Live from the Sapphire - March 24-31

[KruzPrincess]

Thanks for the Horizon Court pictures. The new dessert section looks great. I'm kind of worried about the cookies being behind glass! :eek: I like to grab cookies and go back to my cabin for a bedtime snack! LOL. Hope they have a good salad bar. That's really my favorite thing.

[pmd98052]

The Pacific Moon's special is a stirfry with thin rice noodles, scallops, shrimp, and veggies in a sweet soy sauce. It's one of my favorite things to eat on the ship. The Santa Fe dining room's special is chicken or beef fajitas. I'm not sure about the other 2 dining rooms...I haven't eaten in them. I heard something about osso bucco and prime rib, but don't quote me on that.

 

Savoy's is Pork Chop....

[Pamster]

Savoy's is Pork Chop....

 

Hmmm, love some good pig!! ;-) Thanks for the info.

 

Do the specialty restaurants have the same special every night - so you can get the stir fried noodles any night at the Asian restaurant?

[KruzPrincess]

Hmmm, love some good pig!! ;-) Thanks for the info.

 

Do the specialty restaurants have the same special every night - so you can get the stir fried noodles any night at the Asian restaurant?

 

Yes. Also, I believe you can get the specialty dishes in any of the MDR's if you ask. When I was on the Sapphire, we ordered a plate of the stir fry noodles to share at our table and it was really good. The fajitas weren't like any fajitas I've gotten anywhere else, but I did like them. Just go with an open mind, because they won't be what you expect.

[flourpot]

Thanks for the Horizon Court pictures. The new dessert section looks great. I'm kind of worried about the cookies being behind glass! :eek: I like to grab cookies and go back to my cabin for a bedtime snack! LOL. Hope they have a good salad bar. That's really my favorite thing.

 

Don't worry. The cookies aren't behind the glass...just the cakes. They actually have more cookies out now (all the kinds) even though they're a bit smaller.

 

There are now 2 salad bars...one regular and one with the "recipe" for 2 different types of salads. It's actually pretty cool.

[Pamster]

I heard that the International Court had cookies available for "snatching", too. ;-) I'm planning on checking that out.

[flourpot]

 

[flourpot]

I heard that the International Court had cookies available for "snatching", too. ;-) I'm planning on checking that out.

 

Yep, that's right. There are cookies everywhere! I have been eating breakfast and lunch at the international cafe everyday. It's my favorite dining venue on the ship. The peanut butter chocolate mousse cups are amazing!

[Pamster]

 

 

Yummm - I gotta say, these menus look REALLY good.

[flourpot]

Will you please tell me if all of Skywalkers is reserved during the hours of 5 to 7pm for the Elite/Platinum lounge, so that no other passengers are allowed in that area? Just curious.

 

Also, does your cabin seem to have a newer pillow-top mattress as has been mentioned.

 

Thanks and have a wonderful cruise.

 

We went to Skywalkers again tonight and found out that between 5 and 7, Skywalkers is reserved for platinum and elite passengers only.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Flourpot, Thank you so much for taking the time to post. I will be on the Sapphire for my first Princess cruise this October. I love your photos! But...they're making me hungry! I had to open a bag of pretzels. What I really want is a cupcake or a few of those cookies. :o

[KarenCL]

We enjoyed the pizza at Alfredo's on Plaza deck, too. Never crowded when we went there. My husband would walk over to the International Cafe and snag some desserts for us, which he brought back to our table in Alfredo's! They also had a wonderful cinnamon stollen, in addition to the fresh doughnuts, at International Cafe in the morning! It was a real food fest for us!

[cruiseagain2]

Strange question. Because this cruise stays mainly in the United States, what kinds of channels are on the television. Are there just movies and Princess channels or regular shows as well?

[CA Dave]

Hmmm, love some good pig!! ;-) Thanks for the info.

 

Do the specialty restaurants have the same special every night - so you can get the stir fried noodles any night at the Asian restaurant?

 

Yes, they do and you can order it and any of the others, any night in any restaurant.

 

We were traditional dining in the MDA (International Dining room) and our waiter, (Bogdan- the best we have had) after asking him about the specialty dishes, started bringing one to me each night to try with my regular menu choice.

 

DZ

[KruzPrincess]

Don't worry. The cookies aren't behind the glass...just the cakes. They actually have more cookies out now (all the kinds) even though they're a bit smaller.

 

There are now 2 salad bars...one regular and one with the "recipe" for 2 different types of salads. It's actually pretty cool.

 

Great! I eat salads from the salad bar every single day on the cruise, so I'll have 2 weeks of great salad options to look forward to!! Plus some cookies to boot.

[grandmaa]

Since we left San Francisco last night it has been very foggy on the ocean and the fog horn has blowing at regular intervals. Hope it clears for our arrival in San Diego.

Do not know if anyone reported we had our slot pull..11 of us put in $15 each until e

We lost it all..had fun and the casino manager was very nice and gave the two top winners travel tote bags and all the rest of

Players Club baseball caps.

[flourpot]

Strange question. Because this cruise stays mainly in the United States, what kinds of channels are on the television. Are there just movies and Princess channels or regular shows as well?

 

Right now, there are sitcoms that are repeating over and over (Modern Family, 2 Broke Girls, Mike and Molly, and more). There is also BBC World via satelite, CNN, FOX News, CNBC, Discovery and lots of princess channels trying to sell you stuff. :-) There are also movie channels. You'll have a tv guide in your room that will tell you just about everything on each day.

[flourpot]

Today, we are having an extremely foggy at sea day. I woke up this morning to the fog horn blaring and we can still barely see the balcony railing outside our cabin (at 4:30pm).

 

Princess introduced a new game show in the Piazza today called Peer Factor. They recruited 8 people for two teams (4 male, 4 female...divided up evenly). The game show is based on jobs that staff perform around the ship. The first game was 2 men who had to wear boxing gloves and put on as many pairs of boxer shorts over their clothes as they could. The second game was for 2 women who wore huge, stretchy coveralls and had their team mates stuff balloons into their suits. The team with the most balloons was the winner. The 3rd was 2 women who got to toss pizza dough in the air and the last individual game was stacking poker chips, dealing cards, and flipping cards. The final team game was "river dancing" with the Princess dancers. It was pretty entertaining, especially when the woman throwing the pizza threw flour on the team captains and Dave Cole (CD).

 

Tonight is formal night...again. It seems like we just had one of these 2 days ago. Oh wait, we did. It's lobster night. I'll post my picture of the menu while in port tomorrow. It's also the captain's circle cocktail hour with the captain. There were several hundred people standing in line to get into Club Fusion for the event as I walked by to get to the internet cafe.

 

We went to the magician last night, James Michael (the bad boy of magic) in the Explorer's Lounge. WARNING: do NOT sit in the front row unless you want to be part of the show. He will drink your beer, take your money, embarass you, and tell risky jokes. If you don't mind that, get there early and sit in the front. Otherwise, sit a few rows back to shield yourself. :-P We had seen him on another cruise, and his act was 90% the same.

 

SIDE NOTE: Carlos Oscar was the exact opposite of James Michael. His comedy is meant for everyone. We had seen his show before as well, and found his shows to be 90% different every time (we saw him twice on this cruise).

 

We're going to be in San Diego tomorrow, so I'll have internet on my phone again and will post the pictures of the menus that I have on my phone.

 

Oh, also, when you use the ship's internet on the ship's computers, the counter that tells you how much time you have left is broken (has been both times we've been on), so bring your watch so you don't go over time.

[Pamster]

Since we left San Francisco last night it has been very foggy on the ocean and the fog horn has blowing at regular intervals. Hope it clears for our arrival in San Diego.

Do not know if anyone reported we had our slot pull..11 of us put in $15 each until e

We lost it all..had fun and the casino manager was very nice and gave the two top winners travel tote bags and all the rest of

Players Club baseball caps.

 

Ah, love the fog and the sound of the fog horn. Wouldn't mind that one bit.

 

Do hope your have clear weather in San Diego. It's beautiful in LA right now, a little cool, hoping that means fair weather in SD.

[apeller]

We also will be on the March 31st sailing and am really looking forward to it.

 

Thanks for the great posts. We sail on the Sapphire this Saturday, 3/31.

 

Thanks for posting this live thread. It's fun to read all the information before we leave.

 

kmtoner & jonesy111,

We are on the March 31 sailing too. Why not join us over on our roll call?

roll call

[gottagoacruzn]

Hey guys, great reviews of the Sapphire. Will be sailing in May, the Pacific Coastal cruise. My question is, did anyone do the Ultimate ship's Tour and was it worth the $$$, also how about the Chef's Table? Would like to do that, but will be on a budget, got to watch my pennies!!:eek:

 

Virginia

[cruiselover57]

Just boarded the Sapphire and the upgrades are fabulous! Since this is a California coastal cruise, I'll be able to post frequently and answer any questions that anyone has.

 

Princess started using a staggered embarkation with this cruise. We flew in this morning and arrived at the port around 12:40 (our scheduled time to embark was 1:30). Being platinum, we weren't sure if we'd have to wait to get on the ship. Turns out, if you are platinum, elite, or a suite passenger, you get to bypass all waiting. All other passengers were waiting in the terminal for their alloted boarding time (not sure if they had boarding cards or what).

 

We have a balcony and still have the old, comfy furniture. The only difference that I see to the room is the new, big flat screen tv. The only unexpected thing about our room was that we walked into one king bed, rather than the 2 twins that we expected. Our room stewardess, Jocelyn, is very nice and said it will be fixed before bed.

 

We had lunch in the international cafe and it was great (chicken cashew salad and a tuna panini...chocolate peanut butter mousse for dessert). The buffet was a cattle call, as usual. I didn't see a special at the grill like I had read about on here earlier.

 

Like I said earlier, if you have any questions, ask (I can post pics too)! I have internet on my phone in all the ports and we have the platinum internet package on the ship, so I should be able to post frequently.

 

I posted this question on your roll call but I'm not sure because this is a live thread, if it's one in the same: Please let me know if your cruise has any theme nights such as 50's/60's, 70's/80's (disco) and country western - that way, I'll know what garb I should bring - thanks!

 

Laurie

[4cats4me]

I have cupcake envy all over again! The last day of the cruise, they had peach cupcakes...YUMMMMMM

 

 

It looks like the desserts are more nicely presented and looks like all those giant whipped-cream cakes are gone. The desserts here look more like what they have in the International Cafe. I'm surprised by how light the buffet looks compared to the previous orange and yellow bright colors. This looks so sterile in comparison.

[flourpot]

Hey guys, great reviews of the Sapphire. Will be sailing in May, the Pacific Coastal cruise. My question is, did anyone do the Ultimate ship's Tour and was it worth the $$$, also how about the Chef's Table? Would like to do that, but will be on a budget, got to watch my pennies!!:eek:

 

Virginia

 

I didn't do either of those tours, but I did go to the culinary demonstration in the theater. You get to have a free tour of the galley after which is pretty neat.

[flourpot]

I posted this question on your roll call but I'm not sure because this is a live thread, if it's one in the same: Please let me know if your cruise has any theme nights such as 50's/60's, 70's/80's (disco) and country western - that way, I'll know what garb I should bring - thanks!

 

Laurie

 

There was a country western night on Sunday, a 70's night on Monday, and a 50's/60's tonight.