Live from Majestic Princess - August 15, 2021

[taznremmy]

I'm going on a cruise on Monday!! 🎉  Received my negative test results.  Now I need to get serious re: packing!  Alaska, here I come!!!

[TinaLee]

12 minutes ago, awhcruiser said:

Bow of the ship on the lido deck

There are cabins at the bow on Lido. He'll need to go one deck up, to the Hollywood Conservatory area (on Majestic) to have a clear view from the bow. 

[DuncanBlizzard]

1 hour ago, geoherb said:

Can anyone recommend great places on the ship for viewing the glaciers for folks without balconies?

We saw people in the Hollywood Conservatory (deck 17), at tables in the buffet (deck 16), out by the pool (deck 16), and down around the piazza.  My favorite place was above the buffet near the basketball courts accessible by the staircase by the ping pong tables.  It's open air and standing room only, but it was the least crowded and best place to get photos if you have good weather.

[Sail away MK]

2 hours ago, 4cats4me said:

 

Digital boarding pass populated immediately after I chose my embarkation group.  Upon accessing the MedallionClass app, the green pass pops up on the screen showing boarding group, and there  is an embedded QR code.  Tap the code to enlarge it.  

I don't sail until next week.    

Remember to take a screen shot in case you have issues at boarding.

[4cats4me]

1 hour ago, Sail away MK said:

Remember to take a screen shot in case you have issues at boarding.

That was the first thing I did.   Good advice! 

[CaliforniaDon]

Hi -

Can you share any insights on the buffet situation?  Other than a couple of posts earlier about difficulty in finding "spooner outers" on the line - what else is new post Covid?

 

Does one still have to troll to score an empty table and take turns getting food? How does tool management work now? I assume that piles in napkins on the table are a thing of the past. Can you get alcohol in the buffet in any reasonable amount of time? Is the food selection even close to the good old days?

 

Thanks to all the folks sharing their experiences!

[SaltwaterDaffy]

3 hours ago, geoherb said:

 

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by SaltwaterDaffy

[Freightgoddess]

Some random comments (! Did this post earlier????)

 

Weather in Juneau cold and VERY rainy. Helicopters weren't flying, we got quick refunds, but sigh. Sled dog adventure was terrific.

Skagway: heavily overcast, foggy but  little rain. Helicopters were canceled again. Fabulous yarn shop and great museum in town

Glacier bay: cool mostly cloudy, we even saw some sun!

 

App is..... Interesting. It's frustratingly slow and wonky.

 

We've made dining room reservations, but staff never seemed to check,. One night we just showed up and were seated. 

 

 

[Freightgoddess]

More random comments:

 

I preferred the shops in skagway and Ketchikan to those in Juneau.

 

For knitters and stitchers Aurora Yarns in skagway, had great stitch kits, beautiful local hand dyed yarns and beautiful watercolor prints. also interesting exotic yarns

 

Many people were dressed more casually than I expected, even on formal night, although others were dressed to the nines.

 

 

[caribill]

17 hours ago, wondertwinsmom said:

This may be a silly question but I will ask it anyway. Lol other than the elite members receiving them in place of canapés sometimes, are chocolate covered strawberries available on the ship anywhere else for us common folk? 😂 They are one of my favorite all-time treats and I was hoping that they were possibly available in one of the dining rooms or the international café or even available for purchase in one of the specialty restaurants?

 

In the past they have been available for purchase on the Room Service menu.

[Shelly97060]

17 hours ago, wondertwinsmom said:

This may be a silly question but I will ask it anyway. Lol other than the elite members receiving them in place of canapés sometimes, are chocolate covered strawberries available on the ship anywhere else for us common folk? 😂 They are one of my favorite all-time treats and I was hoping that they were possibly available in one of the dining rooms or the international café or even available for purchase in one of the specialty restaurants?

you can pre-order them in the Personalizer. If memory serves me they are $8 for 4 berries and when we sailed in 2020 you could order from room service ( for same cost).
 

[wondertwinsmom]

5 hours ago, Freightgoddess said:

Some random comments (! Did this post earlier????)

 

Weather in Juneau cold and VERY rainy. Helicopters weren't flying, we got quick refunds, but sigh. Sled dog adventure was terrific.

Skagway: heavily overcast, foggy but  little rain. Helicopters were canceled again. Fabulous yarn shop and great museum in town

Glacier bay: cool mostly cloudy, we even saw some sun!

 

App is..... Interesting. It's frustratingly slow and wonky.

 

We've made dining room reservations, but staff never seemed to check,. One night we just showed up and were seated. 

 

 

Which sled dog adventure did you do? Was it one Princess offered or did you find it on your own? We originally started to book one but when I saw it no longer included  the ride, I wasn’t sure it would be worth it.

[awhcruiser]

14 hours ago, TinaLee said:

There are cabins at the bow on Lido. He'll need to go one deck up, to the Hollywood Conservatory area (on Majestic) to have a clear view from the bow. 

Wrong ship...I was referring to Crown/Emerald/Rudy.  Thanks for the clarification.

[dog]

20 hours ago, Ombud said:

@jibarita2600. Ship used to hold 3560+ but now a large section of Dolphin deck is blocked off for (potential) isolation rooms. It's that way on all US based ships, not just CC

 

Love how easy it is to get a seat at the musical shows

Blocked area on Dolphin deck , is it midship? 

[Ombud]

52 minutes ago, dog said:

Blocked area on Dolphin deck , is it midship? 

No. D100-D402 is blocked off quarantine rooms (even #s only)

[Esjung1]

16 hours ago, geoherb said:

Can anyone recommend great places on the ship for viewing the glaciers for folks without balconies?

It was raining pretty good the day we were at Glacier Bay so common spaces were very crowded but I found it to be very empty in the gym and lots of huge windows.  I jumped on a treadmill and the ship was backed right up to the glacier with a perfect view. 

[c-boy]

15 hours ago, CaliforniaDon said:

Hi -

Can you share any insights on the buffet situation?  Other than a couple of posts earlier about difficulty in finding "spooner outers" on the line - what else is new post Covid?

 

Does one still have to troll to score an empty table and take turns getting food? How does tool management work now? I assume that piles in napkins on the table are a thing of the past. Can you get alcohol in the buffet in any reasonable amount of time? Is the food selection even close to the good old days?

 

Thanks to all the folks sharing their experiences!

   🤣  hilarious avatar very clever .

[echoshipmate]

15 hours ago, CaliforniaDon said:

Hi -

Can you share any insights on the buffet situation?  Other than a couple of posts earlier about difficulty in finding "spooner outers" on the line - what else is new post Covid?

 

Does one still have to troll to score an empty table and take turns getting food? How does tool management work now? I assume that piles in napkins on the table are a thing of the past. Can you get alcohol in the buffet in any reasonable amount of time? Is the food selection even close to the good old days?

 

Thanks to all the folks sharing their experiences!

Just got off Majestic, food in buffet was outrageous good. Lots of choices, as good or better than the "good old days". Tables are plentiful as ship is sailing at reduced capacity. Wait staff was everywhere in the buffet,, doing a great job. We ordered  wine, drinks from the server and had it in front of us very quickly, maybe 2 to 3 minutes. They get your alcohol  drinks from the Wakeview bar, just steps from the seating area in the buffet. Eating at the buffet was a wonderful option. You can remove that worry from your list!

[1965]

44 minutes ago, echoshipmate said:

Just got off Majestic, food in buffet was outrageous good. Lots of choices, as good or better than the "good old days". Tables are plentiful as ship is sailing at reduced capacity. Wait staff was everywhere in the buffet,, doing a great job. We ordered  wine, drinks from the server and had it in front of us very quickly, maybe 2 to 3 minutes. They get your alcohol  drinks from the Wakeview bar, just steps from the seating area in the buffet. Eating at the buffet was a wonderful option. You can remove that worry from your list!

That's just the kind of happy, positive news I love hearing. ♡♡♡

[Glaciers]

Agree with echo that the buffet was good. They serve most items and you just point and let them know what you want on the plate. There are a few items that are in single serve containers that you just pick up yourself.  All drink orders came quickly alcohol or otherwise. The only issue with tables is if you want something by the window. You can grab your own utensils/cloth napkins at the end of each buffet. There are multiple buffet areas that kept the flow reasonable with little wait time.  A very minor disappointment was the eggs benedict which was premade and sit under a heat lamp. Took me a couple days to discover the omelet bar, but its there!  We ate at the buffet each evening except formal nights.

[AF-1]

On 8/21/2021 at 1:32 PM, JF - retired RRT said:

Ask your steward early (if there aren't any in the cabin), they go fast.

For Alaska Sailings they will have plenty of towels out on deck.  They will be in several locations; they also push a hot cocoa cart around if you want it

[1965]

Were there captain's circle parties? I don't remember reading any post mentioning them. Thanks.

[Mary Ann 2]

On 8/20/2021 at 6:04 PM, Shelly97060 said:

Do  they still give you a card to  request the canapés or do you have to do it via your TV or app? 

No card nor any idea about whether they are even doing it! We did request them the second formal night and they were delivered.

 

[Wulfwyn]

12 hours ago, Ombud said:

No. D100-D402 is blocked off quarantine rooms (even #s only)

This is for incoming  crew members  so can do their quarantine for 14 days.

[Mary Ann 2]

I don't see the post that I did this morning.  I just wanted to let you know that if you plan to take a taxi from the cruise port to the airport, be sure that you ask what it will cost.  I asked for a flat rate taxi coming from the airport, but we were in such a hurry to get to the airport due a very early flight, that I failed to ask on the way ay the port the price.  We were charged $124.80 which is outrageous.  He claimed that it was posted at the port , but we never saw it.  I am calling tomorrow when they are open to complain to the taxi  company at the number posted on the taxi if you think you were overcharged.  We couldn't see the meter and had no idea that it would be that much.  So heed our warning.  Ask for a flat rate taxi or ask what the current rate is.  We did get to the airport quickly and were dropped off at the door and were at the gate at 8pm (walked off at 7), but of course, the plane was two hours late, so we didn't need to rush so.

 

On a positive note, we had a great time.  In Ketchikan, we went with Hummer Adventures to a US Forest Service bear blind one hour north by boat and saw two black bears catching salmon from the river.  It was incredible!!  Also did Jayleen Alaska in Juneau on a private 6 passenger boat whale watching and followed pods of orcas for an hour!! Also saw humpbacks.  Such an incredible cruise!!  Loved the staff at Vines, Ganna is amazing!  Have a great time if you are going soon!! We so look forward to our cruise in several months on the Majestic to Mexico.😃

Edited August 23, 2021 by Mary Ann 2