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Hijack away Ann….. Bob

I didn’t start feeling it till Hilo….. Bob

On Kauai, I went to the drug store and came right back on the ship. I probably wasn't on dry land for much more than an hour..... Bob

Thanks Sharon. It definitely is a debbie downer being sick on a cruise. Back in March I got COVID on the Royal and now this. When I get back home I'm going to make some serious life style changes to get healthier so this hopefully won't happen again..... Bob

The GS on the Sapphire use to have a desktop computer in a little cubby on the desk area next to the bed. Ours has been removed. In 2018 we had the GS on the Star for another Hawaii crossing. No destop computer in the cabin. Our first voyage in the GS (2016 on the Caribbean Princess) did have the computer. It was so slow, that I went back to using my laptop with the ship's wifi. Below is a 2020 youtube video of the GS on the Diamond Princess. There is no desktop computer shown. https://youtu.be/hNUC1B9hAmY?si=1gyS9KRlBSrqC9kJ As far as special perks and such, there may have been stuff offered in the past, but with my three sailings in a GS, I've not noticed anything special offered. The big plus for this cabin is the size of it and it accompanying huge balcony. One note about the sofa bed (at least on the Sapphire); it is extremely uncomfortable. Our cabin steward had to add a second pillow top to make it useable. The cabin steward did say there were plans to replace it soon. An interesting thing our cabin steward told us is (again at least on the Sapphire) they no longer offer egg crate mattress toppers. He explained they got rid of them when they added to new bedding. Hope that helps..... Bob

Hi Abby. Hope all is well with you and yours..... Bob

Good morning from the beautiful Sapphire Princess. Today is Day 9 of our voyage as we continue to sail (motor) to Kona. I'm still feeling pretty lousy to this pesky cold I have. Yesterday I got off for a quick uber ride to a local CVS (Longs) to get some meds. When I got back onboard I took my meds and pretty much stayed in bed the rest of the day. We were originally scheduled to arrive at Kona (tender port) at 0700. We are now, according to the updated patters, scheduled to arrive at 0800. The reason for our delay was quite interesting. Yesterday, while docked in Kauai, the Captain came on the PA system at 1700 (our scheduled departure time) announcing that a traffic collision was blocking a highway which was delaying arrival of some tour busses. He added that we were waiting on the arrival of 88 passengers. The Captain came back on 30 minutes later and stated everyone was back with the exception of eight passengers. He also explained the plan to get our fellow passengers back onboard. The Captain went on to say we would have to depart the harbour as local laws prevented ships from leaving after sunset. Once we departed, we did a little station keeping outside of the harbour while one of the ship's tenders picked up the remaining passengers and transported them back to the ship. As far as today's plans go, I'm kind of thinking I'm not going to get off the ship today. I'll probably want to rest so I can hopefully get over this cold before we get back to San Pedro and I have to do the long drive back to Arizona. After leaving Kona, we will beging our journey to Ensenada. Tonight we will loos the fiirst of three hours due to a time change. Today's entertainment options are the Movie "Dog" will be shown on MUTS at 1215. The movie "The Kings Man" will be screened in the Explorers Lounge at 1300. Monday Night Football pitting the San Francisco 49'ers against the Minnesota Vikings will be broadcast on MUTS at 1415 ship's time. Acoustic Guitar and Vocalist artist Vangelis will perform in the Piazza at 1615 & 1745. The movie "The Flash" will screen on MUTS at 1800 & 2100. Moondance Duo will be in the Wheelhouse bar at 1815 & 2115. Janusz Bator will be in Crooners at 1930. Andy Morris will be in Crooners from 2100 onwards. The Princess Theater show will be vocal impressionist Mike Wilson at 1930 and 2130. There will be a show "Strings of Rock" that will be in the Explorers Lounge at 2030 & 2230. The house band Gravity takes over in the Explorers Lounge from 2115 onwards. Thats all for now. Hope all are well..... Bob

Good morning from the beautiful Sapphire Princess. It is just before 0600 local time as we are nearing today's port of Nawiliwili Kauai. I overslept a bit as I've come down with the dreaded cruise ship fall cold. It's not COVID (Tested myself twice) so that's a relief. I'll be headed out after to a local CVS (about 2.5 miles away from the port) to pick up a few things. Holli & I did have a ship based excursion planned, but she put her foot down and told me to get some rest after I get back from CVS. Plus this is our fourth time stopping here on a cruise so we've already seen a lot of the Island. Yesterday in Honolulu we did a night time dinner cruise (Star of Honolulu). Overall we had a great time. The waitstaff was top notch along with the entertainment that was also very good. Food (yup it's a subjective thing) was just okay. The full lobster was pretty bad as it was cold and somewhat tough. The beef tenderloin was however pretty tasty. Bar service was also a little slow. Best thing about this excursion (It was privately arranged) is the Star of Honolulu docks on the other side of the Aloha Tower and is a very short walk from where we were docked. Holli even said the walk wasn't too bad for her. I'm gonna cut this short so I can get some more rest before I head out to CVS later. Hope all are well..... Bob

Thanks for the good wishes. Just out of curiosity, how long was your cruise? When we checked in last Friday, I was told the max park and sail days was 10. I had to pay for the additional five days..... Bob

A very early good morning from the Sapphire Princess. It is only 0417 (ship's time) as I begin to type this. Another early morning rise for me. There is only me and one other passenger in the IC as I begin this post. Seas are fairly calm right now. They were fairly smooth during the night as I had no problems sleeping. Yesterday in Hilo we did not have anything planned. I got off the ship for about an hour or so and just walked around a bit. Holli stayed onboard to rest her back in preparation for our excursion today. There really isn't much to do right around the port. It is a somewhat industrial area. The town of Hilo and Walmart are about two miles from the dock. I'm actually glad I didn't go to Walmart as i heard from several different sources that it was a total zoo. Besides a cruise ship being in port, yesterday was sort of a grand reopening for the store as they had finished up some remodeling. A local was actually the first to warn me about going there. He told me it was packed and they had a multitude of food trucks in the parking lot to help celebrate the reopening festivities. Today in Honolulu we are scheduled to arrive at 0700 with a 2230 all aboard. Holli & I have a dinner cruise planned for a little after 1600. I booked it privately through "Star of Honolulu." We've done the dinner cruise previously and are looking forward to doing it again. The reason I booked it privately is Princess was only offering a Sunset Cocktail Cruise while we wanted to do the full dinner cruise. As far as this morning goes, we are hoping to once again enjoy our suite perk of breakfast in Sabatinis. After that, I'll probably work on touching up pictures I have taken for eventual upload to my Flickr page when we get back home. For entertainment options today, there will be a College Football triple header shown in the Explorers Lounge. First up is Penn State vs Ohio State at 0600. The second game will be the Texas Longhorns vs the Houston Cougars at 1000. The third game at 1400 will be Utah vs the USC Trojans. Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie will be screened on MUTS at 1230. Musician Janusz Bator will perform in Crooners at 1700 & 1930. Moondance Duo will be in the Wheelhouse Bar at 1815 & 1915. A featured Folkloric Performance with Halau-Lilia Kamanoe will be in the Princess Theater at 1845 & 2045. Pianist/Vocalist Andy Morris will be in Crooners from 2015 onwards. The house band will be playing two jazz sets in the Wheelhouse bar at 2115 and 2215. Well that's all for now. Hope all are well..... Bob

One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen (never have seen it before). A rainbow going all the way down to the water….. Bob

Thanks Ann..... Bob

A very early good morning from the Sapphire Princess. It is only 0415 (ship's time as I type this. We got our final hour back time change this morning, Hence being up so early. I didn't remember this last night but found out when I wallked to the elevator and saw the time displayed😁. Today we are to dock in Hilo Hawaii. We are scheduled to pick up the pilot around 0630 with docking around 0800. All aboard for guests will be 1630. Holli and I have no tours/excursions planned so we'll be playing it by ear. Yesterday we didn't do too much. It was another lazy sea day so we just hung out. The seas were somewhat clam, but the swells still made for some decent rocking & rolling. I finally got my medallion issue straightened out. It had initially stopped working. They ended up rebooting our door panel twice and I ended up being issued four new medallions before the problem was finally fixed. Holli also had to be given a new medallion due to our panel being rebooted. We once again enjoyed our suite perk of breakfast in Sabatinis. The food and service were excellent. While at breakfast, we learned that Sabatinis would be open for lunch yesterday (same menu as dinner). Our waiter told us it was something new they were trying out. For dinner yesterday, we dined in Alfredos. We both enjoyed our pizzas and the service was very good. Since we both like eating in Alfredos, there is a very good chance we will dine here again before the end of the cruise. Not sure I mentioned this prior, but we booked another cruise; quite by accident I must say. I was surfing the net and saw Princess brought back my dream Alaska itinerary (R/T from San Pedro on the Grand). The voyage is August 30, 2025 and there is only one sailing. A quick wifi call to my T/A and we are booked. Since the cruise had been open since August 1st ish, the only thing left that I might consider booking was a mini suite GTY. I pulled the trigger and also got placed on, what I expect is, a long waitlist for a suite. I'm kicking myself that I didn't know about this itinerary previously. Here are today's entertainment options. Before I begin, I'd like to say there are a number of patter items (classes, demonstrations, trivia and other games, etc that I don't list. When we get back home, I will scan all of the paters and put them on my Flickr photo page. The Movie "The Whale" will be shown on MUTS at 1300. Diamond Strings Duo will perform in the Piazza at 1745, 1845, and 2200. A Michael Buble concert will be shown on MUTS at 1800. Moondance Duo will perform in the Wheelhouse Bar at 1815 & 1915. The movie Fast X will be shown on MUTS at 1915. The movie Poster Trivia will be shown in the Explorers Lounge at 1930. Piano & Vocalist Andy Morris will be in the Princess Theater at 1930 & 2130. Pianist Janusz Bator will perform in Crooners at 1930, 2115, and 2300. There will be a Country Western night in Club Fusiona at 2015. Acoustic Guitar & Vocals with Vangelis Tzatsos will be in the Wheelhouse Bar at 2115 & 2215. The house band Gravity will be performing in Club Fusion from 2130 to 0230. Well that's all for now. I hope all are well..... Bob

This morning's sunrise..... Bob

An early good morning (0450 ship's time) as I start typing this post from the beautiful Sapphire Princess. Today we begin our fourth and final sea day before our first port stop tomorrow in Hilo. So far this morning and a major part of yesterday, the swells have been very noticeable. I'm glad I don't get seasick but I do feel for those affected by the rough seas. Last night Holli was feeling better so we ventured out to the Reserve Collection (formerly Club Class) for dinner. The menu was "Princess Dinner." Our waiter and his assistant (both from the Philippines) were fantastic. I'm sorry but I don't remember their names. I'll ask Holli later and post them. Holli had the always available chicken while I had the additional charge Surf & Turf. Holli enjoyed her selection. With mine, the Lobster was very tasty but the filet was no better than average (subjective review of food). One interesting thing about the Reserve Collection is they are still using the old Club Class linens and table napkins (with the CC Logo). SInce Holli is feeling better this morning, she definitely wants to later on avail herself of the suite perk of breakfast in Sabatinis. This continues to be our favorite suite perk and we always look forward to it on every voyage. So far the breakfast service continues to be outstanding on this voyage. I am looking forward to see how/if the suite breakfast perk will change next year when we sail on the inaugural T/A on the Sun. My curiosity stems from the fact with the debut of the Sun Princess there will finally be a dedicated suite restaurant ona Princess ship. Not sure what is on tap for today as yes, this is another lazy sea day. I'm going to later head to the shore excursion desk and cancel our excursion in Kona. This is due to the fact we received notification the boat portion of the excursion has been cancelled. There really isn't much else Holli can participate in due to her mobility issues so it looks like we'll have to play it by ear in Kona. Yesterday I had bit of luck in the Casino. Of course the Casino also hit a lucky streak as my lucky streak ran out and I gave them back my good fortune. For today's entertainment options, the movie Once Upon a Deadpool will be shown on MUTS at 1000. Rise of the Planet of the Apes will screen in the Explorers Lounge at 1400. An NFL game (Jacksonville vs The New Orleans Saints) will show on MUTS at 1415. The two previously mentioned Hawaiian Ambassadors will be playing music in the Piazza at 1615. A Crowded House concert will be shown on MUTS at 1730. The Diamond Strings Duo will perform in the Piazza at 1845. The Movie The Eyes of Tammy Faye will show on MUTS at 1900 & 2130. Acoustic guitar and vocalist Vangelis Tzatsos will be in the Wheelhouse Bar 1915 & 2015. The Princess Theater will host Vocalist Ashley Rose Smith at 1930 & 2130. The house band Gravity will be performing in Cub Fusion at 2015 & 2115. Moondance Duo will be in the Wheelhouse bar at 2115 and 2215. Lastly Andy Morris will be playing in Crooners from 2100 onwards. Well thats about all for now. Hope all are well..... Bob

Good afternoon from the Sapphire Princess. I'd like to point out a few personal observations. They are not rants or complaints, but rather just what I said; personal observations. Bar service at the two pool bars is extremely, extremely snail paced slow. This is due to a combination of only one bar tender at each bar, rude passengers, and the number of people wanting a drink. The Trident Grill was so busy, they are actually handing out beepers (same kind used at a restaurant). The buffet continues to disappoint as they love to only open only one side at a time. This causes huge lines/ques to form. One bright spot regarding the buffet is their coffee has gotten 1000% better..... Remember, I said they were personal observations and not rants/complaints..... Bob

Here are the sunrise pictures..... Bob

Thank you. I'm going to post a couple of sunrise pictures that I just took..... Bob

A couple of cool pre sunrise pictures taken from my aft facing balcony..... Bob

A very good early morning from the Sapphire Princess. It is 0417 (Ship's Time) as we begin our third of four sea days en route to our first Hawaiian port stop of Hilo. It might seem I'm up a little early but nope; as last night/early this am was our second time change (getting an additional hour). I slept almost seven hours and didn't feel like laying in bed wide awake with my CPAP mask on. So here I sit in the IC with my first of several morning Americano's. The IC's graveyard shift barista ("Romel") is a great asset to Princess. He always has a smile on his face and starts making your drink even before you actually reach the counter. So last night we were scheduled to dine in Sterlings Steakhouse. Holli was feeling a little under the weather so we ended up skipping it with her staying in bed. I ended up getting her a Pizza from room service. The room service Pizza's (ordered off the Medalion app) are pretty decent. There are three choices (Margherita, Pepperoni, and Vegetariana) available. My favorite is the Vegetariana whiole Holli likes the Margherita. My only gripe (a small one) is you are charged $8.50 per pizza. It doesn't matter which package (Plus or Premier) you have, the pizzas still coste you $8.50 a pop. Before ordering a pizza for Holli I ventured to the buffet for a quick bite. Before I go on, I know that food is very subjective so these are my SUBJECTIVE observations. First off service in buffet service was very chaotic. This is do to the fact they shut down one side to be the kitchen for the nightly Sterling Steakhouse offerings. I went to the buffet around 1800 and the lines were long, long, long. I saw several people, who obviously only wanted one particular item walk ahead of other people waiting in line. This caused a couple of minor arguments. Needless to say I stayed in line as I didn't feel like getting into an argument over buffet food. As far as the food offerings go (Remember these are my SUBJECTIVE observations), they left a lot to be desired. Dinner was a German themed night (Schnitzel, etc) and I found every hot entree item I tired to be ice cold, boring, and pretty tasteless. I'm sure others found the menu items acceptable, but I personally did not enjoy them one bit. Enough about the food issues all ready. As far as the rest of the Sapphire goes, I continue to be impressed with her. She is aging gracefully and the great crew takes good care of her. I have absolutely zero complaints about the ship or the fantastic crew. Not sure what we'll be doing today as it's another "Do what you feel like sea day" aboard the Sapphire Princess. I'm thinking I might hit the gym a little later to work off some of what I've put on since the start of our vacation. For the entertainment options, "Puss & Boots The Last Wish" will be shown on MUTS at 1000. The movie "Gifted" will be shown in the Explorer's lounge at 1200. The ship's band "Gravity will play a set at the pool at 1215. DJ Deep will take over fat the pool at 1315. The movie "Book Club the next chapter) will be shown on MUTS at 1500. A concert "Imagine Dragons: Smoke & Mirrors Live will be shown on MUTS at 1730. Moondance Duo will be performing in the Wheelhouse bar at 1815 & 2115. Diamond Strings Duo will be in the Piazza at 1845. The evening movie on MUTS will be Champions (2023) at 1900 and 2130. The show in the Princess theater will be Hawley Magic at 1930 & 2130. Comedian Robbie Printz will be in Club Fusion at 2030 and 2130. Gravity will be doing their late set in the Piazza at 2200. Lastly, Andy Morris will be in Crooners for two shows at 2100 and 2300. That's about all for now. Hope all are well..... Bob

I thought the same thing. My bottle was 2017 while what I saw online was 2021….. Bob

We are headed to Sterling’s tonight for dinner. I’ll see what I can find out….. Bob

As promised, here is the new Sabatini wine list. My choice was Gaga Ca’Marcanda Promis (Third up from the bottom of the last picture)….. Bob

I don’t remember the name. When I go down for breakfast in a bit, I’ll snap a picture of the wine list and post it….. Bob

Came back to the cabin and managed to get a pretty good sunrise picture..... Bob