Live From the Sapphire Princess - Jan. 29th Sailing

[Bucky3]

We are enjoying your posts so much and a very big "Mahalo" for taking your vacation time to report to all of us. As previously mentioned, I think many of us are very interested in the details of your sea days on this ship as so many of us have cruised on the Golden with great CD, David Cole, and the marvelous duo of Elua. We are all interested in how Princess will equal that experience not only on the Sapphire this year but also on the Star cruises RT from SF next year. Sounds like you are off to a good start, and we will look forward to cruising the rest of the way with you. Thanks again and Aloha! You'll be visiting our very favorite destination!

[MTJSR]

As you slowly pull into the Hilo shores area, watch your starboard side for the whale babies playing in the water there. Awesome site!

[dcruisers]

I am enjoying your reports as we are considering this cruise next year. We do Alaska this August on the Island Princess. Looking forward to HA next winter to get away from the cold.

Keep these informative and amusing posts coming...I am really enjoying learning about the Sapphire and the itinerary.

Thanks.

[fairsky1984]

Bugslyboo, I echo the comments above. We're enjoying your posts very much, and a special thanks for including the various topics many of us have inquired about. Also, extra thanks for taking your vacation time, as stated above.

 

I look forward to reading yours each day and comparing your observations of the Sapphire from ours, having just completed a Mexico b2b in January. We were the last Princess calling on Mazatlan (twice on the b2b), but hope that port cancellation is only temporary.

 

We also spend several months on the Big Island and Maui each winter (heading there later this month), I have family roots in Hawaii, and I lived on O'ahu in the early 70s. So I'll also definitely enjoy your Hawaii updates and thoughts as your cruise progresses.

 

Enjoy your cruise, wishes for calmer seas, and mahalo nui loa!

[kath00]

We went to the obligatory cooking demonstration yesterday in the Princess Theater and low and behold...who kicked it off?? Lee! He introduced the two gents putting on what can only be described as one of the worst cooking demonstrations we have seen. Time on stage for Lee: 30 seconds.

 

Wow, you saw him??? Incredible. There is a Lee Childers thread that is active right now on the Princess board, talking about his lack of presence...

 

LOL about the buffet and the "grab what you can" mentality. I wonder what it will be like on the 28d cruise to Tahiti and back!

 

Hope the weather warms up again. Rough seas are no fun and that's one of the main reasons I have not booked a RT HI cruise yet. My kids wouldn't be happy.

 

K

[julia]

Bugs:

 

So enjoying your thread! I see you are in an Emerald deck minisuite. By chance are you on the port side? By chance is your cabin steward Mel? If so, please give him "best regards from Chuck & Juli" (So. Pacific cruise). Thanks!! :)

[lauraapp]

That's funny lol...she was probably shocked to know that someone knew me lol although she knows I'm on these boards all the time. She must have thought what a small world!

[happytalk44]

Could you tell me the hours of the café of deck 5? I do love my early morning coffee and this post worries me.

 

From Bubslyboo--

Wish for the day: Wish the café on deck 5 would open earlier so I could get a cup of fresh brewed coffee earlier. I've given up on the coffee-from-concentrate in the horizon court, it just seems to get worse with every trip.

[NotWthOutablcony]

Hi Bugslyboo,

I appreciate your updates. Can you tell me is there a lei making class being offered on this ship? I know they have it on the Golden and I'm hoping its offered on Princess also.:)

[tljc0901]

Thanks for your updates!! Hopefully the sea will be calm for the rest of your cruise.

[Bugslyboo.com]

Could you tell me the hours of the café of deck 5? I do love my early morning coffee and this post worries me.

 

From Bubslyboo--

Wish for the day: Wish the café on deck 5 would open earlier so I could get a cup of fresh brewed coffee earlier. I've given up on the coffee-from-concentrate in the horizon court, it just seems to get worse with every trip.

 

Opens at 6:30 am, which I guess is early enough for most...

[Bugslyboo.com]

Hi Bugslyboo,

I appreciate your updates. Can you tell me is there a lei making class being offered on this ship? I know they have it on the Golden and I'm hoping its offered on Princess also.:)

 

I think I saw something in Patters about this. Not sure, I'll try and check.

[Bugslyboo.com]

Ok....I've saved this, because I've really wanted to give Princess a chance - but they have failed miserably! I'm not sure if it is our head waiter, or the kitchen, or a big fat corporate lie that they offer vegan - but rest assured, it ain't happening for me on this cruise! There, I said it - and I feel better.

 

It's true, the food is great. It's also true that I have been eating fish which is something I usually reserve for business dinners. I have really had no other choice. Say seitan or wheat gluten and their eyes glass over, say smoked tofu and they look at you like you came from Mars. I've worked with the head waiter to come up with meals and three (3) nights in a row now the meal that we have agreed upon has turned into grilled fish with steamed vegtables. I laughed out loud last night when our waiter - a great guy by the way - put the plate in front of me and said very hesitantly "Sir, your Thai red snapper". I looked down and there was the grilled fish with steamed vegtables again! UGGGH. I looked up at him and laughed, he smiled sheepishly and scurried off to get the headwaiter. The headwaiter, George, also a really great guy, said we needed to "communicate better". I laughed and said, "ok, we, you and me, put together the meal of thai red snapper, last night and this", as I pointed to my grilled white fish with steamed vegtables, "is what I got. I think the communication problem is somewhere else!" He then said he would personally take care of it tonight (not sure who had been taking care of it before....).

 

Tonight is supposed to be egg-less pasta with garlic, chili and grilled shrimp. So help me if I get grilled fish and steamed vegtables again, I may just lose it.

 

My problem is not with their inability to produce anything vegan (BTW: the veggie burger is not what we vegans know as a veggie burger...it was mashed potatoes with chives, seriously - LOL), it's the pretense of saying they can do vegan by letting you select it in the personalizer. Well I guess that doesn't really mean anything! This ship is propelled by butter, beef, bacon and eggs -which is fine. They should just give up the pretense of offering something they can't come through on.

 

Rant over. We're nearing Hilo and I'm sitting here in an empty internet cafe. For some reason the wireless doesn't work early in the morning. We're looking forward to our excursion today and will report back tomorrow.

 

More Lee sightings last night. He was out and about saying "hi" to the passengers. Not sure if you all had something to do with that.

 

I have some very sad news to pass on: The casino will be closed for the next few days! The horror, the horror!

 

Off to see if it's still open. The crew continues to amaze and even these difficult issues are handled superbly.

[huskerdan25]

We got off the Sapphire on Jan 29 and we had a friend with us that has to go gluten-free. They treated her like royalty in the International Dining Room and she was able to order her food a day in advance. They always had her bread ready for breakfast and dinner and had gluten-free pizza dough at the pizzeria where she enjoyed pizza each day.

 

Sorry to hear about the vegan diet issues but for someone that was gluten-free, our friend was very happy and treated very well on the Sapphire.

[Bugslyboo.com]

Aloha from somewhere just off the coast of Oahu. We are expected to make land in just over two hours from now.

 

Yesterday morning we were greeted by whales singing in the harbor as we came in at first light. We could see them spouting, but no breaching, and didn't know before this trip that you can actually hear them sing!

 

Mauna Kea was covered in clouds and as we docked they dissolved and we were offered with a crystal clear picture of the snow covered peak dotted with the observatories. Amazing views.

 

We did the Waipi'o Vallz, Honoka'a & Windward Coast tour and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were sent out in two small groups of 10 in vans and had frequent stops, visiting Akaka falls (and a couple others whose names I don't have readily handy). The most spectacular was a point of land, down below the cliffs, that once was home to a village - wiped out by a tsunami. Again, my notes are up in my stateroom and I'm down in the internet cafe...so anybody who knows, please pipe in. It was there that we had our box lunch and enjoyed some of the most spectacular coastal scenery that my wife and I have ever seen. Second on the list was the looking out over the Waip'o valley - again the superlative "spectacular" is the only word that comes to mind. We were blessed with great weather, a fun group and super tour guide. Would highly recommend this tour!

 

We left at about 8:45 and were returned to the ship 6 hours later. I was surprised by the big island, expecting lunar-like landscapes, which I guess are to be found on other parts of the island, not expecting the lush green landscape that we toured all day (including a nice botanical garden).

 

Our departure last night was delayed due to some kind of technical malfunction and we were away at around 7:30, versus the expected 5:00 pm. No delay into Honolulu is expected.

 

On land it was like they all worked for Princess: Friendly, friendly and more friendly. Our stop in the off-the-beaten-path town of Honoka'a allowed us to pick up some reasonably priced 100% Kona coffee (watch out for those cheap blends with only 10% Kona beans) as well as visit the most esoteric crystal shop I've seen west of Sonoma.

 

Our cabin steward will be leaving us today. He's heading home tonight for his hard earned vacation. We'll miss him, he has taken good care of us and left mighty big shoes for his successor to fill.

 

Dinner last night was....GREAT!! George came through and delivered a meal worthy of kings. Had a great pasta dish with grilled shrimps.

 

Today we're off to the northern coast of Oahu in search of big waves. Our guide on the big island said that we can expect 25 foot face waves! So we should be able to get some good wave and surfing pictures.

 

Just and FYI that nearly every excursion for the big island was sold out yesterday, so it really does make sense to reserve early.

[SharB]

Hi Bugslyboo! I'm really enjoying your posts! But confused on your last post, aren't you describing the island of Hawaii? Thanks!

 

Shar

[Cruisin' Chick]

Aloha from somewhere just off the coast of Oahu. We are expected to make land in just over two hours from now.

 

Yesterday morning we were greeted by whales singing in the harbor as we came in at first light. We could see them spouting, but no breaching, and didn't know before this trip that you can actually hear them sing!

 

Mauna Kea was covered in clouds and as we docked they dissolved and we were offered with a crystal clear picture of the snow covered peak dotted with the observatories. Amazing views.

 

We did the Waipi'o Vallz, Honoka'a & Windward Coast tour and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were sent out in two small groups of 10 in vans and had frequent stops, visiting Akaka falls (and a couple others whose names I don't have readily handy). The most spectacular was a point of land, down below the cliffs, that once was home to a village - wiped out by a tsunami. Again, my notes are up in my stateroom and I'm down in the internet cafe...so anybody who knows, please pipe in. It was there that we had our box lunch and enjoyed some of the most spectacular coastal scenery that my wife and I have ever seen. Second on the list was the looking out over the Waip'o valley - again the superlative "spectacular" is the only word that comes to mind. We were blessed with great weather, a fun group and super tour guide. Would highly recommend this tour!

 

We left at about 8:45 and were returned to the ship 6 hours later. I was surprised by the big island, expecting lunar-like landscapes, which I guess are to be found on other parts of the island, not expecting the lush green landscape that we toured all day (including a nice botanical garden).

 

Our departure last night was delayed due to some kind of technical malfunction and we were away at around 7:30, versus the expected 5:00 pm. No delay into Honolulu is expected.

 

On land it was like they all worked for Princess: Friendly, friendly and more friendly. Our stop in the off-the-beaten-path town of Honoka'a allowed us to pick up some reasonably priced 100% Kona coffee (watch out for those cheap blends with only 10% Kona beans) as well as visit the most esoteric crystal shop I've seen west of Sonoma.

 

Our cabin steward will be leaving us today. He's heading home tonight for his hard earned vacation. We'll miss him, he has taken good care of us and left mighty big shoes for his successor to fill.

 

Dinner last night was....GREAT!! George came through and delivered a meal worthy of kings. Had a great pasta dish with grilled shrimps.

 

Today we're off to the northern coast of Oahu in search of big waves. Our guide on the big island said that we can expect 25 foot face waves! So we should be able to get some good wave and surfing pictures.

 

Just and FYI that nearly every excursion for the big island was sold out yesterday, so it really does make sense to reserve early.

 

That sounds like our Waterfalls and Windward excursion in 2005. We saw the same places. Our tour guide was a man originally from the Ukraine. Even our little one (8 on that cruise) like that tour, and she's not into scenery.

[Bugslyboo.com]

Hi Bugslyboo! I'm really enjoying your posts! But confused on your last post, aren't you describing the island of Hawaii? Thanks!

 

Shar

 

Yes, was describing the big island. Confusing part was probably at the end with our guide on the big island telling us we could expect big waves the next day on Oahu....sorry for the confusion!

[Bugslyboo.com]

It's just a couple minutes before 5:00 am and we're due into our next port of Kua'i at around 8:00. We having the greatest luck with the weather. No clouds and by early afternoon yesterday we had temps up to 82 F.

 

We arrived into Oahu just before 7:00 am yesterday morning with Queen Elizabeth hot on our heels. We got the fairly isolated pier 2 and Queenie got the pier right next to the Aloha tower (11 I think). Shortly after 7:00 we were cleared for disembarkation.

 

Let me tell you a little more about our tour yesterday: We did the windward coast of Oahu tour and it started out a bit rocky. There were 22 people signed up, add the tour guide and we were 23. They sent a bus that could carry 21...We ended up waiting until they sent a full size bus (only a 20 minute wait). Off we went towards the valley and then over the mountains to the windward coast and up to the north shore. We stopped at the Japanese temple with the breath-taking backdrop and then visited 4 different beaches, including the famous Sunset beach, where good sized waves were rolling in. Also visited a beach home to 30 green turtles that we were able to see out "grazing", as well as one 300lb lad laying on the beach waiting for a wave to take him back out. We stopped for lunch at one of the famous north shore shrimp shacks, which reminded me of the lobster shacks you used to find in down east Maine. The island is a study in contrasts with the skyscraper - this could be anywhere city - of Honolulu in the south and the under-developed north shore surfer's paradise.

 

We made the silly mistake of jumping in a cab at 4:00 pm to run over to Waikiki. Took us nearly a half an hour and over 20 bucks to get there. Coming back was worse and we actually opted to get out of the cab halfway back and walk (which was quicker). Friday rush hour is not a great time to be trying to get around in any city. Waikiki could be Benidorm Spain, Nice France, Palma Mallorca, any of the popular and overcrowded beach fronts you might find in the Med, with that one big exception - Diamond head lurking in the view. It makes a difference, but not enough for us.

 

It was surprising to see how full the dining room on the ship was last night considering that everybody had to be onboard at 10:30 pm. Dinner was great again, Princess has stepped up and delivered.

 

So that's all for now. We'll be doing the "Hollywood in Hawaii" tour later today and seeing the locations used for Blue Hawaii, Jurassic Park, and many more. Being a film junkie, I'm really looking forward to it.

 

Bb

[Bugslyboo.com]

We received letters last night letting us know that we have been selected to participate in the Ultimate Ship Tour. Not sure how many people actually signed up, but they only take 12 and if more than 12 sign up it's done on a lottery basis. The tour is scheduled for Feb. 9th (cost $150 per person) and we have to sign a waiver.....more details to follow.

 

Bb

[julia]

 

Our cabin steward will be leaving us today. He's heading home tonight for his hard earned vacation. We'll miss him, he has taken good care of us and left mighty big shoes for his successor to fill.

 

Who was your cabin steward?? (I asked this earlier in the thread).

[Deb in Markham]

We'll be doing the "Hollywood in Hawaii" tour later today and seeing the locations used for Blue Hawaii, Jurassic Park, and many more. Being a film junkie, I'm really looking forward to it.

 

Bb

 

 

Oh goodie! We were looking at that tour. My son is a huge LOST fan. Do you see any LOST locations on the tour? Looking forward to your review. Enjoy!!

[rlmosher]

We received letters last night letting us know that we have been selected to participate in the Ultimate Ship Tour. Not sure how many people actually signed up, but they only take 12 and if more than 12 sign up it's done on a lottery basis. The tour is scheduled for Feb. 9th (cost $150 per person) and we have to sign a waiver.....more details to follow.

 

Bb

The wife and I took the tour on the Sapphire and loved it.

[Bugslyboo.com]

Who was your cabin steward?? (I asked this earlier in the thread).

 

Not the one that you mentioned.

[Bugslyboo.com]

Oh goodie! We were looking at that tour. My son is a huge LOST fan. Do you see any LOST locations on the tour? Looking forward to your review. Enjoy!!

 

No Lost locations. I'm not sure, but I think that is shot over on Oahu...