Royal or Majestic for Alaska This Year?

[danny8826]

Hello,

 

We are considering doing a somewhat last minute Alaska Cruise on either the Royal Princess or Majestic Princess.  We understand that these 2 ships are very similar since they are sister ships, but we do have some questions and hoping for those who have sailed in either ship to Alaska can help us.  We pick these 2 ships because we wanted to see Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier or College Fjord.  We have been to Alaska before, but we have only seen Dawe Glacier.   

 

1.  What kind of onboard activities are there during the day and in the evening?  Are there any dance classes?  My travel companion loves dance classes especially if they offer zumba or line dance.

2.  How are the entertainment in the theater?

3.  Between the 2 ships, which offer better food choices or are they equally the same?

4.  If you are planning to go to Alaska, which of these ships would you recommend?

 

Thank you in advance,

Danny

[donaldsc]

Are the itineraries on both ships EXACTLY the same or are there port stop or port times or port arrival/departure time differences.  As far as I am concerned what is important in AK is what is happening outside of the ship and not what is happening on the ship.

 

DON

[mvaldes140]

19 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

Are the itineraries on both ships EXACTLY the same or are there port stop or port times or port arrival/departure time differences.  As far as I am concerned what is important in AK is what is happening outside of the ship and not what is happening on the ship.

 

DON

They're exactly the same, they're both doing the north/southbound voyage of the glacier itineraries. They go the exact same route

[danny8826]

2 minutes ago, mvaldes140 said:

They're exactly the same, they're both doing the north/southbound voyage of the glacier itineraries. They go the exact same route

 

Yes, that's correct except I think Royal goes to Hubbard Glacier and Majestic goes to College Fjord.

Price is a bit more higher on the Majestic though compare to the Royal.

 

[mvaldes140]

Princess usually does do zumba classes during their cruises, so both ships will have them. Royal and Majestic are sister ships, but there are differences since Majestic was originally built for the Chinese market. The Majestic has a noodle bar instead of the poolside pizza, which seems interesting and I'm interested in trying it. Majestic also has an indoor pool area along with a chinese specialty dining restaurant instead of italian Sabatinis. But besides these things Royal and Majestic are the same ship. However one other thing to consider is doing it on the Grand Princess, because it is a bit smaller than the Royal and Majestic and it can go down the more scenic part of the inside passage on the way to/from Vancouver. From what I've heard if you are interested in seeing that part the southbound would be better because you would pass through most of it during the daytime. Grand Princess is the oldest ship in the fleet but it was recently drydocked so it should be fine for the most part. I'll be on it on July 6th, but from what I've seen the ship itself seems fine too. All 3 (Royal, Majestic & Grand) go the same exact route minus the sea day to/from vancouver

[mvaldes140]

1 minute ago, danny8826 said:

 

Yes, that's correct except I think Royal goes to Hubbard Glacier and Majestic goes to College Fjord.

Price is a bit more higher on the Majestic though compare to the Royal.

 

All of the northbounds go to college fjord while all the southbounds go to hubbard glacier. If I wasn't also going on an Iceland & Norway cruise a couple days after, I'd do the 14-day one so I could go to all 3.

[danny8826]

4 minutes ago, mvaldes140 said:

Princess usually does do zumba classes during their cruises, so both ships will have them. Royal and Majestic are sister ships, but there are differences since Majestic was originally built for the Chinese market. The Majestic has a noodle bar instead of the poolside pizza, which seems interesting and I'm interested in trying it. Majestic also has an indoor pool area along with a chinese specialty dining restaurant instead of italian Sabatinis. But besides these things Royal and Majestic are the same ship. However one other thing to consider is doing it on the Grand Princess, because it is a bit smaller than the Royal and Majestic and it can go down the more scenic part of the inside passage on the way to/from Vancouver. From what I've heard if you are interested in seeing that part the southbound would be better because you would pass through most of it during the daytime. Grand Princess is the oldest ship in the fleet but it was recently drydocked so it should be fine for the most part. I'll be on it on July 6th, but from what I've seen the ship itself seems fine too. All 3 (Royal, Majestic & Grand) go the same exact route minus the sea day to/from vancouver

 

3 minutes ago, mvaldes140 said:

All of the northbounds go to college fjord while all the southbounds go to hubbard glacier. If I wasn't also going on an Iceland & Norway cruise a couple days after, I'd do the 14-day one so I could go to all 3.

 

Thank you for the insights.

We have been on the Grand when it was based in San Francisco.  We wanted to try something newish and bigger I guess.  

[memoak]

The one difference in the ships is specialty dining venues. Both have Crown Grill but I prefer Sabatini’s on the Royal to Harmony or Bistro on the Majestic. 

[nnzz]

1 hour ago, mvaldes140 said:

Princess usually does do zumba classes during their cruises, so both ships will have them. Royal and Majestic are sister ships, but there are differences since Majestic was originally built for the Chinese market. The Majestic has a noodle bar instead of the poolside pizza, which seems interesting and I'm interested in trying it. Majestic also has an indoor pool area along with a chinese specialty dining restaurant instead of italian Sabatinis. But besides these things Royal and Majestic are the same ship. However one other thing to consider is doing it on the Grand Princess, because it is a bit smaller than the Royal and Majestic and it can go down the more scenic part of the inside passage on the way to/from Vancouver. From what I've heard if you are interested in seeing that part the southbound would be better because you would pass through most of it during the daytime. Grand Princess is the oldest ship in the fleet but it was recently drydocked so it should be fine for the most part. I'll be on it on July 6th, but from what I've seen the ship itself seems fine too. All 3 (Royal, Majestic & Grand) go the same exact route minus the sea day to/from vancouver

We found the Noodle bar to be a nice change, it was very good

[westcoaster]

One other difference between the two ships is that Majestic has a covered pool, while the Royal does not.

[danny8826]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

The one difference in the ships is specialty dining venues. Both have Crown Grill but I prefer Sabatini’s on the Royal to Harmony or Bistro on the Majestic. 

 

Thank you.  

 

52 minutes ago, nnzz said:

We found the Noodle bar to be a nice change, it was very good

 

Thank you

 

50 minutes ago, westcoaster said:

One other difference between the two ships is that Majestic has a covered pool, while the Royal does not.

 

Thank you

[fishin' musician]

The routing for the two mega ships would not appeal to me.  One of the best features of a NB or SB is the scenery and wildlife along the inside passage north of Vancouver that is only available to the smaller ships.  The mega ships have essentially 2 sea days.

[danny8826]

10 minutes ago, fishin' musician said:

The routing for the two mega ships would not appeal to me.  One of the best features of a NB or SB is the scenery and wildlife along the inside passage north of Vancouver that is only available to the smaller ships.  The mega ships have essentially 2 sea days.

 

Thank you

[Sea Hag]

If all other things were equal, the noodle bar on the Majestic would be the tiebreaker for me. We loved it.

[RSS from SF]

1 hour ago, Sea Hag said:

If all other things were equal, the noodle bar on the Majestic would be the tiebreaker for me. We loved it.

---

We completely agree; Majestic's noodle bar over Royal's outdoors pizza any day.

---

[RSS from SF]

6 hours ago, danny8826 said:

We have been on the Grand when it was based in San Francisco.  We wanted to try something newish and bigger I guess.  

---

Between Majestic and Royal for Alaska, I would pick Majestic because it has the Hollywood Conservatory for no additional charge -- giving you one additional no-additional-charge area that Royal doesn't have, to view the scenery.

 

Given that -- and although I have not been to Alaska on these ships, I have been on each of these ships multiple times -- Royal, Majestic, and Grand.  For Glacier Bay specifically, I always would pick Grand over both Majestic and Royal -- especially because Grand has a true full promenade to view the scenery, compared to Majestic's and Royal's pitifully short, almost non-existent promenade viewing areas.

 

BTW, in our opinion, Grand's service, crew, and management are 1 or 2 levels above both Majestic's and Royal's. 

 

Also, if you prefer a traditional dining experience, Grand knows how to circumvent the ugly Medallion Dine My Way constraints, whereas Majestic absolutely has NOT been able to give us a traditional dining experience using Dine My Way.

 

---

Edited June 17, 2022 by RSS from SF

[KLM3164]

I would pick the Majestic because it has the Hollywood Conservatory (no charge) with some great forward views. I also love the Hollywood pool on the Majestic as it’s indoors and heated. Also like that it’s quiet and for adults only. 

[donaldsc]

8 hours ago, danny8826 said:

 

Yes, that's correct except I think Royal goes to Hubbard Glacier and Majestic goes to College Fjord.

Price is a bit more higher on the Majestic though compare to the Royal.

 

 

That is a tough call.  If you get in and are not blocked by ice Hubbard glacier is huge and spectacular.   College Fjord doesn't have really big glaciers and you don't get as close as you might to Hubbard but you will not be blocked by ice.  

 

Question - do either of the ships go to Glacier Bay and does the northbound cruise end up in Whittier.  If they do, I have a suggestion.  Take the north bound cruise which will give you your glacier viewing on your trip through Glacier Bay.  You will not get as close to the glaciers as you might get to at Hubbard but Glacier Bay in not ever blocked by ice.  Then when you disembark in Whittier take you can take the College Fjord day trip out of Whittier.  This will give you 2 glacier certainties versus a possible Hubbard miss.

 

As I have said before when I go to AK I don't care what is inside the ship so all of the thread discussions about dining and other venues on the ship are irrelevant to me.

 

Hope that this helps.  You can't go wrong in AK regardless of what decisions you make.  We are off to Alaska on a 12 day cruise on a small ship that holds 198 passengers where we visit places like Kake, Wrangell and Petersburg in addition to days of scenic cruising where we visit places by zodiac.  Can't wait.

 

DON