fpsphil

Wasn’t going to do a live from for this cruise with the land portion and needing a full escape but with all the hub hub about the propulsion issues though I might as well. This is our first (and my first) land tour and one way Alaska cruise and have been looking forward to this since the Crown Princess Alaska debacle that we were in almost 2 years ago to the day. While I may have little faith when it comes to some corporate decisions from Princess I think the Sapphire (full disclosure it’s our favorite ship in the fleet) will provide us a good journey southbound despite the incoming cruise issues. We flew into Fairbanks Wednesday early AM and spent the day in downtown and hanging out at the lodge. The season is just barely starting up here so a lot of places including Pioneer park were still shut until next weekend. Princess Fairbanks Riverside has been great so far and have had 0 complaints so far. Off to the river boat this morning then down to Denali. Will post more as internet allows during the land portion but once we are onboard will be providing updates on the new steakhouse concept and anything else that seems different or changed from many previous cruises onboard the Sapphire.

Looks the same as we booked. We received it via email at 7:15 last night

The theory of the ship coming in early may be somewhat true. Due to enter Prince William Sound at noon Friday which hopefully means docking early for repairs

They have ~20 hours to install them in Whittier so I’m hoping for option 1. It’s also possible they loaded more contractors today or yesterday in Juneau to prepare for whatever repairs need to take place and are going to “take it slow” to Whittier limping the ship thus Glacier Bay being cancelled Waiting for AIS to update to see if they are planning on getting in early

Just received

On the ground in Fairbanks boarding on Saturday… rumor has it amongst some people we talked to who were in contact with some people they knew coming northbound is they may come into Whittier a day early. Guess we’ll find out when the ship leaves Skagway what it’s eta into Whittier is

Mykonos is always a 50/50 depending on who gets the dock for the day

You can ask them to put it on your cabin mates account. I get drinks for my fiance all the time and my account will get run up late in the afternoon on sea days and I just start asking the bartender to put it on her tab

Current expedite turn around times are 1.5 weeks. My fiancés we sent out March 6 and got the new one in less than 10 days. The backlog is definitely gone

We are doing a a 4 day cruise tour going south in May. Super excited and fully prepared for "roughing" it a bit since we will be in the wilderness. Super excited to see a different side of Alaska though that is off the beaten path and its all tourist like Skagway, Juneau, and Kechitickan

We are taking one of these transfers down on our May cruise. Not flying for a few days after we get back down to Seattle but can give some feedback after

It really depends. Panama cruise in January we were at all cabins occupied per staff (I did see some cabins without a name on them) but only 2800 guests onboard. Must have been a lot of solo occupancy cabins No venues ever felt over crowded

My vote is with Sapphire. Indoor pool, skywalkers, plus the lower passenger count than the Caribbean

I thought the initial concepts for the piazza included the floor being able to go up and down for different entertainment, thought I also saw this feature on one of Adam Savages construction walkthroughs

Went up to talk to the guy at the desk in front, he told me I had to call dine line

Emerald was requiring reservations for Planks and Steamers in January. Tried to walk up one night and were turned away even though it was mostly empty

I still struggle to call Planks/Steamers "casual" dining since you need a reservation and can't just walk up like the others, but that's how they are categorized

Would be interesting to see if this shows up on any other ships

Reserve dining takes the stress out of the MDR... is it worth it if not getting a special/unique cabin... no but its a nice plus especially since on the Royal class we only book M6s

For those who stalk. Great cam of the ship in Kusadasi today https://www.roxy-world.ro/webcam-kusadasi

Sending out my fiancé’s on Monday, we cruise in May… this is reassuring

The glass of champagne is 50/50 I feel. Our experience in M6 minis is we rarely get it (1 out of 4 times) but on the grand class in a mini we always receive it. Might just be because of the location and the fact there are very few minis up on the front of the royal class ships the stewards just simply forget

I’d pay that price. Looks to be similar offerings to what you would get at a Brazilian steakhouse here

Yep new feature. Was looking for a potential family cruise next year and saw it. We always book specific cabins and never do guarantee

We got off the Emerald about a month ago. We were in D733 which is at the end of the hall so naturally quiet. That area down there near your cabin is near the crew elevators but overall the entire Dolphin deck hallway was quiet whenever we were walking up and down it. Don’t think you’ll have much of an issue