We are cruising on the Sapphire in April 07 for 28 days. It is a wonderful intinery, taking in NZ, Fiji, Polynesia and Hawaii. Anyone taken this cruise previously? Some info on formal nights i.e. how many, also is there a self service laundry on board? Thanks in advance for any help.

My great grandmother still revels about her travels on the long gone Matson liners.Her favorite port in the crossing from Sydney was Suva,Fiji.For her the glide into Suva Harbour was spectacular.Dockside the ship was always greeted by the Fiji Military Band, a lot of Pomp and Circumstance so to speak.The town is easily walkable.On one trip, they just happened to hit Fiji on a Sunday.She and several fellow ship mates attended the worhip service at the Centenary Methodist Church and for them that was the highlight of the voyage.According to her at least 1,000 people attended and the day they were there was no special occasion.The service was in Fijian but not to worry.The music was fabulous.After the service they walked down the hill into town and had lunch in an Indian restaurant, followed by a trip to the nearby Botanical Gardens.Most of this was walking distance.There was even a performance by the Beqa Firewalkers across from the gardens! The pictures are fabulous and she returned several times after that.She has many wood carvings and items from some of the local markets.Hope this helps.

We did this cruise on the Sapphire in Nov 04 from LA to Sydney - 31 days. We had 5 formal nights. There are self service laundry facilities with washers/dryers and irons on the Sapphire. We really enjoyed this cruise and would do it again except that it now always seems to be sold out 18 months in advance.

Thank you for the info. You are so right about this cruise selling fast. We booked 2 weeks after it went on sale and almost all the staterooms were sold. We are from the UK and had to take a "CRUISE ONLY" deal as they had sold all of the fly cruise packages very quickly. I have checked occasionally on the Princess website and all catagories have been waitlisted for some time now. I am sure we will enjoy this cruise as much as you did.

Hi,we are booked on this cruise also.
Have you tried loging on to www.cruisecritic.com/reviews.
It has got lots of info.about ship & tips from fellow cruisers. As you say it sounds a great cruise,
Bon Voyage.Seagypsy

Well, we did it and it was WONDERFUL. Anyone thinking of taking this cruise should go for it. Best cruise ever and this was our 23rd.