Good cruise....but many changes since the last one.

Majestic Princess Cruise Review

poolemon

Contributor Level: Second Mate

165 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 94

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5

7 Night Voyage Of The Glaciers With Glacier Bay Southbound (Anchorage To Vancouver)

Sail date: July 23, 2022

Ship: Majestic Princess

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Generally a really good cruise. Had a great time with friends. That said however, there were some disappointing departures from our usual Princess experience. Would I still recommend it? Absolutely!!!

Embarkation

4 out of 5

I want to start this by saying that we love Princess (we are Elite loyalty members) and still do although being disappointed with some aspects of this cruise. This, in some regards, was not the Princess we have known. The embarkation went pretty smoothly. The snags seemed to have related to the Medallion App. Security on Princess is always mixed. Some security were very pleasant and some not so much. They yelled at my fourteen year old granddaughter because and her mom accidently got their medallions mixed up and after traveling for seven and a half hours on a not so comfortable bus, it was upsetting.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

As usual very good.

Chopsticks Noodle Bar

3 out of 5

This is one of the areas that disappointed us. We were on the Majestic when she was in Asia and the Noodle Bar was one of our favorites for a quick bite. The noodles were cooked fresh, and there was more variety. On this cruise it was all pre-cooked and choices were limited. I suppose that in Asia Princess was catering to the Asian passengers, ergo the difference.

Concerto Dining Room

5 out of 5

Our wait staff was outstanding. Our waiter, Kateryna from Ukraine was warm and welcoming every night. The food per usual was delicious tasting and the portions perfectly sized. Our assistant waiter Josef was equally as efficient and friendly.

International Café

2 out of 5

The International Cafe has traditionally been one of our favorite places on the ship. Love that you can get a variety of different dishes, salads, paninis, etc. and a choice of deserts 24/7. All this is included. Part of the cafe is the speciality coffee bar where a wide variety of coffees/teas are available. Typically the wait staff there are warm and friendly. Not so this cruise. Some of the wait staff were so rude to my wife that she came back to our cabin in tears.

Crown Grill

4 out of 5

The Lobster Grill, which was the Grill in 2018 had good quality burghers and other grilled meat. The difference was that, in my opinion, they have complicated the ordering and delivery of the food. On our past cruises we gave the grill master our order and simply waited for it. Seemed to work fine. On this trip someone took your order and handed you a buzzer. More efficient? Not so sure.

Alfredo's Pizzeria

5 out of 5

Nothing changed here. The same delicious pizza with the same friendly and welcoming wait staff.

Crown Grill Bar

5 out of 5

We had one dinner in the Crown Grill and Bar. This was one of the best meals I have ever had at sea. It was delightful and the waiter was spectacular. We felt as if we were dining in a four or five star restaurant.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

As usual a variety of activities some of which participated and enjoyed.

Princess Casino

4 out of 5

Small but nice casino.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

The ship's cruise staff was fabulous! The game shows were great as well. The rest of the entertainment overall was the poorest we have seen on any of our many Princess cruises. One the comedians was so bad it was painful to watch. The performers in the production shows were no doubt talented however, the second show, Encore, just didn't seem to fit in with the spirit of the cruise.

Princess Theater

4 out of 5

The theater was airy and seating was comfortable. Theater was modern and full of technology.

Children's Programs

4 out of 5

Our five grandchildren are all teens and spoke very fondly of the teen center staff.

Beach House Teen Lounge

4 out of 5

Our teenage grandkids loved it!

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

One of the many reasons we cruise Princess often is that the crew generally are very genuinely friendly, warm, welcoming and accommodating. Our cabin attendant was outstanding as were the dining room wait staff and maitre'd. We enjoy the crew on Princess so much that we stay in touch with some of them for years after our cruise.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

All of Princess's ships have clean designs and are immaculately clean. I must give credit to the unsung heros of the ship, the cleaning crew which labors 24/7, mostly invisibly, making sure the ship is spotless.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

We were in D401 a deluxe balcony. It was comfortably spacious and pretty typical. As a deluxe it was perhaps two feet longer which allowed for a love seat sofa and somewhat larger sitting area. I especially loved the considerably larger than usual flat screen TV which was mounted on the wall. Princess offers a wide variety of shows and movies (some very recent releases) for free. The last cruise we went on (not Princess) wanted $9.99 for a small variety of not so new movies.

Ship tip

Be prepared to go a little nuts trying to get your Medallion App to work. It's a great concept but needs some serious work. Having worked in IT for decades I can appreciate the complexity of the undertaking and also know that it should be debugged extensively before being launched.

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