Live from Sapphire Princess

[Ravensbourne1960]

Norwegian Fjords cruise. We will be on the Sapphire for a similar cruise in June 2019.

 

No doubt hoping to see the Northern Lights? ;-)

[wineglass]

I assume this was the cruise boarding on Nov 13, 2017 in Hong Kong.

We were on this cruise also and I agree 100% about the comments. The embarkation was the worst I have experienced since 2006. We were exhausted and really upset. Same goes for the long lines at Customer service desk. We were so late getting on the ship that we missed muster and the makeup muster was a confused fiasco also. We also had a water leak in our cabin that flooded the bathroom. Our excursion disaster was at Ko Sumi were our 89 year old mom was near collapse in the heat and humidity and the shore excursion officer offered no help topped with distain. If she had been a man I would have punched her! This was the most disorganized ship I have ever been on. I sent a letter to Princess, but have yet to receive any reply. I must say 99% of the staff were very helpful and excellent. It was the first cruise after coming off the Chinese charter, but that's no excuse for the confusion. We still love Princess, but I hope we never experience such a cruise again.

[DaveinWhales]

Koh Samui was just one example of appalling organisation.

A tannoy announcement was made around 7.00am to say SP was docked and tendering ashore would take place soon. All passengers would be required to take their passports with them and if they hadn't been delivered to staterooms the previous evening could those going ashore please collect them.

They also asked that all those not on an organised tour be good enough to allow those who were to go first.

 

We set off to find our cabin steward who informed us he had tried to deliver passports between 8-9.00pm the previous evening but if the occupants were out he had returned them and we would have to enquire at customer service.

Most people were at dinner between 8-9.00pm. The queues at customer service desk were huge.

We decided to leave it until 9.00am to join the tender queue which was now in a couple of the bar areas it was so big. We were allocated a number which was duly called about 2 hours later.

We arrived on Koh Samui at 11.30 am. The last tender was due at 4.00pm so little point in going very far. We had a couple of beers and decided that it was probably best to return to the ship to alleviate the tender queues on the way back. We shuffled along for an hour and a half before getting on a tender.By then the queues were even bigger. Some took 2 hours to get on a tender.They got everyone back on SP by 6.00pm.

This was just one example, but the worst, of poor organisation.

Some Princess devotees will be in denial but the picture shows the reality.

I could give more examples... the 45 minutes spent standing in a line that snaked around the ship just to have your passport looked at by immigration officials before we could leave Hong Kong. The chaos of tender departure at Halong Bay and the constant queues at reception to deal with a myriad of other complaints.

[DRS/NC]

RE: Midnight Sun & Northern Lights

 

The actual Midnight Sun will be the Summer Solstice, 6/21. In August, the sun should still be "up" until 10 or 11 pm. [i'm booked on the Sapphire's 6/23-7/7 sailing in Norway.]

 

The Northern Lights are usually a fall/winter event. For example, they have been quite active for the past several weeks/months in Alaska, Canada & northern Europe. I've been watching them via webcam from Churchill, Canada - fabulous! :)

[Tranquility Base]

All passengers would be required to take their passports with them ...........

Did any official check your passport when leaving or re-boarding Koh Samui ?

 

Can you recall which pier location you tendered to in Ha Long Bay ?

[DaveinWhales]

Did any official check your passport when leaving or re-boarding ?

 

 

No!

[Tranquility Base]

Thanks.

Can you recall which pier location you tendered to in Ha Long Bay ?

[DaveinWhales]

I can't tell you which pier but there was a quite few coaches parked there so probably the main one? It was on the Hong Gai side of the river and our tour bus took us around the city then over the bridge to pick up a tour of Cai Lan Bay from where all the tour boats seem to be based. The ships tours of the bay possibly picked up straight from the boat from what I could see.

[Tranquility Base]

^ Thanks for the info Dave.