Another Review Sapphire 10/01

Embarkation: Long wait at the airport for bus transfers. Princess employee was ill informed and disorganized. Upon arrival at the pier, everything changed... went like a well oiled machine, Very quickly boarded ship, polite, smiling crew to direct you to cabins. Luggage arrived quickly to most cabins.

Food & Beverage: Had PC dining and tried all resturants. Was impressed with courteous, fast, friendly service in all areas. Even the Horizon Court, which can be a little confusing, had friendly staff to direct, assist those who needed help carrying food or finding tables. There was also a very large selection to choose from. Hamburger Grill (Hot dogs/brats too) was actually a favorite and the Pizza Cafe was pretty busy. Sushi bar one day was surprising and loved the Meat and Cheese bar by the pool (Antipasto) Sabitini's and Sterling, both very good and well worth a visit. Food was better than I was led to believe by reading some of these threads. Room service was even good...orders came promptly and even hot items written in on breakfast order arrived without question. Ultimate Balcony Dinner was well done and a special treat. Loved the decor in the PC resturants, with the exception of Sterling Steak House, which is just an unused portion of Horizon Court (but the meals were good).

Passenger Services: Saw many type of cabins and they were all well laid out, nicely decorated and well maintained. Beds were a bit hard, but a egg crate foam pad was quickly supplied and made a big difference. Standard rooms did have awfully small bathrooms and the showers were smaller than those on other ships I've sailed, but If you need more space... go for the mini-suite. Also, the handicapped rooms have amazing space for those who would need one. Ship was well maintained with constant care. Carpets were clean, furniture well kept. This was as expected.

Entertainment: Princess Theatre was good, better than some other lines I've sailed. Explorers lounge always had something going on. You had so many choices, that I don't think anyone could be bored. Pools were always busy (fresh water was great) Loved the lotus spa pool and the deck 12 pool at the stern. Read your Princess Patter and join in or just lay in a deck chair (there are plenty) and nap!

Ports: Did not take any shore excursions, since we'd been to these ports many times. Tendering into Cabo was handled very efficiently with a small wait on board and virtually no wait on the return.

Disembarkation: This was set up efficiently by Princess, but with the US customs and immigration to contend with, getting off the ship was probably delayed about an hour. I'd suggest you have a nice breakfast, find a comfortable chair in one of the lounges and relax. If every passenger filled out their immigration forms properly... you'd be right on schedule, but we all know that's not going to happen.

General impression: Much better than I anticipated. The food was better than expected, the crew much friendlier and helpful than I was led to believe. I'd book again ... in fact I have!

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. I will be on the Sapphire in May and look forward to reading all the reviews on her until that date. Glad your expectations were exceeded.

Thanks for your informative review. Can you tell me who your entertainers were?

Sailing on the Sapphire in 4 weeks!

Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to go. :D

Nice review :)- thanks. I too would like to know who was performing in the various lounges for bands, etc.

TIA

Room service was even good...orders came promptly and even hot items written in on breakfast order arrived without question.

What kind of hot breakfast items did you order for room service?

Hot items ordered for breakfast: Ham and eggs a couple of times, pancackes once and eggs benedict once. Also bagel, salmon & cream cheese a few times. No questions.... no problems.

In answer to entertainment questions: Wheelhouse Bar: The Larry Hunt Trio and Thelma's Trio nightly for dancing Crooners Lounge: Charlie Sleeth every night but one which featured Samuel & Andrei (all piano music) Skywalkers: pretty much DJ and music videos Club Fusion: Sometimes a DJ, sometimes Karaoke, Princess Pop Star, The Princess Price is right? 50's Dance party, Country Hoe down with line dancing, The weakest one (gameshow) and Princess Millionaire just to name a few Explorer's Lounge: Santino & Blakjax almost every night(singing and dance music), Lorenzo Clark (comedy), Dan Ware (comedy) Claire Lovely (singer), Elliott Maxx (comedy) in addition to variety type shows Princess Theatre: Music shows (Piano Man and Undercover) with singers and dancers in addition to Scott Wyler (comedy) Brandi Chapman(singer) Dan Bennett(comedy) Movies were also shown late late night in some of the lounges

Thanks for the review.

Thanks for the great info and for taking the time to give us a review and answer questions.

Thank you for the review :)

Sorry this was a double post...darn computer acting up!

Thank you for the post. If I am this excited months out, what on earth will I be like when I finally get to go on the ship....Crazy.

I am glad to hear about breakfast. I am booked in a mini suite and really like the idea of having breakfast in my room each day....

Welcome home...

I am glad to hear about breakfast. I am booked in a mini suite and really like the idea of having breakfast in my room each day....

Yes. I'll 2nd that.

Thank you so much. My first Princess cruise (the Sapphire) is in 10 days!

One quick question: we have an 11:24 am flight home (Long Beach)...are we cutting it too close? Were people off by 9:00 am?

How was the weather and the seas?

Thanks for the review... glad to hear it was better than you expected. We'll be onboard in just over two months. Whoo hoo!

I saw Charlie Sleeth on the Coral in Jan and he said he will be on the Sapphire from April to Dec. We are leaving on 12/31 and I hope he is still there! I am looking forward to our Sapphire cruise and really enjoyed the review.

Once Upon A Time...Thanks so much for your review! We'll be sailing on 11/12 and the comments were very helpful. We're looking at another Panama Canal transit...will take your advise and look at Princess!!!

I am sooooooo ready for a cruise!!!!!!!!!!!:rolleyes:

Once Upon A Time - great review! Can you tell me what movies were playing in the theater during the day? We leave in a week and a half. Thanks!!

Liner...look at the Coral Princess for a Panama Canal cruise! it is a great ship.

Sally r- to answer your question about flight time: Yes, I feel that 11:45am would be too early. (Unless you were in the very first group off the ship. ) Otherwise, I'd be hesitant to book any flight before 1pm. Seas were mainly calm, a few white caps one or two days, but the ship was very stable. We did have some movement for a couple of hours one night because of Otis, but nothing to worry about. It was very hot and humid in Puerto Vallarta and a little cooler the next day in Mazatlan (but not much) Cabo was delightful, probably somewhere in the 80's.

llund - re movies: Sahara, Monster-in-law(twice), Phantom of the Opera, M/M Smith, The Interpreter, Herbie Fully Loaded These and other selections also played in cabin throughout the day and War of the Worlds played late one night in the Explorers Lounge. Hope that answers your questions.

Once Upon A Time -- Thank you, thank you for your review and for answering all of the poster's questions. We are leaving in 2 days (YES.....2 DAYS!) and I can't wait! You have answered many questions that I had (shows, movies playing...I was wondering about that since there's no theater)...

Since this is our first cruise to the Mexican Riviera (have been to Carribean more than once); do you know if there are good prices on liquor like in the Carribean? Or would it be best to buy it on the ship? Thanks in advance for your input!

I'll do my best to write a review when we return.

Sue

Sue - I didn't buy any liquor ashore, although our friends did buy Kahlua(?) and seemed happy with the price. I didn't see people bring back many bottles on board... The prices in the ship's store seemed pretty reasonable, but you might want to ask someone else. Have fun and just do everything!!!

Can you give us the dinner entrees listed for each night of the week, so that we might be able to figure out which nights to dine at the paying dining rooms???

Thanks so much!!;) ;) ;)

Also, was there wine tasting on the ship???? Cooking demonstrations??????

Sorry can't help with nightly dinner entrees.. didn't keep copies of menus, but I know there was something good on every night. Saturday night and Monday night we ate at Sterling and Sabitini's. On Friday night we had the Ultimate Balcony Dinner. There were two wine tasting events, the second one was limited to a smaller group and cost a little more (the wine was better too). There was a very entertaining cooking demonstration on the last day at sea (Executive Chef prepared two dishes and the pastry chef made a Black Forest cake, followed by the galley tour. Hope this helps...

Can you give us the dinner entrees listed for each night of the week, so that we might be able to figure out which nights to dine at the paying dining rooms???

Thanks so much!!;) ;) ;)

 

Also, was there wine tasting on the ship???? Cooking demonstrations??????

There is wine tasting. Free for Elite members.

My experience is that the first night and the last night are the best time to have dinners in specialty restaurants.