Live from the Majestic Princess at last! August 1 2021 to Alaska

[pkt1976]

Here are tonight’s dinner menu and the coffee/tea menu. Some new drinks and some old ones are gone, but if you ask they can still make some. Oh and they said almond milk will be available soon. 
 

After the show tonight, Dan the CD asked everyone where they are going next. I’m going to bed 😅

Edited August 2, 2021 by pkt1976

[cr8tiv1]

A Cautionary Tale:  Cruises that Don't Require a Passport

 

https://www.princess.com/cruise-tips-vacation-ideas/cruise-destinations/cruise-tips-advice-and-information/cruises-that-dont-require-a-passport.html

 

For domestic itineraries for which a passport is not required, US and Canadian passport holders must present one of the following valid Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) compliant travel documents at cruise check-in:

Passport Book: Recommended travel document

US Passport Card

US or Canadian Issued Enhanced Driver's License (EDL)

US or Canadian Issued Identification Card (issued to minors and non-drivers)

NEXUS Card Air travel is limited to participating airports

SENTRI and FAST cards

I-872 American Indian Card or Enhanced Tribal ID Card (ETC)

 

Thank you for posting your story.  I hope Lynn will still enjoy her cruise and meet lots of others on the ship.

 

[cr8tiv1]

Thanks for being detailed oriented.  And when Princess adds Los Angeles/Alaska/round trip.

[trey420]

30 minutes ago, bflysmile said:

PASSPORTS REQUIRED… A CAUTIONARY TALE. 

 

I know we all read that passports are required, even if not stopping in Canada.  For those who thought that was “old news” be assured, you do need your passport (or enhanced driver’s license, or driver’s license and birth certificate… basically something that proves your citizenship, I guess)to get on board. 
 

We had dinner tonight with a newly-solo cruiser whose sister forgot her passport and didn’t have an enhanced drivers license so could not board. They even had a copy made by her family and sent over, but that wasn’t accepted. 
 

She said there were at least 3 other people in the same position who didn’t board.

 

As someone who once forgot her passport when driving to Canada, I know a bit of her pain (and embarrassment). Although Canada lets you in with me a DL, US could have denied me entry back to the US.

 

So if you meet Lynn whose sister didn’t make their vacation, offer her some friendship!  She’s lovely!  
 

 

Oh I thought that was over.  Looks like I will get on that.

[Kay S]

44 minutes ago, mringenoldus said:

Before someone panics, I would add the additional information from the Princess FAQs:

US citizens traveling on U.S. roundtrip or “closed-loop” voyages may also travel with an original certified birth certificate presented together with a valid government-issued photo identification. These voyages include:
 

• Alaska roundtrip from San Francisco or Seattle (roundtrip Seattle cruisetours excluded)

How old is this information?  It would be tragic to show up for the cruise with the wrong documents and be denied boarding.  "But the FAQ says" won't help much.

[trey420]

10 minutes ago, mringenoldus said:

I can assure you that the information (along with that provided by cr8tiv1) is current and accurate. I never offer incorrect information and strongly feel that those who post misleading or erroneous information do no favors to other members.  If you need further reassurance, I would encourage you to contact your own travel advisor for confirmation .

Thank you I will confirm tomorrow with princess what is needed.  I have the DL and birth certificate but lost my passport.  I will just have to pay the rush fees I guess if needed I sail end of September.  

Edited August 2, 2021 by trey420

[bflysmile]

Just to clarify, I was relating this person’s experience today and what she was told would have sufficed for her sister to sail. I am not an expert on documentation.

 

But I have seen many people asking if passports were *really* required if their cruise wasn’t stopping in Canada. The answer this woman got today was that since the ship sails in international waters citizenship papers are needed for every passenger regardless of where the ship will be stopping. 

[Rather be golfing]

Three quick questions from someone sailing in 2 weeks:

1- I have been trying to book at Crown Grill but there has been no availability on line for my party of 6 and I am hoping to book once onboard, has anyone of you had this situation this week and had luck booking?

2 - are the self service laundries open with the precautions going on?

3- my son has the drink package but is only 20 and it says milk shakes are included where available - does anyone know if and where we can get some on the ship?

Thanks for the help and enjoy your cruise!

[Jadn13]

10 minutes ago, Rather be golfing said:

Three quick questions from someone sailing in 2 weeks:

1- I have been trying to book at Crown Grill but there has been no availability on line for my party of 6 and I am hoping to book once onboard, has anyone of you had this situation this week and had luck booking?

2 - are the self service laundries open with the precautions going on?

3- my son has the drink package but is only 20 and it says milk shakes are included where available - does anyone know if and where we can get some on the ship?

Thanks for the help and enjoy your cruise!

*** #3, Apologies for jumping in but from what I have read/researched about this,  it seems that Milkshakes are only available on Grand Class Ships. He may be better off with virgin frozen drinks 🙂 

[TheCenterOfTheLabyrinth]

We woke up to two random $100 charges on our card from the ship. So we will have to see guest services. These charges are not on our account in the app, so travelers, check your cards. And as a side note, the app allows me to order specialty coffee on the app with beverage package - but not tea, which is very strange. 

[sjnc]

I will be following. We had to rebook from May, 2021. We are now going July, 2022, and will be wanting to hear what you think. We will be on the Grand. We are doing a land/cruise tour

[PacnGoNow]

12 hours ago, pkt1976 said:

Here are some photos of what I could order from the app and the drinks in the Platinum/elite lounge in the evenings. It’s in the Hollywood Conservatory 

. Pretty cool you can order from crown grill or Sur La Mer too! 

Fabulous!  Can you use the coffee package to order a specialty coffee to your cabin or elsewhere on the app?  

They can just deduct it from your coffee

package or the drink package if you have it?
 

[PacnGoNow]

1 minute ago, PacnGoNow said:

Fabulous!  Can you use the coffee package to order a specialty coffee to your cabin or elsewhere on the app?  

They can just deduct it from your coffee

package or the drink package if you have it?
 

Disregard.  I just saw the post

above, which said you can order coffees using your coffee package!  Thats great!

 

[UT-Volsfan]

Overall impression from first day is that everybody is very happy to be back at sea with passengers. Very friendly and attentive service everywhere we went.  Concerto dining room was very good for lunch and dinner.  A few items:

We were told last night that this sailing is at 75% capacity.

For the Elites, don't expect the mini-bar setup in your cabin when you board. Several people we spoke with had not received theirs as of late last night.  If they are having trouble with limited passengers, it may be very late when they sail at 100% capacity. 

The Medallion app still does not have dining room menus available, even after you get on ship.  Looks like a nice feature for planning when to book Specialty dining, hope they implement it soon.

[BabySarge]

If you have the drinks package can you only order your drinks thru the app on your phone or is it that you chose to do it that way?

[CineGraphic]

2 minutes ago, BabySarge said:

If you have the drinks package can you only order your drinks thru the app on your phone or is it that you chose to do it that way?

 

You can order them in person as well.

 

[ackpth]

Looking to play the Card Game BRIDGE, that is typically offered on cruise ships.

 

I saw someone ask about it on the July 25th sailing thread, but didnt see a reply.

 

Is it offered? (Was it on the Daily Patter and I missed it?)

 

Thanks!

[pkt1976]

1 hour ago, TheCenterOfTheLabyrinth said:

We woke up to two random $100 charges on our card from the ship. So we will have to see guest services. These charges are not on our account in the app, so travelers, check your cards. And as a side note, the app allows me to order specialty coffee on the app with beverage package - but not tea, which is very strange. 

I did as well, I believe it’s actually a “hold” they put on the card that they normally do, but will check into it further. 

[Georgiane]

question: just looked at the menu posted above and did not see the regular vegetarian option, is that gone? Will I have to ask for a different menu?

[pkt1976]

I woke up at 6:30 😒so got dressed and came to the dining room for breakfast. 
 

some other info I didn’t post from yesterday….

 

- they ran out of short ribs last night, I had dinner at 7. The head waiter was very apologetic, they are still working out provisioning, especially considering we are sailing at a lower capacity. They have provisions for a full sailing down of course, but there will be a learning curve for the next months until they sail full again. the folks at our table were gracious, I hope others were as well, 
 

- sail away was a bit late yesterday as some provisions arrived late. 
 

- pack your patience and be nice. That the medallion app doesn’t work well and is a pain in the butt to use in some cases is not the crews fault. They didn’t design it or implement it. I Already saw some rude nasty people taking their frustrations out on the crew. I have no problem with and I have intervened and helped even the rude people with the app while getting the point across to not be a friggin jerk. One guy saw me helping someone else and tried to start up with me. I told him I’m not crew and I don’t have to nice nice to him so he could adjust his attitude or I wouldn’t help him…. Maybe I was a little grumpy too yesterday 🤷🏼‍♀️😅 he apologized, I helped him 

 

- the journey view activity timeline is annoying and I hate it. They are delivering the patter but I’ll tell you another way to see the activities list. Go to majestic.Princess.com and you can see the activities for the day in a nicer and more easy to read format. But shhhh no one tell Princess we are doing that as it’s the “old” way. At some point that may go away but for now it’s there. 
 

- you may think I’m the devil for this but I don’t like the bacon 😱

 

- I tried the honey lavender latte, not my cup of tea. All I tasted was coffee. I have 30 coffee/tea drinks from switching out my mini bar so I’ll try others too. 

 

[azbirdmom]

2 hours ago, TheCenterOfTheLabyrinth said:

We woke up to two random $100 charges on our card from the ship. So we will have to see guest services. These charges are not on our account in the app, so travelers, check your cards.

 

If they are only on your card, they are holds.  Princess always does this and they will change throughout your voyage.  At the end those will drop off and be replaced by the final total on your folio.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

2 hours ago, TheCenterOfTheLabyrinth said:

We woke up to two random $100 charges on our card from the ship. So we will have to see guest services. These charges are not on our account in the app, so travelers, check your cards. And as a side note, the app allows me to order specialty coffee on the app with beverage package - but not tea, which is very strange. 

Try using the crew chat feature. Last week I found they quickly refunded my erroneous charges. And I did not have to wait in line. There’s a shortcut button next to the DMW shortcut button. 

[fabby50]

Hey!  Question from cruiser that is hopefully going to be on a 9/25 sailing :0  Is the spa open?  We're wondering on our roll call.  Right now, there are no advanced bookings available for our sailing.

 

Thank you and I hope it all goes marvelously for you - 

[benzimer]

To everyone wondering/complaining about the internet speed - it is because the ship is sailing above the 50th latitude (North of Vancouver).  It can only access the satellites that are in GEO orbit and that is a long way away.  The closer the ship is to the equator the better/faster the internet will be.  It will be better/faster because there are more satellites it can reach more quickly (satellites in the MEO & GEO orbits).  It will work (or not work) the same way closer to the south pole.

 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

1 hour ago, UT-Volsfan said:

Overall impression from first day is that everybody is very happy to be back at sea with passengers. Very friendly and attentive service everywhere we went.  Concerto dining room was very good for lunch and dinner.  A few items:

We were told last night that this sailing is at 75% capacity.

For the Elites, don't expect the mini-bar setup in your cabin when you board. Several people we spoke with had not received theirs as of late last night.  If they are having trouble with limited passengers, it may be very late when they sail at 100% capacity. 

The Medallion app still does not have dining room menus available, even after you get on ship.  Looks like a nice feature for planning when to book Specialty dining, hope they implement it soon.

The MDR menus are on the tv. At least they were last week. If I remember correctly (I can’t believe it was only yesterday I was on the ship and this is fuzzy) it’s under Dining and the top row will have an icon that says Restaurant Menus or something Menus. It definitely says Menus. I really liked checking them out when I woke up every day. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by HaveDogWillTravel