Majestic Princess Jan 22 and Feb 19, 2022 live report

[dhanakorn]

This’s my first cruise with Princess. Although I’m not new to cruising, all my previous 8 cruises have been with NCL. My last cruise was on NCL Bliss Mexican Riviera just last December. I usually cruise once a year so I didn’t plan to take another cruise so soon. But about a week ago, Princess started offering the incredible fare with no single supplement. The price was so good that it’s like once in a lifetime deal. I like the freestyle cruise that NCL has offered so I was little hesitant to try the more formal lines like Princess or HAL. But with this great price, I couldn’t pass it up.

I live in the Bay Area, so it’s a short flight down to LA. Nice clear sky here  

 

I picked LGB airport in order to avoid the craziness at LAX. It’s a small airport with no jet bridge but you can get in and out very quickly. You can get Uber/Lyft right outside the terminal. You’d have to pay high premium to have Uber picked you up at LAX terminal. After a quick 15min ride and about $25 fare, I got to the World Cruise Terminal. 

[Baxter68]

Hooray! I’m so happy to see a live from! Those of us on upcoming sailings are truly grateful!!

[dhanakorn]

I wrote a review on the NCL Bliss I took last month. The itinerary was very similar to this cruise. If you’re interested, you can see the post below  

 

Princess used Terminal 92 - the same as where I boarded NCL Bliss last month. I got to the terminal around 11am. Check-in process was very quick if you filled out all the information on the Medallion app. There’re quite a lot of people waiting in the terminal already but it’s not as crowded as my last trip on Bliss. They all seem to be the cruise veterans.  
 

There’s a covid test station inside the terminal if you can’t get the test before leaving home. You need to make appointment ahead of time. But I asked the agent there, walk-in is also accepted. Testing costs about $0-$150 depending on your insurance. I used eMed seft-test with proctor - this option is highly recommended for the peace of mind. 
 

Boarding started around 11:30am. I waited for about 15min before my group was called. There’s quite a line on the gangway waiting for the crew to take your picture. 
 

 

[dhanakorn]

The Piazza looks more elegant than the Atrium on NCL ships. I may give a lot of comparison references to NCL ships since all my previous cruising experience was with NCL. 


The glass elevator adds nice classy look. 

 

You can get a sandwich or cakes from the corner here and enjoy them at the Piazza. They’re free!

[dockman]

according to cruise director there are 848 passengers and 1140 crew onboard

[dhanakorn]

I went up to the Marketplace buffet room for lunch. Half of the buffet room (the Bakery) section was closed. Compared to NCL ship, the number of food items on the buffet line were not as many but the quality tends to be better. You’d be lucky to find shrimps on NCL buffet lately (although NCL used to have plenty of seafood in the past). Taste is highly subjective but I think it’s pretty good here. 

 

 

 

Pizza at Alfredo looked very delicious!

[dhanakorn]

I like the outdoor dining area on the aft. It has cover if you don’t want to be fully exposed to the sun. You can see USS Iowa docking behind. 

 

 

[dockman]

some good football games on the big screen...

 

.and speaker leo rossi ex tour manager of fleetwood mac is a very entertaining man with some fantastic stories of his days with the who beach boys fleetwood mac and many other big bands/names

[dhanakorn]

The Hollywood conservatory is similar to the Observation lounge on newer NCL ships. While it’s nice to have a big indoor swimming pool here, the smell of chlorine and the humidity are the main negativity of this place. 

 

Good size gym. 

 

[dhanakorn]

The most talked about Seawalk structure. 

 

[dhanakorn]

A big cargo ship was passing by. 

 

Around 1pm, the pool deck was still empty. 

 

 

The sailaway party started around 4pm. It started off a little slow but ended with very energetic dance show. I think it’s pretty fun. Kevin is our cruise director. 

 

Video clip of the sailaway party. 

 

 

[dhanakorn]

On my last trip, the Bliss had some delay and by the time we departed it’s already dark. On this trip, we sailed off at the right time when the sun started to go down. We had very beautiful view of sunset while the ship was leaving the harbor. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pkt1976]

Enjoy! The Majestic is a great ship! Definitely try Alfredo’s pizza.

[DavidsNana]

Thanks for doing this Live report.  It will be really nice to see your comparison to NCL.  Haven't sailed them since the early 80's, been sailing mostly Princess since then with a few RCL cruises.  I will read your Bliss review also.

[dhanakorn]

Usually on NCL cruises, I tried to avoid MDR. Service was slow and food wasn’t impressive enough to worth the wait. Since this’s my first cruise with Princess I decided to try the MDR on the first night to see if it’s worth going for the rest of the cruise. 
 

The Symphony dining room was closed. I picked the Concerto room since it has more windows and looks more casual than the other dining room. I was seated right away. 

 

The garlic prawns for appetizer. 

 

The fish soup was a little bland. 

 

For main dish, I picked the crawfish cajun stew. It tasted pretty good. Very mildly spicy despite the look. 

 

Overall the service was pretty good. The team of servers at my table was very friendly and casual. It’s not as slow or formal as I dreadfully thought. 
 

Princess has more interesting wine list than NCL. I have the beverage package and there’re many wine by glass options that’re included in the package. 

 

I walked up to the buffet room to check out what they had there. I just wanna take a look but couldn’t resist grabbing a couple things to try. 

 

The main entertainment in the Theater was the comedy show by AJ Jamal. I think he’s very funny and entertaining. 

[TBfrPH]

Lovely pictures.  We were on Majestic in September to Alaska and had a terrific time. If you enjoy live music, Princess does a great job in that department.  We had a fantastic string duo, a party band, and a dance band trio rotating through the various venues.  This is on top of the piano player at the bars. 

 

Hope you won't be disappointed compared to NCL.  Would love to see a Patter from a sea day if you're able to post.  Thanks in advance.

[dhanakorn]

The cabin was ready by the time we boarded the ship so I could go to the room and dropped my bags right away. 

 

With the deep discount that Princess offered, I decided to try the balcony room on this trip. I booked the deluxe balcony DF and got upgraded to DB room. I’ve sailed with NCL eight times, never once was offered a complimentary room upgrade. 

The room is a little smaller than I thought. It’s enough space for two guests but will be a little tight for three in the room. Since I’m traveling solo, I’ve plenty of space all for myself. I like the big walk-in closet. I can put my luggages here instead of storing underneath the bed. 

 

Bathroom is also on small side. I don’t like the shower curtain. The curtain is old with some dark spots here and there. Maybe I ask for a new curtain but I don’t want to bother my cabin crew. Speaking of cabin crew, he stopped by on the first day to introduce himself and go over some details (muster drill, no smoking, no flushing tissue in toilet, etc.). He also mentioned that there’s no turndown service, only one cleaning per day due to CDC guideline. I cruised with NCL twice last year and my cabin crew always proactively offered turndown service. It’s not quite a big deal though, just a different standard on different cruise line. 

 

 

 

 

Bed is very comfortable. I love the free on-demand movie collection. On NCL, you have to pay for the on-demand movie. 
 

There’s motion-activated light in front of the bathroom. It’s convenient when you need to go to the toilet in the middle of the night but it takes a while before the light shutoff. There’s also motion-activated light underneath the stands next to the bed. So I’ve to wait for a while until the light goes off before I can go back to sleep. Anyone know how to turn this motion-activated light off? 

[dhanakorn]

Someone asked about the Patters. 
 

Day 1

 

Day 2

 

Day 3

[jean s]

 

Thanks so much for posting your experience on the Majestic.  We are planning on doing the same cruise on Majestic in March.  

[sunviking90]

1 hour ago, dhanakorn said:

 

 

 

 

There’s motion-activated light in front of the bathroom. It’s convenient when you need to go to the toilet in the middle of the night but it takes a while before the light shutoff. There’s also motion-activated light underneath the stands next to the bed. So I’ve to wait for a while until the light goes off before I can go back to sleep. Anyone know how to turn this motion-activated light off? 

I think I’ve read other people asked their cabin steward and they were able to either disable, or tape over the light. We are on the next Majestic cruise, and I am planning to bring some tape. 
I really appreciate your posts and all the great photos. Really looking forward to our first cruise in 2 years!

Edited January 24, 2022 by sunviking90

[AVCruzers]

1 hour ago, dhanakorn said:

The cabin was ready by the time we boarded the ship so I could go to the room and dropped my bags right away. 

 

With the deep discount that Princess offered, I decided to try the balcony room on this trip. I booked the deluxe balcony DF and got upgraded to DB room. I’ve sailed with NCL eight times, never once was offered a complimentary room upgrade. 

The room is a little smaller than I thought. It’s enough space for two guests but will be a little tight for three in the room. Since I’m traveling solo, I’ve plenty of space all for myself. I like the big walk-in closet. I can put my luggages here instead of storing underneath the bed. 

 

Bathroom is also on small side. I don’t like the shower curtain. The curtain is old with some dark spots here and there. Maybe I ask for a new curtain but I don’t want to bother my cabin crew. Speaking of cabin crew, he stopped by on the first day to introduce himself and go over some details (muster drill, no smoking, no flushing tissue in toilet, etc.). He also mentioned that there’s no turndown service, only one cleaning per day due to CDC guideline. I cruised with NCL twice last year and my cabin crew always proactively offered turndown service. It’s not quite a big deal though, just a different standard on different cruise line. 

 

 

 

 

Bed is very comfortable. I love the free on-demand movie collection. On NCL, you have to pay for the on-demand movie. 
 

There’s motion-activated light in front of the bathroom. It’s convenient when you need to go to the toilet in the middle of the night but it takes a while before the light shutoff. There’s also motion-activated light underneath the stands next to the bed. So I’ve to wait for a while until the light goes off before I can go back to sleep. Anyone know how to turn this motion-activated light off? 

Borrow some pool towels and roll them up to put in front of those lights.  We just took them away during the day as we did that when we were on the Majestic last month.  Those lights are annoying but are definitely a safety factor.  Safety is a high priority on Princess ships.  If you really want turndown service, just ask for it as we did.  You are going to enjoy Kevin as CD but know how excited he must be to go home shortly on leave especially to see his daughter, Charlotte.  

Edited January 24, 2022 by AVCruzers
Added information

[AVCruzers]

Do enjoy Alfredo's which we found to be better on the MAJESTIC than the GRAND.  MAJESTIC Alfredo's menu also includes appetizers and desserts.  Some guests are hesitant to go there thinking there is an added cost.  

[fpsphil]

Weird that you guys are on the reverse itinerary from last week. Coming into Cabo early and having the full afternoon there was really a + on the entire cruise

[seagunthera]

Thank you for posting the fab pics, Patters, and tips!  I'll be following along on your voyage (and will be on the 2/19 sailing). 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Thank you for taking us along on your cruise.  We were on the Majestic for 4 days last month and had a great time.  Take care and enjoy!