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

[EDVM96]

Alaska welcomes us with a cold, wet & windy day.

Disenchantment Bay

Drifting ice
 

Hubbard Glacier

7 miles wide, 600 feet tall, 350 feet above the waterline

 

Iceberg

 

Fishermans Clam Chowder

 

Fettuccine Alfredo

 

Parmesan & Panko Baked Cod

Another very good MDR dinner.
 

[Drdarkknight]

After a relatively calm sea day yesterday compared to the previous day we had some rough weather through the evening and even I was feeling it. I actually ended up getting seasick which has never, ever happened to me in my entire cruising history. That sucked. 

 

When I woke up at 8:45am the rocking had calmed down immensely, thankfully. I got dressed and we headed down to the International Cafe for breakfast. It’s the third morning and the person who works Good Spirits at Sea already knows to expect me for my morning Red Bull.

 

As with every morning to date, after breakfast I headed to the Princess Theatre, this time with my husband in tow. Today’s lecture from Sandra Schempp was on Understanding Alaska’s Mighty Glaciers, and it was also well-attended. It was interesting. I didn’t know much about glaciers before today and definitely feel more informed now. My husband actually retained a lot of it and kept mentioning things throughout the day!

 

We dressed in our warm clothes and headed to the upper decks to see how it was. It was rainy and visibility wasn’t amazing but we didn’t find it overly cold. Now, for everyone reading, let me stress again that we are from one of the colder parts of Canada. Our tolerance is likely much higher than other people. We felt it was like a rainy fall day and we were only wearing toques and a button up jacket. 

 

Since we had just entered Yakutat Bay and there wouldn’t be much to see, we instead went back inside and down for the Pub Lunch at the Savoy Dining Room. We were lucky to be seated quite quickly but it seemed very chaotic. It was a bit of a wait to get our food and drink. I had the Ploughman’s Lunch or, as I like to call it, British Lunchables. It was a cool experience but I’m not sure we’d do it again. There’s better food elsewhere on the ship. 

 

From there it was back up to Deck 15 where it was absolutely pouring rain. I gasped and started skip-running because we were in between a couple of mountains and surrounded by icebergs and it was breathtaking. But there was a lot of rain and it was quite a bit colder. So what did we do? Grab some beer, obviously. We stayed up on Deck 15 for a bit then went down to walk along the promenade deck. And repeat. Up to 15, grab a beer, then down to 7. On our last trip up to 15 we saw Hubbard Glacier for the first time! We then went down to 7 to do our walk around and it was just amazing. 

 

First, we saw a herd of sea lions on the rocks/shoreline. We continued walking around the ship and it just so happened they were turning it to starboard as we went that way so we set up shop. We saw the glacier calve four times! The noise when it does that is incredible. Like a quiet thunder. We also saw a seal! The Naturalist said this was the closest she’s ever been to the glacier before. And to think earlier today everyone was questioning if we’d be able to see it much at all! It was a very successful day, in our opinion. We were both so happy we had binoculars with us. I was very surprised at how not-crowded it was. We had un-impeded viewing everywhere we went, which I wasn’t expecting. 

 

By 3pm we felt we’d seen everything we needed to see, so we went inside and dropped our warm gear in the room. We went to Explorer’s Lounge for Musical Bingo. It was fun but I lost every round by a lot. I knew every song though! 

 

We got ready for dinner and headed to our regular perch at Vines. I was extra excited about this visit, though, because Allure Strings would be playing in the Piazza. I am an absolute sucker for string instruments. 

 

Dinner was in the Santa Fe Dining Room tonight and so far it is my favourite of the dining rooms decor-wise. We split the shrimp spinach dip; and I had the smoked salmon cocktail, French onion soup and the Panko cod with Parmesan. All were delicious! Nothing on the dessert menu appealed to me to eat by myself (my husband also had a pasta dish so he was full by the time dessert rolled around) so I ended up getting myself the cheese plate. 

 

My husband had zero interest in the show tonight (he can do a lot of things but 45 minutes of a soprano singer is not one of them) so I attended The Incredible Vocals of Barbi McCulloch by myself. He’s been trying to find someplace to watch the hockey game all cruise and thought he had lucked out with the casino (pun not intended) but they don’t have a bar or sitting area in there from what he could see. It was playing in Churchill’s but he didn’t want to be smoked out trying to watch hockey. If anyone has any tips please let me know. It’s the playoffs and he’s struggling lol. 

 

The show definitely wasn’t as busy as I saw for the production show two nights ago or the comedian last night. It’s to be expected; I’m sure this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. She was pretty good but her skills are definitely those of a soprano. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by her rendition of Proud Mary. 

 

Then things almost went downhill. At 8:30 Dan St Paul was doing another show at Explorer’s Lounge. My husband went early to grab us seats and found it completely sold out. There were no seats anywhere. And this was fifteen minutes before the theatre even let out. Going to the 10:30pm show wasn’t an option, as I will not miss the 80’s party. We were both really disappointed. I think they need to consider moving venues for those type of shows. Game shows are totally fine and well-suited at Explorers, but comedians and whatnot that will be really popular they should put back in the theatre or at the very least Club Fusion. 

 

Our sour mood didn’t last long. We met at Good Spirits at Sea and I noticed it was still bright outside and suggested we grab our jackets and head upstairs. We watched a few minutes of La La Land on Movies Under the Stars before heading to the aft towards Outriggers Bar and the most beautiful sunset. We easily spent 45 minutes there watching the sun go down. The weather had warmed up significantly too. 

 

Then it was back down to Vines to wait for the 80’s party in the Piazza. I LOVE 80’s music, despite never being alive then. I was so excited. Unfortunately it was a bit of a letdown. There wasn’t a lot of audience engagement at the start and even the song selection was a bit lacking. I’m not entirely sure they have a good comprehension of what decades are…I was pretty frustrated by the time they played September with ten minutes left to go. If the band doesn’t have the repertoire to do an 80’s night get a DJ or don’t do it. By the end my husband said “I think this is the same playlist they played at the disco night yesterday” and I have to agree.  If anyone heard someone yell ‘this is f***ing disco!’ when they played Shake Your Groove Thing as their final song…that was me. Sorry for the profanity. Hey, Princess, if you need a good 80’s set list hit me up ;). 

 

We have our first port tomorrow, in Icy Strait Point. I can’t wait to watch my husband experience the sensation of sea legs. 

[musicpro442]

"She was pretty good but her skills are definitely those of a soprano. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by her rendition of Proud Mary."

 

I also went to the show tonight.    She had two standing ovations at the show I attended, and the house was about 80% full.   Her resume includes opening for some big pop names and Carnegie Hall. 

 

I'm certain she has to perform some soprano repertoire to keep the guests happy who love classical music.  But what was classical-like was done in a way everyone could enjoy.  Clearly they enjoyed it, hence the aforementioned double standing ovations.

 

If the theater wasn't busy, the fault rests with the management for not promoting her show as multi-genre.  And you'll never hear another singer on ships perform Bohemian Rhapsody straight through with all the voices.

 

I'd say she was more than pretty good.  

[Drdarkknight]

15 minutes ago, musicpro442 said:

"She was pretty good but her skills are definitely those of a soprano. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by her rendition of Proud Mary."

 

I also went to the show tonight.    She had two standing ovations at the show I attended, and the house was about 80% full.   Her resume includes opening for some big pop names and Carnegie Hall. 

 

I'm certain she has to perform some soprano repertoire to keep the guests happy who love classical music.  But what was classical-like was done in a way everyone could enjoy.  Clearly they enjoyed it, hence the aforementioned double standing ovations.

 

If the theater wasn't busy, the fault rests with the management for not promoting her show as multi-genre.  And you'll never hear another singer on ships perform Bohemian Rhapsody straight through with all the voices.

 

I'd say she was more than pretty good.  

Thank you for sharing your feedback on the performer. Performance is so subjective it’s always great to hear other opinions 🙂 

 

I’m glad you enjoyed it! There were certainly a lot of enthusiastic audience members at my showing. And yes - Bohemian Rhapsody was definitely a nice surprise and well done!

Edited May 3, 2023 by Drdarkknight

[dalsnibba]

7 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Love that the captain arranged a way for us to be notified in the middle of the night about northern lights should they occur. And it won’t disturb those who don’t want to be. 
 

Thank you Captain Ravera! 

 

Really very happy with this.
However I am awake at night to observe her, I have my apps in my phone.
I am a Northern Lights enthusiast.
I booked the cruise in order to have a chance to see the northern lights here in alaska as well.
Last year we saw her on August 16 in the Baltic Sea, in 2019 August 18 between Iceland and Greenland.. the first time in March 2016, in Finnish Lapland, but it wasn't a cruise.

 

Thanks again to all of you for your reports, photos and videos

[EDVM96]

On 4/30/2023 at 1:02 PM, EDVM96 said:

It looks like we will have to tender in Skagway. Cruise Personalizer didn't show this prior to the voyage.

No, we don't tender in Skagway. The cruise director explained it: We will stop right at the dock, but the dock is a construction area right now. So shuttle busses have to be used to pass the construction site.

 

Must have to do with the landslide last year.

[Bob121]

They’re using shuttles because they’ve mitigated the rockslide area, but it’s still possibly unstable and they want to make sure no one gets hurt. They’ve brought it up to highway safety standards. 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Bob121

[USCcruisecrazy]

15 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Gosh I hope this video of a huge calving at Hubbard Glacier loads!   Simply outstanding day!  Yes there was sleet yes there was rain yes it was really cold but when you have these overcast days the glacial blue ice is so vibrant. It doesn’t translate well in my photos. I’m sure professional photographers were able to capture it. 

IMG_2824.mov

My 4 years living in Alaska, it wasn't uncommon to have rain, sleet, snow, and sunshine in a few hour span. 🙂

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Good morning Icy Strait. 😘

[billco]

Dismantling a dessert at Sabatinis.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

And here’s the weather 18 minutes later. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

And the weather 27 min later 

[CruzeQueen2]

44 minutes ago, billco said:

Dismantling a dessert at Sabatinis.

Thanks for sharing! Looked like a deconstruction...would you recommend this dessert?

[tjcletzgo]

9 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

Alaska welcomes us with a cold, wet & windy day.

Disenchantment Bay

Drifting ice
 

Hubbard Glacier

7 miles wide, 600 feet tall, 350 feet above the waterline

 

Iceberg

 

Fishermans Clam Chowder

 

Fettuccine Alfredo

 

Parmesan & Panko Baked Cod

Another very good MDR dinner.
 

How was the clam chowder?

[BamaVol]

8 hours ago, Drdarkknight said:

 

Since we had just entered Yakutat Bay and there wouldn’t be much to see, we instead went back inside and down for the Pub Lunch at the Savoy Dining Room. We were lucky to be seated quite quickly but it seemed very chaotic. It was a bit of a wait to get our food and drink. I had the Ploughman’s Lunch or, as I like to call it, British Lunchables. It was a cool experience but I’m not sure we’d do it again. There’s better food elsewhere on the ship. 

 

 

 

That’s the weakest ploughmans lunch I’ve ever seen.  I’ve been a fan of every meal Princess has set before me but this one I couldn’t give better than a C- based on appearance.

 

But, let me say I’m impressed that you have the energy to post this much after all you do each day.  It is much appreciated.

Edited May 3, 2023 by BamaVol

[AlibearNS]

The mighty Gods of Princess must be angry at us for going on that Celebrity cruise! Left the cabin at 5.45 last night, and had a great evening. Met some lovely Australians at dinner, and made 3 new friends at the trivia - lost horribly but that’s okay. Couldn’t get seats for the comedian’s early show (agree other OP, he should be in Club Fusion) so it was 11.30 when we finally arrived back at cabin. “I feel a little sea sick. Can’t wait to go to bed,” I said naively and then, bam, it hit us. The sewage smell that’s been lingering off and on around the centre of the ship had found its way to our cabin. It was overpowering! And, surprisingly, the loo was the only place smell free. I waited there while Princess sent someone, who, to be fair, came straight away, apologized and opened the balcony door for a few minutes. I guess we could have done that but thought it should be reported. He said it would have come through the air conditioning and built up whilst we were out, We’re to let them know if it happens again.

This morning sheet under door, our Juneau evening whale watching has been cancelled.

Going on an excursion to look for bears this morning. With my luck I’ll probably be eaten by one!

[nini]

I understand the frustration regarding those who think they can identify the music of a decade/ generation. I have also found this ignorance in the other entertainment venues for shows and games.

 

We went to one Pub Lunch and found it mediocre at best. And now that we have had Fish and Chips in the British Isles, there is no way we will even consider the Pub Lunch again.

 

 

[AlibearNS]

We usually find the entertainment on Princess quite poor but this cruise the guest entertainers have been outstanding!

[billco]

34 minutes ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

Thanks for sharing! Looked like a deconstruction...would you recommend this dessert?

A bit too much for me, but we had a chocolate lover with us who throughly enjoyed it. I think the new Sabatinis menu is quite an improvement over what was already pretty good.

Edited May 3, 2023 by billco

[Drdarkknight]

Icy Strait Point patter

[EDVM96]

7 hours ago, tjcletzgo said:

How was the clam chowder?

I really enjoyed it. Soup with potatoes and bacon. And green onions on top, which perfectly fit to the dish. Just nice after that cold day.

[tjcletzgo]

2 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

I really enjoyed it. Soup with potatoes and bacon. And green onions on top, which perfectly fit to the dish. Just nice after that cold day.

Thanks! I love clam chowder❤️❤️❤️

[piper]

After reading about some of the issues with staffing, service, crowded dining rooms, sewage smells, crowded shows and inability to get tickets (whatever that means), I’m having some regrets booking Princess (we did so to go to Alaska with friends).. We have been sailing on Azamara with none of these issues. I know we will have a good time, but I sure hope they get their act together before July

[suekel]

19 minutes ago, piper said:

After reading about some of the issues with staffing, service, crowded dining rooms, sewage smells, crowded shows and inability to get tickets (whatever that means), I’m having some regrets booking Princess (we did so to go to Alaska with friends).. We have been sailing on Azamara with none of these issues. I know we will have a good time, but I sure hope they get their act together before July

I've done 8 cruises in the past year.  On only 1 was there staffing issues.  Everything else was great.  

[PescadoAmarillo]

I’m quite happy to see so many pics posted while on board. It gives me hope that the WiFi will be more usable than it was on the Majestic in Alaska.