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"Live" Sapphire Princess, 32 Days, Buenos Aires to LA, 3/5/23 to 4/6/23

LACruiser88

By LACruiser88,
in Princess Cruises

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LACruiser88 "Live from...." Rare

LACruiser88

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LauraS
This post was recognized by LauraS!

"And another from LACruiser88! Thank you for generously sharing your time at sea with everyone at Cruise Critic!"

LACruiser88 was awarded the badge '"Live from...."' and 5 points.

 

Hi Folks, here we go again! 

 

On Monday morning we will fly from LAX to Buenos Aires (BA) by way of Dallas on American Airlines (AA).  After many price comparisons, EZ Air was by far the most economical.  We were originally booked in Economy from LAX to Dallas (only option available on EZ Air) and Business Class from Dallas to BA.  After the flights were ticketed we were able to upgrade our first flight to First Class directly through AA.

 

In January of 2011, we spent 10 days in BA prior to sailing on a 17-day cruise on the Star Princess, BA to Valparaiso (Chile).  On that voyage we cruised in Antarctica for four days.  Those four days are still a highlight of our travels and was my "retirement" trip.

 

On this voyage we will not be going to Antarctica, but we will be going to three countries for our first time (Uruguay, Peru, and Ecuador).  Being a Cuban-born Spanish speaker, we thoroughly enjoy traveling in Latin America.

 

This cruise really appealed to us because it was a 30+ day voyage that terminates in LA.  We live about an hour north of the San Pedro cruise port.  It is so nice to disembark and not deal with flying home!

 

This cruise was offered as a 32-day voyage or two separate voyages, 14-day and 18-day.  We always do the math to see what works out better financially when you add in obc's (FCD obc, Shareholder obc, etc...) to the fares.  For this cruise booking as two separate voyages was more advantageous.  So we booked the cruise as two separate voyages in the same Emerald deck, aft mini-suite.  We have stayed in these mini suites several times and enjoyed the fully covered balconies.    

 

Every once in a awhile it is better to book the longer voyage, you always have to get out your calculator and do the math.  For our upcoming November 26-day Enchanted TA (also offered as an 11-day and 15-day voyage) it was better to book the longer voyage.

 

Having seen most of the touristy things to see in and around BA in 2011, on this trip we are just "hanging out."  We are staying in a boutique hotel in the Recoleta neighborhood, one of the nicer areas in BA. 

 

We were sad to find out a few weeks ago that one of our favorite Princess DRO's, Mario Propato, will be leaving the Sapphire on the same day we board.  Luckily, we know his replacement, Francesco Ciorfito, quite well.

 

This will also be a Milestone cruise for us as we will pass the 750 sea day threshold during the beginning of this voyage.  We are curious to see if they honor the pre-covid  perks given for Milestone voyages???

 

As I do on all of my "Live" threads, I apologize in advance for not being as witty as other "Live" bloggers.  My DW says that I'm a Sgt Joe Friday kind of guy, "Just the facts, ma'am."  I plead guilty to that charge!  I do try to be as informative as I can and try to answer all questions.

 

To my fellow passengers, I encourage you to add your experiences and answer questions on this thread as we all have different perspectives and experiences.

 

Hasta luego for now!

 

image.png.e74f8857eb8aa6538e332d09ddeadefa.png

 

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coo359a2

coo359a2

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Congrats on your milestone and good luck getting your 750 day milestone recognition goodies. Ken got his 1000 day milestone March 2022 on the Emerald and was treated like royalty by the Loyalty Manager.  I passed 1000 in August 2022 on the Caribbean Princess and received nada.  The Loyalty Manager (same one we had on the Regal this past Nov) said   milestone recognition was given out per couple not to each person even though the Travel Summary listed it on one of the sections.  She said our TA made a mistake by entering my milestone information..  

 

Have a great cruise - good ports to visit.

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LACruiser88 "Live from...." Rare

LACruiser88

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7 minutes ago, coo359a2 said:

The Loyalty Manager (same one we had on the Regal this past Nov) said   milestone recognition was given out per couple not to each person

Luckily my DW and I have the same number of sea days.   Say Hi to Ken for us!

 

 

 

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fred bonin

fred bonin

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We will also be on the flight D/FW to Santiago March 18. 4 th plane in 2 days.Alaska is some what remote.We have premium economy.  A little step up. Sounds like we might have to wait a couple hrs at the Santiago airport for the Princess transfer to the ship. 50 minute trip.

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wallyj

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Hi @LACruiser88, WallyJ here, so this is why you could not switch back to the 4/4/2023 Syd to LA sailing. I think you mentioned you were already booked on another sailing when we had our quick chat at Vines. 
 

What I heard regarding the milestones, Princess is honoring based on some book by date. If you had booked your sailing by a certain date and the ‘system’ saw you would be celebrating a ‘milestone’, it should appear in your ‘travel summary’ before the sailing. 
 

Since you booked 2 separate sailings, I would assume if it is going to be honored, they might only do for the first 14 days? The Loyalty Manager should be able to clarify.
 

Sapphire is one of my favorite ships. I was last on her Feb 2020 for a 21 day roundtrip Singapore sailing, but on Day 11, the Captain announced the cruise has ended and we were sent home. I am glad I used EZAir and Princess took care of securing my flight back home.

 

Looking forward to following your adventures on the Sapphire.

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LACruiser88 "Live from...." Rare

LACruiser88

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@wallyj Hey there!  Yes, we switched to this cruise when they originally canceled the Sydney to LA cruise.  We are booked on the Majestic, April of 2024, Sydney to Seattle, to make up for the canceled cruise.

 

I'll let you know how they handle the milestone perks, if any.

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1emerald1

1emerald1

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44 minutes ago, LACruiser88 said:

@wallyj Hey there!  Yes, we switched to this cruise when they originally canceled the Sydney to LA cruise.  We are booked on the Majestic, April of 2024, Sydney to Seattle, to make up for the canceled cruise.

 

I'll let you know how they handle the milestone perks, if any.

So do you know if Mario is actually really retiring after this cruise?

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