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Click on each photo on this page for a larger and clearer image or click on the first photo for a slide show.
Click on the above photo if you wish to read the description of this tour. But since we are skipping this port, I have not copied the text of this photo to this page.
We had a 5pm dinner reservation in the Pacific Moon Dinig Room, but after looking at the menus for both lunch and dinner, we thought the lunch menu was much more appealing. The buffet is featuring a "Taste Of South America" so we can always go there if we get hungry later. Barbara ordered the Street Tacos with chicken, the Summer Roll, the Cobb Salad with grilled salmon and the Chocolate Tart. I ordered the Roasted Cauliflower, the ChineseHot & Sour Soup, the Mongolian Stir-Fried Vegetables and the New York Cheesecake. We shared half of everything and everything was delicious! There were many empty tables at lunch so it was very easy to get a private table for two that was not next to any other tables.
This was our first walk together around the entire ship. It is all on Deck 7 except when passing around the front of the ship where we have to climb a set of stairs up to Deck 8 and then back down to Deck 7 after passing the front on this ship. The above photo was taken at the rear of the ship with the wake in the background. Ever since my cataract surgery, colors appear very bright to me, so I have to wear sunglasses whenever I'm outside except on very overcast days. This was a trial run so we only walked once around the ship which is 1/3 of a mile. We'll try to work our way up to walking 3 times around the ship every day and maybe beyond.
I suggested that my wife take advantage of the Spa Relaxation Package special price for Platinum Members, which was only $129 for a treatment that was normally $229 (saving $100). It includes 75 minutes of treatments with full body deep tissue massage, full body skin brushing, collagen eye treatment, foot and ankle massage, and hot oil scalp massage. I walked with my wife up to the Lotus Spa and took the above photo.
My favorite bar on every Princess Cruise ship! And now I've found my favorite wine: Secret Indulgence 'Chronology' Red Blend from California for $18 per glass or $74 per bottle. I stopped by Vines to pick up a glass "to go" so I could enjoy it while working on this travelogue. The Vine Wine Steward is very protective of his expensive Riedel wine glasses. ...
This is pretty much what Alfredo's Pizzeria looks like all day most days now that it is no longer free to eat here. When this was a free place to eat for all passengers, it was pretty much busy all day. Under the new Princess plan, those with the Princess Plus package can dine at the Casual Dining venues like Alfredo's and Vines, twice per entire cruise for free. Since we are on the old Princess Plus 50 package, we don't get to dine here free at all. Those with the Princess Premier package (a cost of $80 per day per passenger) can dine here an unlimited number of times during their cruise for free. Everyone else has to pay $14.99 per person for a pizza. I know it was voted the "Best Pizza at Sea" by USA Today, but my wife and I like the pizza from Preggo's Pizzaria and those pizzas are still free! Also, I'm not sure that charging for pizza at Alfredo's is helping the bottom line of Princess. Pizza ingredients are very inexpensive. Instead of people eating here, I'm sure most of them are going to either Main Dining or the buffet where the cost to serve passengers in those venues is probably more than what it would cost to feed them pizza at Alfredo's. Judging by how empty this venue is almost all the time, I think Princess needs to rethink this pricing plan.
It is too bad as this is one of the few locations on the Sapphire Priincess where one can sit and have a clear view of the performances on The Piazza stage. While The Piazza seating remains full and in great demand all day, this ideal view seating remains mostly empty all day.
Quite a few different South American food items as well as other international items.
Another amazing underutilized venue on the Sapphire Princess! This is not a big area, but might have as much seating as The Piazza. This a wonderful cozy space but almost nothing is ever scheduled for this space. So far the only thing I have seen scheduled for this venue was our Premium Cognac Tasting that was canceled. I hope some event is held here during the rest of the cruise that I can attend. If you really want to get away from everyone in a really comfortable space, this would be the place to go! There are a couple of oddities about this space: (1) It has NO view of the ship's wake unless you stand on a seat and look out a porthole high on the wall. So why they have the name "Wakeview Bar," I have no idea. (2) The ONLY way for passengers to get to this bar is to walk across the Club Fusion stage and then go down a spiral staircase. I don't think most people would want to do that while an event was taking place in Club Fusion. There is a way for staff to get to this venue from the back of the International Dining Room on Deck 6, but I don't think there is any other way for passengers to get to this venue other than through Club Fusion. If one is handicapped and can't use the stairs, a staff member could probably escort them through the staff area into the Wakeview Bar via Deck 6.
Canceled due to overcast skies and rain. No stars in sight anywhere.
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If in this report you see any typos, misspellings, factual errors or other types of errors, please let me know.
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