Live from the Majestic Princess - August 8, 2021

[martinitime1]

I can't lie, I am jealous. In for the pics. Princess just cancelled our cruise for 10/24.

[CruzeQueen2]

1 hour ago, SaltwaterDaffy said:

No Officers at the tables? Can we invite the Singers and Dancers? 

Enjoy your cruise, we'll be there on the 12th of September. 

But, fellow passengers will be eating together. Four couples, eight people?

[LinnieRed]

4 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

In our cabin and what a treat it is. We are in a mini suite above the bridge with a ginormous balcony. I just hope that today isn’t the only time we can enjoy it. A lot of rain is forecast. Happy we have the drink package!  

This looks like the same cabin we are booked in for our upcoming cruise. May I ask you a boarding question about club class? Is there a separate boarding area for the club class mini suites? Thanks

[vivian02]

azbirdmom have a great cruise we were on the July 25th sailing and had a wonderful trip. I am sure you will see the big bottle of wine on deck 5. Be glad to be out of the heat for a week. Tim

[cr8tiv1]

After all of the weeks' posts, I feel that I "know"  many of you.  This is going to be such a fun week.  Thank you all in advance for sharing your cruise with us.  Wish I were there.  This is the lucky cruise.  No pre-travel covid test required.  You guys sure lucked out.  

 

Glad to return to cruise sharing.  The past few weeks of Medallion Class app and covid testing threads has been quite stressful.  

 

ALOHA to all.

[Lucky TGO]

Stay safe and have a Great cruise!!!

Tony

[geoherb]

I wonder how they'll do the trade out of sodas for water. I don't drink sodas and always trade mine in for sparkling water. 

 

I noticed that the number of days to make the top 40 came down 10 from last cruise. I don't think it will come down enough for me to make it in two weeks. 

[Astro Flyer]

Buon Viaggio! 🛳 🎉 🥂

[KruzPrincess]

8 hours ago, AF-1 said:

For those who asked question about Marriott Waterfront.  I used lyft to get from airport to hotel and then from hotel to port.  I arrived three days prior and did sightseeing;  looking at Oceania, and NCL dock across the street from hotel made me think;  hmmm I should have sailed with them instead of Princess.  But anyway,  if you want seafood;  there is a place across street from Marriott right where the cruise ships dock.  Up the hill 1/4 mile is Pikes fish market and the original Starbucks on Pike Street.  Have fun on your cruise.  

I’m following the “live” thread for the Encore on the NCL board and it looks great. They still have self serve buffet and had crab legs on it the first night. Of course, the crab may not be on subsequent cruises. No mask or mention of mask requirements on future cruises...yet. At least, I haven’t seen anyone post about it. I’m so jealous. I’d be happy to be on either ship. 

[jwattle]

5 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

@azbirdmom

Would it be possible to get the pre-cruise info for who to contact on the ship to set up the Meet and Greet please? It would be a huge help! 😘

[Ombud]

Just now, jwattle said:

Would it be possible to get the pre-cruise info for who to contact on the ship to set up the Meet and Greet please? It would be a huge help! 😘

Heres how I did it for next week (and in the past):

1.email grouponboardservices@princesscruises.com requesting 1st Sea Day

2. She will reserve a space and contact the onboard person for you

3. Email to them confirming #s 15 days before embarkation 

4. Letter in organizer's stateroom upon embarkation from their rep

5. Meet rep & hand invitations to her (can also give to PSD if letter isn't in room).

6. Microphone was always supposed to be $10 but I've never been charged

 

I like to share duties (I'm a solo)  FWIW Carol (toescat) is making name tags!!

[Mary Ann 2]

11 hours ago, TinaLee said:

Thanks so much for doing this! One tiny thing if you would check for me - Sur La Mer breakfast/brunch menu. I see it is open for those meals but have seen nothing about the menus for those times. I hope you have a wonderful cruise and please do check in and let us know how it is going! 

The menu was posted the first cruise.  I downloaded it so here it is:

[Grover_]

Are the self serve laundry rooms available for use?

[azbirdmom]

2 hours ago, joepeka said:

I am so jealous but please keep the updates coming.... to us back here in Phoenix where it's 107 degrees!!

Oh I don’t miss that at all!

[PescadoAmarillo]

13 minutes ago, Grover_ said:

Are the self serve laundry rooms available for use?

Yes, at least they were today. The machine for tokens didn’t work but they had bowls of tokens there and we could just the 4 we needed for washer, dryer, soap and softener. Can’t imagine that will last for long. 

[azbirdmom]

2 hours ago, LinnieRed said:

This looks like the same cabin we are booked in for our upcoming cruise. May I ask you a boarding question about club class? Is there a separate boarding area for the club class mini suites? Thanks

Everyone gets in a single line to go through document check then security. If you don’t have your medallion or if you aren’t fully checked in there are more lines from there. We were good to go and they weren’t boarding the ship yet so we went to the seating areas. They had Elite, Platinum, and folks in the A group and when they started boarding that’s the order they went in. I didn’t hear them specify any other priority boarding for full suites and club class although I suspect that they were putting those folks in with the Elites - just a guess though. 

[Thrak]

4 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

Sitting on ginormous balcony awaiting sailaway. And DH’s suitcase. Mine arrived two hours ago and his has yet to make an appearance. 
 

I know folks on the last cruise mentioned issues with the mini bar but ours was here when we first got in the room. Except it was different. They have no scotch or whiskey in the small bottles so they gave us 4 Courvosiers. Instead of 2 small water bottles we got one big one. And instead of 2 Perrier we got a large Pellegrino. Rest was the same.  Trying to figure what are swap will be but will deal with that tomorrow. 

 

 

Mind boggling. They "only" had a year and a half to lay in supplies and couldn't get it right. We have only had one cruise as Elite. It took 3 days to get the mini bar and then it was totally borked. This really isn't rocket surgery. They know what they offer in the mini bar. If they have any sort of brain at all they know what are the most often swapped items. I really don't understand how they can be so freaking incompetent with the mini bar setup. (***This part deleted by poster. Someone would likely get their knickers in a twist.***)

[jwattle]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Heres how I did it for next week (and in the past):

1.email grouponboardservices@princesscruises.com requesting 1st Sea Day

2. She will reserve a space and contact the onboard person for you

3. Email to them confirming #s 15 days before embarkation 

4. Letter in organizer's stateroom upon embarkation from their rep

5. Meet rep & hand invitations to her (can also give to PSD if letter isn't in room).

6. Microphone was always supposed to be $10 but I've never been charged

 

I like to share duties (I'm a solo)  FWIW Carol (toescat) is making name tags!!

Very much appreciated😘🤗

[NSWP]

9 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

We were clapped onto the ship by 11am. Drink in hand by 11:05am.  Already saw Captain Dino. It’s all great. 

Oh no, not the dreaded Corona, lol. Enjoy your cruise and thanks for blogging. Alaska is great.

Edited August 9, 2021 by NSWP

[NSWP]

6 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

I visited the Captain's Circle Hostess to drop off invitations for the officers to our Meet & Greet (tomorrow at 10 am -11am at the Hollywood Conservatory).

 

While I was chatting with her I asked if she had the cutoff yet for the MTP event and she said it was 455 days.  We are nowhere near that mark but I am fairly certain some among us will be able to share more details about it. 

455 cut off for the MTP? Wow, with 480 days I would have just scraped in.  Pity no officers/senior staff  going to the MTP.   Will they appear for your M&G in the circumstances ? 

 

Thanks for posting and enjoy your cruise and remember 'Come Back New. !!'😁

[CTGirl]

Have a wonderful cruise.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Just signing out before I start my blog post tonight. Dinner was the only disappointment we’ve encountered so far. Horrible service, minuscule portion sizes.  But Carlos Oscar’s show was good, and we swung by the World Fresh Marketplace for coffee and dessert afterward.  The Premium Beverage Package is craziness.  It’s tough on the body to go from not drinking at all to several drinks in a single day. 
 

Ship feels full thought it’s slightly less than full at 3300 passengers. Elevators are packed, always, and, frankly I’m not unhappy that everyone has to be masked. 

[mthomp5]

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!  Thank you for doing this live report!

[kml246]

Our dinner in Symphony was pretty good. We are really trying to watch what we eat so we don't put on all the weight we lost during COVID. Food could have been hotter. 

 

When we were first seated we had a crummy location back by the kitchen door. We asked for a different table. Head waiter found us a great table by the window. Had a nice view of the pilot boat coming to pick up the pilot. 

 

Carlos Oscar was funny. He has a unique way of telling stories. 

[kml246]

Here are some more photos around the ship today.