Sapphire Review 9/26/09 to 10/03/09

[HockeyGal]

Forgive my ignorance but what are MUTS?

 

And the egg crates everyone talks about what are they and how do i go about getting one?

 

Thanks!

Kristi

[tequilasunrise]

One more question....I was reading a review of the Crown here, and they said that you can't get self service beverages in Horizon Court anymore, even water. Is that true on Sapphire? Wow, I hope not, what a hassle!!!

[billet]

MUTS is movies under the stars, the giant screen over one of the pools. The Sapphire does not have MUTS.

 

There is a shopping host on board who provides information about shopping in each port. Some can be very informative and some are dreadful.

 

The Sapphire is my favourite Princess ship for atmosphere and staff, closely followed by the Crown

[Putterdude]

I would prefer not to have MUTS on every ship as well. I really like the idea of laying out by the pool, reading, napping or talking without having to compete with the sound of a movie or sports attraction.

[basor]

Thanks for the great reviews -

 

We will be boarding her in 10 days and are in D318 so hope we have Rex as our room steward but probably not since on the opposite side of the ship...

 

Celebrating our 40th anniversary with a vow renewal so a BIG CELEBRATION for us.

 

Glad to hear all of the glowing reports that the Sapphire is still as beautiful as ever!!!

 

One question - were they serving embarkation lunch in a MDR and, if so, which one??

[us2]

Were any of the dining rooms open for lunch on embarkation day. We are not big fans of the buffet.

[billet]

Were any of the dining rooms open for lunch on embarkation day. We are not big fans of the buffet.

 

The International Dining Room was open for lunch on embarkation day during August,

[Cruise Junky]

Hi there! We were also just on the same cruise and did the Coastal before hand, Joanne, you couldn't have had the best room steward ever, because we did ;). Excellent, excellent service on the Sapphire - some of the best crew we've encountered on any cruise line.

 

No issue with Horizons. The pools were crazy warm the first few days but did cool down a bit towards the end. We had Anytime and it went very well. Staff in the Pacific Moon were excellent. We did the Ultimate Balcony Dinner, Sabatinis and Sterlings... all were very, very good. Can't say enough about Sapphire and her staff - outstanding across the board. Our Egg crate and robes were already there when we boarded and our room steward who was also taking care of some of the suites brought us slippers and a tote bag. Room service was scary quick.

[cheezenip]

Regarding the HC buffet, would you happen to remember which salad dressings and fruits were offered?

[Cruise Junky]

Regarding the HC buffet, would you happen to remember which salad dressings and fruits were offered?

 

Let's see, I remember: Ranch, Blue Cheese, Balsamic, French & Thousand Islands... there may have been more, there were usually about 5 with a low cal one.

 

Fruits... pineapple, papaya, cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, that's all I can remember, sorry.

[Cruise Junky]

Forgot to mention about the "Elite Cocktail Party". For this cruise they also included Platinums. Not sure if it's going fleet wide or based on how many Elite's are on board. Even the sign was changed after the 2nd night to say "Platinum, Elite and Suite Guests only".

 

We went most nights, it was ok. Their special cocktail of the day was $5. Appies were nothing to write home about. Only the last night of the cruise was it busy, most nights I'd say there were under 25 people in there.

[4cats4me]

Thank you for the review -- very much enjoyed the level of detail! Sounds like a great cruise. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the concept of pools that are too warm: I swear, on every one of my cruises, the pool water temp has ranged between very chilly and downright frigid. How jealous I am of your luck!

 

You would have LOVED the 85 to 90* pools for the first few days

then! LOL -- I guess we're just used to the frigid Northern CA ocean

water temps. I almost felt the need to go back to the cabin and take

a very cold shower at times:D

 

I fogot to mention a few things in the review:

 

Birthday/Anniversary/Celebrations.

We were celebrating a birthday and an anniversary, and we received

coupons in our room to redeem at the main dining rooms for our "surprise"

which was a cute little chocolate cake enough for two to share [but very

small cake really meant for one]

We used to just mention to the waiter that we were celebrating something

and they'd bring a cake large enough for 4 people to share. Perhaps they're not doing this anymore?? At any rate, with all the food we

stuffed ourselves with, sharing the little cake was probably way more

than we should have had. LOL

 

Someone wanted to know about the newer menu items. I'm not so good

at recalling names, but one of the standouts for me was the Sea Bass

with risotto, but the risotto was maybe two tablespoons worth, with

a little bit of asparagus.

Portions weren't as large as they once were, but adequte, IMHO. That is

why I do recommend ordering two entrees if you're a big eater, because

that definitely satiated my appetite one night.

 

They still offer the "always available" items: Shrimp cocktail,

beef medallions, chicken, along with many other items I can't remember.

 

Princess definitely has a more gourment flare to the food now except

for the homestyle options that appeared on the menu each night.

 

One night my husband had a scallops dish which looked appetizing.

The presentation was nice we thought with many of the dinners.

 

Regarding someone's questions about self-service drinks in HC, yes, you

may still get your own drinks, but the buffet stewards also come by your

table offering to get you drinks as well. I do recall on the Emerald/Crown

that the buffet stewards more or less insisted on getting our drinks, which

I didn't like because they were forced to work so hard when we were quite

capable of getting our own stuff.

 

In the mornings at HC you used to be able to get pre-poured OJ from the

buffet itself. Now it's in pitchers and the buffet stewards will get it for

you. The juice and coffee are on little push carts.

Also, I forgot... but the silverware is not near the plates in HC anymore.

The silverware is already rolled up in napkins and on all the tables.

Therrefore, if you go during very crowded times [like we always seem to LOL] and if you're just getting a plate to take back to your room,

you are forced to try to locate a silverware setting if all the tables are

already being used. We finally found the silverware, but once again,

the stewards have control of the silverware, too]

I guess you can tell I sure like it the old way.

Oh well......

 

As for the question about how to request an eggcrate topper, you

can request that through your Princess Cruise Personalizer! We didn't

think we'd need one and discovered otherwise, so we simply put in a word

with Freddie on Day 2, and he was happy to take care of it for us!

[VibeGuy]

I swear the only measurably-cold water on that ship has ice and a lemon wedge floating in it. The Lotus Spa pool gets so warm you can tell when someone's peed in it because you float through a chilly spot!