LIVE from the Sapphire - 33 days from Seattle to Sydney

[Pia1913]

Welcome to the Sapphire Princess and rainy Seattle (though skies have just cleared and sun is trying to peek out). A little background. We arrived in Seattle on Thursday 9/16 and stayed 3 nights at the Doubletree Arctic Hotel. A good location with a free bus just outside our door. Seattle has free bus transportation from early AM until 7:00 PM every day in the central downtown area. We visited the famous Pike St. market, nibbled on assorted "street food", met former cruise critic friends for dinner Thursday night and had dinner with 2 roll call couples last night at Cheesecake Factory. Also visited Pioneer Square, went up on the Space Needle and had lunch and walked around the Puget Sound area. All in all a nice, albeit short visit.

Embarkation this morning was very speedy; in our cabin by 11:30 and luggage arrived before 1:00. It seems that 90% or more of the passengers getting on today will be getting off tomorrow. We already have explicit instuctions about our arrival into

Vancouver; i.e. where to meet, bring passports, how long we will have to stay off before getting on again, etc. In fact, our cruise cards are only for one day. I imagine the new ones will only be for two days and we'll get our long term cards in San

Francisco. Complementary mini bar has already been switched to our preferences, our wine is chilling, wine glasses have arrived and all is ship shape for our 2 month stay.

The Captain is Nicholas Carlton, CD is Richard Joseph and CC Host is Cameron Williams, none of whom we've previously met. We did meet a staff member (David from Canada) with whom we've cruised twice before.

A few days ago I promised someone to tell them about the in room TV's. The answer is No......same old TV. No flat panel. Don't know if other cabins have been upgraded, but not this balcony cabin on Baja. Also, yes, they are scanning your cruise card just before muster. However, they need a better system, since once the area gets crowded the persons doing the scanning have no way to keep up with the crowd or know which ones they did or didn't do. All I know is that we did it, we're finished and we don't have to do it again.

The first "I Got Music" welcome aboard show will be at 8:00 followed by Explorer's trivia at 9:30 and Comic Jim McDonald at 10:15. Crooners pianist is Bobby Hamilton and Wheelhouse group is Rosie's Band. Fusion has band Passion starting at 8:15, followed by rock n roll party and karaoke. The Giants vs. Colts game is being shown both in Churchill's and Explorer's at 5:20.

That about does it for this first day. Hope to have you follow along as we slowly make our way to Australia.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Bon Voyage Pia,

Have a great cruise.

Hows this for timing, just clicked on a short time ago and got you leaving the pier.....

 

 

 

 

 

[cruzisme]

Definitely looking forward to read about your trip aboard the Sapphire

We did the Vancouver via San Francisco to Sydney onboard the Sun Princess in 2007 and loved every minute of our cruise (even the odd bouts of rain and rough seas)

You are just embarking on a wonderful journey!:)

[bananavan]

Pia:

Glad the embarkation went well.

Do you have any idea (please, don't knock yourself out for this as I will find out for myself on Wednesday) how many people are boarding in San Francisco.

We have such a short window of embarkation time that I hope that it all goes smoothly.

Enjoy the next few days. We will see you at the Meet and Greet.

Evana

[MGnut]

Pia, thanks for the 'live from' thread. This itinerary sounds like one we'd like to do. I look forward to your comments.

[mississauga]

Pia, looking forward to cruising along with you.:)

 

Bon Voyage!

[Astro Flyer]

We took last fall's 30 day cruise from Sydney to LA on the Star & had a great time! I'm guessing that you're doing a similar cruise? On our cruise 10% of the passengers started in SF & got off in LA...60 great days!

 

All of our ports of call were great but unfortunately we missed our stop in what eveyone has told me was the best port...Christchurch. I wonder if the effects of the quake will prevent your ship from going there also? We went to Samoa a few weeks after their quake last fall but it didn't prevent us from going there although some tours had to be cancelled.

 

We were stuck in Lyttelton harbor (for Dunedin) overnight because we could not leave due strong winds that snaped a mooring line requiring tugs to keep us at the pier & not in the container port until they could secure the lines. Departing the next morning I could see why Captain Perrin didn't sail because it was a very narrow entrance. A great decision on his part despite our disappoinment about missing Christchurch...safety is the top priority!

 

If you'd like any input on our feelings on ports, let me know.

[northbeachgirl]

I will be following along with you, my friends are boarding in Vancouver, Kathy and George he'll be wearing his captain hat, I'm sure you'll see them at the meet and greet, we cruised together last Christmas and enjoyed all the cruise critic stuff, thanks for your post

[Aussie Gal]

I heard from a Canadian friend yesterday that 8 cruise ships were dismembarking and embarking in Vancouver yesterday. I hope you missed the crush of 16,000 people.

 

I am looking forward to your reports as I would love to do the same journey you are taking one of these days. Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

Jennie

[Toto2Kansas]

Bon Voyage Pia. Have a great time on your one, two and numerous day cruises after that. Will check in often for your reports, and thanks for keeping us up to date on the progress of this sailing/sailings. ;)

[Druke I]

Have a great trip.

 

Fondly remember our SanFrancisco to Sydney cruise on Sky Princess, Sep 2000. Great trip.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Heres a map and copy of the itinerary for this cruise. When they get to Sydney, they turnaround and come the all the way back.......

 

 

 

Date Port Arrive Depart

Sun 19/09/10 Seattle / USA 16:00

Mon 20/09/10 Vancouver / Canada 07:30 16:00

Tue 21/09/10 At Sea

Wed 22/09/10 San Francisco / USA 10:00 17:00

Thu 23/09/10 At Sea

Fri 24/09/10 At Sea

Sat 25/09/10 At Sea

Sun 26/09/10 At Sea

Mon 27/09/10 Honolulu (Oahu, Hawaii) / USA 07:00 23:00

Tue 28/09/10 Lahaina (Maui, Hawaii) / USA 07:00 17:00

Wed 29/09/10 At Sea

Thu 30/09/10 At Sea

Fri 01/10/10 At Sea

Sat 02/10/10 At Sea

Sun 03/10/10 Moorea / French Polynesia 09:00 18:00

Sun 03/10/10 Papeete (Tahiti) / French Polynesia 21:00

Mon 04/10/10 Papeete (Tahiti) / French Polynesia 17:00

Tue 05/10/10 Bora Bora / French Polynesia 07:00 16:00

Wed 06/10/10 At Sea

Thu 07/10/10 At Sea

Fri 08/10/10 Pago Pago / South Seas 08:00 17:00

Sat 09/10/10 Apia (Samoa-i-Sisifo) / South Seas 08:00 17:00

Sun 10/10/10 At Sea

Mon 11/10/10 Date Line 18:00 19:00

Tue 12/10/10 Suva (Fiji) / South Seas 08:00 17:00

Wed 13/10/10 At Sea

Thu 14/10/10 At Sea

Fri 15/10/10 Auckland / New Zealand 07:00 22:00

Sat 16/10/10 At Sea

Sun 17/10/10 Wellington / New Zealand 08:00 18:00

Mon 18/10/10 Lyttelton (Christchurch) / New Zealand 08:00 18:00

Tue 19/10/10 Port Chalmers / New Zealand 08:00 18:00

Wed 20/10/10 Fjordland National Park (Scenic Cruising) / New Zealand 09:00 19:00

Thu 21/10/10 At Sea

Fri 22/10/10 At Sea

Sat 23/10/10 Sydney / Australia 07:00

[ssbeagle]

Pia, looking forward to your posts. We'll be seeing you on the turnaround. I received an e-mail from Des in New Zealand and they've been having some rough weather over there the past few days. Hope it clears up by the time you get there.

[CruzinNoony]

Well, it's about time!!! I've been checking since Thursday!! LOL! Just kidding, of course. Pia, have a wonderful time on your voyage. I'll be following from home until we leave on Wednesday for our Grand TA, then from the ship, then again when we return home. Two months, WOW! :D

[Colo Cruiser]

Bon Voyage!!!

[Colo Cruiser]

I heard from a Canadian friend yesterday that 8 cruise ships were dismembarking and embarking in Vancouver yesterday. I hope you missed the crush of 16,000 people.

 

I am looking forward to your reports as I would love to do the same journey you are taking one of these days. Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

Jennie

 

 

They left from Seattle ,Washington, not Vancouver. ;)

[rdsqrl]

Wow, 2 months! Let's see . . . I should have finished two more dissertation chapters by then. That either makes your cruise seem very, very long or frighteningly short! Either way, I'm sure you'll have a fabulous time; looking forward to sharing it through your posts. Bon voyage!

[PescadoAmarillo]

This is gonna be fun...:D. Thanks for posting!

[kruisey]

They left from Seattle ,Washington, not Vancouver. ;)

 

 

Plus 16,000 passengers on Sunday in Vancouver end of Alaska season.

Lucky there will only be 'The Island' and' Sapphire' in port tomorrow when I board the Sapphire with my eggcrate ..:D

[Colo Cruiser]

Plus 16,000 passengers on Sunday in Vancouver end of Alaska season.

Lucky there will only be 'The Island' and' Sapphire' in port tomorrow when I board the Sapphire with my eggcrate ..:D

 

 

Make sure you leave the eggs at home. ;)

[RickEk]

Bon voyage Pia... have a great time. This voyage would certainly be one of my dream voyages. I'm looking forward to hear of your adventures!

[Lynda90]

Make sure you leave the eggs at home. ;)

Funny! :p:p:p

[Lynda90]

Pia, looking forward to having you share your journey with us. Wish I was there! :p

[Aussie Gal]

They left from Seattle ,Washington, not Vancouver. ;)

 

But they were calling into Vancouver after Seattle, and with our time difference of us being a day ahead, I wasn't sure if they were arriving into Vancouver on the same day as all the other ships.

 

Sorry if I got it wrong!

 

Jennie

[Rockymountainsparky]

Pia, have a great time. We're looking foward to all your adventures.