gibby_daebak Posted April 9, 2013 #1 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Cruise ship Sapphire Princess to make Singapore its homeport in 2014 Hello! I'm new here in the Princess forum and totally new to Princess Cruises. I'm excited about a new cruise line (relatively new to Singapore) to homeport a ship here from November 2014-February 2015! I'm really curious to know what I could expect with Princess Cruises and Sapphire Princess! It'll be great if you all could share your experiences with me and probably a few other Singaporean cruisers here on CC! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoghornLeghorn Posted April 9, 2013 #2 Share Posted April 9, 2013 I just got back from a cruise on the Sapphire to Hawaii. It is now my favorite Princess ship. Beautiful, easy to navigate, love the 4 anytime dining rooms. Staff was fabulous. The casino was smaller than I expected. There was a place for some more slot machines, but it had chairs and small tables with ashtrays for people to sit and smoke. Surprised Princess wouldn't use this space for more slots for revenue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare dides Posted April 9, 2013 #3 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Some more info from http://www.traveldailymedia.com/151071/princess-cruises-plans-major-asian-deployment Princess Cruises will commence its largest ever Asian deployment in 2014, when the Sapphire Princess liner arrives in Singapore for a four-month winter season. The cruise line, which forms part of the Carnival Corporation, will base the 2,670-passenger ship in Singapore from autumn 2014 to spring 2015, offering 15 round-trip departures that can be combined to create separate 25 itineraries. Cruise lengths will run from a three-day trip to Malaysia to 11-day voyages to Vietnam and back, with stops in Brunei and Bangkok. Other itineraries include a 10-day Indonesia trip and five-day tours of Thailand. All itineraries will include shore excursions. Sapphire is the only ship we've been on so far and we love her plus Singapore is on our bucket list ...must be fate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runnerodb83 Posted April 9, 2013 #4 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Bad move Princess, send one of your more amenity laden ships, larger ships to a homeport that is more than 12 hr flight from UK and over 20 from most mainland us airports...and requires a stopover. So now 2 of of the more modern ships are in the far east. I know the asian cruise market is hot but i think this is a mistake. I guess its good for australians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassyredhat Posted April 9, 2013 #5 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Lucky Singapore. :) and welcome to the forum and Princess. Sapphire is a very pretty ship. My favorite place to hang out is the IC--International Cafe. On sea days we head down there to play cards, grab a latte and some cookies, or just listen to music. After shore excursions, we like to go get a quick specialty pizza. I have only good things to say about Sapphire. ;) PCL crew is great. I have special dietary issues which they handled wonderfully for our 14 day cruise. Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdjam Posted April 9, 2013 #6 Share Posted April 9, 2013 congratulations to Singapore - we here on the North American West Coast are losing a fine vessel... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWJs Posted April 9, 2013 #7 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Lucky Singapore! Sapphire is one of our favorite ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Day Cruiser Posted April 9, 2013 #8 Share Posted April 9, 2013 This makes me sad. The Sapphire is my favorite ship. I went all the way to Australia and back on that ship and was looking forward to more cruises on the Sapphire. But I won't be flying to Singapore for a cruise. It's just too far away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsetbeachgal Posted April 9, 2013 #9 Share Posted April 9, 2013 This makes me sad. The Sapphire is my favorite ship. I went all the way to Australia and back on that ship and was looking forward to more cruises on the Sapphire. But I won't be flying to Singapore for a cruise. It's just too far away. I agree...my favorite as well...she will be missed...too far for us to go.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanPrince Posted April 9, 2013 #10 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Bad move Princess, send one of your more amenity laden ships, larger ships to a homeport that is more than 12 hr flight from UK and over 20 from most mainland us airports...and requires a stopover. So now 2 of of the more modern ships are in the far east. I know the asian cruise market is hot but i think this is a mistake. I guess its good for australians. Dont worry, you will get couple even larger, even more modern, and even more amenity-laden ships around the U.K. and U.S. With the Royal and Regal coming out, couple of the Grand class ships has to go somewhere new. No matter which ship is it, there will always be fans of that ship saying "bad move, we love the Sapphire"... at least until they cruise on the Royal/Regal and then forgets all about Sapphire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted April 9, 2013 #11 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Dont worry, you will get couple even larger, even more modern, and even more amenity-laden ships around the U.K. and U.S. With the Royal and Regal coming out.... Larger is not necessarily better. The Royal and Regal will be very limited in where they can go and cannot have the great itineraries that the Sapphire has had in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdjam Posted April 9, 2013 #12 Share Posted April 9, 2013 Larger is not necessarily better. The Royal and Regal will be very limited in where they can go and cannot have the great itineraries that the Sapphire has had in the past. On this we agree - and I'm sure Royal and Regal will have a few years on them before they see Pacific waters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted April 9, 2013 #13 Share Posted April 9, 2013 On this we agree - and I'm sure Royal and Regal will have a few years on them before they see Pacific waters. Having the Royal do the Baltic next year is from my perspective not as good an experience for the passengers as the smaller ships, even the ones as large as the Crown. Its size means they do not get to do the entire scenic cruise to near downtown Stockholm but must dock outside of town and take a shuttle into town. The additional number of passengers on the Royal can be too many to handle in some of the Baltic ports. Think of the number of Princesss excursion busses that show up at the same time at museums and other sites now. Now add some more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Cruise Junky Posted April 10, 2013 #14 Share Posted April 10, 2013 So now the mystery, where is Sapphire going for several months when she finishes those small westcoast cruises before heading to Singapore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassicruiser Posted April 10, 2013 #15 Share Posted April 10, 2013 This will be great news for Asians and Australians - a growing cruising population who have a fraction of the ships and choices that the US and UK have. We also have very few larger ships, so this will be a bonus. Singapore may be far to travel for cruisers in the US and UK, but it's the same the other way too - the UK and US are just as far for Asians and Australians to travel to, yet we do it all the time. Those who can afford to and want to cruise this region, and see a different part of the world, will happily travel from wherever they live. Thank you Princess for expanding our options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putterdude Posted April 10, 2013 #16 Share Posted April 10, 2013 We are going to miss the Sapphire on the west coast....she and the Diamond our our favourite ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisers from WA Posted April 10, 2013 #17 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Oh I am sad!....my favorite ship! (5 cruises on the Sapphire)....so far away..... Darn breast CANCER has interrupted my plans this year :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdjam Posted April 10, 2013 #18 Share Posted April 10, 2013 This will be great news for Asians and Australians - a growing cruising population who have a fraction of the ships and choices that the US and UK have. We also have very few larger ships, so this will be a bonus. Yes it will - unfortunately those in the US will lose out on a ship that we've grown accustomed to. Too bad the cruise lines just don't build ships for the Asian and Australian market instead of taking the fine ones from the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runnerodb83 Posted April 10, 2013 #19 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Dont worry, you will get couple even larger, even more modern, and even more amenity-laden ships around the U.K. and U.S. With the Royal and Regal coming out, couple of the Grand class ships has to go somewhere new. No matter which ship is it, there will always be fans of that ship saying "bad move, we love the Sapphire"... at least until they cruise on the Royal/Regal and then forgets all about Sapphire. Not looking forward to Royal/Regal. I enjoy the variety of pools and layout of the grand class ships. Additionally, the crown is not a consolation prize in Alaska without a covered pool. I wasnt really even that much of a fan of the sapphire. And as someone else noted, the royal and regal probably wont touch pacific water for a while, if ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love.II.Cruise Posted April 10, 2013 #20 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Wonderful news! We will be looking for an Asian Itinerary on Sapphire Princess in the future. When will they open up for sales??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Cruise Junky Posted April 10, 2013 #21 Share Posted April 10, 2013 She's only going for 4 months, not leaving the fleet. I think it's a great move for Princess, the cruising world is bigger than the USA, why shouldn't they move the fleet to where the $$$'s are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love.II.Cruise Posted April 10, 2013 #22 Share Posted April 10, 2013 She's only going for 4 months, not leaving the fleet. I think it's a great move for Princess, the cruising world is bigger than the USA, why shouldn't they move the fleet to where the $$$'s are? Which 4 months? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Cruise Junky Posted April 10, 2013 #23 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Which 4 months? November 2014 to February 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Love.II.Cruise Posted April 10, 2013 #24 Share Posted April 10, 2013 November 2014 to February 2015 Thanks for the info! WOW - how exciting! Do you know when they will open up sales? I'm guessing this fall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Cruise Junky Posted April 10, 2013 #25 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Thanks for the info! WOW - how exciting! Do you know when they will open up sales? I'm guessing this fall? I read on one newssite it would be tomorrow. No idea if it's true but keep your eyes peeled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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