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

travelin.sisters

By travelin.sisters,
in Princess Cruises

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HaveDogWillTravel "Live from...." Rare

HaveDogWillTravel

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6 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

thank you for your kind suggestions...they were excellent ideas, unfortunately I tried them unsuccessfully multiple times during the 45 minutes of frustration...nevertehless, I appreciate that you took the time to make them & how clearly they were written.

The disappearing post is so frustrating so thank you for attempting this live from. 
 

I type my comments into my notepad. 
‘Then go into settings and clear History for my browser (I use Safari) 

Paste my comments into CC and submit. 

 

I usually had good luck with that but even if it still disappeared I didn’t lose my comments. 
 

If it was being particularly onerous, I tethered my iPad to my phone once we got to port and use cellular to post. It would be pretty quick as I’d just have to copy and paste from my notepad. 
 

I hope you had a good night of rest.  

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Sunset329

Sunset329

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We are following your live thread closely since we will be boarding the Sapphire next week. Thanks for doing your live report. Hope you can relax and enjoy your cruise. Can you tell me if the Sapphire has Pickleball or Table Tennis? We are trying to decide if we should bring our paddles.

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JF - retired RRT

JF - retired RRT

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7 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

thank you for your kind suggestions...they were excellent ideas, unfortunately I tried them unsuccessfully multiple times during the 45 minutes of frustration...nevertehless, I appreciate that you took the time to make them & how clearly they were written.

If you just typed the "best post on CC ever"...before you hit submit, do a copy, then submit. If the post is lost, just do a paste.

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travelin.sisters Great Review Rare

travelin.sisters

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1 hour ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

The disappearing post is so frustrating so thank you for attempting this live from. 
 

I type my comments into my notepad. 
‘Then go into settings and clear History for my browser (I use Safari) 

Paste my comments into CC and submit. 

 

I usually had good luck with that but even if it still disappeared I didn’t lose my comments. 
 

If it was being particularly onerous, I tethered my iPad to my phone once we got to port and use cellular to post. It would be pretty quick as I’d just have to copy and paste from my notepad. 
 

I hope you had a good night of rest.  

 

5 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

If you just typed the "best post on CC ever"...before you hit submit, do a copy, then submit. If the post is lost, just do a paste.

thanks to both of you, I did learn the lesson of not typing long posts directly to the website...the next one is already written & ready to copy & paste..last night it was literally 45 minutes of waiting to see if it posted, slooooowly refreshing finding it gone, try again ...repeat & eventually give up & go to dinner to try later....today we are in port so maybe 

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travelin.sisters Great Review Rare

travelin.sisters

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exploring the ship

          After lunch & getting everyone settled in their rooms, it was time to explore the ship. I always like to spend some time on embarkation day wandering through all the public areas on any ship I have not sailed before. It helps me feel like I know where I am better for the rest of the cruise & get a feel for the uniqueness of the ship I am on.

          I was very uncertain what to expect from the Sapphire. I have heard people say she is their favorite & others that it is like the Grand. This is what I thought.

          I must say, I do like this ship. She does have the feel of the older class of ships like the Grand & the Ruby, but to me she definitely feels more spacious than the Grand & seems in much better condition than the Grand even since her most recent updates. Like the Majestic she has some interesting reminders of coming from the Asian cruise market, for example the first elevator I got in I couldn’t figure out what deck I wanted because the names of the venues were all in Chinese.

          One thing I noticed right away is that the Sapphire has the different colored accents on the port & starboard side hall carpets. A crew member told me that this is new carpeting & that he thinks Princess will be using this carpet going forward. After several seasons of hall carpet being replaced with those cues, this is good news for those of us who learned to rely on the carpet coloring to know if we were on the correct side.

          On the Lido deck, there is one covered pool which I know many people enjoy. The buffet is the typical Horizon Court layout except one section is set aside as the Stirling Steakhouse as there is no dedicated space built for that. The menu looks the same as Crown Grill’s was on the Majestic in February. I will let you know how it is after we eat there later in the cruise.

          Since I am speaking of the buffet, I do like that the Sapphire has actual sinks to wash in, not just hand sanitizer stations. Like the Grand & the Majestic earlier this year, whether there is someone stationed to remind people to use them is sporadic. The buffet still has a lot of single serving items but food is no longer being served by staff. Even more surprising was not always having someone to hand out plates & utensils, which was the norm in my experience even before COVID.

          Moving all the way down to the Plaza Deck, it is fairly typical although more spacious than some. There is the International Café which is open 24/7, unlike the Grand in January. Alfredo’s does not have the variety that was available on the Majestic, but it offers a variety of pizza options. Uniquely the main dining rooms are physically divided into two separate dining rooms each on this deck &the one above. I have been told that once upon a time they had different menu items unique to each dining room, but now like all Princess ships there is a standard MDR menu for all.

They are packed tightly with tables, often causing waitstaff to have to tilt heavily loaded trays of plates at unwieldly angles. Dining has been slow the first two nights (2 hours tonight) & the waiters seem stretched thin. Part of the problems seems to be that so many people have drink packages & the junior waiters are all gone for most of the service getting drinks from the bar (or wherever they actually go). There also seem to be less experienced waitstaff & obviously the teamwork that comes from working many meal services together takes time to build.

Moving up to the Fiesta Deck, the casino seems smaller than other ships. Beyond the casino there is a nice library well stocked with books & some games & the future cruise & captain’s circle offices.

The Promenade Deck is nicely laid out with a good-sized internet café & Sabatini’s. You do have to go up to the Emerald Deck at the front of the ship for the full circuit, but it is not blocked off aft for crew smoking or any other purpose.

There seem to be plenty of spaces, both inside & out, where you can find a space to sit & enjoy music (the music in the Piazza & other places has been very good), visit, meet new friends or just find some space for yourself. There are some great places for views, Skywalkers had great aft views & I think it was the Sun Deck which had space to be all the way forward (I would be afraid to be out there when the ship is moving) with great views in that direction as well. The Promenade Deck is also nice & wide to allow people to enjoy the deck loungers without being disturbed by promenaders.

Next photos of the ship & then day 2—at sea.

 

My posts in this LIVE:

pre-cruise musing—post 1

photos of berth 46—post 2

ready to go—post 23

onboard & ready to report—post 60

embarkation day—post 67

embarkation photos—post 68

embarkation lunch photos—post 70 & 72

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PescadoAmarillo "Live from...." Rare

PescadoAmarillo

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10 hours ago, Jagajak1 said:

Lots wrong for a ship that was out of use for two years for sure. 

We were on the first Emerald Princess cruise after the shut down, and that’s when I first realized that these ships, though they were not actively cruising, had no crew onboard during all those months (years) to fix things. On top of that, unused things break when you try to use them again. So while I initially expected everything to be *perfect* because they had either sat idle or had plenty of time for maintenance and upgrades, it was actually the opposite.

 

Our cruise was saved (it was one of our best cruises ever) by the low passenger count (less than 25% full), and amazing HGM and the double crew (crew was being taken to the Caribbean to meet up with ships there) but so many things were broken or out of service for the entire cruise that I’m thankful those things were true.  It shows that the ship from hell doesn’t have to result in the cruise from hell. 

 

OP, thanks for your wonderful reports despite technical difficulties. I was also on her first transpacific in 2004 and enjoyed several cruises on the Sapphire since then and she is definitely one of my favorites (not least of all because she’s relatively smaller). 

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XBGuy

XBGuy

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5 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

 

 

Dining has been slow the first two nights (2 hours tonight) & the waiters seem stretched thin. Part of the problems seems to be that so many people have drink packages & the junior waiters are all gone for most of the service getting drinks from the bar (or wherever they actually go).

 

 

 

I assume all Princess ships are similar to the two on which we toured the galley as part of the Chef's Table dinner.  There is a bartender in the galley who fills drink orders brought to him by dining room servers. 

 

This bar is enclosed in a cage.  Only the bartender is inside.  I assume the limited access is for security and inventory control.  Orders from the servers must be submitted to the bartender in writing.  The "written orders only" requirement is probably for quality control--verifying that orders have been completed and completed correctly.

 

I did not see any orders come in for bottles of wine, nor did I see much space for storage of the ships wine inventory.  Orders for wine bottles may be submitted at the station that I saw, or there may be another station.

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KLM3164

KLM3164

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15 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

I love cruise food photos so will probably post a bunch!

Your food photos are making me so hungry right now! Thanks for sharing them. Can’t wait to get back on a ship for the embarkation day lunch in the MDR!!!

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Papa Yoda

Papa Yoda

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3 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

I assume all Princess ships are similar to the two on which we toured the galley as part of the Chef's Table dinner.  There is a bartender in the galley who fills drink orders brought to him by dining room servers. 

 

This bar is enclosed in a cage.  Only the bartender is inside.  I assume the limited access is for security and inventory control.  Orders from the servers must be submitted to the bartender in writing.  The "written orders only" requirement is probably for quality control--verifying that orders have been completed and completed correctly.

 

I did not see any orders come in for bottles of wine, nor did I see much space for storage of the ships wine inventory.  Orders for wine bottles may be submitted at the station that I saw, or there may be another station.

 

The cage i.e. galley bay

IMG_6409.JPG

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