MAJESTIC PRINCESS - 24th August - Shanghai to Sydney

[NSWP]

A friend of ours on this cruise called today from Singapore and said it’s only so-so. Will have to chat in length when they get back. We are on the Brisbane to HK and I can’t say I’m all that excited about going on the Majestic.

 

Well now you have said it, we were not overly impressed with sister ship Royal Princess - British Isles in June.:rolleyes: I just do not like the design and food, entertainment, staff were ok but not the best we have experienced on our 22 Princess cruises, covering 12 ships.:o

 

They had better straighten out things for the Aussies !!!!

[MicCanberra]

I would expect only that from a ex Batemans Bay citizen, Sandy, lol. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.:halo::hearteyes:

Ye olde Bay neighbour, you say.;p

[S&D]

Ye olde Bay neighbour, you say.;p

 

 

LOL..Mic we lived at the Bay for 3 lovely years before moving up nearer to the kids and grandkids in Yass...Batemans is a beautiful spot, we still visit there quite often.... and we had the great pleasure to meet Les while we were there..... so yes, I will be reporting on the Majestic to the best of my ability...lol...;p;p

[cheznandy]

Hey guys, me again. Nothing much to report, a lovely sea day yesterday catching up with friends and snoozing. Another formal night and a full dining room.

 

Singapore today, overcast but only light rain this morning and hot.

We took the MRT with a few friends, had coffee on the waterfront, a riverboat cruise, had a fish spa, that got a few laughs, then the Singapore Flyer, which we hadn't done before.

Made our way to Lau Pa Sat for some great cheap food and a couple of beers, back onboard with a couple of hours to spare.

Took a swim at the Hollywood club pool and will enjoy sailaway from our balcony.

 

Tomorrow is the Crossing the Equator ceremony. It's the first time this ship has crossed the Equator the Captain said, and there are alot of staff to initiate.

 

Captain Dino Sagani takes over the ship today. Hard to believe we are halfaway through this cruise today.

We have 4 seadays, then Darwin, four seadays then Brisbane, then two to Sydney. Alot will disembark in Brisbane.

 

Re people not liking this ship, I hear lots of people complaining on the ship about all sorts of things, lack of promenade, to much going on in the Piazza, it's too big etc. People will always complain.

We are missing the aft deck and pool of the other ships and missing Skywalkers so much, we usually go every evening for Elite drinks, but have only been twice on Majestic as the Vista lounge just doesnt have the same intimate feel, but we are not complaining to everyone who will listen as we knew these things were missing when we booked. It is what it is. Different.

 

We really have had no complaints, have had fabulous service, but we are polite and friendly to staff. We have heard how some speak to staff and they are just plain rude.

We are having a great time, have met wonderful people, enjoyed our ports and looking forward to sailing into Sydney.

*Captain Sagani just introduced himself before we sailaway, he is very excited to be back onboard, he has been with this ship from the beginning and it was built in his hometown.

 

From the Food and Beverage manager

The costs of drinks in the PES lounge in Vista of an afternoon will be $8.50AUD, instead of the $6.50 they are now. It was $6.50USD and all the menu/schedule paperwork had been delivered to rooms before they realised. It was left* at $6.50 for this cruise only, so a heads up to you all that are sailing soon.

 

Gotta go, we are on the move and my vodka lime and soda is waiting!!

 

 

 

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[WAussieSFO]

Thank you for all the great information. Looking forward to seeing you dock in Sydney. We will hopefully have a brief meet and greet with a couple of your fellow passengers and dear friends of ours as they disembark and we embark.

[Sailaway John]

Thanks for your great reports. JUst to let you know that we have had a little rain here in Port and Wauchope which should have kept your garden going. Looking forward to getting on board. We will be cabin C702 so if you know of anyone in that cabin please tell them to look after it for us. ONce again, thanks for your reports.

Sailaway John

 

quote=cheznandy;56945878]Hey guys, me again. Nothing much to report, a lovely sea day yesterday catching up with friends and snoozing. Another formal night and a full dining room.

 

Singapore today, overcast but only light rain this morning and hot.

We took the MRT with a few friends, had coffee on the waterfront, a riverboat cruise, had a fish spa, that got a few laughs, then the Singapore Flyer, which we hadn't done before.

Made our way to Lau Pa Sat for some great cheap food and a couple of beers, back onboard with a couple of hours to spare.

Took a swim at the Hollywood club pool and will enjoy sailaway from our balcony.

 

Tomorrow is the Crossing the Equator ceremony. It's the first time this ship has crossed the Equator the Captain said, and there are alot of staff to initiate.

 

Captain Dino Sagani takes over the ship today. Hard to believe we are halfaway through this cruise today.

We have 4 seadays, then Darwin, four seadays then Brisbane, then two to Sydney. Alot will disembark in Brisbane.

 

Re people not liking this ship, I hear lots of people complaining on the ship about all sorts of things, lack of promenade, to much going on in the Piazza, it's too big etc. People will always complain.

We are missing the aft deck and pool of the other ships and missing Skywalkers so much, we usually go every evening for Elite drinks, but have only been twice on Majestic as the Vista lounge just doesnt have the same intimate feel, but we are not complaining to everyone who will listen as we knew these things were missing when we booked. It is what it is. Different.

 

We really have had no complaints, have had fabulous service, but we are polite and friendly to staff. We have heard how some speak to staff and they are just plain rude.

We are having a great time, have met wonderful people, enjoyed our ports and looking forward to sailing into Sydney.

*Captain Sagani just introduced himself before we sailaway, he is very excited to be back onboard, he has been with this ship from the beginning and it was built in his hometown.

 

From the Food and Beverage manager

The costs of drinks in the PES lounge in Vista of an afternoon will be $8.50AUD, instead of the $6.50 they are now. It was $6.50USD and all the menu/schedule paperwork had been delivered to rooms before they realised. It was left* at $6.50 for this cruise only, so a heads up to you all that are sailing soon.

 

Gotta go, we are on the move and my vodka lime and soda is waiting!!

 

 

 

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[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the update again, glad you are enjoying yourselves.

On the last formal night, what sort of percentage of the men are actually tuxing it up and how many are just a suit jacket or not even. Wondering if I should bring my Tux for my cruise in November, I like dressing up and also like to use it but don't want to be the odd duck.

[MicCanberra]

LOL..Mic we lived at the Bay for 3 lovely years before moving up nearer to the kids and grandkids in Yass...Batemans is a beautiful spot, we still visit there quite often.... and we had the great pleasure to meet Les while we were there..... so yes, I will be reporting on the Majestic to the best of my ability...lol...;p;p

I remember you telling me about the bay and some of the characters from down that way. :p

[NSWP]

I remember you telling me about the bay and some of the characters from down that way. :p

 

I am a character. ;p:hearteyes: I am sure all you future Majestic Cruisers will enjoy the ship and your adventures.:cool:

[JohnGc]

Thank you for the reports. I have been keeping up with them with great interest. I am looking forward to going on the Majestic next year. Sounds like a great ship, of course you are always going to get the complainers I guess there are some with a genuine complaint but to most that is their pleasure and they are probably the same when they are land bound. Nothing will stop me & my family enjoying ourselves when we are cruising or the excitement leading up to a cruise. :D

[S&D]

Thanks again Cheznandy, and for the heads up regarding the Vista Lounge drink prices..cheers S&D:)

[NSWP]

Thanks again Cheznandy, and for the heads up regarding the Vista Lounge drink prices..cheers S&D:)

When we were on Sapphire and Royal Princess in Europe, May/June, the PES lounge prices for the 'special cocktails' (which were not to our taste) was US$6.50, so AU$8.50 is about right. All other drinks were normal ship prices. I think most folk just go in there for the food, like the prawn tower.:hearteyes:

[MicCanberra]

When we were on Sapphire and Royal Princess in Europe, May/June, the PES lounge prices for the 'special cocktails' (which were not to our taste) was US$6.50, so AU$8.50 is about right. All other drinks were normal ship prices. I think most folk just go in there for the food, like the prawn tower.:hearteyes:

My preference is the corn chips and Guacamole.

[MicCanberra]

I am a character. ;p:hearteyes: I am sure all you future Majestic Cruisers will enjoy the ship and your adventures.:cool:

LOl, I am sure I will.:D

[S&D]

My preference is the corn chips and Guacamole.

 

Oh yes Mic, we love the guacamole...... not into prawns/seafood... or that raw steak stuff...tartare??:eek: lol

 

cheers S&D

[cheznandy]

Clocks went forward an hour last night, so only an hour behind local time now, which i am sure will change by Darwin.

It was still dark outside at 7am.

Breakfast from the buffet enjoyed on the Wakeview deck. It was raining lightly but still very warm.

 

The Crossing Equator ceremony was held at 10am on the pool deck Lido, we didn't go as we have attended two. The Piazza was jam packed as usual, we had a coffee at Le Mer, still not as good as Gong Cha but it is served in glass mugs.

Ordered some more Duty free alcohol as they had a new supply from Singapore.

1l Drambuie $50.99, 1L Bacardi 2 for $54.99,* 1l Butterscotch Schnapps $14.99, 1l Sambucca $29.99. Have price list if anyone needs more info.

Vila is still the best place for duty free we have found, we usually stock up on liqueurs there.

We can buy a decent vodka and scotch whiskey from Aldi for a good price.

 

Lunched in the buffet and having a lazy seaday afternooon watching movies in our cabin.

 

Forgot to mention yesterday, we had to do a face to face immigration inspection for Singapore shoreside. They gave out paperwork with a time to disembark and* meeting point in a lounge.

We had been given group 19.....at 9.40am, what the??? We arrived in Singapore at 7am and we had planned to get off at 8am, half our day would have been over by the time we got off.

I ventured down to the services desk, first visit there this cruise at 6.30am to see if we could change......easy, they gave us 8am.

We were walking to the Casino for the meeting point and the gangway guys just told us to head on out. Lots of people were unhappy as they were waiting around for their time and missed half a day only to find out people had just walked off.

I guess it is things like this this that make people upset.

 

We are having immigration inspections for Australia prior to Darwin, they are onboard now and over the next couple of days we all have appointments.

 

Seas are calm and flat, little bit of blue peeking out of the clouds, perfect cruising weather.

Went to the Crown Grill for dinner, tonight, will post about it tomorrow.

 

A note about the buffet, we go there for breakfast and lunch as we like to choose and can load up on salad and protein.

We had a wander through just before dinner the other night and were amazed at the variety and quality of food.

There was a Tapas style bar, soups, heaps of cheeses, meats, garlic prawns, calamari, whole salmon looked amazing, loads of whole roasts, not to mention all the sides of salads and stirfry's. If you can't find sometning there you are very fussy!

Heaps of bread and rolls in the bakery section and the desserts during lunch and dinner look better than most in the dining room. Such a great option.

 

Karen, we are meeting friends when we disembark too, enjoy your cruise

 

John, thanks for the weather update, our neighbour has been giving our gardens a water but some nice rain will be great for our lawn. Don't know anyone in your cabin but i am sure it will be in fine order. The stewards are doing a great job. We had a note last night that they are doing maitenance on our balcony today and to keep our curtains closed between 9am and 12pm......we peeked out and they had taken all the dividers down and were painting all the wooden railings.

 

Mic, you would not look out of place in your tux on this cruise, most are over 70 and are wearing suits on formal night, we have seen a few tuxes.

I am not sure about future cruises though as the age group will change as the dress.

Andy wears a black suit, white shirt and has bought a couple of different ties.

We have four formal nights this cruise and intend to eat in the dining room for all!!

 

The sound proofing in the cabins is great, we have heard no noise from the cabins next to us, no coughing or sneezing, or snoring haha, no toilets flushing. Only thing we hear is doors slamming and neighbours, like us, trying to get the balcony doors open.

I remember the ol Pacific Sun hearing the man next door snore for the whole cruise!!

 

 

 

 

 

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[By The Bay]

Thanks for this great report on your cruise Chez. I will take you up on your offer about liquor prices. What is the price for Mt Gay Eclipse Rum and Smirnoff Blue Vodka? Thanks

[martin jenkins]

interested in the price of gin and bourbon, great reviews coming through.

[trbarton]

Clocks went forward an hour last night, so only an hour behind local time now, which i am sure will change by Darwin.

It was still dark outside at 7am.

Breakfast from the buffet enjoyed on the Wakeview deck. It was raining lightly but still very warm.

 

The Crossing Equator ceremony was held at 10am on the pool deck Lido, we didn't go as we have attended two. The Piazza was jam packed as usual, we had a coffee at Le Mer, still not as good as Gong Cha but it is served in glass mugs.

Ordered some more Duty free alcohol as they had a new supply from Singapore.

1l Drambuie $50.99, 1L Bacardi 2 for $54.99,* 1l Butterscotch Schnapps $14.99, 1l Sambucca $29.99. Have price list if anyone needs more info.

Vila is still the best place for duty free we have found, we usually stock up on liqueurs there.

We can buy a decent vodka and scotch whiskey from Aldi for a good price.

 

Lunched in the buffet and having a lazy seaday afternooon watching movies in our cabin.

 

Forgot to mention yesterday, we had to do a face to face immigration inspection for Singapore shoreside. They gave out paperwork with a time to disembark and* meeting point in a lounge.

We had been given group 19.....at 9.40am, what the??? We arrived in Singapore at 7am and we had planned to get off at 8am, half our day would have been over by the time we got off.

I ventured down to the services desk, first visit there this cruise at 6.30am to see if we could change......easy, they gave us 8am.

We were walking to the Casino for the meeting point and the gangway guys just told us to head on out. Lots of people were unhappy as they were waiting around for their time and missed half a day only to find out people had just walked off.

I guess it is things like this this that make people upset.

 

We are having immigration inspections for Australia prior to Darwin, they are onboard now and over the next couple of days we all have appointments.

 

Seas are calm and flat, little bit of blue peeking out of the clouds, perfect cruising weather.

Went to the Crown Grill for dinner, tonight, will post about it tomorrow.

 

A note about the buffet, we go there for breakfast and lunch as we like to choose and can load up on salad and protein.

We had a wander through just before dinner the other night and were amazed at the variety and quality of food.

There was a Tapas style bar, soups, heaps of cheeses, meats, garlic prawns, calamari, whole salmon looked amazing, loads of whole roasts, not to mention all the sides of salads and stirfry's. If you can't find sometning there you are very fussy!

Heaps of bread and rolls in the bakery section and the desserts during lunch and dinner look better than most in the dining room. Such a great option.

 

Karen, we are meeting friends when we disembark too, enjoy your cruise

 

John, thanks for the weather update, our neighbour has been giving our gardens a water but some nice rain will be great for our lawn. Don't know anyone in your cabin but i am sure it will be in fine order. The stewards are doing a great job. We had a note last night that they are doing maitenance on our balcony today and to keep our curtains closed between 9am and 12pm......we peeked out and they had taken all the dividers down and were painting all the wooden railings.

 

Mic, you would not look out of place in your tux on this cruise, most are over 70 and are wearing suits on formal night, we have seen a few tuxes.

I am not sure about future cruises though as the age group will change as the dress.

Andy wears a black suit, white shirt and has bought a couple of different ties.

We have four formal nights this cruise and intend to eat in the dining room for all!!

 

The sound proofing in the cabins is great, we have heard no noise from the cabins next to us, no coughing or sneezing, or snoring haha, no toilets flushing. Only thing we hear is doors slamming and neighbours, like us, trying to get the balcony doors open.

I remember the ol Pacific Sun hearing the man next door snore for the whole cruise!!

 

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Any things things that would be helpful for someone that’s never been on the Majestic Princess or other ships of this size.

Thanks!

Tom😀

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the update, will bring my tux for my cruise, it is so much easier for cruises out of Sydney than when we cruise out of ports that require air travel to get to them.

[cheznandy]

A morning post from me to update you on the Crown Grill and happenings last night.

 

We met up with another couple of friends in Vista for drinks at 6pm, our bookng for Crown Grill was 6.30pm.

There is a bar called the Crown Grill bar in front of the table area.

We were last at Crown Grill Golden Princess last September.

Firstly the service was fabulous, no complaints there. Tiger prawns and the scallops for entree, small servings, my two scallops were the size of a 10 cent piece.

We had fillet mignon and ribeye, cooked really well. We were offered gravy, just plain gravy, i am sure last time we had a choice of pepper, mushroom etc??

None of us were asked if we wanted a baked potato......a plate of fries, mashed potato, mushrooms, about a two tablespoons of the creamed spinach and about 10 of the thinnest asparagus spears i have seen were put in the middle of the table. To be honest the veges look better in the buffet haha!!

Dessert we had the combination of all four, which as usual was nice.

 

But the noise and the music OMG, not good!!

A guitarist finished up, then a pianist began, then in betwern the restaurant had piped music so loud we could not hear each other talk.

Not a nice relaxing experience, add to that people in the bar clapping the artists!!!

In our experience we would not pay $35 to eat there again, perhaps on another ship, but not that location.

We are having great food and service in the dining room with out the loud music and noise.

 

After dinner we went to the Vista lounge to watch a comedian, as usual this cruise, people must have got there the day before to get a seat, we sat at the very back, behind a pole with half the seat with its back to the stage, this room has a very bad set up, some of the seats have tables so close that cant be moved and you cannot get in. I came back from the toilet to find people had tried to squeeze themselves onto our lounge, half sitting on one of our friends.

 

Just breathe......dont say anything, i am a patient person but when the lady squeezed next to me proceeded to laugh loudly in my ear at everything the comedian said i had just about had enough.

Then the comedian thought someone was heckling him, then said " i think a fight has broken out" then he realised everyone was calling medical emergency, we were seated on the other side and had no visual, but the wailing crying of the wife was enough to make your blood run cold. Everyone sat in silence as medical came, people we talked to later sitting nearer said CPR was commenced by perhaps passengers.

The comedian after about 10 minutes asked everyone to leave, we made our way to Princess Live for a trivia show, but felt sick to the stomach.

 

We are not sure what has happened to the passenger but our thoughts are if we havent turned around or making our way to land the outcome is not good. We don't think CPR would be given and the passenger left on the ship for another 3 days to Darwin.

Hoping we are wrong and all is good.

Not sure if i mentioned that we were late leaving Vung Tau as a passenger was picked up by ambulance.

 

The longer the cruise, older the age group these things will happen.

 

 

 

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[BuzzBuzzen]

A morning post from me to update you on the Crown Grill and happenings last night.

 

We met up with another couple of friends in Vista for drinks at 6pm, our bookng for Crown Grill was 6.30pm.

There is a bar called the Crown Grill bar in front of the table area.

We were last at Crown Grill Golden Princess last September.

Firstly the service was fabulous, no complaints there. Tiger prawns and the scallops for entree, small servings, my two scallops were the size of a 10 cent piece.

We had fillet mignon and ribeye, cooked really well. We were offered gravy, just plain gravy, i am sure last time we had a choice of pepper, mushroom etc??

None of us were asked if we wanted a baked potato......a plate of fries, mashed potato, mushrooms, about a two tablespoons of the creamed spinach and about 10 of the thinnest asparagus spears i have seen were put in the middle of the table. To be honest the veges look better in the buffet haha!!

Dessert we had the combination of all four, which as usual was nice.

 

But the noise and the music OMG, not good!!

A guitarist finished up, then a pianist began, then in betwern the restaurant had piped music so loud we could not hear each other talk.

Not a nice relaxing experience, add to that people in the bar clapping the artists!!!

In our experience we would not pay $35 to eat there again, perhaps on another ship, but not that location.

We are having great food and service in the dining room with out the loud music and noise.

 

After dinner we went to the Vista lounge to watch a comedian, as usual this cruise, people must have got there the day before to get a seat, we sat at the very back, behind a pole with half the seat with its back to the stage, this room has a very bad set up, some of the seats have tables so close that cant be moved and you cannot get in. I came back from the toilet to find people had tried to squeeze themselves onto our lounge, half sitting on one of our friends.

 

Just breathe......dont say anything, i am a patient person but when the lady squeezed next to me proceeded to laugh loudly in my ear at everything the comedian said i had just about had enough.

Then the comedian thought someone was heckling him, then said " i think a fight has broken out" then he realised everyone was calling medical emergency, we were seated on the other side and had no visual, but the wailing crying of the wife was enough to make your blood run cold. Everyone sat in silence as medical came, people we talked to later sitting nearer said CPR was commenced by perhaps passengers.

The comedian after about 10 minutes asked everyone to leave, we made our way to Princess Live for a trivia show, but felt sick to the stomach.

 

We are not sure what has happened to the passenger but our thoughts are if we havent turned around or making our way to land the outcome is not good. We don't think CPR would be given and the passenger left on the ship for another 3 days to Darwin.

Hoping we are wrong and all is good.

Not sure if i mentioned that we were late leaving Vung Tau as a passenger was picked up by ambulance.

 

The longer the cruise, older the age group these things will happen.

 

 

 

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Wow what a night. I hope there are no more sad issues on your cruise and you don't have to take too many patient deep breaths , cheers Buzz.

[S&D]

Thanks for that Cheznandy.....Oh goodness, so sorry to hear about that poor man, how sad for the family....I hope there may be a chance he's ok....

 

 

thanks so much for the tips about crown grill, we will give that a miss this time....maybe the plate of veggies is a cost cutting excercise....we always loved the baked potatoes and other sides.

 

we will probably give the shows a miss as well.. trying to squeeze in with those crowds does not seem like somewhere I would be happy...lol........ as long as there is somewhere to dance we are quite happy in the evenings...

 

really enjoying your posts, they are hugely helpful...cheers S&D :)

Edited September 5, 2018 by S&D

[MicCanberra]

Hope he survived and his wife is okay as well.

[cheznandy]

Update.....good news, Captain announced passenger is in the medical centre here, we are making a detour to Surabya, sorry re spelling, where we will anchore and the patient will be offloaded, then full steam ahead to Darwin.

So all ok, pheww!!

Our theory was correct, and we thought if he was still with us we would detour.

 

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