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Srphnx live on Sapphire instead of Diamond for once

srphnx

By srphnx,
in Princess Cruises

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Lynda90

Lynda90

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[b]Thanks for the great post, Steve. Glad you weren't located in far aft. Must have been horrible in that location. I know after my last cruise, I will never stay in aft section again on Alaska cruise. I'm curious to know if you favor the Diamond over the Sapphire. Sorry you didn't get your share of lobster but certainly see why you didn't. Guess you'll have to make up for it on our November cruise.[/b]:D
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merela

merela

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[quote name='hollym']Egads!
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but expect a mess at SeaTac when you fly away. Were there last Sunday around 10 AM (9/5) and it was a mess due to the dumping of too many cruise ship passengers at one time. (We had passed five major cruise ships steaming toward Victoria on 9-4 out in Puget Sound.) There was of course a bit of extra confusion due to Frances, but almost all in line were cruise ship passengers trying to get home, most of whom had large amounts of luggage. Delta said they were "used to the confusion" and first blamed the cruise ships, and later the hurricane. My suspicion is lack of adequate personnel...another airline in trouble financially.

The Delta situation was so bad that curbside check wasn't available and you couldn't get to the kiosks. They rounded us up into 'holding pens' with our luggage and pulled groups out to the kiosks according to the flight times. Not a pleasant experience, so go prepared.[/QUOTE]


It wasn't too bad at the Alaska Airline counter on 9/5, at least for us. DH did the eticket checkin and waited a little until our suitcases were tagged. Then we had to drag the suitcases across the way for x-ray. We were all set in 20 minutes. But it did take 2 hours to negotiate our way so I can get my parents on a flight to Miami the next day at the America West Airline. Their original flight to Miami that night was cancelled. However, their next day flight was also cancelled after they were on their way to Phoenix. They didn't get to Miami until 8:30am Monday.

Our Alaska Airline flight left on schedule at 3pm. Got to LAX 10 minutes early at 5:30pm. Unbeknownst to us, an earlier Alaska Airline flight was cancelled due to mechanical problems and a friend didn't get home (LAX) until after 11pm.

So it really was the luck of the draw when it comes to speediness at any airport.
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dosi

dosi

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[quote name='srphnx'][font=Times New Roman][size=3]Service was overall good but for some reason the clearing of entree plates was slow across the board in all rooms for all meals. [/size][/font][/QUOTE]

Steve maybe you were just tiring them out and they couldn't keep up with all those dinner plates!! :D
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Lynda90

Lynda90

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[quote name='snowmen']Are rough seas common on Alaskan cruises? Those waves sounded pretty impressive![/QUOTE]
[b][color=blue]The answer is a definite[/color][/b] [size=3][color=red][b]Yes!! [size=2][color=blue]At least that was the case on my cruise this past May.[/color][/size][/b][/color][/size]
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srphnx

srphnx

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[b][color=black]We have had a chance to chat with other pax, many of them still a bit green and yes, there was a HUGE amount of motion on the AFT. We were high but more or less midships and the inside we didn't get upgraded out of (AGAIN) was actually better as it was nearer the longitudinal axis and the roll was minimal. There was a BIG,BIG boom about 3:30 AM that most of us felt and heard, all we can guess is that we hit a big trough and took a wave with no water on the bow. There were reports of balcony cabins on Dolphin taking water into the sliding door. Sapphire is one solid ship, we made Victoria when both HAL and Celebrity had to slow down so much they missed the port altogether. It was a LONG session about 24 hours of full on hurricane level winds. Granted not IVAN or FRANCES or CHARLIE but we got a pummeling. Most of the eateries were near empty. We debark tomorrow at 7 am. The week flew by and we think Sapphire is every bit the ship that Diamond is, but we can't wait to get back to our girl.[/color][/b]
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srphnx

srphnx

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Express Debarkation on Sapphire. The patter says seven o'clock, we were down on deck 7 at 6:30 there was already a knot of people waiting to get off. We managed to get a spot in line near seats and waited the 45 minutes until customs cleared us. We pulled into Sea-tac at 8:08 am and the lines for checkin and TSA were fairly short. Our flight is 12:14 but we would much rather spend it here eating smuggled off potato chips and cookies than do so on the ship not checked in and not thru the mess at Sea-tac. The cruise went very quickly, all our clothes fit much tighter and we are sad to be going back to the heat. Our next cruise is a back to back and I hereby swear to cut my debarkations in half by taking ONLY back to backs henceforth.

Sea-Tac has a wi-fi connection that is $7 for a 24 hour period, very handy for catching up.

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cactusrose

cactusrose

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"Sea-Tac has a wi-fi connection that is $7 for a 24 hour period, very handy for catching up."

 

Wow $7 for 24 hours, do they expect you to be there that long? Holy Moly!

 

I've been on Alaska cruise twice, once in early September and once in early June and never experience rough seas there. However, the seas where pretty rough coming out of San Francisco Bay and out of Victoria on the one in June 2003. I was really dissapointed in that one, since we sailed on the west side of Vancouver Island when leaving Victoria, which meant we missed the real inside passage.

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srphnx

srphnx

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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.

You buy a card from the Purser, that card has card # and a password, once your laptop wireless detects the system, it directs you to a set up screen where you choose a user name, PIN and then enter the code # and password for your card. Then the clock starts running on your 30 minutes.

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susanv64

susanv64

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srphnx...I also love how you kept us all informed during your trip. I spent some time following along on the web cam and as you were writing about how rough the seas were. It was amazing to be able to watch it at the same time you were experiencing it.

 

I will be on Sapphire next Sunday for a 1 night journey from Seattle to Vancouver. Can you please tell me what time the evening shows are in the Princess Theater. Some of us from the Roll Call are trying to figure out a meeting time and would like to be able to work around the timing of the shows there. Hope you can help.

 

Thanks! Sue

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srphnx

srphnx

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The shows usually start throughout the evening, seven, eight ten. We suggest a roll call right after muster drill. Everyone is out and there are NO shows for a while, they we can share sail away together.

srphnx...I also love how you kept us all informed during your trip. I spent some time following along on the web cam and as you were writing about how rough the seas were. It was amazing to be able to watch it at the same time you were experiencing it.

 

I will be on Sapphire next Sunday for a 1 night journey from Seattle to Vancouver. Can you please tell me what time the evening shows are in the Princess Theater. Some of us from the Roll Call are trying to figure out a meeting time and would like to be able to work around the timing of the shows there. Hope you can help.

 

Thanks! Sue

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