Live from Sapphire 1/9/14

[Working 2 Cruise]

IC is offering the new salads.. I haven't tried them yet. I have not seen any evidence of the beverage package which we wouldn't have bought anyway.

 

Barbecue is offered at the Trident Grill but no evidence of the Crab Shack yet.

 

It is a lovely sunny day in San Diego!

[DrivesLikeMario]

GM everyone,

 

We got off the Sapphire yesterday after the 4 day CA Coastal. All in all the cruise was a good one.....Excellent service in the restaurants, great food in the dining rooms, an excellent room steward (we had a mini-suite), terrific weather. We are not usually complainers but..... there was one issue that was not up to the previous standard that we experienced on the Ruby, Emerald, Star and Royal. Horizon buffet had a very limited selection of food, and what was offered seemed to be lacking in taste and presentation.

 

There.... I've said it!

 

Otherwise the ship and crew did a very good job.

 

Mike

 

Food is so subjective and varies so much from person to person. To give another view, we were on for a week during Christmas and were really pleased with the HC and especially the new dessert station. The food that was supposed to be hot, was and the food that was supposed to be cold was as well. Everything was tasty and we enjoyed the new selections.

Edited January 11, 2014 by DrivesLikeMario

[Working 2 Cruise]

Greetings from Ensenada!

 

This is going to be another wonderful day on the ship for us! Alfred and Seymour are scheduled to be on tonight, 7:00 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. I am going to try for the first show - when they are fresh!

 

As to the elite, suite and platinum cocktail party in Skywalkers, please be aware that, at least on this ship, they check cards... If they know you from this particular sailing, then no checking, they will let you through. So, for those who are not platinum, elite or travel in suites, you will not be allowed in. I have seen some people being turned away.

 

Steve Moris will be on tonight as well in the Explorers Lounge. We did not make it to any shows yesterday but we saw the movie "Now You See Me." Good and fun movie!

 

Nothing much else going on but the usual... Trivia, the movie Jobs is showing on MUTS today, at 9:30 p.m., which we will not make since it will be really cold and windy... But, during the day time, it has been sunny and warm on Decks 14 and 15!

 

I met with our Captain Circle rep... Sorry, don't remember his name... Here is the breakdown on this cruise:

 

447 Gold

278 Ruby

619 Platinum

266 Elite

 

There are some new dishes on the menu. DH had the pork rib appetizer, which he said was fantastic. I stuck to French Onion Soup and the Surf and Turf which was very good as well.

 

Until later! Please feel free to ask any questions... I will answer to the best of my abilities.

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks for the info & hope your knee is better.

 

With the NFL playoffs today & tomorrow do you know if they're being shown on the ship? Maybe on cabin TV's and/or MUTS?

[Jasperdo]

Food is so subjective and varies so much from person to person. To give another view, we were on for a week during Christmas and were really pleased with the HC and especially the new dessert station. The food that was supposed to be hot, was and the food that was supposed to be cold was as well. Everything was tasty and we enjoyed the new selections.

I have a quick question about the new dessert stations. It looks like everything is behind glass. Does that mean you have to let the server know which dessert you would like, similar to how the International Cafe is set up? The selection looks very good.

[vickie_bernie]

 

One thing of note: A woman was talking to me about being very unhappy about her cabin. There are three people in her cabin and she expected three regular beds... She said "she paid full fare on all three" and she did expect three beds and she did not get it. She went to the Purser's Desk who told her what I did. Three regular beds do not exist on Princess, except for suites and mini-suites (with the sofa pull out bed). She was demanding compensation! :mad::eek:

 

It does pay to do your research.

 

oh my

 

This reminds me of what happened on a 10 day emerald cruise. A couple was in an inside cabin with another couple, yup two couples, four adults in an inside cabin. And they were very upset cause there was not enough space they said and were going to complain and get a free upgrade. She bragged that they have done this before and was quite smug about it.

 

On this voyage we knew one of the head officers who ended up later in the cruise telling us about these two couples that tried to get an upgrade. he explained they had two couples in an inside and said they were mislead that there would be enough space. Of course we knew who he was talking about.

 

He checked their profile (yes they have access to all our past cruises and notes that may have been made by officers to our file) and they had sailed previously in a similar cabin - so they knew what they were getting. He offered to move one couple to another inside cabin with no problem as they had an inside available. But, the line would have to charge each person the going rate for the inside based on how many days were left.

 

Surprisingly - or not - they turned it down and stayed four in a cabin.

 

Guess she isn't bragging now.

[Woobstr112G]

Greetings from Ensenada!

 

This is going to be another wonderful day on the ship for us! Alfred and Seymour are scheduled to be on tonight, 7:00 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. I am going to try for the first show - when they are fresh!

 

As to the elite, suite and platinum cocktail party in Skywalkers, please be aware that, at least on this ship, they check cards... If they know you from this particular sailing, then no checking, they will let you through. So, for those who are not platinum, elite or travel in suites, you will not be allowed in. I have seen some people being turned away.

 

Steve Moris will be on tonight as well in the Explorers Lounge. We did not make it to any shows yesterday but we saw the movie "Now You See Me." Good and fun movie!

 

Nothing much else going on but the usual... Trivia, the movie Jobs is showing on MUTS today, at 9:30 p.m., which we will not make since it will be really cold and windy... But, during the day time, it has been sunny and warm on Decks 14 and 15!

 

I met with our Captain Circle rep... Sorry, don't remember his name... Here is the breakdown on this cruise:

 

447 Gold

278 Ruby

619 Platinum

266 Elite

 

There are some new dishes on the menu. DH had the pork rib appetizer, which he said was fantastic. I stuck to French Onion Soup and the Surf and Turf which was very good as well.

 

Until later! Please feel free to ask any questions... I will answer to the best of my abilities.

 

Hope you are enjoying your ship day while in Ensenada and your knee is getting better.....:):):)

 

Bob

[luv4cruises]

Thanks for taking the time to update us. We board on Jan 16. I read that they have begin replacing the TV's with 40 " Samsungs. Have they? Also, have they replaced the mattresses on the Sapphire?

 

Can't Wait!

 

Enjoy your cruise. :)

[cr83687]

We will be sailing on the Sapphire February 1st and was wondering if they will be showing the Super Bowl on the 2nd????? I know my DH will be disappointed if he misses it. I will be just fine!!!;)

[caribill]

I met with our Captain Circle rep... Sorry, don't remember his name... Here is the breakdown on this cruise:

 

447 Gold

278 Ruby

619 Platinum

266 Elite

 

 

That adds up to 1610 passengers on a ship with a lower berth capacity of 2670.

 

No wonder Princess is enticing people with a refund of their cost (less taxes/fees) for these short getaway cruises.

[hpeabody]

That adds up to 1610 passengers on a ship with a lower berth capacity of 2670.

 

No wonder Princess is enticing people with a refund of their cost (less taxes/fees) for these short getaway cruises.

 

I don't think that tally reflects first time cruisers (Blue cards)

 

Both of my 4 day LA getaways 100% sold out

[caribill]

I don't think that tally reflects first time cruisers (Blue cards)

 

Both of my 4 day LA getaways 100% sold out

 

Thanks for the correction.

Edited January 12, 2014 by caribill

[mikaula]

I'm dissapointed that the 3 & 4 day cruises are not selling out. I want a ship to stay on the west coast so I don't have to fly :). I'm sailing in March & our cruise has tons of space available.

[AZJerry]

Our Jan 5-9 LA getaway showed as sold out on the website for weeks before.

[Working 2 Cruise]

My laptop really doesn't like the internet connection on this ship! Do, I'm doing this in my phone.

 

Bob, we stayed on the ship in Ensenada... Knee is much better, thank you! Weather in Ensenada was much cooler than in San Diego...

 

We are having a wonderful time! Seas today are moderate which is much better than calm, at least to me. I like feeling like I'm on a ship instead of as resort!

 

Beds are still hard... At least in my completely obstructed view cabin! Yes, they are replacing the TVs... I saw some in the hallway.

 

Menus have been completely revamped. There are some old favorites on them but not many.

 

Food has been very good. Saw Alfred & Seymour last night. No new material but they were still funny.

 

A lot of sports showing on MUTS.. Saints V. Seahawks among others...

 

I will post some of the menu items when I return...

[dockhl]

Food is so subjective and varies so much from person to person. To give another view, we were on for a week during Christmas and were really pleased with the HC and especially the new dessert station. The food that was supposed to be hot, was and the food that was supposed to be cold was as well. Everything was tasty and we enjoyed the new selections.

 

Yes, food preferences are, of course, subjective. This, however, was a purely objective comment.....for example, the HC was divided in two on embarcation, effectively reducing the choices by half. Hmmmm. I am happy that yours was not that way. Our HC experiences (in the past) have been fine. This cruise was a little different. Perhaps it varies not only person to person but also cruise to cruise.

 

We had our TV's replaced midway through the cruise....new ones are HUGE ! Apparently the entire cruise line will be going to the interactive TV setup that is on the Royal (we liked it !) and they need "smart" TV's to make it work.

 

Our beds were new and very comfortable....firm. One change....there were only foam pillows. They give me a headache so I asked our steward to find me some feathers, which he did. He says they are all being changed to foam. Interesting....we were in D504, a minisuite and had foam. My daughter was in C109, an obstructed OV and had feather....go figure.

 

Food in the main DR was great, as was the service everywhere. The crew seemed a bit overwhelmed frequently.....these short cruises must be hard on them..

 

One more thing. I had packed two bottles of wine in my checked luggage and my partner carried on a bottle of champagne. I got a little notice in my luggage that they had noticed that I had two and if they determined that it violated the one-per policy they might come by the stateroom.... ??? :eek: Needless to say, no one came by, and after embarkation there were just two bottles in the room anyway...... odd. Also, I was reading official policy on one of the bulletin boards by where you embark that said one bottle is allowed per person when embarking from a shore excursion. I had heard before we sailed that they were no longer allowing that, but there it was .

 

(There was also a note about Indonesian crew members not being allowed to get off on American ports due to some having recently gone missing.....)

 

If I can think of anything else relevant, I'll post....

 

Kathy

[caribill]

.for example, the HC was divided in two on embarcation, effectively reducing the choices by half.

Kathy

 

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

 

There are two sides (port and starboard) to the HC and when both are open they have identical food items on both sides.

 

How was the HC "divided in two" for you?

[Jasperdo]

I'm not sure what you mean by this.

 

There are two sides (port and starboard) to the HC and when both are open they have identical food items on both sides.

 

How was the HC "divided in two" for you?

I think what she means is that on embarkation day each side (port & starboard) is divided in half again. The port side HC has the same food in the forward section and the aft section of the main serving area. Same with the starboard side. They place a rope down the middle and serve the same food in both sections. I've seen this only on embarkation day, when the buffet menu is more limited. Edited January 13, 2014 by Jasperdo

[vickie_bernie]

I think what she means is that on embarkation day each side (port & starboard) is divided in half again. The port side HC has the same food in the forward section and the aft section of the main serving area. Same with the starboard side. They place a rope down the middle and serve the same food in both sections. I've seen this only on embarkation day, when the buffet menu is more limited.

 

yes I have seen that too, making it basically four different buffets serving the same food as they divide each side into two. I've only seen it on embarkation too and only for some cruises.

 

Vickie

[dockhl]

yes I have seen that too, making it basically four different buffets serving the same food as they divide each side into two. I've only seen it on embarkation too and only for some cruises.

 

Vickie

 

Yes, thanks for the clarification.....

[Working 2 Cruise]

We are now home, sniff!

 

Yesterday was easy going. Escargot was on the menu and they were great!

 

A lot of NFL games were shown on MUTS and in Churchill's.

 

All in all, it really was a great little cruise!

 

Now for the no shows:

 

No lobster

No bridge announcements

No robes

 

None of these would make any kind of impact on our cruise. It truly was a lovely getaway and we are going to start planning our next cruise!

[SdKT]

Could i ask, were the pools warm?

oh good they showed football. i just realized we will miss the superbowl (for DH).

 

thank you, 3 weeks to go.

[SdKT]

Oh im sorry you hurt your knee! feel better!!

 

i had another question,

would you remember what movies were shown (either MUTS or theater) -

i saw it said:

Jobs

and Now You See Me.

 

thank you!! :)

[YumYumSweetiePie]

Oh im sorry you hurt your knee! feel better!!

 

i had another question,

would you remember what movies were shown (either MUTS or theater) -

i saw it said:

Jobs

and Now You See Me.

 

thank you!! :)

 

"World War Z" was shown as well as part of MUTS.

Edited January 13, 2014 by YumYumSweetiePie

[PotatoBug]

And "The Wolverine"

 

 

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