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Srphnx live on Sapphire instead of Diamond for once

srphnx

By srphnx,
in Princess Cruises

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NitaBcruising

NitaBcruising

Posted
Posted
Sniff...I had to give up this great ship to Sphnx. I just got home from a fabulous week onboard, and was so sorry to leave my great waiter and asst waiter. The only good news is I will be on for the repostioning in 2 weeks, so will be happy to see them again! (I am actually going to take them to lunch next Sunday and a visit through Seattle, i can't wait!!!!!)

 

I think that is just wonderful of you to take the waiter and asst. to lunch, and a tour of the city! How nice! :)

I had the oppotunity on my last cuise, to take our asst. waiter on a snorkeling/shark and sting ray excursion, in March on Bora Bora. Our table paid his way, I bought him an underwater camera and paid for developing, and a lady gave him her unwanted snorkel gear, to keep! I also got his home address, and sent him the pics I took. I never heard back from him, but I feel very good about what we were able to do! We loved our waitstaff on that cruise!

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cactusrose

cactusrose

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Srphnx,

 

This is great getting your first hand account. I'm going to be on the Diamond in November and am wondering how the wireless works. Does Diamond have wireless? I have wireless at home. Is there anything special you need to do to connect to it onboard? I understand you buy a prepaid card, but how do you use it?

 

I'm so jealous. Alaska in September is my favorite. Have a great time and thanks for taking the time to answer all our questions.

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Nancyquilts

Nancyquilts

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newly made friends and back to our cabin for a nap. A stop at the pursers got me my prepaid card and confirmed that platinum does indeed pay for wireless but not terminal internet use but that may change soon or so they hope, evidently that is a tough sell to those they try to explain it to.

 

 

Okay, I didn't understand this (obviously I don't know how to do quotes either). You no longer get internet use on the ships with platinum, or----

Nancy

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bdjam

bdjam

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Okay, I didn't understand this (obviously I don't know how to do quotes either). You no longer get internet use on the ships with platinum, or----
Sounds like there are two types of internet connections you can use on board – the standard "wired" terminals you find in the internet café, or the wireless laptops that can probably be used anywhere on the ship, maybe? Steve will have to give us the full details. It seems Platinum free internet only currently applies to the "wired" terminals.

 

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merela

merela

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.... no more bear claws for me. Great Alaska T-shirt co. has the best magnet selection and we do shop well usually coming home with less than$20 worth of stuff unless something is really special.

 

I just got back from Alaska on the Diamond. I shopped at the Alaska T-shirt company. I would recommend that if you want to buy anything from that store, go to their Juneau store. If by any chance you found some defects or if you want to exchange/return/refund the stuff you bought, you can do it in Skagway (they have another store in Skagway). A lot of the magnets were $0.99 at the Alaska T-Shirt Company. Shop around. Since the Alaska cruising season is coming to an end, lots of sale is to be found.

 

We also found baseball caps for less than $4 each (50% off). Some stores were selling them for $2 each. I'm sure there are even cheaper ones, it all really depends on your taste-colors and wording on the cap!

 

I also got some Christmas ornaments for $0.99 as well (50% off $1.98) at a Ketchikan store, but lots of the stores had ornaments for $0.99.

 

Bear claws are usually $19.99 if made in Alaska and less than $5 if made in China. I got one that's unfinished for $3.99.

 

Ulu knives with boards are less than $7 if made in China. More than $30 if made in Alaska. Do check the blade of the Ulu knife carefully. I bought one that had a tiny bent at the corner which I could have exchanged if I had bought it at the Alaska T-shirt Company Store in Juneau rather than Skagway. As it is, it was impossible for us to exchange it. Oh well.

 

HTH someone.

 

Jennifer

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srphnx

srphnx

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Sail away was gracefully executed and Seattle slipped away into our wake. Our small band of CC roll call buddies exchanged promises to eat together and off we went to dress for dinner. First night was Pacific moon, sushi, dim sum sampler, scallops and prawns over glass noodles and a nice chunk of prime rib. Dessert was the honeydew sorbet, chocolate moose and a strawberry couli accompanied cheesecake.

 

 

The theater was mobbed and we were too tired to stay up for the second show so we will have to hope they have the comedian in the explorers lounge later in the week.

 

 

The shops beckoned and we dutifully bought Sapphire logo shirts after being chided by many of the staff for our Diamond Princess Inaugural season t-shirts. Evidently there is a friendly rivalry between the two gems.

 

 

For those of you who are curious, the ships are IDENTICAL in every way, a few of the hanging art pictures are different but similar, however all the wall paintings are exactly the same, sailed one, you have sailed them both. It may be this particular sailing and the water conditions but she just feels tighter and more solid thru the water but we are talking a tiny percentage if that.

 

 

The crew seems very proficient but I have to say that the sales pitch at meals has a more invasive feeling than I had on our May sailing. At dinner we got asked about water, wine, wine tasting a cookbook and some after dinner drink shots. A simple no was plenty to stop each approach but there was another one coming a bit later. Hopefully that is a first night thing and not all week, if it doesn’t abate, I will make a point of taking it to the Maitre’d the Purser and passenger relations back at Princess if needed.

 

 

First sea day, smooth waters, no rain. The outside Vancouver Island route can offer a bit more motion but not so for us. All is smooth as glass. Breakfast at HC was good

 

My cabin mate Seafille says she thinks the food was a tiny bit more carefully prepared but I couldn’t tell the difference.

 

posting.jpg.1116ee5cd3080c312308929e33e77361.jpg

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TinaLee

TinaLee

Posted
Posted
Mmmmm where can I get some couli, I like the name :cool:

Strawberry Couli:

 

1 pint stemmed strawberries

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup sparkling wine

 

Place strawberries into a small sauce pan with wine and sugar. Let simmer until berries are tender/soft. Puree mixture and strain if desired for smoother sauce.

 

:cool:

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bdjam

bdjam

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[font=Bookman Old Style][size=2]Thanks for taking the time to interrupt your vacation with posts for us. It’s fun to cruise right along with you. When I was up there three weeks ago the weather was brilliant and the seas smooth as a mill pond. Missed a little rock and roll!

Hope your cruise continues to be as good as it sounds…and thanks again for the updates.

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MGMom

MGMom

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Enjoy your cruise! I didn't want to get off the ship. (June 27th to July 4th) This was my first trip to Alaska and I loved it. We enjoyed the comedian. His second show later in the week talks a lot about relationships. He seems to be quite an interesting person. Found his website when we got home and still hope to order one of his CDs. Have fun! :)
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srphnx

srphnx

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[font=Times New Roman][size=3]A few replies to questions, NO we didn’t get an upgrade, that is clearly not allowed on Princess for us, we get what we pay for, no move not now not anytime soon. We did have dinner with a couple who had switched from Traditional to PC and they got moved from a mini to a penthouse which they invited us back to view, it was nicer than a standard cabin by a long shot but NOT a big cabin per se. We would never pay for that extra at regular rates but bless you to those that do. Chris, yes you can upload images to CC or anywhere else from your wireless and the only “hot spots’ are the atrium and the cyber café. Yes you get terminal use free on platinum, no you don’t get it free on wireless, the staff politely agrees it is stupid and then says they can’t change it.[/size][/font]

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[size=3][font=Times New Roman]I brought a tape measure for the heck of it, the shower in all cabins below AD is a whopping 34” wide and not an even shaper. Half a billion dollars on a ship and the designer incharge of the bathroom evidently is unfamiliar with the human form, unless you are a six inch cylinder you will have some acrobatics getting soap on and off all your bits. We went to the new production show “under cover” which was an energetic production show with many fast paced set changes loosely collected along the spy movie theme. There were some good vocalists and some so-so dancing but it was hard to fully appreciate the show in the Princess Theater. I love both Diamond and Sapphire but the theater is a weak spot. It is small, it is hot and the seats are poorly spaced. I have to say this room is a real let down and we try hard to only do the shows in the explorers lounge but that lets us out of the production shows which while not amazing are very good efforts. [/font][/size]

[font=Times New Roman][size=3]We had, lunch by the pool (one of four) cheeseburger and fries, saving room for dinner(s). First dinner was Sterling, fillet mignon, prime rib, onion rings, lobster bisque, caeser salad, shrimp cocktail and apple pie and sorbet, the princess sorbets are not to be missed. After the show we were off to second dinner in Santa fe, a good veal bowtie pasta, caeser salad, shrimp cocktail, chips and quacamole and kaluah rice pudding..[/size][/font]
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[font=Times New Roman][size=3]We got the egg crate pad for the bed, made the slabs more bearable. We make land tomorrow, Ketchikan, looking forward to a new t-shirt :D [/size][/font]
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JimandLouise

JimandLouise

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[quote name='srphnx']
[font=Times New Roman][size=3]We had, lunch by the pool (one of four) cheeseburger and fries, saving room for dinner(s). First dinner was Sterling, fillet mignon, prime rib, onion rings, lobster bisque, caeser salad, shrimp cocktail and apple pie and sorbet, the princess sorbets are not to be missed. After the show we were off to second dinner in Santa fe, a good veal bowtie pasta, caeser salad, shrimp cocktail, chips and quacamole and kaluah rice pudding..[/size][/font]
[/QUOTE]
One of 4 pools or lunches??
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