Sapphire after Asian Charter

[USN59-79]

We will be on the Sapphire 3 September. Understand it has been chartered for the past couple of months for Asian passengers. Does anyone know if any changes were made to her like the Diamond, such as adding Japanese toilets?

[cdngrl]

I have spent a long time googling and can find nothing about the sapphire being redone for the Asian market.

I board October 16, please come back and post about your trip when you return, I am hungry for news! I've 'read' a few reviews of people sailing now--it loses a bit in translation! but there are photos--mostly of food--of the princess we know and love.

[Astro Flyer]

The major changes done on the Diamond were not done on the Sapphire. One nice thing they did to the Sapphire was adding flat-panel TVs and the interactive TV programming system that is on the new ships. I'm not sure but I seem to recall reading all cabins got pillow-top mattresses however I could be wrong.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[cdngrl]

haha, astro flyer, if there is one cabin that does not have pillow-tops, that will be the one I get! I haven't had one yet.

[Astro Flyer]

haha, astro flyer, if there is one cabin that does not have pillow-tops, that will be the one I get! I haven't had one yet.

 

Me too! :p My cabin steward got me the greatly improved pillow-top mattress pad & on the Royal Princess even I got a pillow-top mattress because every cabin has them. ;)

Edited August 5, 2014 by Astro Flyer

[USN59-79]

I have spent a long time googling and can find nothing about the sapphire being redone for the Asian market.

I board October 16, please come back and post about your trip when you return, I am hungry for news! I've 'read' a few reviews of people sailing now--it loses a bit in translation! but there are photos--mostly of food--of the princess we know and love.

We are taking back to back on her and will spend a few days in Beijing after, so won't be back until just before you leave. But if others haven't reviewed her, I certainly will.

[ibfern]

I am also looking for info, last time I was on the Sapphire in mid-February all the TV's were in, pillow tops on all beds. Chapel was turned into a store and lots of changes were about to take place such as new China in the MDR, fancy new stores, and new menus geared toward the Asian population who will be using this ship for several years!

 

I get on her Dec 18, of course I will try to do a live, and at least a review and hope others will as well.

[Jesse67]

I have been looking for sapphire reviews for weeks we sail in January. Is the current cruising solely for the Asian market and when does this charter end?

[taxmantoo]

I have been looking for sapphire reviews for weeks we sail in January. Is the current cruising solely for the Asian market and when does this charter end?

 

We are on the first normal cruise (or regular, or whatever word is appropriate) on September 3, after 2 months of Asian charters.

Edited August 6, 2014 by taxmantoo

[cdngrl]

We are taking back to back on her and will spend a few days in Beijing after, so won't be back until just before you leave. But if others haven't reviewed her, I certainly will.

 

thank you!

 

I did hear they changed the stores up, added more high-end brands...I won't be doing any shopping aboard!

[Colo Cruiser]

We were on the Sapphire at the end of Feb, they were making some small changes to the stores as mentioned.

[Jesse67]

I look forward to reading all the reviews and tips etc. from September inwards.

 

Thank you

[Holomoku]

I have been looking for sapphire reviews for weeks we sail in January. Is the current cruising solely for the Asian market and when does this charter end?

 

The first two cruises after arrival at the end of April were charters, both the Diamond & Sapphire permanently in the Asian market now, China, Japan and Korea in the summer Indonesia, SE Asia, Malaysia in the winter.:mad: We were on the Sapphire in April for the TP and changes were being made as we sailed along, signage was changing, as were the Casino games, no more craps but lots of Pai Gow. The crew was changing to English speaking Chinese nationals and one needed lots of patience at the Concierge because quite a bit was lost in translations on both sides. I don't know what the CD will do if they can't fluently speak Chinese to do jokes, but then the whole gist of the shows will have probably changed by now.:rolleyes: The idea for this was that they projected that 70K+ could by cycled through on short cruises from the end of May to the end of Sept. I don't think we will be going on our two favorite ships again any time soon.:mad:

[caribill]

The crew was changing to English speaking Chinese nationals and one needed lots of patience at the Concierge because quite a bit was lost in translations on both sides. I don't know what the CD will do if they can't fluently speak Chinese to do jokes, but then the whole gist of the shows will have probably changed by now.

 

We were on an RCCL relocation cruise to Asia last year.

 

o Much of the staff (including our cabin steward and the purser's desk personnel) were Chinese. They spoke perfect English and were 100% knowledgeable about the ship's procedures. In fact, communication with our cabin steward was better than on any of our other cruises. With work on a cruise ship being a plum job for many Chinese and with many educated Chinese having learned English, obtaining an English-speaking staff was not really difficult for RCCL.

 

o The RCCL ship was to get a Chinese CD. Most of the live entertainment in the theater was going to be acts that do not require a knowledge of a language. In other words, no comedians, hypnotists, etc. They were going to have musical acts, acrobatic acts, etc. The production shows which are mainly music and singing without a plot were going to remain in English as western songs are often popular in Asia.

[Widebay]

Carbill - I agree with you, the Chinese make excellent workers. I visit Singapore each year to see my Australian son & his family, and I deal with Singaporean Chinese residents all the time, and I find them super efficient & friendly. I now have quite a few Chinese friends in Singapore.

[USN59-79]

The first two cruises after arrival at the end of April were charters, both the Diamond & Sapphire permanently in the Asian market now, China, Japan and Korea in the summer Indonesia, SE Asia, Malaysia in the winter.:mad: We were on the Sapphire in April for the TP and changes were being made as we sailed along, signage was changing, as were the Casino games, no more craps but lots of Pai Gow. The crew was changing to English speaking Chinese nationals and one needed lots of patience at the Concierge because quite a bit was lost in translations on both sides. I don't know what the CD will do if they can't fluently speak Chinese to do jokes, but then the whole gist of the shows will have probably changed by now.:rolleyes: The idea for this was that they projected that 70K+ could by cycled through on short cruises from the end of May to the end of Sept. I don't think we will be going on our two favorite ships again any time soon.:mad:

So what does that do to the Spring and Fall cruises? When we board on 3 September will we have the same Chinese speaking crew or will different ones come aboard for Fall cruising. It is not a problem for us, as my DW was my Chinese teacher fifty years ago when I lived on Taiwan. In fact, I would consider it an advantage. We actually booked this cruise because it stops in Taiwan. I am surprised at how few cruise ships stop there as it is a very tourist friendly country.