Just back from 2/12 - 2/19 Sapphire

[Dena]

I won't have time to write a review for at least a few days, but can try to answer quick questions. It was a nice cruise.

[CHIEB2812]

I will be on this cruise next week. I have read about the lei making class on board and how you have to get a ticket to attend. Is this something you have to sign up for as soon as you board ? Can you tell me how this works I would like to do this and dont want to miss the opportunity..:D

[Pia1913]

I will be on this cruise next week. I have read about the lei making class on board and how you have to get a ticket to attend. Is this something you have to sign up for as soon as you board ? Can you tell me how this works I would like to do this and dont want to miss the opportunity..:D

 

The lei making is usually on the Hawaii runs. Did someone tell you they were doing it on the Mexican itinerary? We sure didn't have it on our Trans Pacific and we stopped in Hawaii.

[CHIEB2812]

sorry, thought you were on the sapphire Hawaii . We will be doing the Hawaii run on the Sapphire next week.:D

[Dena]

sorry, thought you were on the sapphire Hawaii . We will be doing the Hawaii run on the Sapphire next week.:D

 

Have a great cruise. We cruised Sapphire to Hawaii several years ago and loved it. I don't know anything about the lei class, but you can buy a nice lei or floral arrangement when on line to board the ship in Hilo. I think my flows cost ten dollars and they stayed fresh form the whole trip.

[Coral]

The lei making is usually on the Hawaii runs. Did someone tell you they were doing it on the Mexican itinerary? We sure didn't have it on our Trans Pacific and we stopped in Hawaii.

 

I think it has been confusing as the Sapphire has done both Mexican and Hawaii trips since January.

[Pia1913]

I think it has been confusing as the Sapphire has done both Mexican and Hawaii trips since January.

 

Have you seen them doing leis, Coral? I recall them doing it on the Pacific, but that was way back in 2004. We were on the Sapphire and in Hawaii twice; September and November and they didn't do them on board any of those times.

[Pam in CA]

I believe the Hawaiian experience specialists Elua are on the Golden, not the Sapphire. They may have lei-making classes, though, on the HI itinerary on the Sapphire.

[mikechass]

I was on the ship last Hawaii cruise.

They did ribbon lei making on a few of the sea days going TO Hawaii... on the way home, they will do real flower lei's.

Going to Hawaii, every day they made an announcement about where they were going to give the tickets you need to enter the lei making classes.

When we were on board, they handed them out at 10 am at Sabatini's which is right near the internet cafe and photo department on Deck 7. They handed out tickets the mornings of a few sea days.

On the sea days coming back they handed out ALL the tickets at once.

The classes were on different days but all the tickets were given out within a half hour.

Hope that helps.

The ribbon lei classes were great.

I learnt and was able to come home and teach my son's Grade 4 class!

It was super!

[crisp1]

I won't have time to write a review for at least a few days, but can try to answer quick questions. It was a nice cruise.

 

Can you tell me about the live musical entertainment aboard. I've heard about the production shows and the comedians/ magicians, but nothing about the bands/ solo entertainers. Is there a jazz band, piano bar, some type of dance band.

Thanks

[Dena]

I can't answer this very well. We never had time to seek out the bands as our traveling companions preferred production shows and we joined them reluctantly. Except for the crew talent show, I did not care for the production shows. There is a piano player but no jazz band. I did not care for the DJ. Really, for us dinner is the evening entertainment. The comedian was just OK. I don't like jokes about child and animal abuse. We would have liked a jazz band.

[crisp1]

Dena, did you have a CC M&G? If so, did you contact Princess and invite any of the officers? Did any of them show up?

[mikechass]

Can you tell me about the live musical entertainment aboard. I've heard about the production shows and the comedians/ magicians, but nothing about the bands/ solo entertainers. Is there a jazz band, piano bar, some type of dance band.

Thanks

 

There were two live bands that I saw.

One was a lady and several men who did a lot of stuff by the pool.

Eagles, CCR etc.

Another Band who played nightly in the Wheelhouse who did jazz and smooth R&B type stuff. They were great.

There was a piano player and singer in the Crooner's Lounge as well.

Hope that helps.

I believe there was also a bar type place, but I didn't step foot in there other then when I got lost a few times !! haha

[crisp1]

There were two live bands that I saw.

One was a lady and several men who did a lot of stuff by the pool.

Eagles, CCR etc.

Another Band who played nightly in the Wheelhouse who did jazz and smooth R&B type stuff. They were great.

There was a piano player and singer in the Crooner's Lounge as well.

Hope that helps.

I believe there was also a bar type place, but I didn't step foot in there other then when I got lost a few times !! haha

 

Thanks, that's a relief, thought we might be stuck with nothing to do at night. By any chance did you notice if the Mermaids Tail or Wake View bars were open during sailaway?

[srpilo]

Helpfull stuff.. Sometimes Q&A is more usefull than a review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing

Srpilo

[mikechass]

I didn't notice sorry.

We have a tradition of calling our kids from the balcony at sail away so they can hear the horns.

They are 9 and 6 and love it!!

[grandmaa]

Dena, did you have a CC M&G? If so, did you contact Princess and invite any of the officers? Did any of them show up?

 

There was a CC M&G...Dena was not there. She never posted on the board. We had a very nice turnout of CC'rs and the ship staff. The Captain, Staff Captain, Cruise Director, Asst. Cruise Director, Sommelier and Hotel Manager were at the M&G. There were many that then went to lunch together in the dining room. We saw lots of friendly faces after that and it was nice to say "Hi" to a fellow CC'r. We find CC an invaluable fount of information..thank you to all who post!

[jinxgirl]

Can you tell me about the live musical entertainment aboard. I've heard about the production shows and the comedians/ magicians, but nothing about the bands/ solo entertainers. Is there a jazz band, piano bar, some type of dance band.

Thanks

 

I just got off the Sapphire last Saturday....I was on for the January 29th-February 12th Hawaii cruise.

 

There was the usual mix of on-board entertainment, with a little bit of something for everyone, as you'd expect on board any cruise ship. My travel companion and I had traditional late seating dinner for most of the cruise (we started with early seating but switched after three days so as not to feel so rushed all the time). Most days we skipped the entertainment in the main theatre - it was too small and so was always crowded, if you wanted a seat you pretty much had to hurry there right after dinner or arrive really early for the pre-dinner shows. Again, just felt too rushed. As a result, we mostly enjoyed the entertainment in the bars and lounges, and poolside during the day.

 

My personal favorite was the piano player/singer in Crooners - Steve Savage was his name, and he could play almost anything, from Frank Sinatra to Barry Manilow to Bon Jovi to Dave Matthews. Very friendly and accommodating too - played tons of requests, got a few singalongs going, really engaged the "crowd". Unfortunately he was scheduled to play LATE most days - he started his set at 9pm. On this 14 day cruise it seemed like a majority of passengers ended their days relatively early, which meant Crooners (like most of the bars and lounges) was mostly empty after 10pm. Steve played to small (but still very enthusiastic) audiences most nights, which was too bad....a lot of my fellow passengers really missed out!

 

There was a "party band" called "Extreme" who played typical cruise tunes and fun danceable stuff - saw them poolside a few times and they were usually in the Wheelhouse Bar at night. They played sailaway parties and the big late-night deck party the night between Hilo and Honolulu. Lots of fun!

 

The other band was called "MIT" and they were also very good, played more contemporary music. They played poolside a few times as well, and were in Club Fusion or the Explorers Lounge most evenings. They also played some of the sailaway parties, including the late night one as we sailed from Honolulu. We also saw them at the Captain's Circle party.

 

There was another pianist named Rudy who was quite talented but played mostly "mood music" in the atrium as people were sitting around during the day and before dinner.

 

Hawaiian ambience was provided by a talented pair who not only performed pre-dinner Hawaiian music in the atrium most days, but who also taught the Ukelele and Hula Lessons on board. They were fantastic, and represented the culture of Hawaii very well!

 

Finally there were two DJ's on board - one who played late at night in Skywalkers to sparse crowds consisting mainly of crew, and another who played in Club Fusion. We didn't go to Club Fusion at all, but we did go and keep the DJ in Skywalkers company a few evenings. Kudos to him for playing all of our requests, BUT when we didn't specifically request a song he tended to play "club hits" that encouraged us to leave rather than stay. We never stayed up there very long at night. It is definitely worth at least one late-night visit though, for the incredible views!

 

Hope this helps!

Cathy

[crisp1]

Cathy, exactly what I was looking for. I just hope that these performers are still on the ship- love a good piano bar, specially a piano guy who 'engages' the crowd- singalongs are great. On some of our cruises the piano player would let some to get up and sing at the mike while he played- tons of fun. I personally like when some of the orchestra get to play in the smaller venues. I could care less about most DJ's, the only good ones are working weddings and bar mitvas ;)

Thanks for your input, can't wait til our cruise!

[caribill]

By any chance did you notice if the Mermaids Tail or Wake View bars were open during sailaway?

 

I was not on that ship, but there is no reason that the Mermaid's Tail bar would not be open then.

 

The Wake View bar will probably have a bar tender at that time, but it not a good place for a sailaway. The small windows are hard to see out of and the atmosphere in that location will not be festive.

[crisp1]

I was not on that ship, but there is no reason that the Mermaid's Tail bar would not be open then.

 

The Wake View bar will probably have a bar tender at that time, but it not a good place for a sailaway. The small windows are hard to see out of and the atmosphere in that location will not be festive.

A b2b on the Caribbean last April Morgan's(the equivalent of Mermaid's) was not open during Sailaway

[jinxgirl]

Thanks, that's a relief, thought we might be stuck with nothing to do at night. By any chance did you notice if the Mermaids Tail or Wake View bars were open during sailaway?

 

The Mermaid's Tail - that's the one by the burger grill and the pizzeria, right? It was definitely open during sailaway as we bought our sailaway drinks there.

 

Cannot comment on the Wake View bar as we only found it on Day Two when we were trying to make our way from the International Dining Room to the Princess Theatre and took a wrong turn at Club Fusion (thereafter "Club CONfusion")!

 

Cathy :)

[crisp1]

The Mermaid's Tail - that's the one by the burger grill and the pizzeria, right? It was definitely open during sailaway as we bought our sailaway drinks there.

 

Cannot comment on the Wake View bar as we only found it on Day Two when we were trying to make our way from the International Dining Room to the Princess Theatre and took a wrong turn at Club Fusion (thereafter "Club CONfusion")!

 

Cathy :)

 

My mistake, it's the Oasis bar, where the shuffleboards and hot tubs are aft on the sports deck

[whitneythegreat]

There were two live bands that I saw.

One was a lady and several men who did a lot of stuff by the pool.

Eagles, CCR etc.

Another Band who played nightly in the Wheelhouse who did jazz and smooth R&B type stuff. They were great.

There was a piano player and singer in the Crooner's Lounge as well.

Hope that helps.

I believe there was also a bar type place, but I didn't step foot in there other then when I got lost a few times !! haha

 

Do you know what the name of the band playing Eagles and CCR etc. was? Sounds like something I'd like to check out.

[grandmaa]

The two groups on board the Sapphire were MIT and Extreme..and they exchanged venues for different events..so no way to know where they will be...