Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Live Blog from Sapphire Princess Grand Asia Christmas Cruise

Emoliash

By Emoliash,
in Princess Cruises

 Share

Recommended Posts

Emoliash

Emoliash

Posted
Posted

This is a live blog from the Sapphire Princess Grand Asia Christmas cruise sailing from Singapore to Shanghai.

 

If other guests onboard wish to add comments please do.

 

I am travelling with my partner and two children aged 14 and 10. We have been on the Sapphire before on a repositioning cruise from Singapore to Rome. That time the upgrade fairy gave us a mini suite but this time we are in a balcony room on the 12th floor. We booked late did not have any choice of rooms. However, it is fine with enough storage for four people. The bathroom is small but adequate.

 

The cruise is full with about 400 kids. Previously at Xmas we have sailed Holland America on the noordam. I do find Holland America more refined but find Princess more fun!

 

Yesterday’s embarkation went smoothly we arrived early at the marina bay cruise terminal 11.15am and quickly went through check in and was called to board at 12.30pm. 

 

The kids were keen for lunch and we had a quick buffet before checking out the teen centre and kids club. The youngest one was signed up to some chef event for the 4th Jan. it cost $25 us. I will let you know what he thinks of it.

 

The ship is decked out with decorations and lots of trees, tinsel and gingerbread houses. Also some beautiful carols performed in the atrium. I’m not a Xmas person but the harmonies were fabulous.

 

After unpacking and muster the holiday could begin. A mojito was inhaled as the sail away party kicked off. 

 

The kids wanted Alfredo Pizza before they headed off to kids club. Pizzas are good and I went to the International Cafe to get a salad to go with the meal.

 

I should mention we also went to Vines for a pre dinner wine and we had tapas of olives, salami and boccocini and tomato skewers. This was different from our cruise on the sapphire in April in which there were just cheese squares each night. 

 

Now without kids we bar hopped. First stop the Terrace Bar for a mint julep then to Crooners for a martini. Minor criticism is that the piano player there does not sing and is instrumental only. However the duo in the Wheelhouse Bar were fine. I wandered down to Karaoke and some woman did a great rendition of proud Mary so I did not put myself forward to sing after that!

 

An early night which led to an early morning 6 laps around the promenade whilst the rest of my cabin slept. 

 

Another change is that the coffee cards are now on your room card not the cardboard ones as previously experienced. This is the same for the kids soda packages there is no longer a sticker on the card.

 

A sea day on the way to Koh Samui. Kids have put us in for the gingerbread house competition and it is also formal night tonight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Emoliash

Emoliash

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 2 - sea Day to Koh Samui 

 

It was a relaxing first full day on the ship. Being an early riser I did six laps around the promenade before ensuring and calories were burned were replaced by an almond croissant from the International Cafe. I enjoy this time of morning when the ship is quieter particularly around the atrium on level  5.

 

After my family woke we headed up to the buffet for breakfast. To be honest I think Holland America ‘s breakfast buffet is much better with its egg Benedict section and crepes etc however there is still a good selection and Princess does  have much more fruit.

 

The laundromats were humming this morning making it difficult to get a machine but to be honest I think everyone wanted to wash at the same time. Also it would be great if people would return in a timely fashion to take their clothes out of the machines to free them up!

 

All up a relaxing day by the Calypso Pool. For those wanting activities there was Zumba, a gingerbread house making competition, book club and choir.

 

Trivia is now on at 4.15pm in the Explorers Lounge, this we did attend and was nowhere near winning.

 

Formal night saw people dressed up and I think while waiting in line for the Savoy restaurant that a young Mail in a short sleeve white shirt was asked to put a jacket on as another male in their party took his off and handed it to him.

 

I had the Singapore Chili Prawns and DH has the game hen. We both enjoyed it and then shared the Norman Love dessert.

 

One child went to kids club and the other was suffering motion sickness so was in the cabin. I went and hung out with her as DH went and watched MOvies Under the Stars which was the Han Solo movie. 

 

I sat on the balcony reading looking at the full moon on the water and it was beautiful and quiet. 

 

We’ve done the champagne waterfall so did not have the urge to see it again. I was going to go see the production called Bravo but fell asleep as I’m still getting used to the time change, which also meant I woke at 3.00am. Thank god for the 24 hour cafe!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Emoliash

Emoliash

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 3 Koh Samui 

 

Thailand is a beautiful exotic country but as an Australian I have travelled there a lot over the years. It is probably the Australian equivalent as the Caribbean and Mexico is for Americans. So today we decided we would just wander around the local town of Nathon. Grab a massage and a drink before heading back to the boat.

 

We did not go ashore until 10.00am so by that stage there was no longer a need to get a tender ticket. Both the local boats were running as tenders as was the Sapphire Princesses. The local tenders did look like they had more air through them.

 

For anyone wondering you can easily pick up a local tour or taxi at the wharf. I am not sure what they are charging. Also half way down the wharf there is a money exchange. However in Nathon there are plenty of ATM machines to get baht out of. 

 

NAthon is typical very small town, uneven pavements and spaghetti type electricity wiring. The street one block back from the beach had the most hustle at it was there we grabbed a drink before getting a massage. It was 300 baht for an hour for an oil massage. As I had the kids with me it was good that we could open the curtains between the cubicles so I could see that they were ok. 

 

We then went to the 7/11 to check out Fanta flavours as my kids love doing this and there was a dead dog out the front. The kids did not notice and needless to say I did not tell them as who needed the serenity of the massage broken by the hysteria this news would have created in them!

 

By this time we were very hot and we made our way back on board having a late lunch at the buffet and spending the afternoon by the pool. A better showing in trivia occurred before watching sail away from the terrace bar. An early dinner (when I get to 4g I will try and upload the menus that I’ve remembered to take photos of) of smoked salmon and crayfish, followed by roast beef and a dramburie soufflé. The kids left us and we went to the Wheelhouse to listen to Cameron Dunbar an Australian guitarist/singer before I had to go to bed due to my 2am wake up the night before. My partner went to see the instrumentalist in the Princess theatre and said he was fantastic and he is not a show fan! I’ll have to try and catch him another time. The kids are loving kids club and all the teens appear to be getting on. So happy days. Also I slept until 5am so feeling refreshed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Emoliash

Emoliash

Posted
  • Author
Posted
7 hours ago, cabin4three said:

Thanks for the live blog, can I ask what your children think of the kids club?  We are on the Sapphire next August.

 

The kids love kids and teen club. The 10 year old can sign himself in and out of kids club. Though the only one they can compare it to is the Holland America one. This is far better kitted out. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Emoliash

Emoliash

Posted
  • Author
Posted
5 hours ago, sewgood said:

Thanks so much for posting the HAL Christmas menu.

Good to see what the other line are offering for Xmas lunch.

It does look good.

The aboveboard was HALs Xmas eve menu and this is last years Xmas day menu

 

EE83DBC2-8EDF-4EE4-8212-00A4866DD865.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Emoliash

Emoliash

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 5 Laem Chabang

 

Just a tip if your cruise ship

Is arriving into Laem Chabang make a a note of which terminal your ship arrives into as the terminal is large and very spread out. We learnt hard way. The sapphire docked in a commercial dock as another cruise ship was in the cruise terminal. This was unexpected. Anyhow we had a driver picking us up and we had difficulty telling him where we were. However he worked it out and we got a lift into Pattaya. It was about a 40 minute drive.

 

Well what can I say about Pattaya? There are a lot of go go bars and a lot of male tourists but very few female tourists. I did tell the 14 year old daughter that Bri g a go go girl was not a great life choice for her but unfortunately a lot of these women don’t have a choice!

 

We had a legitimate foot massage and did some shopping for fake designer goods. If looking for somewhere to eat the street a block back from the beach has better choices.

 

Our transfer back did not turn up (partly our fault partly the agency) and we negotiated a taxi back for $25US. Of course we had the problem of not knowing the terminal number to come back to. It was frustrating for driver as we said A1 we got there and it was  a different ship and we had no idea which terminal. Thankfully a person on the gate knew and we turned around and finally found the Sapphire. Also note traffic is horrendous with a lot of trucks so hard to see ships as well. Anyway we finally got back on board.

 

At this point in a slightly bad mood I decide to do the laundry. It took going to six of the laundromats over 3 floors to get coins and when I put the wet washing into the dryer the machine just swallowed the coin. At this stage I could not be bothered going ferreting around the floors to find a coin machine that worked and I went to guest services. I said, “I rarely complain but you laundromats have broken me!” Anyhow I was was given some coins and I finally completed my washing. A swim in the terrace pool, a mint julep and a light buffet meal had my equilibrium restored. I went and saw pianist Bradley McGraw in the explorers lounge. He was fantastic but he had a poor turn out due to competing with carols in the atrium. I had a martini on the promenade before I finally got the first time in 3 cruises made it to skywalkers nightclub. It was ABBA night. After 30

Minutes there it was time to sleep. Merry Xmas everyone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Emoliash

Emoliash

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 6 - Christmas Day at Sea

 

It was a relaxing day at sea beginning with a walk around the promenade deck whilst listening to podcasts before meeting family in the International Cafe for a coffee. After breakfast in the buffet it was time to relax by the Calypso pool reading.

 

My son who was disappointed that he did not get a fake Rolex in Thailand made me go to the $10 sale on the ship to get a watch.

 

Christmas for the kids on the boat was done well. Kicking off in the atrium at 10.30am there were guessing games, glitter tattoos and face painting. Santa arrived accompanied by trombone players and some very attractive elves. There was also fake snow falling from the ceiling. The kids lined up for Santa and were given a gift if they were under 12. The teens had a party in the evening and were given gifts there. It was very generous of Princess.

 

Lunch was buffet with the only nod to Xmas was the roast of the day was ham. We went to the dining room for dinner as it was formal night. I had cold smoked scallop, prawn and crayfish followed by turkey dinner and gingerbread soufflé. I was a bit boring after that and returned to cabin and fell asleep!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Emoliash

Emoliash

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 7 - Phu My - Ho Chi Minh

 

I kicked off the day with my usual promenade walk listening to podcasts the current one is Presidential by the Washington Post with each episode about a different US President. Highly recommended. Also as the sun came up we pulled into the working port of Phu My. After a quick coffee and breakfast it was time to meet in the Wheelhouse Bar for our excursion which was do it yourself Ho Chi Minh.

 

Just a quick mention today was the first time I’d seen smoked salmon at the breakfast buffet all cruise. On previous Princess cruises it normally is there every second day. Not sure if it is a supply or cost issue.

 

Also it should be noted you can’t walk out of the port but there is a free shuttle bus to the gate. Also there is a free shuttle to some

Markets about 40 minutes away. Someone else might have more information on the shuttle and markets.

 

The transfer to Ho Chi Minh took about 90 minutes and there was free wi Fi on the bus, though it was very slow. They also have a mini tour of one part of the city before being dropped at the Bitexco tower. 

 

The unfortunate thing for us was that the museums shut in the middle of the day so we decided to prioritise the War Remnants Museum. Very interesting giving a different perspective to what we learnt at school. Also shows the stupidity of war and the innocent victims and I include the soldiers in that category as well.

 

After a quick cafe stop to have an iced coffee Viet style we went to the Banh Thuang (sic) markets. It is a colourful market full of food and other consumer goods. Here the kids wanted fake designer goods which you have to bargain hard, which I’m really bad at. I bought a handbag for $20us along with other stuff.

 

After a lunch of Beef Pho and duck and bamboo shoot noodles it was time to walk back to meet the bus. 

 

It appears every cruise ship tour was being picked up there. With a Holland America ship in town it was a bit crowded but we found our host easily and we had a smooth transfer back to the ship. 

A swim and a cocktail was had to refresh and then it was a buffet dinner before going to the quiz “where in the world are we”. My partner headed to the Rod Stewart show and I headed to Club Fusion to see The Drop get ready for karaoke band night where passengers can sing with the band! My teen was there with her group so I beat a hasty retreat and fell asleep quickly probably helped by the last martini I had!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...