Home from the 28 Day Sapphire Princess Cruise to Hawaii, Samoa and French Polynesia

[freetocruise]

Warning: This will be a long and rambling review.

 

I can’t believe that the long anticipated (we booked in June 2010) cruise to Hawaii, Samoa and French Polynesia (October 22-November 19) is over and we are back home. It took forever to get here and then it was over in what seemed like a flash. I’d like to share some observations on what was overall a great trip and now is a wonderful memory. I loved this cruise and wouldn’t hesitate to repeat it.

 

Embarkation: We arrived at San Pedro around 10:15am. After parking and dropping off our luggage, we proceeded upstairs at Pier 93. Everyone was milling around as they were not allowing checkin. At 10:30, they opened up the desks for preferred boarding. That is when we discovered that there were over 700 elites and over 900 platinums. Our daughter drove us to the port and we were treating her to the Bon Voyage Experience. She had to wait for all the elite and platinum that were waiting to check in before they’d let her go to the desk. In the mean time, we checked in and went to the lounge area where they were handing out boarding passes. They were going in strict order, with elite first and platinum second. However, since we were doing the BVE, we didn’t need a boarding card as we were told that the Captain’s Circle host and Future Cruise consultant would be picking us up at 11:30 to board the ship. The port crew was very efficient and allowed no one to edge up to the boarding area. Anyone who tried was moved to the lounge area, a secondary sitting area designated for preferred boarding overflow or just one of the regular waiting areas. Right at 11:30, everyone for the BVE was led onboard. We had a very nice meal. They didn’t allow regular passengers into the DR until all the BVE passengers were seated but they did have the DR open for regular passengers. All of our luggage arrived in our room by 2:30 and we were unpacked before it was time to see our daughter off the ship at 3:30.

 

We were delayed in leaving the port for over ½ hour due to a last minute emergency 911 call. We knew this because we heard the supervisors on the pier tell the line handlers as we sat on our balcony. Sure enough, a short while later we watched as the EMTs brought out a stretcher with a passenger, followed by his wife and then all their luggage onto the pier. To be so close to the cruise and then to miss it – what a disappointment. I hope that everything is well with him and he’ll soon be ready for the next cruise.

 

We sat out on the balcony and watched as we left the pier, sailed out the harbor and onto the open ocean.

 

The Ship: The ship is in beautiful condition considering that it is going in for an extensive renovation in January. There are worn areas but everywhere is meticulously maintained. The new sports area above Skywalkers is complete. Also, the Sanctuary is finished and open for business. They had a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open it on October 23rd. It wasn’t mentioned in the Patters and we just happened to stumble on to the tail end with the picture taking. Capt. Jerman stopped and talked to us as he left.

 

More to come

[Love.II.Cruise]

Looking forward to the rest of your review! Thanks for posting.

 

Warning: This will be a long and rambling review.

 

I can’t believe that the long anticipated (we booked in June 2010) cruise to Hawaii, Samoa and French Polynesia (October 22-November 19) is over and we are back home. It took forever to get here and then it was over in what seemed like a flash. I’d like to share some observations on what was overall a great trip and now is a wonderful memory. I loved this cruise and wouldn’t hesitate to repeat it.

 

Embarkation: We arrived at San Pedro around 10:15am. After parking and dropping off our luggage, we proceeded upstairs at Pier 93. Everyone was milling around as they were not allowing checkin. At 10:30, they opened up the desks for preferred boarding. That is when we discovered that there were over 700 elites and over 900 platinums. Our daughter drove us to the port and we were treating her to the Bon Voyage Experience. She had to wait for all the elite and platinum that were waiting to check in before they’d let her go to the desk. In the mean time, we checked in and went to the lounge area where they were handing out boarding passes. They were going in strict order, with elite first and platinum second. However, since we were doing the BVE, we didn’t need a boarding card as we were told that the Captain’s Circle host and Future Cruise consultant would be picking us up at 11:30 to board the ship. The port crew was very efficient and allowed no one to edge up to the boarding area. Anyone who tried was moved to the lounge area, a secondary sitting area designated for preferred boarding overflow or just one of the regular waiting areas. Right at 11:30, everyone for the BVE was led onboard. We had a very nice meal. They didn’t allow regular passengers into the DR until all the BVE passengers were seated but they did have the DR open for regular passengers. All of our luggage arrived in our room by 2:30 and we were unpacked before it was time to see our daughter off the ship at 3:30.

 

We were delayed in leaving the port for over ½ hour due to a last minute emergency 911 call. We knew this because we heard the supervisors on the pier tell the line handlers as we sat on our balcony. Sure enough, a short while later we watched as the EMTs brought out a stretcher with a passenger, followed by his wife and then all their luggage onto the pier. To be so close to the cruise and then to miss it – what a disappointment. I hope that everything is well with him and he’ll soon be ready for the next cruise.

 

We sat out on the balcony and watched as we left the pier, sailed out the harbor and onto the open ocean.

 

The Ship: The ship is in beautiful condition considering that it is going in for an extensive renovation in January. There are worn areas but everywhere is meticulously maintained. The new sports area above Skywalkers is complete. Also, the Sanctuary is finished and open for business. They had a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open it on October 23rd. It wasn’t mentioned in the Patters and we just happened to stumble on to the tail end with the picture taking. Capt. Jerman stopped and talked to us as he left.

 

More to come

[freetocruise]

 

 

The Ship: The ship is in beautiful condition considering that it is going in for an extensive renovation in January. There are worn areas but everywhere is meticulously maintained. The new sports area above Skywalkers is complete. Also, the Sanctuary is finished and open for business. They had a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open it on October 23rd. It wasn’t mentioned in the Patters and we just happened to stumble on to the tail end with the picture taking. Capt. Jerman stopped and talked to us as he left. He is very approachable and always available to the passengers

[Susie51]

Thank you for your review and pic. I was on Diamond Princess in Dec. 2008 and I consider it my favorite ship. Is Sapphire Princess a sister ship to the Diamond? Are the deck plans the same? I have been on Grand Princess, also, but I like the layout of Diamond much better.

[caribill]

Is Sapphire Princess a sister ship to the Diamond? Are the deck plans the same? I have been on Grand Princess, also, but I like the layout of Diamond much better.

 

Originally, yes. But there are some differences after both have the upgrades.

 

For example, the Wakeview Bar is being removed from the Sapphire and becoming part of the International Dining Room. Also on the Sapphire, the two dining rooms on deck 5 are being combined into one with the Crown Grill located in part of what used to be the Savoy diningrroom.

 

Also, the sports court was not put on top of Skywalkers on the Diamond.

[dfields1814]

I also heard about a person taken off the ship delaying leaving San Pedro. I also heard a rumor that the ship was late arriving due to the fog that morning and they needed more time to fuel. Perhaps the reason was a combination of the two.

 

We arrived at 11:45. We were given the #9 group which not a good sign when they just called #1. We waited about 45 minutes to board. By the time we boarded we pretty much missed the lunch at the MDR and had to eat at the buffet. It turned out we met some nice people at that lunch at the buffet.

 

The opposite happened when we self disembarked. We were in the second group to go. The first left a little before 8:00. We we cleared customs and were outside waiting for our ride at exactly 8:17. Simply amazing. There were very few people self disembarking - that I saw anyway.

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for the start of your review. Not long and rambling yet but I'm looking forward to that part! I love the Sapphire and sail her often to Mexico so would love to hear more of your review.

[jowahe]

I am booked on this same cruise for 2012 and am wondering about the guest speakers and/or Enrichment Lecturers that Princess provides on this long cruise. Can you tell me about the topics of their programs? Do they change programs/speakers during the cruise? Thanks for this info.

[TracieABD]

Looking forward to hearing more!

[Coolmama_1]

Looking forward to hearing more. I am in awe of anyone who can self disembark. I have never learned the art of light packing. A gal's gotta have choices!:)

[BridgeMates]

Thanks so much for getting this board started. Hopefully Toto and others will add their comments about everything.

There are a lot of us booked in 2012/2013 that have been waiting for all of you to get back and give us the nitty/gritty about this cruise. Eighteen days at sea is a lot of sea days so I'm hoping they have some good lectures and also since we play bridge, having a bridge director is important to us.

Did you find this many sea days to be a bit tedious?

We did a b2b (20 days) in the Polynesian islands on the Royal P. a year ago and loved every day. We aren't sure whether we want to do this cruise or just bite the bullet and fly to Tahiti and do all the islands again......

What did you do in Samoa? Is there any snorkel/beach activity there?

Again, anxiously waiting to hear all the comments.

[compozer]

We are booked on the 2013 cruise. "It took forever to get here and then it was over in what seemed like a flash" - isn't that how it goes!!!!

 

Am looking forward to reading the rest of your review.

 

Where did suite people fit into the embarkment process?

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for the first part of your review. Looking forward to reading the rest.....:):):)

 

Bob

[A1A]

Looking forward to your rambling, love the live from boards, appreciate your efforts!

[balcony queen]

Like a lot of others am patiently waiting for more news. It is great to hear from a few people who have been on the same cruise

[freetocruise]

Sorry, it's taking so long to continue. It took forever for my pictures to upload so I could post them.

 

Cruise Director and Activities: Tim Donovan is the Cruise Director. He is very friendly and is all over the ship talking to passengers when not leading some activity. There are all the typical activities such as Trivia (4 or more times a day), Bingo, etc. Themed activities include ribbon lei making, flower lei making, ukulele lessons, hula dance, Polynesian dance lessons and sarong tying lessons and many enrichment lectures on all the islands. Everyone seems to be asking how the Sapphire activities compare with those on the Golden Princess. Some of the lei making classes are not as polished as on the Golden Princess with Elua and the Sapphire team needs to get their act together. But I felt the enrichment lectures were better on the Sapphire. Not only did they have lectures on the islands of the Pacific but they also had WWII Pacific Theatre lectures, as well as one on the planes that crossed the Pacific from the China Clippers to the new A380 from Qantas. There were so many others that I can't remember but can certainly check the Patters if anyone is curious.

 

We are not big show watchers, so I can not comment on any of them. We love playing trivia but didn’t even play once this cruise as trivia has become too competitive with people arguing over the answers and cheating, all just to win a junk prize. It’s no longer fun when that happens. There appeared to be a great bridge program with beginning and intermediate lectures on sea days as well as play (both duplicate and party style) in one of the Dining Rooms every afternoon.

 

For the last 8 sea days, there was a Cruise Murder game. You signed up for it, had your picture taken. You were assigned a person to murder and given their picture and which method to “kill” them. Everyone had to sign in twice a day in the library, so you couldn’t hide out in your room. The winner had six kills. I felt lucky to have one and it took 3 days of searching to find him even with the picture.

 

We also had a Crossing the Equator initiation and we all became “shellbacks”. It was quite messy as you can see in the pictures. Captain Jerman was the first to be thrown in the pool.

 

King Neptune and his consort.

 

 

Pollywogs kissing the fish and Capt. Jerman wearing the "Order of the Kipper"

 

 

Everyone on deck watching.

[freetocruise]

Ports/Excursions

Hawaii: Since this was our fourth time cruising to Hawaii, we planned to take it easy on these islands.In Maui, we rented a car and went to the Ali’i Kula Lavender Farm where they sell many items with lavender – tea, coffee, jelly, lotions, shampoos, cookies, etc. I wanted to buy one of everything. In Hilo, we also rented a car and went to Akaka Falls state park. In Honolulu, we rode the free bus to Wal-mart and then walked to the Ala Moana Mall. After some window shopping, we caught a city bus to Waikiki where we walked on the beach and had lunch at Duke’s. After, we caught the city bus back to the Aloha Towers and did some shopping. We walked up a few streets to the statue of King Kamehameha and the Iolani Palace. By this time, we were beat and called it an early day. In Kauai, we walked to the Marriott to the beach there and then had a late lunch at that Duke’s Restaurant. Both Duke’s have great beach views and are wonderful for people watching as well as good food.

 

The Lavender Farm

 

The view from the Lavender Farm which is part way up Mt. Haleakala

 

The beach in front of the Marriott in Kauai

 

The view from our table at Duke's on Waikiki Beach

[freetocruise]

Where did suite people fit into the embarkment process?

 

I don't have an answer to that as were were in the very first group for the BVE which went onboard before the regular boarding started. Hopefully, someone who had a suite could tell us.

[Toto2Kansas]

Where did suite people fit into the embarkment process?

 

Since a review has been started, I will try to jump in and answer a few questions freetocruise can not.

Passengers booked in full suites had the same priority as the other 1700+ Elite and Platinum, PLUS the VIP passengers. In other words, nothing much, and it all depended on when you arrived. The priority lounge is not very large, and within minutes, it was overfilled, and many just went out and found a seat elsewhere. We happened to be one of the lucky ones and got there early and were able to find a comfortable seat in the Priority lounge.

[Pam in CA]

Where did suite people fit into the embarkment process?

Full suite passengers board with Platinum/Elite passengers.

 

This cruise is definitely on my bucket list. Not sure when but I'd love to do it. :)

[freetocruise]

American Samoa and Western Samoa: This was our first time to American Samoa and we took a ship’s tour in a open air bus with wooden seats on a truck body. It was very humid and the open wind coming in provided some relief but wrecked havoc on my hair. We toured the island and took part in an Ava Ceremony (the traditional welcome ceremony for visitors). Many of the homes were open with no windows and only half walls, if any. There is a custom to bury loved ones in the front yard, so most houses had at least one grave marker in their yard.

We took another ship’s tour in Western Samoa. Although the tour description said that the buses would be similar open air style, we were all pleasantly surprised to discover that they were air conditioned with padded seats. It was a good thing as it rained much of the day. We were all given leis as we boarded the bus - a very nice touch. Our first stop, “a scenic view” was nothing but clouds this day. We then went to Sopoago Falls where the rain held off long enough for us to see the cooking demonstration, view the Falls and walk in the gardens. The highlight for many people appeared to be the bathrooms as the lines were always long. Our last stop was at a local beach where it rained the whole time we were there. I was completely wet – the bottom half from the ocean and the top half from the rain. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures due to the pouring rain and having left my umbrella on the ship. But it was a great tour and I would recommend it highly for a first time visit.

 

Approaching American Samoa

 

American Samoa police in their uniform "lava-lavas"

 

Part of the Ava Ceremony in American Samoa

 

The rain in Western Samoa

 

Sopoaga Falls in Western Samoa

 

Our transportation in American Samoa

[chrysalis]

Thanks for this....we are doing this same cruise in October of next year.:)

[Toto2Kansas]

I haven't even unpacked yet (haven't found the strength after all of the travel home yesterday), but when I find my computer with my downloaded photos, I can supply pics of Western Samoa (minus the rain). We hired a taxi for the day (stayed totally away from the ships tours this cruise) and we avoided all but a few minutes of the downpour first thing in the AM and throughout the day, and got some great shots of the high areas of Western Samoa as we toured around the island. ;)

[Who Knew]

My flight to LA was delayed by about 50 minutes because LAX was fogged in...I'm not sure what time we arrived at the pier, but I took my first picture from our stateroom at 1:49 pm (my best guess is we arrived at the pier around 1:30)--when we did the check-in process, we were able to walk straight up to a check-in window.

 

I may have some photos of Samoa minus rain as well. However, I think I took over 1,000 pictures, lol, so it will take me some time to sort through.

 

We did a ships tour in Bora Bora, a 4WD (Jeep, with bench seats that face each other--seated 8) that was "harrowing" at times and jarring, but fun and had some beautiful views. It was extremely hot and humid, but they had a tarp roof on our Jeep, so that helped. They treated us to some fresh pineapple and coconut at a refreshment break.

 

A couple of the lectures (I think) and special WWII programming seemed to be repeated on Stateroom TV, so there were a few chances to catch some of them if you couldn't make the lectures.

 

Something that was missing were the ceramics at sea. I was actually looking forward to this with so many sea days, but they didn't offer it. Still I found that 18 sea days was NOT boring, lol.

[freetocruise]

French Polynesia

On Bora Bora, we were signed up on Patrick’s “4th boat” as the three 12 passenger boats were filled with other cruisecritic roll call members. Not sure what to expect, we were pleasantly surprised by the 4th boat run by Manu Water Taxi. It held 60 people and we had close to that. However, it didn’t feel crowded and we had great musicians entertaining us as we motored out. The best part of this boat was the steps into the water giving much easier water access than the 12 person boats and the bathroom onboard. We made two stops to snorkel and see Sting Rays and Reef sharks. After we went to Patrick’s motu for lunch. Although there were a lot of people there, things went smoothly and the food was great. We had pig cooked in the ground, chicken, fish, bananas, etc as well as champagne and beer.

The "4th boat" for Patrick's tour in Bora Bora

 

One of Patrick's 12 passenger boats

 

 

Swimming with the sting rays and reef sharks

 

The food

 

My plate.