Make Me Majestic Part 1

So, I have been lucky enough for the past few days to have experienced the latest arrival into the Princess Cruises fleet Majestic Princess along with a few of my colleagues and the best way to sum her up is WOW.

I have been a fan of Princess for years, as in my opinion they have constantly offered a nice mix between brilliant ships with some fantastic destination focused cruises.  As the modern cruise ships have gotten bigger and bigger, I do feel that some cruise lines are starting to lose the heart of what a cruise is, in that it is a fantastic way to experience new destinations and cultures, but a lot seem to be focusing on their ships with cookie cutter itineraries.  Whereas Princess I believe like to keep the destinations in focus for the customer each time they have introduced a larger ship.  I have digressed a bit there but I do think it’s key to point this out.

Now back to The Majestic Princess.

Majestic is the third ship in the Regal Class of ships, and I must say, from the moment she appeared on the horizon in Trieste you knew you were in for a regal experience.  Majestic Princess has been built specifically to operate cruises around Asia out of Shanghai, bringing premium luxury to some very exciting itineraries.  She has been given some key modifications to her regal sisters, but still encompasses the of a Princess cruise always.

For part one of my blog I want to cover some of the different additions to this fantastic ship to the other Regal Class ships that you may have experienced.

I think one of the first things that I noticed on the ship, is that there is a lot more space dedicated to the shopping facilities on board, 11,000 square feet to be exact, and the shops reflect the premium luxury of the ship with brands such as Cartier, Chanel and Estee Lauder to name a few.  It’s a good thing that my husband took my credit card from me before I set off, or I could have quite easily done some serious damage here.  It’s clear that these brands have been selected for Princess to maximise their opportunity of the wealth of the new Chinese market that has opened up to cruising.

One of the most entertaining things that has been added to the ship (and cruise.co.uk did get to try this out) is the first ever karaoke booths at sea.  Now this is something that I recommend everyone should try on ship.  You can hire a room out for an hour for up to 6 people, with drinks and snacks included, and sing till your little heart out.  I must say I have never heard Let It Go sung quite like it was, the cruise.co.uk version was very interesting to my ear drums.

The casino on board was another thing that surprised me on ship as it was much bigger than I have seen on other ships.  Apparently, this is because gambling is illegal in a lot of China, so the Chinese like to gamble when they are on a cruise.  I have seen cruise lines before who have a VIP area for select passengers who would like a bit more discretion when making their bets, but Majestic goes one step further and has a VVIP area in the casino with one table for exclusive gaming.  I was speaking with the staff in there and bets will start around $1,000 up to about $50,000 per bet.  I don’t quite think I will have quite enough to venture in there!

Heres a picture of me playing dealer in the VVIP area of the Casino.

Princess have notably taken out some of the bars on Majestic Princess as the Chinese don’t tend to drink alcohol as much as Europeans and Americans, but they have given them something extra, which I do think they should roll out fleetwide.  They have introduced Gong Cha tea bar serving bubble tea.  Now if your like me and never heard of bubble tea before your probably thinking just what is bubble tea?  Well its this new thing where you get your tea drink and in it they place these small flavour bubbles.  As you drink these bubbles through a straw, they pop in your mouth ever so gently, and release the flavour mixed with the tea.  I can tell you now that this is delicious and was certainly visited more than once which I sailed away.

One of my absolute favourite areas on the ship was the Hollywood Pool Bar.  This is a multi-use venue at the front of the ship, that during the day is an indoor pool area for when the Asian weather is a little too cold outside.  This area is great as you can hire your own private cabana and relax in the warmth of the pool room, make use of the hot tubs or the full-size pool.  If the weather is a bit warmer the roof retracts and fully opens up the venue to bask in the sun.  I can see this area being very popular with guests.  In the evening, this venue came to life as a unique nightclub style venue, with its own DJ and cocktail bar.  I must say, I spent many a night in here on my cruise and can say the Mai Thai cocktails are to die for.  Just make sure you pack your painkillers for the next day as they are lethal.

Take a look at this venue when it comes alive at the night.

I have detailed out my some of my favourite new additions to Majestic Princess.  Stay tuned for part 2 coming soon.