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Review Sapphire Princess - California Costal - Apr/May 2012
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<blockquote data-quote="Cruizer" data-source="post: 1574586" data-attributes="member: 18088"><p><img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/GroupI.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> <img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/GroupI.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/GroupII.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>Thursday, May 3 – San Diego</strong></p><p></p><p>I was up in time to get some pictures of San Diego as we came in. Nothing really exciting there. For me the fun began once we docked. I was on the forward observation deck (the roof of the bridge) when I heard sirens. Sure enough there was a medical emergency on board. So I decided to take some pictures. I took pictures of the ambulance arriving, the paramedics getting out of the ambulance and taking the stretcher to up the gangplank, and then I waited for them to come out. When I saw some people coming out I took more pictures. However, turns out that was someone being taken off the ship in handcuffs by four police officers (no, I don’t know what he did – I’ll assume he wore jeans on formal night until I get better information). Finally the paramedics came down with a person in the stretcher. The person was sitting up and breathing oxygen (I don’t know what was wrong with this person). </p><p></p><p>Once we were cleared to leave the ship I went outside to get some good pictures of the ship. The ship was facing away from the dock in San Pedro, Santa Barbara is a tender port, the pictures I got in San Francisco were looking down at the ship (there was nowhere I could get a side view and yes, I checked). That left only San Diego and maybe Ensenada (depends on where we dock) for good side views photo opportunities of the ship. I was able to get good clear pictures of the port side of the ship (which was docked with the starboard side next to the dock). </p><p></p><p>While taking pictures of the ship I noticed two school aged girls carrying pillows. I thought that was a bit strange until I got close to the Star of India and notice a whole class of kids with sleeping bags. At first I thought they were getting ready to board the ship for the night until I was in front of the HMS Surprise. There was a class of school aged kids getting their pre-boarding lecture, so the other kids were actually on their way home. I resisted the urge to tell them I would also be spending the night on a ship also (and my ship was bigger than their ship). </p><p></p><p>After that I went back onboard, showered, dressed, had breakfast and got ready to head to Sea World. The taxi ride to Sea World was $29 with tip and I quickly realized that for me the cost of the ship’s excursion ($89) would have been less (once transportation was factored in).</p><p></p><p>Admission to Sea World was $73 but I had an Auto Club discount. So I paid $53 plus $42 for the Penguins Up-Close tour and $60 for the Wild Arctic Up-Close tour (both are behind the scenes tours and both are great). So in the end I paid $155 (my ticket says I saved $20). I realize $700 ($175 x four) for a family of four would be a bit steep, but these behind the scenes tours were well worth the money.</p><p></p><p>I bought my ticket at 10:30am. The first tour was 11:15am. The second tour was 1:45pm. The Sea Lion and Otter show was at 2:45pm (the only whale show was during the second tour) and I wanted to leave between 3:30 and 4:00pm to make sure I got back to the ship on time. Before the first tour I went over to the dolphin petting pool, but they are no longer selling food to feed the dolphins. So I went next door and took some pictures of the otters. Between the two tours I walked around and had lunch (a funnel cake – one of my favorites). Then after the Sea Lion and Otter show I took pictures of the seals (the food trays were $7 each and contained five fish each – I didn’t buy any) and walked around a bit more. Given all the taxis waiting outside, I now realize I could have stayed an extra half hour if I wanted to (I left at 4:00pm and was back to the dock at 4:15pm). Passengers were due onboard by 5:30pm.</p><p></p><p>First was the Wild Arctic tour. We got to touch and feed the beluga whales, feed the walrus (walruses don’t like to be touched) and look at the polar bears (there was some concern the polar bears would feed on us if we tried to feed or pet them). The beluga whale encounter was my favorite. </p><p></p><p>The second tour was the Penguin Encounter. We didn’t get to feed the penguins, but we did get to touch one. Apparently some of the penguins are a bit nippy, so they have to be careful which penguins they bring out for everyone to see. The penguins live in a 28 degree air conditioned room and will overheat in a 68 degree (room temperature) room. So after bringing one out, the group was split in half and we were able to spend some time in their home. For the most part the penguins just stand around like cruise ship passengers waiting for the dining room doors to open on formal night. Since it is getting close to winter in the Antarctic, the lights were dimmed and we were told no flash photography (so next time I visit in our winter - their summer). Still, I was able to get a few good pictures with my smaller camera (a Canon A590IS). I did not want to carry my DSLR (a Nikon D5100) around, but if I ever do this again I will take the better camera. </p><p></p><p>Back at the ship I just laid down for a while until dinner. I had just finished a lot of walking around in the sun (with only my duck cap to protect me). There were eight of us this time and we ate at 7:00pm. We were next to the waiter where we had eaten for the last three nights and our old waiter warned the new waiter about one member of the group (not me – I’ve been good). Well, one thing lead to another and soon all sorts of things were being done with the napkins, none of which I can mention if I want my review to get published. It was all in great fun, and even included one of the head waiters. After dinner I was still tired from all the walking around in the sun, so I just laid down and went to sleep.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_4448.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/MUTSpoolI.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/MUTSpoolII.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/MUTSpoolIII.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cruizer, post: 1574586, member: 18088"] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/GroupI.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/GroupI.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/GroupII.jpg[/IMG] [B]Thursday, May 3 – San Diego[/B] I was up in time to get some pictures of San Diego as we came in. Nothing really exciting there. For me the fun began once we docked. I was on the forward observation deck (the roof of the bridge) when I heard sirens. Sure enough there was a medical emergency on board. So I decided to take some pictures. I took pictures of the ambulance arriving, the paramedics getting out of the ambulance and taking the stretcher to up the gangplank, and then I waited for them to come out. When I saw some people coming out I took more pictures. However, turns out that was someone being taken off the ship in handcuffs by four police officers (no, I don’t know what he did – I’ll assume he wore jeans on formal night until I get better information). Finally the paramedics came down with a person in the stretcher. The person was sitting up and breathing oxygen (I don’t know what was wrong with this person). Once we were cleared to leave the ship I went outside to get some good pictures of the ship. The ship was facing away from the dock in San Pedro, Santa Barbara is a tender port, the pictures I got in San Francisco were looking down at the ship (there was nowhere I could get a side view and yes, I checked). That left only San Diego and maybe Ensenada (depends on where we dock) for good side views photo opportunities of the ship. I was able to get good clear pictures of the port side of the ship (which was docked with the starboard side next to the dock). While taking pictures of the ship I noticed two school aged girls carrying pillows. I thought that was a bit strange until I got close to the Star of India and notice a whole class of kids with sleeping bags. At first I thought they were getting ready to board the ship for the night until I was in front of the HMS Surprise. There was a class of school aged kids getting their pre-boarding lecture, so the other kids were actually on their way home. I resisted the urge to tell them I would also be spending the night on a ship also (and my ship was bigger than their ship). After that I went back onboard, showered, dressed, had breakfast and got ready to head to Sea World. The taxi ride to Sea World was $29 with tip and I quickly realized that for me the cost of the ship’s excursion ($89) would have been less (once transportation was factored in). Admission to Sea World was $73 but I had an Auto Club discount. So I paid $53 plus $42 for the Penguins Up-Close tour and $60 for the Wild Arctic Up-Close tour (both are behind the scenes tours and both are great). So in the end I paid $155 (my ticket says I saved $20). I realize $700 ($175 x four) for a family of four would be a bit steep, but these behind the scenes tours were well worth the money. I bought my ticket at 10:30am. The first tour was 11:15am. The second tour was 1:45pm. The Sea Lion and Otter show was at 2:45pm (the only whale show was during the second tour) and I wanted to leave between 3:30 and 4:00pm to make sure I got back to the ship on time. Before the first tour I went over to the dolphin petting pool, but they are no longer selling food to feed the dolphins. So I went next door and took some pictures of the otters. Between the two tours I walked around and had lunch (a funnel cake – one of my favorites). Then after the Sea Lion and Otter show I took pictures of the seals (the food trays were $7 each and contained five fish each – I didn’t buy any) and walked around a bit more. Given all the taxis waiting outside, I now realize I could have stayed an extra half hour if I wanted to (I left at 4:00pm and was back to the dock at 4:15pm). Passengers were due onboard by 5:30pm. First was the Wild Arctic tour. We got to touch and feed the beluga whales, feed the walrus (walruses don’t like to be touched) and look at the polar bears (there was some concern the polar bears would feed on us if we tried to feed or pet them). The beluga whale encounter was my favorite. The second tour was the Penguin Encounter. We didn’t get to feed the penguins, but we did get to touch one. Apparently some of the penguins are a bit nippy, so they have to be careful which penguins they bring out for everyone to see. The penguins live in a 28 degree air conditioned room and will overheat in a 68 degree (room temperature) room. So after bringing one out, the group was split in half and we were able to spend some time in their home. For the most part the penguins just stand around like cruise ship passengers waiting for the dining room doors to open on formal night. Since it is getting close to winter in the Antarctic, the lights were dimmed and we were told no flash photography (so next time I visit in our winter - their summer). Still, I was able to get a few good pictures with my smaller camera (a Canon A590IS). I did not want to carry my DSLR (a Nikon D5100) around, but if I ever do this again I will take the better camera. Back at the ship I just laid down for a while until dinner. I had just finished a lot of walking around in the sun (with only my duck cap to protect me). There were eight of us this time and we ate at 7:00pm. We were next to the waiter where we had eaten for the last three nights and our old waiter warned the new waiter about one member of the group (not me – I’ve been good). Well, one thing lead to another and soon all sorts of things were being done with the napkins, none of which I can mention if I want my review to get published. It was all in great fun, and even included one of the head waiters. After dinner I was still tired from all the walking around in the sun, so I just laid down and went to sleep. [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/DSC_4448.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/MUTSpoolI.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/MUTSpoolII.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Princess%20Sapphire/MUTSpoolIII.jpg[/IMG] [/QUOTE]
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Review Sapphire Princess - California Costal - Apr/May 2012
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