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Live From the Sapphire Princess! (29 April - 10 May)

Drdarkknight

By Drdarkknight,
in Princess Cruises

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Drdarkknight "Live from...." Rare

Drdarkknight

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Host CJSKIDS
This post was recognized by Host CJSKIDS!

"Thank you for doing a live from while on your cruise. Hope you enjoy it!"

Drdarkknight was awarded the badge '"Live from...."' and 5 points.

After months of reading nonstop Live reports from all over the world it is finally time for me to start my own! On Friday my husband and I fly from Calgary to Vancouver before our 29 April sailing on the Sapphire Princess to ALASKAAAAA. We’re on the 11 Day Inside Passage Roundtrip, to be specific. 

 

About Us - We are both from Canada. I am 32 and my husband is 37. This will mark my husband’s first ever cruise. As for myself, I love cruising. I got started as a pre-teen with a couple of Disney cruises before doing a Royal Caribbean Mediterranean cruise when I was 18. I took a break for awhile to do a lot of land travel but returned when I was 26 to do Panama Canal with Norwegian. In 2019 I did a Caribbean cruise with Celebrity and Scandinavia with Princess. I was supposed to do Mediterranean with Princess again in 2020, but we all know what happened…(might be hitting that up next year though!). That’s not to say I wasn’t busy - I met my now-husband shortly before the pandemic and we got married in October. This won’t be our honeymoon - that was in Mexico - but this cruise lands right after my birthday and right before his, so it’s kindof perfect timing!

 

As my husband has never been on a cruise it was up to me to pick one out. And by that I mean I was craving another cruise and booked one while he was asleep (he knows that’s how it all went down - I told him the next morning!) Having cruised on a lot of different lines I can’t really say I have a favourite. For me, it depends what I’m looking for. I’d never been to Alaska and I thought it might be nice for my husband to experience a ‘first’ with me, destination-wise, as I’m quite well-travelled. That made the cruise line decision easy as everyone everywhere says for Alaska Princess is the way to go. 

 

Having looked into Alaska in the past I knew I wanted a roundtrip sailing. Flying to/from Alaska from Canada is just way too complicated and expensive. That basically left me with the 14 Day Voyage of the Glaciers or the 11 Day Inside Passage, which I ultimately chose. What made that decision for me? There seemed to be more places for us to visit. Voyage of the Glaciers pretty much hits the same ports up as it does down. This way we get Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka and Ketchikan. It also means we have three sea days, which i enjoy and also have heard Princess has amazing enrichment activities for Alaska. 

 

As for my husband’s criteria, he doesn’t really have any except he HATES to fly (we’re working on it before we fly to Rome next year) so Vancouver at least is only about an hour or so in the air.  With the flight being so short and running quite frequently we definitely could have flown out the morning of the cruise but I’m paranoid and with the state of airlines today, I’d rather give myself the extra day. That way if something happened I could still drive there in time to make the ship (it’s a ~11 hour drive). But we aren’t going to think about that. We’re instead going to fly out Friday, stay overnight in a hotel by the pier, tour around for a bit and have a nice dinner before all the excitement starts. Originally we were going to fly out in the late afternoon so we could put in a half day at work but when I realized my husband had never been to Vancouver before we decided to fly out in the morning and get some exploring in. 

 

I’m hoping he will enjoy cruising just as much as I do. He’s a beach bum and doesn’t understand why we’re going somewhere cold but I’ve slowly won him over in the last eleven months. In addition to the bones in my hand potentially surviving the flight to Vancouver, it also makes getting there a bit cheaper as flying in Canada is not cheap. I mostly fly with Westjet and had received a gift card at my bridal shower last year. Between that and my accrued Westjet dollars (through my credit card with them) and the companion voucher they offer I was able to make the flights relatively inexpensive. Only problem is you can only use two of them at once. My companion voucher was expiring by 31 March so I felt I had to use that, and then I used my Westjet dollars when I realized the gift card doesn’t have an expiry date. 

 

One downside to Alaska is booking it is expensive. We’re only in an inside cabin and it was quite pricey, especially with the conversion to Canadian dollars. We do have Princess Plus. We hadn’t been planning to do any specialty dining because I find the Princess food in the main dining room to be just as good, and included, but ultimately decided to try out Stirling Steakhouse one night. We don’t gamble so that will also help with the costs but I do love my Bingo and wine tastings. We got some OBC with our booking which we put towards our most expensive excursion which was really helpful. 

 

We’re using Princess for all our excursions, though at one port we aren’t doing anything. 

Icy Strait Point - Whale Watching Cruise and Brown Bear Expedition 

Juneau - Meidenhall Glacier, Salmon Hatchery & Salmon Bake

Skagway - Yukon Explorer

Sitka - Foodie Tour 

Ketchikan - wandering around ourselves 

 

I’m very, very excited to be back cruising and hope to keep people in touch and along for the journey!

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lucywestie Great Review Rare

lucywestie

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Will follow along. We live in Cochrane just outside Calgary and are doing the 14 day Voyage of the Glaciers on the Sapphire in September. We sailed her many years ago on her last Alaska voyage of the season before heading down the west coast. We really enjoyed the ship and the ports.

We are also doing an inside cabin as we like to be out and about on the ship trying to spot whales and wildlife.

For us we are going to drive to Vancouver and drop our dog off with a friend in Victoria before taking the cruise. Have a great time. You will really enjoy yourselves

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XBGuy

XBGuy

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On 4/25/2023 at 11:25 PM, Drdarkknight said:

 

We’re using Princess for all our excursions, though at one port we aren’t doing anything. 

Icy Strait Point - Whale Watching Cruise and Brown Bear Expedition 

Juneau - Meidenhall Glacier, Salmon Hatchery & Salmon Bake

Skagway - Yukon Explorer

Sitka - Foodie Tour 

Ketchikan - wandering around ourselves 

 

 

We have taken multiple AK cruises, but only one of stopped at Icy Strait Point.  It is a terrific port.

 

Mrs. XBGuy booked the Whale Watching tour--outstanding--and what I assume is the same Brown Bear Expedition that you are on although at the time it was called a "Bear Search."  It was even more fun that the whale watching, and, yes, we did find some bears.

 

Bon Voyage.

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lost4sure

lost4sure

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Hello DrdarkKnight,

 

I will see you on the ship.  My sister, Alice, and I are travelling together in an inside cabin as well.  We are from Victoria.  I broke my left ulna when I pull my carryon from the flight overhead compartment so I have a left purple cast on. Say hi if you see a left purple cast.

 

Grace

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PurpleTraveller

PurpleTraveller

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Sapphire Princess is my favourite Princess ship and from my trip to Norway on her, there are lots of great viewing areas to see the scenery. I will be on Crown Princess for a 11 day Inside Passage from Vancouver on June 2 so look forward to your report. Have a great cruise! 🛳️

 

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Drdarkknight "Live from...." Rare

Drdarkknight

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So fun fact - I am a management consultant and I was just assigned a new client NINE business days before I left for our cruise. So that has been a fun thing to navigate. My husband and I also just bought a house and are taking possession June 1 so when it rains (all good things) it definitely pours. And by that I mean my poor husband basically has been packing by himself. So while I’ve been frantically getting onboarded and getting all my ducks in a row he’s been doing that. Bless him. We have managed to pack everything into one large suitcase and one carry on suitcase, though we did have to check our carry on since it was a sold out flight. We also have a backpack to use during our excursions. We are wearing some of our heavier clothes on our flight to save space/weight. 

 

Our flight left today (we had the exit row!) at 9:30am and landed in Vancouver at 10am. Everything ran on time and it was a smooth flight. I’ve only been to Vancouver three times and I was so young I don’t remember the first. The second two times I came with my best friend and we drove the first (that was terrifying) and took a cab from the airport the second time (also terrifying). We had intended on taking the SkyTrain but by the time we landed and got our luggage we were so hot and decided to just grab a taxi. It wasn’t too bad - $38 CAD as a fixed rate fee. 

 

My husband and I had debated booking a hotel near the airport or near the cruise terminal and he ultimately decided cruise terminal so we settled on the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel. The price was expensive (as most places on the waterfront will be) but not as bad as others and was still a reputable hotel and walking distance from both the SkyTrain and the cruise terminal. We were so excited when we arrived at 11am to find out we could check in early! Not only that we had been given a corner King unit with waterfront views! 

 

We took a few minutes to refresh and charge our phones before heading out again. We walked to Waterfront station but took the ‘long’ way (which wasn’t very long) so we could see the waterfront. We were able to see the Olympic torch, a Lego orca, our restaurant for dinner tonight and the cruise terminal! Definitely walking distance. Finding the correct train inside the station was another story but if you follow the signs you will eventually locate it. We took it to Yaletown-Roundhouse station and walked to the Yaletown Dock to catch the ferry to Granville Island. I was nervous in advance about how the ferry would work but it was a piece of cake. We stood on the dock for maybe two minutes when False Creek Ferries showed up and we hopped aboard. We bought two return tickets to Granville Island for $9 per person. The driver of the boat was really funny and told us lots of random, possibly true, facts on the 15 minute journey. 

 

I’ve been to Vancouver but it’s always been for concerts so my trips have mostly focused on downtown but I’ve always wanted to visit Granville Island. My sister had been there a week earlier and recommended a restaurant called The Sandbar. I had made reservations for lunch. It’s a little tucked away but the space is absolutely massive. The staff was so nice and the food was delicious. We split a fantastic bottle of 2021 Mission Hill Rosé the crab and artichoke dip. My husband had the Arctic char for his main, which he really enjoyed, and I had the linguine vongole. No dessert for us - we were stuffed! 

 

Following our meal we headed to Granville Island Brewery, which is a fairly well-known brewery in Canada. It looked packed but we actually were seated immediately. They had an option called the Full Map which we could share, which was ten 5 ounce beers so we selected that. My favourite was the Sunshine Coast Hefeweizen. So much so that I got my own pint of it before we left. 

 

We then took the ferry bus back to Yaletown which was incredibly organized and we barely waited and grabbed the train back to our hotel where we changed for dinner. We were ahead of schedule but also so hot that if we rested we’d probably fall asleep. So we headed to the hotel bar, Preston’s Restaurant and Lounge. It wasn’t very busy but the staff was friendly. We plan on coming back for breakfast tomorrow as I received a 20% off coupon at checkin. 

 

This dinner  was going to be a huge treat. I’m a big foodie and in my research had found a restaurant called ‘The Botanist’. I immediately made reservations but I knew it was quite expensive. This isn’t unusual for us but we weren’t typically coming home and immediately buying a house so the circumstances were a tad different. We had seriously debated cancelling and doing something else but my husband had told me a couple weeks ago that he wanted to treat me to dinner there for my birthday. Works for me!  

 

We had an amazing eight course dinner with wine pairings and had a great time. The ambiance was great and we were surprised by the size of the restaurant. Even heading to the bathroom - which was a bit of a jaunt - was super cool as you walked through a bit of an art gallery. 

 

After dinner it was right in time for sunset - my absolute favourite time of day. We went for a walk along the waterfront and got some amazing views before heading back to our hotel. We went back to Preston’s for a nightcap and now we’re back in the room ready to absolutely die in this super comfortable bed and wake up for our cruise tomorrow!

48C4275C-5766-48BF-A376-6E96E937D5C9.jpeg

71E8AE25-A86B-461F-8FBB-7001C8B9878B.jpeg

28CF1281-B89E-4638-8796-399046E8E071.jpeg

A713270B-EB9F-4A64-8794-3CDD896A3B96.jpeg

1C7B2ED2-C9DA-474A-B808-5C6A7D9B1753.jpeg

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CruzeQueen2

CruzeQueen2

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14 hours ago, Drdarkknight said:

So fun fact - I am a management consultant and I was just assigned a new client NINE business days before I left for our cruise. So that has been a fun thing to navigate. My husband and I also just bought a house and are taking possession June 1 so when it rains (all good things) it definitely pours. And by that I mean my poor husband basically has been packing by himself. So while I’ve been frantically getting onboarded and getting all my ducks in a row he’s been doing that. Bless him. We have managed to pack everything into one large suitcase and one carry on suitcase, though we did have to check our carry on since it was a sold out flight. We also have a backpack to use during our excursions. We are wearing some of our heavier clothes on our flight to save space/weight. 

 

Our flight left today (we had the exit row!) at 9:30am and landed in Vancouver at 10am. Everything ran on time and it was a smooth flight. I’ve only been to Vancouver three times and I was so young I don’t remember the first. The second two times I came with my best friend and we drove the first (that was terrifying) and took a cab from the airport the second time (also terrifying). We had intended on taking the SkyTrain but by the time we landed and got our luggage we were so hot and decided to just grab a taxi. It wasn’t too bad - $38 CAD as a fixed rate fee. 

 

My husband and I had debated booking a hotel near the airport or near the cruise terminal and he ultimately decided cruise terminal so we settled on the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel. The price was expensive (as most places on the waterfront will be) but not as bad as others and was still a reputable hotel and walking distance from both the SkyTrain and the cruise terminal. We were so excited when we arrived at 11am to find out we could check in early! Not only that we had been given a corner King unit with waterfront views! 

 

We took a few minutes to refresh and charge our phones before heading out again. We walked to Waterfront station but took the ‘long’ way (which wasn’t very long) so we could see the waterfront. We were able to see the Olympic torch, a Lego orca, our restaurant for dinner tonight and the cruise terminal! Definitely walking distance. Finding the correct train inside the station was another story but if you follow the signs you will eventually locate it. We took it to Yaletown-Roundhouse station and walked to the Yaletown Dock to catch the ferry to Granville Island. I was nervous in advance about how the ferry would work but it was a piece of cake. We stood on the dock for maybe two minutes when False Creek Ferries showed up and we hopped aboard. We bought two return tickets to Granville Island for $9 per person. The driver of the boat was really funny and told us lots of random, possibly true, facts on the 15 minute journey. 

 

I’ve been to Vancouver but it’s always been for concerts so my trips have mostly focused on downtown but I’ve always wanted to visit Granville Island. My sister had been there a week earlier and recommended a restaurant called The Sandbar. I had made reservations for lunch. It’s a little tucked away but the space is absolutely massive. The staff was so nice and the food was delicious. We split a fantastic bottle of 2021 Mission Hill Rosé the crab and artichoke dip. My husband had the Arctic char for his main, which he really enjoyed, and I had the linguine vongole. No dessert for us - we were stuffed! 

 

Following our meal we headed to Granville Island Brewery, which is a fairly well-known brewery in Canada. It looked packed but we actually were seated immediately. They had an option called the Full Map which we could share, which was ten 5 ounce beers so we selected that. My favourite was the Sunshine Coast Hefeweizen. So much so that I got my own pint of it before we left. 

 

We then took the ferry bus back to Yaletown which was incredibly organized and we barely waited and grabbed the train back to our hotel where we changed for dinner. We were ahead of schedule but also so hot that if we rested we’d probably fall asleep. So we headed to the hotel bar, Preston’s Restaurant and Lounge. It wasn’t very busy but the staff was friendly. We plan on coming back for breakfast tomorrow as I received a 20% off coupon at checkin. 

 

This dinner  was going to be a huge treat. I’m a big foodie and in my research had found a restaurant called ‘The Botanist’. I immediately made reservations but I knew it was quite expensive. This isn’t unusual for us but we weren’t typically coming home and immediately buying a house so the circumstances were a tad different. We had seriously debated cancelling and doing something else but my husband had told me a couple weeks ago that he wanted to treat me to dinner there for my birthday. Works for me!  

 

We had an amazing eight course dinner with wine pairings and had a great time. The ambiance was great and we were surprised by the size of the restaurant. Even heading to the bathroom - which was a bit of a jaunt - was super cool as you walked through a bit of an art gallery. 

 

After dinner it was right in time for sunset - my absolute favourite time of day. We went for a walk along the waterfront and got some amazing views before heading back to our hotel. We went back to Preston’s for a nightcap and now we’re back in the room ready to absolutely die in this super comfortable bed and wake up for our cruise tomorrow!

48C4275C-5766-48BF-A376-6E96E937D5C9.jpeg

71E8AE25-A86B-461F-8FBB-7001C8B9878B.jpeg

28CF1281-B89E-4638-8796-399046E8E071.jpeg

A713270B-EB9F-4A64-8794-3CDD896A3B96.jpeg

1C7B2ED2-C9DA-474A-B808-5C6A7D9B1753.jpeg

Great start so far @Drdarkknight. Thanks for taking us along. Nice to hear about your visit to Vancouver. You chose wisely! Bon Voyage.

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