Live from the Sapphire Princess

[Thrak]

I'm just wondering if the hand washing stations outside the Horizon Court were added to the Sapphire during the drydock. On our last cruise on the Caribbean Princess, we didn't see anyone using them.

 

We cruised 14 days on CB and saw many people using the hand washing stations. We used them except for when we had just left our Lido cabin and walked directly to the buffet. Then we still used the hand sanitizer.

[Thrak]

 

2) We did the escape room yesterday and had a blast! Our group finished in 13 minutes. We were one of only two groups to succsssfully complete the task.

 

 

Which version of the Escape Room did you have? I did the Magician's room on Caribbean Princess and my group finished with a couple of minutes to spare but it was pretty frantic at the end trying to figure out the very last thing to get the door open.

[Nixieh]

Which version of the Escape Room did you have? I did the Magician's room on Caribbean Princess and my group finished with a couple of minutes to spare but it was pretty frantic at the end trying to figure out the very last thing to get the door open.

 

OMG I hadn’t read anywhere that there is an escape room on Sapphire. I love Escape Rooms. Is this an extra charge and can we prebook?? Thanks

[Thrak]

OMG I hadn’t read anywhere that there is an escape room on Sapphire. I love Escape Rooms. Is this an extra charge and can we prebook?? Thanks

 

On CB signups were listed in the Patter. We had to meet at Vines at a certain time and they took names for various time slots. I think it was usually about 8 people per session. We got a card with our name and time to meet and then we met up on Lido deck by one of the bars (between the grill and the pizza venue). When we were all assembled we were taken by the crew to where the event started and had some "warmup patter" about the subject of the particular escape room and then were taken to the room and locked inside. (They have cameras and can see the room so it's not a hazard or anything.)

[ohhbother]

No extra charge for the escape room. Sign-ups were listed in the Patter the first sea day. The actual event was the final sea day. We were scheduled for 6 pm — our party of four plus two more people.

 

We met in front of the Internet cafe and were then escorted to the small room underneath Club Fusion (down the stairs inside the club). That’s where the Escape Room was held. I won’t give any details so as not to spoil it, but I highly encourage everyone to do it. We’ve done several in the past. This was my parents’ first time. We all had a ball!

 

The activities guy told us the only other group on board that escaped within the time limit included a couple who actually own and operate Escape Rooms. And we only finished one minute slower than them — so we were feeling pretty proud. Lol

[Ron the Rev]

DW and I are booked for the October cruise to the Canaries. (First time on the Sapphire ) Please could someone let us know which dining room has a section for Club Class Thanks.

[Coral]

How was the food in the dining room?

[susancruzs]

In the OP's post above, this page, #3 says the food was a disappointment. The desserts were repetitive and blah in the dining room and IC.

 

Food is such a personal thing, I was on the Emerald for 30 days, and repeating menus, same desserts did not bother me.

[PescadoAmarillo]

OP, how was the Cinque Terre tour? I will be on the Crown in October and want to do that tour, from Livorno. I am looking at a private tour guide instead of the ship's tour but wanted to hear what you thought of it - thanks!

 

Not the OP but we did it and loved it. We don’t often do ship’s tours but there are several ways for this tour to get delayed, and so we booked the Princess tour for Cinque Terre to be safe.

 

I blogged about it here:

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/search/label/Cinque%20Terre

[sunsetbeachgal]

We also loved the Cinque Terra ships tour. There is no way I would attempt this independently from Livorno. The tour was an excellent mix of sightseeing, walking tour and time on our own in the villages we visited

 

 

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[Lori Dobson]

Not the OP but we did it and loved it. We don’t often do ship’s tours but there are several ways for this tour to get delayed, and so we booked the Princess tour for Cinque Terre to be safe.

 

I blogged about it here:

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/search/label/Cinque%20Terre

 

 

Thanks so much for the info! What do you mean by "there are several ways the tour can get delayed" - although the ship's tour is an option, there is a private company that does Cinque Terre but also stops at Pisa on the way back, which I would really love to do... I'm wondering what could go wrong! :o

[Lori Dobson]

We also loved the Cinque Terra ships tour. There is no way I would attempt this independently from Livorno. The tour was an excellent mix of sightseeing, walking tour and time on our own in the villages we visited

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

Thanks for your comments - why would you not do this tour independently?

[ohhbother]

Regarding the question about where Club Class Dining is — it’s in the Santa Fe Dining Room on deck 6. We actually preferred that dining room because the decor is so pretty. But we ended up in Pacific Moon several nights because Santa Fe had a wait and Pacific Moon did not.

[ohhbother]

How was the food in the dining room?

 

Honestly — not great. I had short ribs one night that were almost all gristle and fat. The other entrees were OK. But, as my husband said, he kept waiting for that one entree that would wow him, and it never came.

 

We also found the appetizer selection very heavily tilted toward seafood. If you don’t like seafood, your choices are severely limited.

 

And the dessert menu was quite limited — one chocolate dessert, one sugar free dessert, choice of ice cream. That was about it every night. I ordered vanilla ice cream with chocolate and strawberry sauce several nights.

[Thrak]

Honestly — not great. I had short ribs one night that were almost all gristle and fat. The other entrees were OK. But, as my husband said, he kept waiting for that one entree that would wow him, and it never came.

 

We also found the appetizer selection very heavily tilted toward seafood. If you don’t like seafood, your choices are severely limited.

 

And the dessert menu was quite limited — one chocolate dessert, one sugar free dessert, choice of ice cream. That was about it every night. I ordered vanilla ice cream with chocolate and strawberry sauce several nights.

 

Hopefully you do realize that you can tell the waiter your entree is terrible and either get another order of the same thing or have them bring you something else.

 

As for dessert... I don't think I've ever sailed on a Princess ship that didn't offer creme brulee every night. It's my "go to" dessert if nothing else grabs me. I love their creme brulee. :D

[PescadoAmarillo]

Thanks so much for the info! What do you mean by "there are several ways the tour can get delayed" - although the ship's tour is an option, there is a private company that does Cinque Terre but also stops at Pisa on the way back, which I would really love to do... I'm wondering what could go wrong! :o

It involves a bus, two boats and a train, and when an on-time return to the ship is contingent on three different transportation modes, I am more comfortable being on a ship’s tour. Often doing ship’s tour mean you lose time doing or seeing things you might not be interested in, but this tour was perfect. It’s a long day; there was a lot of napping on the return bus ride.

[Coral]

In the OP's post above, this page, #3 says the food was a disappointment. The desserts were repetitive and blah in the dining room and IC.

 

They mentioned buffet and international cafe. I don't usually eat at these places, thus I asked about the dining room.

 

Honestly — not great. I had short ribs one night that were almost all gristle and fat. The other entrees were OK. But, as my husband said, he kept waiting for that one entree that would wow him, and it never came.

 

We also found the appetizer selection very heavily tilted toward seafood. If you don’t like seafood, your choices are severely limited.

 

And the dessert menu was quite limited — one chocolate dessert, one sugar free dessert, choice of ice cream. That was about it every night. I ordered vanilla ice cream with chocolate and strawberry sauce several nights.

 

Thanks. Maybe there will be a new chef by the time I get onboard.

[Astro Flyer]

It involves a bus, two boats and a train, and when an on-time return to the ship is contingent on three different transportation modes, I am more comfortable being on a ship’s tour. Often doing ship’s tour mean you lose time doing or seeing things you might not be interested in, but this tour was perfect. It’s a long day; there was a lot of napping on the return bus ride.

Thanks for confirming my belief that the ship’s tour is the best option during a cruise.

 

During a pre-cruise stay in Tuscany we decided that going independently to Cinque Terre was too long of a day. Looking at their generally available tours from Livorno & Genoa for our late 2019 cruise it’s available from both ports. Since it’s our first time in Genoa, we plan to go to Cinque Terre from Livorno & will read your blog of your experiences.

[dog]

On board now. Not much luck with internet but will try to post. Transfer from victoria coach station London. 2 hours but worth it for me. Mini suite nice. 2 large tv s mounted on wall long sofa/ bed upgraded mattress/ linens, very clean. 2 hours to get someone to fix toilet- not flushing. Food good. Buffet too busy, trying breakfast in dining room made Guernsy

[Mapu]

On board now. Not much luck with internet but will try to post. Transfer from victoria coach station London. 2 hours but worth it for me. Mini suite nice. 2 large tv s mounted on wall long sofa/ bed upgraded mattress/ linens, very clean. 2 hours to get someone to fix toilet- not flushing. Food good. Buffet too busy, trying breakfast in dining room made Guernsy

Please keep posting and updating this of that will boarding the Sapphire in the coming months.

[3JCruiser]

Hopefully you do realize that you can tell the waiter your entree is terrible and either get another order of the same thing or have them bring you something else.

 

As for dessert... I don't think I've ever sailed on a Princess ship that didn't offer creme brulee every night. It's my "go to" dessert if nothing else grabs me. I love their creme brulee. :D

 

Crème Brulee is my go to also ! Hopefully the chef on the Sapphire allows them to caramelize the top as its supposed to be. We just spent a month on the Emerald and for the first 2 weeks the crème Brulee was great, then we had a chef change and he would not allow them to caramelize the top despite many complaints from everyone in the dining room..so unless you liked a dish of cold custard no desert for me for the last 2 weeks :confused:

[NSWP]

On board now. Not much luck with internet but will try to post. Transfer from victoria coach station London. 2 hours but worth it for me. Mini suite nice. 2 large tv s mounted on wall long sofa/ bed upgraded mattress/ linens, very clean. 2 hours to get someone to fix toilet- not flushing. Food good. Buffet too busy, trying breakfast in dining room made Guernsy

 

Thanks, we are on Sapphire x 2 in a couple of weeks.:halo: All information gratefully accepted. Enjoy your cruise.:')

[Thrak]

Crème Brulee is my go to also ! Hopefully the chef on the Sapphire allows them to caramelize the top as its supposed to be. We just spent a month on the Emerald and for the first 2 weeks the crème Brulee was great, then we had a chef change and he would not allow them to caramelize the top despite many complaints from everyone in the dining room..so unless you liked a dish of cold custard no desert for me for the last 2 weeks :confused:

 

GAH!!! I can't understand why in the world a chef wouldn't allow the dish to be properly prepared. We once had a cruise where the food was bland and not very good. Like you, half way through the cruise, the head chef was changed and the food improved dramatically. It can make an incredible difference. I just don't understand how one can become the head chef and be incompetent. It's sad.

[NSWP]

Have they moved the 6pm traditional dining to 5.30pm yet? Don't like them doing that. I pick 6pm, then that is what I want.:evilsmile:

 

Surely 'Love Boat Dream' and the 'Cheese Plate' are still on the MDR dinner menu?

[dog]

Giving internet another try spotty. Excuse typos.

Toilet still having flush problems, two maintenance visits in 3 days. Room not service til 12 on sea day. Otherwise staff very nice, friendly and service has been good. Sabayon ins steak, chicken dinners excellent