Just Back from Sapphire Vancouver-Ketchikan 9/19-23

[Immisspriss]

I should start by saying yes, it was the cruise where the lady jumped overboard. That alone was a very sad ending to what was a somewhat nice cruise.

 

The good: Public areas of the ship were lovely. Our waitstaff on 2 of the 4 nights was fantastic. Our server Elena told us about the special breakfast package that they were offering: $32.00 for the following- chilled half bottle of champagne, fresh breakfast pastries, cold smoked salmon with dill cream cheese and toasted brioche, beautiful half melon filled with berries, crab quiche, omelettes, juice, coffee, etc....

 

In general, all of the servers, cocktail servers, bartenders, shop personnel were excellent. We loved the grill, and pizza on the Lido deck. Great burgers, brats, fries, etc.

 

Room service was wonderful, and very prompt. For sail away, we ordered champagne, and a fruit and cheese platter (which lasted us for the entire cruise-not a bad deal).

 

The bad: I'm sure I will get flamed, and let me say this was my first Princess Cruise (cruised 4 times before with Royal Caribbean) so I only have that previous experience to use as a compairason. The food quality was horrendous. The buffet food was awful, the layout was poorly organized, so people were crossing over, backtracking, and generally wandering around aimlessly trying to locate certain food items. Not to mention that a very large tour group was on board, and some people seem to have missed out on manners 101... I'm sure that it's acceptable in their country, but the line cutting, bumping into people without so much as a pardon, lack of personal space, etc, was frustrating.

 

The food in the main dining room was somewhat better. 2 of the 4 nights my dinner was o.k. the other 2 nights...feh... On the first night, we ate in Vivaldi, and I got their house specialty the osso bucco, it was wonderful. The next day the veal marsala was nothing to write home about, and on the third night while the crab legs were good, the portion size was very small (it's a good thing I don't eat very much);). My surf and turf on the last night consisted of a very small 4oz filet, with literally 3 small shrimp next to it.

 

No dining room service for breakfast :eek:. We went to all 4 dining rooms looking for breakfast on sea days, and they were all closed at 9am. Only could find lunch on the last sea day in the dining room. It was the English pub lunch. It seemed to me that Princess was cutting corners all over the place to cut expenses.

 

No formal night at all. Each day the patter said smart casual. Not that I mind this, however there are several things that could have been left at home had I known there would be no formal (sport coat, cocktail dress, fancier shoes for him and her, etc)...

 

Our Stateroom:

 

The poor old ship really needs at least a soft goods rennovation. :( The carpets were worn, dirty and frayed in places, the bedspread- same thing. Bed was awful, but thanks to CC I knew to ask for egg crate- it made it only slightly better.

 

You never know who your neighbors will be and boy did we ever get the neighbors from hell!! They would come in at 3am each day, drunk, knocking over glasses/bottles in their stateroom, and proceed to fight. Sleep it off all day, and start up around 3 pm each day. We happened to glance in their cabin while the steward was cleaning, and saw no less than 4 bottles of booze on their bar area. (The big kind, not available for purchase on board) Young couple in their 20's. I'm sure the steward didn't say anything about their smuggled on liquor, to assure his tip remain intact.

 

Our steward Ronnie: While he did a great job of keeping the room clean, he fell short on every other thing that was asked.. our ice was only replaced 1 time on this 4 day cruise (and this was our first request of him), the fruit that was supposed to show up every day took 3 days to begin, and was never replenished. We asked for some diet Coke, as there was only regular coke in our room, (never did get any). Water was not replaced, even though we marked the card asking for it...etc.

 

I could go on and on about the disembarkation process, but that has already been addressed on another thread. Truly maddening.

 

I'm not sure that I will book another Princess cruise again, unless perhaps the deal of the century presents itself. :confused:

[lovevacadays]

wow "the poor old ship" I was on the Sapphire last December (so about 9-10 months before) It was in great shape. Wonder what happened in such a short time. It was beautiful. It was one of our friends first cruise and she absolutely loved it and thought the ship was beautiful

 

Yep, the buffet is set up poorly but didn't think the food was as bad as stated but understand everyone has their own preferences.

 

Breakfast and lunch are served in the traditional dining room and not the alternate (anytime) dining venues.

[tootsiescurly]

Quite frankly, we found the food on Royal tasteless. This is why we have not sailed with Royal since our cruise on the Splendour of the Seas. It was so bad I pretty much ate steamed vegetables for most of the week.

[billet]

Thank you for the review. Sorry to hear you did not enjoy the food. I was on last month and thoroughly enjoyed all the meals especially Sabatini's.

 

I agree about the Horizon Court layout with all the various stations it can be confusing and made even worse when people have missed Manners 101.

 

I am not too suprised there was no formal night since it was advertised as a 'taster' cruise for 4 nights I believe but it would have been nice to have been made aware of that before sailing.

[kruisey]

I just took a one nighter on Star Princess' Went cabin then to buffet on embarkation. Always in the past there was a whole section with plenty of choice in Horizen Court. This time big section had been divided into two so selection was not as good.The employees told me it was like that because it was a short cruise I was disappointed.The ship was full.

[Cruisers from WA]

I would not ever judge a cruise line on a 1, 3, or 4 night cruise...it is true,

Princess cuts corners on these "required" cruises....

All short cruises leaving or going to Vancouver, BC had those folks that have missed Manners 101 and English 101....and refuse to follow direction for disembarkation....just jam those bodies/luggage tight as can be on all stairways, elevators, atrium & gangway and other public places so its nice and cozy and disfuctional for all! grrrrrrrr

 

We are so done with short cruises! and I was not on your ship...

[10splyr]

If I judged every cruise line we have been on by the "short" (1-5 days) cruises, I would NEVER cruise again - on any line! Many of them are "shake-downs" for new crew members, and most, at last in our experience, are full of guests who eat, drink and make merry all day and all night, and have to be rolled off the ship at the end of the cruise.

 

We have done 4 on 4 different lines, and every single one was the same, and we did them b/c we needed a mini-break and it was cheap:D. Never again.

 

And FYI, we are elite Princess members, and we have complaints from time to time about Princess as well, but by and large, we have found Princess to be the most consistent of the "not quite so expensive" cruise lines (we have done X and Cunard, along with a host of others). Yes, given the same price, I would cruise X every time, but that isn't usually possible.

[Shoalwater]

 

The buffet food was awful, the layout was poorly organized, so people were crossing over, backtracking, and generally wandering around aimlessly trying to locate certain food items. Not to mention that a very large tour group was on board, and some people seem to have missed out on manners 101... I'm sure that it's acceptable in their country, but the line cutting, bumping into people without so much as a pardon, lack of personal space, etc, was frustrating.

 

 

Many passengers don't understand the scramble concept used by Princess in the buffet. It actually is more efficient for all concerned, and is used in many other venues as well. I see it a lot in hospital cafeterias. Bottom line is, everyone doesn't have to queue up in one line where the rate limiting step is the slowest passenger, and besides, why wait for all those who say are picking up roast beef when you want to pass this station and start at one further down. The scramble mentality lets you go right to your selection and the beefers to theirs. Sure there may be some confusion or even "cutting' by people, but overall you get in and out much quicker. Princess' problem is the area is necessarily small but i realy don't mind the concept. The perception of line cutting is in my opinion coming from those that expect there to be a line and queue up from habit. Sometime you just gota break the mold!

[Putterdude]

I am sorry that you didn't enjoy yourself on the cruise.

We were on the same cruise with some friends and have a good idea of the group you are referring to. And yes we have been in a stateroom where the pax next door were loud, were banging off walls and in our case using drugs...so know it was't pleasant for you...next time phone the pax services desk or security.

As for a sit down breakast it was served in the International Dining Room at the back of deck 6 from 7am until 9am....and generally they are not quick to slam the doors closed at extactly 9. Except for the one night we ate in Sabitinni's we had the early seating in the International and were very pleased with our meals. We ate our lunches in that room as well with the same level of satisfaction.

Like you we were surprised that there was no Formal Night as there is one detailed in the Cruise Answer Book and in the Travel Summary I down loaded as part of our travel docs. As we had brought tuxes and dresses with us we just had our own formal night the evening we went to Sabitinni's.

Our cabins were just great, no issues with them at all even our mattress looked new but out of force of habit we did have the eggcrate put on it. Our room steward was terriffic, kept the room clean, we had fresh towels everytime one hit the deck and fresh ice at least once a day. We don't drink the sodas or water that is in the fridge. We certainly had no negative issues with the condition of the ship and would sail on her again in a heartbeat, in fact the Sapphire and the Diamond are our two fave ships in the fleet.

We certainly did have issue with the disembarkation gong show that occurred in Vancouver and I have sent a letter off to the Corporate offices but I am sure that was a one off occurrance and it will not keep us from sailing with Princess again.

[donna5]

I just took a one nighter on Star Princess' Went cabin then to buffet on embarkation. Always in the past there was a whole section with plenty of choice in Horizen Court. This time big section had been divided into two so selection was not as good.The employees told me it was like that because it was a short cruise I was disappointed.The ship was full.

 

They did the same thing on this 7 day Golden Coastal so that excuse just doesn't wash-- does it??!!

[c-legs]

 

 

 

We certainly did have issue with the disembarkation gong show that occurred in Vancouver and I have sent a letter off to the Corporate offices but I am sure that was a one off occurrance and it will not keep us from sailing with Princess again.

 

Good morning, PD

I just had a tought..... would the '' disembarkation '' process snafu have anything to do with the circumstances which became apparent, one would think, prior to Wednesday ?? I know Princess appears to have done something similar with STAR's and GOLDEN's repos...but in the case of STAR specially,, a huge majority of their guests were on for the whole 35 days to Australia, thus a ''gong show'' disembarkation experiment would have lessened effects.

Would it be possible, in your opinion, that a quick decision, ''damn the consequences '' , to expedite the debark session ( in deference to various police and customs officials expected to need early time and space in Vancouver ) was made on board sometimes tuesday when initial ''signs'' of somebody gone amiss surfaced ??

Just wondering.....they might have been '' pro-active'' ...but with a flawed result....:(

Cheers

:)

[mek]

 

 

 

Many passengers don't understand the scramble concept used by Princess in the buffet. It actually is more efficient for all concerned, and is used in many other venues as well. I see it a lot in hospital cafeterias. Bottom line is, everyone doesn't have to queue up in one line where the rate limiting step is the slowest passenger, and besides, why wait for all those who say are picking up roast beef when you want to pass this station and start at one further down. The scramble mentality lets you go right to your selection and the beefers to theirs. Sure there may be some confusion or even "cutting' by people, but overall you get in and out much quicker. Princess' problem is the area is necessarily small but i realy don't mind the concept. The perception of line cutting is in my opinion coming from those that expect there to be a line and queue up from habit. Sometime you just gota break the mold!

 

Have to agree with you on this - I much prefer the set up on Princess than the long cafeteria type service used on most other lines; however it can be tight, especially on the first day.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I found it interesting that the Sapphire was described as a poor old ship. She is only five years old. Younger than the Grand, Star, Island, and Coral . Perhaps she does need some carpet and cabin refurbishing being in use 365 days a year. Don't know if she has had drydock lately or is scheduled.

 

Thanks Shoalwater for naming the scramble concept for the Horizon Court. Ilike that term. And although small, not having the endless lines such as other cruise lines have is a good thing. As long as everyone understands the concept and many don't.

 

I would agree the shorter cruises are not a true test of the ship. As others have said, new crew usually staff these and learn to get into the swing of things.

[Kyana]

On the refit in Victoria earlier this year The Golden had 7 brand new suites installed on the same deck as the show lounge. Has anyone stayed or even seem. Better still any Pictures. I have searched everywhere and can find out nothing about them. Any imput greatly appreciated THANKS as we are looking at booking one but would at least like to see what they look like size and all. I know they have the full amenities Suite perks that go with the other suites.

[coo359a2]

 

Have to agree with you on this - I much prefer the set up on Princess than the long cafeteria type service used on most other lines; however it can be tight, especially on the first day.

 

Also agree with ya'll. Nothing worse than a long line moving very slow and you only want the one item at the other end of the line. After you learn that you can go to any station, you are in and out with your food in no time.

[Putterdude]

Good morning, PD

I just had a tought..... would the '' disembarkation '' process snafu have anything to do with the circumstances which became apparent, one would think, prior to Wednesday ?? I know Princess appears to have done something similar with STAR's and GOLDEN's repos...but in the case of STAR specially,, a huge majority of their guests were on for the whole 35 days to Australia, thus a ''gong show'' disembarkation experiment would have lessened effects.

Would it be possible, in your opinion, that a quick decision, ''damn the consequences '' , to expedite the debark session ( in deference to various police and customs officials expected to need early time and space in Vancouver ) was made on board sometimes tuesday when initial ''signs'' of somebody gone amiss surfaced ??

Just wondering.....they might have been '' pro-active'' ...but with a flawed result....:(

Cheers

:)

 

I think your question is did the disembarkation snafu relate to the missing person ....if so then I would say no, as evidently they didn't realise she was missing until the last person had "punched out" and they had paged her and then done a check of her cabin.

As I understand the situation aboard the Star, pax disembarking in SFO were given the option of either a luggage check or a walk off with luggage scenario. I am not yet clear what has to pax on the Sapphire once they reached LAX. However there has been at least one post from a pax in transit who suggested that they, the Sapphire's staff, where going to try to do the same type of thing as they did in YVR. So we will have to wait and see if anyone posts on these situations.

[Immisspriss]

Good morning, PD

I just had a tought..... would the '' disembarkation '' process snafu have anything to do with the circumstances which became apparent, one would think, prior to Wednesday ?? I know Princess appears to have done something similar with STAR's and GOLDEN's repos...but in the case of STAR specially,, a huge majority of their guests were on for the whole 35 days to Australia, thus a ''gong show'' disembarkation experiment would have lessened effects.

Would it be possible, in your opinion, that a quick decision, ''damn the consequences '' , to expedite the debark session ( in deference to various police and customs officials expected to need early time and space in Vancouver ) was made on board sometimes tuesday when initial ''signs'' of somebody gone amiss surfaced ??

Just wondering.....they might have been '' pro-active'' ...but with a flawed result....:(

Cheers

:)

 

 

The answer to this would be an emphatic NO. I called the guest services line early on Tuesday to ask that same question: "I have no luggage tags... should I be putting my luggage out to be picked up?".. NO MAMM YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR GETTING YOUR OWN BAGS OFF THE SHIP

[Stevesan]

 

Have to agree with you on this - I much prefer the set up on Princess than the long cafeteria type service used on most other lines; however it can be tight, especially on the first day.

 

I, too, prefer the HC setup to serial line(s). However, one must become oriented to the HC layout.

Initial use is confusing for many. It would be much worse if the majority of passengers are first timers on Princess, as it seems to have been for this cruise.

[avcruz]

I think another thing that made the buffet dining a little long & confusing, in addition to all the first-timers standing in one line like sheep, was the fact that they were only letting you enter the serving area from one direction. On the one hand, I think it was a good thing, as it made everyone (well, almost everyone...) use the hand sanitizer. On the other hand, I'm used to just zipping in for my fruit & cereal from the other side, so that was a bit of a downside.

[Piperpals]

We too were on this cruise and I thought the ship and crew in our experience were great. I don't see how you can possibly pass 2700 people through constantly without any reasonable sight of wear.

 

Our stateroom was great as was our attendant (although we have taken to tipping our room attendant when we get on which encourages better service).

 

Agree with comments about the layout of the buffet as I like to wander around and see what is out before standing in the line for food. So I probably looked like one of those people who failed manners 101. Aside from the layout I had no complaints about the food itself. All of our dining room meals were good as was the service.

 

Disembarkment was a mess as discussed on another thread, an obvious mistake by Princess but otherwise a great cruise for us.

 

Cheers

[WinnieinWA]

Thanks for your review. One more reason to never take a short cruise. I've not read too many good reviews when they are of the short variety. I absolutely loved my one Sapphire cruise and would go again in a heartbeat....of 7 days or more.:)