Live from the Sapphire Princess: first post pause sailing 9/24-10/4/2022 (Baja Peninsula & Sea of Cortez)

[travelin.sisters]

Patter Day 2

 

[travelin.sisters]

Patter day 3

 

[Mike45LC]

Fantastic thread.  Thank you, Traveling Sisters!

 

And thanks to the crew who will have fixed all the problems reported on the Sept 24 cruise before we set sail in 18 days!

[Palmschickastan]

Thank you so much for posting all this.  It was really helpful!

[travelin.sisters]

28 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

Fantastic thread.  Thank you, Traveling Sisters!

 

And thanks to the crew who will have fixed all the problems reported on the Sept 24 cruise before we set sail in 18 days!

I think they will have most things fixed...there are always ongoing maintenance things on any ship, but the crew is working so hard to sort things out & Captain Ravera is great...have a wonderful trip wherever you are going

[travelin.sisters]

Patter day 4

 

[travelin.sisters]

Patter day 5

 

[travelin.sisters]

Patter day 6

 

[travelin.sisters]

Patter day 7

 

[DavidsNana]

@travelin.sistersThanks so much for the pictures and all the information you provide.  I just love your reviews.

[Mike45LC]

14 minutes ago, travelin.sisters said:

have a wonderful trip wherever you are going

Same trip, 10 day Baja/Cortez (but PV instead of SD, I hope!!).   We've done Mex Riv many  many times, but not the Sea of Cortez.

[travelin.sisters]

Patter day 8

 

[travelin.sisters]

Patter day 9

 

 

[travelin.sisters]

Patter day 10

 

[travelin.sisters]

and the rest of the papers they gave us:

about our itinerary change

 

immigration checks in San Diego

 

disembarkation

 

[travelin.sisters]

...after 2 1/2 years & 3 cruises one of us tested positive...it may be a bit before I'm back to do food & menus

[NownZen]

2 minutes ago, travelin.sisters said:

...after 2 1/2 years & 3 cruises one of us tested positive...it may be a bit before I'm back to do food & menus

Thank you for all your efforts. Let us know how you are doing with recovery.

[debi2g]

3 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

...after 2 1/2 years & 3 cruises one of us tested positive...it may be a bit before I'm back to do food & menus

Take care, and THANK YOU so very much for your daily reports, beautiful photos, and all the time you've  spent to do this for all of us who have upcoming cruises on Sapphire Princess!

[chamima]

19 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

...after 2 1/2 years & 3 cruises one of us tested positive...it may be a bit before I'm back to do food & menus

 

I hope you have a mild case and recover quickly.

[SClakeliving]

22 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

...after 2 1/2 years & 3 cruises one of us tested positive...it may be a bit before I'm back to do food & menus

hope you feel better soon! Thank you for your updates! 

[Kay S]

Thanks for this.  Memories.  I have done this itinerary a couple of times and loved it.  Loreto is my favorite.

[travelin.sisters]

thank you all for your kind words & well wishes, I guess while I am sitting around waiting to see if the person who didn't wear masks as faithfully gives the rest of us covid & waiting on him (he's just got a sore throat & cough but we won't let him out of his room to breathe on us now) I can reminisce about cruise food

 

it is always interesting to me how a dish that has been wonderful on every other cruise is turned not so good on one ship...for us on the Sapphire: 

the fettuccini alfredo was pretty uneatable, the pasta was hard & clumped & barely any sauce...I had it the first night & didn't try it again, but it has always been one of my sister's favorites so she tried it twice later in the cruise & it did not improve

 

WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO THE PRINCESS LOVE BOAT DREAM?!?!?

it has always been a reliable choice when nothing else sounded good or I just wanted a little chocolate after dinner--it is now some strange concoction of brownie, mouse & covered with raspberry brulee 

 

unlike the fettuccini alfredo, many things did get better over the cruise as they settled into their routine: the cookies were hard as rocks the first day or two but were pretty good by the end of the cruise, although I never found a peanut butter one; bacon & omelets were pretty good by the third or fourth day; I found I could get decent diet coke if I went to a bar that was pouring out of cans because the dispensers didn't work, 

 

some things were just really good from the start: the beef I had on this cruise was uniformly tender & delicious (we don't eat a lot of beef at home but on a cruise we do & this was much better than on our 2 January cruises); my BIL the marine biologist & seafood lover said it was all very good (he has been enjoying the seafood heavy menus since we came back to cruising); the bread was wonderful (I kind of miss them serving individual  rolls because then I could get my waiter to just bring me 2 of my favorite every night with butter, but the variety is good too) 

 

I missed (since they changed the menu) being able to get a tuna or chicken salad sandwich in the International cafe. they do have new muffins at breakfast which are more like mini souffles or crustless quiches & are delicious. 

 

The buffet menu was a little strange. We only went for breakfast or lunch so I don't know about dinner. For breakfast there was the typical princess offerings: hot & cold cereal, fruit, juice, eggs, bacon, sausage & some items like adobo & rice but then there are things that seem to be left over from the night before (for example deviled eggs, seafood cocktail, etc) & lunch meats & cheese & maybe salad. For lunch there are lots of offerings but not much to make a sandwich & the salad bar offerings were very limited. One funny cultural thing was the day they had sonoran hot dogs in the buffet but there was no mustard anywhere. I heard several conversations between cruisers & confused buffet attendants about this issue.

 

Anyway enough rambling about food, more photos & menus to come...eventually.

 

[chamima]

OH - It looks from your photos like they've ruined two of my favorites! 😪

 

Maybe it's a good thing - I'll finally come home from a cruise without a 10 lb. weight gain.

[Mike45LC]

I agree with Chamima, we need great Alfredo and Love Boat Dreams!!!

 

Now I am frightened!!

[travelin.sisters]

 

43 minutes ago, chamima said:

OH - It looks from your photos like they've ruined two of my favorites! 😪

 

Maybe it's a good thing - I'll finally come home from a cruise without a 10 lb. weight gain.

 

39 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

I agree with Chamima, we need great Alfredo and Love Boat Dreams!!!

 

Now I am frightened!!

I know it was sadness, maybe it's just this ship & she's newly back in service? fortunately, or unfortunately depending on whether it's your taste buds or your belt answering, there are many other new favorites to find...the gluten-free hazelnut chocolate mouse is almost always available in the IC & it & the chocolate cake from room service are delicious...I always seem to find new things to eat on a cruise.

 

I am hoping the alfredo was just new chefs because they also somehow managed to make the caesar salad unpleasant (although BIL ordered it most days, but he gets it smothered in anchovies so...) & I saw a much nicer one with shaved not powdered parmesan in a live from another ship so I have not given up on that