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Review Sapphire Princess - California Costal - Apr/May 2012
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<blockquote data-quote="Cruizer" data-source="post: 1574576" data-attributes="member: 18088"><p><strong>Monday, April 30 – Day at Sea</strong></p><p></p><p>At about 2:30am I head out to deck seven to start photographing the public rooms with my camera mounted on a tripod. While I was able to get lot of pictures of public places without any people in the pictures, there were several drawbacks. First of all, to get all of decks seven and six plus the atrium on deck five took about ninety minutes (I returned to my cabin around 4:00am). The reason I didn’t go after the restaurants on deck five is the restaurants are not well lit. I am not using the flash (the reason for the tripod) and as a result the restaurants look dark. Another drawback is that I lost a lot of sleep. Of course I knew today was a day at sea or I would never have tried this. Nonetheless, I see a nap in my future in the afternoon. A third drawback is that I am a little limited with the tripod (it must be on level ground – not usually a problem on the ship and it cannot hang over rails – which is a problem). Finally, most of these pictures I could have taken hand held. It was a good experiment, but I don’t see me taking a tripod on any future cruises unless I am going to time-lapse photography.</p><p></p><p>So, after four hours of sleep I wake up around 8:00am. It is still foggy out. I shower, shave and dress and leave the cabin so the cabin steward can do his thing. After a breakfast consisting of a little of this and a little of that, I browse the onboard shops looking for something that catches my eye, but nothing does. </p><p></p><p>So then I head over to the photo gallery see if I want to purchase the embarkation photographs and/or the Santa Barbara port stop photograph. Now first of all I normally by pass the embarkation photograph (this is my twentieth cruise, I’ve got plenty of embarkation photographs). However, Princess set up the embarkation photographs in a place where I could not walk around it without getting in the way, so I “volunteered†for the photo (I was the third person in line, so it was not that bad). It turns out the embarkation photos are a set of two (both 8x10s at $20 each). One is a summary of the cruise [a total 1315 miles though the distance from San Francisco to San Diego (481 miles) is less than the distance from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara (139 miles) plus the distance from Santa Barbara to San Francisco (422 miles)]. The other photo is me standing on a tropical beach (not the inside cement floor I was actually on) with the ship in the background. If I by both I get a free scrapbook kit which I have no interest in, but there is someone on the cruise who I know does. The Santa Barbara photo is printed as an 8x10 but includes three photos, a 6x8, a 4x6 and a 2x3 wallet sized photo. In addition I also bought the Reflections DVD package which is $50 and includes the Reflections DVD, a scenic DVD (basically Princess stock photographs) and a choice of two other DVDs. I choose the DVD showing the Sapphire Princess refurbishment (done earlier this year) and the Historic Panama Canal. And just like that I am up to $110 in photograph purchases. I don’t know what it is about Princess, but on my last (also my first) Princess cruise I also spend a fortune on photographs. </p><p></p><p>I did spot an interesting machine outside one of the shops. If you swipe your card you can get a printout of your onboard account. Now since I already have my card why would I have to swipe it? I could swipe someone else’s card and get their onboard account printed out, but I don’t need to swipe my own card – I already have it. And just in case you are interested, other than my name there is no personal information on the printout (such as cabin number or full credit card information). Also, the TV does not provide onboard account information.</p><p></p><p>When I return to the cabin the room steward is will working on it, so I drop my photo purchases and grab my laptop computer and my camera and head to the library. Why you ask? Because I want to take a video of something and I don’t know how to do it, though I did accidently take a short video on my last cruise – but now I want to take the video on purpose and I don’t know how. Nonetheless, knowing the camera could do more than I would know about, I preloaded the entire instruction manual on the computer. Pretty soon I have the basics figured out. </p><p></p><p>Then I return to the cabin where the cabin steward has now finished, drop off my laptop and head over to the indoor pool. There are three pools, one outdoors with a MUTS screen (Movies Under The Stars/Sun), one indoor pool (actually a retractable top which closed) and the Sanctuary pool. I’m headed to the indoor pool. Know I know that the outdoor pool (aka Neptune’s’ Reef pool) and the indoor pool (aka Calypso Reef pool) have nobody in them, but that is only because none of the kids realize how much the water is splashing around, or they would be in the pool having a ball (and the squealing would add to the sound effects on the video). Since the sound effects are better in the indoor pool, that is where I am headed. I end up with two one minute videos of the waves in the pool complete with the sound of the waves hitting the sides of the pool. If I figure out how to post the videos I’ll include a link when I post this review.</p><p></p><p>After that is it back to the cabin for a Meet & Greet organized by one of the roll call groups I was part of. During the Meet & Greet someone pointed out that one of the restaurants was serving pub food. So fourteen of us head over to the Savoy Dining Room on deck 5 for a British-Style Pub lunch. I had (clear the room of anyone under eighteen before reading further) Bangers & Mash. Fish & Chips was the table favorite. </p><p></p><p>After lunch (actually during lunch) I was having trouble keeping awake, so it was off to my cabin for a nap. After that I returned to my cabin for a nap, followed up updating this and viewing my videos, which came out fairly good for a first and second attempt (ever) compared to the 490 photographs I have already taken on this cruise alone. Now it is time to prepare for formal night and an early dinner at the Sterling Steakhouse.</p><p></p><p>Before dinner I posed for about three pictures (in front of the ship, next to some flowers in the atrium and next to the stairs). In the process I could not believe how either rude or inattentive some people are. One lady walked between the photographer and me. There was plenty of room to walk behind the photographer. Was she really that rude or just so oblivious to what was going on around here that she didn’t realize what she was doing? Another instance was when the elevator arrived. When the doors opened the “gentleman†nearer to the elevator just walked right in, so I figured no one was trying to get out. As I started to walk in I realized that there were several people trying to get out. I stopped and outside the elevator to let them off. One of them mentioned how hard it was to get off the elevator. I doubt that the person that comment was meant for heard it. </p><p></p><p>At any rate we all meet at the Sterling Steakhouse at 6:00pm for dinner courtesy of our travel agent. I was surprises she was joining us. I figured she was paying for it; she should at least enjoy some of it. I had the fourteen ounce rib eye steak. It was very good. For those that are interested, there is no lobster on the menu. As I recall, there was a Porterhouse steak, two New York steaks (with and without the bone), two Filet Mignon steaks (eight ounce and ten ounce) and a chicken breast. Dinner took about two hours and we all had a good time. </p><p></p><p>After dinner I returned to the cabin, got out of my formalwear (suit and tie – which is more formal than I like to be) and did a little proof reading of my earlier entries. Then it was off to bed for me, as I wanted to be up in time to see us passing under the Golden Gate Bridge (or if the water level was high enough – crash into it). </p><p></p><p><img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3187C.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3187C.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3188.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3234C.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3235C.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3237S.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3238C.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cruizer, post: 1574576, member: 18088"] [B]Monday, April 30 – Day at Sea[/B] At about 2:30am I head out to deck seven to start photographing the public rooms with my camera mounted on a tripod. While I was able to get lot of pictures of public places without any people in the pictures, there were several drawbacks. First of all, to get all of decks seven and six plus the atrium on deck five took about ninety minutes (I returned to my cabin around 4:00am). The reason I didn’t go after the restaurants on deck five is the restaurants are not well lit. I am not using the flash (the reason for the tripod) and as a result the restaurants look dark. Another drawback is that I lost a lot of sleep. Of course I knew today was a day at sea or I would never have tried this. Nonetheless, I see a nap in my future in the afternoon. A third drawback is that I am a little limited with the tripod (it must be on level ground – not usually a problem on the ship and it cannot hang over rails – which is a problem). Finally, most of these pictures I could have taken hand held. It was a good experiment, but I don’t see me taking a tripod on any future cruises unless I am going to time-lapse photography. So, after four hours of sleep I wake up around 8:00am. It is still foggy out. I shower, shave and dress and leave the cabin so the cabin steward can do his thing. After a breakfast consisting of a little of this and a little of that, I browse the onboard shops looking for something that catches my eye, but nothing does. So then I head over to the photo gallery see if I want to purchase the embarkation photographs and/or the Santa Barbara port stop photograph. Now first of all I normally by pass the embarkation photograph (this is my twentieth cruise, I’ve got plenty of embarkation photographs). However, Princess set up the embarkation photographs in a place where I could not walk around it without getting in the way, so I “volunteered†for the photo (I was the third person in line, so it was not that bad). It turns out the embarkation photos are a set of two (both 8x10s at $20 each). One is a summary of the cruise [a total 1315 miles though the distance from San Francisco to San Diego (481 miles) is less than the distance from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara (139 miles) plus the distance from Santa Barbara to San Francisco (422 miles)]. The other photo is me standing on a tropical beach (not the inside cement floor I was actually on) with the ship in the background. If I by both I get a free scrapbook kit which I have no interest in, but there is someone on the cruise who I know does. The Santa Barbara photo is printed as an 8x10 but includes three photos, a 6x8, a 4x6 and a 2x3 wallet sized photo. In addition I also bought the Reflections DVD package which is $50 and includes the Reflections DVD, a scenic DVD (basically Princess stock photographs) and a choice of two other DVDs. I choose the DVD showing the Sapphire Princess refurbishment (done earlier this year) and the Historic Panama Canal. And just like that I am up to $110 in photograph purchases. I don’t know what it is about Princess, but on my last (also my first) Princess cruise I also spend a fortune on photographs. I did spot an interesting machine outside one of the shops. If you swipe your card you can get a printout of your onboard account. Now since I already have my card why would I have to swipe it? I could swipe someone else’s card and get their onboard account printed out, but I don’t need to swipe my own card – I already have it. And just in case you are interested, other than my name there is no personal information on the printout (such as cabin number or full credit card information). Also, the TV does not provide onboard account information. When I return to the cabin the room steward is will working on it, so I drop my photo purchases and grab my laptop computer and my camera and head to the library. Why you ask? Because I want to take a video of something and I don’t know how to do it, though I did accidently take a short video on my last cruise – but now I want to take the video on purpose and I don’t know how. Nonetheless, knowing the camera could do more than I would know about, I preloaded the entire instruction manual on the computer. Pretty soon I have the basics figured out. Then I return to the cabin where the cabin steward has now finished, drop off my laptop and head over to the indoor pool. There are three pools, one outdoors with a MUTS screen (Movies Under The Stars/Sun), one indoor pool (actually a retractable top which closed) and the Sanctuary pool. I’m headed to the indoor pool. Know I know that the outdoor pool (aka Neptune’s’ Reef pool) and the indoor pool (aka Calypso Reef pool) have nobody in them, but that is only because none of the kids realize how much the water is splashing around, or they would be in the pool having a ball (and the squealing would add to the sound effects on the video). Since the sound effects are better in the indoor pool, that is where I am headed. I end up with two one minute videos of the waves in the pool complete with the sound of the waves hitting the sides of the pool. If I figure out how to post the videos I’ll include a link when I post this review. After that is it back to the cabin for a Meet & Greet organized by one of the roll call groups I was part of. During the Meet & Greet someone pointed out that one of the restaurants was serving pub food. So fourteen of us head over to the Savoy Dining Room on deck 5 for a British-Style Pub lunch. I had (clear the room of anyone under eighteen before reading further) Bangers & Mash. Fish & Chips was the table favorite. After lunch (actually during lunch) I was having trouble keeping awake, so it was off to my cabin for a nap. After that I returned to my cabin for a nap, followed up updating this and viewing my videos, which came out fairly good for a first and second attempt (ever) compared to the 490 photographs I have already taken on this cruise alone. Now it is time to prepare for formal night and an early dinner at the Sterling Steakhouse. Before dinner I posed for about three pictures (in front of the ship, next to some flowers in the atrium and next to the stairs). In the process I could not believe how either rude or inattentive some people are. One lady walked between the photographer and me. There was plenty of room to walk behind the photographer. Was she really that rude or just so oblivious to what was going on around here that she didn’t realize what she was doing? Another instance was when the elevator arrived. When the doors opened the “gentleman†nearer to the elevator just walked right in, so I figured no one was trying to get out. As I started to walk in I realized that there were several people trying to get out. I stopped and outside the elevator to let them off. One of them mentioned how hard it was to get off the elevator. I doubt that the person that comment was meant for heard it. At any rate we all meet at the Sterling Steakhouse at 6:00pm for dinner courtesy of our travel agent. I was surprises she was joining us. I figured she was paying for it; she should at least enjoy some of it. I had the fourteen ounce rib eye steak. It was very good. For those that are interested, there is no lobster on the menu. As I recall, there was a Porterhouse steak, two New York steaks (with and without the bone), two Filet Mignon steaks (eight ounce and ten ounce) and a chicken breast. Dinner took about two hours and we all had a good time. After dinner I returned to the cabin, got out of my formalwear (suit and tie – which is more formal than I like to be) and did a little proof reading of my earlier entries. Then it was off to bed for me, as I wanted to be up in time to see us passing under the Golden Gate Bridge (or if the water level was high enough – crash into it). [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3187C.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3187C.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3188.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3234C.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3235C.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3237S.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_3238C.jpg[/IMG] [/QUOTE]
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Review Sapphire Princess - California Costal - Apr/May 2012
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