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

[XBGuy]

14 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Love beets, especially with orange slices.  I will gladly eat your share of beets but won't share my Caesar salad sans kale.

 

🤣🤣🤣

 

And you can feel free to scrape any kale off of your plate on to mine.

[XBGuy]

43 minutes ago, KLM3164 said:

There are more Caesargate reports besides on the Sapphire. I’ve recently seen this same silly concoction on the Royal Princess. This is of interest to me as I’ll be on the Royal in November and January. I am definitely not a fan of kale and will request only romaine. @cr8tiv1I’m with you on the need for kale on a ship……why????

 

 

Well, I'm out of ideas.

[latebloomer56]

16 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

 

Well, I'm out of ideas.

I love kale but always blanch it. They don't and it's tough and bitter. This is not a my idea of a Caesar salad but they will leave this out if you ask, which I do.

[travelin.sisters]

15 hours ago, sunviking90 said:

Thank you SO, SO much for your time and effort in doing this trip report. I have loved following along. You reminded me of what a pretty ship the Sapphire is. We sailed on her years ago and loved her.

So sorry that Covid followed you home. We also finally got it in August after 2 1/2 years healthy and 6 cruises this year, we caught it at home somehow!  Still not sure who gave it to us.

Really appreciate all the food photos. I wonder how many people ordered the Love Boat Dream and just stared when it arrived! What the heck was that! Some things should NOT be messed with. Princess also used to be known for their good pasta (a remnant from Sitmar), so that was really too bad that they messed that up.

Hopefully they will figure it all out. It must be very difficult with so many new crew, shortages, etc.

I had read that the Love Boat Dream had been changed but this was so bizzare...another thread from the Majestic had a picture of their Love Boat Dream which was also different than we remember but at least not glowing red!

 

so far only one of us has tested positive (& barely has felt sick) so hopefully...

[travelin.sisters]

14 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

The Trident Grill on the Lido Deck is our regular embarkation day lunch destination--burgers and fries, grab a table and watch as excited cruisers bustle around.  However, Mrs.  XBGuy would dispute the claim that the best fries on the ship are from the Trident Grill.

 

She loves the Garlic Fries served in Crown Grill.  (From the picture of the menu, above, I see that these are also available at the Sterling Steakhouse.)  I am inclined to agree with her.  Whenever we dine at Crown Grill, she regularly orders the Garlic Fries as her appetizer.  Invariably, the server gives her a double take and, then, takes her order.  Garlic Fries are presented to here when my appetizer course is presented to me.  The very good thing as far as I am concerned is that she cannot eat all of them.  So, I get to reach over and poach some as often as I want during our meal.  😁

 

Thank you for your excellent reports.

please tell Mrs  XBGuy that she has now sent me into a quandry....I have never tried the fries at the Crown Grill because I really like their baked potato, so then I thought well I can't eat any of the appetizers so maybe I could follow Mrs XBGuy's plan & order fries, but then I remembered the new cheesy garlic bread that was so good I ate more than my share, asked for another, ate a piece & took the rest back to my room in a ziplock & ate it in the middle of the night...it's like 5 months to our next cruise, will I spend the whole time trying to decide between garlic fries, cheesy garlicy bread & baked potato? 

[travelin.sisters]

10 hours ago, XBGuy said:

Regarding the Caesar Salads, I have to wonder if sufficient amounts of certain ingredients were not loaded onto the ship prior to embarkation.  It happens.  On one cruise I had reason to meet with the Room Service Manager on embarkation day to plan out an Ultimate Balcony Dinner that we had booked.  In making small talk after we had finished, he mentioned that no liquor had been delivered to him that day.  The exacerbating factor was that there were 800 Elite Level passengers boarding, and he had quite a few cabin minibars to fill.

 

The galley is dependent on purveyors delivering provisions to the dock.  Stuff happens.  Instead of getting X heads of lettuce, they received half of X.  What to do?  They do the same thing that housewives have done since the beginning of time.  They look at their stock and ask, "How can I make a meal out of that?"  There isn't enough romaine lettuce.  Supplement what we do have with something else that is green and leafy.  Adding garbanzo beans seems a tad unusual, but I guess that desperate times yield desperate measures.

 

I would be very surprised if there are more Caesargate reports on subsequent cruises.

 

 

 I have seen menus from several ships that now have the same description: romaine & kale ceasar salad parmesan, crispy chickpeas, ceasar dressing so I think that is a fleet-wide change...ours did not actually have chickpeas or kale, I just didn't think it was a good as I remembered although BIL had it covered with anchovies 4 or 5 times.

[travelin.sisters]

so today we retested after 5 days & the one with covid is still slightly positive (basically no symptoms anymore) & the rest are still negative, so we finally went to retrieve the puppy from her ranch adventure vacation with my niece 

        

 

 

Edited October 12, 2022 by travelin.sisters

[travelin.sisters]

moving on from the debacle of 'new & improved' Love Boat Dreams & Kale Chickpea Ceasar Salads--most of the food was quite good, & there is always something else to eat so here are the last few days of dinners

dinner day 7

 

 

crab cake with tomato carpaccio

 

grilled chicken salad 

 

cowboy striploin

 

pork shoulder

 

penne al pomodoro con calamari

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[travelin.sisters]

dinner day 8 was at Sabatini's which was disappointing mostly for the service & lack of attention to our allergy needs. (I did not get pix of the MDR menu for this night)

The table setting was lovely & we had a table with a window view which was delightful 

 

 

we gobbled the house appetizer plate before I remembered to take a photo!

then came the antipasti

lamb skewers

 

& calimari

 

next the pasta dish (except my poor sister who had to reorder at this point because they hadn't checked for allergens)

seafood linguini

lamb tortellini & the wonderful bread

next came the soup/salad course?

the fondue (which is a mushroom/cheese soup)

 

mains

 

tiramisu (good but not what he ordered)

 

chef's specialty (a little one of each dessert)

 

[travelin.sisters]

dinner day 9--second formal night

 

 

 

 

the teriyaki salmon was delicious

 

the crab our waiter made for me

 

[travelin.sisters]

day 10...one last dinner

 

 

crudite & macadamia hummus (just ok)

seafood medley

 

meatloaf (again just ok)

 

surf & turf (the shrimp were better than the lobster the night before)

 

 

no dessert photos...but the new & improved baked Alaska looked better than the old one, little domes with meringue like tiny baked Alaskas ranter than slices of a big one...no baked Alaska dance

 

[ethereal]

On 10/10/2022 at 10:12 PM, travelin.sisters said:

thank you for your kind words & following along

• I posted photos of the laundry in one of my posts (maybe answers to questions?)--you can get tokens from a machine in the laundry room with your medallion the price is in the photo, I don't remember 
• there was a range of dressing up, I did not personally see any tuxes or actual gowns, but everything from collared shirts to suits & ties on men & pants with a dressy top to long dresses for women...I would go with what you are comfortable with & what you can pack
• I have never done that route, but I would say the Alaska motto would be good...layers!
• are you in the roll call for that sailing, sometimes there are people who have done the same or similar itineraries & are very helpful

have a wonderful trip

Thanks so very much!  Yes, I'm on the roll call but have only seen a list of things to bring other than clothes.  I'll check again.

[superlou]

Thank you for all the effort you've put in doing this with all the information and pictures. I will be sailing on the Sapphire, November 2nd, to Hawaii so I was nice to get an idea of how things are going on the ship.

Were the chickpeas really crispy? Perhaps meant to be like fancy croutons? Still not a classic Caesar salad!

Marlou

[travelin.sisters]

3 hours ago, superlou said:

Thank you for all the effort you've put in doing this with all the information and pictures. I will be sailing on the Sapphire, November 2nd, to Hawaii so I was nice to get an idea of how things are going on the ship.

Were the chickpeas really crispy? Perhaps meant to be like fancy croutons? Still not a classic Caesar salad!

Marlou

we didn't actually have any chickpeas on ours only listed on the menu but not on the plates, but yes I think they were meant to be crouton like things

 

have a wonderful trip to Hawai'i, it is our favorite itinerary...the crew were universally delightful on the Sapphire & the captain was great

 

[brekat1]

On 9/22/2022 at 1:36 PM, Vexorg said:

Also on the October 23rd sailing here, will be interesting to see how this one goes.

Same! Getting very excited! 

[caribill]

On 10/12/2022 at 1:22 AM, travelin.sisters said:

cowboy striploin

 

 

 

How tough (or tender) was this steak?

[travelin.sisters]

20 hours ago, caribill said:

 

How tough (or tender) was this steak?

my sister enjoyed it but I did not try it. most of the beef on the Sapphire was very good (unlike our cruises earlier in the year)

[startedwithamouse]

On 10/10/2022 at 11:10 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

Yes, others have posted video.  I have no idea how to do it.  I would guess they have to be short videos.  I'm sure someone will give you instructions.

 

My, the food for your Sea of Cortez voyage was much different than mine on the Grand in March/April.  Thanks for posting food photos.  Pictures are worth a thousand words.  

They're using the Hawaiian menus for Sea of Cortez.

[startedwithamouse]

26 minutes ago, travelin.sisters said:

my sister enjoyed it but I did not try it. most of the beef on the Sapphire was very good (unlike our cruises earlier in the year)

Did you happen to get a picture of the officer board showing who the executive chef is? We had the best food on the Majestic Princess, a few times, and other ships just so so since sailing has resumed. 

[travelin.sisters]

13 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

Did you happen to get a picture of the officer board showing who the executive chef is? We had the best food on the Majestic Princess, a few times, and other ships just so so since sailing has resumed. 

someone on our sailing posted it on the first day (page 2, I think) & I posted it later in post #109 

the food on our sailing got better as the cruise went on...some things like the beef were delicious other things were not, lots of food discussion throughout this thread with the pros & cons of the food on this sailing & the changes to traditional favorites

 

yes they were using the Hawai'ian menus, maybe because they headed to Hawai'i when we got off...lots of the crew were excited as it would be there first visit there

Edited October 17, 2022 by travelin.sisters

[mhkcdk]

I just saw this thread today and the comments on the food caught my eye. I posted my own review of the ship under ship reviews if you want to see the entire review. But as far as the food was concerned, this excerpt might provide some additional insight: 

"Food in the main dining rooms and buffet was not what I expect from Princess. Early in the voyage, I met Chef Rudi Sodamin, the new corporate executive chef hired in January to revamp their menus. He agreed there were problems. He said most of the chefs aboard were new because experienced chefs had found other work and were not coming back. He said he met nightly with the cooking staff to go over what he saw.

Dining room service was below average. Longer waits, lack of attention to detail (no recommendations, no offer of ground pepper for salad, not always checking to make sure mains were adequate, etc.

Chef Rudi promised that by January we would see significant changes to the food and menus. He is working on more than 100 new recipes. He also said supply chain issues are continuing to be a problem with sourcing food. The bars ran out of limes and ginger beer."

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 10/11/2022 at 12:24 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

How I miss tableside preparations of of Caesar salads.

 

The only place to get a proper Caesar in So Cal anymore is Caesar's in TJ. CA laws limiting the use of wooden salad bowls, raw eggs, etc killed it in So Cal.

[DiRonT]

1 hour ago, mhkcdk said:

I just saw this thread today and the comments on the food caught my eye. I posted my own review of the ship under ship reviews if you want to see the entire review. But as far as the food was concerned, this excerpt might provide some additional insight: 

"Food in the main dining rooms and buffet was not what I expect from Princess. Early in the voyage, I met Chef Rudi Sodamin, the new corporate executive chef hired in January to revamp their menus. He agreed there were problems. He said most of the chefs aboard were new because experienced chefs had found other work and were not coming back. He said he met nightly with the cooking staff to go over what he saw.

Dining room service was below average. Longer waits, lack of attention to detail (no recommendations, no offer of ground pepper for salad, not always checking to make sure mains were adequate, etc.

Chef Rudi promised that by January we would see significant changes to the food and menus. He is working on more than 100 new recipes. He also said supply chain issues are continuing to be a problem with sourcing food. The bars ran out of limes and ginger beer."

"Different strokes" as the saying goes.  I would agree with you regarding the buffet - just awful, but our experience in the dining room could not have been better.  So much attention to detail, great recommendations and fabulous service and really good food.  First time in 23 Princess cruises that the meat was cooked to perfection the first time (without sending it back).

[seagunthera]

Can anyone speak to the stock found in the Princess stores onboard?  I always buy a few cosmetics but am concerned the stock could be years old. TIA:)

[travelin.sisters]

On 10/11/2022 at 1:01 PM, XBGuy said:

 

I feel the same way about beets.  😉  Apparently. however, I am in the minority.

 

 

was just rereading this thread as I wrap up this trip & saw your comment again...you will be ______ (fill in the blank: surprised, horrified, amazed, or...) to see the sandwich in the International Cafe next time you sail that is a clice of bread covered with slices of beets...