Live From The Sapphire Princess October 15, 2023 R/T to Hawaii

[Woobstr112G]

Good afternoon all from Prescott Valley Arizona. I'm back for another one. Holli & I will be boarding the Sapphire Princess on Sunday for our R/T Hawaii cruise. We will be headed to San Pedro on Friday for a two night stay at the Hilton Doubletree prior to boarding. Not much planned for our two day stay other than to get excited for the cruise. We do plan to dine at our favorite area restaurant (22ND Street Landing) the night before boarding.

 

I decided to start this thread a few days early out of excitement and so I could start compiling a list of questions anyone would care to post. This will be our fourth time doing this itinerary. We absolutely love the sea days. 

 

We are super stoked to be sailing in the GS aboard the Sapphire. This will be our third time sailing in the GS. Absolutely love the large aft view balcony the GS offers.  It is getting a little harder to book this cabin as there are only three ships left in the fleet that have the aft GS. The fourth (Grand Princess) has the GS along the side of the ship.

 

That's all for now. Please feel free to fire away with any questions you may have. Only about 40 hours till we hit the road for our drive to San Pedro.....

 

Bob

[cr8tiv1]

Interested to hear who your Cultural Ambassadors will be since my fav is on another voyage.  I do have friends cruising with you...so take care of everyone on board.  Must be nice to sail the Sapphire over.  

 

Will you port in Kahului or tender in Kona?

[LACruiser88]

Enjoy your cruise and the fantastic crew on the Sapphire!  

[AZDuck]

I live in Camp Verde...we're practically neighbors! Wife and I will be on the Sapphire in Alaska June 1 2024 Whittier to Vancouver for our first ever cruise. We've heard good things about the ship layout for scenic cruising and the award winning Sapphire staff. Looking forward to your updates. Enjoy your cruise!

[tntfox]

We’ll be joining you on Sunday! You mentioned you had sailed this itinerary before. Do you recall if the shower has a grab bar? If not, we can pack our own. Thanks and looking forward to meeting you!

[Musky Ike]

Thanks for starting the live Bob. As you know we will be on this trip also and I will chime in as we sail along as well. Our 31st Princess cruise and 3 times to Hawaii, however our first time on the sapphire, so the ship will be a part of the experience. Finish packing tomorrow and then start our journey to LA on Friday. So starting our trip on Friday the 13th and ending it on Halloween? Nothing can go bad with that, right.🤞

[Woobstr112G]

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Interested to hear who your Cultural Ambassadors will be since my fav is on another voyage.  I do have friends cruising with you...so take care of everyone on board.  Must be nice to sail the Sapphire over.  

 

Will you port in Kahului or tender in Kona?

We will be tendering in Kona. I'll try and let you know who the Cultural Ambassador(s) are when I get onboard.....

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

1 hour ago, tntfox said:

We’ll be joining you on Sunday! You mentioned you had sailed this itinerary before. Do you recall if the shower has a grab bar? If not, we can pack our own. Thanks and looking forward to meeting you!

In Full suites and mini suites there is a small grab bar. Not sure about balcony cabins and below.....

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

1 hour ago, Musky Ike said:

Thanks for starting the live Bob. As you know we will be on this trip also and I will chime in as we sail along as well. Our 31st Princess cruise and 3 times to Hawaii, however our first time on the sapphire, so the ship will be a part of the experience. Finish packing tomorrow and then start our journey to LA on Friday. So starting our trip on Friday the 13th and ending it on Halloween? Nothing can go bad with that, right.🤞

Safe travels.....

Bob

[waltd]

Well FINALLY!   It's so nice to see you posting again.   Looking forward to your review.    Jak and i wish both of you a great trip.

Joe

[Host CJSKIDS]

Enjoy your cruise and looking forward to following along!

[Jodieg]

Hello, I always enjoy reading your Live Froms...    thanks for taking the time again.   Happy Sailing 🙂

[Woobstr112G]

An early good morning from Northern AZ. Only about 27.5 hours till hitting the road to San Pedro. It’s kind of strange to say that as usually I’m saying “A certain number of hours to go till wheels up.”  
 

As expected, when I get this close to a cruise, I get little sleep; just too much to get excited about. I’ve got a few errands to run today and then I’ll be set. I’m done packing; we’ll sort of as I’m waiting for Holli to tell me she ran out of room in her suitcases. 
 

That’s all for now. Hope all are well…..

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

8 hours ago, waltd said:

Well FINALLY!   It's so nice to see you posting again.   Looking forward to your review.    Jak and i wish both of you a great trip.

Joe

Thank you Joe. We are definitely looking forward to it. Please give Holli’s and my regards to Jak…..

 

Bob
 

 

7 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

Enjoy your cruise and looking forward to following along!

Thanks for the good wishes. On Sunday I’ll be in my happy place; aboard a Princess ship…..

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

4 hours ago, Jodieg said:

Hello, I always enjoy reading your Live Froms...    thanks for taking the time again.   Happy Sailing 🙂

Thanks for the good wishes. It’s been a long thirteen months since we booked. Can’t wait to be onboard…..

 

Bob

[chrysalis]

24 minutes ago, Woobstr112G said:

Thanks for the good wishes. It’s been a long thirteen months since we booked. Can’t wait to be onboard…..

 

Bob

Thanks for doing this.....and have a great time. We will be following along closely since we get on when you get off. For us, it will be 32 days to the South Pacific and back to LA. There might be a few cabins left if you want to stay on board!

[phabric]

Looking forward to your Live Review.  I will be doing Hawaii out of San Francisco.

 

What excursions are you doing?

[Hammer48]

Hi Bob.  My wife and I will be joining you on the cruise.  We will be flying into Long Beach Saturday… Can’t wait- see you onboard.

 

Mike

[Woobstr112G]

4 hours ago, phabric said:

Looking forward to your Live Review.  I will be doing Hawaii out of San Francisco.

 

What excursions are you doing?

In Honolulu we have a 3rd party dinner cruise booked. For Kona we are doing a Princess excursion that is a drive/sail combo. Nothing planned for Hilo or Maui. DW has mobility issues and everything offered by Princess was either moderate to strenuous activity…..

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

14 minutes ago, Hammer48 said:

Hi Bob.  My wife and I will be joining you on the cruise.  We will be flying into Long Beach Saturday… Can’t wait- see you onboard.

 

Mike

Hi Mike. Where are you staying? Do you have any dinner plans for Saturday night? Holli & I are planning to dine at the 22nd Street Landing…..

 

Bob 

[Purplsmurf]

We are on this cruise as well. Sailing with my parents, brother and sister in law. My SIL has never been to Hawaii so she is extra excited. First time the 6 of us will be sailing together. My parents are Princess cruisers, but my brother is a Carnival cruiser and we are Celebrity. Going to be a new experience for us, but willing to do it for my parents. Heading to LA on Saturday morning. Going to rent a car and drop it off in Long Beach Saturday night. We are staying in San Pedro. See you on board!

[cr8tiv1]

18 minutes ago, Woobstr112G said:

In Honolulu we have a 3rd party dinner cruise booked. For Kona we are doing a Princess excursion that is a drive/sail combo. Nothing planned for Hilo or Maui. DW has mobility issues and everything offered by Princess was either moderate to strenuous activity…..

 

Bob

 

I have heard, but not experienced, that the Hilo "may have" a shuttle that will take you to downtown Hilo for free.  If anything, a nice ride (if they drive through Queen Liliuokalani Gardens).

 

https://bigislandguide.com/liliuokalani-gardens

 

I thought you were skipping Maui???  Kona has Hulihe'e Palace, but would require a tender ride.

 

https://daughtersofhawaii.org/hulihee-palace/

 

Kauai has Kaua'i Museum.  Long walk to the bus stop, or short ride by UBER.

 

https://www.kauaimuseum.org/

 

[Hammer48]

1 hour ago, Woobstr112G said:

Hi Mike. Where are you staying? Do you have any dinner plans for Saturday night? Holli & I are planning to dine at the 22nd Street Landing…..

 

Bob 

We are staying at the airport Marriott 

 

[Woobstr112G]

5 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I have heard, but not experienced, that the Hilo "may have" a shuttle that will take you to downtown Hilo for free.  If anything, a nice ride (if they drive through Queen Liliuokalani Gardens).

 

https://bigislandguide.com/liliuokalani-gardens

 

I thought you were skipping Maui???  Kona has Hulihe'e Palace, but would require a tender ride.

 

https://daughtersofhawaii.org/hulihee-palace/

 

Kauai has Kaua'i Museum.  Long walk to the bus stop, or short ride by UBER.

 

https://www.kauaimuseum.org/

 

My mistake re: Maui. We are skipping the island. 

 

Bob

[Carnevale]

We have loved sailing to Hawaii so that plus being booked on Sapphire for a February cruise around the bottom S America has me very interested in following your posts.  Many thanks in advance for sharing your experiences on Sapphire.

 

We love ballroom style dancing so if you happen to notice any onboard and can share where it took place we’d greatly appreciate it.

 

And your observations on the condition of the ship will be good to read.  We expect it’s in good shape but first hand experiences are the best way to know.

 

Enjoy the hourly count down…..not much longer to go!  We’re envious!  Bon voyage!