Live from the Majestic Princess - August 8, 2021

[CruzeQueen2]

3 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

Good morning. Last nights dinner in the club class section was wonderful. We both had the special dish of the night- mahi mahi with pesto pasta. Went back to the room and got pictures of the sunset. Took the first one from the balcony and darned near got blown off it was so windy. So the rest are from the bedroom window including the last one taken this morning. The clouds are coming in. 
 

We enjoyed Carlos Oscar and spent a little time in the casino. It was crowded and smoky so we were back in the room early. Had the best night sleep in a while. I forgot how wonderful it is being rocked to sleep. 

I will be interested in hearing from you at the end of cruise, especially after GB, about your balcony limitations and/or accolades. The views so far have been spectacular and having that much space is definitely a luxury; however...I think you have already alluded to the wind and its force up there. In any case - enjoy the ride, the views, the morsels and the gulps. Hopefully you will also find great company and conversations along the way. Thanks for sharing!

[Kay S]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

Doesn't sound like it as someone reported lots of smoke last night.

 

Do they have smokers' masks with little holes in them for the cigarette? 😁  If masks are required and smoking is happening, I guess they aren't enforcing the mask rule all that hard.

[Steelers36]

7 minutes ago, Kay S said:

Do they have smokers' masks with little holes in them for the cigarette? 😁  If masks are required and smoking is happening, I guess they aren't enforcing the mask rule all that hard.

LOL.  Seriously, if smoking is an opportunity to go maskless, along with eating and drinking, then the policy may well encourage more smoking than normal - or at least "milking" a cigarette to last as long as possible.

[Jeter02]

15 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

LOL.  Seriously, if smoking is an opportunity to go maskless, along with eating and drinking, then the policy may well encourage more smoking than normal - or at least "milking" a cigarette to last as long as possible.

Well there is a smoking section on deck 7 aft, starboard side. (Another section I try to avoid, unless I'm desperate for a particular photo opportunity, then I'll suck it up and hold my breathe.) 

[ebeluga]

4 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

Good morning. Last nights dinner in the club class section was wonderful. We both had the special dish of the night- mahi mahi with pesto pasta. Went back to the room and got pictures of the sunset. Took the first one from the balcony and darned near got blown off it was so windy. So the rest are from the bedroom window including the last one taken this morning. The clouds are coming in. 
 

We enjoyed Carlos Oscar and spent a little time in the casino. It was crowded and smoky so we were back in the room early. Had the best night sleep in a while. I forgot how wonderful it is being rocked to sleep.

 

Carlos Oscar is clean funny.  I enjoyed his show from past cruises.

[Donyb]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

The Cruise Critic meet and greet went great. Captain Dino, HGM Jasper, Assistant HGM Miguel, Captains Circle host Tina, ED Duke and CD Dan were all there.  Many thanks to AZBirdMom for organizing our role call and this meet and greet and sending out invitations to the officers. 
 

The naturalist on board, Michael Modzelewski, is excellent. We just came from his talk and will try not to miss a future one either. 
 

We had our first on board statement snafu when both of our drinks were added to G’s account, which made it priced over the $11 limit. A trip to Guest Services straightened it out. Also, the 10% Elite discount on our shore excursions appeared on our statement today. 

We are on the 8/15 cruise.  I was under the impression that if we have the Princess Plus package, the price limit is $12. You mention $11.

[Ombud]

What night are the musical productions and when could you reserve them?

[PescadoAmarillo]

10 minutes ago, Donyb said:

We are on the 8/15 cruise.  I was under the impression that if we have the Princess Plus package, the price limit is $12. You mention $11.

You are correct, and my husband corrected me when it was too late to edit my post. Sorry about that. We had our own little wine tasting during lunch and moved from there to Vines, where it is continuing. 

[kml246]

PescadoAmarillo posted about the M&G today. Thanks. Sorry we didn't get to speak with you. As reported, it was great. Thanks to Julie (AZBirdMom) for arranging. 

 

Michael's Alaska Frontier presentation was interesting, but it's a well-rehearsed talk. 

 

Rachel's presentation on the Tlinget people was interesting, but less so to us as Michael's. Michael's presentation was SRO; Rachel's about 70% full. 

 

The more forward area of the World Marketplace had delicious crab cakes today at lunch. Seek them out as they are worth it. 

 

Here are some more photos from today. 

 

 

[SaltwaterDaffy]

3 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

You are correct, and my husband corrected me when it was too late to edit my post. Sorry about that. We had our own little wine tasting during lunch and moved from there to Vines, where it is continuing. 

On the Ruby it was $15, of course that was AUD. It was enough to get me a glass of Johnny Walker Gold. Hope it's only $12 USD on the Majestic. 

[TinaLee]

10 minutes ago, SaltwaterDaffy said:

On the Ruby it was $15, of course that was AUD. It was enough to get me a glass of Johnny Walker Gold. Hope it's only $12 USD on the Majestic. 

Can't say as to your Johnny Walker Gold, but I clearly remember that they were getting $25 for Johnny Walker Blue on board. 

[farsight]

23 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

We aren’t doing the enclave but I did ask. 
 

The cost for a week is $179 PP. 

 

10 are allowed at a time and masks are required. 
 

You can go multiple times a day. 

@azbirdmomThank you for graciously checking on this even though you're not doing it. Class acts are alive and well 🙂. We booked this as a couple on the Personalizer for the Sept. 26, 2021 sailing for the couple price of $219. Originally we reserved it for $299, but the price went down; I created another reservation then canceled the original. Hopefully the credit will show on my credit card soon 😮. Sorry it took me a while to get back on this thank you but we had a dog show that lasted forever yesterday and appointments this AM. This "Live From" is taking off like a shot from a canon and may prove to be the best one yet. We are a little bummed by the requirement of masks in the Enclave (soggy masks just aren't appealing and probably provide questionable protection). We will still go though!!! Also, requirements have time to change between now and our cruise. Nice to know the current status though.

[srpilo]

1 hour ago, Jeter02 said:

I always avoid walking through the casino, because eof the smoke. It was strong and noticeable last cruise when I cut through quickly. To avoid walking through there, I just walk through the VIP Gaming Room. There is no Churchill's on here as that was turned into a random arcade room. 

 

So smoking aside,  what's the casino verdict on masks , are masks required while seated and gambling at a slot machines in the casino ???

[Astro Flyer]

2 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Also, the 10% Elite discount on our shore excursions appeared on our statement today. 

In past discussions some posts indicated the 10% Elite discount would be a non-refundable OBC and would appreciate getting a definitive answer from you about how you received the discount…thanks.

[farsight]

5 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

I just called room service.  I asked about the 12 pack of water that I pre purchased and they said that they just got them and were delivering today. Also asked about the scotch and Perrier. They said that they would have those later today too. I was envisioning a cargo ship coming alongside but then I think the more logical answer is that they are on the ship and just haven’t made it to room service yet. They also said that the room stewards are doing the swaps. That was sometimes an option before but now they said it’s the only way. 

Sounds like they are getting their sea legs. This being the 3rd live from thread I have followed, I would say with each cruise incremental improvements  are being made. I can't even imagine the monumental task of re-starting everything after total shutdown for 15 months. Kudos to Princess!

[Tak8]

Love the sunset photos.  Enjoy the rest of your cruise 

[geoherb]

Are they recording the presentations and showing them on demand on the TVs in the cabins? That would be great for me. My last Alaskan cruises were on the Island Princess, and I don't believe it had the on-demand selection of shows available on TV.

[azbirdmom]

5 hours ago, uCruiser said:

Is that one of the lido deck forward cabins?

 

Marina deck. The Lido deck cabins are somewhat larger but their balcony is a little smaller with more cover. Ours isn’t usable as the wind is 20mph. 

[azbirdmom]

5 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

We’ve never done club class dining before but will have it on our cruise in a few weeks. When you arrived at the dining room were you seated right away or did you have to wait? We normally like to eat around 6 so I’m wondering if there will be a wait and if so then we’ll just keep our DMW reservation and forgo the club class option. Also how was the service? I saw one post that the service was very slow in the MDR.

We have been immediately seated in club class and the service has been outstanding. We just show up whenever we want and they take care of us. 

[geoherb]

3 hours ago, voljeep said:

'mini-bar' Publix Liquor store retail value - what, maybe $30 max ?

 

Yes, it's not worth much compared to what it would cost at home. But it's a great convenience to have the minibar waiting for me in my cabin and it's worth a lot more compared to buying the items on board.

[azbirdmom]

5 hours ago, srpilo said:

Just curious..

What's the mask protocol in the casino, can you remove them while seated ? 

Some keep them removed while smoking or drinking. I don’t smoke but when I have a drink I remain masked and slip my mask up to take a sip then lower it again. 

[azbirdmom]

3 hours ago, PointRoberts said:

I am on the 8/15 cruise and as a non-smoker, I was wondering if the new mask policy was going to eliminate the smoking in the casino since mask are going to be required there? 

It hasn’t yet. And the policy is that you need to have your mask on unless you are drinking or eating so I didn’t expect smoking in the casino at all. There is a non smoking side where I spend my time when in there. Now this could change. They have a VIP event happening in the casino this week and they may feel that they don’t want to upset this group. 

[azbirdmom]

3 hours ago, Ombud said:

I'm also on that cruise and I'm wondering how the 8/8 slot pull goes. Ours is just 27 ppl.

We didn’t have a slot pull. 

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, kml246 said:

The more forward area of the World Marketplace had delicious crab cakes today at lunch. Seek them out as they are worth it. 

Oh man, we went to Alfredo’s. It was terrific but I’m sad I missed the crab cakes. 

[SaltwaterDaffy]

1 hour ago, TinaLee said:

Can't say as to your Johnny Walker Gold, but I clearly remember that they were getting $25 for Johnny Walker Blue on board. 

Damn. I couldn't even get half a shot of blue.