Live from the Sapphire Princess, Aug. 4, 2012

[sunsetbeachgal]

Really enjoying your observations...we did a Princess cruise tour a few years ago, glad we did for our first visit, but as you said, next time we will do Alaska on our own and on own schedule.

 

Looking forward to following your blog as you get on the Sapphire and both of your impressions of the ship..

 

Safe travels!!

Carole

[balcony queen]

Enjoying your live review.Have a great trip

[Shogun]

Hi Geoherb

 

Have a great cruise, may be one day we will do this trip

 

yours Shogun

[bob123]

Hope you have a great time.

 

Someone else is posting live from the Sapphire now and reports that they have new mattresses in their cabin. I'd love to hear if you have a new pillowtop in your cabin once your board. I'll be on the Sapphire in November and have been hoping they'll have the newer mattresses by the time I get there. Thanks.

 

We were in a PS cabin in the back of the Sapphire on our Whittier-Vancouver cruise July 21-28, two weeks ago, and I must tell you that the mattress was amazing. Since Sapphire was refurbished earlier this year, I assume all the cabins received new mattresses so you should be good to go. We had six down pillows on our king size bed, and more in the closet if we needed them, but six was enough.

 

On our previous trip to Alaska, we did our own thing prior to the cruise and went to the Kantishna Roadhouse, as far into Denali as you could go, for three days. Exceptional food, and really nice, private cabin accommodations. I'd recommend this to anyone going to Alaska. This time, we went to the Kenai and fished for sockeye salmon, and I hope our freezer is big enough for the 34 pounds of salmon we're having shipped home. If not, our friends will come out of the woodwork. We also went to Homer and Seward, worthwhile side trips.

 

bob123

[Coral]

We were in a PS cabin in the back of the Sapphire on our Whittier-Vancouver cruise July 21-28, two weeks ago, and I must tell you that the mattress was amazing. Since Sapphire was refurbished earlier this year, I assume all the cabins received new mattresses so you should be good to go. We had six down pillows on our king size bed, and more in the closet if we needed them, but six was enough.

 

 

 

bob123

 

I was in E731 on the Sapphire in May for 3 weeks and our room steward told us our mattress had not been replaced in the past year. It is possible they targeted the suites or maybe have since replaced the mattresses on all of the ship but ours was not new in May or from dry dock in January.

 

We were in the same cabin over Christmas 2010 and they were replacing mattresses on the ship at that time (we saw them loading on the dock) but I don't think they were the "nice mattresses" people are now talking about.

[geoherb]

With our later departure time, we had time for a nice long walk along a greenway trail on the waterfront. We walked about 4 miles. The weather was brisk but not rainy—until we got on the bus and started heading to Whittier. The scenery is beautiful, but it would be better without the rain. The bus stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center for an hour. We braved the drizzle to get a better view of the animals. They have buffalo, elk, caribou, bears, musk oxen, lynx, moose, porcupine, owl, and an eagle and probably more animals I can’t remember. The animals are behind fences, some of them double fences for our protection. But we still were very close to some of them, especially the bears. I got some great photos that make it look like the animals are in the wild.

 

With the later departure time and long stop, we’ll get to the ship after lunch time. So we’ll head to the International Café as planned. I can’t wait to see what our cabin looks like. It’s going to be interesting.

 

It turned out that our bus driver timed things perfectly. We were the first vehicle through the tunnel. We managed to get to the ship ahead of five other buses. Sam and I made it through the check-in process in under 10 minutes. It’s a new record for us. We got to go directly up to one of the check-in reps since we had preferred boarding. There were two lines—one to the right for regular passengers and one to the left for preferred boarding (Platinum Captains Club and above plus suite passengers). Security was fine with my three bottles of wine in my backpack.

 

Our cabin is great. The deluxe ocean view is really a balcony without furniture. Our cabin steward said he would leave the door unlocked for us but to use caution while the ship was in motion. We also have to close the drapes at night so that light from the cabin doesn’t interfere with officers on the bridge. The balcony is the size of the Caribe Deck ones—half covered and half uncovered. The people beside us booked their cabin on purpose. He wanted to be directly in the middle of the ship.

 

We ate lunch at the International Café as planned: prosciutto and mozzarella panini, mushroom quiche, grilled vegetable salad, and Greek salad. Our travel agent sent us chocolate covered strawberries to our cabin and we ate half of them for dessert. With the late departure time, people told us that the Horizon Court buffet wasn’t crowded either.

 

After five nights on land, we had a little bit of laundry to do. I should have thought it through better. I used the laundromat on our deck, which is almost at the back of the ship. I could have gone down a couple of decks and used the one on the Dolphin Deck instead. It would have been a lot closer. But I did not think of this until after I had already started the washer. I decided it would be easier just to stick with the one I started in. I also ironed a couple of shirts for formal nights. I’m not going to worry about a few wrinkles in my other shirts.

 

We took time to walk around the ship some. I like the changes they’ve made since we sailed on the Sapphire a couple of years ago. The International Café is smaller than on the Crown and the Emerald, but we never ordered the Italian ice cream when we sailed on them.

 

Dinner last night was open seating due to the late sailing time. The dining rooms were open from 5:30 until 7 and then again after the 8 o’clock muster drill until 10. We ate at 6:30 after enjoying a few snacks in the Platinum, Elite, and suite passenger lounge in Skywalkers. The specials each day are (1) Saturday: goat’s cheese with rosemary flatbread and tomato bruschetta and brezza marina (gin and lime cocktail); (2) Sunday: salsa and chips and mojito; (3) Monday: steak tartare and Rob Roy; (4) Tuesday: Stilton and port; (5) Thursday: smoked salmon and chairman of the board; (6) Friday: sushi and Japanese slipper. Wednesday night there won’t be an event because of the past passenger party on our second formal night.

 

We ate in the International Dining Room. I ordered the osso bucco, which is the specialty of the Vivaldi Restaurant. Our waiter was surprised that I knew about the specials and said he would have to check if it was available that night. The assistant head waiter also came by and said he would have to check on it. But of course they were able to serve it to me. It was delicious. The other special entrees are a seafood noodle dish for the Pacific Moon, pork chops for the Savoy, and fajitas for the Santa Fe. I tried to order the fruit plate for dessert but the waiter misunderstood me and brought me the passion fruit soufflé instead. I guess today is the day I eat more healthy. I started off with a breakfast of fruit melon and pineapple and the special Alaskan scrambled eggs (with smoked salmon) and rye toast. I skipped eating a bran muffin (and the other pastries) and skipped the juice.

 

I don't think we have new mattresses in our cabin, but our TA requested the egg crate pads for us. The beds are comfortable, but nowhere near as comfortable as the beds at the Captain Cook.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Wow...I did not know that each of the four dining rooms had different featured entrees...chioces, choices!!

[dcruisers]

Great info! I so appreciate you taking us along on your cruise!

What floor are you on? We will be sailing Sapphire in Jan and I get so much more excited when I read your live reports.

Thanks and enjoy the cruise.

[reney313]

I'll be reliving the cruise along with you as I start to write my review..we just got off the Sapphire yesterday and made it home after long flights this afternoon.

 

Say "hi" to Andrelyn and Reggie in Crooners bar for Amy/David, Don/Denise! We had such a great time there. They were wonderful! Also, the Asst. Bar Manager Christopher stopped by often!

[CrusinAgain]

I was so hoping the mattresses had been upgraded. We get on the ship for 14 days when you arrive in Vancouver. Will keep reading your posts. Thanks for keeping us informed.

[TracieABD]

It is great sailing with you! Thanks for all of your details... Keep em comming!:)

[KruzPrincess]

We were in a PS cabin in the back of the Sapphire on our Whittier-Vancouver cruise July 21-28, two weeks ago, and I must tell you that the mattress was amazing. Since Sapphire was refurbished earlier this year, I assume all the cabins received new mattresses so you should be good to go. We had six down pillows on our king size bed, and more in the closet if we needed them, but six was enough.

 

On our previous trip to Alaska, we did our own thing prior to the cruise and went to the Kantishna Roadhouse, as far into Denali as you could go, for three days. Exceptional food, and really nice, private cabin accommodations. I'd recommend this to anyone going to Alaska. This time, we went to the Kenai and fished for sockeye salmon, and I hope our freezer is big enough for the 34 pounds of salmon we're having shipped home. If not, our friends will come out of the woodwork. We also went to Homer and Seward, worthwhile side trips.

 

bob123

 

Thanks Bob. I know that people who were on the Sapphire after drydock did not have new mattresses, so I'm thrilled to read that many people have better mattresses now. I'm starting to be hopeful! Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Thanks to the OP for taking time to do a live thread!

[geoherb]

We're on the Baja Deck in a deluxe ocean view cabin. There are five of them on this deck. We have balconies that we can use but they don't have furniture due to the wind.

 

Chilly afternoon greetings from Hubbard Glacier.The captain said he was sorry that we could not get closer, but the view has been beautiful from our balcony. Our neighbor has a GPS on his Ipad that showed our progress through Yakutat Bay. The captain is currently turning the ship so that people on the port side will be able to see the glacier better, then he will turn it so the starboard cabins will have a good view.

 

We had a good Cruise Critic roll call meeting this morning. Thanks to Vancouver Dave for organizing it. He and his wife are on back-to-back cruises. He originally arranged it so that people could go to the Pub Lunch—but then today said he did not recommend it. I tried it on the Island Princess and did not like it very much either. So we ate in the International Dining Room for lunch. They were also serving reindeer chili and seafood chowder upstairs. Dave recommended the special lunchtime buffets later in the week. He also recommended Alfredo’s Pizzeria near the International Café. He also had good tips for us for our day in Vancouver after the cruise. We have met a lot of Vancouver natives who booked this cruise at the last minute due to specials.

 

Sam purchased the coffee card and has been enjoying the complimentary hot chocolates as well. The card is good for 15 specialty coffees as well as complimentary hot chocolate, specialty teas, and fresh-brewed coffee beside the International Café. He’ll be able to use any unused specialty coffees on our next cruise, but the complimentary offer of hot chocolate, specialty teas, and fresh-brewed coffee is only good for this cruise.

 

So far, everything has been excellent. We have assigned second seating at 7:45 in the International Dining Room. The first seating is at 5:30. There’s also a first seating in the Vivaldi at 5:45. The anytime dining rooms except for Vivaldi are open from 5:30 until 9:30.

[dcruisers]

Again, thanks for sharing your cruise and information as it is happening. I look forward to reading your postings each day!

I noticed you said your traditional late seating is at 7:45. We are scheduled for late seating on our Jan. cruise on the Sapphire and was told it would be 8:15 (it is on our Princess personalizer). I would not mind at all if it was 7:45! I guess I want to know if the late seating time of 7:45 is just for the Alaska trip or if that is the regular late seating time for traditional dining.

 

Thanks for all the postings and details as you cruise!

[CrusinAgain]

Again, thanks for sharing your cruise and information as it is happening. I look forward to reading your postings each day!

I noticed you said your traditional late seating is at 7:45. We are scheduled for late seating on our Jan. cruise on the Sapphire and was told it would be 8:15 (it is on our Princess personalizer). I would not mind at all if it was 7:45! I guess I want to know if the late seating time of 7:45 is just for the Alaska trip or if that is the regular late seating time for traditional dining.

 

Thanks for all the postings and details as you cruise!

 

Oh that is good info to know since we board her on Saturday and we also have 8:15 but would love 7:45.

[geoherb]

I'm not certain about the dining time, whether it's a permanent change or just for the Alaskan itineraries. It could be to accomodate the third show. They've shortened the production shows and now do them three times in one night.

 

Last night was our first formal night. About 5 percent of the male passengers went all out with tuxedos. More than half wore suits or sports coats with ties. There were a few with jackets but no ties, a few with ties but no jackets, and a few in the dining room without coats or ties.

 

The champagne waterfall in the atrium was pretty as usual, although they had filled the glasses with green water. The champagne flowed freely throughout the atrium area. I probably had a couple of glasses too many. We had enjoyed mojitos earlier in the evening in the Elite, Suite, and Platinum Lounge and some wine on our balcony while the ship was at Hubbard Glacier.

 

The head waiter offered us an off-the-menu escargot appetizer. They were delicious. We are at a table for four with a nice couple from Toronto. The wife has a few allergies, so she was not able to enjoy the escargot last night. She’s getting them tonight instead. All four of us ordered the halibut. It was pretty good. It will be hard to have anything to better the fresh seafood we ate in Anchorage.

 

Two of the performers were sick yesterday, so the cruise director rearranged the schedule for the shows. We will see the production show “I Got the Music” tonight. A juggler performed last night. I don’t remember his name, but he was OK.

 

The ship is heading into Glacier Bay right now. I’ve spotted a couple of whales in the distance. We’re supposed to have better viewing opportunities in about an hour. I enjoy being able to sit here at the desk and type with a great view off the bow of the ship to my left.

 

I finally found Ian and passed along a jammy doughnuts greeting to him. He knew right away who it was from.

 

We did see a couple of whales closer up. Margerie Glacier was spectacular. The ranger said we saw more calving than most cruise ship passengers experience. The ship stayed there extra long time, so we will not be detouring for a better view of Lamplough Glacier on the way out. It’s foggy and drizzly now as we sail out, but we had great views of calving at Margerie Glacier. I counted about a dozen major episodes of calving plus many smaller ones. Some of the smaller ones sounded like a shotgun blast. I’m glad I packed our ponchos. We stood out on our balcony in the drizzle while watching the glacier. The captain faced the ship directly into the glacier for about 30 minutes, then turned for the port side to get a better view for another 30 minutes, then for the starboard side for a final 30 minutes.

 

I enjoyed a dip in the forward pool and hot tubs and some time in the sauna afterward. The saunas and steamrooms are in the men’s and women’s dressing rooms by the spa. I think a lot of folks miss them or else don’t realize that they’re free.

 

We ate lunch in the dining room. I went upstairs beforehand and took a few photos of the Taste of Alaska Buffet. They had a good quantity of seafood dishes and other dishes. The people with whom we ate lunch had been on a seven-night tour before the cruise. I know now that we’ll have to come back and see Kenai. They said it was their favorite place.

[scanditaly]

We were in a PS cabin in the back of the Sapphire on our Whittier-Vancouver cruise July 21-28, two weeks ago, and I must tell you that the mattress was amazing. Since Sapphire was refurbished earlier this year, I assume all the cabins received new mattresses so you should be good to go. We had six down pillows on our king size bed, and more in the closet if we needed them, but six was enough.

 

On our previous trip to Alaska, we did our own thing prior to the cruise and went to the Kantishna Roadhouse, as far into Denali as you could go, for three days. Exceptional food, and really nice, private cabin accommodations. I'd recommend this to anyone going to Alaska. This time, we went to the Kenai and fished for sockeye salmon, and I hope our freezer is big enough for the 34 pounds of salmon we're having shipped home. If not, our friends will come out of the woodwork. We also went to Homer and Seward, worthwhile side trips.

 

bob123

 

Hello Bob123. Curious about the aft PS room on the Sapphire. Can you let us know your deck/cabin #? I can only locate PH and VS rooms all the way aft. Thanks in advance.

[Coral]

I'm not certain about the dining time, whether it's a permanent change or just for the Alaskan itineraries. It could be to accomodate the third show. They've shortened the production shows and now do them three times in one night.

 

.

 

I think it is the Matride. I spent 3 weeks on the Sapphire in May. Both International Dining Room and Vivaldi had early dining at 5:30. It was explained to me that when they had dinner at 6:15, people wouldn't leave in time to get ready for 2nd dining. Not sure I buy it but we made dinner time work as I am not a fan of anytime dining. We had very good service in the International Dining room.

[Putterdude]

It is highly unlikely that I will be awake at 0430 as you sail by my bedroom window on your last morning, please don't have the captain honk.;)

[geoherb]

The captain used the fog horn quite a bit as we sailed out of Glacier Bay. I did not notice it after we went to bed.

 

The weather is cloudy and drizzly in Skagway this morning. Our ship was docked when I woke up at six. They just made the announcement from the bridge that passengers can now go ashore. It’s 15 minutes ahead of schedule. The all-aboard time is eight tonight. The ship sails at 8:30. We’ll be eating in the dining room when it sails. Our tablemates have an excursion on the White Pass Railroad that gets back at 7:30. Our head waiter assured them that they could come in jeans. We encouraged them to come even if they’re a few minutes late.

 

Last night was the Alaskan menu in the dining room. I had the crab and artichoke dip, which was very good; a watery seafood chowder, of which I picked out the good bites and left the broth; and the steamed cod over lentils. I noticed my tablemates’ calamari steaks were served over a bed of sautéed spinach, so I ordered some spinach to go with my meal. The one thing Princess doesn’t do very well is serve enough vegetables. Our tablemates said the calamari steaks tasted very good and were nice and tender. I’ve only eaten calamari in small pieces—fried rings of calamari and tiny pieces in a marinated seafood salad. I thought about ordering a second entrée but did not want to waste food (although I usually eat just a bit of my potatoes if they come with an entrée.)

 

The singers and dancers were good in the production show “I Got the Music.” Sam noticed the cuts in the show. They have it down to 30 minutes. Since we have been going to the shows after our second seating dinner, I don’t mind the shortened show. It gets me to bed before 11.

 

Our plan today is to walk to the Gold Rush Cemetery and hike to Lower Reid Falls, then perhaps the Jewell Gardens. I also printed out the walking map from the National Park Service so we can read about the buildings we pass by in the town as we’re heading out on our hike. I’m hoping the weather clears. There is a bright patch of sky between the mountains.

[CrusinAgain]

Thank you for your posts. Can't wait to get on the ship Saturday. Hoping the weather gets better though. Sounds cold and dreary.

 

Do they have good sells at any particular port for warmer clothes?

[ceilidh1]

Thanks for the live review - we will be boarding on Saturday so keep the ship sparkling for us!! Also, just a heads up that there is a half marathon near the pier on Saturday so do spread the word to anyone with early flights out....there will likely be big delays, lots of traffic, road closures, and crowds! Here is the link to more specifics...

 

http://www.seawheeze.com/wp-content/uploads/SeaWheeze2012_SpecialAdvisoryNotice_B2.pdf

[geoherb]

The weather in Skagway improved for a short time and then got worse. We had partly sunny skies at the Gold Rush Cemetery and Lower Reid Falls and at the Jewell Gardens. By the time we left the gardens, however, it had started drizzling again. We had to break out the ponchos during our walk to the overlook on Dyea Road. The gardens are small but lovely. Anyone into plants should enjoy a visit. The food at the restaurant looked very good and reasonably priced. We also enjoyed watching the glass blowing. Princess offers an excursion that lets passengers learn about glass blowing and includes making a piece for themselves. The pieces have to be shipped because hot glass needs time to anneal. We saw the last two people from a small group of four making their pieces. The professional glass blower was very entertaining. I’m too cheap to pay the cost of this excursion.

 

The hike to the cemetery and falls is about two and half miles. The walk to the gardens is about a mile from the cemetery. The walk to the overlook added a couple more miles, then the walk back to the ship was another couple of miles or so. Overall, my pedometer registered more than 26,000 steps for yesterday. We’ll be kayaking today in Juneau, so our arms instead of our legs will get a workout.

 

We returned to the ship and ate pizza at Alfredo’s. It was very good, better than the pizza upstairs to me. They serve individual size pizzas along wit h beer and wine. We just drank water. We headed up to Club Fusion for afternoon trivia. I thought it was an easy one. We missed three out of twenty questions. We have a woman about our age on our team along with her two nephews. I’m glad we were able to win ship prizes for them. The second place team got eight right.

 

The Platinum, Elite, and Suite Lounge was our next stop. There was a great view of Skagway from there. The mountains, however, were mostly clouded in. On our first cruise to Alaska, in 2003, I remember enjoying the hot tub at the back of the ship when we were in Skagway. That day was warm and sunny and we could see the glaciers at the top of the mountains in the sunset.

 

After all our walking, we decided to take naps before dinner. I set an alarm and tried to reset it when it went off with 45 minutes to spare. But somehow I never got the second alarm going. We ended up waking up at 7:45, which is the time we were supposed to be at dinner. I managed to make it 10 minutes late and Sam came along five minutes later. I had hoped our tablemates were going to be late as well, but they had made it on time.

 

The menu last night was Italian night. The head waiters made pasta at stations throughout the dining room. Our head waiter is Julian. Adrien, however, was another headwaiter whose pasta station was nearer to our table than Julian’s. The wife at our table decided she wanted to eat his pasta. The other three of us received Julian’s. But then after hearing her rave about Adrien’s pasta, we tried his as well. It was much better—perfectly cooked al dente and nice and spicy. I also had the delicious seafood appetizer with a lemon cream sauce, a salad, and the shrimp fra diavolo. My entrée was just OK. I’ve had better versions of it on other ships. I resisted the tiramisu and ordered fresh fruit with a scoop of the limoncello sorbet.

 

Last night’s headliner in the Princess Theater was illusionist Landon Swank. He was a finalist on America’s Got Talent a few years ago. I enjoyed the show, even though I figured out many of the tricks. There was one involving phone numbers that I don’t know how he did it.

 

We ate breakfast at the International Café this morning before heading out to meet our excursion with Above and Beyond Alaska. Our meeting spot was near the tram station and Taku fish place. Another couple from the Sapphire was also going kayaking at Mendenhall Lake. The weather did not clear as much as I had hoped, but we still had some great views of the glacier, icebergs, and Nugget Falls. It was great being on our own instead of with a large group. The couple actually paddled a lot closer to the glacier and falls than we did and had time to get out of their kayak on the sandbar near the falls. I had enough time on the lake doing our paddle. There are other options through Princess that will take you on the lake. One is paddling in a large canoe, the Mendenhall Glacier Native Canoe Adventure. The other is the Mendenhall Glacier Float Trip. On that one, the rafts put in at the kayaking point but head down the river instead of toward the glacier. Passengers still would get some view of the glacier and falls on that excursion.

 

During our excursion, we saw one eagle and a bunch of gulls. We saw a lot more eagles on the van ride back to the headquarters where we had been outfitted. The company provides rubber boots, rain pants, and rain jackets in addition to the spray skirt and other paddling accoutrements. Our excursion driver took us by the governor’s mansion and capitol on the way back to the ship. We stopped at the stores along the waterfront but did not bother going back into town since we had been here twice before.

 

We got back to the ship around 1 p.m. and headed up to the Horizon Court for our first meal there. It was OK. My favorite thing was a curried chickpea dish. The piece of fish I tried was dry. There’s a nice salad bar with lots of toppings. I also enjoyed the fresh melon and pineapple.

 

After an afternoon nap, I woke up in time to watch us sail away from Juneau. They only made one announcement for missing people—two dishwashers. I got to see them hustling to get onboard a little before sailaway.

 

Our trivia team did not win the afternoon trivia but came close. If only we had gone with two answers we had instead of the final ones we wrote down we could have tied the winning team. The good news is that the prize was a pen.

 

We had time to enjoy the hot tub by the spa before getting ready for the Captain’s Circle Cocktail Party. Even with the drizzle, the water in the hot tubs feels good.

[Senor24]

Thanks for the live review. We're on the Sapphire for the coastal. Although the itinerary will not be the same, it's great to hear about the ship. You mentioned that your head waiter was Julian. I've been trying to get a message to a friend of mine who was working as a supervisor in the Horizon Court. His name is Julian. He's from Bulgaria. He's a little over 6 ft. tall, slim, with his head shaved. If he's your head waiter, or if you see him at Horizon Court, could you please tell him that Bill & Cathy said hello, & that we have sent him an e-mail. (We know when he's busy, he only checks e-mail once in a blue moon).

[TracieABD]

Congratulations on your trivia win! :)