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

[cr8tiv1]

@harryfat1 I think you hit the nail on the head.  Everyone, not just newbies, would like to feel special and wants the wow factor.  I am one of those oldER  cruisers.  I’m happy to have someone feed me, do my laundry, and change out my towels.  I may be a bit jaded, but I am ho hum about the entertainment, art auctions, and activities that have become less than exciting.  
 

qAt my age, I need a boost.  Literally, some day someone will need to feed me.  Until then, my heart is strong enough for some excitement.  I mean, I was so thrilled that we went dead in the water on a Caribbean cruise.  It was something different!

[harryfat1]

OK, time to check out the neon light sky walk at night.

 

Maybe the most dangerous part of the sky walk is the slippery sign...

 

 

 

Neon lights everywhere:

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

12 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@harryfat1 I think you hit the nail on the head.  Everyone, not just newbies, would like to feel special and wants the wow factor.  I am one of those oldER  cruisers.  I’m happy to have someone feed me, do my laundry, and change out my towels.  I may be a bit jaded, but I am ho hum about the entertainment, art auctions, and activities that have become less than exciting.  
 

qAt my age, I need a boost.  Literally, some day someone will need to feed me.  Until then, my heart is strong enough for some excitement.  I mean, I was so thrilled that we went dead in the water on a Caribbean cruise.  It was something different!

Haha, if you crave excitement, too bad you weren't on this Carnvial cruise from a decade ago:

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-carnival-went-from-fun-ship-to-poop-cruise-2013-2

 

or the more recent NCL ship that struck a growler ice berg at Hubbard Glacier area:

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10961135/Moment-Norwegian-Cruise-Line-ship-hits-glacier-Alaska-forced-turn-Seattle.html

[harryfat1]

After that, we headed for the shops.

 

In all my previous trip reports, I have always considered ship board shopping equivalent to having a uncle in prison.  You know he’s there but no one in the family ever talks about him as if he doesn’t exist. 

 

Same for cruise shopping.  Every cruise I have been on, there are always people in the shops on the cruise ship or in port, but I seldom (if ever) read anyone on CC talk about shopping in their trip reports.  It’s as if that part of the cruise activity doesn’t exist - just like the uncle in prision doesn't exist as far as the family is concerned.

 

Anyway, I’ll talk about it whenever we go shopping – I will refer to it as “visiting uncle in prison”. 🤪

 

Although I must say the Princess shops are pretty lacking for your average working-class person as compared to RCI/Carnival shops.  Guess Princes is considered to be “high end” shopping but most of the shops are watches/jewelry that doesn’t interest us. Maybe more for the overseas Asian market with its duty-free prices.

 

As we wandered around the shop and me taking a picture of the moose, a worker came by to offer us free raffle tickets as they try to drum up foot traffic business on day 2 of the cruise so all of us got a free ticket per person.

 

 

My son bought one of these - on display now in the living room

 

 

Moose:

 

[harryfat1]

Since we have the drinks package, we went down to IC on deck 5 to get complimentary bottles of water to drink in the room for the night.

 

I found it interesting that Princess actually serves Kirkland (Costco) bottled water.  They can buy it from Costco at 10 cents a bottle and sell it to the cruisers for $2.50 a bottle?  That’s dang good business.

 

 

Seeing there’s not much else to do, we went back to the cabin to hang out and check our email and texts.  Like I said, we typically don’t get the Wi-Fi package but I knew Princess would be very sedate for what we wanted to do so I got the Wi-Fi package for everyone to keep in touch with folks back home instead of sitting in the cabin staring at their belly buttons.

 

We hung our medallions on the magnetic hooks. Easy to grab and go every time we walk out and the daily Princess patter is there if we need to check to see what to do.

 

 

Looking outside just before 11 PM and peaceful outside.  Not as windy on this part of the ship.  Think the middle bulge of the ship blocks some of the wind so you can stand outside for a while to appreciate the peacefulness of the ocean waves below. 

 

 

Not exactly the Sound of Silence with the wind and the ocean but I’ll let the Gregorian Monks close out the night.

 

 

 

This concludes day 1 of the trip report - many thanks to all the folks reading this on a regular basis and adding to the discussion. Much appreciated.

[caribill]

On 9/7/2022 at 1:10 AM, nini said:

Strange..... many people were able to get the same table and time each night when we cruised this last May on the Emerald. Strange..........

 

Was the ship at full capacity? Or were there so few passengers there was no problem getting the same table each evening.

 

(I assume you were not dining when the dining room first opens since at that time your table would be available each evening.)

[caribill]

6 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Princess should be able to lock in tables for people that reserved the same dining time nightly. They can have a timer in the software such that if you are 15 minutes late, they will release that table to someone else as it’s your fault in not showing up on time. Since the dining times are 20 minute intervals, if you reserve a table for 7 PM and don’t claim it by 7:15, then the next set of reservations at 7:20 can take your table.

 

 

In the past with TD, every table was ready for everyone when the dining room opened for each seating.

 

However, with DMW if you reserve a specific table for 7 PM, there is no guarantee that the people who had dined there before you would be finished when you showed up at the reserved time.  Thus you would have to wait until they did finish their meal, however much longer it takes.

[phabric]

On the August 27-Sept 3 on the Majestic, on the app I had a 5:40pm dining as I found out the first show was 7:30.  
 

First night, I told them I had a 5:40 reservation time for each night.  Each night, I would tell them we had table 211 and want that table and each night they would say “we will have to check” and they come back “yes, it is available”.  One night we were late by 15-20 minutes, we had to sit at another table

[nini]

7 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Was the ship at full capacity? Or were there so few passengers there was no problem getting the same table each evening.

 

(I assume you were not dining when the dining room first opens since at that time your table would be available each evening.)

As I recall, the ship was at about 80% full. But, it sure seemed crowded as compared to other pre-covid sailings. I think our friends had "reserved" their table for 7:00 pm each night.

[CruzeQueen2]

9 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Since we have the drinks package, we went down to IC on deck 5 to get complimentary bottles of water to drink in the room for the night.

 

I found it interesting that Princess actually serves Kirkland (Costco) bottled water.  They can buy it from Costco at 10 cents a bottle and sell it to the cruisers for $2.50 a bottle?  That’s dang good business.

 

 

Seeing there’s not much else to do, we went back to the cabin to hang out and check our email and texts.  Like I said, we typically don’t get the Wi-Fi package but I knew Princess would be very sedate for what we wanted to do so I got the Wi-Fi package for everyone to keep in touch with folks back home instead of sitting in the cabin staring at their belly buttons.

 

We hung our medallions on the magnetic hooks. Easy to grab and go every time we walk out and the daily Princess patter is there if we need to check to see what to do.

 

 

Looking outside just before 11 PM and peaceful outside.  Not as windy on this part of the ship.  Think the middle bulge of the ship blocks some of the wind so you can stand outside for a while to appreciate the peacefulness of the ocean waves below. 

 

 

Not exactly the Sound of Silence with the wind and the ocean but I’ll let the Gregorian Monks close out the night.

 

 

 

This concludes day 1 of the trip report - many thanks to all the folks reading this on a regular basis and adding to the discussion. Much appreciated.

Thank you for taking so much time to post. I am enjoying your reports. I have never seen the neon lights before. I learned something new today. Perhaps they only have them on Majestic? I have been sailing on Royal - going again in a week. If this is day 1 - then we have so much to look forward to, from you! I will be reading along, in the breaks that I take from packing. @harryfat1

Edited September 8, 2022 by CruzeQueen2
adding the OP name

[CruzeQueen2]

Speaking of packing...can you give me an idea of the temperatures in the ports this week? Would be useful to know the temps on sea days as well, if you know them. In May, the weather was quite warm on most days, but also too cold to sit out at night at MUTS. I am bringing my raingear this time! @harryfat1TIA

[harryfat1]

1 hour ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

Speaking of packing...can you give me an idea of the temperatures in the ports this week? Would be useful to know the temps on sea days as well, if you know them. In May, the weather was quite warm on most days, but also too cold to sit out at night at MUTS. I am bringing my raingear this time! @harryfat1TIA

There’s famous Financial disclaimer you see in every  ad – Past performance is no indication of future results.  Similarly, previous weather pattern from a month ago is probably not a reliable indicator on what the current month could be. 

 

Especially with September being the start of the raining season, your odds of seeing rain is higher than the July or August cruises.

 

From the Alaska boards, I was told many locals use the Wunderground web page to get their info.  Take a look to see if you like their web page setup.

 

Here’s what Juneau forecast looks like next 10 days – looks like high in the 50s with chances of rain.  I like their % of rain at various parts of the day to give you a hope on predicting what time of the day you may encounter rain during your visit.

 

https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/ak/juneau/KAKJUNEA63

 

Search for all the ports you will be visiting but the web site is more ports focused.  Not as good for glacier areas.  For those, I used Accuweather.  Here is the forecast for Glacier Bay in the 40s.

 

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/glacier-bay-national-park-and-preserve/99826/daily-weather-forecast/27692_poi

 

So definitely be ready for some rain/colder weather. 

 

You going north or south bound?

[nini]

1 hour ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

Speaking of packing...can you give me an idea of the temperatures in the ports this week? Would be useful to know the temps on sea days as well, if you know them. In May, the weather was quite warm on most days, but also too cold to sit out at night at MUTS. I am bringing my raingear this time! @harryfat1TIA

We have many cities on our IPhone weather app and can keep informed that way.

[CruzeQueen2]

2 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

There’s famous Financial disclaimer you see in every  ad – Past performance is no indication of future results.  Similarly, previous weather pattern from a month ago is probably not a reliable indicator on what the current month could be. 

 

Especially with September being the start of the raining season, your odds of seeing rain is higher than the July or August cruises.

 

From the Alaska boards, I was told many locals use the Wunderground web page to get their info.  Take a look to see if you like their web page setup.

 

Here’s what Juneau forecast looks like next 10 days – looks like high in the 50s with chances of rain.  I like their % of rain at various parts of the day to give you a hope on predicting what time of the day you may encounter rain during your visit.

 

https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/ak/juneau/KAKJUNEA63

 

Search for all the ports you will be visiting but the web site is more ports focused.  Not as good for glacier areas.  For those, I used Accuweather.  Here is the forecast for Glacier Bay in the 40s.

 

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/glacier-bay-national-park-and-preserve/99826/daily-weather-forecast/27692_poi

 

So definitely be ready for some rain/colder weather. 

 

You going north or south bound?

North and southbound both. 7 day sailing starts and ends in Vancouver. No flying for me! Thank you for the links. I've been there before in September. Just wondering what you are experiencing first hand. May was delightful and warm; blue skies everyday!

[JF - retired RRT]

6 hours ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

Speaking of packing...can you give me an idea of the temperatures in the ports this week? Would be useful to know the temps on sea days as well, if you know them. In May, the weather was quite warm on most days, but also too cold to sit out at night at MUTS. I am bringing my raingear this time! @harryfat1TIA

We did a Sept. cruise a couple of years before the pause and it rained in every port.

[Outerdog]

On 9/6/2022 at 9:43 PM, harryfat1 said:

By then I was getting annoyed and I explained to her that a member of the family has severe peanut allergy and I do not want to explain this to 7 wait staff nightly if they keep assigning me to different table nightly even though I signed up for same time slot every night.

 

I feel like if the peanut allergy was that severe, one would be confirming with the server each night regardless if it was the same server or not.

[cr8tiv1]

4 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

We did a Sept. cruise a couple of years before the pause and it rained in every port.

 

And I cruised Alaska in late September 20xx and it was perfect every day (round trip LA).  There is no way to predict Alaska's weather.

[harryfat1]

2 hours ago, Outerdog said:

 

I feel like if the peanut allergy was that severe, one would be confirming with the server each night regardless if it was the same server or not.

Yes, we always ask on the peanut allergy. Nowadays most places avoid cooking with peanut oil and I believe Princess hides their peanut cookies in the back as it's on request only in case people get it by mistake.

 

Toward the latter part of the cruise when our server knew we would be going to him nightly, he made it a point to ask the kitchen about what items on the menu that night may have nuts before we even sat down.  Such that by time he hands us the menu, he alerts of poential allergy conflict so the family member can just skip those items.

[harryfat1]

8 hours ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

North and southbound both. 7 day sailing starts and ends in Vancouver. No flying for me! Thank you for the links. I've been there before in September. Just wondering what you are experiencing first hand. May was delightful and warm; blue skies everyday!

 

12 hours ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

Thank you for taking so much time to post. I am enjoying your reports. I have never seen the neon lights before. I learned something new today. Perhaps they only have them on Majestic? I have been sailing on Royal - going again in a week. If this is day 1 - then we have so much to look forward to, from you! I will be reading along, in the breaks that I take from packing. @harryfat1

 

Thanks for continuing to follow along and for you regular contribution to the trip report.

 

Maybe neon lights are made for the Asian market? 

 

I know at 11 PM they turn the place to be a night club scene so maybe that’s part of the setup but then on other Princess ships, there are no Hollywood Conservatory so they may not be lighting up the Sanctuary late at night on an Alaska cruise.

 

On your cruise, go up to deck 16 at 10 PM and see what it looks like.

 

As for the rest of the report, none of the future “cruise days” will be as long as day 1.  I love day 1 the most for every cruise in seeing a new ship so there are more pictures to share. 

 

From day 2 onward, it’s more of the day-by-day events and there will be a limit of how many photos I should upload as people’s eyes will glaze over after awhile looking at the same glacier over and over.  So days 2 & 3 will be shorter as they are glacier days and day 7 will probably be the shortest as that’s just packing and last minute stuff to buy on the ship.

 

Very nice to be able to do a back to back.  What you plan to do in Whittier on turn around day?  Walk around town or do an excursion?

[harryfat1]

Day 2 – Sea Day/Hubbard Glacier

 

Here is the scan of day 2 of the Princess Patter.

 

 

 

 

Few things of note at the top of first page:

 

1 – We don’t need to worry about being tested on going home post cruise

 

2 – Being in Alaska sucks as far as satellite reception goes so don’t expect much activity while on board next couple of days

 

3- “Official” mask policy as stated on the upper right.  Implementation or lack thereof is up to the ship

 

4 – There’s a naturalist talk at 9 AM. Not happening.  Way too early to be educated.

 

Queue up Pink Floyd:

 

 

 

August 7 Page 1.pdf August 7 Page 2.pdf

[harryfat1]

But before we start day 2, I want to mention that there are motion sensor lights be the foot of the night stand as well as right outside the bathroom door.

 

Why do I need to mention that?  Well, if you are young, skip this section as it doesn’t apply to you. But as one get older, one needs to use bathroom in the middle of the night and you will trip these motion sensors and you will be blinded by the light outside the bathroom door. 

 

HELLO! I’m awake now at 4 AM when I don’t want to be…If I wasn’t so grumpy, I would have taken a picture of the dang lights that were lid in the middle of the night.

 

Not sure if I mentioned it but I’m not a big sea day fan.  I didn’t drink the Kool-Aid as some on CC that can spend hours/days looking out from their balconies into the deep blue ocean and relax. 

 

At most, I look out the balcony after waking up, take 2 pictures and starts to think about the meaning of life as l look into the deep blue seas and then my brain begins to overheat such that I can smell smoke coming out of my ears as I overload the old CPU with a complex question for such a simple man so I had to shut it down and just walk back to the cabin to dress for breakfast.

 

One must know one’s limits…

 

 

 

The good thing about 2 of the sea days on the itinerary is even though technically they are sea days such that most of the people don’t get off (unless you have the boat excursion booked for Hubbard Glacier – more on that later), these sea days are full of things to see that I don’t mind it.

[lax19]

On 8/29/2022 at 7:48 PM, harryfat1 said:

Day 0 – Flying to Anchorage

 

Water bottle refill.  My sons brought their own water bottle to refill post TSA checkpoint

 

 

 

Great idea. 
I fill my water bottle with ice before I leave home. Ice is ok to bring though the security check point.

[harryfat1]

Pretty quiet at the buffet at 8:47 AM as we grabbed a window table.  Most of the rain has blew by us and it’s looking like a decent morning.

 

 

 

 

Queue up the Beatles:

 

 

 

The Captain said there are two conflicting weather forecasts for Hubbard Bay today.  One says sunny and another one says overcast.  He leaves it up to the passengers to wish which one we prefer.

 

First breakfast at the buffet for this cruise.  My wife and I are big smoked salmon fans and I noticed there weren’t any available at the fish section.  Having cruised with RCI previously, I know sometimes they put the “good stuff” on reserve, and you must ask for it. 

 

Sure enough, if you ask for salmon, the server will open a tray underneath and give 3 to you so be sure to ask even though it may not be there on display.

 

 

It’s one of those “tribal knowledge” thing that if you are a newbie cruiser, you would never think about asking for salmon when none are on display.  If you like smoked salmon, ask for it where they have the other smoked fish - those are only OK.

 

 

 

 

The ship has a waffle station whereby the guy adds whatever toppings you want for the waffle.  I went there many times during the cruise.  On day 1, not everyone knows about it as it’s hidden on the side across from the specialty coffee section so it was easy to get some.  However, as the cruise went on and people found out about the place, sometimes there’s a fairly long line to get the waffle. Will have more pictures of the area on subsequent days’ reporting.

 

 

Relax, I didn’t eat ALL the food here.  Some are family member’s breakfast as I wanted to see what they got.

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

9 minutes ago, lax19 said:

 

Great idea. 
I fill my water bottle with ice before I leave home. Ice is ok to bring though the security check point.

Huh.  Interesting.

 

Didn't know that.  What if part of the ice melted on your way to the airport?  How does TSA handle the liquid with the ice?

[CruzeQueen2]

1 hour ago, harryfat1 said:

 

 

Thanks for continuing to follow along and for you regular contribution to the trip report.

 

Maybe neon lights are made for the Asian market? 

 

I know at 11 PM they turn the place to be a night club scene so maybe that’s part of the setup but then on other Princess ships, there are no Hollywood Conservatory so they may not be lighting up the Sanctuary late at night on an Alaska cruise.

 

On your cruise, go up to deck 16 at 10 PM and see what it looks like.

 

As for the rest of the report, none of the future “cruise days” will be as long as day 1.  I love day 1 the most for every cruise in seeing a new ship so there are more pictures to share. 

 

From day 2 onward, it’s more of the day-by-day events and there will be a limit of how many photos I should upload as people’s eyes will glaze over after awhile looking at the same glacier over and over.  So days 2 & 3 will be shorter as they are glacier days and day 7 will probably be the shortest as that’s just packing and last minute stuff to buy on the ship.

 

Very nice to be able to do a back to back.  What you plan to do in Whittier on turn around day?  Walk around town or do an excursion?

@harryfat1On the 7 day cruise, we don't go to Whittier. I've been there before though and walked through the tunnel. Also enjoyed taking in the views of the marina and the mountains.

We have three of the regular ports - Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. Waiting to see if Skagway is switched out for Icy Strait or Sitka. On a 12 day trip, those two ports were included. 

No Glacier Bay this time, but Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier is scheduled for the morning of Juneau, which was missed in May, due to too much ice. 

Edited September 9, 2022 by CruzeQueen2
adding poster name