Princess Sapphire January Singapore cruise

[floridamarc]

If anybody took this cruise,please let me know about the ship,food,shore excursions and weather.

[vancruisr]

There are several different itineraries. We took a 10-day Indonesia cruise and a three-day Malaysia cruise that were sold in North America as one cruise, and in Asia as two cruises.

 

January is a wet month and we had some rain on several days. On the other hand it was cooler, though still hot by our standards. Drink lots of water.

 

More Aussies and Asians and Brits onboard than Americans. More food selections on menus to satisfy all of the diverse passengers, which was fun.

 

The ports were incredibly interesting to us, as we had never been to Southeast Asia. Singapore is a wealthy nation, Indonesia a developing nation, and Malaysia somewhere in between.

[ibfern]

I took this cruise in January of this year and had a fantastic time, the ports are great and we all fell in love with the part of the world. The weather was good, we hardly had any rain at all and didn't have problems with bugs either. The ship was in good shape, the staff was fantastic, and the slightly different menus were fun to try--I learned to use chop sticks like a pro!

 

Try to organize your own private tours, and do research on each port, this makes a huge difference. If you go to Penang, research where to go because its an interesting stop but we took a terrible walking tour with Princess and really got turned off to the town. Later, friends told us they hired a driver and went to lots of nice places. Since I had a tour booked I didn't bother researching the place and that was bad news! Same thing for Kuala Lumpur.

 

In Bali, and any of the Island ports like Phuket, don't do princess tours! Hire a cab (in Bali) or hang out (Phuket) and do the beach and walk the area--we took a tour (James bond) and it was horrible. These ports are so beautiful, unless you are on a big bus full of people! The Princess tours that were OK were Saigon (HCMC) and Bangkok.

 

I wrote up a huge report and name tour guides and give numbers, check it out on the port boards or the reviews.

Enjoy,

Amelia

[p0240]

We did this in February of this year,2b2b's, from Singapore, 3 days KL and Penang, then Saigon, Bangkok and Ko Samui, it was excellent, weather great, bit humid but not that bad. We are from Australia so used to the hot weather, and the humidity.

Food and service on the ship was fantastic, and entertainment great too. Would definitely recommend it. We did not do any ship tours, but teamed up on the roll call with some Americans, and had an awesome time. Be careful who you choose to do Saigon and Bangkok tours with, as the driving distance time is huge, about 2 to 3 hours from the port, so you need confidence that you will make it back to the ship in time.

Enjoy it.

[Mikie12]

Did the shops on the excursions take dollars or euros?

[LaraTiara]

Enjoyed the ship (Sapphire), nicely refitted). A covered outdoor lido deck pool, plus plenty of room near Sanctuary and Jumbotron TV. We were on her for 7 days, our parents were on the full 12 days (loved Malaysia and Indonesia). Excellent service. Easy embarkation and disembarkation process. Beautiful sailaway of your jetlag can cope [emoji6]

 

Jetlag was a bit of a buzzkill even though we flew business class. For our allowable 1-week PTO, we won't travel that far again til we are retired...Europe is closer.

 

Though we ARE glad we went, and grateful we could visit! Amy time off work and on a ship is a great time to make memories. Lots of children on board because it was CNY. Made it lovely.

 

We toured with Thai Private Tour Guide and in Saigon we found a Trip-Advisor recommended tour as well. Passengers in Saigon were warned not to walk near the curb, and there were reports of a woman having her necklace ripped from her, stolen by a scooter driver. Be aware, and that is anywhere.

 

The Gulf of Thailand was incredibly calm, like glass. Nice hot cruising weather! Enjoy your trip.

[helzie234]

Hello

 

I am also going on the grand asia tour in January, i wonder if anyone has an extrernal website to book excursions through as some are quite expensive on the princess cruise website. Could anybody tell me if it easy to just arrange tours when we arrive at each port... are there tour guides there, taxis etc? or is it better to book and arrange in advance.

I am also querying the gratuity charges that i have seen will be automatically be added to my bill, £103 each is quite expensive, i am all for tipping for good service but how do i know this is going to the maids etc.

I would rather tip as, when and who i feel has given me good service, is this an option to opt out of the automatic gratuity charge and has anyone ever done this?

 

Thanks.

[ibfern]

Hi,

 

I did a 21 day cruise on the Sapphire last Dec/Jan, there are plenty of great private tours, how you gone over to the roll call for your cruise? This is where you can meet others on the same cruise and take economical private tours. Use trip advisor, or search the port guide here on CC.

 

Here is the Sapphire roll calls, just find your date and join that rollcall by posting on it:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=307

 

I book tours in advance, search on tripadvisor and this Asia port board and look for guides. Here is the Asia Port boards:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=70

 

If you tell me the ports you are going to visit I might have a recommendation for guides I've used.

 

Regarding tipping, if you leave on the automatic tips you can be sure the folks who are working for you will definitely get their portion, well at least I trust this is true. You can opt out and pull your tips any time you wish, just know that if you give individuals tips they are required to give they up for a general pool of tips that get divided regardless, or they lose their jobs. This is a touchy subject, and my last bit of advice to you is if you do pull your tips, hide your toothbrush and other personal items in your safe because its gets around fast when you pull tips! Best to not piss off your Steward, and Wait staff!

[caribill]

I am also going on the grand asia tour in January, i wonder if anyone has an extrernal website to book excursions through as some are quite expensive on the princess cruise website. Could anybody tell me if it easy to just arrange tours when we arrive at each port... are there tour guides there, taxis etc? or is it better to book and arrange in advance.

 

I have not looked at your itinerary, but for most ports I would not count on getting a tour when you arrive. Some ports do not allow outside vendors to enter. Some other ports are too far from the major city that is the destination to make it worthwhile for vendors to travel that far. Some may have tour vendors there, but may not communicate in English very well.

 

As the above poster said, check the roll call to see what has already been arranged.

 

Also check the ports of calls section on Cruise Critic for suggested private guides in the ports you will be visiting.

[take me there]

Hi,

 

we are doing this cruise January 2016 just wondering f you can give any details on tours

 

Thanks