Live from the Sapphire Princess: first post pause sailing 9/24-10/4/2022 (Baja Peninsula & Sea of Cortez)

[travelin.sisters]

51 minutes ago, ethereal said:

Thank you so much for going to all this trouble.  I really appreciate it!  How were the formal nights?  Did people get dressed up as much as they used to?  I'm sailing December 2 for 33 days, and I'm curious about the laundry facilities.  How does one pay for them?  Do you have any tips for clothes to take that goes from LA to Antarctica and ends in Buenos Aires?  Thank you so much for any help you can give.

thank you for your kind words & following along

• I posted photos of the laundry in one of my posts (maybe answers to questions?)--you can get tokens from a machine in the laundry room with your medallion the price is in the photo, I don't remember 
• there was a range of dressing up, I did not personally see any tuxes or actual gowns, but everything from collared shirts to suits & ties on men & pants with a dressy top to long dresses for women...I would go with what you are comfortable with & what you can pack
• I have never done that route, but I would say the Alaska motto would be good...layers!
• are you in the roll call for that sailing, sometimes there are people who have done the same or similar itineraries & are very helpful

have a wonderful trip

[travelin.sisters]

7 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

 

I finally made it to the end of the thread.  Thank you so much for your wonderful posts and photos.  Looking forward to your Hawaii version with lots of videos of ELUA.

 

 

thanks for sticking it out...am so looking forward to Hawai'i...can I post videos here?

[travelin.sisters]

ok it's been almost a week, lets get the rest of the food posted & start preparing for the next cruise

dinner day 3

\\

 

sea scallop & shrimp cocktail

 

pineapple with candied pistachios

 

beef satay

 

the always wonderful Princess bread (these ones are my sister's favorite...one cruise she told the head waiter & he made sure she had them every dinner after that)

 

penne con cozze

 

lamb shank (sorry its blurry)

 

kalua pig (pretty bland)

 

 

 

 

[travelin.sisters]

Alfredo's menu--didn't eat there on this cruise

[travelin.sisters]

desserts from the lunch buffet

 

[travelin.sisters]

day 4 dinner

 

 

lychee & watermelon (another dish that was very different than on other cruises)

 

crawfish vol-au-vent

 

 

chateaubriand

 

 

 

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

Yes, others have posted video.  I have no idea how to do it.  I would guess they have to be short videos.  I'm sure someone will give you instructions.

 

My, the food for your Sea of Cortez voyage was much different than mine on the Grand in March/April.  Thanks for posting food photos.  Pictures are worth a thousand words.  

[travelin.sisters]

dinner day 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pot de creme

[travelin.sisters]

dinner menu day 6

 

[travelin.sisters]

Stirling Steakhouse

 

 

the amazing cheese bread

 

tiger prawn & papaya salpicon

ribeye

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2022 by travelin.sisters

[pathi]

I would like to comment that the food on this sailing was a pleasant surprise. Everything we had in a dining room was very good. Buffet was ok also, they just ran out of a few odd things like tomatoes and cucumbers on the salad bar.

[sunviking90]

Thank you SO, SO much for your time and effort in doing this trip report. I have loved following along. You reminded me of what a pretty ship the Sapphire is. We sailed on her years ago and loved her.

So sorry that Covid followed you home. We also finally got it in August after 2 1/2 years healthy and 6 cruises this year, we caught it at home somehow!  Still not sure who gave it to us.

Really appreciate all the food photos. I wonder how many people ordered the Love Boat Dream and just stared when it arrived! What the heck was that! Some things should NOT be messed with. Princess also used to be known for their good pasta (a remnant from Sitmar), so that was really too bad that they messed that up.

Hopefully they will figure it all out. It must be very difficult with so many new crew, shortages, etc.

[XBGuy]

On 10/8/2022 at 10:22 AM, travelin.sisters said:

. . .  we did go to the Trident Grill a couple of lunches...IMHO they are the only place onboard to get decent fries as they are fresh & crispy (I love their fries).

ie

 

The Trident Grill on the Lido Deck is our regular embarkation day lunch destination--burgers and fries, grab a table and watch as excited cruisers bustle around.  However, Mrs.  XBGuy would dispute the claim that the best fries on the ship are from the Trident Grill.

 

She loves the Garlic Fries served in Crown Grill.  (From the picture of the menu, above, I see that these are also available at the Sterling Steakhouse.)  I am inclined to agree with her.  Whenever we dine at Crown Grill, she regularly orders the Garlic Fries as her appetizer.  Invariably, the server gives her a double take and, then, takes her order.  Garlic Fries are presented to here when my appetizer course is presented to me.  The very good thing as far as I am concerned is that she cannot eat all of them.  So, I get to reach over and poach some as often as I want during our meal.  😁

 

Thank you for your excellent reports.

[Pluto_fan]

Thank you for posting all the menus and lovely food photos!  Now I am hungry! 😁

 

Am I the only one that looks at each menu and decides what they would order for that meal? 🤣🤣

[KLM3164]

22 minutes ago, Pluto_fan said:

Am I the only one that looks at each menu and decides what they would order for that meal? 🤣🤣

Nope! I do the same.

[KLM3164]

Sad to see what they’ve done with the Caesar salad. We cruise next month and if we have the same concoction my plan is to order the Caesar salad and ask them to hold the kale and chickpeas. Dressing on the side and also a shrimp cocktail and hold the sauce. I love Caesar salad with shrimp so on a cruise I always make my own.

[XBGuy]

Regarding the Caesar Salads, I have to wonder if sufficient amounts of certain ingredients were not loaded onto the ship prior to embarkation.  It happens.  On one cruise I had reason to meet with the Room Service Manager on embarkation day to plan out an Ultimate Balcony Dinner that we had booked.  In making small talk after we had finished, he mentioned that no liquor had been delivered to him that day.  The exacerbating factor was that there were 800 Elite Level passengers boarding, and he had quite a few cabin minibars to fill.

 

The galley is dependent on purveyors delivering provisions to the dock.  Stuff happens.  Instead of getting X heads of lettuce, they received half of X.  What to do?  They do the same thing that housewives have done since the beginning of time.  They look at their stock and ask, "How can I make a meal out of that?"  There isn't enough romaine lettuce.  Supplement what we do have with something else that is green and leafy.  Adding garbanzo beans seems a tad unusual, but I guess that desperate times yield desperate measures.

 

I would be very surprised if there are more Caesargate reports on subsequent cruises.

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

But Kale?  Why would they even have Kale on the ship?  I do not recall many dishes that used Kale.  You guessed it, I am not a fan of Kale.  I did manage to get one Caesar salad that was "properly" prepared.  How I miss tableside preparations of of Caesar salads.

[LACruiser88]

15 hours ago, ethereal said:

Thank you so much for going to all this trouble.  I really appreciate it!  How were the formal nights?  Did people get dressed up as much as they used to?  I'm sailing December 2 for 33 days, and I'm curious about the laundry facilities.  How does one pay for them?  Do you have any tips for clothes to take that goes from LA to Antarctica and ends in Buenos Aires?  Thank you so much for any help you can give.

@ethereal  Check out the below thread re: packing for Antarctica.

 

 

 

[XBGuy]

27 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

But Kale?  Why would they even have Kale on the ship?  I do not recall many dishes that used Kale.  You guessed it, I am not a fan of Kale.  I did manage to get one Caesar salad that was "properly" prepared.  How I miss tableside preparations of of Caesar salads.

 

I feel the same way about beets.  😉  Apparently. however, I am in the minority.

 

On our very first Princess cruise--Sapphire Princess in 2011--we ordered the Caesar salad on all our visits to Sterling Steakhouse.  The headwaiter would prepare the salad tableside.  Yes, we want an egg.  Yes, we want Worcestershire sauce.  Yes, we want anchovies, and, yes, we want more anchovies.

 

That was the last time we saw tableside preparation of Caesar salad.  ☹️

[KLM3164]

53 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

I would be very surprised if there are more Caesargate reports on subsequent cruises.

There are more Caesargate reports besides on the Sapphire. I’ve recently seen this same silly concoction on the Royal Princess. This is of interest to me as I’ll be on the Royal in November and January. I am definitely not a fan of kale and will request only romaine. @cr8tiv1I’m with you on the need for kale on a ship……why????

[KLM3164]

7 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

I feel the same way about beets.

I’m with you on the beets…..yuck! 🤮

[KLM3164]

Now I’m hungry for Caesar salad for lunch!

[tonit964]

One night they had 'Grilled Radicchio' as a side dish. That was actually terrible, very bitter and I thought, why just why would they do that?

I like it in a salad along with other greens but as a side, by itself is just awful.

[cr8tiv1]

Love beets, especially with orange slices.  I will gladly eat your share of beets but won't share my Caesar salad sans kale.

 

33 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

I feel the same way about beets.  😉  Apparently. however, I am in the minority.

 

On our very first Princess cruise--Sapphire Princess in 2011--we ordered the Caesar salad on all our visits to Sterling Steakhouse.  The head waiter would prepare the salad tableside.  Yes, we want an egg.  Yes, we want Worcestershire sauce.  Yes, we want anchovies, and, yes, we want more anchovies.

 

That was the last time we saw tableside preparation of Caesar salad.  ☹️

 

24 minutes ago, KLM3164 said:

I’m with you on the beets…..yuck! 🤮