Sapphire Princess Review

[PrincessE]

**This is a long post**

 

My husband and I were booked on the Sapphire Princess Mexico cruise January 12 - January 19.

 

I am a huge fan of Princess and we sail PCL exclusively. This was my 12th cruise with PCL and my husband's sixth. Because I'm such a big fan of PCL, I typically only try to see the good things about the line and turn a blind eye to whatever might be wrong. On this cruise though, I have to take exception with my usual behavior and report some unpleasant incidents.

 

As usual, embarkation was fantastic. Princes does a great job of embarkatoin. The Sapphire was super, super clean. I mean spotless. Cleanliness is a biggy with me, so they earned a definite gold star for appearance. Everywhere, all the time the ship was either being cleaned or just sparkled.

 

Our room stewardess was delightful. Her name is Ramona and she's from the Philippines. We thoroughly enjoyed our daily visits with her. She was extremely accommodating and bent over backwards to make our stay enjoyable. And what a fantastic smile. She's just a great lady. The typical uncomfortable mattress wasn't present this cruise, which was awesome. Usually we need two egg crates on top of our mattress, but this cruise the mattress was excellent. We slept very well every night.

 

We chose Anytime Dining and we're really at the end of our rope with it. We've been doing Anytime Dining for a few years now and I really miss the customer service that comes with Traditional Dining. We have found on previous cruises that we find a waiter and dining room we really like and we return night after night. That way they get to know you and build a relationship. That translates into better service. This cruise, our first night in one of the dining rooms, the Sante Fe was a disaster. Our waiter was surly and lazy. He never smiled, spoke to us harshly and basically left us alone. Our meals came with baked potatoes, but we had to ask (after waiting for his return for about 15 minutes) for butter and sour cream. My husbands cheesecake was served with a soup spoon. We received iced tea only once and the glasses were removed and never returned, depsite our request for refills. The meat order wasn't correct - meaning the meat wasn't cooked per our request. We watched other tables around us who were served by another waiter getting fantastic service. Our waiter must have been at the end of his contract or something.

 

The next night was formal night. My husband is a big man - he's as broad as a barn and dress clothes do not fit him well. He has a 19 1/2 inch neck, big muscled shoulders and back and no hips. Poor guy. Fitted dress clothes do not fit him well and he's just not comfortable in them. For his formal nights he wears Tommy Bahama button down, collared dress shirts (you know the ones - they cost about $150 each) and a pair of dress slacks with leather dress shoes. He looks very elegant and stylish. He's clean shaved and looks quite handsome, I must say. He has a variety of Tommy Bahama shirts and they are always dry cleaned and pressed. The silk fabric always falls nicely and he looks like a million bucks. The sleeve goes to about mid-elbow. I wore a black dress with black heels and was all done up - make-up, hair, etc.

 

We had reservations for 5:30 at the Pacific Moon (we were done with the Santa Fe) and showed up on time. My husband was wearing the same type of outfit he has worn on all previous five cruises and to each formal night and Captain's Circle party on every ship - Caribbean Princess three times, Dawn Princess once and Sapphire once).

 

Jovi from the Philippines was the head waiter checking people in. My husband gave him our name and Jovi looked my husband up and down and got a sour look on his face. Jovi then told my husband that there was a dress code. My husband said yes, we were aware of that and he was wearing his dress clothes. Jovi then made a motion to his sleeve. He told my husband that he needed long sleeves. My husband again, very politely and quietly said that this was his formal attire. I quiety interjected that this had never been a problem before. Jovi just stared at us. My husband then asked if we were being told that we wouldn't be seated tonight and we should go eat at the Horizon Court. Jovi snidely told my husband that he wasn't telling us where we should eat. So I asked if we were going to be seated because Jovi wouldn't come out and say that we had to leave. Jovi just shrugged his shoulders. By this time I'm humiliated beyond words. I can feel the tears flooding my eyeballs and my husband is so embarassed he's turned a funny shade of red. My husband asked again if we could be seated and Jovi just shrugged his shoulders yet again and pointed to his arms.

 

Crying I went to the Purser's Desk and explained what had happened. The girl listened to me but didn't offer any remedy. She stated something along the lines of she would inform her boss. Humiliated we went to the Horizon Court for a very bland meal. It ruined our evening unfortunately and really soured our attitude through the next day.

 

The following nights in the Pacific Moon our waiters weren't very good. Everyone seemed to be unhappy. The food was hit or miss. Ususally I love the Princess food, but this cruise it was either really good or really bad. We watched Jovi seat a man who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt with matching sweat pants. Another man had on track pants and someone else was wearing a hat. This was of course smart casual night, but honestly, there was nothing smart casual about any of these outfits. My husband on the other hand wore his standard smart casual outfit - dockers, leather loafers and a Nautica polo shirt.

 

The second formal night was the Captain Circle cocktail party. We didn't go because we were afraid my husband would get turned away. Wandering around the ship that evening we watched numerous people allowed into the dining rooms without formal attire on. Men with wrinkled shirts that were untucked. No ties. No jackets. We approached another head waiter in the Savoy dining room and asked about the sleeve length. He said as long as it's a button down shirt with collar, sleeve length did not matter. Imagine our shock.

 

We went back to the Purser's Desk and spoke to someone different from the previous formal night. She listened attentively to our complaint and agreed that the discrepency wasn't fair and should be corrected. She said she would follow up with her boss. We never heard back.

 

Inbetween these formal nights I wrote a letter to the Purser explaining my humiliation and frustration at how we were treated. No one ever replied during our cruise. We were shocked by this because in the past if we've made a comment it's always been addressed immediately and with great satisfaction. It's one reason we love Princess so - they're always so attentive and immediate with their responses. Not so with this crew.

 

We finally found a fabulous waiter the last night of the cruise. Phillip from the Philippines in the Savoy dining room. He was so wonderful - where had he been our entire cruise!

 

Our bar staff was okay. We found some real gems and sought them out. The service on this cruise was hit or miss, which really shocked us. We never saw the Captain once on this cruise. I never saw the Cruise Director either, but my husband says he saw the back of his head. Maybe that had something to do with the attitude on the ship? We have always had such great service on PCL, with the exception of a couple of minor issues through the years. This trip really sent our heads spinning.

 

We took one shore excursion this cruise and enjoyed it very much. We always enjoy the PCL shore excursions. The boutique staff was very helpful and friendly. We enjoyed getting to know them and shopping in the boutiques.

 

The Future Cruise Sales desk wasn't staffed near enough. Two hours a day split into two one hour segments isn't enough time for everyone to be seen. We would wait in line only to finally walk away after waiting 30 minutes because we were fourth in line and it closed in 15 minutes. We heard many complaints about the Future Cruise Sales desk not being manned long enough.

 

Disembarkation was excellent, of course. Again, Princess does this very well.

 

All in all we had a nice cruise, but not a great cruise. We will sail with Princess again...I'm so close to Elite status I can't stand it! :)

 

Unfortunately this trip will definitely not be one of our favorites.

[Coral]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Jovi on this. Just because dress code wasn't enforced before, doesn't mean it shouldn't be enforced now by someone who is supposed to enforce the dress code. Last time I was on the Sapphire, they had signs up that said "Dress Code would be enforced". I didn't see them the first week but did after that.

 

As far as the cost of the shirt, it is irrelevant. There are $150 tshirts out there. I think your husband would have been fine with a long sleeve white shirt that costs far less and a tie.

 

I am not a fan of formal night. I actually hate it but on every cruise, I have brought formal clothes with me and wear them. Part of the "when in Rome, do as the Romans do".

 

If you cruise again, I would suggest bringing formal clothes or making alternate arrangements such as Sterlings, etc.... Maybe in the future they will eliminate formal night.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We had anytime dining on our cruise two years ago, and we felt it just wasn't anything special (it seemed disorganized -- we would be seated with others who had already ordered, we felt rushed, etc), so we were happy to be able to get traditional dining for our cruise last month. The waitstaff didn't always remember our preferences, but sometimes I would get lemon slices for my salad without asking, and if the waiter was offering pepper, he knew to skip me, but to always offer my hubby and daughter.

 

I don't think we would have gotten attitude about dress in that dining room -- if they accepted my daughter's off the wall outfits, and the guy at the next table who never wore a tie on formal night...It was all good. It doesn't sound fair that your husband was singled out like that. Too bad he didn't have a jacket -- he could have worn it into the dining room and then just drape it over the chair as many men do. But if he hasn't had a problem on other Princess ships in the past, how would he know?

[CaribbeanIsland]

Too bad he didn't have a jacket -- he could have worn it into the dining room and then just drape it over the chair as many men do. But if he hasn't had a problem on other Princess ships in the past' date=' how would he know?[/quote']

 

They should know. It is printed in the Patter on every single cruise.

[PrincessE]

They should know. It is printed in the Patter on every single cruise.

 

Actually the sleeve length of a shirt isn't printed in the Patter. It says tux or dinner jacket, but nothing about ties or sleeve length. My point was and is - others were being let into the dining room with just slacks and shirts. They were long sleeved shirts without ties and without jackets. The Patter doesn't speak to sleeve length. Trust me - I was just on this cruise and read the Patter very carefully. Plus this is my 12th cruise with Princess. I'm not new here. My complaint is 1. Jovi was incredibly rude and 2. There wasn't consistency between the dining rooms.

[CaribbeanIsland]

Actually the sleeve length of a shirt isn't printed in the Patter. It says tux or dinner jacket, but nothing about ties or sleeve length. My point was and is - others were being let into the dining room with just slacks and shirts. They were long sleeved shirts without ties and without jackets. The Patter doesn't speak to sleeve length. Trust me - I was just on this cruise and read the Patter very carefully. Plus this is my 12th cruise with Princess. I'm not new here. My complaint is 1. Jovi was incredibly rude and 2. There wasn't consistency between the dining rooms.

 

Then why didn't you go to a different dining room?

[PrincessE]

Then why didn't you go to a different dining room?

 

Because the first formal night is when all this happened. We didn't think to go to a different dining room. Our thought was it was now policy. It wasn't until the second formal night days later when we witnessed others being let in with just long sleeved shirts and slacks.

 

I'm not looking to get attacked here or severely questioned. I wrote out my review and posted it. Why is it people feel the need to attack and critique when someone is just pointing out what happened to them. Geesh. You related to Jovi or what?

[sunsetbeachgal]

Wow...we sailed on the Sapphire in October and had a stellar experience in the Santa Fe dining room...but we knew the man who was the maitre d' then, Johann (from South Africa) from a cruise on the Ocean, so presumably he took care of us. I did see him turn a man away one night who had shorts on and he did it in a very classy way telling him that he had a lovely table for 4 that he would save for them if the man would go back to his cabin and put on a pair of slacks.

 

I'm sorry about your experience.

[caribill]

I agree that the OP's DH was poorly treated since Princess is very inconsistent on enforecement of "suggested" dress codes on formal evenings.

 

I would never expect the Purser's Desk to do anything about it, but it is inexcusible that promised responses were never received.

 

A polite letter to the home office is in order.

[poncho1965]

Our Alaska trip in July, I wore long sleeved shirt and tie, dress pants and no jacket. It was never an issue. I believe you were treated unfairly.

[Shake]

Princess E you have a two problems here for the MDR on Formal Night. First No Coat and second no coat with short sleeves. The rules also apply to you and I'm for enforcing the dress code.

 

I'm sure your probably a little tired of the Tommy Bahama look. Why not just change it up once in a while.

[PrincessE]

Princess E you have a two problems here for Formal Night. First No Coat and second no coat with short sleeves. The rules also apply to you and I'm for enforcing the dress code.

 

I'm sure your probably a little tired of the Tommy Bahama look. Why not just change it up once in a while.

 

I'm all for enforcing the dress code too, but like I said, my husband's attire has been accepted at no less than 18 formal nights over the course of five previous cruises. We have even asked head waiters before if he was dressed appropriately and have received total acceptance.

 

I don't want to see sloppy people in the dining room. I believe the dress code should be enforced, but my complaint is that the head waiter was RUDE and the rules are not consistent across the line or even on the same ship.

 

As for being tired of my husband's choice of styling, far from it. He is who he is and I find him dashing and handsome.

[cvpends]

As for being tired of my husband's choice of styling, far from it. He is who he is and I find him dashing and handsome.

 

Sweet :)

[Cruisin' Chick]

They should know. It is printed in the Patter on every single cruise.

 

Actually the sleeve length of a shirt isn't printed in the Patter. It says tux or dinner jacket, but nothing about ties or sleeve length. My point was and is - others were being let into the dining room with just slacks and shirts. They were long sleeved shirts without ties and without jackets. The Patter doesn't speak to sleeve length. Trust me - I was just on this cruise and read the Patter very carefully. Plus this is my 12th cruise with Princess. I'm not new here. My complaint is 1. Jovi was incredibly rude and 2. There wasn't consistency between the dining rooms.

 

My point was that it is inconsistently enforced. The man has been on several other Princess cruises so he was undoubtedly going on his prior experiences. So that's why I said he didn't know -- because he didn't know he would run into a maitre'd that was enforcing it. And obviously there was much inconsistency on smart casual nights.

[wcflats]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Jovi on this. Just because dress code wasn't enforced before, doesn't mean it shouldn't be enforced now by someone who is supposed to enforce the dress code. Last time I was on the Sapphire, they had signs up that said "Dress Code would be enforced". I didn't see them the first week but did after that.

 

As far as the cost of the shirt, it is irrelevant. There are $150 tshirts out there. I think your husband would have been fine with a long sleeve white shirt that costs far less and a tie.

 

I am not a fan of formal night. I actually hate it but on every cruise, I have brought formal clothes with me and wear them. Part of the "when in Rome, do as the Romans do".

 

If you cruise again, I would suggest bringing formal clothes or making alternate arrangements such as Sterlings, etc.... Maybe in the future they will eliminate formal night.

 

I agree with CORAL - formal night is clearly spelled out that it is as least a Coat and Tie for men. You are making excuses for your husband and all others who are unable to abide by simple rules that 99% of the rest abide by. There are many alternatives to dining other than the MDR on formal night - hot dogs, horizon court etc. The specialty venues also require coat and tie on formal nights as well. There is also room service. I also am not a great fan of formal nights however for a very few couple of hours if that is the requirement then I have no problem with it.

[Mycruises62]

I believe you were treated unfairly. We were on the Saphhire to Hawaii in November and the wait staff was the worst. this is the 3rd time on Sapphire.

[SeeTheSeaAgain]

PrincessE, you sound like a reasonable woman to me, not someone who just can't be pleased. I'm sorry the rules seemed to suddenly change after all your previous experience with Princess. I wonder, why did you not speak to the Maitre D'?

[PrincessE]

PrincessE, you sound like a reasonable woman to me, not someone who just can't be pleased. I'm sorry the rules seemed to suddenly change after all your previous experience with Princess. I wonder, why did you not speak to the Maitre D'?

 

Thank you for your kind words. As for speaking with the Maitre D' - we could never find him. We did look and asked for him, but we never once found him in any of the dining rooms. It was very odd.

[PrincessE]

I agree with CORAL - formal night is clearly spelled out that it is as least a Coat and Tie for men. You are making excuses for your husband and all others who are unable to abide by simple rules that 99% of the rest abide by. There are many alternatives to dining other than the MDR on formal night - hot dogs, horizon court etc. The specialty venues also require coat and tie on formal nights as well. There is also room service. I also am not a great fan of formal nights however for a very few couple of hours if that is the requirement then I have no problem with it.

 

I'm not making excuses for my husband and I'm definitely not speaking for anyone else. I'm only pointing out the inconsistencies onboard the ship and throughout the line. Plus, the head waiters rudeness was uncalled for.

 

It goes without saying that we will bring a dress shirt for my husband from now on. I was only stating my review of the cruise on this forum. I'm not making excuses.

 

Furthermore, a tie is not required nor is it spelled out on the Princess website or in the Patter. And as I've stated over and over...my issue is with the rudeness of the head waiter and the inconsistency in the dining rooms. There were plenty of people being let in that didn't meet the formal attire requirement or even the smart casual requirements.

 

Formal

When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the Traditional Dining and Anytime Dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests.

• Evening gown, cocktail dress, or elegant pant suit for women
  
• Tuxedo, dark suit or dinner jacket and slacks for men
  

As for smart casual, like I posted, Jovi the head waiter who wouldn't seat us seated the next night men in track pants, sweatsuits and ball caps. They in no way met the Princess suggested attire for smart casual night.

Smart Casual

Passenger attire should be in keeping with what they would wear to a nice restaurant at home.

• Skirts/dresses, slacks, and sweaters for ladies
  
• Pants and open-neck shirts for men
  

Inappropriate dinner wear such as pool or beach attire, shorts, ball caps and casual jeans (with fraying and/or holes) are not permitted in the dining rooms. Shoes must be worn.

[TracieABD]

I am sorry that you were singled out and isolated from your formal dining experience. I, too, would be disappointed with the inconsistancy of the dining room staff and the apathy of the Purser's Desk staff.

Maybe it is time for a change to traditional dining. In TD, you can establish a relationship with the staff. Before the first formal night, you can have a quiet conversation with the maitre'd or the head waiter regarding you circumstances.

 

I personally don't care what people wear in the MDR. I dress up because those are the rules for that venue, and I am a rule follower. I can't say that I have ever really noticed what others wear, though. That is between them and the dining room staff. There are cruiselines that have completely done away with formal nights, and they have lots and lots of happy cruisers!

 

That being said, while I know this was humiliating, it was one small flaw in a very large picture of life. The good news is that you were on a cruise! In moments like these, I tend to run an internal "cost analysis" and balance the good with the not so good. And then I move on...

 

I wish you luck on future cruises.:)

[Happy ks]

I'm a bit surprised they wouldn't seat you, I've seen people in the dining room on formal nights who were definitely not dressed in formal wear. I've even seen men in jeans or shorts. I agree it would be embarrassing to be singled out like that and I would have complained as well.

 

But...you have to complain to the right person. The people at the Customer Service desk are not in charge of the restaurant. I think the desk is not named well, it should be something like...account or cash services. All they can do at this desk is to forward a message to the proper department head. In the future, if you ever again have a complaint, call the dining room manager (not the same person as the maitre' d), or even try the hotel manager, whose position is higher than restaurant management...they really get upset if a complaint reaches them.

 

Too many times I see people on CC who aren't able to get their complaint solved, no matter how many times they contact Customer Service. A good customer service clerk will do their best to forward a message, many times I think, when they are busy, the message gets lost on the desk. I worked in a hotel years ago, behind the scenes where the front desk was located. I was amazed at how many people would come and complain about restaurant service there. The desk clerks would put a message in the restaurant managers box...and then forget about it, there was nothing they could do. There were times when the customer was a complete jerk (yes, that happens!!) and to my amazement, the message would find it's way into the round file and never be forwarded. (I am not at all saying this was your circumstance just an FYI when you are dealing with front desk clerks...they take a lot of abuse).

 

The passenger who will get the best and most friendly response is usually the passenger who is respectful and pleasant, yet persistent. My second job is in customer service and we will bend over backward for the pleasant person, but do the minimum for a person who mistreats us.

[Posaune]

I do agree that the future cruise desk is not open enough hours. Especially on the larger ships. I found that on Ocean Princess it was open the same number of hours for about 25% of the passenger load of the larger ships. It worked there, but not on Ruby, Emerald, etc.

[Liz54]

Many of us have complained for YEARS about Princesses inconsistent application of their "rules"or "guidelines". It's unfortunate that the OP got treated so badly - it seems to me that staff were rude.

 

On the other hand it's hard to criticize Princess if her husband was not wearing a jacket and tie. We all know when we carry on more than one bottle of wine we might get unlucky and find security applying the rules!

 

Princess should understand that this is where inconsistantcy leads. They have alienated a good long term customer. I hope Princess will enforce the dress rules more in future, but they need to be sure their staff can do so with diplomacy. When fine dining establishments and private clubs have dress codes they often have a selection of jackets and ties available on loan for those who appear without jackets etc.

 

At the end of the day however, While I sympathize with the OP there is no argument that he was not honoring the dress code. Still no excuse for rudeness on the part of staff.

[sunsetbeachgal]

I would definitely write a letter to Princess with the specifics outlined.. It also seems, from reading other threads about various on board problems and issues that perhaps meeting with the Captains Circle host or hostess might be more effective?

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!