Majestic Princess Review
Warning: new to Princess! So everything is new or different for me.
Rating by category
Additional details
First, you need to know that I'm new to Princess. I've cruised on Holland America most often, so that is my basis of comparison.
We took the Majestic Princess on the California Coastal Cruise in October 2021, from Los Angeles to San Francisco to San Diego to Ensenada, returning to Los Angeles. Two of the stopped that were scheduled originally - Monterey/Carmel and Santa Barbara, were cancelled, so we stayed overnight in San Francisco. Not a hardship, but I wouldn't have booked this cruise knowing about the cancellations, because these were stops that were new to me, and I was looking forward do.
This cruise was in COVID-times, so the staff had all the COVID precautions in place, which you can read about in other reviews. Inconvenient for us (masks 24/7!) but it was handled seamlessly by the Majestic Princess staff. COVID precautions meant that the service was extra special, from staff members filling your plate at the buffet to wait staff pouring milk into your coffee. It was a bit of luxury that was a throwback to earlier times. I got used to it very quickly and will regret it when these niceties are removed and we all have to cluster around the coffee urns in the future.
Cabin Review
Mini-Suite with Balcony
This is a mini-suite, roughly 300 square feet that is divided into two rooms by a blackout curtain.
I could be working at the desk while my roommate was sleeping, and the curtain would block the light.
The room had two TVs in it, one in the bedroom, the other by the sofa.
The mattresses were comfortable, albeit small when split into two twins.
There were handy light switches by the beds, but, oddly enough, no power outlets. We both have CPAPs so our cabin steward (bravo, Jerry!) brought us two long extension cords to snake across the room, to the only two American outlets in the room. Luckily I brought a power strip with USB charging, so we could make it work with powering the laptop, charging phones and iPads and plugging in the CPAPs.
The bathroom was small but adequate. Water pressure was great and plenty hot.
There was plenty of closet space, with a full wall of hanging space, a wardrobe, and drawers in the desk and nightstands.
The mini-fridge was very handy, and NOT stocked with the typical hotel temptations.
I found the balcony small. There were two chairs and a table, but not enough space for lounging, and certainly no good for setting out breakfast. We really didn't use the balcony for this reason.
Port Reviews
San Francisco
Because of cancellations of other stops, we were in San Francisco two days.
There wasn't much variety in the shore excursions, the same-old city tours, Alcatraz and Muir Woods.
I was looking for a coach trip to Monterey, to make up for the cancellation of that stop, but the independent tour operator had to cancel it for lack of interest. If the Princess home office had looked a little harder, maybe they could have offered this tour, to compensate for the missed stop . {sigh}
I enjoyed the Dim Sum lunch in Chinatown, especially our tour guide Ellen who took us to the base of the Golden Gate bridge - we were actually looking at the footings! Great find!
San Diego
I could have used more time in San Diego.
First, it was warmer than San Francisco, so it was better for pooltime than San Francisco, if nothing else.
The San Diego Zoo was awesome! It filled a hole in my science-geek heart. I'd go back.
If we had more time I would have liked to visit Coronado Island, maybe a lunch at the Hotel Del Coronado, maybe a beach day there.
Or visit the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The hour-long coach ride alone would have shown me parts of southern California that I could not see from the ship. Then, of course, there is the savanna-like ecosystem to enjoy.
More time in San Diego, please!