LIVE from Sapphire Princess, Jan 5-9, 2014

LIVE from the Sapphire, 4-day California Coastal, Jan 5-9

Day 1 – Catalina

Day 2 – At Sea

Day 3 - Enenada

This is my first attempt at a LIVE so please bear with me. :)

If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them.

PRE-CRUISE

This is one of the “free” short coastal cruises. We booked and paid for the cruise, and booked our return flight to Vancouver, before the 2-for-1 deal was offered; we were fortunate enough to land one of the coveted corner aft balconies AFTER final payment. The cost to change our flights was more than the cost of the flights in the first place so we weren't able to add a back-to-back which we would have loved to do. We don't have another cruise booked for 2014 to apply our credit towards but hopefully we'll be able to do Alaska this summer.

We originally booked this as a mid-winter getaway from the gloom of British Columbia winter to add to our trip to drive with our daughter to LA to do a semester of school. We left Vancouver on Jan 1, arriving in Los Angeles on Jan 3. We spent a couple of days showing our daughter around (DW and I lived in the area in the '80s).

EMBARKATION DAY

Our daughter did the Bon Voyage Experience on this cruise so we arrived at 10:40 expecting to board early. Our ship was supposed to dock at berth 46 but that was changed a couple of weeks ago to pier 93; most people on our roll call were thrilled with the change. We learned as we embarked that the Island was now at 46; it was still docked as we went by. A Norwegian ship was also in port; I thought there were supposed to be 4 ships in port with us but I didn't see another.

After parking we passed several disembarking passengers who wished us a great cruise as we walked from our car. We were quickly ushered into the terminal building into a waiting area where we waited a short time for the check-in to open. Our Platinum status allowed us priority check-in, but the BVE status did not; I was surprised by that. After checking in we were shown to yet another waiting area where we were seated with others doing the BVE in the priority seating area. And we sat, and we sat. Finally about 12:15 the Captain's Circle Representative came out to collect us and escort us onboard first; there were some evil looks thrown our way by the Elites that were waiting. :)

We quickly had our picture taken (a free picture is part of the BVE) and boarded, heading straight to our cabin. We dropped off our luggage, took a quick look off the balcony, and headed down to the International Dining Room for lunch. We had a very nice lunch although I was mildly disappointed there wasn't a souffle for dessert … but I got over it with a chocolate eclair.

After lunch we quickly toured the ship for and hour and a half, getting all the stamps on our Scavenger Hunt card. We finished in the Lotus Spa, getting a tour of the facilities and then took some pictures from the observation deck over the bridge. And then it was, sadly, time to say goodbye to our daughter and go to muster drill. Fortunately our drill was in Club Fusion with plenty of seating for everyone; we've been to muster drills with people lining the hallway outside of the Crown Grill so it was nice to be comfy.

After muster we went back to our room before heading up to the Oasis Bar for an informal get together at the Oasis Bar with members of our Roll Call. From there we headed back to the Lotus Spa for the 5:00 raffle and DW missed winning a $150 Spa credit BY ONE; the person who got her ticket after her won. That's life.

Our near miss with destiny behind us we headed back aft to Sky Walkers for the Platinum/Elite lounge where we had some shrimp cocktail, and DW had the $5 drink special (Cosmo), while I continued exercising my Ultimate Kids Package card :)

Too stuffed to go for dinner yet we hung out in our cabin and on the balcony until we felt ready for dinner. From our balcony I could see another cruise ship in the distance and it was closing on us. I thought maybe it was the Island headed for the Panama Canal but as it got closer it was clearly much bigger than the Island. It was hard to make out details but judging by the number of “structures” I could detect up topside my guess is it was a Royal Caribbean ship. A little later I saw what was clearly a Carnival ship.

On our way to dinner we passed the Explorers Lounge where they had just started “Movie Poster” trivia; I wish we had been 5 minutes earlier because it looked like fun. We dined in the Savoy dining room; their specialty dish is pork chops but I opted for the prime rib. It was fine but I thought a bit dry; the crème brule for dessert was very yummy!

We walked through the Art Gallery and chatted with one of the workers there who was also from Vancouver and she told us about the auction and said we just HAD to go :) After that we walked the Promenade deck to the aft and headed back to our cabin for the night. We got to watch the crescent moon set behind some island, perhaps Catalina?

Thanks for taking us along. Great start for your first LIVE !

I'm on her at the end of the month, so really enjoying. Have Fun!

PotatoBug,

Could you find out who the CD is and if they will be on the Sapphire in April? Just curious and Mahalo if you have time for this.:o

Your Skywalker experience is exactly the same thing we do.

PotatoBug,

Could you find out who the CD is and if they will be on the Sapphire in April? Just curious and Mahalo if you have time for this.:o

Your Skywalker experience is exactly the same thing we do.

The current CD is Gavin Chandler. I'll see if I can find out if he'll be onboard in April.

CATALINA

We woke in the morning with the rising sun shining straight into our cabin as we moored off the shore of Catalina Island. Off the aft of the ship we were entertained by what appeared to me to be Harbour Seals, although they could have been sea lions for all I know. We also saw the sun reflecting off of something swimming right below us but I couldn't get a positive id; judging by the estimated shape and size I thought it might have been some sort of ray. We dawdled so long watching the marine wildlife (and taking lots of pictures which pretty much look like ocean with no animals in sight :) ) that we missed breakfast in the dining room. After a quick breakfast in the Horizon Court we tried to print a document for DW's new job that she starts when we return home; we were unable to get things working in the Internet Cafe and gave up for the time being hoping we might find some place in town that could help (we didn't).

There was no line when we headed down to the tenders and we were sent straight through; we were first to board our tender so we took a seat up top in order to take pictures. A short boat trip to the docks later we were in Avalon. We rented a golf cart from Island Rentals, the closest rental place to the dock; they had the best deal in town: 4 seat cart, $40/hour, $40 deposit, 1 hour minimum, 3rd hour free. The sticking point is that at all the cart rental places it's cash or traveller's checks only, no credit cards, so be prepared for that if you go.

There's a recommended scenic route which takes you to some wonderful vistas for taking pictures, especially of the ship at anchor. We had an issue with our cart backfiring very loudly so we returned to the rental location; they assured us that was normal and nothing was wrong but they gave us a free half hour for our trouble. We continued our tour and it quickly became apparent we would rather return to the ship than linger on the island; by returning the cart after 1 ½ hours it only cost us $40!

Back onboard about 1:45 we stopped at the International Cafe for a snack since we didn't have lunch. We then worked on DW's document and finally got something that could be printed. We stopped at the Internet Cafe to print some pages, and continued on to Afternoon Tea in the Pacific Moon dining room. The Tea is one of most favourite things on Princess; I love the scones and clotted cream (I passed on the sandwiches in order to have 2 scones).

We decided to watch sailaway from our balcony so we went back to our room to hang out looking at the sea. To our great surprise a large pod (?) of dolphins spent 30-40 minutes in the vicinity of the ship … and I got more pictures of ocean :)

The sun was set by the time we embarked shortly after 6, so we watched the lights of Avalon recede into the distance. The evening's entertainment included a party in the Atrium with a balloon drop; we arrived just in time for the drop but it was so crowded that we couldn't actually see anything … so we went to dinner, instead. We were seated with 2 other couples (one from England and one from central California) who were excellent dinner companions. And, finally, there was souffle for dessert :)

Steve Moris was performing in the Princess Theatre shortly we finished dinner so we took in his show; the theatre was only 1/3 full 10 minutes before showtime but eventually was about half full. I found his combination of humor and music a little uneven but there were more highs than lows.

A quick snack in the Horizon Court (rhubarb pie, my favourite!) and then it was time for bed.

Nice review Rick. Thanks. :)

We have taken this cruise before, and probably again in 2015. It's a nice getaway.

We sailed to Hawaii on Sapphire, and will be sailing on her again next week. What a nice ship.

Pat

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us & looking forward to additional posts. :) We board soon on a b2b stopping in SB & then in Catalina along with the mandatory stop in Ensenada on both cruises.

The current CD is Gavin Chandler. I'll see if I can find out if he'll be onboard in April.

I haven't spoken to Gavin yet but one of his staff told us that all contracts are up before they leave for Asia so I don't think he will be on.

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Rick: I know the Mariachis are great, we saw them on the Golden in Nov. But what band

is in the Wheelhouse? Are they good for dancing? We are on a b2b2b starting Jan 16.

Thanks,

Greg

Sounds like you are enjoying your cruise. Thanks for checking in.....:):):)

Bob

Gavin just came on board from the Golden Princess

Thanks for the review. Is there an additional charge for the Afternoon Tea?

Thanks for the review. Is there an additional charge for the Afternoon Tea?

There's no charge for the afternoon tea which is generally in one of the dining rooms around 3:00.

Gavin just came on board from the Golden Princess

That is true, but the Sapphire is relocating permanently to Asia for the Asian market. They will be doing 4, 5, & 7 day runs during the summer from Shanghai in the summer months and a few longer runs in the winter from Singapore. I imagine that the next CD will have to speak Mandarin so it will be interesting to see what happens?;)

Rick: I know the Mariachis are great, we saw them on the Golden in Nov. But what band

is in the Wheelhouse? Are they good for dancing? We are on a b2b2b starting Jan 16.

We don't spend much time in the lounges but when I walked through the Wheelhouse late in the afternoon there was just a guy playing guitar and singing - I didn't notice his name, sorry.

AT SEA

We love sea days because we feel no obligation to do anything in particular, but this day there were (finally) a bunch of activities that sounded fun to us. We got up early enough to have breakfast in the dining room, sharing with 2 other couples.

From there we went to the “Culinary Demonstration” in the Princess Theater with the Head Chef and Maitre De; they prepared gnocchi, ratatouille, and tiramisu. After the demo we got a quick walk through of one of the galleys; there was no time to linger but interesting nonetheless. The tour dumped us into the dining room holding the “Onboard Outlet Sale” where we found nothing that we “had to have” ;)

We quickly headed up to the Spa for a Detox talk; after hearing the nutritionist tell us all the toxins we're putting in our bodies I think we were all ready to just jump overboard ;)

Not ready for lunch we went back to our cabin to watch the sea go by, and then headed back down for the Pub Lunch. I was surprised that it was held in a dining room; I just assumed it was going to be in the Wheel House. We both had fish and chips, and mushy peas.

From lunch we made our way to the Atrium where we got dessert from the International Cafe, and waited for the “Paper Aeroplane Competition”. The provided sheets of paper and you made your own plane; the goal was to launch from deck 6 through a hula hoop suspended over the atrium floor on deck 5. We were allowed to practice for about 10 minutes and on my 3rd throw I made the target … but that was during practice so it didn't count. I got 2 real throws (after waiting in the line twice) but neither came particularly close :(

Before the competition was complete we hustled over to Sabatini's for an Origami class where we learned to create a box with a lid.

No break in activities for us at that point, though, because we went back forward to the Princess Theater for a “Backstage Tour”. We got to ask the Cruise Director and a couple of entertainment staff leaders (I forget their titles) questions and then everyone in the audience was invited on stage. We got demonstrations of the various lighting they have, and then a quick walk-through backstage. And then we headed to Afternoon Tea although neither of us was hungry ... but we couldn't pass up scones and clotted cream :)

At last there was a break in our itinerary so DW headed back to the cabin for a nap while I went to talk to the Future Cruise Consultant to purchase Future Cruise Deposits with a different credit card than what was on file. Doing so meant waiting to talk to the FCC, and there was quite a wait to do so. Because this is one of the “free” cruises pretty much all she was dealing with were questions about that … no matter how many times she explained how it works to the people waiting to talk to her. She was clearly frustrated with dealing with that but she was still quite professional about it, and relieved that I had a different issue to talk to her about.

Once I had our FCDs purchased I wandered around taking photos, and then went up top to check out the hot tubs. The aft ones were empty so I went and collected DW to go relax in one – the first time in 7 cruises we've actually gotten in a pool or hot tub onboard :) Unfortunately it was more like a lukewarm tub; it was maybe body temperature which is not what I expect from a hot tub.

Still not hungry enough for dinner we decided to take in the 7:00pm show in the Theater: “The Comedy of Alfred & Seymour”. I had noticed recommendations for their act on Cruise Critic so we were looking forward to the show. I'm glad we heeded the suggestion to NOT SHOW UP LATE because the folks that did soon found themselves the target of unwanted attention from the comedians. We enjoyed their show, although I could have done with a little more comedy and a little less dancing.

The dining room menus didn't appeal to us (and the lines were long anyway), and the Horizon Court was doing German Night which also didn't interest us, so we decided to give Alfredo's Pizzeria a try. The crust was slightly underdone in the middle on both of our pizzas but it was still delicious.

After eating we did the “Before They Were Stars Trivia” in a 4 person team with another Cruise Critic couple, and one team came close to a perfect score. I have to assume they had played the game before because there's no other explanation for the correct answers they came up with without clues. From there we did the “Quick Rock N' Roll Quiz”, where we did a little better but not nearly well enough to win.

Finally we were too tired to stay for “Rock N' Roll Night” and headed to our cabin and call it a night. One observation from the day was the staff seemed tired and less “chipper” than usual; they weren't cranky but the smiles and “hellos” were a little slow to come. Service has still been good, though.

There's no charge for the afternoon tea which is generally in one of the dining rooms around 3:00.

Correct, there is no charge. On this cruise it has been from 3:30 to 4:30; it includes tea, finger sandwiches, cookies, and scones (with clotted cream and jam).

Gavin was on the Golden then was switched to the Sapphire. His contract is up next week and will be going on vacation. He was our CD on Golden in October(4 day cruise), then on Sapphire(Dec) when we went to Hawaii , then we stayed on for Mexico. He is very personable and visable. Nice guy. When you just do the short 3 and 4 day cruises, you really don't come in contact with him and may not realize that he is such a nice guy.

oh this is great thank u! we go in 3 weeks!! :) im glad to hear about afternoon tea, I love it (on land)

Gavin was on the Golden then was switched to the Sapphire. His contract is up next week and will be going on vacation. He was our CD on Golden in October(4 day cruise), then on Sapphire(Dec) when we went to Hawaii , then we stayed on for Mexico. He is very personable and visable. Nice guy. When you just do the short 3 and 4 day cruises, you really don't come in contact with him and may not realize that he is such a nice guy.

I was on the same cruise as you were!! I love Gavin. I spoke to him and he is leaving Princess sometime this month. He lives in Palmdale and is married with two small sons. He told me that he wants to be home with his family. I am happy for him but sorry to see him leave. He is a great CD!!!

ENSENADA

My sleeping habits have changed quite a bit in the past year – I used to stay up late and sleep in, but now I almost always wake early. Today was no exception because I was awake and up shortly before 6. Since DW was still sound asleep I went out to read on the balcony, but after a few minutes I heard a splash from the water. I looked down to see two dolphins swimming just off the starboard-aft corner of the ship, basically right under our balcony. I quickly grabbed the camera and videoed them for about half a minute before they dove and disappeared. I went back to reading and a few minutes later I head more splashes and there were several more dolphins swimming with us, so I this time I woke DW to come see. None of them breached but it was still wonderful to watch them. For about the next 10-15 minutes there were dolphins in the vicinity, either right by the ship or slightly off in the distance, but then suddenly there were none. I guess they don't get too close to the entrance to Ensenada.

As we approached the harbour we passed a group of seals (or sea lions?) sunning themselves and barking at passing boats. Once docked we were entertained by pelicans flying by and diving into the sea after a breakfast of fish. DW was still tired so she went back to bed while I went out in search of our breakfast; I ate in Horizon Court and brought some food back for her to eat on the balcony. Also docked in Ensenada was the Carnival Inspiration, a ship so old it has almost no balcony cabins, and for those that do the balcony is cut into the structure. We talked to some of the passengers from that ship and they said how envious they were of our ship.

I had done some research on things to do in Ensenada and came across recommendations for the zip line at Las Canadas campground, south of the city. We caught a taxi at the entrance to the port terminal and the driver, Julio, took us to Las Canadas, waited until we were done, and returned us to the downtown area for $50. The drive to the campground takes about 25-30 minutes, most of which is spent justing getting out of the city.

The zip line itself was a great bargain. Being off-season it was 250 pesos, or about $20 a person! The “canopy tour” has a grand total of 5 zip lines and 5 “suspension” bridges. The order is:

1. a zip across a lake
   
2. an easy bridge
   
3. a zip back across the lake back to the starting area
   
4. a zip out again to a different area than the first
   
5. 3 increasingly challenging bridges (with a break with bottled water)
   
6. an easy bridge
   
7. a long and high tandem zip across the amphitheater
   
8. a long zip back to the starting area
   

It took a total of an hour and a half, and was a great experience; I recommend it highly!

We had our driver drop us in the downtown area so we could do a little shopping. The shop owners are aggressive about trying to get you into their shop but a polite “no thanks” and they back off. One had a novel approach when he saw I was wearing a shirt that said “Canada” he guessed we were from Vancouver, and since he was right we decided to look in his shop. We are about the worst dickerers in the world but DW's struggle to make a decision about some silver bracelets got him to lower the price and throw in a t-shirt I had my eye on.

We noticed several vendors displaying personalized bracelets outside along the sidewalks. We are always on the look for our youngest daughter because she has a relatively uncommon name but we couldn't find one for her. Then one of the vendors said “no problem, I can make one for you in 4 minutes”. And he did. I watched him do it and videoed it but I STILL am unclear on just how he did it … but knitting is a mystery to me as well. All that for 3 bucks :)

Our shopping duties done we walked down to the shore and took the boardwalk back to the ship area. We stopped at the dockside shops before boarding and got some knickknacks. By the time we were back onboard it was nearly 3 so we decided not to eat then but wait for Afternoon Tea at 3:30; DW also wanted some salad so we hit the IC first for that.

After filling up on scones and tea we stopped by the Art Auction for a few minutes. I find the whole idea of buying art while on a cruise somewhat mystifying but it was fun to watch the process, if only for a short while. When we were done we went back to our room to rest, watch tv, pack, and bid farewell to Ensenada.

We ate dinner in Vivaldi this night; that's the Anytime dining room that is used for early Traditional so by arriving right after it was converted over to Anytime we were seated almost immediately. We sat with two other couples, both from California, and had a good time talking cruising with them.

We finished our night with the “Born to be Wild” show in Princess Theater, and then called it a night by heading off to bed.

What time do they convert Vivaldi to anytime dining?

Thanks for all the helpful info in your great trip report.

What time do they convert Vivaldi to anytime dining?

 

Thanks for all the helpful info in your great trip report.

It opens for Anytime at 7:45.

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Sadly, the cruise is done and we're sitting in the Wheelhouse Bar waiting to be called to our transfer to LAX.

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