boarding the sapphire in sydney

[lulubell]

I was wondering ,since we're going on the Sapphire next week ,what does one do on the ship between 1 p.m boarding time and 9 p.m. sail away-are there any organized activities? do they have the muster drill in time so people can still enjoy the departure from the magnificent harbor? and most importantly....what food areas are open-since I assume the formal dining ares are closed.:confused:

[lulubell]

Ooops terribly sorry -double post

[lizzy77]

We were on the 26th Feb cruise and we were on board by 1.00pm. Our luggage wasn't at our cabin so we went to the buffet on deck 14 for lunch. There were lots of people on board by that time too. After lunch we went back to the cabin and our suitcases were there for us to unpack. The time just flew by as you need to work out where everything is on such a large ship. Finding places is not as easy as it sounds!! Its a huge ship. Muster drill was about 7.00 so that it was inbetween the set dining times but in the set dining rooms you didn't sit with your table mates as it was just random seating and quite informal too. If you have never sailed from Sydney before it is truely a sight not to miss. Any International tourists we spoke to thought it was the mst beautiful port they had ever sailed from.

You are going to really enjoy yourself:)

[Globaliser]

I was wondering ,since we're going on the Sapphire next week ,what does one do on the ship between 1 p.m boarding time and 9 p.m. sail away-are there any organized activities?

I've not sailed from Sydney, but the pattern has never been different from this on any ship that I've sailed on: There is no shortage of food, and most of the ship's facilities will be available for you to use. The main exceptions are usually the casino and the shops, because they can't open when the ship is in port; also, the swimming pools are often not in use on turnaround day because they're being cleaned then.

 

Many passengers use the time to explore the ship and find their way around. Personally, I also try to make sure I use some of the time to get in the first trip to the gym.

 

Remember that your baggage may not be delivered to your cabin for some hours after you board, so if you want any clothes to change into during the first few hours (eg gym kit), carry them on.

[sultan_sfo]

Hi Liz:

Read many of your posts on your roll call and learned a lot from them! We are on the Apr 14 SYD / LA fast approaching now.

 

Will appreciate if you can recall what the set times were for "traditional" dining on the first night. Others have posted that there is no "set" dining time at all on the first night. We are traditional late and would not like to miss the sailaway. Is it best to just skip the traditional dining room on the first night? Any suggestions? More details please on a good strategy.

 

Thanks.

/Sutan

 

...

Finding places is not as easy as it sounds!! Its a huge ship. Muster drill was about 7.00 so that it was inbetween the set dining times but in the set dining rooms you didn't sit with your table mates as it was just random seating and quite informal too.

...

You are going to really enjoy yourself:)

[sddsddean]

Last year we dumped our bags at the Terminal at about 11.30am, went and did the Harbour Bridge climb, got back to the terminal about 4pm, walked through the terminal (no one there but us, one other couple, 10 Oz immigration and about 25 Princess people) and on to the ship in 5 minutes, got to our cabin just as the bags arrived and had muster drill at 5pm with sailaway at 8pm. Anyone who missed muster drill did it the next morning in one of the lounges.

 

Simon

[lizzy77]

I can only recall the time we had our set dining and it was 8.15pm. The first night. They just filled the tables as you came in just like they do for breakfasts in the dining room on sea days.

HOWEVER--- we missed sailaway!!!:mad:

Luckily we are doing another cruise sailing from Sydney in November. Lots of International cruisers told us it was the most spectacular port they had ever cruised from as we were docked right beside the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house.

Forget dinner -- WATCH THE SAILAWAY. You can eat in any restaurant anyway.

[lulubell]

Thanks for all the great info-we'll be putting it to good use next week:)

[sultan_sfo]

Liz: Thanks -- exactly what I wanted to know about the embarkation night dinner! And thanks for all the info on Melbourne in your other posts. /Sultan

[lizzy77]

Sultan---Glad to know some posts are read as it is exchanging info that makes these forums so good.

I do hope you get a good day in Melbourne as on our cruise we arrived in Melbourne to a cold 16deg. Wind howling etc, it was not the way I would have liked my fellow cruisers to remember Melbourne:(

[pinksuit]

Hi Liz:

Read many of your posts on your roll call and learned a lot from them! We are on the Apr 14 SYD / LA fast approaching now.

 

Will appreciate if you can recall what the set times were for "traditional" dining on the first night. Others have posted that there is no "set" dining time at all on the first night. We are traditional late and would not like to miss the sailaway. Is it best to just skip the traditional dining room on the first night? Any suggestions? More details please on a good strategy.

 

Thanks.

/Sutan

 

The Traditional Dining room was open early as well as some of the other dining locations. We found this to be wonderful which allowed us the opportunity to be on deck for the beautiful sail-away! Our pictures were not the best with the digital cameras @ 9:00 pm...but we have awesome memories from our most recent Feb. experience. If you have limited time in Sydney, be sure to explore the sites near the dock, because once you sail.......you will be waving good-bye to Sydney. Enjoy yourselves! Happy Sailing!

Pinkie

[sultan_sfo]

Thanks Pinkie. From your posts, I felt that you were quite an organizer for your group! May be we will run into you on a cruise one day. /Sultan

 

The Traditional Dining room was open early as well as some of the other dining locations. We found this to be wonderful which allowed us the opportunity to be on deck for the beautiful sail-away! Our pictures were not the best with the digital cameras @ 9:00 pm...but we have awesome memories from our most recent Feb. experience. If you have limited time in Sydney, be sure to explore the sites near the dock, because once you sail.......you will be waving good-bye to Sydney. Enjoy yourselves! Happy Sailing!

Pinkie