The first post of each season:

Thursday, August 3, 2023

Day 10: At Sea and Hubbard Glacier

We enjoyed another amazing day on the Sapphire Princess, the kind where we stay put and the scenery comes to us. And what incredibly beautiful scenery it was. The weather gods have definitely been smiling on us on this vacation. 

We started in our usual manner, with breakfast in Sabatini’s (fruit plate, smoked salmon and happy juice aka a mimosa). We were cruising the Gulf of Alaska en route to Yakutat Bay, so, until late afternoon, it wasn’t a particularly scenic day. However, it was a very smooth day. In past trips we’ve had a bumpy ride across the Gulf of Alaska, but not so this time. 

After breakfast, the fact that I had bugged out early last night and hadn't finished my blog post from yesterday was weighing heavily on me, so I went right next door into the Internet Cafe and got to work. In case you were wondering (though I’m guessing you aren’t), I am preparing all the blog entries for this trip on my iPhone. Taking the photos, uploading the photos and typing the narrative, and it all fits in the palm of my hand. Slide to type is my best friend…until it isn’t. I try to catch the many typos before I hit Publish. 

While I was blogging, I decided to try to get a cappuccino delivered to me in the Internet Cafe. I’ve had no luck with OceanNow deliveries in Skywalkers or on any of the exterior aft decks, but the Internet Cafe did appear as a delivery option. Because of the pricing changes going into effect on this cruise, things looked a little different today. 





It clearly knows I can order the cappuccino without a charge with Princess Plus, so I assumed the $14.99 doesn’t show up here for the same reason. 
And it was delivered to me hot in about 10 minutes. Success!


But a $14.99 charge immediately appeared on my account.
Guest Services says it will be reversed tonight, but it really ought not show up at all. 

ETA:  It was removed from my account overnight. 

Blog post published, it was time to go to lunch in the International Dining Room…because it was Chicken korma day again!  I know not to order anything else but the korma. It is amply filling by itself. I paired it with Pinot Grigio, and enjoyed every bite. 



♥️

Tonight was formal night, and that meant a full clean up before dinner, so I treated myself to some Terrace Pool time. The water in the pools has been consistently comfortably warm, a real plus. 

Excursion boat picking up 130 guests in Yakutat Bay by Hubbard Glacier for a couple hour tour.
I missed this entirely in the shorex listing. 
I really need to look more closely at that!

G went to the Grapevine wine tasting and the military get together, so once I was dressed for the evening, I sat in Crooners enjoying a glass of wine. Every so often I’d pop out on the Promenade Deck to take some pics. The Sapphire Princess moved right up to the ice field from Hubbard Glacier and stayed there for about two hours until the excursion boat brought the guests back. Even better, our table at dinner had a full on view on the glacier during our entire meal. 

The Sapphire Princess went as close as it could today. 
You can clearly see the ice field that prevented us from getting any closer. . 


What a perfect day here!
We had visited Hubbard Glacier on an NCL cruise in 2000 and the day was so dreary we saw nothing 

Pre dinner wine with a view from Crooners
Simply amazing




Dinner with a view.
Life is good. 😊

Crab cake

Halibut

We celebrated our 40th anniversary tonight. Waiter Chandra sang “I can’t help falling in love with you” accompanied by his guitar. 
Honestly, even G was visibly moved. 


Tonight was the Captain‘s champagne waterfall. 

We ended the evening with production show Bravo in the Princess Theater and listening to party band Gravity (they are so good) in the Piazza. Tomorrow:  Glacier Bay National Park…but we won’t reach the glaciers until around noon. How very accommodating.