Another Sapphire Mexican Riviera Review

[tytan]

This was a family spring break cruise for my wife and I and our three daughters 17, 16 and 14. We had two inside cabins on the Aloha deck, one for the kids and one for us. The whole family have been on Carnival and my wife and I have also done two previous HAL cruises. My wife is the only one who had sailed previously with Princess. This was at least 10 years ago for a girls get away weekend and she was still in the Princess system so she was the only one with a gold card. We were docked in Puerto Vallarta with the Statendam and Zaandam which were the two HAL ships we had been on so we had sailed on all three ships in port that day.

Embarkation was easy we were dropped off at noon and were on the ship about 1:30, after checking in and getting our cards we waited about 45 minutes in the shore lounge while the different groups were called for boarding. State rooms were ready as soon as we boarded.

This was our third Mexican Riviera cruise, second with the kids so we knew what to expect for ports and excursions except Ensenada which was a new stop for us. In Puerto Vallarta we did the ships excursion to Las Caletas and had a great time, beautiful beach area. In Cabo we wandered the Marina and Main Street then went to Solomon's Landing for a late lunch. In Ensenada we wandered the shopping area for a few hours then went back to the ship. I did find the street food cart La Guerrerense that gets rave reviews, my wife and I had the Cervice and it was excellent. If I had a choice I would rather spend longer days or an extra day further south in either Cabo or Puerto Vallarta and pass on Ensenada as it's nothing special, there's really nothing to do there and the weather is cooler.

We had anytime dining and had dinner every night in either the Santa Fe or Savoy dining rooms, reservations were always 8pm or later if I phoned in, we arrived at 7pm most nights and rarely had a wait. Food was good and wait staff were excellent. I liked the smaller dining rooms compared to the one large dining room it did not feel as busy or as noisy as one large room can get. We did not try any other dining venues so no comment on them. We ate breakfast and lunch in the Horizon Court and found the food quality and selection good with the exception of the scrambled eggs in the AM, they were dry, powdery and downright nasty tasting, there were other egg options so no big deal. Coffee at the buffet was good, not great but drinkable, I ordered a brewed coffee from the Intl cafe one morning and it tasted exactly like the buffet coffee so that only happened once, did not try a latte or any other coffee from the Intl cafe.

I was a little nervous about the formal nights because I did not bring a suit, I did have dress pants long sleeve shirt and tie and my wife and daughters were all dressed up, there were a few men in tuxes most wore suits and there were many like myself that had dress pants and a shirt and tie or shirt, tie and vest. None of the staff questioned my attire or said anything about a jacket and there were definitely lesser dressed individuals in the dining rooms.

Overall most staff were genuinely friendly and willing to assist you with anything requested, on other cruise lines I felt staff were friendly but sometimes it came across as a forced or insincere friendliness, I never felt that with the Princess staff. One evening we arrived for dinner around 7 and were told approximately 10 minutes wait so we stepped back near the Piazza so we did not block the dining room entry, our table was ready quickly and the Maitre D came out into the Piazza looking for us. On the last evening I left our ships photographs in the dining room when I went back to get them the same Maitre D took me over to the passenger services desk where he had turned the photos in, he could have just told me where to get them but he took the time to escort me over there.

The ship is well maintained and all the public areas were spotless. I did the UST and it was well worth the money we toured the Bridge, foreword anchor and winch deck, engine control room, galley, refrigerated food storage, medical center, laundry, photo and print shop and dressing rooms and backstage areas. The tour was done on the last day starting at 8:30 AM as we were approaching Ensenada.

Disembarkation was organized but slow we had a 4:30 flight from LAX so we were in no rush and asked for a later time slot. We were out of the room at 8am had breakfast in the Horizon Court then waited for our assigned 10am meeting time in the Explorers Lounge, we were called to disembark at 10:10 and were outside at 11:05 as the CBP lines were slow. We had a private car and were curbside at LAX at noon.

Overall impressions of Princess are very good and we will definitely sail with them again. The Sapphire Princess is the nicest ship out of all the ones we have previously sailed on the public areas are very clean and well maintained and the decor is nicely done. The staff friendliness and food quality put Princess a notch up from Carnival and HAL IMHO.

Thanks for reading if you have any specific questions fire away.

[caribill]

Glad you enjoyed your Princess cruise. Thanks for the report.

[sassyredhat]

Nice review. :) We also had a good experience on Sapphire.

Thanks,

Pat

[luvcdays]

Thanks for the review. It sounds like you had a good time.

[Cruisin' Chick]

It's a beautiful ship. Glad you had a great time.

[spingal]

Sapphire is my favorite ship!! Was on her to Hawaii over New Years. Glad you had a great time!!!!:D:D

[Keith1010]

Thanks for writing and sharing your review.

 

Keith

[username008]

Thanks for the information!

 

I was wondering, how were the waters during this cruise? Eg. How were the full sea days and night sailing? Rough waters? Calm? Something that needs getting used to? Any details about this would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thank you!

[Cruisin' Chick]

I remember having rough seas on the final sea day returning to LA on my two MR cruises. Undoubtedly due to the current you'll be crossing.

[username008]

Darn! I get sea sick easily and will be going on this cruise in a couple of weeks.... how were the full sea days? I hope the waters won't be too bad...

[azdmelani]

Thanks for the information!

 

I was wondering, how were the waters during this cruise? Eg. How were the full sea days and night sailing? Rough waters? Calm? Something that needs getting used to? Any details about this would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thank you!

 

The boat barely felt like it was moving, I did not take dramamine once.

[tytan]

Sea conditions can change day to day so our experience will be different than yours. For our week the weather was great with little wind and very smooth sea conditions I could barely tell we were on a moving ship if you stood near the back of the ship looking forward you could see the bow rise and fall slightly with the swell, nothing I could notice or feel walking around.