LACruiser88

Most ships also have Pellegrino in glass bottles, my personal favorite.

How about cabin doors that don't slam shut! I understand that they slam closed as a fire safety issue. It would be easy to place a warning on the back of the door instructing folks to not allow the door to slam closed. One of our most annoying things when we cruise!

For April of 2025, we were able to book E731 on the Sapphire. It's the most aft mini-suite with the huge balcony. 🤷‍♂️

@Ters Thank you for posting next week's temperatures for Sydney on our roll call. Should be comfortable!

We actually have the same booked in Picton. Looking forward to it! 🍷

Just look for the tall Cuban with a mustache, with a good-looking brunette! We don't go to the Elite Cocktail Hour. Debbie says that I don't play well with others! 🤣🤪

You two are not joining us???

Sherri, Looking forward to meeting you too! We no longer attend M&G's, but you can usually find us in Vines between 5:00 and 7:30. Rafael

And I made one more oops! There is one additional leg. 3-Days: Vancouver to Seattle There is going to be lots of folks getting on and off this cruise.

Oops! The 9-Day voyage above should say Sydney to Auckland.

I failed to mention that our 33-day cruise has four other voyage lengths: 9-Days: Sydney to New Zealand 21-Days: Auckland to Vancouver 24-Days: Auckland to Seattle 30-Days: Sydney to Vancouver Btw, our 33-day voyage will accrue two cruise credits.

It is a piano bar. It is a really quiet place during the day.

Have a great trip!

@c-boy Hey buddy! I just checked the menu. There are a few items there for us pescatarians. Thanks for the recommendation!

No, they do not. Only 2 of each.

Same here.

We had good friends that were on your voyage. They both came down with mild cold symptoms over the last couple days of the cruise. They both tested positive for covid once they returned home. Btw, they had a fantastic time on the cruise.

Great minds think alike! 🤣 Rafael

As you well know, the Sanctuary is my "happy place" and we practically live there on whatever ship we are on. But, this great crew and the itinerary were too good to pass up!

I have no idea? 🤷‍♂️ Maybe someone who has been on the Majestic recently can comment on the shows.

For the most part we also book Reserve Collection mini-suites and go to dinner at around 7:30. We have rarely had to wait for a table. When we have waited it has never been for more than a few minutes.

Next Tuesday we will be leaving for our six-night pre-cruise trip to Sydney prior to sailing on the Majestic Princess. We booked our 15-hour non-stop Business Class flight via EZair on United Airlines. Our EZair fare was almost 50% less than any other available options. We booked our return flight, Seattle>LAX, directly via American Airlines. We will be spending three nights in Seattle before flying home. We obtained our Australian and New Zealand e-visas a few weeks ago via their respective apps. The process was fairly simple and we received the visas within 10 minutes of applying. The only hiccup we had with both apps was the uploading of our photos. I had read that this was a common issue and was patient with the process. It took about 5 to 6 attempts on both apps before I was successful with the uploads. The Australian e-visa was $13.24 per person and is valid for one year. The New Zealand e-visa was $32.12 per person and is valid for two years. Proof of the New Zealand e-visa is required at check-in to board the ship. We will have to apply for both again prior to our trip scheduled for 2026. We were last in Australia during the spring of 2019. On that trip, we spent a week in Sydney before boarding the Sea Princess for a 28-day cruise around the Australian continent. We also visited Tasmania and Papua New Guinea. After the cruise we spent an additional week in Sydney before flying to Hong Kong. We really enjoyed our time in Sydney and are very excited to return. We will be spending our six-night stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in Circular Quay. We received a fantastic deal via the Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts Program. The Four Seasons is usually not within our travel budget. As always, we have booked our transportation from the airport to the hotel via the "Blacklane.com" car service. Blacklane has a great app that makes booking the car service a breeze worldwide. They are great with emails and texts informing you of the name and phone number of your driver. Our drivers have always been waiting for us just outside immigration with our name clearly visible on a tablet. Their drivers have all been extremely friendly and on occasion have given us a short city tour on the way to our hotel. On this cruise we will be visiting New Zealand for the very first time. We have been waiting a long time to see New Zealand and are really excited to finally visit. We have been to French Polynesia at least a half-dozen times and have been visiting Hawaii for as long as I can remember. We have also visited Vancouver several times and we will be spending the day with a dear friend that lives in the city. We very rarely book excursions thru Princess as we prefer to DIY in ports. If there is a hop-on/hop-off bus available, we will jump on and see the local sites. If something attracts our attention, we'll get off and explore. If no hop-on/hop-off bus, we will usually arrange something with a local tour company or a taxi driver. We have sailed on the Majestic many times and have enjoyed her very much. The one thing we find lacking on the ship is that it's missing a Sanctuary. Hopefully, one day they will replace the Hollywood Conservatory with a Sanctuary. I know there are many that enjoy this venue, we do not. We have found the chlorine smell in the Hollywood Pool Club (indoor pool) to be overwhelming. Hopefully, this has improved since our last cruise on the Majestic. The Majestic does have one of our favorite venues, "Vines!" You can find us there almost every night before dinner (and sometimes after). The Majestic also has "The Catch" which we plan on visiting several times. We are very excited to see a number of crew that we know quite well that are currently onboard, especially the DRO (Maitre'd), Douw, who we know very well. We joke with him that we have known him since he was a young boy! Feel free to ask questions and I will try my best to provide answers. I will usually post the "Princess Event Listings" and dinner menus daily. To our fellow passengers, I encourage you to add your experiences and answer questions on this blog as we all have different perspectives and experiences. Because we no longer attend shows, games, or lectures, we will count on our fellow passengers to provide info on those events. We will report on live music, food, and the ship's wine selections! Cheers! The below map is no longer accurate. Princess has cancelled Kona and replaced it with Moorea. A switch I would make any day of the week! Date Port Arrive Depart Wednesday, April 10th 2024 Sydney, Australia 04:00 pm Thu, Apr 11 At Sea Fri, Apr 12 At Sea Sat, Apr 13 At Sea Sun, Apr 14 Picton, New Zealand 08:00 am 06:00 pm Mon, Apr 15 Wellington, New Zealand 08:00 am 06:00 pm Tue, Apr 16 At Sea Wed, Apr 17 Tauranga, New Zealand 08:30 am 07:30 pm Thu, Apr 18 Bay of Islands, New Zealand 08:00 am 06:00 pm Fri, Apr 19 Auckland, New Zealand 06:30 am 07:00 pm Sat, Apr 20 Cross International Date Line 12:00 pm 01:00 pm Sat, Apr 20 At Sea Sun, Apr 21 At Sea Mon, Apr 22 At Sea Tue, Apr 23 At Sea Wed, Apr 24 Tahiti (Papeete), French Polynesia 08:00 am Thu, Apr 25 Tahiti (Papeete), French Polynesia 09:00 pm Fri, Apr 26 Moorea, French Polynesia 07:00 am 05:00 pm Sat, Apr 27 At Sea Sun, Apr 28 At Sea Mon, Apr 29 At Sea Tue, Apr 30 At Sea Wed, May 1 At Sea Thu, May 2 Honolulu, Hawaii 06:00 am 11:00 pm Fri, May 3 At Sea Sat, May 4 At Sea Sun, May 5th At Sea Mon, May 6 At Sea Tue, May 7 At Sea Wed, May 8 At Sea Thu, May 9 Vancouver, Canada 03:15 am Fri, May 10 Vancouver, Canada 02:00 am Fri, May 10 Victoria, Canada 11:00 am 11:00 pm Sat, May 11 At Sea Sun, May 12 Seattle, Washington 07:00 am

FWIW, Princess dropped the word "class" from the name of these mini-suites. They are now called "Reserve Collection" mini-suites.

It is never too early if they are available to book.

Great news! Now go and enjoy your cruise! 🙂🥂