Review: Sapphire Princess Hawaii - 3/10-3/24

[pmd98052]

I normally write much longer reviews (and more entertaining! or rather my wife does) but we’re way behind on stuff so I’ll keep it shorter and just summarize some key things in case it helps anyone planning a similar trip.

 

If I can make one comment on the whole cruise to benefit anyone else travelling on the Sapphire prior to May 12th – Go see Indigo (www.indigoband.org ) every night. They are one of the bands on the ship and really made our entire cruise. Not only are they all superb musicians and vocalists the lead singer (Angela from Ireland) has a truly incredible voice and has a great rapport with the audience – They’re one of those bands that love to see the audience engaged and dancing and the energy really flows. We first saw them half way through the cruise on St Patrick’s day and have kicked ourselves ever since for missing their sets for the first week! As additon to their regular Explorers Lounge sets they also do a regular Irish music show in the Piazza “When Irish Eyes Are Smilin’” along with a Beatles night, 70’s Dance Night and a Country and Western Night. They also hosted and sung at the "New Years Eve" event on the second to last night in the Piazza.

 

It is a real shame (for us anyway, I’m sure they’re all looking forward to a vacation!) they are leaving the ship on May 12th since the Sapphire will be in Vancouver all summer (we live in Seattle) and would have booked an Alaska trip just to listen to the band each night. We ended up skipping some production shows and comedians to catch their sets instead. Do not miss.

 

 

Food all trip was excellent – we had anytime dining and called in to book Sante Fe, Savoy or Pacific Moon for 5.30pm each day table for two. As others have commented these are really tables for 6-10 as they’re so close but it was fine – we met some great folks. No waits, good service and food. We had lunch in the International Dining room on boarding too which was nice. We also we able to eat and get out within 60-90 minutes. I don’t enjoy long lingering dinners as we always had things we wanted to go and do!

 

 

· Used Execucar to get to Crowne Plaza hotel in San Pedro – This worked great with driver meeting us at the baggage claim with a tablet PC with our names on it. Drive to San Pedro only took 15-20 mins and our driver agreed to stop at Rite Aid near the hotel so we could pick up some wine.

· Crowne Plaza hotel was ok – nothing special but you can snag a room for around $65 on Priceline which makes it a good deal for the location. They run a free shuttle service to the pier (you could also walk pretty easily if you don’t have a ton of bags). Their free shuttle must start earlier than they say since we were told 10.30am but headed down about 10.10 and caught the shuttle heading out

· Boarding – we waited until around 10.45 to check in and then boarded the ship around 12.15pm – took longer than I expected but there were a ton of bon voyage and premier/elite passengers on the cruise

· Coffee cards were worth it to us but not sure we needed all the sugary drinks from the UKP!

· David Cole was a great cruise director – My wife took his Ukulele lessons and loved them – They have the players play in the final theatre show which was a bunch of fun.

· I got roped into performing in the Pop Choir – I can’t sing at all but had a lot of fun and enjoyed the post show sparkling wine!

· We ordered a Reflections DVD which included both the Pop Choir embarrassment and the Ukulele finale! Wish they’d have included some more miscellaneous footage of events around the ship though like Indigo, Karaoke etc…

· Mary Lou’s Tours in Hilo were great – We saw so much and Ken (Mary Lou’s Husband) was extremely knowledgeable and made our day fantastic. He even went out of his way to find white pineapple and another fruit I can’t recall the name of but tasted fantastic!

· In Oahu we just rented a convertible car and drove around the entire island stopping mainly along the north shore beaches, Dole Plantation and Waikiki. Traffic back to drop off the rental at the airport was painful but we made the mistake of doing that during rush hour! (around 4pm or so for us)

· Kauai we went on the ships Zodiac tour along the Nawiliwili coast line – this was a great tour. The coast line and lush green cliffs are amazing. The zodiac itself is a ton of fun too and we enjoyed snorkeling off the back later in the day…. Water was cold to get into but fine once in!

· Maui we took the public bus up to Kapalua ($2 for a day pass to ride the busses). Fantastic beach way better than the nearer Kaanapali and only 30 mins further on the bus. One word of warning here though – Be prepared to take the bus back to Kaanapali and then get a cab back from there ($16) since the lines for the public bus back to Lahainia are huge….

· Entertainment:

· Per above – Indigo – DO NOT MISS. Best part of the cruise for us! (Aside from Hawaii of course)

· John Stetson – Mentalist – Excellent show. He really did appear to read minds!

· Marc Peterson (?) – From “The Lettermen” – Joined the ship for one night and did a great show

· Ventriloquist – We skipped this though I heard it was good but lots of old slap stick style jokes – not really my thing so not to upset we missed this

· Linda Gentille – We skipped this but heard this was a fantastic show. Wish we’d caught it.

· Dan Bennett – Very funny comedy juggling act – worth catching!

· Ship’s Production Shows – We caught most of these and enjoyed them. It was an interesting cruise since one cast was leaving and a new cast joining so we had a bunch of the shows with both casts performing alongside each other as the new cast learnt the roles – I was fun to see. I thought the cast that was leaving was better but hey the others are new so give them time!! Also enjoyed the backstage tour on the second to last day.

[dforeigner]

Thank you for taking time to write a review.

[framer]

· In Oahu we just rented a convertible car and drove around the entire island stopping mainly along the north shore beaches, Dole Plantation and Waikiki. Traffic back to drop off the rental at the airport was painful but we made the mistake of doing that during rush hour! (around 4pm or so for us)

 

We did the same thing last year and had the same problem:eek: with the rush hour traffic. (take a portable GPS with you)

 

 

 

framer

[pmd98052]

Good youtube video of Indigo:

 

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for the review. Indigo sounds like a great band. I really enjoy time in the evening listening to a good band so if I ever see them listed on a cruise I'll be sure and check them out.

 

Nice to hear you had such a great time.

[lovevacadays]

Good youtube video of Indigo:

 

 

 

Thanks for posting. They are really good. Would love to sail with them.:)

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the review.

 

Fifteen-20 minutes from LAX to San Pedro? Hmmm... You must have been flying! It can take 15 minutes just to get out of LAX. :)

[pmd98052]

Yeah there was zero traffic - we got in the car 9.15pm at night and were in San Pedro (coming off the bridge there) at 9.35pm. On the way back we were in the car at 9.10am at the port and at the airport at 9.25am....

 

I forgot to check if we were speeding but I don't think so....

[billco]

We were on this cruise and the 7 day Mexico cruise before it. I agree that Indigo is a great band. We spent time in the Explorer's Lounge each evening listening to them while waiting for the comedian, juggler, ventriloquist, etc. While the juggler was good, I thought his comedy was a little too mean for me. Same about the ventriloquist. His jokes were stale, especially about gays in San Francisco. Carl Banks and Carlos were very funny. Linda Gentile was outstanding.

 

There were several very positive experiences, though not great for the waistline:

We wanted to be sure that we could book the Maiden TA on the Royal Princess, but we were afraid we might not get the booking we wanted since Princess was accepting bookings on March 15 at 7:00 AM and we were in Hilo that morning with a three hour time difference. Diane, the Future Cruise Consultant got up at 4:00 AM that morning to make our booking. Also, I had been giving her information that I was finding on these boards. That evening, there was a plate of chocolates in our cabin sent from Diane with a note thanking me for my help.

 

We are vegetarian. My wife ordered pea soup for lunch, which was listed with a "V." It had chunks of ham in it. She didn't eat it and I mentioned it to the server. A few minutes later, the Maitre'd showed up apologizing. That evening there was a plate of chocolate covered strawberries in our cabin with a note apologizing.

 

The next day was my wife's birthday. That evening, the staff brought a small chocolate cake to our table and they sang happy birthday. Since we couldn't eat it on top of dessert, they sent it to our room.

 

We spent 21 great days on the Sapphire Princess. All of the crew seemed happy. A server in the International Cafe are remembered our first and last names and always seemed to rush over to serve us when we were in his area.

 

We had an excellent steward. Our cabin was just down from the Grand Suite, which was like having three rooms to clean. I felt sorry for him, because he had the same number of cabins as the other stewards.

 

While David Cole is an excellent CD, his rapid fire manner of speaking (the way he is wired) became a little tedious for me. I actually got a headache during two of his lectures.

[pmd98052]

I forgot about Carlos and Oscar - They were both excellent! Carlos quickly honed in on me being English and wearing a 007 style Tux on formal night! I told him I prefer my martini's shaken not stired..

 

We skipped the Ventriloquist show as it conflicted with something else for us. One of the challenges we had is by the time we'd see Indigo for the early pre-show "dance date" at 7.15pm or so the theatre would be full so we missed some shows due to that but that was our decision since we didn't want to miss Indigo. It does feel like Princess needs a larger theatre though. I've not had the same problem (at least not needing to arrive 30 mins+ early) on NCL or HAL.

 

That was fantastic service from Dianne and the Maitre D' there - We bought FCC's from Dianne - hope she gets a commission. I went to the cooking demo and the Maitre D' on the cruise has been working at sea for 34 years!

 

We had a birthday and anniversary on board - I didn't dare use the printed coupon things to get the cake - toooooo much foooood as it was! :)

[pmd98052]

Forgot one of the other coolest moments of the cruise. During the passenger talent show in Explorers lounge one of the other cruisers (Bill from California, though Kentucky originally) sang a song he had written about his grandkids. We'd left our kids with their grandparents and this wonderful song about how he isn't a rich man but has the best life ever with his 15 grandkids was just amazing. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

 

I'd love to see Bill sing that song on YouTube!

[sassyredhat]

This is great !! Thanx for all the info. We leave in 18 days.:)

Pat

[wright1956]

I normally write much longer reviews (and more entertaining! or rather my wife does) but we’re way behind on stuff so I’ll keep it shorter and just summarize some key things in case it helps anyone planning a similar trip.

 

If I can make one comment on the whole cruise to benefit anyone else travelling on the Sapphire prior to May 12th – Go see Indigo (www.indigoband.org ) every night. They are one of the bands on the ship and really made our entire cruise. Not only are they all superb musicians and vocalists the lead singer (Angela from Ireland) has a truly incredible voice and has a great rapport with the audience – They’re one of those bands that love to see the audience engaged and dancing and the energy really flows. We first saw them half way through the cruise on St Patrick’s day and have kicked ourselves ever since for missing their sets for the first week! As additon to their regular Explorers Lounge sets they also do a regular Irish music show in the Piazza “When Irish Eyes Are Smilin’” along with a Beatles night, 70’s Dance Night and a Country and Western Night. They also hosted and sung at the "New Years Eve" event on the second to last night in the Piazza.

 

It is a real shame (for us anyway, I’m sure they’re all looking forward to a vacation!) they are leaving the ship on May 12th since the Sapphire will be in Vancouver all summer (we live in Seattle) and would have booked an Alaska trip just to listen to the band each night. We ended up skipping some production shows and comedians to catch their sets instead. Do not miss.

 

 

Food all trip was excellent – we had anytime dining and called in to book Sante Fe, Savoy or Pacific Moon for 5.30pm each day table for two. As others have commented these are really tables for 6-10 as they’re so close but it was fine – we met some great folks. No waits, good service and food. We had lunch in the International Dining room on boarding too which was nice. We also we able to eat and get out within 60-90 minutes. I don’t enjoy long lingering dinners as we always had things we wanted to go and do!

 

 

· Used Execucar to get to Crowne Plaza hotel in San Pedro – This worked great with driver meeting us at the baggage claim with a tablet PC with our names on it. Drive to San Pedro only took 15-20 mins and our driver agreed to stop at Rite Aid near the hotel so we could pick up some wine.

· Crowne Plaza hotel was ok – nothing special but you can snag a room for around $65 on Priceline which makes it a good deal for the location. They run a free shuttle service to the pier (you could also walk pretty easily if you don’t have a ton of bags). Their free shuttle must start earlier than they say since we were told 10.30am but headed down about 10.10 and caught the shuttle heading out

· Boarding – we waited until around 10.45 to check in and then boarded the ship around 12.15pm – took longer than I expected but there were a ton of bon voyage and premier/elite passengers on the cruise

· Coffee cards were worth it to us but not sure we needed all the sugary drinks from the UKP!

· David Cole was a great cruise director – My wife took his Ukulele lessons and loved them – They have the players play in the final theatre show which was a bunch of fun.

· I got roped into performing in the Pop Choir – I can’t sing at all but had a lot of fun and enjoyed the post show sparkling wine!

· We ordered a Reflections DVD which included both the Pop Choir embarrassment and the Ukulele finale! Wish they’d have included some more miscellaneous footage of events around the ship though like Indigo, Karaoke etc…

· Mary Lou’s Tours in Hilo were great – We saw so much and Ken (Mary Lou’s Husband) was extremely knowledgeable and made our day fantastic. He even went out of his way to find white pineapple and another fruit I can’t recall the name of but tasted fantastic!

· In Oahu we just rented a convertible car and drove around the entire island stopping mainly along the north shore beaches, Dole Plantation and Waikiki. Traffic back to drop off the rental at the airport was painful but we made the mistake of doing that during rush hour! (around 4pm or so for us)

· Kauai we went on the ships Zodiac tour along the Nawiliwili coast line – this was a great tour. The coast line and lush green cliffs are amazing. The zodiac itself is a ton of fun too and we enjoyed snorkeling off the back later in the day…. Water was cold to get into but fine once in!

· Maui we took the public bus up to Kapalua ($2 for a day pass to ride the busses). Fantastic beach way better than the nearer Kaanapali and only 30 mins further on the bus. One word of warning here though – Be prepared to take the bus back to Kaanapali and then get a cab back from there ($16) since the lines for the public bus back to Lahainia are huge….

· Entertainment:

· Per above – Indigo – DO NOT MISS. Best part of the cruise for us! (Aside from Hawaii of course)

· John Stetson – Mentalist – Excellent show. He really did appear to read minds!

· Marc Peterson (?) – From “The Lettermen” – Joined the ship for one night and did a great show

· Ventriloquist – We skipped this though I heard it was good but lots of old slap stick style jokes – not really my thing so not to upset we missed this

· Linda Gentille – We skipped this but heard this was a fantastic show. Wish we’d caught it.

· Dan Bennett – Very funny comedy juggling act – worth catching!

· Ship’s Production Shows – We caught most of these and enjoyed them. It was an interesting cruise since one cast was leaving and a new cast joining so we had a bunch of the shows with both casts performing alongside each other as the new cast learnt the roles – I was fun to see. I thought the cast that was leaving was better but hey the others are new so give them time!! Also enjoyed the backstage tour on the second to last day.

Wow good info all of you thank you so much we'll make sure we don't miss Indigo for sure!

[Bucky3]

Really appreciate your review. Thank you. Could you expand a little on the Princess ship's zodiac tour you took along the Napali Coast, please. We are thinking of doing this. How were the sea conditions - I know this is pretty unpredictable, but what was your experience? Were you able to go in and out of caves? Was it the large covered zodiac and not the little uncovered ones usually seen? And finally, where did the boat leave from - was it way up at Hanalei or was it the other direction - Port Allen? Would really appreciate knowing more about this tour. Thank you so much.

[pmd98052]

Hi yes it was from (if I recall Port Allen) - Took about 30 mins on the bus out there. It was a 20-30 person Zodiac with a yellow canvas roof across say 1/3rd of the boat. A little larger than the smaller zodiacs that I've been on. Seas were fairly moderate (3 on a scale of 1-10 according to the skipper) but we had quite a bit of excitment bouncing over the waves. I enjoyed it - you'd get the occasional wave splashing over the boat....

[doctoranna]

Just got off this cruise. Agree that Indigo is a great band with a great and very versatile lead singer. Linda Gentille was AMAZING! An incredible pianist and great entertainer.

Enjoyed the Sapphire Princess and the ports we stopped at. Weather was cold and windy during the sea days for the most part, but very pleasant on the islands. Rented cars at the first three ports and did stuff on our own (Volcano Nat. Park, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Waimea Canyon, etc.) Rented from Thrifty all three times. All the recommendations for Thrifty on this site are definitely paying off. The Thrifty shuttles at the port in Hilo were crowded. Honolulu a little bit less so. Kauai not so bad, but we got out on the dock early there. Be aware that the Thrifty car return at Honolulu airport is difficult to find, and on top of that, the roads that go to it weave under several overpasses, so a GPS is almost useless. Allow extra time to return a car to Thrifty in Honolulu.

Went whale-watching with Lahaina Cruise Company. Very convenient, right on the dock in Lahaina, reasonably priced, and an excellent experience. Saw lots of whales, very good narration from the crew.

This was our first long cruise and we really liked it. We thought we would be bored with so many sea days, but the crew definitely kept us busy with all kinds of entertainment. We had a great team for trivia and won several times. I took the gold medal in Wii bowling and my husband and our friend tied for the silver medal. Came home to find three Princess brochures in the mail. Already thinking about the next cruise.......

[Holomoku]

· Coffee cards were worth it to us but not sure we needed all the sugary drinks from the UKP!

 

Just a question, what or where is the UKP? I always get a coffee card and use it mostly at the Lobby Bar for White Chocolate Mochas, but have not heard of UKP. Glad you enjoyed the Sapphire we have been on her twice and really enjoyed both voyages.

[pmd98052]

UKP is the Ultimate Kids Package ~$108 for unlimited coke, virgin cocktails and milkshakes. Not a bad deal but we really didn't need the extra sugar!

 

One other thing is Indigo also sell their two CD"s on the ship. If you see the band after the show you can buy them direct from them and I believe that way they get to keep a bigger cut of the money than if you buy in the ship gift shop... (also $1 cheaper).