Quick Impressions - Sapphire Princess Coastal 9/19-9/24/11

[caribill]

By chance did anyone reading attend the Chef's Table dinner on the last night of the cruise?

 

I would be surprised if they had one scheduled on the last night of a cruise no matter how long the cruise was.

[BarbaraP]

Construction: On this trip, it looks like there were the beginnings of some work and loading of materials related to the upcoming drydock. As of the end of the cruise the aft portion of Sport Deck behind Skywalkers (and the two hot tubs in that area) were closed off for some sort of work, and in Victoria there were several pallets of materials loaded onto the ship and stored in what will eventually become the Sanctuary area.

 

Construction?

I thought the Sapphire isn't scheduled for drydock until January 2012. Please tell me it isn't so:(

[lilfish7]

Thanks for your review. Will be sailing on her Satuday and I cannot wait!!!

[doris1930]

Thanks for your review. Will be sailing on her Satuday and I cannot wait!!!

 

Maybe you will give us an accurate review.

[echotumi]

Construction: On this trip, it looks like there were the beginnings of some work and loading of materials related to the upcoming drydock. As of the end of the cruise the aft portion of Sport Deck behind Skywalkers (and the two hot tubs in that area) were closed off for some sort of work, and in Victoria there were several pallets of materials loaded onto the ship and stored in what will eventually become the Sanctuary area.

 

Construction?

I thought the Sapphire isn't scheduled for drydock until January 2012. Please tell me it isn't so:(

 

my trip is in nov so i hope the dont chage the ship to much before drydock we picked it because where not a fan of the sancutary at all, for hawaii runs a wasted space ,last cruise never saw anyone there but the staff

[Sunny AZ Girl]

I was following the progress of the CB in the weeks before and during her 2009 extensive drydock. It seems to me that they did start doing some minor repairs during those last few cruises prior to drydock, especially carpet replacement. This does seem to be very early for that, though.:confused: Perhaps since there are some apparently long cruises, especially the Hawaii cruises with long periods away from port they are planning on beginning work early in areas currently not being used a lot. There was quite an uproar when the CB came out of drydock and was still undergoing renovation, with the steak house still torn up, etc.

[Vexorg]

To clarify, at the front of the ship there wasn't any actual construction work going on during last week's cruise, just loadng and storage of materials. At the back of the ship there was work going on, but it wasn't entirely clear exactly what was being done. It did appear to have something to do with carpeting, but beyond that I couldn't determine anything. There was no work on the interior areas of the ship that I could see.

[vakamalua]

Returned yesterday from some time in the LA area after the 9/19 coastal. We travel extensively at various price points and have experienced a wide range of cruise lines.

 

I must start by saying that we are platinum on Princess but had not been on any of their ships in seven years, so this short cruise was a bit of a test to see if we wanted to return to Princess more often. The answer: based on this experience, probably not.

 

 

This coastal was a great value so I suppose we got our money's worth. But we were disappointed in the food--nothing terrible, but nothing outstanding either. The desserts were very blah and the lack of vegetables (e.g., 1/2 tomato, two asparagus stalks) with the entrees was shocking to anyone who wants to eat at all healthy. We had to request double or triple veggies with every meal. I had a chance to mention this to the Executive Chef for the whole ship and he just shrugged, indicating that corporate tells them to plate the meals that way.

 

But our major disappointment was the service. The room steward was fine. But all the food related servers that we encountered were perfunctory at best, rude at worst. The buffet at busy times were mayhem. I actually had the host at a lunch buffet YELL LOUDLY at me because I suggested that they shouldn't send people down the dessert line first because they just have to get back in line or cut into the hot food line. Me and everyone who heard him was shocked at his tone.

 

We did traditional late seating (which we prefer) and our servers were fairly efficient but we often had to ask for things several times. No welcome each night, no pleasantries. On formal night, the maitre de asked how the little lobster was and when I said it was OK, he said "I know they're nothing special" and walked away. No offer for another entree, no apology.

 

The Sapphire is a lovely ship, although it will benefit from freshening up at the dry dock in January. The mini-suites are a very comfortable size with a generous balcony. We met LOTS of very nice people, including the three interesting couples at our table who made dinnertime, if not necessarily the dinners, something to look forward to.

 

Because the weather was cool for the two sea days which precluded too much time on the open deck, we signed up for the Ultimate Ship's Tour. We were very impressed with this tour and it is worth the high cost. For three and a half hours, we thoroughly explored many behind the scenes portions of the ship and met the people responsible for these functions who explained the workings in great detail and answered all questions graciously. We visited the theater, mooring department, medical unit, photo lab, print shop, laundry, kitchens, engineering center and the bridge where the Captain spent 40 minutes with us including explanations of how difficult it had been to sail in and out of very foggy San Francisco the previous day. We then each received a few photos of the group with various personnel including the Captain, a terry cloth robe, a chef's jacket and a personalized pad of Princess stationary. This was by far our best on-board experience.

 

Despite service issues, we enjoyed the cruise and the time in the two ports. With such a competitive cruise market, after this experience, we're not sure when we'll go back to Princess on a longer cruise. We went into this cruise with realistic expectations but truly miss the Love Boats we used to sail!

[ShipsandDipper]

 

Because the weather was cool for the two sea days which precluded too much time on the open deck, we signed up for the Ultimate Ship's Tour. We were very impressed with this tour and it is worth the high cost. For three and a half hours, we thoroughly explored many behind the scenes portions of the ship and met the people responsible for these functions who explained the workings in great detail and answered all questions graciously. We visited the theater, mooring department, medical unit, photo lab, print shop, laundry, kitchens, engineering center and the bridge where the Captain spent 40 minutes with us including explanations of how difficult it had been to sail in and out of very foggy San Francisco the previous day. We then each received a few photos of the group with various personnel including the Captain, a terry cloth robe, a chef's jacket and a personalized pad of Princess stationary. This was by far our best on-board experience.

 

 

We saw you guys up on the bridge from our balcony!

 

We really enjoyed the UST on the Star last year. For the price, we probably won't do it again, but I'm glad we did it once.

 

It's interesting reading your impressions of the staff and the dining. I thought the Horizon Court had better desserts than the dining room. Actually, for a couple of nights we just decided to eat at HC rather than the anytime dining rooms because I was not impressed by the dining room service.

 

Honestly, overall, I thought the crew on the Star was better than on the Sapphire.