Rare Joelocal Posted July 17, 2022 #1 Share Posted July 17, 2022 This post was recognized by LauraS! "Thanks for generously sharing your time at sea with everyone at Cruise Critic!" Joelocal was awarded the badge '"Live from...."' If you can get TSA pre-approved it will save you time. Especially at SFO. Embarkation Flying into Vancover you have to wear a mask the entire flight. And the entire time until you board the ship.. When you get to Vancouver you go through customs. Keep your passport out you will need it several times the first day. Also have your negative test results handy. Once you get your luggage and exit the area, Princess people are right there. They will take your luggage and the next time you will see it is in your room. Bus ride to the cruise terminal takes about 40 minutes on city streets. Could be longer depending on the day At the terminal it's getting checked in and going through Customs again. They have self serve kiosks to enter your information. They were doing two ships at the same time. Once you got done you went to the left or right to your ship. Then through Princess security and finally on the ship. The whole process was orderly, but took time. It could have taken longer, especially if you have to get tested by Princess. Or if you don't have your medallion and everything filled out on the app. Pretty exhausting day. Note: Before we left we were able to get our Covid vaccine cards and negative covid tests uploaded to the medallion app. The vaccine cards we approved. The negative test results never changed from pending. Make sure you have a paper copy to bring along 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Joelocal Posted July 17, 2022 Author #2 Share Posted July 17, 2022 2009 cruisers on a ship for 3500. It appears that way too. The crew is great. Princess and the crew are putting their best effort into making this an enjoyable cruise. So far the food has been excellent in the main dining room. Wait staff are really friendly and attentive. Only complaint on the ship so far is this Medallion app. It's no good. Period! It will lock up on your phone reading "Loading" with this annoying little circle spinning around that will stay there forever until you exit the medallion app. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Joelocal Posted July 17, 2022 Author #3 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Weather was nice at Vancouver. It has been windy and cold since we left port. Now have rain. Rain predicted for tomorrow at Ketchikan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike45LC Posted July 17, 2022 #4 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Have a fantastic cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare dickinson Posted July 17, 2022 #5 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Enjoy your cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alibabacruisers Posted July 17, 2022 #6 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Thank you for the information! I hope you have a nice cruise! Which dining room are you enjoying? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nwnittany Posted July 17, 2022 #7 Share Posted July 17, 2022 4 hours ago, Joelocal said: Only complaint on the ship so far is this Medallion app. It's no good. Period! It will lock up on your phone reading "Loading" with this annoying little circle spinning around that will stay there forever until you exit the medallion app. Don't know if this will help, but when it did that to me on the Royal, I had to log out and back in and then I wouldn't get the 'loading' ad nauseum. Also found that I could login using my room number once on board (was certainly easier to remember than my booking number). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Joelocal Posted July 18, 2022 Author #8 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Thanks, I think there is an advantage to cruising first before land package. Everyone has been tested. Everyone is wearing masks. Haven't seen anyone coughing or sickly looking. Just wish the temperature would be warmer. Had to hold onto our hats on the walk around this morning. Would be nice to lounge around outside. Not today. People were all bundled up last night watching movies under the stars. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Joelocal Posted July 18, 2022 Author #9 Share Posted July 18, 2022 When I post replies, I have to wait awhile to actually post them. We are dining in the Concerto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Joelocal Posted July 18, 2022 Author #10 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Yes, logging out of the medallion app a day back in solved the problem. It would have been nice if Princess would post this on the medallion app. Thanks nw. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Italy52 Posted July 18, 2022 #11 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Hopefully your weather will improve. We did the 14-day Alaska itinerary on the Majestic a few weeks ago. Weather report from the map in our cabin always indicated rain. Guess what, only had one misty day. Have a wonderful time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted July 18, 2022 #12 Share Posted July 18, 2022 (edited) 13 hours ago, Joelocal said: 2009 cruisers on a ship for 3500. It appears that way too. The crew is great. Princess and the crew are putting their best effort into making this an enjoyable cruise. So far the food has been excellent in the main dining room. Wait staff are really friendly and attentive. Only complaint on the ship so far is this Medallion app. It's no good. Period! It will lock up on your phone reading "Loading" with this annoying little circle spinning around that will stay there forever until you exit the medallion app. A couple of thoughts. Regarding the app locking up. Make sure you have Private Address turned OFF in the Wi-Fi MedallionNet network settings on your device. We had that issue when we first boarded our Regal Med cruise we’re on right now. But once we toned it off, we didn’t have any more “hanging” issues. Also, if I might ask, when do the MDR doors actually open for dinner on the Majestic? Here on the Regal the official time noted in the Patter is 6 pm. But in reality they have a “soft” open at 5:30 pm for those folks that want/need to eat dinner early. Have a great cruise!!! Edited July 18, 2022 by Ken the cruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phabric Posted July 18, 2022 #13 Share Posted July 18, 2022 I am doing this cruise in August. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ghgeckos Posted July 18, 2022 #14 Share Posted July 18, 2022 I’ve been enjoying the cruise too. I agree the Concerto dinning room has great service and good food. Originally I had picked shared table but Princess switched it to a solo table. Tonight I am going to the Chef’s Table. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Joelocal Posted July 18, 2022 Author #15 Share Posted July 18, 2022 It was a light drizzle at Ketchikan today. I did a power walk to Safeway and purchased some apricots $3.99/pound, peaches and nectarines $1.97. All were ripe. The season is short and these are my favorite. They have peaches aboard, but picked green, very hard and not flavorful. Not Princess's fault. They just get what they get when they order. The rest of the gang went on a walk downtown to purchase trinkets. Enjoyed a nice lunch at the buffet. Not sure what time the doors open at Concerto for dinner as we eat later. App works fine now. Messaging to others in our group and locating where they are on the ship works too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twosailors1t Posted July 19, 2022 #16 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Thank you for posting this. We will be doing the same trip in August. Look forward to hearing more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Joelocal Posted July 19, 2022 Author #17 Share Posted July 19, 2022 It was a light drizzle at Ketchikan today. I did a power walk to Safeway and purchased some apricots $3.99/pound, peaches and nectarines $1.97. All were ripe. The season is short and these are my favorite. They have peaches aboard, but picked green, very hard and not flavorful. Not Princess's fault. They just get what they get when they order. The rest of the gang went on a walk downtown to purchase trinkets. Enjoyed a nice lunch at the buffet. Not sure what time the doors open at Concerto for dinner as we eat later. App works fine now. Messaging to others in our group and locating where they are on the ship works too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare geoherb Posted July 19, 2022 #18 Share Posted July 19, 2022 11 hours ago, ghgeckos said: I’ve been enjoying the cruise too. I agree the Concerto dinning room has great service and good food. Originally I had picked shared table but Princess switched it to a solo table. Tonight I am going to the Chef’s Table. Are they not doing shared tables anymore? When I cruise in December and February, I discovered that if I went after 7:30, I would end up eating at a table by myself because no one else arriving at that time was asking to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Joelocal Posted July 19, 2022 Author #19 Share Posted July 19, 2022 This afternoon my wife and I had a couples message. It was gifted to us by my sister for our 50th wedding anniversary that's coming up in October. This trip is part of our Magical Mystery Tour for this year as we have several trips done and more planned. We have been truly blessed in our lives. The most important being our health. We are still very much in love. The messages were fantastic. I even started to snore. Anyway, we are having a great cruise. Relaxation at it's finest. On the balcony watching the Alaska coastline. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ghgeckos Posted July 19, 2022 #20 Share Posted July 19, 2022 14 hours ago, geoherb said: Are they not doing shared tables anymore? When I cruise in December and February, I discovered that if I went after 7:30, I would end up eating at a table by myself because no one else arriving at that time was asking to share. They don’t have many people sharing, so far I only shared a table one night. The other night I was in the main dining room they gave me a table for two between other guests who engaged in good conversations. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfat1 Posted July 19, 2022 #21 Share Posted July 19, 2022 On 7/18/2022 at 1:05 AM, Ken the cruiser said: A couple of thoughts. Regarding the app locking up. Make sure you have Private Address turned OFF in the Wi-Fi MedallionNet network settings on your device. We had that issue when we first boarded our Regal Med cruise we’re on right now. But once we toned it off, we didn’t have any more “hanging” issues. Also, if I might ask, when do the MDR doors actually open for dinner on the Majestic? Here on the Regal the official time noted in the Patter is 6 pm. But in reality they have a “soft” open at 5:30 pm for those folks that want/need to eat dinner early. Have a great cruise!!! We will be on the Majestic next month and per the My Time Dining reservation page, it looks like you can make reservation as early as 5 PM. So one would assume the earliest they open is at 5. This may be an Alaska itinerary influence versus other regions. In theory they could open at 6 as the Regal but that would leave hundreds of upset people waiting outside since 5...😜 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted July 19, 2022 #22 Share Posted July 19, 2022 (edited) 23 minutes ago, harryfat1 said: We will be on the Majestic next month and per the My Time Dining reservation page, it looks like you can make reservation as early as 5 PM. So one would assume the earliest they open is at 5. This may be an Alaska itinerary influence versus other regions. In theory they could open at 6 as the Regal but that would leave hundreds of upset people waiting outside since 5...😜 I asked our Regal CC Dining maitre d’ if the official 6 pm start time listed in the Patter with an unpublished 5:30 pm (rather than 5 pm) time when they actually will start accepting early diners was just a Regal or regional thing in the Med? He said it’s a new fleet-wide policy. Maybe @Joelocal , if he has time, can clarify what their Patter says regarding the official start time for their MDR and then ask their MDR maitre d’ if it’s a different time than when they actually open the doors to seat guests? Edited July 19, 2022 by Ken the cruiser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Joelocal Posted July 19, 2022 Author #23 Share Posted July 19, 2022 OK, it's time for a little humor. Yesterday my niece and her husband were in the gym area doing a class on yoga stretching. Of course during one of the leg lifting exercises someone tooted. They looked at each other with that "What?" look. So I asked them if they said anything? Nope. Of course these things happen in life. So I have some suggested short retorts for your use if this occurs in your presence depending on the situation. It's OK lady, I'll take the blame. From Ernest goes to camp. " Eggs erroneous. Made with 37 herbs and spices" A more sophisticated response. " People of our prestige do not have to put up with this odorous abuse" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Joelocal Posted July 19, 2022 Author #24 Share Posted July 19, 2022 All the main dining rooms are 5 to 9 pm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Ken the cruiser Posted July 19, 2022 #25 Share Posted July 19, 2022 3 hours ago, Joelocal said: All the main dining rooms are 5 to 9 pm Thanks! So the MDR doors open at 5 pm and that’s the times listed in the Patter. Thanks for checking! 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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