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

[Wahoo73]

Next question for anyone who plays poker, which I do.  Is there live poker in the casino?  If so, are they with a live dealer and chips, or are they at an electronic table (like PokerPro)? What games are dealt and what limits? Are the games well attended?

[EDVM96]

Disembarkation went very smooth. No lines at customs (Express Walk-off Group B at 08:00). Even though there were 3 ships disembarking today. Took me 5 minutes from ship to taxi.

[AlibearNS]

18 hours ago, Carnevale said:

The chef’s table looks interesting.  Are they able to accommodate dietary requirements?  We eat fish but no meat or poultry.  Might not be possible given the set menu approach.

It may vary from ship to ship but on the Royal (or it may have been the Majestic) last year we were personally invited by the restaurant manager but when he found out we didn’t eat meat and poultry he couldn’t put us on the list. He was very apologetic about it. 

[SleepyBunny]

Premium desserts came either in the form of the monster ice cream creations at the Swirls ice cream bar by the pool, or two tall cake choices available at the International Cafe.  I did see the ice cream things also be delivered one time to a dining room in the evening (felt very out of place).

[SleepyBunny]

I loved this trip. The destinations, crew and the incredible weather we had could not be beat! 

 

The food was great - 95% of everything I had was delicious, nicely presented and a good size. Kids club was a hit for my child, and she was also welcomed at every other activity she attended too.  Passengers were happy, kind and friendly.  Internet was solid and so was my experience with the medallion app - both exceeded the expectations that I had based on CC posts.

 

I do have a few grumbles:

Dan French's comedy set was bad - old 90's style put-down humor, using people's places of origin and stereotypes in jokes.

Timing of some activities were hard to navigate, some things could also have been better set in bigger/smaller venues.

Pool and hot tubs were colder than I had hoped for.

Not sure what happened with the naturalist at Hubbard Glacier, sound checks were working but then there was zero interpretation while at Yakutat Bay. 

 

But honestly, this was a great cruise.  I hope everyone who joined today's departure and the rest of the Alaskan season on this ship has as great an experience as I had! 

[EDVM96]

The Sapphire today in Juneau.

 

Still can't belief how fabulous the weather was last week. 🌞

[AlibearNS]

Well, I think I was truly cursed this cruise. In all my Princess cruises, this had to be our worst for issues, too many to list, but we made the most of it, as you do, but disappointing. The Sapphire was the first Princess ship we ever sailed on, so a bit sad so much went wrong for us but so glad everyone else on this thread had a great cruise. 

And we did have excellent weather!!!

Disembarkation was the most organized we've ever seen in Vancouver, despite there being two other ships in. But on the last morning our toilet flooded which was crappy (excuse the pun) so we had to leave early to use other facilities. And now, despite wearing a mask indoors the whole time and on the ferry home, I have covid for the first time ever (sigh).

 

 

 

[suekel]

2 hours ago, AlibearNS said:

Well, I think I was truly cursed this cruise. In all my Princess cruises, this had to be our worst for issues, too many to list, but we made the most of it, as you do, but disappointing. The Sapphire was the first Princess ship we ever sailed on, so a bit sad so much went wrong for us but so glad everyone else on this thread had a great cruise. 

And we did have excellent weather!!!

Disembarkation was the most organized we've ever seen in Vancouver, despite there being two other ships in. But on the last morning our toilet flooded which was crappy (excuse the pun) so we had to leave early to use other facilities. And now, despite wearing a mask indoors the whole time and on the ferry home, I have covid for the first time ever (sigh).

 

 

 

There must have been a lot of turnover on the Sapphire when it went into drydock.  I got off an 18 day cruise last month on her and it was one of the best cruises ever.  Sorry to hear yours wasn't that way.   I've been reading horror stories about Vancouver.  Doing a RT there in September, hope they get their act together.  

[EDVM96]

53 minutes ago, suekel said:

I got off an 18 day cruise last month on her and it was one of the best cruises ever.

Just like this one. 😊

[AlibearNS]

1 hour ago, suekel said:

There must have been a lot of turnover on the Sapphire when it went into drydock.  I got off an 18 day cruise last month on her and it was one of the best cruises ever.  Sorry to hear yours wasn't that way.   I've been reading horror stories about Vancouver.  Doing a RT there in September, hope they get their act together.  

Reading others experiences, I think we were just unlucky. After over 40 excellent cruises, bound to happen at some point. And a lot of new staff which may have added to confusions. Sailing as a vegetarian this time also caused difficulties. 

Vancouver is such a beautiful sail away. I love it!  I don’t think we’ve ever had any long delays or issues at the terminal. I guess immigration slows things down a bit at boarding but we’ve always had easy walk offs! And sailing under the Lions Gate Bridge is always wonderful! 

[EDVM96]

 

The Sapphire Princess 19 year old running gag in all elevators.
 

[victoriaj]

This was a very fantastic cruise, weather could not have been better, staff was fabulous, meals were excellent and boarding flawless. When rest of my group (numbering 16 for total 19 onboard) joined me on May10 th they had zero issues with boarding, Camp Discovery for Great Grands was so good they never wanted to leave.  Chalk up another great Princess Cruise ! Disembarkation was best and quickest ever.

[PacnGoNow]

40 minutes ago, victoriaj said:

This was a very fantastic cruise, weather could not have been better, staff was fabulous, meals were excellent and boarding flawless. When rest of my group (numbering 16 for total 19 onboard) joined me on May10 th they had zero issues with boarding, Camp Discovery for Great Grands was so good they never wanted to leave.  Chalk up another great Princess Cruise ! Disembarkation was best and quickest ever.

That is great to hear! Thank you for the feedback.

[HikaruTsuki]

On 5/10/2023 at 10:19 PM, SleepyBunny said:

Not sure what happened with the naturalist at Hubbard Glacier, sound checks were working but then there was zero interpretation while at Yakutat Bay. 

 

That naturalist was terrible. I watched her talk on Alaska wildlife in our cabin and couldn't believe how much misinformation she spouted off. "There are no dolphins in Alaska," WHAT LOL. Then she goes on to say orcas are monogamous (100% false, I think she meant to say matrilineal, but still hilariously wrong). Her constant coughing was also super gross. She shouldn't have been there. 

 

My only complaints from this cruise were the naturalist, one of the comedians (the older guy who thought his crowd was all 80+?) and the hot tub temperatures. Aside from those minor things, it was the best cruise we've had. The weather was fantastic. Food was mostly great (MDR was awesome at 5pm, but quality declined the later we ate). Service was top-notch. Lots of wildlife! Loved it so much. What a great trip!

[nini]

The HOT tubs are never hot enough. On Princess, they should be called warm tubs.

[HikaruTsuki]

1 hour ago, nini said:

The HOT tubs are never hot enough. On Princess, they should be called warm tubs.

There were days when the pools were warmer than the hot tubs! I think we had ONE day where the hot tubs felt hot, and it was heavenly. We foolishly believed they would be the same the next day but nope, the temp dropped significantly. 

[EDVM96]

1 hour ago, HikaruTsuki said:

There were days when the pools were warmer than the hot tubs! I think we had ONE day where the hot tubs felt hot, and it was heavenly. 

Confirmed. I think that was on sea day #2.

[Crow9]

Thank you for the amazing trip posts, now I am going to go and get a duck fart in my cruise next week.  Does anyone know the name of the place where you had the oysters after the bars in Juneau?

Edited May 23, 2023 by Crow9
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[HaveDogWillTravel]

This itinerary was amazing.  The ship and crew were everything I hoped for. Yes there were issues as always on every cruise or land trip. They were dealt with quickly and professionally.  Embarkation and debarkation were super easy and quick. Lots of wild life, great Princess shore excursions in every port. We had 3 guest speakers that were extraordinary.  
 

I agree the naturalist, Sandra Schemp, was sick, unmasked and spoke within 2-3 ft of passengers outside of the theater for an extended period of time. Absolutely should not have happened. I’ve sailed 7 times to Alaska with Princess and this is the first time the naturalist was so bad that I felt compelled to give her a bad review on my post survey. 
 

On our first sea day the aft hot tubs were steaming hot. Later on, not so much. I never went to the indoor pool. Presumably, that should be okay but I don’t go to Alaska to stay inside or to swim. 
 

I go for this:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by HaveDogWillTravel

[Rock Chalk Jayhawk]

On 5/9/2023 at 1:42 AM, Drdarkknight said:

I can’t believe it is our last port today. Because Ketchikan looked like a good town to explore independently, we chose to not book an excursion here. We slept in a bit, until 9:30, and headed to breakfast at the International Cafe. 

 

We hopped off the ship and immediately headed towards Creek Street. We absolutely loved it as soon as we got there. We took a thousand photos and found the last of our souvenirs. I spotted a really nice patio that seemed to belong to a bar so we went in for an early morning pint. It turns out the bar is owned by a group called the ‘Eagles’ and if we wanted to drink we had to become ‘Eagles for the Day’, and the proceeds go to charity. We were happy to oblige and took our pints out to patio right along the creek side. While we drank a couple different members approached us and struck up conversation. They were so friendly! 

 

We continued our walk along Creek Street. I really enjoyed the various plaques describing their uses. I was surprised by the amount of history surrounding women and people of colour. We next decided to walk closer to the ship and find a place for lunch. That would turn out to be 108 Taphouse, a burger bar. It was small and busy! Always the sign of a good spot. They were out of a few items we wanted to try, unfortunately (elk burgers and the charcuterie board) but they still made a mean burger. Huge portion sizes. 

 

We had some time to kill so we wandered up the street and found a place called Uncharted Distillery, located in an old fire station. The lady working was so nice. I tried the Lavender Lemondrop and my husband had the Fire Station. I wish I’d gotten the Fire Station. If you like spicy drinks it’s a real winner. 

 

We next headed back down towards the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. We weren’t doing an excursion but had bought tickets independently. The line was massive but I was surprised how spacious it was inside. There was plenty of room for everyone and a lot of extra space. The show was really well done. I enjoyed it, especially the climbing and water events. My husband absolutely loved it. We had only decided a few weeks ago to buy tickets and that was the right call. 

 

We went across the car park to Fat Stan’s for our last Alaskan beer. We returned to the ship and got ready for dinner. I’m sure you’ll all be shocked to hear we went to Vines. Dinner was at Santa Fe at 5pm and I had the vol au vent, beef carpaccio, spaghetti carbonara and goat cheese soufflé. 

 

After dinner we went to the Wheelhouse Bar to watch a set by Allure Strings as we sailed away from Alaska for the final time. She is so talented I definitely want to catch her one more time tomorrow. We next went to the Princess Theatre for another show by Tricia Kelly. She was as talented as always and I can’t believe we had two different female performers on this cruise sing Bohemian Rhapsody. I also loved how in the lead up to the performance they played her performance on Don’t Forget the Lyrics. I wish they’d do similar videos before the performances more often. I’ve met her twice by now: once in Sitka and once outside the theatre last night and she’s so friendly. 

 

Then it was back to Vines for the Love Boat party. One of the cruise director staff asked if my husband and I would participate but we declined. I felt it was ‘greedy’ since we’d already participated in the Marriage Match game show. Spread the love. Since all six couples ended up being new I stand by that decision. It was a fun show combining game show activities with the Sapphire Princess Singers & Dancers and live music from Topaz. Probably my favourite Piazza party and probably the busiest as well. 

 

We left a few minutes early to head to Explorers Lounge for Big Screen Bingo. We had no idea what that meant but I can’t say no to free bingo. As it turned out, it was about movies. Totally in my wheelhouse! We had a great time and I won the third round, along with two others! 

 

As we approach our final day I’m definitely feeling the post-cruise blues. I’m excited for tomorrow but also wish I could do this for another eleven days. 

I've enjoyed following your review (although I must say this is the first time I've seen multiple people hijack someone else's review with their own). I'm booked on this ship next May, although a different itinerary. I am pleased to know that you enjoyed exploring Ketchikan on your own. This is the one port that I was having trouble with because nothing jumps out to me. I kind of figured we would just explore town on our own as well. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

20 hours ago, Rock Chalk Jayhawk said:

I've enjoyed following your review (although I must say this is the first time I've seen multiple people hijack someone else's review with their own).

This is not a review, it is a Live From.  It is common practice and considered helpful for anyone who is on a sailing for which a “Live From” is started to contribute their experiences.  It provides a much better overview of a sailing than simply one person’s posts. I have never read any live from that didn’t have multiple contributors.  In fact different passengers often have diverse and opposing experiences.  It is much more helpful for those wondering what the range of values are that their experience might lie within. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by HaveDogWillTravel