Live on Sapphire to Hawaii 2/2/13

[Canuckleheadd]

 

I'd like to take this opportunity to advise any of my fellow passengers for the 2/23 cruise not to take the ship tour. Only because I want to make sure there are slots open for me and my DH. ;)

 

Scarlett

 

Scarlett, I just booked ALL the ship's tour spots... but I'll sell two spots back to you for $500 each...:p:cool:

 

Scalper Phil

[Scarlett O'Hara 14]

Scarlett, I just booked ALL the ship's tour spots... but I'll sell two spots back to you for $500 each...:p:cool:

 

Scalper Phil

 

That's really thoughtful of you Scalper Phil. I've got a better deal for those two spots. Instead of me paying $500 for each please accept our deluxe suite for two people on an upcoming cruise on the Carnival Triumph. Hip-boots not included.

[Canuckleheadd]

That's really thoughtful of you Scalper Phil. I've got a better deal for those two spots. Instead of me paying $500 for each please accept our deluxe suite for two people on an upcoming cruise on the Carnival Triumph. Hip-boots not included.

 

SOLD! I could meet Erin Burnett!!!

[NewPennCruiser]

Thanks for all of your updates and info. My wife and I are sailing on 2-23.

 

Your info will be very helpful. Thanks again and have a safe trip back to the burgh.

 

Go Stillers!!!!:D

 

LOL, it was a very hard Super Bowl to watch this year....but it was easier being on a cruise. :) Hope it's not snowing back home. I haven't even looked at the forecast. (don't want to know)

[NewPennCruiser]

I really hate looking at the Bridge Report on the TV and having it say it is day 13 of your cruise. Especially when you get off on day 14. The two weeks flew by and we were blessed with good weather and relatively calm seas so I don’t think we can ask for much more than that. I’ll probably post more to wrap this up while I’m sitting at LAX bored out of my mind on Saturday.

 

The weather today was fantastic! Sailing into Ensenada was beautiful and it was a nice sunny day. We did not get off the ship but it appeared that quite a few people did. The port area seems OK so if you really didn’t want to go into town or do an excursion, there is space to walk around and a couple of shops in the terminal if you were really itching to get off the ship and stand on solid ground. We were pretty much docked at 4 and left right at 8.

 

It was fun on the ship earlier today as the Hula and Ukelele folks who were taking lessons all cruise gave their grand performances in the Piazza. It was a lot of fun to watch. And they had another pub lunch today so they had a total of 3 on this cruise. 1 going and 2 coming back.

 

There was a question about the Wheelhouse Bar and dancing. The Randy Heddon Quartet played there every night and they seemed like a nice dance band; pretty much like big band/dinner dancing. Superfly was usually playing most evenings in Explorers Lounge and there were always people dancing there as well and the music was more contemporary. It seems like it was just a year or two ago when people were complaining that Princess was cutting back on their bands and music options. Well they must have listened because the entertainment was very good and there were options for everyone all over the ship; including the usual themed nights in Club Fusion. I do have to apologize that I don’t know how long either of these bands will remain on the ship.

 

Well I have to finish packing and figure out how to get everything stuffed into the suit case. (Kind of like me trying to fit in my clothes after 2 weeks of eating too much) Getting back to reality tomorrow is going to be very difficult. Dave

[Pepes Pal]

I really hate looking at the Bridge Report on the TV and having it say it is day 13 of your cruise. Especially when you get off on day 14. The two weeks flew by and we were blessed with good weather and relatively calm seas so I don’t think we can ask for much more than that. I’ll probably post more to wrap this up while I’m sitting at LAX bored out of my mind on Saturday.

 

The weather today was fantastic! Sailing into Ensenada was beautiful and it was a nice sunny day. We did not get off the ship but it appeared that quite a few people did. The port area seems OK so if you really didn’t want to go into town or do an excursion, there is space to walk around and a couple of shops in the terminal if you were really itching to get off the ship and stand on solid ground. We were pretty much docked at 4 and left right at 8.

 

It was fun on the ship earlier today as the Hula and Ukelele folks who were taking lessons all cruise gave their grand performances in the Piazza. It was a lot of fun to watch. And they had another pub lunch today so they had a total of 3 on this cruise. 1 going and 2 coming back.

 

There was a question about the Wheelhouse Bar and dancing. The Randy Heddon Quartet played there every night and they seemed like a nice dance band; pretty much like big band/dinner dancing. Superfly was usually playing most evenings in Explorers Lounge and there were always people dancing there as well and the music was more contemporary. It seems like it was just a year or two ago when people were complaining that Princess was cutting back on their bands and music options. Well they must have listened because the entertainment was very good and there were options for everyone all over the ship; including the usual themed nights in Club Fusion. I do have to apologize that I don’t know how long either of these bands will remain on the ship.

 

Well I have to finish packing and figure out how to get everything stuffed into the suit case. (Kind of like me trying to fit in my clothes after 2 weeks of eating too much) Getting back to reality tomorrow is going to be very difficult. Dave

 

Thank you Dave for sharing your cruise, events & thoughts with us. It was so enjoyable to follow along with you & BTW, you write very well!

 

I am also originally from "the Burgh" & now live right above the San Pedro cruise terminal so I will be seeing the Sapphire at dock tomorrow morning & wishing it might be my turn to board her for her 7 day Riviera cruise. ;)

 

Have a safe trip back to our "Stiller" country & hopefully next year the Super Bowl will be more colorful with pretty waving yellow "terrible towels" & a big #7 win! :D

 

Judy

[Fisherman/Coho]

Dave

Wonderful posts, many thanks. If you post from the airport, I wonder if you could provide a quick message about how quickly one disembarked the ship, we have a 12:30 international from LAX at the end of the next Hawaii cruise and Princess emailed that they did not think there was enough time to get to the Airport on Princess Ship transfer (is a taxi necessary).

[Kamloops50]

Dave

Wonderful posts, many thanks. If you post from the airport, I wonder if you could provide a quick message about how quickly one disembarked the ship, we have a 12:30 international from LAX at the end of the next Hawaii cruise and Princess emailed that they did not think there was enough time to get to the Airport on Princess Ship transfer (is a taxi necessary).

 

12:30 is cutting it close even using a taxi ($60) to the airport . Sapphire comes in on a Saturday which seems to be busy . I would go with Princess's recommend of flight times. If you self disembark (carrying all your own luggage ) you might just make the flight but you'll be stressed with every little delay.

[Hazelnut1106]

Have enjoyed reading your posts. Do you happen to remember what songs the Princess Pop Choir sang? We enjoy participating in that activity and had heard that the selection of songs would be changing this year.

 

Thanks again for all your wonderful informative posts. -- Susan

[Pepes Pal]

Dave

Wonderful posts, many thanks. If you post from the airport, I wonder if you could provide a quick message about how quickly one disembarked the ship, we have a 12:30 international from LAX at the end of the next Hawaii cruise and Princess emailed that they did not think there was enough time to get to the Airport on Princess Ship transfer (is a taxi necessary).

Traffic is not very heavy on a Saturday morning on the 110 then the 405 freeways. The 405 Freeway also has a "carpool" lane. If you can get the earliest walk-off times, carrying your own luggage & getting a cab, you could be at the airport in 45 to 50 minutes. Air Canada is out of Terminal 2, Alaska Air is now out of Terminal 6 & United is Terminal 6 & 7. These Terminals can be busy but usually aren't a fraction as busy as the Bradley International Terminal.

 

So if you could be out of the Cruise Terminal to catch a cab by 9:30, you could easily be at the airport by 10:30. Hope this helps & you'll be able to end your vacation in a stress free fashion.

[Colo Cruiser]

Dave

Wonderful posts, many thanks. If you post from the airport, I wonder if you could provide a quick message about how quickly one disembarked the ship, we have a 12:30 international from LAX at the end of the next Hawaii cruise and Princess emailed that they did not think there was enough time to get to the Airport on Princess Ship transfer (is a taxi necessary).

 

 

You will be fine, just get off in an early group as suggested.

[NewPennCruiser]

Dave

Wonderful posts, many thanks. If you post from the airport, I wonder if you could provide a quick message about how quickly one disembarked the ship, we have a 12:30 international from LAX at the end of the next Hawaii cruise and Princess emailed that they did not think there was enough time to get to the Airport on Princess Ship transfer (is a taxi necessary).

 

Maybe we were lucky but it was the easiest and quickest disembarkation I've ever been a part of. We were going to do walk off and take a cab because we had a 12:15 flight but doing the ship transfer would be slightly cheaper and we really didn't want to do walk off, so we inquired if they would accept us doing the transfer with a flight prior to their recommended 12:30 time. They said OK mentioning it was a Saturday morning.

 

In any case, walk offs started at 7:45 and we were the first off (red 1) after that. They were ahead of schedule and we were scheduled to be off at 8:30. We were on the bus and leaving by then. Customs took 2 minutes and luggage was very organized. We were literally at LAX, dropped off at Terminal 5, through security and sitting in the Delta Lounge by 9:30.

 

It doesn't get better than that. Well it would be better if we were still on the ship and not 30,000 feet in the air heading back to Pittsburgh but reality is starting to set in. Dave

[NewPennCruiser]

Have enjoyed reading your posts. Do you happen to remember what songs the Princess Pop Choir sang? We enjoy participating in that activity and had heard that the selection of songs would be changing this year.

 

Thanks again for all your wonderful informative posts. -- Susan

 

Let' see, I think these were the songs. (may not be 100% correct)

 

Blame it on the Boogie

Blue Bayou

Eye of the Tiger

Then a BeeGee medley of How Deep is your Love. Stayin' Alive and something else.

 

I also think they did an encore that for the life of me I can't remember what it was.

[Hazelnut1106]

Let' see, I think these were the songs. (may not be 100% correct)

 

Blame it on the Boogie

Blue Bayou

Eye of the Tiger

Then a BeeGee medley of How Deep is your Love. Stayin' Alive and something else.

 

I also think they did an encore that for the life of me I can't remember what it was.

 

Thank you for the updated song list. Have a safe flight home.

[HRPro]

Thanks for a great Live From. We love the Sapphire and Hawaii is on our bucket list for 2014, so I've really enjoyed reading your reports. Glad you had a wonderful cruise and welcome back to the real world!

 

Susan

[cidymom]

Great job posting! Can you tell me what the Princess Pop Choir is? Is it a band? Where do they sing on the ship? Can guests join the choir? Just wondering as I've not heard of them. Thanks.

[Canuckleheadd]

Great job posting! Can you tell me what the Princess Pop Choir is? Is it a band? Where do they sing on the ship? Can guests join the choir? Just wondering as I've not heard of them. Thanks.

 

 

Princess Pop Choir is a singing group made up of passengers. You sign up at the start of the cruise, have a bunch of rehearsals and then do a concert on the last day of the cruise. Usually there are a good 30-40 people signed up. One or two members of the cruise staff run the rehearsals and the show.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Let' see, I think these were the songs. (may not be 100% correct)

 

Blame it on the Boogie

Blue Bayou

Eye of the Tiger

Then a BeeGee medley of How Deep is your Love. Stayin' Alive and something else.

 

I also think they did an encore that for the life of me I can't remember what it was.

 

You mean they finally got different songs? I remember a couple of years ago, they sang "Waterloo" and "Sweet Caroline." In December when I was in the photo gallery area, a rehearsal was shown on the DVD channel (of activities from the day before) and it sounded like one of those was being practiced.

[lrlcml]

LOL, it was a very hard Super Bowl to watch this year....but it was easier being on a cruise. :) Hope it's not snowing back home. I haven't even looked at the forecast. (don't want to know)

It was like rooting for arsenic or cyanide. We'll be back!!! Thanks again.;) A little snow nothing drastic.

[NewPennCruiser]

You mean they finally got different songs? I remember a couple of years ago' date=' they sang "Waterloo" and "Sweet Caroline." In December when I was in the photo gallery area, a rehearsal was shown on the DVD channel (of activities from the day before) and it sounded like one of those was being practiced.[/quote']

 

Yep, Sweet Caroline was finally retired.... Also, in the past when I've seen this, the performance was usually around 5 or 5:30 and fairly well attended but not highlighted in any way. This time, the performance was at 9:00 scheduled pretty much right after the 8:15 production show so the Piazza was packed and they had a large banner hanging and spot lights, etc. It really seemed to make it a big deal for the performers and was more fun to watch.

[Fisherman/Coho]

Many Thanks Dave for posting the information about getting to the airport makes me feel much better. Have a great day.

[dcruisers]

Thanks for taking the time to post live on your cruise. We left the Sapphire the day you boarded and I really enjoyed reliving the cruise! The Sapphire is a well run ship.

Also, we,too, had the easiest debarkation ever! Wish other cruislines would follow their lead.

Welcome back and aloha!

[MitzyA]

Viewing options for the Super Bowl were quite different on the Golden Princess cruise to Hawaii. We were limited to MUTS, Explorers Lounge, and Churchills. No in-cabin viewing. Any seating at MUTS was taken 3 hours before game start, and Explorers was full 90 minutes before game start. It was a real mess because Explorers was the popular place to be and they ran out of seating, and many unhappy guests.

[Woobstr112G]

Dave;

I just wanted to stop by and say that I very much enjoyed following your voyage. It made me even more excited about our own journey next month.....:):):)

 

Bob

[nicster]

Yes, very much appreciated...

 

 

Nicci