LIVE from the Sapphire - 33 days from Seattle to Sydney

[snookymom]

Hi Pia- Looking forward to following along on your journey. Can't wait to see what flavors of TimTams you get!

[Pia1913]

Just finished lunch and poked my head into the Internet Cafe. As long as the system is running thought I might as well say hello. That and the fact that we are getting lots of free minutes until the SF portion starts.

 

We had to leave the ship shortly before 9:30 and meandered around the port area; indoors. There's a hotel attached so we sat in their comfortable lobby until it was time to reboard at 11:00. That drizzle I mentioned turned into torrential rain, so we were happy we had not expected to roam around the city.

 

SnookyMom: we are more than a month away from Tim Tam territory and if I'm a good girl then perhaps I'll seek them out. All depends on how my jeans feel in 30 days. ;)

 

So as not to bore you I'll go back to reading my book. See you later. Satellite permitting of course.

[RickEk]

I caught this pic from vancouver.com... nice image of the Sapphire Princess docked at Canada Place as the Island Princess passed on her way to Victoria.

 

 

 

[cruisingallover]

Are many of you doing the B2B? I want to be you when I grow up. :)

[DeepWaterMariner]

Looking forward to following your voyage. It will bridge the gap to our next cruise. Bon Voyage!

[Kinkacruiser]

Hi Pia,

It's great to be able to follow your journey....what a fabulous itinerary.

It will most definitely help whittle some time off our wait until Feb 23.

All the best,

Anna:)

[crzncpl]

Bon Voyage, Pia, and thank you for your posts. My sister and brother-in-law are on board with you somewhere. Looking forward to your daily updates and traveling along with you, as it were.

[vickie_bernie]

thanks for posting Pia, saw your ship in port this morning along with the Island.

 

Yes the skies did open up today and then by afternoon it had cleared up nicely and the sky was sunny, a little overcast right now and windy so hopefully your trip in the Straight will be not too bumpy.

 

Wow now this is a trip I want to do... can't wait to read more.

 

vickie

[cruiserjanet]

Hi there. We (DH and I, along with cruzrbachoua (Cassandra) and her DH) are on the Sapphire only for two nights after getting off the Coral two nights ago. After going through the nightmare that was embarkation, we are enjoying ourselves. We had a nice dinner (a repeat menu from the Coral) in the Vivaldi and headed up to the buffet to gorge ourselves on the dessert selection that was much better up there. We are looking forward to a relaxing day at sea tomorrow and then another fabulous dinner at the Savoy. Wish we were on longer to meet others.

[hansolo]

Yippee! I have a signal. Quick like a bunny I'll say good morning from drizzly Vancouver. We need to make our way (as the announcement says) shortly to the theater, where we will be escorted to immigration and the 2 hour waiting room. It's fine. We have our reading material ready.

 

Last night's show was really good; all four singers have excellent voices. The comedian was so good that there's a chance we might look in on him again tonight. Best part of last night was the trivia numero uno. Yep..........we won. Awful prize; a medal. Guess Princess is still on austerity prizes. :rolleyes:

 

Will check in later. Thank you all for being here waiting to read my rambling.

 

That was you that won!!! We were there, were you the one talking to David after you claimed your prize?

[Pia1913]

The internet has been down most of the day; will try to post a bit now. Fun day today because we had quite a surprise. One of our cruise critic friends who does post often (screen name is Missisauga) turned up on board with her husband for the two day cruise to San Fran. We have been talking via CC and email for almost four years and this is the first time we've met. Had dinner tonight with our new friends in the International diningroom (tonight it was open seating. This dining venue is traditional only and will be so when the 30 day cruise in SF begins).

We went to the show in the theater which featured Jason Neistadt a comedy impressionist. We've seen him several times before. The guy is nuts, but "fun" nuts. Enjoyed it. Met our CD Richard Joseph after the show and yes, he will attend our M and G on the 23rd and yes, he does read Cruise Critic. And yes Keith, I sent your regards. ;)

Gave a small donation to the casino on the way back to our cabin. Too many days to go to spend any appreciable time in there. Now if I happen to win........... :D

Have I mentioned our charming maitre d', Jacques Ghennai? Another very nice gentleman whom we have met on past cruises.

Hansolo: yes, that was me.

Janet: please find me and introduce yourself. I'll be at trivia in the AM.

[Colo Cruiser]

Sounds great! We enjoyed Jason too. ;)

[PescadoAmarillo]

thanks for posting Pia, saw your ship in port this morning along with the Island.

Vickie, I truly can't imagine living where I could see a cruise ship. No wonder you cruise so much...it's like going to a dessert buffet and trying to abstain. Impossible!

[Pia1913]

Good Morning on a fairly clear Monday. It's cool, but perhaps the sun will come out shortly. I also hope the internet connection stays around until I can post this.

Busy busy Patter today. They need to grab all the two day people and offer them everything they would for a seven day cruise. Bombard them with shopping and spa seminars. They are even having the infamous "75% off" sale at 10:00. You know we'll be peeking in on that. Our schedule will be trivia and eating and trivia and eating. You get the idea. :) Bingo at 11:00; I pass. Movie "Clash of the Titans" at 1:00. I pass. Art Auction at 2:00. I pass. More Bingo at 4:00. You know I pass. Sounds boring, yes? No! Time to start reading the dozen or so books in my Kindle.

There are shuttle tickets being sold to those in transit who want to go to Fisherman's Wharf in San Fran tomorrow. $6/rt. Don't know yet what we will do, but we are not buying tix.

Tonight's entertainment in the theater is "Do you Wanna Dance" and comic Jim McDonald will be back in Explorers.

Wish me luck. I'm trying to post this now.

[t60]

Hi Pia, It´s lovely hearing about your trip down to Sydney...keep up the good work ..fingers crossed re internet connection.

See you on the return leg

Sandy and John in Spain

[cruisingallover]

You are already loosing track of the days :) Today is Tuesday ;) Have a great day and say hello to Mississauga for me!

[DeepWaterMariner]

Our schedule will be trivia and eating and trivia and eating. Wish me luck. I'm trying to post this now.

 

Sounds an awful lot like our normal schedule.

[BayCalif-Ariz R Us]

Pia you are a sweetheart to also post on our thread (Sydney to L.A.) - wouldn't it be nice to have all those internet minutes the whole trip? Maybe they will also be available when you're in Hawaii???? We too are really going to enjoy hearing about your adventures and appreciate your running this thread! Didi and Alan

[san diego sue]

A quick Hi to Pia.

I am so envious . It is 9:30 am here. I know your schedule and know where you are heading shortly. Good luck with trivia.

I read your post on Grand cruise board and emailed Ellie for you regarding the tour planned in Cobh.

[cruiserjanet]

Pia, we are in B508. I'm the one walking around the ship in a long, blue t-shirt that says "Elevators Are For Wimps", grey sweat pants and messy hair. Going to Horizon shortly then to the gym, then walking around for a little bit before sitting on the balcony for about an hour. We have dinner in the Savoy at 5:30 with Cassandra and her DH.

[mississauga]

It was nice to finally meet you, Pia. We are having a nice visit on the Sapphire with you and Mike.

 

Food is excellent. We had dinner in the International Dining Room yesterday ( I guess all the dining rooms are anytime for this short 2 day portion ) It was Italian Night yesterday and the selections were very good. Today’s menu will be Chef’s Dinner. The selections are not as varied on this menu but DH and I will still dine in one of the 5 dining rooms as I am not a buffet fan. We also had lunch with Pia and Mike in the dining room today.

For those who may wonder about the 2 day cruises, there is no formal night. Both have been listed as Smart Casual. On the 3 day cruises we have been on, there has been a formal night..

We are in B746 and it is an excellent cabin. …last balcony cabin in the aft and sharing the hallway with one inside and the Grand Suite at the end of the hallway. The balcony is larger than the other balconies as it juts out at an angle and we can see all the balconies on Baja down to the Dolphin decks and can view all the way forward to the bridge of the Sapphire. We only have 2 chairs and a table but the balcony could easily sit 6 comfortably. No one can see onto our balcony as the sides are part of the hull of the ship except for the railing. Hopefully the person who had posted on another thread asking about this cabin sees this.

 

Hello C.

 

Service on the Sapphire has been outstanding in the main dining room and Horizon Court ( breakfast ). Everyone has been very friendly. Our room steward, Gerardo from Mexico is great and even though most of us on Princess cruises don’t get the towel animals, Gerardo has done some fancy towel folding with our towels in the bathroom.

Wish we didn’t have to get off tomorrow but these long cruises will have to wait until DH retires. We took this short cruise to tie us over until our Ruby cruise in December.

For those staying on board or getting on tomorrow, they will have an amazing cruise as everyone is so enthusiastic about this long voyage to Australia..

[Pia1913]

Popping in for a quick hello and to add that the only reason we had lunch in the diningroom was because of the above: Mississauga. :) Had a great philly cheesesteak which they should have made with white cheese instead of cheddar. I survived. For some reason Mississauga's cabin has excellent internet reception while mine is low. I guess that's the difference between fore and aft.

Nothing more to add. Hello C. And Janet, I will try to find you.

[diddlydi]

This is all very exciting. So glad you are posting your trip. Have a great time and I look forward to your two month story.

[atlasali]

Thanks to Pia and Mississauga - We did the SFO to SYD last Sept. on the Star. It was a wonderful cruise. I can't believe how many cruisers claim that they could not be on a ship for 30-days. We loved it! We think that Richard was the CD. Good job, fun morning show. There was an amazing speaker Mr. Maxtone-Graham. He has written numerous books on traveling by sea. Hope you have someone as interesting. Our favorite excursion was snorkle/motu picnic with Patrick at Bora Bora.

 

Since I can't be there with you, I appreciate you letting us look over your shoulder.

[Aussie Gal]

We also had John Maxtone-Graham on our May/June 31 day cruise on the Ocean Princess. His lectures were excellent and he had a full house each time he spoke.

 

We love being on a ship for at least 30 days, longer if possible.

 

Jennie