Live on Sapphire to Hawaii 2/2/13

[NewPennCruiser]

We booked this trip well over a year ago and I can’t believe we are finally on vacation and cruising the Pacific. With so many recent negative comments on Princess Suite perks, food/menus/coffee/wine, and particularly Sapphire I was starting to get paranoid over this trip even though I realize opinions are a dime a dozen (including mine). I tend to take in all reviews and comments with a certain level of subjectivity, but I do get excited when I see that there is current info out here when I’m getting close to a trip. In any case I thought I would try to return the favor and share some of my own impressions. This is an itinerary that I have always wanted to do and I’ve been looking forward to this for a LONG time. If anyone has questions, just let me know and I’ll try to answer them. It was also nice to see some positive comments online today from the previous cruise.

 

There seems to be a lot of discussions about whether to do the 14/15 day cruises from the west coast or NCL’s POA around Hawaii. It’s certainly great to have choices and it seems like there are more options than ever from California. The weather in Los Angeles was quite nice and so far the seas have been moderate which according to the Princess channel are about 4 to 7.5 feet. There are whitecaps in the water and it’s mostly cloudy today (Sunday). It’s about 60 degrees this afternoon.

 

We really wanted to do the round trip from LA and while most seem to prefer the Golden because of the onboard entertainment, this fit my schedule better with a Saturday departure. Things have been stressful at home and work so I am looking forward to the sea days to unwind and dial it all back. Our last attempt at a 14 day cruise was a planned B2B trip on Crown last February that was interrupted by the Noro shortened “cruise to nowhere” and an unplanned side trip to Orlando. We had a great time and lots of interesting stories to tell but are really looking forward to 14 days on the Sapphire.

 

We were also looking forward to seeing the Sapphire after the dry dock work last year and so far are impressed. This is probably my favorite ship and the changes were all positive. We splurged this cruise and are staying in an aft suite and were curious as to how we would like it especially with many discussions recently about Princess suite amenities lacking compared to other cruise lines. Since this is my first time in a suite on any cruise line I can’t compare, but the cabin is amazing and I feel like I’m in my own little world here. Wow, what’s not to like? It doesn’t matter to me that we don’t have a special card or that we aren’t singled out all the time as suite passengers once we leave our cabin. So far I can’t imagine why anyone would complain about this but I do realize we all have different opinions on value for money. Our room steward has been extremely attentive so far and the Suite Supervisor checked in on us prior to sailing to make sure we didn’t need anything.

 

Today is Super Bowl Sunday so aside from the usual sea day activities, they are showing the game in Explorers Lounge, Churchills, on MUTS and in your cabin. There is also a Hawaii Naturalist on board who will be doing various lectures and her first couple are scheduled for today.

 

Anyway, it is nice to see that the Sapphire is still in fantastic shape and even though we are only on day 2 of 14, it is great to be back at sea. I will report more on some of the activities, entertainment, dining and cultural options once we start exploring more; assuming internet cooperates…I forgot how SLOW it is. And again, if you have any questions about what is currently available on the ship or how things are going, just let me know. Dave

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[dcruisers]

We just got off yesterday and boy do we have withdrawal! We loved everything about the Sapphire (well-except we would have loved the casino to be smoke free!) especially the crew.

Enjoy your vacation and all that the ship has to offer. Even though we loved the 14 day over a 7 day cruise, it went by fast! Have a safe trip and aloha!

[picture]

So how was the process?

 

Also can you advise if they have any by the bag laundry specials? & if so price & date.

 

Thanks

[picture]

Are the beef medallions on the aways available menu?

 

Thanks

[KruzPrincess]

Hope you have a great time.

[cr8tiv1]

Hi Dave,

 

I am so glad you are doing this live. I am on the Golden before you return. My concerns are the seas. I know that a few crossing in December/January were truly awful (not Princess' fault). Would love updates about your voyage. I know that what happens to you, may not be the same for me.

 

Hope you have a wonderful time on the islands. This is a great time to be over there.

 

Renee (displaced local girl)

[JWJs]

Thanks so much for reporting live from the Sapphire. :)

[highheel girl]

Have a great time and thanks for checking in. :)

[FoghornLeghorn]

Thank you for taking the time to post!

 

We will be on this same trip on the Sapphire in March, so I am excited about your "live from" thread.

 

We are anxious to hear about the Hawaii activities planned. We did this trip on The Golden and the sea days had wonderful Hawaiian things to do.

 

We hope to hear about your excursions and whether they are private ones, or Princess excursions.

 

Wishing you a wonderful trip and lots of R & R!

[Woobstr112G]

We just got off yesterday and boy do we have withdrawal! We loved everything about the Sapphire (well-except we would have loved the casino to be smoke free!) especially the crew.

Enjoy your vacation and all that the ship has to offer. Even though we loved the 14 day over a 7 day cruise, it went by fast! Have a safe trip and aloha!

 

Somewhat off topic, but are you able to advise of any observations of the way the new "alcohol policy" was enforced?

Thanlks

Bob

[cvpends]

I would love to hear about the thermal suite, if you get a chance to check it out. What is there to it, exactly? What size are the rooms? Does it get used much, or overused? Thanks!!

[NewPennCruiser]

I’ll probably try to answer questions in a bulk response to save some internet time so I apologize for not responding to each question individually. I know I mentioned how slow the internet is and I already knew it would be but it seems like you forget until you get back on ship again and realize that everything else outside of the cruising world has improved and gotten faster and then there is cruise ship internet speed…. It just never gets better. Oh well. It is what it is and I guess we should be happy that we have the option at all!

 

To answer some questions, embarkation was fine. It was the first time I have experienced the Staggered Embarkation process but to be honest I didn’t notice any difference. We actually stayed at the LAX Marriott pre cruise and used the Princess transfer so even though we are Platinum and would have priority embarkation privileges, we were still at the mercy of Princess to get us there. They had 5 buses transferring from the Marriott and we were on the first bus that left at 11:30. Once we got to the port they explained that there were some computer problems and said there would be a brief delay. As people came in they asked us all to sit in an area to the left of the escalators. After about 10 minutes at most, they started pushing us through and by the time we were registered they started priority embarkation and we were on board shortly after 12:30. Couldn’t have been easier. There were a lot of folks sitting in the boarding area after going through security so I assume they arrived earlier(?) But it actually seemed less confusing here than what I’m used to at Port Everglades on the east coast. Maybe we were lucky. We also left port close to 2 hours late because the fuel barge was delayed.

 

For those who are interested, the Captain is Marco Fortezze, Cruise Director is Billy Hygate and the Maitre d’ is Jean-Francois Ferat. There is also a Naturalist on board giving lectures on Hawaii as part of the the ScholarShip@Sea program and we watched one her programs today. She is doing talks on ports in the morning and then talks in the afternoon on various aspects of Hawaii, like whales, volcanoes, etc. Her name is Dr. Sharon Faff. She will be on the entire cruise and seems friendly and loves to talk about the Islands. Her lectures are featured in the Princess Theater. She is a retired Ranger from Volcanoes National Park and lives on the Big Island.

 

One of the Cruise Director’s staff is giving Ukelele classes on Monday and they mentioned that there would be lei making classes as we return from Hawaii because they bring the flowers on board while we are there.

 

Formal nights are Monday, Monday and Thursday. Champaign Waterfall is on the first formal night.

 

Before the cruise we were really curious about dining and the new menus, but now that the new menus are newer (or maybe I should say old again)….. I can pretty much say they look like what I am used to seeing even though some of the everyday stuff has changed. Actually the old everyday stuff is still there or back like the beef medallions. The new everyday stuff is also still there like the tri-tips and the sirloin burger. Food has been very good as usual and we dined in the Savoy Dining Room tonight. We really liked our wait staff and the area we were sitting in so we made standing reservations for the same table for the rest of the cruise with the Head Waiter of the dining room as we left.

 

We asked about the wine package on this cruise and it is available. Still not sure what Princess is trying to do or not do with that program since it is hit or miss depending on what ship you’re on but was glad to see it available again for us. We used it on the Crown last year and thought it was a great option. For anyone who cares, there do seem to be a couple of options for either 10 bottles or 12 with a silver level or more expensive gold level.

 

We were happy to see the seas calm down as the day went on. Last night and this morning we were bobbing right along, more front to aft than back and forth but in either case it made walking a challenge. This evening and now later tonight it seems the seas are only slight and while you feel the movement, it’s not as bad as it was. For a good part of the day it felt like you just had a 3 martini lunch. One second you were walking up hill, the next down hill. But talking to a few crew members, they have mentioned that so far this cruise is much smoother than some of the recent ones.

 

To answer some of the other questions, I have not seen any information on laundry bag specials yet but will keep an eye out. Also, I’ll watch the alcohol policy too to see if I notice anything. We do sometimes purchase wine at some ports to bring on ship and in the past have never been stopped from just taking it to our cabin. I’ll see if I notice any changes.

 

We will probably check out the thermal suite tomorrow and will see how crowded it is. It seems smaller than the one we used on Crown last year but has the same things like the heated tile loungers and various steam rooms. The price for non suite folks is $199 per person or $299 per couple.

 

I think that’s about it for now. Will be back tomorrow. Dave

[Working 2 Cruise]

Glad you are enjoying your cruise! We did two cruises to Hawaii last year... One on the Golden and one on the Sapphire. They were both wonderful. Can't wait to do it again!

 

Thank you for keeping us updated!

[sassyredhat]

Nice review...:)

I'm happy to hear positive comments. We sailed Sapphire last April ( our 3rd Hawaii itin), and we thought it was great.

I have heard that some never saw the Maitre'D, but I saw him every night. Maybe it was because I had a gluten free diet plan.

Some of the activities overlap, but we found plenty to occupy us.

I didn't see a laundry special, but I may have missed it. DS and DIL, and our friends did their own laundry onboard.

Sailing is usually choppy the first night out, and the first night back.

I know you will enjoy this as much as we did.

Pat

[Waverunner20]

Dave this is a great idea, and appreciated by many people, as you can see. Thanks also to Scarlett (who let us know on our thread for the Feb. 23rd Sapphire sailing to HI).... and hi Jeanne; I see there are several on here from our thread.

We especially appreciate the reports on the observed wine "policy", and the temperatures! Two years ago when we did this cruise, and left LA on Feb. 27th, it was cold, not mild, but cold. Cold on deck also the first three days; I'm taking a warmer jacket this time. We did the Dec. 20 day cruise from Venice to Galveston on the Crown, and people (including us) were taking 2 and 3 bottles of wine onboard at every port, purchased in the duty free shops at the cruise terminals just before boarding. We should be able to enjoy our private sips in our cabins/balconies without penalties.... so we'll be interested!

 

Have a great time,

Marilyn and Bud

[Bucky3]

Thanks so much for the "Live" posts. Enjoying! The laundry special - all you can get into one bag - is not very prominently advertised! The notice usually a very small one and appears in the evening Patters for the next day and says to have your laundry ready by 9Am! So, if you miss reading that small announcement before retiring, you may be out of luck. I would ask your room steward what day they will be doing this, so you can get more advanced notice! Aloha!

[edtober]

Dave -

 

Thanks for your posts. We are scheduled later this month and are getting excited. How is the entertainment? Who are in the lounges? Hope you continue to have a great trip.

[Shake]

Thanks Dave for keeping us all informed. We are on the next Sapphire Hawaii cruise and are especially interested in your observations and thoughts.

How is the entertainment around the ship and have you been to any of the Princess theater shows? How would you describe the passengers so far?

Thanks again! :cool:

[Fisherman/Coho]

Extremely interting and informative thread without all the extraneous information on other sites. Please keep up the great reporting and I will follow along as we will be traveling on the same cruise in the near future.

:)

[Luvmyrotti]

Yay, I'm so excited to see your live from thread! We board the Sapphire on 2/23 for the same itinerary and well be very interested in all your observations. Do you mind sharing what suite you're in? We booked an aft suite and would love to hear your thoughts, as this is our first aft suite. In particular, how loud is the wake and how much movement do you feel at the aft?

 

Have a great cruise!

[NewPennCruiser]

Greetings from somewhere in the Pacific. We actually saw a freighter today so we aren’t the only ones out here. Weather today is nicer. The sun was out for quite a while although it has disappeared behind the clouds again and it is warmer with less wind; closer to 70 degrees. It sounds like it warms up each day as you get closer to Hawaii. Even though the seas seem smoother today, the ship’s information on the TV says seas are moderate again and every once in a while you really feel it sway back and forth. It certainly could be worse. As it gets closer to dinner time, it really has clouded up and there seems to be some light rain.

 

Someone asked about passenger mix. From what I can tell so far I’m not hearing any complaining and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and it’s a pretty laid back crowd. Most would probably like warmer weather but it is what it is. We’re from Pittsburgh so mid 60’s in February is ok with us! At the Opening Night show Billy Hygate asked where folks were from and Canada actually got a louder cheer than the US and I have noticed as I have talked to people, most I have met are from Canada. But mostly from North America and the typical age bracket for a Princess 14 day cruise in February. There are a handful of kids but not many. One thing I have noticed, there are more motorized scooters on this cruise than any I have ever seen before. Usually there are a couple but I’ve seen them everywhere. God Bless anyone who needs one to get around but a couple of these folks need to slow down. Or at least they should get a little bike ringer or something to make noise when they go around bends. I almost got run over near the photo gallery by someone rushing off somewhere. As these become more prevalent maybe Princess will need to start posting speed limits.

 

Let’s see, here is a quick rundown of Entertainment in no particular order:

 

Scheduled Production Shows include:

 

I Got the Music

Do you Wanna Dance

Piano Man (I thought they retired this show)

Stardust

Born to Be Wild

 

The Resident Bands are:

 

Superfly in Explorers Lounge

Randy Heddon Quartet in Wheelhouse

Pete Thompson at Crooners

A string quartet and a jazz trio frequently playing in the Piazza

 

We’ve wandered and found most music to be good and people dancing so everyone seems to be enjoying it. The main shows in the Theatre seem to be scheduled for 7:00, 8:15 and 10:15 so it sounds like these are the shorter versions…. Will see tonight when they do the first production show. Comedian Carlos Oscar is on board and there was another entertainer last night named Heather Sullivan.

 

Anyway, going to run to get ready for dinner and will report more later tonight. Dave

[madjohn]

Thanks for doing the review as you go. Love reading these. I will be doing the 15 day from SF later this year and love to read about them.

 

Thanks

[echotumi]

enjoying the report .. could you let me know what waitstaff you have we have gone to the sovoy dining room alot . and will in a few weeks , also we have a member of our party who would like to know if u seen ash trays out on the open deck thank you ..

[Cruisin' Chick]

Jeez, I think I saw the Piano Man on our Sapphire cruise, and that was in 2004!