Live from the Sapphire Princess-One sad ship! :-(

Live from the Sapphire Princess off the coast of Maylasia. This ship has had more then it's share of problems. Beginning last night and through the entire morning, the ship was in "Search and Rescue" mode. One of the crew members did not report to work and cannot be located anywhere on the ship. Sadly, they are speculating that he has gone overboard.

I was told that according to Maritime law that if someone goes overboard that the ship must turn around and go back to the area that the person was last seen. How far we went back is unknown to me and unfortnately this person has not been sited.

In addition, the Sapphire Princess developed a problem in on of the engine thruster on the last cruise (Sydney to Bangkok) and we thought it was repaired for this segment (Bangkok to Beijing). However, we learned yesterday the thruster is still not operating, resulting in a very slow speed for us too.

Yesterday the Captain announced that due to the slow speed that the ship will be a day late arriving in Singapore and that they have cancelled it's scheduled stop at DaNang, Vietnam.

With the unfortnate incident that happened last night, the Captain again announced that our arrival in Singapore will be delayed further. Last I heard, was that we're scheduled to arrive in Singapore Tuesday evening and that our departure time is still unknown. We're two days late arriving in our first port of call, Singapore.

Plus, the Sapphire Princess is running out of supplies and needs to restock the ship in Singapore and with the loss of one of the crew members this has resulted in a very somber cruise.

Many of us passengers are thinking, that with the unfortnate occurance that happened last night and the ships slow speed...that there may be further cancellations or late arrivals in scheduled ports-of-call.

This is one sad ship!

Lyndonn

I am so sorry to hear of your unsuccessful search and rescue! That is horrible! :(

I hope you find out, and can report back.

I also hope your cruise gets better, as you go. Does sound way too sad. :( Good luck, though! :)

I feel so badly to hear about this crew member going over board. I do hope and pray that they find him. We are scheduled to sail on the Saphire April 23rd. It seems now that they have had another Earthquake near the Saphire. It is hard to believe so much can happen to one ship. Joy

Sorry to read about the terrible start to your vacation.I for one hope it gets better...in a hurry!

Thank YOU cruiserforlife: I just hope they will find the crew member alive and well. Joy

Please keep us posted and we hope things on this sailing (and future ones) get better.

Although we had a great time on our cruise from Sydney to Bangkok it seems like this ship has been doomed from birth. This was originally the Diamond Princess but during construction a fire destroyed nearly 1/3 of the rear of the ship. So, she was sawed down from top to bottom and refitted all anew. In the meantime, the 2nd ship that was to be christened the Sapphire, was christened the Diamond instead.

The engines cost us the port of Pennang and we were compensated but I worry about her making time across the Pacific for later cruises unless it can be fixed. I can't believe that these engineers that came on board with us in Singapore have not remedied the problem. It must be more than software.

All the best!

Labe

Live from the Sapphire Princess off the coast of Maylasia. This ship has had more then it's share of problems. Beginning last night and through the entire morning, the ship was in "Search and Rescue" mode. One of the crew members did not report to work and cannot be located anywhere on the ship. Sadly, they are speculating that he has gone overboard.

 

I was told that according to Maritime law that if someone goes overboard that the ship must turn around and go back to the area that the person was last seen. How far we went back is unknown to me and unfortnately this person has not been sited.

 

In addition, the Sapphire Princess developed a problem in on of the engine thruster on the last cruise (Sydney to Bangkok) and we thought it was repaired for this segment (Bangkok to Beijing). However, we learned yesterday the thruster is still not operating, resulting in a very slow speed for us too.

 

Yesterday the Captain announced that due to the slow speed that the ship will be a day late arriving in Singapore and that they have cancelled it's scheduled stop at DaNang, Vietnam.

 

With the unfortnate incident that happened last night, the Captain again announced that our arrival in Singapore will be delayed further. Last I heard, was that we're scheduled to arrive in Singapore Tuesday evening and that our departure time is still unknown. We're two days late arriving in our first port of call, Singapore.

 

Plus, the Sapphire Princess is running out of supplies and needs to restock the ship in Singapore and with the loss of one of the crew members this has resulted in a very somber cruise.

 

Many of us passengers are thinking, that with the unfortnate occurance that happened last night and the ships slow speed...that there may be further cancellations or late arrivals in scheduled ports-of-call.

 

This is one sad ship!

Lyndonn

Sorry your cruise started out on a sour note, please keep us informed as you make your ports of calls.

Sorry to hear about the setbacks. Our cruise on the Sapphire was unproblematic and it's such a beautiful ship.

thats a very sad story, hopefully it will turn out well. on a technical note though, a thruster problem should not result in slowed speed, they are used primarily for manuevering, not propulsion. :(