ALMOST live. Sapphire Princess. 10 day Mexican Riviera. Oct 23rd

[HaveDogWillTravel]

17 minutes ago, fellswoop said:

ining at the steakhouse again tonight to use up some onboard credit.  Of interest, during specialty restaurant hours you can order on the app foods from Sterling and Sabatini’s for a la cart charges. What is missing that we have noted is one used to be able to order a steak from the steakhouse for an extra charge in the MDR. That no longer is available nor is any steak available on the always available menu. 

 

I wonder if you could just use the ap to order the steak and have it delivered to MDR ?  In theory you should be able to. 
 

Please let us know how the sanctuary works out. 

[Vexorg]

This is an interior cabin on Aloha Deck a bit behind the midship stairs (I'm guessing any HVAC issues are going to be regional rather than tied to specific cabins.)  I think it's better today, but it was extremely hot inside the cabin last night and I sweated through my shirt even sleeping with no blankets.

 

As for steaks in the MDR, it seems the app blocks out certain locations for ordering (including the MDR and the specialty dining venues) but I'm guessing you could get a Crown Grill meal in the MDR if you asked your waiter the night before.  There's enough steaks on the regular MDR menu anyway that I'm not sure you would need to (my prime rib portion yesterday was huge, far more than I could eat) but I could see ordering Sabatini's if nothing on the regular menu looked good.

[donswife]

2 hours ago, srpilo said:

Hope your DW recovers quickly, and can enjoy the remainder of your cruise

 

We're on next cruise, would mind sharing the cabin number with the issues

We were in C623 last week,  and the temperature was fine. I like it on the cool side, and had the thermostat a bar or 2 above the coolest setting at night. Even with the puffy comforter I was okay. 

[travelin.sisters]

3 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I wonder if you could just use the ap to order the steak and have it delivered to MDR ?  In theory you should be able to. 

you probably couldn't order the steak to the MDR, the app shows different things to order based on your location

[fellswoop]

Story Time....last night we ate again at Sterling Steakhouse. Our first visit was comped as part of our Premier Package but we had some OBC to use so went again. The service and waitstaff were wonderful and just like the first time the food was perfection.  We were seated nearest the entrance in a window seat. By the end of our dinner there were no guests near us and it was very quiet in there. We were finishing our desserts.The hostess was at the entrance podium and a man carrying what looked like his empty buffet dishes  walked unsteadily into the restaurant and was talking a little louder than you would expect. ( the steakhouse on this ship is in the back part of the buffet) Waitstaff immediately take the dishes from him but he continues talking about how he is going to be comped by the casino to come and eat there the next night. My first impressions was he was impaired. After several minutes they were able to seemingly send him on his way. The hostess and maitre d  were no longer at the entrance podium and the man came back in and made a bee line to our table closest to the entrance. He was trying to converse with us and leaning into our table talking pretty much nonsensical. We could see no waitstaff, hostess, or maitre d around and then...he did a full uncovered cough into our table...and I am not kidding!!! My husband and I are now looking at each other with eyebrows raised and wide eyes and each holding our napkins over our mouths and noses to try to somewhat buffer the germs from his cough. I then start waving to the other side of the room to a waiter and was able to get his attention. Two people came to escort him away and I did tell them he coughed right on us. We waited a few minutes till we were sure he was gone. We said goodbye to our server who had not seen anything as he was gone to the kitchen to pick up an order. I'm assuming that neither the hostess or maitre d knew it had happened as no one came to our table with an apology. I'm sure if they did know they would have been apologetic and maybe even comped our meal. In hindsight the hostess at first encounter with him with slurred speech and unsteady gait  and armful of dishes should have called security to escort him to his room and/or make sure he had no medical emergency. Any thoughts??? Anything  similar happen to you? What would you have done?

[HaveDogWillTravel]

2 hours ago, fellswoop said:

Story Time....last night we ate again at Sterling Steakhouse. Our first visit was comped as part of our Premier Package but we had some OBC to use so went again. The service and waitstaff were wonderful and just like the first time the food was perfection.  We were seated nearest the entrance in a window seat. By the end of our dinner there were no guests near us and it was very quiet in there. We were finishing our desserts.The hostess was at the entrance podium and a man carrying what looked like his empty buffet dishes  walked unsteadily into the restaurant and was talking a little louder than you would expect. ( the steakhouse on this ship is in the back part of the buffet) Waitstaff immediately take the dishes from him but he continues talking about how he is going to be comped by the casino to come and eat there the next night. My first impressions was he was impaired. After several minutes they were able to seemingly send him on his way. The hostess and maitre d  were no longer at the entrance podium and the man came back in and made a bee line to our table closest to the entrance. He was trying to converse with us and leaning into our table talking pretty much nonsensical. We could see no waitstaff, hostess, or maitre d around and then...he did a full uncovered cough into our table...and I am not kidding!!! My husband and I are now looking at each other with eyebrows raised and wide eyes and each holding our napkins over our mouths and noses to try to somewhat buffer the germs from his cough. I then start waving to the other side of the room to a waiter and was able to get his attention. Two people came to escort him away and I did tell them he coughed right on us. We waited a few minutes till we were sure he was gone. We said goodbye to our server who had not seen anything as he was gone to the kitchen to pick up an order. I'm assuming that neither the hostess or maitre d knew it had happened as no one came to our table with an apology. I'm sure if they did know they would have been apologetic and maybe even comped our meal. In hindsight the hostess at first encounter with him with slurred speech and unsteady gait  and armful of dishes should have called security to escort him to his room and/or make sure he had no medical emergency. Any thoughts??? Anything  similar happen to you? What would you have done?

First off EWWWWW!  I am so sorry this happened to you during what should have been an elevated dining environment.  

It’s really difficult to know what I would have done. I think we all have a thought of what we’d do but until you are in the thick of it there’s no telling.

 

I’d like to think the second he got uncomfortably close I would have stood up and either left or stood up  while telling him in a loud voice to Back Off. Since the restart I’ve reliably simply turned heel and left when anyone made me uncomfortable.  I’ve had A LOT of practice employing that response!  

 

But it’s never happened while I was in specialty dining or sanctuary. I’d hope in this case that I’d use an elevated voice to make it clear he needed to move away. But who knows. Again ewwwwww just disgusting.  

[Kay S]

On 10/27/2022 at 7:22 AM, cruzin4us said:

That's why I stay on the ship in Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Ensenada.     Loreto is the only place where you can get off and feel relaxed.   Now when I cruise the Mexican Riviera, it's for being on the ship not the ports.

Me too.  I love Loreto.  It's historic and not touristic.  But it can be brutally hot sometimes.

[Kay S]

Sterling Steakhouse is part of the buffet, so it's not hard for some rando to walk in.  That's one reason I've never eaten there. A corner of the buffet wasn't worth the upcharge.  I think Princess should have comped you the whole meal.  

[HBCcruiser]

5 hours ago, fellswoop said:

What would you have done?

Let's just say knowing my DH it would have ended badly for that guy. 

[fellswoop]

First of 2 sea days today as we head back to Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. The morning was a cool 73° and windy so decided it would not even be a good Sanctuary day, so removed all potential drama and cancelled thru Crew Chat. Crew Chat on the app is one of the most useful tools and I encourage everyone to use it any time (24 hours) you have a question or problem that you otherwise would stand in line for at Guest Services. (and also for things you just want to know) I messaged them about 5x thru the cruise and always had an answer back within 15 min or less. 

Example....my door won't close and lock and I need maintenance....how many people will be on next cruise?...Can I cancel our Sanctuary reservation on this Chat? (Yes!)  Is the World Series going to be shown anywhere on the ship? Play with the app when you get on the ship. Watch the safety video on the app when you first get on the ship. Order room service and coffees to your room. Order a bottle of wine. Click on every section. It was days before I finally found where I could find the daily MDR menus for breakfast,  lunch, and dinner. You can find the nearest bathrooms to wherever you are at.  Get the weather temp and current ship heading. And of course you can find your shipmate's location. (I'm told that can be disabled if you choose) If you're one of those people who wait to be on-board before booking your excursions then you can do it on the app easily. Your account and all your charges are available to review on the app. For all the complaints I have read about the Medallion and the app, I believe they are slowly working out the bugs and making improvements.  But one thing for sure...if you do not have a Smart Phone then you can do everything the way you always did no worries!

Today is Halloween. Looking forward to seeing some creative costumes tonight.

[fellswoop]

The  Halloween party last night was a great success and many more cruisers participated than in other Halloween cruises we have been on. So much laughter at so many crazy costumes and  so many of the crew participated too. 

Last sea day and it was chilly and breezy. At 5pm temp 64°. 

Just went to the Princess Prizes drawing. We had the Premium Drink plan which had included the Princess Prizes. Normally we would never pay the extra for that but this particular cruise was booked after we canceled a Celebrity b2b Mexican Riviera on the Millennium with similar dates and I really wanted to go on that ship. Sadly a few months ago Celebrity switched out the Millennium for the NOT updated Solstice and had offered us each $800 OBC not to cancel. They did not lower the price though so we bailed and saved s lot of money booking Sapphire.  So we splurged on premium drinks and accompanying Princess Prizes, and Club Class. Yes Princess Prizes is very goofy but we did win a total of $100 from the door panel just from unlocking the door with the Medallion.  Twice we hadn't even noticed we had won till we saw it credited to our account.  It's non refundable OBC so let's just say I bought a purse in the gift shop that I otherwise would never have bought. 🙂

Always sad to be packing on that last evening but it has been a great cruise on a great ship made even better by a great staff.

In the next day or so I'll wrap up with some final thoughts. 

[seagunthera]

I loved reading all of these post and am looking forward to our 10 day in December.  Can someone tell me please which two Sea days they held formal nights?  TIA and enjoy your last evening everyone!!

[fellswoop]

@seagunthera First formal was day 2 the first sea day. 

Second formal was day 7 the sea day before Puerto Vallarta. 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

On 10/24/2022 at 8:25 AM, LawDog61 said:

How is the WiFi on board?  I am on Sapphire for Hawaii in a few weeks and am debating getting internet.  On the Discovery last week, it was so bad, basically unusable.

 

The WiFi worked great going to and from Hawaii, Oct 4-19. I wasn't streaming Netflix, but I did watch some YouTube videos and videos from Twitter links and there was no lag at all.

 

On 10/24/2022 at 10:33 AM, fellswoop said:

Here's a secret. We saw a long line  for specialty coffee at International Cafe.

 

My secret is the International Cafe has no line at 5:30AM 🙂

 

On 10/24/2022 at 12:48 PM, Mike45LC said:

Line for MDR for lunch too long, so my choices for lunch were Alfredo’s or buffet.  (I consider Trident Grill part of buffet,). At the buffet, there was a nice roast beef as entree.

 

I almost never eat in an MDR for lunch, it sucks up too much time. I get a salad from the buffet, head to the main pool area and get pizza from Slice or a burger/dog from Trident Grill....  some days I had pizza AND a hot, just like I was at Costco.

 

On 10/25/2022 at 9:39 AM, Mike45LC said:

Production show:  “Bravo.”  Seen it before, not a favorite.  No plot, just songs and dances.  Well performed.  Not crowded, plenty of seating.

 

If the lead female vocalist is the same one as two weeks earlier, she was the best voice I've ever heard on a cruise ship. You do have to appreciate opera though.

 

On 10/26/2022 at 8:19 PM, Vexorg said:

I have to say that Cabo isn't high on my list of favorite cruise ports after this visit.  Way too many pushy people trying to sell you things or get you to take tours.

 

Not trying to be too critical here, but in 1990 Cabo San Lucas had a population of 15,000 people. It was a very sleepy place on the tip of Baja. It was mostly noted for marlin fishing. Then they started building hotels.....  today the population is over 100,000 and a LOT of these people didn't have any income for well over a year with no cruise ships and the hotels closed. I understand the aggressiveness, but when I've told people no, they were polite and didn't persue.

 

On 10/28/2022 at 4:24 PM, srpilo said:

Could you share what movies are current being shown onboard ?

 

For Movies Under The Stars (MUTS) because it is football season, there is NFL football at night Thursday, Sunday and Monday.

 

Feature movies included Bill & Ted Face the Music, The Lost City, The Jungle Cruise, Ford vs Ferrari, Spiderman No Way Home, Moulin Rouge, Blue Hawaii (probably only on Hawaii cruises), Dumplin', Venom: Let There Be Carnage (skipped that one), Cyrano, 50 First Dates, Dune and Shang-Chi the Legend of the Ten Rings.

 

The Movies on Demand in the cabin is way too big to list. Lots of choices.

 

On 10/31/2022 at 7:14 AM, fellswoop said:

Story Time....last night we ate again at Sterling Steakhouse.

 

I really wanted a good steak on our cruise, but the set-up of Sterling Steakhouse, I knew I was NOT going to be happy because I'd be comparing it to the Crown Grill the whole time.

 

They close off one section of the buffet seating and call it "a steakhouse". It just does not have that classic, elegant steakhouse feel you want.

 

Here is a Crown Grill

 

Here is the "Sterling Steakhouse"

[Vexorg]

Back home this evening, and our first order of business after arriving at home was to find a ladder and get one of our cats out of a tree she had gotten herself stuck in (she hadn't been there too long fortunately.)  I'll probably have some thoughts to summarize a bit later on, but overall we quite enjoyed the cruise in spite of the hiccups.  I feel that Princess made good on the AC issues in the room, so I'll leave it at that.  It was a bit of a bummer to miss out on our Puerto Vallarta excursion though.

 

For Halloween, I decided to stir up a bit of confusion on the ship and dressed up as a Princess chef.  While in the process of cleaning the closet in our old house while moving, I happened to find the chef's jacket that I got from the Ultimate Ship's Tour many years ago, and a plan was hatched...  Finding a chef's hat and neckerchief online, I decided for Halloween I'd try going to the dining room dressed up as a chef.  Many of the waiters and other staff commented on my costume, and we were even paid a visit by Ravi, the ship's executive chef, who talked with us at our table for a few minutes and made us a bit of a special meal. 

 

The Halloween party in Club Fusion was probably the most well attended event I've ever seen in that venue.  I think even the cruise staff was surprised at how many people were participating.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Vexorg

[fellswoop]

Off ship easily but first had breakfast at Club Class. We always try to end our cruise with a peaceful breakfast at the MDR. Often last morning in the buffet can be too frantic.  I just don't know why more people don't take advantage of it. We had a Princess airport bus transfer (yes we ordered it on the Chat) then within 5 min to arriving at our meeting place (WheelHouse) we were walking off the ship

 Of course there was LA traffic but it was as efficient as could be expected. Customs now had facial recognition so the line was fast getting thru customs or whatever it is called. 

Some final observations...

First off crew was amazing and after more than 30 cruises I might even call them the best we have experienced.   Of course I know everyone has a different experience...but we liked their enthusiasm, ready smiles, and friendliness. Our room had some problems ( brown water, door not closing) but we even got flowers sent from the housekeeping supervisor for the water problem.

Mini suite...whether you are Club Class  or not, be aware of that tub/shower combo. I am 5' 6". The top of the tub you have to step over is 3 inches higher than my knee. It is a BIG climb over step and if you have any knee or hip problems it will be a challenge.  Also the tub bottom is about 6 inches higher than the floor so you are stepping lower than the foot planted in the tub when you are getting out. The handicapped rooms have a walk in shower so consider that if you think it might be a challenge for you with minisuite tubs. 

Club Class...the bed and bedding was wonderful but they put a very heavy comforter in the duvet. We asked our room steward if she could lighten it up and it was 100% better.

The Club Class  dining was excellent in that the service was perfect, fast, efficient, with personable wait staff (we had same waiters each night for table of 2) who provided great bar service and food fast and always hot. The daily evening "extras" prepared right there were not extraordinary.  Three nights in a row was a salad with grilled shrimps with a different dressing each night. One night there was a salad with steak. On one night they already had a sirloin offering on the menu and they offered a ribeye instead if you wanted. Additional extra offering was a red snapper and the best food I ate was lobster neuberg stuffed with lobster, scallops, and crab broiled with a cream sauce as an alternative addition to the menu. Club Class breakfast was provided daily and lunch on sea days plus also on the day of 1pm Cabo arrival. 

Premium Package ...the premium wines were great and the only place they weren't available was at Alfredos Pizza if Vines next door wasn't open. (Opens 4p) So my husband got around that by ordering the premium glass of wine off the app and it was delivered to him there within 10 min. 

Alfredos pizza.  Controversial statement ahead....the BEST pizza we have had on the sea. Pepperoni and extra cheese. We ate there three times! Also, can't remember if I previously mentioned it but even tho not listed on the menu, you can order salads there too!!!

The Princess Prizes...as I already mentioned, we won $25 four times from opening our door. That was nonrefundable OBC. The money won on the last day drawing was cash...1 winner of $5000 and 6 winners of $25 or $50 I think. I am not sure if the winners were pulled from all who had Princess Prizes OR  you got an entry for each time you opened your door while participating in Princess Prizes. 🤷‍♀️ A person could individually buy Princess Prizes entry for the day for $20 right on the door panel.

But let's face it. Of course it is a form of gambling run by the on board casino and we know the house ALWAYS has the edge. 🙂

We did not eat in the buffet at all but we did walk thru and it seemed like Princess standard.

Covid...did not hear of any isolations or problems but did hear a bit more "cold like symptoms" toward the end. Now that we are home we will test day 5 just to be sure. We wore our masks on elevators, tenders that had no airflow,  and in crowds, but not seated in bars or restaurants.  I'd say at any time maybe 5-10% wore masks.  We will do the same on our next cruise in January. 

Was on Discovery in August and can say without equivocation that the Princess Theater seats on the older ships (Sapphire) are wider! 

Liked the idea that we checked the boxes on the app and got no auction or jewelry store advertisements in our room.

For all you people complaining about the paper straws...my drinks were gone long before those straws got soggy. 😉

To paraphrase something 

@travelin.sisters

 said on her wonderful "live" when Sapphire first returned to service in Sept, a Mexican Riviera cruise is sometimes done for the ports,  or sometimes done multiple times just to be on a relaxing cruise. We will no doubt do it again sometime in the future.

 

[travelin.sisters]

thanks for sharing your lovely journey!

[Pluto_fan]

Thank you for the helpful and enjoyable trip report!

[Kay S]

We always do MDR breakfast the last day, and this report is making me look forward even more to the Club Class breakfast this time.

[Vexorg]

We do MDR breakfasts several times a cruise to avoid the crowds in the buffet, but pretty much always on disembarkation day.  I think we only did MDR lunch twice this time around, but had dinner in the MDR all but one night (when we weren't feeling all that great and went to the buffet.)  We mostly ate dinners in the Savoy dining room, and service was generally very good there.  Breakfast and lunch are only offered in the International dining room, so we got to know the staff in there pretty well too.

 

I also noted that disembarkation was handled rather efficiently this time around, and our luggage tags (we deliberately chose a later disembarkation group  since our flight wasn't until almost 2pm) were called about an hour before the scheduled meeting time.  We decided to just chill out in the platinum/elite lounge for a while anyway before disembarking since it seemed like a much better option than sitting around LAX.  With the facial recognition we didn't even need to show passports going through customs (My wife and I have Global Entry, but I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not.)  On previous cruises I've found it's quite common for disembarkation to be running behind schedule so it was a bit unusual to see it so far ahead.

[Mike45LC]

48 minutes ago, Vexorg said:

We do MDR breakfasts several times a cruise to avoid the crowds in the buffet, but pretty much always on disembarkation day.  I think we only did MDR lunch twice this time around, but had dinner in the MDR all but one night.

 

We didn’t make it to the MDR for breakfast or lunch even once.  The slow pace of the MDR is not to my liking for either breakfast or lunch, on sea days or port days.

 

Ate dinner in the MDR all but one specialty dinner.  Generally, the staff was good.  

I was not thrilled with the quality of the beef.
 

Princess has ruined the Love Boat Dream.  And the pastry chef cannot do merangue well — very granulated sugar texture, for both the Floating Islands and the Baked Alaska.  

[Mike45LC]

57 minutes ago, Vexorg said:

I also noted that disembarkation was handled rather efficiently this time around, and our luggage tags (we deliberately chose a later disembarkation group  since our flight wasn't until almost 2pm) were called about an hour before the scheduled meeting time.  We decided to just chill out in the platinum/elite lounge for a while anyway before disembarking since it seemed like a much better option than sitting around LAX.  With the facial recognition we didn't even need to show passports going through customs (My wife and I have Global Entry, but I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not.)  On previous cruises I've found it's quite common for disembarkation to be running behind schedule so it was a bit unusual to see it so far ahead.

Our disembarkation was right on schedule, not early.  It was scheduled for 9:30 (Navy 5), and they announced our color/number (the last group, as I has requested) right at 9:30.  

We are not Global Entry, but still we were only required to do Facial Recognition without showing passports.  Very fast.  No line.

 

Disembarkation was very smooth and efficient.  I was loading the luggage into my car (in the parking lot at the pier) by 10:00 am!

[fpsphil]

Not trying to hijack but also back from this cruise and thought I'd leave my mini review here, might post a larger one tomorrow:

 

Itinerary: This 10 day up to the Sea of Cortez has been a long time favorite. I really wished Princess would offer it more than they do (there is really nothing on Princess other than a trip on the horrible Crown until April 2024 on the Diamond). Considering doing Holland America for next fall when the water is warm like it  was for us. We honestly had the best time together exploring off the path in Loreto and La Paz

 

The Sapphire: 100% my favorite ship in the fleet. The condition of the ship, the venues, the crew, everything was perfect. Of the 23 Princess cruises I have been on (6 on the Sapphire alone) I will say this one was one of the best. For my fiancé she was blown off her feet with everything onboard (this is her 4th Princess cruise). It is kind of sad that we aren't as excited for our January cruise on the Discovery now that we had such an amazing experience together onboard the Sapphire, since we were already on the Discovery in April 2022. Our cabin D705 had 0 issues the entire cruise. AC was perfect,  hot and cold water were as expected. Loved it. Major kudos the Captain, crew, and everyone involved in getting this ship back in service, you all did a stunning job.

 

And yes I was the guy in the Alien costume that everyone wanted pictures with.  So much energy on Halloween thank you all!

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by fpsphil

[fpsphil]

2 hours ago, Vexorg said:

We do MDR breakfasts several times a cruise to avoid the crowds in the buffet, but pretty much always on disembarkation day.  I think we only did MDR lunch twice this time around, but had dinner in the MDR all but one night (when we weren't feeling all that great and went to the buffet.)  We mostly ate dinners in the Savoy dining room, and service was generally very good there.  Breakfast and lunch are only offered in the International dining room, so we got to know the staff in there pretty well too.

 

I also noted that disembarkation was handled rather efficiently this time around, and our luggage tags (we deliberately chose a later disembarkation group  since our flight wasn't until almost 2pm) were called about an hour before the scheduled meeting time.  We decided to just chill out in the platinum/elite lounge for a while anyway before disembarking since it seemed like a much better option than sitting around LAX.  With the facial recognition we didn't even need to show passports going through customs (My wife and I have Global Entry, but I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not.)  On previous cruises I've found it's quite common for disembarkation to be running behind schedule so it was a bit unusual to see it so far ahead.

Me and my fiancé do  not have Global Entry and we had the same facial recognition. 

 

As far as the Elite lounge I always make a deal with our steward to be able to sit on the balcony while  he cleans rather than running downstairs to a lounge. We enjoyed the balcony for an extra 45 minutes and walked off at 9:15 and got our bags

[HaveDogWillTravel]

20 hours ago, fellswoop said:

First off crew was amazing and after more than 30 cruises I might even call them the best we have experienced.   Of course I know everyone has a different experience...but we liked their enthusiasm, ready smiles, and friendliness

I’m onboard now and I must echo your and other comments like this regarding the crew. They are warm, friendly, happy and eager to do everything they can to give us the best experience ever. At Crooners, Vines and skwalker bars as soon as the bartenders found out I preferred Silverado Sauvignon Blanc to the Canyon Road and the Santa Helena they offered to get some bottles delivered. Yesterday our first sea day Jonathon at Crooners was pouring it for me by the glass. Price $11 included in plus. Thank goodness!  Club class dining doesn’t blink an eye when we take the nice glasses out with us. (We always bring them back). So while Crooners and skywalkers Etc don’t have the wine glasses without a lip we just bring ours with us and they will pour our wine into them. 
 

I have talked with more officers on the Officer board already than I ever have on any of my 200 plus  days with Princess.  And I don’t mean a fleeting head nod and how are. I mean a genuine conversation. Last night Dean, Pieter and Aleksander were playing the games on boards on deck 7 by Ocean Medallion desk and visiting with guests. At the SEP lounge they were all there as was Mario our DORO (oldest and longest serving DORO with 50 years). With his assistant DORO Carlos.  They were utterly engaged and took the time to really talk and visit with everyone. 
 

This has been a spectacular sailing so far and thanks to all for the last 2 live froms.