Live From The Sapphire Princess October 15, 2023 R/T to Hawaii

[PacnGoNow]

Just now, Purplsmurf said:

We just got back on the ship and our ID was not asked for by anyone, only medallion. We are leaving again in a couple of hours. We will see what happens then.

I got the security agent, young man, clear blue eyes.  Depends on who you get, I guess.

 

Not going out again today.

[Musky Ike]

11 hours ago, Woobstr112G said:

A very early good morning from the Sapphire Princess. It is only 0417 (ship's time) as I begin to type this. Another early morning rise for me. There is only me and one other passenger in the IC as I begin this post. Seas are fairly calm right now. They were fairly smooth during the night as I had no problems sleeping. 

 

Yesterday in Hilo we did not have anything planned. I got off the ship for about an hour or so and just walked around a bit. Holli stayed onboard to rest her back in preparation for our excursion today. There really isn't much to do right around the port. It is a somewhat industrial area. The town of Hilo and Walmart are about two miles from the dock. I'm actually glad I didn't go to Walmart as i heard from several different sources that it was a total zoo. Besides a cruise ship being in port, yesterday was sort of a grand reopening for the store as they had finished up some remodeling. A local was actually the first to warn me about going there. He told me it was packed and they had a multitude of food trucks in the parking lot to help celebrate the reopening festivities.

 

Today in Honolulu we are scheduled to arrive at 0700 with a 2230 all aboard. Holli & I have a dinner cruise planned for a little after 1600. I booked it privately through "Star of Honolulu." We've done the dinner cruise previously and are looking forward to doing it again. The reason I booked it privately is Princess was only offering a Sunset Cocktail Cruise while we wanted to do the full dinner cruise.  As far as this morning goes, we are hoping to once again enjoy our suite perk of breakfast in Sabatinis. After that, I'll probably work on touching up pictures I have taken for eventual upload to my Flickr page when we get back home.

 

For entertainment options today, there will be a College Football triple header shown in the Explorers Lounge. First up is Penn State vs Ohio State at 0600. The second game will be the Texas Longhorns vs the Houston Cougars at 1000.  The third game at 1400 will be Utah vs the USC Trojans. Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie will be screened on MUTS at 1230. Musician Janusz Bator will perform in Crooners at 1700 & 1930. Moondance Duo will be in the Wheelhouse Bar at 1815 & 1915. A featured Folkloric Performance with Halau-Lilia Kamanoe will be in the Princess Theater at 1845 & 2045. Pianist/Vocalist Andy Morris will be in Crooners from 2015 onwards. The house band will be playing two jazz sets in the Wheelhouse bar at 2115 and 2215. 

 

Well that's all for now. Hope all are well.....

Bob

 

Actually the 12:30 movie was to be in the theater, Honolulu regulations do not allow the MUTS when docked.

[PacnGoNow]

7 minutes ago, Purplsmurf said:

We just got back on the ship and our ID was not asked for by anyone, only medallion. We are leaving again in a couple of hours. We will see what happens then.

Maybe a shift change now. We were asked in 2 places for our ID’s.  The 2nd one said, you need need the original ID, not a copy.  So, we were escorted through by a PCL agent.  NP, just thought it was strange.  The only place I carried my real PP off the ship was Russia. 
 

 

[Woobstr112G]

Good morning from the beautiful Sapphire Princess. It is just before 0600 local time as we are nearing today's port of Nawiliwili Kauai. I overslept a bit as I've come down with the dreaded cruise ship fall cold. It's not COVID (Tested myself twice) so that's a relief. I'll be headed out after to a local CVS (about 2.5 miles away from the port) to pick up a few things. Holli & I did have a ship based excursion planned, but she put her foot down and told me to get some rest after I get back from CVS. Plus this is our fourth time stopping here on a cruise so we've already seen a lot of the Island.

 

Yesterday in Honolulu we did a night time dinner cruise (Star of Honolulu). Overall we had a great time. The waitstaff was top notch along with the entertainment that was also very good. Food (yup it's a subjective thing) was just okay. The full lobster was pretty bad as it was cold and somewhat tough. The beef tenderloin was however pretty tasty. Bar service was also a little slow. Best thing about this excursion (It was privately arranged) is the Star of Honolulu docks on the other side of the Aloha Tower and is a very short walk from where we were docked. Holli even said the walk wasn't too bad for her.

 

I'm gonna cut this short so I can get some more rest before I head out to CVS later.

 

Hope all are well.....

 

Bob

[Steelers36]

6 minutes ago, Woobstr112G said:

Good morning from the beautiful Sapphire Princess. It is just before 0600 local time as we are nearing today's port of Nawiliwili Kauai. I overslept a bit as I've come down with the dreaded cruise ship fall cold. It's not COVID (Tested myself twice) so that's a relief. I'll be headed out after to a local CVS (about 2.5 miles away from the port) to pick up a few things. Holli & I did have a ship based excursion planned, but she put her foot down and told me to get some rest after I get back from CVS. Plus this is our fourth time stopping here on a cruise so we've already seen a lot of the Island.

 

Yesterday in Honolulu we did a night time dinner cruise (Star of Honolulu). Overall we had a great time. The waitstaff was top notch along with the entertainment that was also very good. Food (yup it's a subjective thing) was just okay. The full lobster was pretty bad as it was cold and somewhat tough. The beef tenderloin was however pretty tasty. Bar service was also a little slow. Best thing about this excursion (It was privately arranged) is the Star of Honolulu docks on the other side of the Aloha Tower and is a very short walk from where we were docked. Holli even said the walk wasn't too bad for her.

 

I'm gonna cut this short so I can get some more rest before I head out to CVS later.

 

Hope all are well.....

 

Bob

You need to sleep in once in a while.  😁

[PacnGoNow]

46 minutes ago, Woobstr112G said:

Good morning from the beautiful Sapphire Princess. It is just before 0600 local time as we are nearing today's port of Nawiliwili Kauai. I overslept a bit as I've come down with the dreaded cruise ship fall cold. It's not COVID (Tested myself twice) so that's a relief. I'll be headed out after to a local CVS (about 2.5 miles away from the port) to pick up a few things. Holli & I did have a ship based excursion planned, but she put her foot down and told me to get some rest after I get back from CVS. Plus this is our fourth time stopping here on a cruise so we've already seen a lot of the Island.

 

Yesterday in Honolulu we did a night time dinner cruise (Star of Honolulu). Overall we had a great time. The waitstaff was top notch along with the entertainment that was also very good. Food (yup it's a subjective thing) was just okay. The full lobster was pretty bad as it was cold and somewhat tough. The beef tenderloin was however pretty tasty. Bar service was also a little slow. Best thing about this excursion (It was privately arranged) is the Star of Honolulu docks on the other side of the Aloha Tower and is a very short walk from where we were docked. Holli even said the walk wasn't too bad for her.

 

I'm gonna cut this short so I can get some more rest before I head out to CVS later.

 

Hope all are well.....

 

Bob

Sorry to hear about your cold.  Hope it’s a quick 24hour virus!

 

I was surprised it wasn’t a 4 am chat from the piazza.

 

Edited October 22, 2023 by PacnGoNow

[PacnGoNow]

18 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Watch out for Honolulu customs at Aloha Tower cruise port, today at pier 10.  One bottle of wine and they confiscated it.  Really?  
No PCL alcohol desk.  
 

PCL reps told her, you don’t have to confiscate wine, just hard liquor.  But, she insisted she had to confiscate and fill out papers.  Never seen this before. 

 

Also, they require original Gov. Photo ID’s to get back on the ship.  No copies.  
Strict…IMO

 

 

 

Update!   PCL returned our bottle of wine last night …..from HNL customs.  No corkage fee.

 

Other guests said they had their wine or champagne confiscated also and it was returned to them.

 

 

 

 

[Musky Ike]

So the cabin next to us had a flooding issue. They were moved And the carpet replaced, but some of the water also made it's way into our cabin. They had blowers going for two days to dry things out. Guest services was very good about it and has issued $100 fcc to each for the inconvenience. Good job Sapphire crew!

[PacnGoNow]

1 minute ago, Musky Ike said:

So the cabin next to us had a flooding issue. They were moved And the carpet replaced, but some of the water also made it's way into our cabin. They had blowers going for two days to dry things out. Guest services was very good about it and has issued $100 fcc to each for the inconvenience. Good job Sapphire crew!

That’s nice.  The cabin across the hall from us also flooded their cabin.  Little kids kept flushing the toilet, over and over.

The people next door to them were moved.  Don’t know if it was because of the overflow or the noise from the kids. 😳
 

We weren’t affected. 

[thecruisingfarmer]

On 10/11/2023 at 5:50 PM, Woobstr112G said:We are super stoked to be sailing in the GS aboard the Sapphire. This will be our third time sailing in the GS. Absolutely love the large aft view balcony the GS offers.  It is getting a little harder to book this cabin as there are only three ships left in the fleet that have the aft GS. The fourth (Grand Princess) has the GS along the side of the ship.

Bob, I’ve really enjoyed reading about your trip. Our family of four (including two teens) will be in the Grand Suite on the Diamond in Japan this coming June. We are thrilled to have snagged this suite which appears to be near identical to it’s sister Sapphire. Couple of questions for you:

 

1) Looks like the GS comes with a desktop computer. Do you have internet included on that PC or are you required to use one of your allowances from a package? 

 

2) Have you experienced any extra benefits/services/nice touches with this stateroom that don’t typically come with a suite? The best cabin we’ve sailed on Princess was an aft Vista suite in Alaska and that balcony was heaven. Can’t even imagine how nice the GS balcony will be!

 

Thanks in advance!

[abbydancer2003]

So, reading cruise critic finally after a week in Alberta, and found this.  Glad you're having a good time.  Our first Hawaii cruise was on the Sapphire back around 2012.

[Woobstr112G]

Good morning from the beautiful Sapphire Princess. Today is Day 9 of our voyage as we continue to sail (motor) to Kona. I'm still feeling pretty lousy to this pesky cold I have. Yesterday I got off for a quick uber ride to a local CVS (Longs) to get some meds. When I got back onboard I took my meds and pretty much stayed in bed the rest of the day.

 

We were originally scheduled to arrive at Kona (tender port) at 0700. We are now, according to the updated patters, scheduled to arrive at 0800. The reason for our delay was quite interesting. Yesterday, while docked in Kauai, the Captain came on the PA system at 1700 (our scheduled departure time) announcing that a traffic collision was blocking a highway which was delaying arrival of some tour busses. He added that we were waiting on the arrival of 88 passengers. The Captain came back on 30 minutes later and stated everyone was back with the exception of eight passengers. He also explained the plan to get our fellow passengers back onboard. The Captain went on to say we would have to depart the harbour as local laws prevented ships from leaving after sunset. Once we departed, we did a little station keeping outside of the harbour while one of the ship's tenders picked up the remaining passengers and transported them back to the ship.

 

As far as today's plans go, I'm kind of thinking I'm not going to get off the ship today. I'll probably want to rest so I can hopefully get over this cold before we get back to San Pedro and I have to do the long drive back to Arizona. After leaving Kona, we will beging our journey to Ensenada. Tonight we will loos the fiirst of three hours due to a time change.

 

Today's entertainment options are the Movie "Dog" will be shown on MUTS at 1215. The movie "The Kings Man" will be screened in the Explorers Lounge at 1300. Monday Night Football pitting the San Francisco 49'ers against the Minnesota Vikings will be broadcast on MUTS at 1415 ship's time. Acoustic Guitar and Vocalist artist Vangelis will perform in the Piazza at 1615 & 1745. The movie "The Flash" will screen on MUTS at 1800 & 2100. Moondance Duo will be in the Wheelhouse bar at 1815 & 2115. Janusz Bator will be in Crooners at 1930. Andy Morris will be in Crooners from 2100 onwards. The Princess Theater show will be vocal impressionist Mike Wilson at 1930 and 2130. There will be a show "Strings of Rock" that will be in the Explorers Lounge at 2030 & 2230. The house band Gravity takes over in the Explorers Lounge from 2115 onwards. 

 

Thats all for now. Hope all are well.....

 

 Bob

 

 

[Woobstr112G]

7 hours ago, abbydancer said:

So, reading cruise critic finally after a week in Alberta, and found this.  Glad you're having a good time.  Our first Hawaii cruise was on the Sapphire back around 2012.

Hi Abby. Hope all is well with you and yours.....

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

13 hours ago, thecruisingfarmer said:

Bob, I’ve really enjoyed reading about your trip. Our family of four (including two teens) will be in the Grand Suite on the Diamond in Japan this coming June. We are thrilled to have snagged this suite which appears to be near identical to it’s sister Sapphire. Couple of questions for you:

 

1) Looks like the GS comes with a desktop computer. Do you have internet included on that PC or are you required to use one of your allowances from a package? 

 

2) Have you experienced any extra benefits/services/nice touches with this stateroom that don’t typically come with a suite? The best cabin we’ve sailed on Princess was an aft Vista suite in Alaska and that balcony was heaven. Can’t even imagine how nice the GS balcony will be!

 

Thanks in advance!

The GS on the Sapphire use to have a desktop computer in a little cubby on the desk area next to the bed. Ours has been removed. In 2018 we had the GS on the Star for another Hawaii crossing. No destop computer in the cabin. Our first voyage in the GS (2016 on the Caribbean Princess) did have the computer. It was so slow, that I went back to using my laptop with the ship's wifi. Below is a 2020 youtube video of the GS on the Diamond Princess. There is no desktop computer shown.

https://youtu.be/hNUC1B9hAmY?si=1gyS9KRlBSrqC9kJ

 

As far as special perks and such, there may have been stuff offered in the past, but with my three sailings in a GS, I've not noticed anything special offered. The big plus for this cabin is the size of it and it accompanying huge balcony. One note about the sofa bed (at least on the Sapphire); it is extremely uncomfortable. Our cabin steward had to add a second pillow top to make it useable. The cabin steward did say there were plans to replace it soon. An interesting thing our cabin steward told us is (again at least on the Sapphire) they no longer offer egg crate mattress toppers. He explained they got rid of them when they added to new bedding. 

 

Hope that helps.....

 

Bob 

[crusdiva]

Hi Bob. Sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. But having a ship practically to yourself on a port day can be a thing of beauty. 😉 

I hope you and Holli have a wonderful sail back. All the best.

[Woobstr112G]

8 minutes ago, crusdiva said:

Hi Bob. Sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. But having a ship practically to yourself on a port day can be a thing of beauty. 😉 

I hope you and Holli have a wonderful sail back. All the best.

Thanks Sharon. It definitely is a debbie downer being sick on a cruise. Back in March I got COVID on the Royal and now this. When I get back home I'm going to make some serious life style changes to get healthier so this hopefully won't happen again..... 

 

Bob

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, Woobstr112G said:

Thanks Sharon. It definitely is a debbie downer being sick on a cruise. Back in March I got COVID on the Royal and now this. When I get back home I'm going to make some serious life style changes to get healthier so this hopefully won't happen again..... 

 

Bob

how many actual hours were your 'feet on the ground' in Hawaii - excluding the medicine run?

[Woobstr112G]

Just now, voljeep said:

how many actual hours were your 'feet on the ground' in Hawaii - excluding the medicine run?

On Kauai, I went to the drug store and came right back on the ship. I probably wasn't on dry land for much more than an hour.....

 

Bob

[Host CJSKIDS]

So sorry to hear that you are sick Bob and hope you recover quickly.  

[jtatcruisers]

27 minutes ago, Woobstr112G said:

The GS on the Sapphire use to have a desktop computer in a little cubby on the desk area next to the bed. Ours has been removed. In 2018 we had the GS on the Star for another Hawaii crossing. No destop computer in the cabin. Our first voyage in the GS (2016 on the Caribbean Princess) did have the computer. It was so slow, that I went back to using my laptop with the ship's wifi. Below is a 2020 youtube video of the GS on the Diamond Princess. There is no desktop computer shown.

https://youtu.be/hNUC1B9hAmY?si=1gyS9KRlBSrqC9kJ

 

As far as special perks and such, there may have been stuff offered in the past, but with my three sailings in a GS, I've not noticed anything special offered. The big plus for this cabin is the size of it and it accompanying huge balcony. One note about the sofa bed (at least on the Sapphire); it is extremely uncomfortable. Our cabin steward had to add a second pillow top to make it useable. The cabin steward did say there were plans to replace it soon. An interesting thing our cabin steward told us is (again at least on the Sapphire) they no longer offer egg crate mattress toppers. He explained they got rid of them when they added to new bedding. 

 

Hope that helps.....

 

Bob 

 

Thanks for the additional info! I was thinking of leaving my laptop at home if that PC was still there. And thanks for the heads-up on the sofa bed. Our kids aren't too picky, but hopefully the cabin steward can help us if the Diamond's sofa proves to be uncomfortable as well. Again, really appreciate your feedback.

[voljeep]

7 minutes ago, Woobstr112G said:

On Kauai, I went to the drug store and came right back on the ship. I probably wasn't on dry land for much more than an hour.....

 

Bob

thanks - so for the whole trip?

[Sunviking]

1 hour ago, crusdiva said:

Hi Bob. Sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. But having a ship practically to yourself on a port day can be a thing of beauty. 😉 

I hope you and Holli have a wonderful sail back. All the best.

I don't want to hijack Bob's "Live from..." but I just wanted to say hi Sharon.  I hope you and Bruce and Jake are well. I've kind of lost touch.  Cheers.

[Woobstr112G]

Just now, voljeep said:

thanks - so for the whole trip?

I didn’t start feeling it till Hilo…..

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

Just now, Sunviking said:

I don't want to hijack Bob's "Live from..." but I just wanted to say hi Sharon.  I hope you and Bruce and Jake are well. I've kind of lost touch.  Cheers.

Hijack away Ann…..

 

Bob

[PacnGoNow]

2 hours ago, Woobstr112G said:

Good morning from the beautiful Sapphire Princess. Today is Day 9 of our voyage as we continue to sail (motor) to Kona. I'm still feeling pretty lousy to this pesky cold I have. Yesterday I got off for a quick uber ride to a local CVS (Longs) to get some meds. When I got back onboard I took my meds and pretty much stayed in bed the rest of the day.

 

We were originally scheduled to arrive at Kona (tender port) at 0700. We are now, according to the updated patters, scheduled to arrive at 0800. The reason for our delay was quite interesting. Yesterday, while docked in Kauai, the Captain came on the PA system at 1700 (our scheduled departure time) announcing that a traffic collision was blocking a highway which was delaying arrival of some tour busses. He added that we were waiting on the arrival of 88 passengers. The Captain came back on 30 minutes later and stated everyone was back with the exception of eight passengers. He also explained the plan to get our fellow passengers back onboard. The Captain went on to say we would have to depart the harbour as local laws prevented ships from leaving after sunset. Once we departed, we did a little station keeping outside of the harbour while one of the ship's tenders picked up the remaining passengers and transported them back to the ship.

 

As far as today's plans go, I'm kind of thinking I'm not going to get off the ship today. I'll probably want to rest so I can hopefully get over this cold before we get back to San Pedro and I have to do the long drive back to Arizona. After leaving Kona, we will beging our journey to Ensenada. Tonight we will loos the fiirst of three hours due to a time change.

 

Today's entertainment options are the Movie "Dog" will be shown on MUTS at 1215. The movie "The Kings Man" will be screened in the Explorers Lounge at 1300. Monday Night Football pitting the San Francisco 49'ers against the Minnesota Vikings will be broadcast on MUTS at 1415 ship's time. Acoustic Guitar and Vocalist artist Vangelis will perform in the Piazza at 1615 & 1745. The movie "The Flash" will screen on MUTS at 1800 & 2100. Moondance Duo will be in the Wheelhouse bar at 1815 & 2115. Janusz Bator will be in Crooners at 1930. Andy Morris will be in Crooners from 2100 onwards. The Princess Theater show will be vocal impressionist Mike Wilson at 1930 and 2130. There will be a show "Strings of Rock" that will be in the Explorers Lounge at 2030 & 2230. The house band Gravity takes over in the Explorers Lounge from 2115 onwards. 

 

Thats all for now. Hope all are well.....

 

 Bob

 

 

Hope you’re feeling better soon and that Holli doesn’t get it.