Sapphire Limping Into Asia

[graim]

We where on the Sapphire Princess last month and they had Aussie beer the last 2 days......Victoria Bitter and Hahn Light.

 

Most Aussies Don't drink Fosters.....and Im one of them.

The Fosters on the ship was made in Canada.

[Toto2Kansas]

Kiwi Kruiser-I guess I haven't been able to figure out that if other cruise lines feel that Bali is safe enough to stop at, why Princess refuses to go there? Keeping it on the port schedule with no intentions of stopping is just wrong in my book.

 

Padang Bay is a great port and very interesting. We have been there twice and would love to take one of these cruises up the East Coast of Australia again, but not when they advertise ports they don't have any intention of stopping at.

[Globaliser]

We where on the Sapphire Princess last month and they had Aussie beer the last 2 days......Victoria Bitter and Hahn Light.

Light? Only Light? Where was the Hahn Premium?

 

Not going on no Princess cruise in the South Pacific then, rant, rant, rant ...

 

:D

[calikak]

Not all Aussies drink beer. It is a myth and more people are drinking wine than beer.

 

We get great Australian wines here in the US, so I can see why Australians would be drinking more wine!

[sandydownunder]

We had a double page spread in the travel section of our daily newspaper on Bali last weekend. It was imploring tourists to travel there. They have been incorrectly linked with the tsunami which was not in that area at all, and have suffered a down turn in tourism. In a box in the corner of the article was a warning from our Department of Foreign Affairs warning Australians not to travel to Indonesia as terrorist attacks could occur. It was a bit like the health warning that accompanies cigarette advertising. I imagine US authorities have similar warnings for their citizens. No wonder cruise ships are not calling. There is no way they would want to endanger their passengers.

[CaribbeanCrazy]

Is the Sapphire Princess owned by Princess (or should I say Carnival Corp). Or did they sell it to P&O?

 

CaribbeanCrazy

[Toto2Kansas]

The Sapphire is owned by Carnival Corp and is sailing as a Princess ship currently. But you never know what the future might bring the way they are bouncing ships around from one cruise line to another lately. ;)

[Druke I]

CaribbeanCrazy

 

Following ownership of ships in the various fleets can be confusing.

 

P&O was the parent company of Princess. When Carnival bought Princess, they also bought the passenger ship operation of P&O. What had been a parent/child relationship became a sister/sister relationship. To get around the regulators, Carnival had to agree to continue to list P&O/Princess on the English stock exchange, and stock is sold under different names in different countries.

 

To add further confusion, the old P&O company continues in the shipping business, albeit it tankers and containerships, but completely separate from Carnival Corp.

 

Princess itself adds a lot of confusion, when they reuse old names from the fleet, but without a numerical differentation!

[bdjam]

Let me say this about that…first; never rely on reports from passengers on board ship…who have probably consumed all the beer. Remember when Diamond Princess hit the pier in Victoria and those on a HAL ship that witnessed the collision almost had Diamond Princess sinking?

Second, regarding issues with Pacific Sky – since she’s been turned into a party ship, I would think she’d be under more wear and tear than she was used to in the past.

[JohnLauben]

In a box in the corner of the article was a warning from our Department of Foreign Affairs warning Australians not to travel to Indonesia as terrorist attacks could occur.

I was on the Bangkok to Sydney cruise aboard the REGAL PRINCESS in 2000. I believe that this was the first year and/or cruise where Padang Bay and Semarang (in Indonesia) were bypassed. This was just days after the US STATE Department issued an advisory warning against travel to Indonesia. I don't believe that things have changed since. PRINCESS must be cautious in selecting its ports of call; if they were to call in Indonesia, and something were to happen to a passenger while in port, (in today's litigious society) the lawsuits could potentially bring PRINCESS to the brink of bankruptcy. They MUST play it safe. They probably keep scheduling BALI on the hope that Indonesia will come off the US STATE Department's advisory list before the cruise takes place.

[Druke I]

I've been to Semerang, Java, and frankly, I would be happy to miss that port of call.

 

Bali, on the other hand, is truly beautiful.

[Splatitudes]

Agreed. Semarang is a day I'd just have soon spent on board, while Bali is fabulous and worth every second.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Let me say this about that…first; never rely on reports from passengers on board ship…who have probably consumed all the beer. Remember when Diamond Princess hit the pier in Victoria and those on a HAL ship that witnessed the collision almost had Diamond Princess sinking?

Second, regarding issues with Pacific Sky – since she’s been turned into a party ship, I would think she’d be under more wear and tear than she was used to in the past.

 

 

"YEAGH RIGHT"

and now they have sent us Pacific Sun ex Jubilee and following on Pacific Star ex Costa Tropicale .............

they will also be

"FUN PARTY SHIPS".........

 

but finally the breakthrough........

the directors at head office are sending us

DAWN

to replace Pacific Princess

Down under will come of age at last.........

[Aussie Gal]

David,

 

Agree with everything you have said.

 

It is about time they sent us some decent ships. We will not sail on those ships that are cast offs from the rest of the World.

 

There are quite a few of us Aussies out there that are looking for a good cruise experience, that do not want to party and tear the ships apart but want a refined cruise eperience. Hence we always go away from Oceania and end up in Europe for our cruises. Perhaps if they sent us some decent ships they may get a different clientele or perhaps the powers that be don't want this to happen.

 

Jennie

[Crowsie]

Hello All...

Am currently on board the Sapphire Princess. Today we are docked in Singapore.

 

The port of Bali was cancelled from the itinerary over 18 months ago, so we never expected to be able to stop there.

 

We did, however, miss our call in Penang, Malaysia due to the gas turbine issue.

We were told that it was computer software that starts the gas turbines that failed so we cruised, albeit slowly, from Darwin directly to Kuala Lumpur.

We ran on diesel instead of gas.

Princess graciously credited each passenger $200 USD for the inconvenience. Quite generous in my opinion.

They must have fixed the problem in KL as we cruised at 17 knots to Singapore.

 

There was some sort of on-land fire that must have been a doozey as we were sailing to KL. The stench of smoke was so strong that it brought dozens of people onto their balconies between 4 and 5 am to check out the situation.

 

We had been out of draught beer since Darwin, but we've never had trouble getting bottled beer.

 

The wine selection has been another issue. From the first night we boarded we had to go thru 2 or 3 choices from the wine list before we could find a wine that was available. We were told that the previous cruise had a large wine drinking population and that supplies were diminished. We got around that frustration by purchasing wines while in Brisbane.

 

The weather has been extremely hot and humid...and thankfully mostly overcast. Our only day of rain was Cairns. Unfortunately, due to the rain in Cairns and the aftermath of the cyclone, many of the Great Barrier Reef excursions were cancelled. Lots of disappointed folks over that, but nothing could be done.

 

All in all, we are having a lovely cruise. Some folks started getting crabby after five straight days at sea..but my tan is coming along nicely:D

 

Day at sea tomorrow then off to Ho Chi Mihn city.

 

Crowsie

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Thank you for your reply

 

Crowsie.......

 

You approach cruising

like me.....

 

as an adventuure......

 

Take cruising as it comes

and appreciate each day

 

for what it is worth........

[jody]

Crowsie,

I just emailed you asking about Australia, not realizing you are currently on the Sapphire Princess out of Sydney. Have a fantastic cruise and let me know how it goes. I'll be in Australia in May and would be interested in your experiences and advice.

Happy sailing!!

jody

 

PS You missed a big snowstorm at home on Friday that cancelled flights. It's 42 degrees today, so enjoy that sun and heat on your cruise while you can! :-)

[Logie]

I have a freind who works in the casino and he confirmed that they did run out of beer, but they had brought more on board yetserday. He stated the casino bar ran out last night and that the crew bar was bone dry.....and they were anxiousely awaiting for the re-stocking, which I guess would happen today.

 

$200 is really nice considering the fact there is no gaurantee to ports and they never do that in the Caribbean. Larry said that all the passengers were grouchy over the missed port, one which was Princess fault and one that was not.

[EAC]

Thanks for your message as it is reassuring as in two days we are off to Bangkok to board the ship as you leave. We also have friends on your cruise and am glad they will have had a good time. Thanks again for your reassurance it seems all is working again.

[CaribbeanCrazy]

Toto2Kansas and DrukeI,

Thanks for clearing that up for me.:) Your right...it does get confusing!

 

CaribbeanCrazy

[Joyfredsblondecruiser]

The Saphire is still having mechanical problems and missed the Vietnam port. It is heading for Singapore now. Joy

[GottoCruise]

From Druke1 & Spatitudes............"Agreed. Semarang is a day I'd just have soon spent on board, while Bali is fabulous and worth every second."

 

 

FYI - In my opinion Semarang is a FABULOUS Port - the Port from which to see BORABODOUR.......... and of course Bali is wonderful :D ....Guess everyone has different opinons...that's what makes "chocolate and vanilla"!:D

 

This sems to me be a fairly "recent" thing (maybe last 3 -5 years?) about missing scedualled Ports - I don't remember this happening with as much frequency years ago!! It is upsetting to Shorex plans when Ports are missed - I realize sometimes it cannot be helped but I think some of the problem is that they are schedualling too many Ports and not enough cruise days between.......cruising used to be much more "Leisurely"........New cruisers want to take in as much as possible they are not concerned with relaxing at sea.......too bad --they are missing the best part of cruising, I think.

 

GotToCruise (aka Renee)

[swooldri]

When will Princess tell us what is really going on with the Sapphire? It would be nice to know prior to cruising on her. We only have a few weeks. Steve

[swooldri]

Any updates on the Sapphire's latest status?

[holidayathesea]

There is another thread titled something like "Live from Sapphire Princess--such a sad ship"....check that out, someone who is on the ship now is updating. Unfortunately they believe they lost a cruise ship worker, they are not sure as I last read, but they believed he went overboard. :(