on the first evening – thankfully – was even nicer than I remember. The always available steak has been substituted for a beefburger (which we didn’t try), but the beef and chicken dishes I had from the main menu were very good and cooked perfectly.

 

There was one formal night, although I don’t know how jeans and T-shirts can be considered “formal” attire. Most folks dressed appropriately, but I saw quite a few jeans (not dark coloured ones), polo shirts that looked as though they’d been worn for the past two days, and even a T-shirt with a white skull on theback. Hey ho…each to their own and it didn’t spoil my evening, but the dress code wasn’t obviously adhered to by all.

 

I was pleasantly surprised that the wait staff worked so well as a team, as I know it can take some time for them to gel on a new ship. Some dining staff we spoke to were only on the ship for a few weeks, and appeared to have been brought on to “train others” and to get things up and running. Service in the dining room was generally very good and staff pleasant, courteous and efficient.

Formal night was probably the worst with slow service and it took us nearly 2 hours to get through our meal, but this was the exception. On our last evening our waitstaff asked if we wanted coffee, the appeared to forget to bring it. After waiting 20 minutes, the waiter came up to us to ask if we were ok (he wonderedwhy we were still there when we’d “finished”), but we did get our coffee when we reminded him. However it was just one of those things and we took it in our stride.

 

The buffet we used for breakfast, and had a reasonably good choice, although I found that I did a lot of walking from one counter to another and back again, as things were not always logically put out. To give you an example – I wanted Rice Krispies for cereal, but there weren’t any small boxes with the other cereals (cornflakes, bran etc). I eventually had to ask if they had any and I was taken to the other side of the buffet to the yoghurt section and told they were there. I must get my eyes checked as I couldn’t see any, so asked someone else who went in search of the elusive Rice Krispies. Eventually she broughtout a big box and poured some out in a bowl for me. Tried again the next day and when I asked someone for Rice Krispies, it was like chinese whispers…..the request went from one waiter to another…to a chef…to another waiter…to another chef – and by now it was Krispy Rice – then to a waitress…..who took me to the yoghurt section and to a big bowl. I gave up the next day as I just couldn’t face the game again and I had just yoghurt, as I knew where this was now.

I also did a treasure hunt one morning called “hunt the strawberry jam”. It wasn’t with the bread rolls or the toast, and I eventually found marmalade and apricot jam (yuk). I must have walked off last night’s crème brulee trying to find it. I was about to admit defeat when I bumped into the lovely Paula, who found some for me (although it took her a while) and brought it to the table we were at. I didn’t bother with strawberry jam again.

 

Orange juice and hot drinks are served to your table, and I noticed only one hot drinks machine on one side of the buffet area (must be once also on the opposite side). The Bakery had nice waffles and pastries and this time they actually tasted as good as they looked. The carrot cake was moist, light and very yummy.

 

We tried Alfredos for a pizza one lunchtime – well it would have been rude not toat least try it. I had salad starter which was really fresh and DH had something else not salad (but I cant remember what – must be my age). We both had a pizza (but different toppings) and they were like proper Italian pizzaand very yummy, not to mention filling. It took quite a while for the pizza to come out to us, and staff apologized, but DH had lived in Naples for 6 months and he said that this was typical of how it was there. Pizzas are made fresh and it’s usual to take quite a while over the meal. We didn’t have to rush off anywhere and sitting together chatting was really nice, as we don’t get that much time to do that except on holiday. The “head man” we passed on the way out also apologized and thanked us for waiting, but we really didn’t mind. If we’d wanted something quick, we’d have gone to the buffet.

 

I did notice (because I’m nosy and people watch) that one of the waiters in Alfredos looked miserable and as if he didn’t want to be there. He was the only one as the others were very welcoming and looked like they enjoyed their work. I noticed he had a pile of place mats in his hand that he tossed at a small table by the side of the work station. He threw them and just walked away. They missed the table and fell on the floor, where they were promptly walked on by the waitress who hadn’t seen them as she was delivering food to the table nearby. It bothered me that someone would just pick them up from the floor and use them on the tables, so I did bring it to the attention of a member of staff, who was none too pleased with the waiters’ actions. It was not my intention to “get anyone into trouble”, but I though how I would feel if food was placed on mats that had been lying on the floor and walked on (even if the food was plated). So I felt that I had to say something.

 

We didn’t try the speciality restaurants as most of the food didn’t appeal to either of our tastes (and we probably couldn’t have got in anyway on this cruise), and with our food allergies, we felt “safer” in the main dining room, which I thought had great food anyway. We may have considered the Crown Grill, but I wasn’t keen on where it was. The Crown Grill bar was next to the restaurant,o ff one of the main walkways between the Piazza and the Vista Gaming Lounge.The bar area got quite noisy at times, and for me, that wouldn’t be conducive to a relaxing meal in the Grill.

 

Entertainment:

I know we are probably considered “boring”, but we don’t tend to “do” the entertainment on our cruises, and prefer to relax and read. The first night though we came out of dinner and saw The Unexpected Boys down in the Pizzasinging a Frankie Valli song (one that I really like). We stopped and watched hem and thought how good they were.

They were on a couple of evenings later in the Vista Gaming Lounge, so we went to see them. There were only around 30 or so people there, but those of us who did go saw a fantastic show. I’ve seen Jersey Boys and loved it (although I generally don’t like musicals), and I had a brilliant evening. Well done boys –you did a brilliant show. Thank you.

 

I don’t think that the Vista Gaming Lounge is really conducive to these sorts of shows though, as the title itself tells you what it’s aimed at. There were mahjong and other tables and chairs that faced away from the stage, so this is more for gaming than singing.

 

Kotor - Montenegro:

We’d never visited here before so were looking forward to it, after I’d done a bit of research about the town and the area where we docked. We tendered at this port as Majestic was just too big to dock, and they used local tenders rather than the lifeboats, so Princess was inputting into the local economy too which I liked.

 

It was a gorgeous day with sun and no wind, and it was lovely for us having somewarmth after recent cold temps at home. We explored the old town and just wandered the cobbled street and alleys, and often went around in a circle ending up in the same place we’d started from, but that was part of the fun. I really enjoyed the town and would like to go again and see more.

 

General Thoughts:

I’ve been asking myself why I loved this cruise so much that I put it at the top of my bestest cruises list. These are my thoughts of why it’s my number one:

 

* People: Majority of staff wereexcellent and some (counting Paula in here) were superb. Friendly, professional, courteous and they genuinely looked liked they were enjoying what they did.

 

* Other people: This cruise had the most eclectic mix of passengers (Italians, Americans, French, Spanish, British and Russian to name a few). I liked that and felt that it gave the cruise an interesting mix.

We met and chatted with some lovely people – Nancy we met in Venice airport who have travelled form the USA and who we ran into everyday. She was lovely and a great inspiration for solo cruisers.

Dides (Sandra) who we met and got talking to when we were watching a wonderful painter create a masterpiece in the Piazza. She said she was doing a live thread with photos, and I’ve been reading that thread and she’s doing a wonderful job complete with pictures.

Of course I hate her really – as she’s still on the ship and I’m not. Only joking.

 

Ship: She felt very welcoming and homely, but at the same time it was classy and contemporary. We went to Guest Services (which is much better situated away from the atrium area) the day before we disembarked, as we’d not received any info about getting off. I did suggest to the nice man I spoke to that I may just stow awayrather than getting off the ship, and he said there was a bit of room under his desk, so I was very tempted. I’m hoping DH would have missed me too much though if I had…but I won’t ask him just in case.

It was a bit strange seeing everything written in English and Chinese, and the lift lady who tells you what floor you’re on (why is it always a woman’s voice?) only tells you the floor number and not the name of it (eg, Floor 9 and not Dolphin). No idea why, but suggestions on a post card please.

 

We experienced some rough weather around midnight onwards after laving Kotor, and the Captain warned us that it would feel rough for a while. However although the seas looked rough with lots of white horses and windy, the ship was really stable and to be honest, I hardly noticed any change. So very impressed with this.

* Key cards: We always use lanyards as I tend to wear clothes without pockets, so I’d lose my card in no time. Don’t worry, I stick it under my top so as not to “show off” my black elite card. We were not allowed though now to have holes punched in the cards due to the technology of what’s in the card (or something like that), so it was a good excuse to buy a new lanyard and plastic wallet.

 

* Everything new:For me there was something special about being the first to be in the cabin,sleep in the new bed etc etc. I know its silly but it did feel special. On the downside, the towels were so new they didn’t adsorb as well as those that have had a few washes, and there was fluff off the pool towels that we put over the balcony chairs. Oh it’s a hard life when this is all I can moan about.

 

Well that’s about all from me except to say a very big “ Thank you” to Captain Sagani. Not only for a safe and very enjoyable cruise, but for something special he did for me that means a lot. Now I know that some of you will think I’m barking mad or have completely lost the plot when I tell you, but I’ll risk being laughed at and share this with you.

We collect teddy bears (we have over 1000 in our lounge and dining room). Just before one cruise, we picked up a teddy bear (about 10 inches tall) in a charity shop for 20p (approx. US 15 cents), and took him with us on the cruise. And he’s been cruising ever since.

The bear (named Westlife) has been very lucky and has managed to have his photograph taken on the bridge with every Captain on every Princess cruise we’ve been on. Please note that the bear has got into places us mortals are not allowed to go.

I wrote to Captain Sagani asking if it was possible to continue this so we could add Majestic Princess to the collection (but would understand if it wasn’t possible), and he very kindly agreed. So we now have some photos of Westlife with the Captain and he even looks like he’s steering the ship on one picture.Lucky, lucky bear.

A big thank you too to all the staff on board for looking after us so very well.

 

I apologise that I’ve gone on so long and I sincerely hope that if you’ve managed not to fall asleep as you’ve read my epistle and that you’ve enjoyed my thoughts and ramblings.

 

To those who are going on my now favourite ship before she goes off to the Chinese,I wish I was coming with you. Have fun and Happy Cruising to you all.

Its after 1am here so I'll get some sleep now.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write your review. Excellent job.

 

To post photos I use a site called Photobucket where you can upload your photos. An excellent place to have photos that you can look at anytime. You can post photos by coping the code in the img box and placing it here. Below is a photo taken from a slot Pull on the Crown Princess. I was instructed to be in the front since I organized the event. We're all holding up the $ we won.

 

Tom😎

[anthonyy7]

Wonderful review, thanks! I'm glad to hear that the dreadful table is gone from the cabin. We never use it and everyday we moved it out of the way only to have the steward place it back. Would love to see Westlife photos from the bridge! If you have the CC app, it makes posting photos easier.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Kenosha Cruiser]

Thanks for taking the time to write your review, really enjoyed reading it and finding out more about the Majestic Princess.

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

[Gimer]

Hey Ken - Darlene, There's still rooms available for the June 18 , final leg of it 21 Days Maiden Grand Asia Cruise to Shanghai. Love to have you join us. We'll be flying in two days before the cruise. I have friends still on Majestic right now and when they reached Rome, they loaded on tons of provisions Trieste did not have and only still missing Abalone and Jellyfish. After their Pre-Cruise and doing B2B2B, they ate in the Harmony restaurant and were given so much food and they raved about it. Love to have you two join us..... Stan

[klangel]

What a wonderful review. My husband and I would be on the Majestic in 17 days. We are Asian so pretty excited to see how the ship is groomed to the Chinese Market. What other ports did you visit and what did you do on those ports?

[jayne3031]

Thank you for your review. We are going on the Majestic on Sunday and really looking forward to it.

[HomelessBear]

Thank you all for your kind words and glad you liked my review.

Klangel - we only visited Kotor and had a sea day each side.

I will have a look at improving my photo IT skills I promise, and thanks for your suggestions.

 

Oh you lucky lucky people who are joining the ship soon. can I carry your bags? Maybe not a good idea though with my shoulder injury, so I will have to reply on reading your reviews when you get back. I'll be thinking of you and sincerely you enjoy your cruises as much as I, DH and Westlife did. He's already looking forward to his next cruise.

 

Happy cruising.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the review.

[timtrek]

Great review!

[LC1950]

Homeless Bear you were right on the money! Email just received from Princess announces that the Majestic Princess will spend 6 months in Australia, cruising out of Sydney, from September 2018 to March 2019. Cruises on sale From 27 April 2017.

[HomelessBear]

Glad it's been revealed and Sherlock Holmes proved right!

Glad that our fellow Australian cruisers and anyone else who cruises from there have got a lovely new ship to look forward to.

I may even have to consider doing a cruise from Oz so that I can revisit the ship. A great excuse to go to Australia again too.

 

Happy cruising [emoji568]

 

 

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[rachellucy]

Thanks for your wonderful and positive review. So great to hear so many good things about the cruise and no "nit picking" on small things that don't matter. I am so looking forward to getting on the cruise in Athens on the 30th.