My (slightly late) review of the Princess Sapphire from Jan 16-23rd

[Square]

I sent this in on the normal link but I figured I'd post it here as well as I've seen some others do when I was picking my trip. Let me know if you have any questions. I tried to add some detail, but still keep it from being too lengthy (tough to do). I might try adding some pics in if I get a chance.

 

My wife and I took our 3rd cruise ever, but our 1st with Princess on the Sapphire Princess January 16th – January 23rd. We have done the east & west Caribbean and decided to try the Mexican Riviera to see something different. I’ll try to break it down by parts & ports and then have a little summary on my thoughts as a whole for this cruise line (both of our other cruises were with Carnival so there will be some comparisons).

 

Embarkation in San Pedro: This was fairly easy. We flew in the night before and stayed at the Double tree in San Pedro (I used hotwire and got the hotel for $69 a night). We flew in late Friday night and used Super shuttle to get to the hotel. Here is my thread on strategies for coming in late Friday http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=22394397#post22394397. I recommend ordering some wine from Off The Vine (just google it) and having wine delivered for free to your hotel before you arrive. Note the doubletree was too busy the morning of the flight to run us to a local grocery so I had to ask for them to shuttle me to Vonns at 10:30 at night. It worked out well for last minute items as the shuttle runs until 11pm. The Doubletree was nice but the morning breakfast buffet was a little expensive so I’d pack a granola bar and save 30 bucks (for 2) if I had to do it over again. Anyway, we scheduled the shuttle to take us to the pier at 10:30. Arrived and flew through the Princess check in process. You end up waiting in kind of a terminal looking area where they hand you an embarkation number. We were given number one and we waited. The ship apparently came in an hour later than normal so we weren’t allowed to board until 12:15 or so. There were several people already boarding but I assume they were loyalty program members that got an early embarkation perk. They had a TV in the terminal so really we just watched some basketball instead of sitting in our rooms.

 

Room: We were in an outside balcony room on Aloha deck (A618) mid-rear of the ship. I actually really liked the room and the location on the ship. The room itself had a lot of storage and places to put your stuff. I liked the area for hanging your clothes and easy access to the safe. My netbook fit nicely in the safe but a full size laptop probably won’t fit. I felt safe and did leave it on the desk a few times but for storage reasons it just made sense to put it, my cash, and our passports in the safe. I’d take these rooms over the ones on Carnival. Nothing overly special, I just thought the layout was a little better. The balcony was plenty big for two of us to have a glass (or 2+) of wine while getting ready for dinner. There was a refrigerator in the room. The fridge had a few cans of soda along with a large water bottle. They charged you if you used them so I asked our steward to remove the items (she was very good and polite when we spoke to her). I also asked for her to fill the little ice bucket in the fridge all week (for room drinks). I tipped her $5 for her trouble and we had plenty of ice every day.

The Ship: Honestly, this is one of the best ships we’ve been on. I know it’s not brand new but I really didn’t see any wear or tear. Everything was kept very clean. I would describe the ship as more elegant than previous ones I’ve been on. The carnival ships seemed to be a little gaudy. I just remember all the bright teal and purples on our other ships that seemed to try to be too much like a cheap vegas theme. This ship seems more like an upscale hotel. The layout takes a little getting used to but every ship I’ve been on is that way. After a few days you know where you are going. Quick useful tip: The room levels have a pink strip on one side and a blue strip on the other. So once you know what side you are on, you can quickly find your room from the elevator. You will get turned around every now and then so this trick really helped me.

 

The Casino: I liked the casino. I don’t gamble a ton, but I’m not afraid to throw some money out. I liked that the casino didn’t feel too cramped and was well decorated. Some of the little touches (for example the poles were decorated as trees) made it seem a little classier than the riverboat type casinos I see at home. My wife likes slot machines so she tried her luck at some of the nickel and quarter machines. As a whole, she was up a few bucks by the end of the week. So she won a few bucks and then lost it back at times but ending the week with $20 is considered a win to me (usually losing slow is a win for me). One of our friends on the ship liked to play poker and they have a cool card table with built in screens that does all the dealing. It looked pretty slick but I didn’t try it out. You kind of have to get your own game going but it was cool you had the option to play poker. It was not a limit game and you had to deposit $50 but you could take your money out at any time and leave. I like to play blackjack and they had two $5 tables. One thing I would have liked to know ahead of time is that the $5 blackjack table played a slightly different game of 21. It was called “fun 21” which basically meant they took all the queens out of the deck and you could surrender at any time. I don’t know how this really affects the odds as I’ve never played it before. I only surrendered a few times and played basic strategy and won. I turned $20 into $55 one day and another $20 into $80 another time. I lost a little back but ended up about $100 when all was said and done. The dealers hand shuffle and use about 6 decks so I had the same odds as I get in my regular casinos. My only complaint about the casino is that they would rather have two open and empty $10 blackjack tables instead of just opening up more $5 ones so more people could play. Many casinos do this but I guess I don’t see the point. More people would be playing if you had more $5 tables. Besides, if nobody is playing the $10 table, what is the point of having 2+ open?

 

Dinning: The food was very good on the Sapphire. We did anytime dining and really never had to wait very long. They also have those buzzers you see at most restaurants so you could wonder around the shops for 10 minutes or so while you are waiting for a table. There isn’t much of a point in putting in a reservation when you have anytime seating. I’m not really sure why they even mention it as you can only put reservations in before 6:15 or after 8 (or so). So the only time you can reserve a table is when you wouldn’t have any trouble getting in anyway. We ate at 3 of the 4 restaurants and thought The Savoy was the best looking. The dining experience is nice and what we expected. The part I was actually surprised about was how awesome the buffet was for breakfast and lunch. Some reviews made it sound like the Horizon Court was just a burger line. Well my experience found that to be far from the truth. They served burgers and pizza on a grill near the mid ship pool but I never found these items in the buffet. One night we ate dinner in the buffet line and I actually had lamb. LAMB from a buffet and it was very good. So other than the few thousand calories I gained by stuffing my face 3 times a day, there were zero complaints from me on the food.

Entertainment: I saw the Piano man and it was somewhere between ok and pretty good. If you like this kind of show you will like it. If you don’t normally enjoy singing shows than it will just be ok. All the comedians we saw were very good. Those shows are in the Explorers lounge area which is a bit more intimate. It’s a decent sized area but tables to get filled up so plan on going a bit early. There is a bar and waiters so you can enjoy a couple drinks and talk while you are waiting for the show. Overall there was a lot to do on the ship so you can be as busy or lazy as you want. We chose lazy most of the time and hung around the aft pool area.

 

Ports: You WILL be asked to buy stuff from people constantly in port. You just have to accept that. Simply say “no gracias” and they’ll move on. They’ll come back later but they really weren’t that pushy. Just consistent (sometimes every 5 minutes a different person will come by).

 

Puerto Vallarta: We walked off the ship and ignored the white and cream colored taxis (the cheaper ones are yellow). Basically you veer left and walk about 2 blocks. We stopped at a shop that had internet and phones to call internationally. It cost about 35 cents per minute to call the states. So we had a quick conversation with the in laws who were watching our child and it was a couple dollars. This place also exchanged some cash for pesos at about a 12 to 1 rate. We had a cab take my wife and I to the Guadalupe church in downtown for $4 per person. So we walked through the old (but beautiful) church and then walked down two blocks to the malecon area with tons of shops and bars. We shopped for a few hours and then had a taxi take us to the Playa Los Arcos hotel (http://www.playalosarcos.com/). We paid about 150 pesos per person to use their pools, towels, and beach area. 110 of those pesos are a credit to the restaurant/bar. The food was good, the drinks were good. The pools, Jacuzzi, and beach were all good. This place probably isn’t as extravagant as a Dreams hotel but it is very nice and much more affordable. We split a cab back to the ship with some friends we made on the cruise and got back about a half hour before we left port.

 

Mazatlan: The port is a little weird getting off in Mazatlan. You get off the ship and you are in kind of a container holding area. There are federal armed guards around so don’t get too afraid if you see people in camo with M16s (we only saw one but it freaked my wife a little). You just kind of wait once you get off the ship for 5 minutes and a guy driving a kind of trolley will come and drive you to the actual port area. The port area has some shops you have to pass through to get to the other side. There are a bunch of cabs waiting there and then there is a large metal door that lets you in and out. It looks a little spooky but everyone was very polite. I emailed Mazatlan Frank prior to taking the cruise and wanted to do some kind of a city tour for half the day. I didn’t email him until close to the cruise so he was already full but he told me he would have someone else do our tour. There was some confusion once we got there but everything worked out. Mazatlan Frank is actually pretty tall so he can be easier to find (maybe 6’2”). His English is very good. He had us ride with a guy name Andres (I believe that is correct but I might be a little off). The tour was good. I wouldn’t call it great but it gave you a good idea of what the town looked like and we got to see the highlights (even stopped at the beautiful cathedral and take some pictures). It wasn’t cheap at $35 per person but I’m not likely going to be back soon so it’s nice to get a feel for the city in a short time. We saw some of the huge all inclusive (the RIU) as we dropped off some people and the place was beautiful and gigantic. I’m not sure if it was worth it (the tour plus all inclusive was $79 per person) so we were happy with the tour and found our own trouble later. So we had Andres drop us off at the water taxi around noon. It cost about 2 bucks to take the water taxi to Stone Island. Once you are off the water taxi you take a right. Now there is a hard right and a road that just kind of veers right and runs along the mountain ridge. You veer right and walk for about 5 minutes. You’ll start to see the bars/huts along the beach. We thought the beach was beautiful. People describe Stone Island as “rustic” but there are a ton of restaurants and bars there. So it’s not like you are out in the middle of nowhere. The bathrooms were fine for men, but I guess the women’s one my wife used didn’t have doors on the stalls. We walked about 2/3rds the way down to a place called Victor’s (blue sign on the beach) to meet up with another couple. We feasted on $1.50 Pacificos and the very large garlic shrimp (maybe $11 for the plate and it was a ton of food). So we got to see the city and hang at the beach (which is what we wanted) before heading back to the ship.

 

Cabo: We didn’t get to see Cabo because of weather. I understand they have to keep things safe and I’m not going to disagree with the captain. There is no reason to put three thousand people in danger of missing flights for 4 hours in Cabo. BUT, this is the one sore spot I had with Princess. I only get to cruise every few years. So I don’t get to see Cabo and quite possibly will never get to see it (at the rate I’m going it’ll be at least a decade). I understand it is weather related and it’s not Princess’ fault. I guess I just wanted to get a little something for missing the port. Nothing big, but can I get a happy hour or two? Can I have some $2 beers or something? Maybe $3 blackjack in the casino? It would have been pretty awesome if they would have given us a break on something as you get your 3 thousand people to stay on board and spend even more money. So out of a 7 day cruise we had 4 full days at sea. I don’t mind days at sea but I’m positive that my next cruise will be much more port intensive. I understand the Mex. Riviera geography pretty much guarantees 3 days at sea. 4 is just too much (but I’m on vacation so I’m going to have a good time regardless and did). So if Princess would have given us a little something it would have helped soften the blow a bit IMO.

 

Disembarkation: We stopped at the desk and told them we wanted to do the walk off disembarkation. I know people on the forums say you have to be very careful about picking a flight that is too early as you can have all kinds of trouble getting to LAX. I’m sure they are right but our day went ultra smooth in this regard. The ship showed up in port early at about 6:30. We ate breakfast at about 7AM and grabbed our bags. Our info told us to go to Club Fusion for the last walk out group scheduled at 7:55. Once we were carrying our luggage and got to the right level, a crewmember told us to walk a certain way and pointed out the door and off the ship. We were off the ship by 7:41 and through customs by 8:05. We walked out and took a cab for $56 to the airport and arrived at 8:35 for our 12:15 flight. So you shouldn’t book anything too early but if things work out smoothly, you can get to the airport very quickly.

Conclusion: We had a great time and the ship was beautiful. Both Mazatlan and Puerta Vallarta were beautiful and fun. I wish I had been able to be there during the night so I could see some nightlife but we got adequate time in both ports. Princess overall impressed us. Everything was clean and well done. The people were friendly and helpful. I’d say that the ship and experience was a bit more elegant than the Carnival ones we’ve been on. We did take the offer to deposit $100 per person and get a future cruise credit if we use it in the next 4 years (or a refund if we don’t). So I’m officially a Princess fan. Other than no special happy hour for missing Cabo (which shouldn’t be expected and maybe I’m just asking for too much) they didn’t miss the mark on much. I’m 30 and don’t feel like Carnival was anymore fun to “party” on than this ship. If you have tried some other ships and want a new experience, I definitely think Princess is worth a try.

[quincytoo]

good review :) One question...When is your next cruise?? We had fun hanging out with you and Mrs. Square :)

[Square]

good review :) One question...When is your next cruise?? We had fun hanging out with you and Mrs. Square :)

That is a very good question. :D We'll have to see what happens. Unfortunately it may not be for awhile. I'll be sure to drop you guys a PM the next time we have a vaca scheduled. BTW, my wife was trying to find you on facebook but got confused on the last name (I think there were a few with the same name or something). Send me a PM if you have a FB page so she can send a friend request.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

[mississauga]

Does Princess not give an on board credit if a port is missed? Have never missed one with Princess but know that Carnival does give one if a port is missed.

[Square]

Does Princess not give an on board credit if a port is missed? Have never missed one with Princess but know that Carnival does give one if a port is missed.

As far as I know we got nothing. We got a future credit because we put a deposit down on a future cruise but that seems like a standard deal. Honestly, I would have been happy with a cheap/free beer or two. A future credit (even of $25pp) would have pretty sweet in my eyes (as it's something they don't have to do, but would be very much appreciated). I'm guessing that complaining isn't going to do anything so I haven't contacted the company.

[northwestbear]

Thanks for a great review. The Sapphire Princess brought us back to the Princess brand. Our first cruise with the line was on the Dawn Princess and was horrible. Some friends invited us along on a Pacific Coastal cruise last fall and we really loved the ship. We are doing the Mexican Riviera on her next month and can't wait. As for the missed port, it happens... we hit a terrible tropical storm on an NCL Hawaiian cruise and not only missed a port, but got left on Maui with about 500 other passengers... they had to take the ship out to sea because it was being slammed into the pier. They did put us up in nice hotels, but there was also no reimbursement for the inconvenience. On the up side of the that cruise - I have never seen so many rainbows! Even with the bumps we may encounter.. they are the best vacations!

[Coral]

Thanks for your comments. I think the Sapphire is one of the nicer ships Princess has - glad you also enjoyed it.

 

Carnival often has larger cabins so sometimes when people come over to Princess they mention that. How did the sizes compare for you - it has been awhile since I have sailed Carnival.

[yyzatcqq]

Did you get your port charges refunded??? That should have been the correct thing to do if the ship did not visit a port.

[quincytoo]

We had a credit of about $10 and I think it was for the missed port charges??

[quincytoo]

That is a very good question. :D We'll have to see what happens. Unfortunately it may not be for awhile. I'll be sure to drop you guys a PM the next time we have a vaca scheduled. BTW, my wife was trying to find you on facebook but got confused on the last name (I think there were a few with the same name or something). Send me a PM if you have a FB page so she can send a friend request.

 

How do I send a Pm on CC??

[yyzatcqq]

you can't PM on CC.

[Oi]

Great and very thorough review! We're on the Sapphire in 79 days and your review really has me pumped! Glad you enjoyed the cruise and Princess...we can't wait! :)

[Rockymountainsparky]

Thanks for the great review. We were on the Sapphire in Janurary of last year and will be again in 79 days. I can't wait.:D:D:D

[BigR]

I didn't find out until the second night that "fun" blackjack meant involved taking the queens out of the deck. That is quite an advantage to the casino. I think it's intended to drive people to the $10 tables. I just stopped playing so if that's their intention, it didn't work in my case.

[Square]

How do I send a Pm on CC??

Hmm, I guess I didn't think that all the way through. Who makes a forum without private messages?

 

Mkay, well I'll have to think of something else. Do you remember our last names (or how to spell it)? I can figure something out. No worries if you can't, I'm just trying to make this easy without putting my address on the web. I'll think of a plan B if you don't remember our last name (started with W and was 6 letters long).

[Square]

I didn't find out until the second night that "fun" blackjack meant involved taking the queens out of the deck. That is quite an advantage to the casino. I think it's intended to drive people to the $10 tables. I just stopped playing so if that's their intention, it didn't work in my case.

Yea, it wasn't really marked out that well (at least I don't remember seeing it). Someone at the table just told me. I guess there is some advantage to being able to surrender half your bet at anytime. I just don't know the general strategy for that system. I played basic strategy and did fine, but I'm sure that isn't the typical experience. I figured it was important to include that as I'm sure I would have done some homework before hand if I'd have known they skewed the deck into a different game. Very few people were playing the $10 tables when we were on the ship.

[Square]

Thanks for your comments. I think the Sapphire is one of the nicer ships Princess has - glad you also enjoyed it.

 

Carnival often has larger cabins so sometimes when people come over to Princess they mention that. How did the sizes compare for you - it has been awhile since I have sailed Carnival.

The room didn't feel one bit smaller than what I remember on Carnival. We did have a balcony on this ship and never did on our Carnival trips, but honestly the room was good. I mean, once you've cruised you understand that space is going to be a little tight. Having said that, the room was well laid out well enough to keep me happy and I couldn't really think of any complaints.

[quincytoo]

Hmm, I guess I didn't think that all the way through. Who makes a forum without private messages?

 

Mkay, well I'll have to think of something else. Do you remember our last names (or how to spell it)? I can figure something out. No worries if you can't, I'm just trying to make this easy without putting my address on the web. I'll think of a plan B if you don't remember our last name (started with W and was 6 letters long).

 

Go to Trip Advisor and type in Quincytoo my profile should pop up pm me there. :)