Sapphire Princess Review - Alaska

[cathylene]

We just returned from our Alaskan cruise. It was fantastic. The ship was wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

It was first experience with Anytime Dining. It worked out perfectly. We liked the Pacific Dining room so much, we ate there every night. We simply made a reservation for the time that fit us. Excellent food and service.

The Horizon Buffet was nothing special, but there were so many extra touches that really worked: International Buffets were featured for luch and dinner; the Belgian waffle station, Home made ice cream every day, great fresh fruit, the coffee bar (Buy the Coffee card- it's a bargain).

The staff was friendly and fun. We played lots of trivia, team games and line dancing.

Ask me anything,

Cathy

[hollon]

I'm trying to plan our trip on the diamond for next yr. Can you tell me what other ships you've been on before to compare to Royal Caribbean Voyager class ships (iif you've been on voyager class or higher). Did you ever get bored on sea day. Did you get a balcony, was it worth it. What iterinary did you take. Glad you had a good time. I can't wait to go to alaska, it's just so expensive to do the excursions - much harder to plan than the caribbean.

[Woobstr112G]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob

[lilacbirman]

We will be going on this cruise in July. Can you tell me if the formal nights were on the cruise only days (no shore/docking)?

[cathylene]

I'm trying to plan our trip on the diamond for next yr. Can you tell me what other ships you've been on before to compare to Royal Caribbean Voyager class ships (iif you've been on voyager class or higher). Did you ever get bored on sea day. Did you get a balcony, was it worth it. What iterinary did you take. Glad you had a good time. I can't wait to go to alaska, it's just so expensive to do the excursions - much harder to plan than the caribbean.

 

I have been on The Ruby, Emerald and Golden Princess. I enjoyed them all. I do like the bigger ships better, but the Sapphire was very nice.

There were so many activities on Sea Days, never a dull moment. We had a ball.

We actually booked a room with a window but were upgraded to a balcony. How great was that!! The weather was beautiful, so we did use the balcony. It stays light until about 10 PM so it was most enjoyable.

We did the inside passage out of Seattle. We booked our own tours. We followed Cruise Critic recommendations and were very pleased. I agree that the planning was hard, only because we had never been there before. We are much smarter now.

Hope this helped.

Cathy

[cathylene]

We will be going on this cruise in July. Can you tell me if the formal nights were on the cruise only days (no shore/docking)?

 

The Formal nights were on the Sea Days. Most people were not very formal. Suits, sport jackets for the men. Nice dresses & pant suits for the women. Gowns and tuxes were in the minority.

[cathylene]

I forgot to mention that we used a very reliable limo service for transportation to & from the Seattle airport. Very reasonable also.

Cathy

[Raze]

I forgot to mention that we used a very reliable limo service for transportation to & from the Seattle airport. Very reasonable also.

Cathy

 

Hi Cathy,

 

What service was it?

 

Brian

[cathylene]

Hi Cathy,

 

What service was it?

 

Brian

 

We used Airport Limousine.

1-877-884-5466

We had a stretch limo. There were 5 adults and 9 big pieces of luggage.

He charged us $45 from the ship to the airport. Great deal.

Cathy

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the comments.

[chipmaster]

Was this the Tracy Arm sailing? How far up did you get and close to Sawyer Glacier? I'm almost decided I am NOT going to do the seperate excursion and instead do whale watching and Mendenhall instead.

 

Thanks

 

We just returned from our Alaskan cruise. It was fantastic. The ship was wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

It was first experience with Anytime Dining. It worked out perfectly. We liked the Pacific Dining room so much, we ate there every night. We simply made a reservation for the time that fit us. Excellent food and service.

The Horizon Buffet was nothing special, but there were so many extra touches that really worked: International Buffets were featured for luch and dinner; the Belgian waffle station, Home made ice cream every day, great fresh fruit, the coffee bar (Buy the Coffee card- it's a bargain).

The staff was friendly and fun. We played lots of trivia, team games and line dancing.

Ask me anything,

Cathy

[Raze]

We used Airport Limousine.

1-877-884-5466

We had a stretch limo. There were 5 adults and 9 big pieces of luggage.

He charged us $45 from the ship to the airport. Great deal.

Cathy

 

Thanks for the info Cathy!

 

Brian

[geoherb]

What excursions did you do? We're going August 1 and have decided on what to do in Skagway and Ketchikan but not Juneau.

[cathylene]

Was this the Tracy Arm sailing? How far up did you get and close to Sawyer Glacier? I'm almost decided I am NOT going to do the seperate excursion and instead do whale watching and Mendenhall instead.

 

Thanks

 

We were not able to go into Tracy Arm because of fog. I don't know what arm we did go into, but we were told it was better than Tracy Arm. It was very scenic. We saw a glacier from afar because it is too dangerous for the ship to get close.

We went on an excellent private Whale Watch in Juneau. The bus driver gave us a side tour of Juneau & also took us to Mendehall. That was amazing. So beautiful.

Harv & marv's Outback Alaska

1-866-909-7288

http://www.harvandmarvs.com

[cathylene]

What excursions did you do? We're going August 1 and have decided on what to do in Skagway and Ketchikan but not Juneau.

 

We went on an excellent private Whale Watch in Juneau. The bus driver gave us a side tour of Juneau & also took us to Mendehall. That was amazing. So beautiful.

Harv & marv's Outback Alaska

1-866-909-7288

http://www.harvandmarvs.com

[cathylene]

We found that we brought too many warm clothes. On the ship, people were wearing summer clothes. We wished we had packed shorts & light tops. The temperatures were high 50's - low 60's off the ship. It wasn't bad at all.

Cathy