Sapphire Princess South Pacific Cruise Day 6 - Getting into a cruise groove
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| A look back at our balcony with its solid metal wall versus all the nice balconies to the left - you can also see the bridge directly above |
We're getting into a daily groove now. We wake up, grab a buffet breakfast, come back to the room to brush our teeth and such, and then head to the morning trivia challenge. After that, we hang out for a bit and Arlona goes to ukulele lessons while I participate in progressive trivia. We meet up for lunch. We've been switching up where we go, just to add a little variety to the routine. Today, that meant something light from the buffet. We sometimes avail ourselves of the specialty desserts that are available thanks to our Princess Plus package.
After that, we read, or in today's case, wander around the ship, checking out some of the venues.
Let's talk about the ship. Here are the specs, direct from Princess.
- Class: Grand
- Guest Capacity: 2,680
- Tonnage: 115,875
- Inaugural Cruise: May 16, 2004
- Christener: Nancy Gore Murkowski, former First Lady of Alaska
- Number of Crew: 1,100
- Length: 952 feet
- Height: 205 feet
- Beam: 164 feet (including bridge wing); 123 feet (excluding bridge wing)
- Draft: 28 feet
- Number of Decks: 18
- Guest Staterooms:
- 1,337 (890 outside/447 inside) total:
- 28 Suites with private balconies
- 2 Family suites with interconnecting cabins
- 186 Mini-suites with private balconies
- 522 Balcony cabins
- 216 Ocean view cabins
- 366 Inside cabins
- Wheelchair Accessible Cabins: 27 including balcony/oceanview/inside
- Cabins with Private Balconies: 750 (75 percent of all outside cabins)
- Food & Beverage Venues:
- Five main dining rooms (International, Pacific Moon, Santa Fe, Savoy, Vivaldi)
- Sabatini’s – Italian restaurant
- Sterling Steakhouse
- Alfredo’s Pizzeria
- International Café
- Vines Wine Bar
- Horizon Court
- Trident Grill
- Prego Pizzeria
- Swirls
- Wake View Bar
- Ultimate Balcony Dining
- 24-hour room service
- Showrooms/Lounges:
- Princess Theater
- Explorer's Lounge
- Wheelhouse Bar
- Club Fusion
- Crooners Bar
- Skywalkers Nightclub
- Churchill's Cigar Lounge
- Guest Services:
- The Sanctuary
- Movies Under the Stars poolside screen
- Lotus Spa and Fitness Center
- Internet Café
- Lawn Court (golf putting and lawn games)
- Casino
- Library
- Art Gallery
- Photo Gallery
- The Shops of Princess
- Sports Court
- Guest Services Desk
- Piazza
- Shore Excursions Desk
- Medical Center
- Camp Discovery™ Youth and Teen Center
- The Treehouse (Ages: 3 – 7)
- The Lodge (Ages: 8 – 12)
- The Beach House (Ages: 13 – 17)
We went to the back of the ship and took a few photos for a look around. There is a link to a full 360-degree photo under each image.
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| A look off the back from Deck 16 View 360-degree photo |
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| A look at the pickleball court - technically Deck 19 View 360-degree photo |
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| A look down the port side from the back of the ship View 360-degree photo |
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| A view midship View 360-degree photo |
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| The Sanctuary - an extra-cost private area View 360-degree photo |
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| These are all the folks responsible for running Sapphire Princess |
We completed our trivia trifecta in the afternoon. We're always near the top, but can't quite hit that winning score. Here are some of our misses throughout the day.
- Who is the Roman goddess of flowers?
- Fauna - we felt pretty silly missing that one
- What company, started in 1903 by William and Arthur, who wanted to "take the work out of bicycling"?
- We guessed Schwinn, but if we thought about the question more, we should have gotten Harley Davidson
- What is the scientific name for the western lowland gorilla?
- We had no idea it was gorilla gorilla gorilla
- Junko Tabei in 1975 became the first woman to do what?
- Summit Mt. Everest
- What is an 'X-Y Position Indicator for Display Systems'?
- Sure sounded like a cursor, but that was the first name for a computer mouse
- What dance is associated with Brazillian Carnivale?
- Samba
- The Pritzker Prize is awarded for what?
- Architecture
- How many elements are in the periodic table?
- 118 - had it before but couldn't remember
Shortly after that, it was time to head down for a pre-dinner libation. Today, it was margaritas.
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| Yummy Patrón Reposado margaritas with Grand Marnier floaters |
We headed to dinner at our assigned time of 6:20. We were the only inhabitants of our six-person table tonight until just before we finished and another couple was seated with us.
Tonight, we decided to skip the main performance. It was vocalist Yaniv Zarif. We have seen him perform before on another cruise so we decided to head to the Explorers Bar and play Couch Potato trivia about TV shows from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. We teamed up with other folks at the bar and had a lot of fun, even if we didn't win.
Next up was the game show, Battle of the Sexes, pitting a team of men against a team of women to determine, well, it doesn't determine anything, and I'm sticking with that. :-)
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| Yes, I was up playing - I'm in the right in back in a yellow shirt |
It started with five members of each team holding a paper with a single digit on it. Those digits, in a random order, would flash up on the screen. The sixth member of the team had to get their team members to move into the same order as the numbers on the screen. Next was the opposites game, where the women were asked "guy" stuff, and the men were asked "gal" stuff to see who could answer more things correctly. Examples:
Women:
- Where do the best cigars come from? (Cuba)
- Radial, circular, and hack are types of what? (saw)
- In boxing, TKO stands for? (technical knockout)
Men:
- How many ovaries does a woman have? (2)
- Clinique makes what? (makeup, skincare, fragrances)
- The lead ballerina is known as what? (Prima ballerina)
Next up were charades where two members of each team acted out typical activities for the opposite sex and their teams had to guess the activities. Examples of what each team had to act out:
Men:
- Blowdrying hair
- Waxing
- Shopping
- Gardening
- Putting on a bra
Women:
- Fixing a car
- Playing hockey
- Shaving
- Mowing the lawn
- Napping
Finally, a member from both teams was given the name of an item and they had to get one from someone in the audience. Examples
- Lipstick
- Hat
- Brown belt
- Family photo
- Empty beer can
In the end, the men were found to be the winners (I can't say superior sex for obvious reasons) and we each came away with a nifty swag bag.
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| Another backpack, wine stopper, and coaster, plus a water bottle |
That brought the day to a close for us and we called it a night. Tomorrow is one last sea day before we arrive in Hawaii.
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