Review Sapphire Princess and 7 Day Independent Land Tour

[LarryF]

Hello everyone,

 

We returned last Sunday from our 16 day journey to Alaska. As I have so much to write, I believe the best way to do this will be to post a day or two at a time so I can be as detailed as possible. I learned so much from this board over the last year, I am happy now to give back and provide this detailed report of our trip.

 

When writing a review I think it’s vital that the writer let the reader know as much about the writer so the reader can understand the source from which the information was derived. So to that end, my wife is 53 and I am 55 years old. I guess we would be considered to be a little above middle class. We have lived in Orlando for the past 23 years. I was born and raised in Columbus, GA and my wife, Amy was born and raised in Columbus, OH. We have a son who will be in his 3rd year of Law School and a daughter who will be in her senior year in college next fall. I run a service company in the Hospitality Industry and Amy teaches Nursery School. This cruise was our 15th cruise, but first to Alaska. We have been to the Caribbean 14 times on Princess, NCL, RCCL, Carnival and HAL. We have no allegiances to any particular cruise line. We have never had a bad cruise and you would be hard pressed to find either one of us ever complain about anything on a cruise vacation.

 

We cruised on the Sapphire Princess from Vancouver to Whittier beginning on May 19. We then toured Alaska on our own between Seward and Denali from May 26 - June 2.

 

Majestic, spectacular, grandiose and magnificent are the best adjectives I can come up with to describe our experience, but those words don't seem even close to capturing the full extent of what we saw and experienced. When people ask me which cruise has been our favorite, I am hard pressed to answer because all of our cruises have been great. But after our experience in Alaska, it is by far the greatest trip (cruise and land) that we have ever taken!

 

Friday, May 18

 

We used frequent flyer points to fly first class to Vancouver on Friday

May 18. We left hot and humid Orlando at 7:00 a.m. and arrived in chilly and cloudy Vancouver around 12:30 p.m. It took about 45 minutes for us to clear customs at the airport. We lugged 4 - 30" suitcases along with our two backpacks and camera case with us and I can tell you that we way over packed and could easily reduced it to 2 suitcases.:eek:

 

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver which I reserved through http://www.priceline.com for $100. The Hotel met our needs well as it was close to the Sea Wall, Stanley Park and Canada Place. There was nothing bad or outstanding about the Hyatt and I would rate it closer to 3 stars. The taxi ride to the airport was $35 Canadian including the tip.

 

After we checked in and got comfortable, we took a nice walk along the Sea Wall towards Stanley Park. It was cloudy and about 50 degrees. We had not eaten lunch yet so we stopped at a little restaurant named Moonstruck. The restaurant was located adjacent to the Westin Bay Shore Hotel at 1590 Coal Harbour Quay. We ordered Dim Sum for the two of us and it was very tasty and we both enjoyed it. It was a little pricey at about $25 Canadian, but was very good. From there we journeyed into Stanley Park. As it was getting late in the day and raining lightly we decided to take a horse and carriage ride around the park with Stanley Park Horse-Drawn Tours (http://www.stanleypark.com). The cost was $26pp. It was about a 1 hour tour that took us by the Totem Poles, Lady in a Wetsuit and other venues. It was drizzly and cold, but they gave us a blanket to cover up and it was a nice relaxing way to see the park. We took the pubic bus back to the Hotel. The cost was $2.50 pp Canadian. You must have the exact change in Canadian coins.

 

We ate dinner at the Shanghai Bistro which was only about 2 blocks from the hotel at 1124 Alberni Street. It was very good and moderately priced. I would highly recommend the restaurant. The cost for the two of us was about $45 Canadian including tip. We window shopped on Robson Street and then called it any early evening as the jet lag set in hard!:confused:

 

Saturday, May 19

 

We had given into our jet lag the night before and were fast asleep by 9:30 p.m., so it was no surprise when we were both wide awake by about 4:00 a.m.! The weather was pretty rotten with low dark clouds and light rain most of the day. We had breakfast at a delightful restaurant called the Bellagio Café and Wine Bar that is located about 2 blocks from the hotel at 773 Hornby Street. The menu was varied and offered eggs, waffles, pancakes and more. It was a little pricey at about $20 Canadian for the two of us, but the ambiance was nice and was much better than eating in a hotel restaurant.

 

We then went on a quick search and rescue mission for me as I realized I had left all my Tuxedo accessories as home!:eek: After looking at a number of men’s stores on Robson Street and finding no cufflinks, studs and vests less than $200 I gave up on my search and settled for a $10 bowtie at Sears and decided I would just use the regular buttons on my tux shirt!:D We then took a walk over to Canada Place to see our Ship and walk through the Pan Pacific Hotel. After walking around Canada place for a while and taking in views of our ship, we realized it was already after 11:00 a.m. and check out time at the Hotel was at 11:00 a.m. We walked back to the Hotel, checked out, picked up our bags and took a taxi back to Canada Place to board the Sapphire. The taxi was about $7 Canadian including the tip. We arrived at the dock about 11:45 a.m. and were on the ship by 12:25pm.

 

To board the ship, you first go through a common security check point that is shared with 2 other cruise ships. The line was not very long and this process took only about 10 minutes. Before you get to the registration area, you have to sign a form that basically says you are not sick and don’t have the noro-virus or have been in contact with anyone who has. The registration process only took about 5 minutes and we then boarded the ship. The good ole photographers were there and waiting to take our pictures. Some years back we decided that we would never buy any of the photos taken on board since we must have about 2 or 3 dozen photos from previous cruises that sit somewhere in a box in the attic! Many times we politely tell the photographers that we will not buy any pictures they take, but they usually are pretty aggressive and insist on taking the picture anyway!

 

I was happy to see that Caribbean fruit drinks weren’t put in our face as soon as we boarded like in the Caribbean. Since this was our 5th cruise on Princess we were pretty familiar with the layout of the ship and easily found our way to our cabin. We had a balcony cabin mid-ship on the Baha Deck (B600).

 

After being in Vancouver for 24 hours and getting through security and boarding the ship, my dear wife decided that she really had wanted to buy a Vancouver T-Shirt!:rolleyes: So we got off the ship to look for a t-shirt. Big mistake! We found an overpriced gift shop in the Pan Pacific Hotel and bought an overpriced t-shirt! When we came back to the security area, of course the line was now 4 times as long as when we first went through! It took about 30 minutes to get back through this time and then we boarded the ship again and yes, we had our picture taken again! HA!

 

Some of our luggage had already arrived, so we began packing things away for the week. We had plenty of room for storage (all four suitcases and backpacks). We went to the Horizon Court for lunch. Each day they had a variety of food for lunch including salads, meats, fish, chicken, pasta, fruit, soups, etc. Also outside by the pool are areas they serve pizza, burgers, fries, etc. The burgers and pizza are superb on Princess Ships! Most days they would also have a specialty buffet by the indoor pool serving Asian Food, Mexican, etc. A little known fact that Princess does not publicize is that they serve Ice Cream (free) on the Port Side of the Horizon Court between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. everyday of the cruise!

 

After lunch we toured the ship and stopped by Sabatini’s to make reservations for dinner one night. We prefer to eat there on the “Italian Night” in the main restaurants. They told us that Monday night was Italian Night, so we made reservations for that night. As it turned out, Monday night was actually “French Night” and we missed some of my favorites (escargot, French onion soup, lamb chops, etc). Tuesday night is actually Italian night.

 

We then walked through the spa and were given a tour of the “Thermal Therapy Room.” This is a room that has about 6 “Thermal Beds” that are tile beds that you lie on. The beds are shaped to slope with the contours of your body and put off heat, so it’s like lying on a big heating pad! The room is very quiet and has a sauna and two different types of steam rooms (one is scented with aroma). It felt so good to lie on the beds that Amy and I decided to sign up for the entire week. The cost was $115 for both of us, which averaged a little over $16 per day. Big Mistake! We used the room for about an hour on the first sea day. It was nice and relaxing, but that was the only time we went in the room for the rest of the cruise. With all our excursions and wanting to be out on deck went we weren’t off the ship, we just never seemed to want to devote the time to go to there. Had there been windows with viewing areas in the Thermal Room, we would have been more likely to spend time there.

 

It had been raining from the time we ate breakfast until about 3 pm when the rain tapered off and the skies started to clear a little. The muster drill was at 4:00 p.m. and the muster stations are all inside rather than out on the deck. After the muster drill we met our fellow cruise critic passengers at the Outrigger Bar by the Aft Pool. Only about 10 of the 20 people showed up; however, it was fun meeting those we had talked to on-line for so many months including ggprincess, bagelme, bobnsandi and dteich! We went to the shows each night with Donna and Mike (dteich) most evenings and very much enjoyed their company! We were about an hour or so late leaving port and cast off a little after 6:00 p.m. It was exciting going under the Lion’s Gate Bridge and the views of Vancouver’s skyline were great.

 

We had personal choice dining which means we could go to one of 4 restaurants or the Horizon Court Buffet for dinner. The menu was the same in each restaurant with the exception that each restaurant had one specialty themed entrée. The restaurants were named the Savoy, Sante Fe, Pacific Moon and Vivaldi. There was also early and late traditional dining in the International Dining Room.

 

We ate in the Savoy Dining Room at about 7:00 a.m. We asked to be seated with other people and were immediately seated with another couple and a woman who was traveling with her mother. The couple was from San Diego and the woman was from San Diego as well, but they did not know one another. Her mother was resting and didn’t make it to dinner. We had really interesting conversations with them all. The husband was a geologist and had lived in Alaska in the 60’s. He was very helpful in telling us about the sites to see in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway.

 

Dinner was very good. I had the Lobster Terrain (sp) appetizer. It was like a pâté and was very good. I had the Porcini Mushroom soup which was ok but not real good (none of the hot soups were very good all week). I had the Prime Rib for my main course and it was cooked to perfection and was excellent. Amy had the fruit medley appetizer and enjoyed it very much. She said the Papaya was the best she had ever had. She also had the mushroom soup and had the Rock Fish for her entrée (from the spa menu). She said it was excellent. She had the Flourless chocolate cake for dessert and I had the Hazel Nut Ice Cream for dessert. Both were excellent!

 

We really enjoy going to the show productions when we cruise and really wanted to go to the opening night show at 10:00 p.m., but we were still not over our jet lag and were just too tired to make the show and called it a night.

 

That’s all the time I’ve got right now and will post more either tonight or tomorrow. Will be happy to answer any questions you might have. I have 14 more days to write about and as you can see I can pretty detailed, so read what’s important to you and just skim over the other bs I might write about!

 

Larry

[gambit57]

Nice review so far. I agree, none of the soups were that great. I normally get 2 or 3 every nite, but this cruise, I just ordered 1 towards the latter half of the cruise.

[sweetsly]

That was a great review-can't wait to read the rest of the ones you plan on posting!

So which night would be a good night to go to Sabatinis?

Do you know if one of the dining rooms were opened for lunch on embarkation day -we prefer that to the buffet that day which is always so crowded the first day

[LarryF]

Hello all,

 

To continue....

 

Sunday, May 20, 2007

 

I woke up at about 6:00 a.m. to a dreary start of the day. As quietly as possible I put on a sweat shirt and pants and made my way to the Gym and walked on the treadmill for about 45 minutes. I would have been much better off in shorts and a t-shirt as the gym was quite warm. After my workout I had some cereal in the Horizon Court and then returned to the cabin at about 8:00 a.m. We had found out the night before that our Travel Agent had bought us a Champaign Breakfast and we arranged with them to have it delivered at 8:30 a.m. It was delivered promptly at 8:30 and the waiter set up our coffee and Champaign on the balcony. Then he brought in 6 platefuls of food! We had fruit, pastries, quiche, bagels, crab salad, smoked salmon and more! It was chilly on the balcony, but the scenery was great and was a really nice treat! I would very much recommend trying this. I believe the cost for the Champaign Breakfast is $28.

 

After breakfast we walked around the ship. Amy went to a Line Dancing class and I to the Golf Simulator and hit some golf balls. We then met up for lunch. Amy had a salad from the buffet and once again I had a cheeseburger and fries!:D

 

Oh, I forgot, at noon we went to listen to the Naturalist, Kathy Slamp, talk about her childhood in Alaska and describe what life was like in Alaska during the Korean War years. I was so tired; I couldn’t keep my eyes open and went to the cabin for a great 2 hour nap. Amy did enjoy her talk and Kathy was great with her commentary while we were in Glacier Bay and College Fjords. After lunch Kathy gave another talk about Glaciers that was very interesting.

 

It rained off and on until about mid afternoon and then it turned very nice. The sun came out and the temperature warmed up into the 50's!

 

Later in the day we did make our way to the Thermal Therapy Room and is was very relaxing. You lay on a heated bed that is contoured to your body. My back gets really sore and the het from the bed really helped sooth and relax my back muscles. They also have a sauna and 2 steam rooms, one of which has aromas. I tried them all and each was very soothing and relaxing. Lastly, the room has a shower that has nozzles from above and all sides. We spent about an hour in the thermal suite. Afterwards we took went in the Jacuzzi by the lap pool which is just outside the spa.

 

We ate dinner in the Pacific Moon Dining Room and had an excellent meal. Again, we chose to be seated with other people and joined a nice couple from Kentucky. I had the lobster bisque which was very good and a Caesar Salad which was very good as well. For me entrée I had the Beef Tournedos (Tenderloin) and it was cooked to perfection and was excellent. Amy had the Shrimp Cocktail for her appetizer and enjoyed it. She had Salmon for her main course and said it was excellent. She had the Chocolate Soufflé for desert and I had Raspberry Ice Cream. Both were excellent! As you can probably tell by now, I love ice cream!:)

 

After dinner we went to the 10:00 p.m. Show called “Under Cover.” The Princess Singers and Dancers performed and sang and danced to Spy Movie songs. It was an ok production, but would have just as much enjoyed listening to music in one of the other lounges.

 

It was a very relaxing day at sea and low hum of the ship's engine and the gentle rocking of the boat put me to sleep real fast as dreams of flying over Misty Fjords filled my mind.

 

Stay tuned for our day in Ketchikan and flying into a little piece of heaven....:)

 

Larry

[LarryF]

That was a great review-can't wait to read the rest of the ones you plan on posting!

So which night would be a good night to go to Sabatinis?

Do you know if one of the dining rooms were opened for lunch on embarkation day -we prefer that to the buffet that day which is always so crowded the first day

 

I think Italian night is the best night to go to Sabatini's which is Tuesday night on the northbound cruise. I just did not like the menu items on Italian night.

 

The Princess Patters shows that there was lunch dining in the International Dining room from noon to 1:30 p.m. only...

 

Larry

[SweetTooth]

Larry, I can't wait to continue to read your review. We are going on the Sapphire early July, but chose to do the land tour with Princess (mainly because we are to go with 3 other couples and knew it would be a challenge to book independent land tour with that many people).

 

Question, we too have chosen personal choice dining. Do we need to pack dress clothes since we are not eating in the "formal" dining room?

 

thanks - I am sure I will have more questions as I read your review. Thanks again for posting it for us !

 

Julie

[LarryF]

Julie,

 

The Personal Choice dining rooms are the same as the Traditional dining room. The difference is that with PC you can go to any of the four restaurants at any time you want and sit by yourselves or with others; whereas in the traditional dining room you either dine at early seating at 6pm or late seating at 8:30 pm and sit at the same table each evening with the same people. There are pros and cons to each.

 

The dress would be the same in PC or the traditional dining rooms. Other than the two formal nights the dress in the dining rooms was very, very casual, much more so than on most of our previous 14 caribbean cruises. I had brought nice dress pants and nice polo or sweater shirts to wear, but after seeing how casual most people dressed, I opted for dockers or my hiking pants with a pull over sweat type shirt and tennis shoes each evening. My wife dressed for comfort as well. The atmosphere is very different from caribbean cruising in that you are on the go so much in the ports, that the last thing you want to do is to have to get real dressed up for dinner. Also in College Fjord (on Northbound Cruise) the viewing doesn't end until well into dinner time.

 

I did wear my tux on the 2 formal nights, but there were a fair amount of people who dressed just as casual on those nights as well. I wished I had the guts to dress down on those nights as well!

[phabric]

I have enjoyed your reviews and am looking forward to the rest.

[shamrockace]

I need my fix......more please. Quite wonderful review. Love the details.

[Tyrkitty]

We're going to be on the Sapphire for 31 days next year so am very interested in your review. Do you know if you can use the thermal suite without signing up for the week - pay as you go plan. I would like to use it, but would be like you and waste a week pass.

[LarryF]

Hello all,

 

To continue….

 

Monday, May 21, 2007

 

I was so anxious to see Ketchikan, I woke up around 5:30 a.m. As I opened the curtain to take peek outside, I was flooded with the wonderful sunlight! :cool: There was not a cloud in the sky and coming into the Port of Ketchikan was beautiful. I dressed quickly into 3 layers of clothes and made my way up to the Sun Deck to watch us come into port. There are two photos of coming into the port on the link under my signature. The first photo shows a mystical cloud floating across the mountains and the other shows the calmness as we slowly make our way to the dock.

 

We had 8:00 a.m. reservations with Island Wings, so I went down to the cabin to make sure Amy was up. She was wide awake and ready for the day so we made our way up the Horizon Court for Breakfast. I always have the same breakfast meal on cruise ships; brand flakes, banana, grapefruit, one piece of bacon and one piece of lox (smoked salmon) and coffee. I have this theory that this healthy meal offsets the cheeseburgers, fries and pizza I usually eat for lunch, not to mention the mid day ice cream and the ice cream I eat for dessert at dinner! Seriously, there is a large variety of selections to choose for breakfast and the food is very good. They have an omelet station on the Port side of the Horizon Court. What surprised me a bit was how crowded the buffet was everyday for breakfast and lunch. This was rarely the case on our other Princess cruises in the Caribbean. I think this is due to the fact that most people have a schedule to meet in Alaska for excursions, whereas it’s more laid back in the Caribbean. Most people it seems don’t understand that the buffet is separated into different stations and you don’t have to stand in line to make your way around the entire buffet. So, if you don’t want eggs for instance, you can forego that line and just jump over to the fruit station if that’s what you looking for. When you enter the buffet there is a crew member that gives you your plate and silverware. Many times the line for this process got very long. I would go through the center entrance to the buffet where their was no crew member handing out the plates and just pick up my own plate and silverware and make my way around to the stations I needed.

 

After breakfast we made our way to the gang plank on the Plaza Deck and got off the ship. Oh yes, the photographers were right there waiting for us! I politely told the photographer that it would be a waste of time to take our picture as we don’t ever buy any, to which he retorted, “I wouldn’t buy your picture either!” That was about the only negative thing that happened all week. While the comment bothered me a little, I quickly rebounded and the excitement of flying to Misty Fjords was all I could think about.

 

We walked along the dock which leads you into Ketchikan. It was a very short walk to our meeting place with Island Wings. Just keep walking straight past the dock for about 5 minutes or so and you will see the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau building. On the other side of the building is a very tall cartoonish looking rain guage (there’s a picture of it in the Ketchikan section of my photos). That’s where they meet you. Our van was there promptly at 7:45 a.m. A very nice young lady (cannot remember her name) whisked us off to meet Michelle for our flight. She was delightful and very informative and gave us a nice tour on our way to the plane.

 

Once at the dock, we met Michelle and within minutes we were all in the plane ready to go. The plane holds eight passengers, but there was just the two of us and one other couple on this trip! So we had lots of room to maneuver around the plane. I was lucky enough to sit in the co-pilots chair next to Michelle which was just incredible!

 

After a brief safety discussion and our approval to continue on with the flight, the propeller was spinning, the engine was roaring and we began our take off. Neither Amy nor I had ever been on a float plane before and were both excited and a little anxious about the flight. With the head sets you wear you cannot hear the engine and as relaxing classical music came through the headsets and we lifted into the air, any anxiety we had vanished quickly.

 

As we entered Misty Fjords National Park floating over snow capped mountains and waters a brilliant blue and the bright blue skies above you, you cannot help but get a lump in your throat and feel your eyes well up a little! I am not a real religious person, but at that first peak of Misty Fjords I thanked God for giving us this glimpse of heaven on earth!

 

Michelle encouraged us to ask questions to which I had many such as how high were the mountain, does the snow melt, what was the history of the Park, etc. But for the most part we all got lost in our own thoughts as we glided through the park listening to the classical music.

 

About half way through the flight Michelle gently descended the plane down and landed on a calm majestic lake and taxied over to a tiny island in the lake. We all got off the plane and spend about 25-30 minutes relaxing in this paradise setting. We had dressed in way too many layers as it was warm in the plane and the outside temperature on the island was in the 60’s. Just an absolutely beautiful day! We took a lot of pictures and just soaked all the beauty in. I have several photos of us on the island and the surrounding scenery in the Ketchikan section of my album.

 

We lifted back up into the air and made our way back to Ketchikan. The flight back was as beautiful as the one coming. We had great views of Ketchikan and the Cruise ships as we came in for our landing. The take offs, flight and landings were so smooth you did not feel anything at all! As we left the Michelle to prepare for her next flight I couldn’t help but give her a giant hug :D and thank her for such a glorious experience. I also made sure to give her an extra big tip.

 

We were back in downtown Ketchikan around 11:00 a.m. Ketchikan is a delightful little town and we spent about an hour and a half walking around. I know it’s a tourist trap, but we liked Creek Street as it was very scenic and we enjoyed browsing through the stores. As you can see in my Ketchikan photos, I took the Kodak moment to put a dollar in Dolly’s garter belt! Do you think may be other photos like that around? We walked from Creek Street closer to town and stopped at a little coffee house and had a chocolate chip muffin and hot cocoa. The muffin and hot cocoa were delicious!

 

At about 12:30 we made our way back to the ship and were amazed to see a double line of people waiting to board the ship. The line went all the way from the gangplank for about 100 yards and then doubled back to the front of the ship (see my Ketchikan photos). It took us 45 minutes to get on board! I was told by someone with Princess that this happens all the time in Ketchikan because of the short port time and everyone coming back to the ship about the same time.

 

Once on board we dropped all our stuff in the room and went to the buffet. Totally out of character for me, I actually ate the food from the buffet! I had a salad along with a delicious Irish stew and croissant. It was very good, but I have to admit I had a piece of pizza as well!

 

After lunch we walked around the deck and even though it was in the 60’s there were a lot of people in there bathing suits lying out in the sun! That gave me the inspiration to dawn my bathing suite and head to the Jacuzzi by the aft pool. We spent the rest of the day just relaxing and taking in the sun rays by the Jacuzzi and pool. It almost felt like we were in Caribbean but with gorgeous snow capped mountains all around us! Amy was nice enough bring me chocolate and vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate sauce that I ate while soaking in the hot tub! Man, it just doesn’t get much better eating ice cream, surrounded by beautiful scenery, making new acquaintances in a bubbling warm Jacuzzi!

 

We had 7:00 dinner reservations at Sabatini’s. We had been to Sabatini’s 4 previous times on Princess Cruises and obviously liked it so much we had to dine there on the Sapphire. While the dinner was quite good, the experience was just not as good as it was the 4 previous times. The dinner lasted three hours which we were expecting. The waiter (Edgar) and his assistant were both efficient, but they really did not interact with us at all. They never smiled or chatted with us at all which was 180 degrees different from our past experiences. Even the Maitre de made no effort to speak with us, ask how our dinner was and always seemed to have serious look on his face. We were seated at a table for two, but had a nice couple from New Zealand on one side of us and a delightful older couple from Texas on the other side. We enjoyed meeting them and the conversations we had with them during dinner. The dinner was very good as always. They have changed the appetizers from our last time, but they were very good. We were served 6 antipastos, a seafood soup and a salad as well as the entrée and dessert. I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to eat everything single selection they brought me as I had done in the past and was able to eat my dinner and dessert without feeling like I was going to explode! I had the Lobster for dinner and while it was prepared in a non-traditional way with some type of brown sauce, it was delicious and I enjoyed it very much. Amy had the Prawns for dinner and said they were great. She raved about her dessert which as a crème brulee made with mocha chocolate. I tasted it and it was really good! I of course had Ice Cream which was delicious!

 

After dinner we went to the 10:15 p.m. show to see a comedian by the name of Daniel Rosen. In my opinion he was really bad! Amy agreed, but everyone is different and I am sure others might like him. I will say there were not many laughs during his entire performance. He does juggle fairly well and he ought to hone his skills more on the juggling and perhaps drop the comedy routine! Next time, I would either go listen to music in one of the lounges or make my way back to the Jacuzzi where it was light outside to almost midnight!

 

That was end of just a magnificent day and as I drifted off to sleep, I wondered what wonders we would have the next day in Juneau….

 

To be continued….

 

Larry

[SweetTooth]

Larry,

SO much good information so far. I can't wait to read the rest. As I mentioned earlier, we cruise SB on July 7th to Vancouver. My DH & I are going to do our best to keep a journal and take lots of pictures.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience with us.

 

Julie

 

Thanks too for the information on the dining. I am going to share all of your posting with our friends that we are going with (as they don't read the forum). :D

[ecpc1302]

Dear Larry,

 

I am enjoying your cruise review. We are going on our first Alaskan cruise in July on RCCL. It doesn't matter that you were on a different ship, your review is great reading. Thank you.

 

Elsie:cool:

[LarryF]

We're going to be on the Sapphire for 31 days next year so am very interested in your review. Do you know if you can use the thermal suite without signing up for the week - pay as you go plan. I would like to use it, but would be like you and waste a week pass.

 

Yes, you can book the Thermal Room on a day to day basis. I believe the cost for a day is $35pp.

 

Larry

[LarryF]

Dear Larry,

 

I am enjoying your cruise review. We are going on our first Alaskan cruise in July on RCCL. It doesn't matter that you were on a different ship, your review is great reading. Thank you.

 

Elsie:cool:

 

Thank you. I hope you enjoy your cruise. We went on the RCCL Serenade of the Seas last year and enjoyed it very much...

 

Larry

[newbie2468]

Larry,

SO much good information so far. I can't wait to read the rest. As I mentioned earlier, we cruise SB on July 7th to Vancouver. My DH & I are going to do our best to keep a journal and take lots of pictures.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience with us.

 

Julie

 

Thanks too for the information on the dining. I am going to share all of your posting with our friends that we are going with (as they don't read the forum). :D

 

 

SweetTooth.. We are sailing on July 7th also... we are so excited... We have planned great shore excursions...

 

Skagway... Train to Yukon, etc.

Juneau... Photo Safari

Ketchikan... Float plane to see the bears !!! Oh My

 

There is a meet and greet forming .. if you are interested !

 

Tori

[cruiserlkb]

Larry thanks for the wonderful review on the Sapphire. We are going next weekend and then doing a 5 day land tour. It looks like we are doing alot of the same tours that you did. Misty Fjords, Harv and Marvs whale and we are doing the White Pass Railroad along with some other tours. Was the weather ever really really cold?? We are starting to pack and do not want to bring a ton of clothes along. Thanks again for the review and any additional info you have to give us would be appreciated!!

[cjnky]

Anxiously awaiting the "next chapter" :)

[LarryF]

Larry thanks for the wonderful review on the Sapphire. We are going next weekend and then doing a 5 day land tour. It looks like we are doing alot of the same tours that you did. Misty Fjords, Harv and Marvs whale and we are doing the White Pass Railroad along with some other tours. Was the weather ever really really cold?? We are starting to pack and do not want to bring a ton of clothes along. Thanks again for the review and any additional info you have to give us would be appreciated!!

 

Yes, there were plenty of times the weather was pretty cold. The mornings were always fairly cold. The entire time in Glacier Bay and College Fjords were in the high 30's to low 40's. When I stood on the front of the ship while cruising through Glacer Bay and College Fjords it was extremely cold. With the windchill it definitlely felt like it was in the teens or even lower! I wore long underwear, hiking pants, sweatshirt, fleece jacket, rain jacket with hood, wool pull over hat, and really good thick gloves! Keep in mind that I am from Florida! It's best to be prepared to wear layers like that. If you look on page 12 of the Alaska pictures I have on the webshots link below you will see me and Amy dressed in many many layers!

 

Where we could have saved room on our packing was with all the nice clothes we packed for dinner. I packed three pairs of nice slacks, 5 long sleeve or sweater type shirts, 3 sweaters and hardly used any of those things. After the first night of seeing how casual people dressed, I usually just wore my light weight hiking pants, a sweatshirt (I had a nice blue and maroon sweat shirt) and tennis shoes. Most everyone dressed like this...some were even in jeans even on Formal night!

 

Larry

[Silver Streak]

Thank you Larry L for your wonderful reviews. Like several others, my DH and I will also be taking the July 7 SB Sapphire Cruise. We have never taken a cruise trip before so I have many questions and your review has been very helpful. I too, have been wondering what to wear for the evening dinners so thank you for letting me know what others are wearing. I can't wait to get on board and enjoy our trip. We leave June 27 and are doing our land portion first. Being gone for so long and doing so many different things it is hard to know what to pack and what to leave at home. Your reviews have helped me in my decision making. See you other July 7 Sapphire SB people soon!:D

[tapia]

What a WONDERFUL review so far. It sounds fantastic and I love the way you're telling the "story" of what you did.

 

Too bad about that horrible picture guy, but I'm glad it didn't ruin anything for you. I'm now subscribed and am anxiously awaiting your next chapter. It makes me really really excited, as my trip is only 2 weeks away!

[LarryF]

Thanks for your comments...I'll try to post another chapter late this afternoon or tonight...Hoping to complete the whole review by Sunday....

 

Larry

[gambit57]

After dinner we went to the 10:15 p.m. show to see a comedian by the name of Daniel Rosen. In my opinion he was really bad! Amy agreed, but everyone is different and I am sure others might like him. I will say there were not many laughs during his entire performance. He does juggle fairly well and he ought to hone his skills more on the juggling and perhaps drop the comedy routine! Next time, I would either go listen to music in one of the lounges or make my way back to the Jacuzzi where it was light outside to almost midnight!

 

Yeah, I enjoy the comedian entertainers. However, this trip, they were all on the bad side. Rosen was definitely the worst of the two. On our last cruise in the Caribbean, even the worst comedian entertainer there was much better than the headliner on this cruise.

[cvschmitt]

Larry and Amy,

 

:) Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures from Alaska.

 

We are scheduled on the Radiance for September -- can't wait. :D

[LarryF]

Larry and Amy,

 

:) Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures from Alaska.

 

We are scheduled on the Radiance for September -- can't wait. :D

 

You will have a great time on the Radiance. It's a great ship!

 

Larry