Cheapo Dad's Trip Report on the Majestic Princess (Maybe with few pictures added)...

[harryfat1]

Greetings! This is my trip report from our family’s vacation on the Majestic Princess cruise to Alaska from August 6 to 13. I called this posting “trip report” instead of “cruise review” because in my opinion I am not qualified to do a professional review. This is just a summary of what our family experienced during our vacation time – Days of our lives, so to speak.

 

Keep in mind when I say “trip” report and not “cruise” report. Meaning you will be taken along for a ride for the entire trip process, not just the cruise portion. It’s the mailmen version of the vacation report, stopping off at each and many detailed points that may be of no interest to the veteran cruisers. So skip sections that don’t interest you.

 

Background – We are an extended family of 6 on this cruise consisting of my wife, 2 boys, myself and my in-laws. My wife and I are both CPA’s (aka bean counters – we have very boring dinner time conversations) so I will probably have more numbers related discussion than most people care to read.

 

Bias – Everyone has bias on their preferences when it comes to cruises & life in general. The key is to identify the bias and discount the bias versus fact. We like the big ships, the bigger the better. Our best cruise was on the Allure of the Seas – an Oasis class mega ship. You will see that bias in my report. That’s just our preference, but certainly will not be everyone’s preference so discount it anyway you deem necessary.

 

I typically throw in some random pictures in first few  introductory posts in what I considered highlights of the trip.  Similar to movie trailers that gives you a quick overview of the cruise but not giving you any details.  For that, you would need to stick around for awhile to read through my various posts.  On the other hand, if you think these pictures sucks, then go ahead and hit return arrow on your browser as the future pictures won’t get any better than these few sets.

 

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Dude, who cares about your background? I’m not interested in hiring you for a job.  Hurry up and show us your cruise pictures already.

Some of us have been stuck working from home the past two years with no future cruises in sight.  The only view I have from my bedroom window is my neighbor’s fence as he mows the lawn and uses the blower during my Zoom meetings and I can’t hear a dang thing…

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[harryfat1]

To borrow a phrase from the Capitol One TV ad – what is in your cruise? To me, a cruise vacation is the ultimate buffet of vacations. There are many ways to enjoy a cruise vacation and just like eating a buffet, people will have different experiences from their cruise even on the same sailing. Just a matter of personal preference on how you approach your cruise.

 

For us, our preferences on a cruise are based on the 3 E’s:

 

• Entertainment
• Experience a new ship/port
• Enrichment/Fulfillment in seeing the awesome spectacle of nature

 

Notice that “relaxation” is not on the list. Being cheap, I want to maximize my dollar value when I go on vacation. I didn’t spend thousands of dollars and sat hours on a plane just to relax on a vacation. I can relax and sleep for free in front of TV on the weekend at home. I vacation to see and experience different things. So that’s the bias of this trip report.

 

We take a lot of pictures on vacation. It’s from something I read awhile back which has become my motto – the most expensive picture on the vacation is the one that you didn’t take.

 

Essentially the thought is that you have spent a lot of money/time/effort to get to wherever your vacation spots are and you don’t want to go home and think – dang, I should have taken a picture ZZZ while I was on vacation. Even if you can go back later on, at the extra cost, the lighting/mood/people will be different and you may never be able to recreate the exact same atmosphere so when in doubt, take the picture.

 

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Whatever.  Nobody cares.  Just show me some food pictures as it’s almost lunch time.  Any food picture is better than these Excel spreadsheet reports…

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[harryfat1]

I’ll come out and say it in full disclosure - Princess wasn’t our first choice of cruise ship selection during the planning stage.  We had been sailing with RCI and we prefer their high energy level of entertainment and the Princess vibe is a tad too sedate for us. 

 

However, as we were looking to sail to Alaska, Princess is the dominate player and with more options to see bigger glaciers than what RCI has to offer so we ended up booking with Princess when we were able to secure 3 back to back to back cabins.

 

Although it was a hard sell to convince the rest of the family to give up the bigger Quantum class ships sailing from Seattle round trip but having done a north bound and round trip, I wanted to complete the loop in opting for a south bound journey and the RCI offering can’t compare to what Princess offers.

 

Here’s the itinerary (or so we thought) when we first booked this cruise. As many that have cruised Alaska this summer can attest, what was originally planned didn’t always happen.

 

 

 

As I mentioned above, we like big ships.  But in Alaska the drawback of bigger ships is they are too big to fit in some of the narrower passages north of Vancouver so for the Royal class ships (Royal/Majestic) doing the one-way sailings for summer 2022, they have to go on the outside of Vancouver Island, which is less scenic and more at risk to stormy seas.

 

So you have to make compromises on what’s higher in priority – ship or itinerary. Many folks on these boards will tell you for Alaska, itinerary is more important than the ship.  As the great philosopher Mick Jagger said – you can’t always get what you want…

 

 

 

 

I will include various YouTube songs throughout the report to add some mood music. Most of these are famous songs people are familiar with but I will mostly use other less known artists to sing their version of the classic songs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

For the newer cruisers to Alaska sailings, it’s basically three options: 1) Roundtrip from Seattle/Vancouver/San Francisco 2) North bound one way cruise from Vancouver up to Whittier/Seward 3) Southbound going from Whittier/Seward.  I know, there are other options in beginning of season with unusual itineraries but those are the exceptions.

 

The roundtrip Alaska sailing have become immensely popular – Most likely due to ease/lower cost of flying in and out of Seattle versus Anchorage/Vancouver. Most of the bigger ships from other cruise lines like the Quantum class ships and NCL’s Encore are stationed in Seattle. Princess countered that by placing their newest ship, Discovery Princess, in Seattle as well.

 

In reading various posts, it sounds like the Discovery Princess have been sailing at 90%+ capacity out of Seattle whereas we were only at 60% full for our one way sailing on a same class ship.

 

The drawback of large ships in Alaska is that they can’t sail on the east side of Vancouver Island so even though Royal/Majestic Princess starts/ends in Vancouver on their one way sailings, they must loop around on the west side of Vancouver Island.  This route is less scenic and more at risk to ship movement in the open seas so there is a drawback for big ship fans like myself.

 

We booked our airfare to Alaska & return flight from Vancouver using Princess’ “E-Z Air” program. Some posters will say this program is not so E-Z as you lose flights originally booked or flights no longer showing on itinerary.  Although we did experience both of our original flights were canceled after booking them on the Princess web site but those were airlines cancelling the flights all together.  I can’t blame Princess for that although I never did receive any official email from Princess on the flight cancellations.  One must to be vigilant to monitor the flights online regularly.

 

If you see the red block warning in CAPS, that’s never a good sign…

 

 

In all my previous cruises, I have never booked my airfare through the cruise lines as they never provided any economical advantage versus my own private arrangements.  However, for summer of 2022, Princess was offering $300/pp airfare credits for the one-way Alaska voyages and the booking through Princess allows me to lock in a price without cancellation penalty until 45 days out.

 

I booked the airfare within a month of the initial deposit as I found some good prices back in April at $402/pp for both flights but with the Princess $300 credit, our per person airfare was $102/pp or $204 per cabin for two.  That’s a steal when considering Anchorage flights are typically expensive and hard to come by. As I will explained later on, both of our flights were canceled so not everything on the flight was perfect but as Beatles tells you, Life goes on…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

One can’t talk about cruising in August 2022 without mentioning Covid testing.  Although Princess has since come out with revised  guidelines for September, testing is still required for Alaska cruises as it must adhere to Canadian rules that requires testing so there may still be valuable info to pass along to Alaska cruisers going later next month. 

 

For us, we did the online proctor testing with OnPoint at $15/pp using the test kits from government/private insurance. The process was simple as you pay online and then set up an Zoom meeting online where someone watches you do a self test you got from government or private insurance. The results were delivered via PDF within the hour to print out to bring to the pier. So for anyone still looking on doing their pre cruise Covid testing, take a look at Onpoint Testing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Packing for Alaska – No, this isn’t a typical boring discussion on what to pack for your cruise.  Everyone and their cousin has a web page or YouTube channel to tell you what to pack. They do much better job explaining than I ever can – but I’ll save you hours of time in watching them with one word that EVERYBODY uses  - “Layering”. You are welcome…

 

This is more a general discussion on do you “over pack” or “under pack”? The reason I ask that is as I was putting clothes in the luggage for our 8 night vacation (7 night cruise + 1 day pre cruise), I realized I only have 6 clean underwear. 

 

So I started to deliberate whether I should do laundry that night as to have enough clean underwear for the whole trip or should I just “man it up” and wear the same underwear on multiple days?  I mean, between social distancing and masks, no one outside of your family will notice your smell, right?

 

Then I started thinking even more (I know, dangerous proposition) that if 6 underwear is good enough for 8 nights, what about 5 or 4 sets of underwear? At what point do you stop?  Has anyone cruised with 1 set of underwear for an entire cruise? 

 

I guess you can probably get by with shortage of underwear but what about socks?  Can you cruise with wearing the smelly socks 2 days in a row especially hiking in wet Alaska terrain? How many people cruise with only one pair of sock the entire cruise or I guess if you wear flip flops entire cruise, you have 0?

 

Do you overpack in always +1 of what you need “just in case” such that for a 8 day trip, you pack 9 set underwear “just in case”. 

 

We should do a survey on how many people are the +1, +2 over packers versus -1, -2, (-8?) under packers.

 

Be like those YouTubers and say “Leave a comment below”…

 

I’ll start the process – I’m a +1.  Which isn’t surprising given how anal I am and with my overly conservative profession training of always having backup plans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dog]

Following. A few bean counters here.

 

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your report.  Your photos are great!

[Lady Arwen]

I am so enjoying your report!  Well written and gorgeous photos.  Keep it coming! 

[edspec]

Yay,! A Cheapodad trip report.  Looking forward to this.

Edited August 28, 2022 by edspec
Typo

[BabySarge]

 Loving your droll, dry, wit and writing style and while not a bean counter but retired military I must confess to having back up plans for my back up plans and openly admit to being a 2+ packer not only in the checked luggage but also in the carry-on luggage.  Great photography - some very nicely framed shots.

[georgiacat]

Love your review.  Princess has laundry rooms too.  We use them.

[Coral]

3 hours ago, dog said:

Following. A few bean counters here.

 

This explains a lot 🙂 

 

@harryfat1 Enjoying your pictures and looking forward to more posts.

Edited August 28, 2022 by Coral

[JF - retired RRT]

Keep it coming!! It's great to have a laugh first thing in the morning (gets it over with for the day). 🤣

[Happiest when cruising]

9 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Packing for Alaska – No, this isn’t a typical boring discussion on what to pack for your cruise.  Everyone and their cousin has a web page or YouTube channel to tell you what to pack. They do much better job explaining than I ever can – but I’ll save you hours of time in watching them with one word that EVERYBODY uses  - “Layering”. You are welcome…

 

This is more a general discussion on do you “over pack” or “under pack”? The reason I ask that is as I was putting clothes in the luggage for our 8 night vacation (7 night cruise + 1 day pre cruise), I realized I only have 6 clean underwear. 

 

So I started to deliberate whether I should do laundry that night as to have enough clean underwear for the whole trip or should I just “man it up” and wear the same underwear on multiple days?  I mean, between social distancing and masks, no one outside of your family will notice your smell, right?

 

Then I started thinking even more (I know, dangerous proposition) that if 6 underwear is good enough for 8 nights, what about 5 or 4 sets of underwear? At what point do you stop?  Has anyone cruised with 1 set of underwear for an entire cruise? 

 

I guess you can probably get by with shortage of underwear but what about socks?  Can you cruise with wearing the smelly socks 2 days in a row especially hiking in wet Alaska terrain? How many people cruise with only one pair of sock the entire cruise or I guess if you wear flip flops entire cruise, you have 0?

 

Do you overpack in always +1 of what you need “just in case” such that for a 8 day trip, you pack 9 set underwear “just in case”. 

 

We should do a survey on how many people are the +1, +2 over packers versus -1, -2, (-8?) under packers.

 

Be like those YouTubers and say “Leave a comment below”…

 

I’ll start the process – I’m a +1.  Which isn’t surprising given how anal I am and with my overly conservative profession training of always having backup plans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sock part got me. We went on a 14 night Caribbean cruise and my hubby packed only one pair of dark coloured socks… yep, he wore them every night that he had to wear pants, so… every night as we ate in the MDR. 
 

[tanyaewa]

I’ve missed you CheapoDad! So glad you are out and cruising again. Heading out on Majestic next month. Looking forward to your perspective here

[TwoBadKnees]

Your review was very enjoyable to read. Thanks for taking the time to do such a comprehensive job!

[cnd crsr]

Thanks for your ship report. You writing style  and very good photos are so enjoyable. can hardly wait to read more.

 

[nini]

There are reviews and then there are REVIEWS/ "REPORTS"!!!

 

Thank you for this informative and enjoyable "report". Of course, we will all be interested in what you thought of the ship and your ports.

[cr8tiv1]

What a delightful find.  Thank you for taking the time to "report" on your cruise.  Looking forward to many more posts.

[jwattle]

Following; I will enjoy seeing what you thought of our Magnificenta Majestica Princess ( @LACruiser88)🥰

Edited August 28, 2022 by jwattle

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Your discussion of socks and underwear is seriously funny. My DH would take 2 pairs of underwear and 2 pairs of socks for 4 days. He might even push the underwear to eight days. As he says inside out, front ways and backwards  plus normal equals 4 days per pair. As I am the one who sleeps with him he’s decided he prefers our cabin to sleeping on the couches in vista lounge or sky walkers therefore he packs +1. 
 

I’ve always said you simply cannot pack too much underwear. As Jack Nicholson said “never pass up a bathroom and never trust a fart”. The older I get the more I get it and the more underwear I pack. 
 

Really looking forward to your future installments. 

[harryfat1]

Many thanks to all that posted the kind words to the opening segment of the trip report. Good thing CC doesn’t have “thumbs down” like in YouTube as I know other folks were looking for that DOWN button after reading my initial posts or starting to call CC to cancel their membership.

 

I hope to live up to the high expectations some people have for this trip report but as I said above, the pictures after the introduction will not be as good as the highlight reel so expect things to suck from here on.

 

After looking at various cruise pictures after coming home, I realize I need to upgrade my cell phone (camera) as some of the pictures didn’t turn out as well as expected.  Being cheap, my phone is now 5 years old so it’s time to upgrade.  Maybe I need to start a “Go Fund Me drive – Cheapo Dad needs a new phone”…🤑

 

In reality a better photographer can shoot great pictures with any equipment.  It’s the pure amateurs like yours truly that have no clue and needs better equipment/software help to compensate for lack of technique or blame my blurry pictures on obsolete equipment when it’s just user error.

 

Special appreciation for those that have read my previous trip reports and are back for another segment. If this looks familiar, that’s because I just copy and pasted my previous reports’ format and updated few things and slap on the new photos and call it a “new report”. 

 

Lazy man is an efficient man. I need that slogan on a T-shirt.

 

Hey, don’t knock it.  Hollywood has made billions using the same philosophy in making repetitive movie sequels after sequels based on just one new concept. One can argue the cruise ship companies do the same with multiple ships in same class as cookie cutters.

 

Besides you wouldn’t want your accountants to be “creative” – I assume you have heard of ENRON with their group of “creative accountants”…

 

Anyway, I digress. Unlike other posters, I encourage people to ask questions as I go along. I don’t worry about someone ”hijacking” the thread by asking what’s on their mind.  This report is meant to help all cruisers maximizing their cruise experience so if you have something to ask, come on out and ask it.

 

I just consider this to be a BYOB potluck party.  Everyone is free to chime in with questions and comments and add in photos/songs.  My song selection is mostly top 40 from 70s and 80s but if you like country music or rap and the song fits the mood/discussion, by all means, drop them in.  Same for pictures.  Throw them in here like log on a fire in December. Very boring if it’s just a monologue on my part talking to myself next few weeks versus a group party atmosphere.

 

Just like every party, besides talking to the host, there can be other side conversations. Thus as this report progresses along, don’t feel shy to ask something if you think others might benefit from your questions/comments.  Chances are I won’t know the answer as I only cruised once on Princess the past 20 years but I’m sure someone reading it will know. All else fails, I’ll just lie and say “maybe”.🤪

 

If someone is really shy to post, you can always email me at the email address at my signature section.  I created that email alias for CC folks years ago as some people are too intimidated to ask question in open forum so email me if you have any questions on what I posted.

 

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Dude, stop rambling on already.  Speaking of party, I need something cool to drink.  How about few cool drink pictures or Glacier pictures?  It’s been 95 degrees here the past week and I’m burning.  Show me something to cool me off…

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[harryfat1]

As I’m old school, I like to have something tangible to read instead of a computer screen. There’s something to be said about touching a piece of paper and flipping the page instead of flipping virtual computer/phone.  Obviously this an generational difference thing as my college age kids are all “virtual” everything. They always look at my funny when I tell them to print something as they say “it’s on the phone”.  Yes, just like that insurance commercial.

 

Anyway, where I am going with this is I like to request hard copies of travel brochures instead of getting PDF downloadable version.  Yeah, yeah, I am sure I will get 5 angry posts saying I am a tree killer and I am destroying the earth. Whatever.  I prefer to read travel items in hard copy format so I went online and requested them. So if you want to do your port research, you can request hard copies.

 

Princess still gives you hard copy of their nice thick Alaska brochure as well as the big Alaska tourist towns of Skagway/Juneau/Skagway have their own web sites you can request free copies.  Trust me, there’s a Juneau booklet in the house somewhere but I’m too lazy to hunt it down.

 

Maybe it’s in the bathroom somewhere as I like to read travel info during my visits there – yeah, you probably wouldn’t want to borrow my travel brochures if you know what I mean.  Get your own copy instead…

 

 

 

 

 

[Cali Viajera]

We were on the southbound Majestic cruise in June. Am enjoying your report! Your writing style is great!