Sapphire Princess - Norway - Land of the Midnight Sun review June 23, 2018

[DJ818]

Great review! I chuckled at the review of the filet mignon because my son and I both had a double portion and it was great!

Alesund– I did the Hjorundfjord cruise through Princess – I can’t find the link to the tour. Weather was 59 degrees and sunny. All I can say is that this boat was much nicer than the previous boat. It wasn’t crowded at all! It was a gorgeous day to be outside and go through the Hjorundfjord which is a lesser known fjord. After the cruise, I had a few hours to walk around Alesund. Such a delightful small city (population 48,000). There were water canals that ran through the city and you would often walk to the end of the street and there would be water. Many of the streets were cobblestone. I did not go up to the top of the city to take a picture but if you google Alesund, you will see some scenic pictures of Alesund. It was the first time in many days where I had free time to walk around as I had booked so many all day tours. Picture perfect weather day.

 

Bergen– I booked Fjords and Waterfalls through Princess: https://www.princess.com/excursion/exDetails.page?t=E&exType=S&tourCode=BGO-125

It was 55 degrees here and sort of rainy/misty here. My tour took up the entire time in Bergen (wish we had longer time). Tour cost $90. We went to Steinsdalsfossen waterfall which was a huge waterfall that one can walk up behind it. It rained on our way there but was fine when we were there. It was amazing but I missed Bergen by seeing it. I really would love to go back to Bergen. I hear Bergen is very scenic and I definitely want to return to spend time in Bergen.

 

Some notes about the cruise:

 

I had air conditioning problems in my room. I would not get back until late (for me) and when I tried to go to sleep, it was hot in my room. There were a few nights where I ended up calling Passenger Services desk at 11 or 12 pm with my room being approx. 77 degrees. After it was fixed, it took a few hours to cool the room down. I realized the fist night when it was hot that my alarm clock had a thermostat it it. They had to come 3 different times before it was fixed. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well the first half of the cruise (and missed the wonderful sun not setting pictures that my friends got!) Except for reporting the issue, I never asked for anything nor did I ask to change rooms. It did make me regret booking an inside cabin though! I did receive a call from a Manager the last day offering OBC to make up for my inconvenience. I thought the amount was generous.

 

The Princess bed that was in my room was very comfortable! The linens were of high quality but were quite heavy considering I had this warm cabin. I ended up grabbing one of the blankets that was outside to use on deck and used that in my cabin.

 

Food – I thought the food in the dining room was mediocre at best. I am not a fan of buffets and usually stay away from them but felt myself drawn to it as some of the menus were uninspiring. Even worse, some of the food was tasteless in the buffet and dining room. The beef was the worst. One night, everyone at our table ordered Filet Mignon and it was this gray piece of meat with barely any grill marks on it and was tasteless. None of us ate the piece of meat. We all sort of played with it and our waiter kept asking us if it was prepared properly. We didn’t want to say anything negative to our waiter (as our wait staff was really good on this trip) – we just all explained that we were not that hungry. I later switched to chicken and it wasn’t any better. The salads started out excellent and after a week, they were poor also. I ordered a simple garden salad which is iceberg, tomatoes and cucumbers and all of my lettuce was white hard pieces. It should never have been served. The pastas seemed to be the one thing that I could order safely. The buffet was uninspiring as well. One night at the buffet they served roast beef and it was tasteless. I did eat one night at Sterling Steakhouse and it was good. I probably should have gone there more often. By no means did I starve but overall, was not impressed with the food.

 

I did go to Alfredos a few times and did enjoy that. A few times I went, there were lines. It was a popular place. Alfredos downstairs was serving pizza with the good (round cheese). Upstairs started with the bad cheese but ran out and is now serving the good cheese.

 

The grill upstairs was good. At night, it became a BBQ joint with 2 different menus – one night serving brisket, bbq wings, ribs and along with hamburger and hot dogs. Another night had orange molasses grilled chicken, beef chili, North Carolina pulled pork along with hamburger and hot dogs and they rotated. The guy who worked there was from India and was very friendly.

 

I did order a hamburger with room service on one of the nights I was waiting for someone to come to fix my air conditioning. It resembled a hockey puck. French fries were good though.

 

There was not enough people on the ship to do a Chef’s table. They did do a Crab Shack one night – I only know this as I went to see if there was an opening at Sterling Steakhouse that night and it was Crab Shack. I spoke with others who wanted to try Crab Shack but missed the one night they offered it.

 

Entertainment– I thought it was top notch on this cruise. There were several events at night I wanted to go to and it conflicted with each other. Most people seemed pleased with the various entertainment options. I liked a guitarist/singer named Chris Ricketts. ELUA was on our sailing but not doing Hawaiian music. Pete Best (fifth Beatle) did a talk one morning that I only caught the last part of. Chris Watkins did “Fireworks on Four Strings” which I thought was excellent. Peter Howarth from “the Hollies” also performed – I missed this. There was also a Chris Watkins and Peter Howarth combination one night. Danny Hunt and Stephanie Clarke were Escape Artists - people enjoyed this as well.

 

Production shows: Piano Man, Bravo, Do you Wanna dance, Let me entertain you, Born to be Wild.

 

To wrap up the review – I had planned to do Alaska again this summer (B2B). I usually book those trips last minute but had booked it far in advance and when you do that, Alaska is expensive. I looked at Norway and for 2 weeks, Norway turned out to be cheaper. Of course after I added Business Class air, hotel in London and very expensive excursions, this turned out to be one of my most expensive trips to date. Was it worth it – definitely. The best way to describe it was “Alaska on steroids with different types of glaciers”. Since I love Alaska, I knew I would love Norway (cooler climate, beautiful scenery, wild life, etc…). Norway did not disappoint and I would love to return. Most people on this cruise were extremely well traveled. The most sailed couple had almost 1900 days on Princess.

 

When most go to Europe for the first time, they do the Baltic or the Med. I strongly recommend Norway if you have traveled to the usual European ports. I can also add that I would have been disappointed with a 7 night Norway cruise or a combination of Norway and another country. I loved that we went as far North that we did and thoroughly enjoyed most of the ports. I wish I had gone to more Norwegian ports as I look at other itineraries, they go to many places we missed. I struggled on excursions as there were so many things that interested me. I also enjoyed this trip as I am less interested in “large cities” lately and more into nature and scenery. If you have never considered Norway and enjoy Alaska, I strongly recommend it. I have never seen so many waterfalls in my life!

Internet was very slow on the ship. I used all of my 250 free minutes just logging in and downloading email and then responding and then logging in again to send the emails. I barely looked at any website.

I am also very thankful to having a wonderful roll call! I appreciated all the research they did before I joined and how helpful everyone was.

 

I had hoped to include pictures but it will just have to wait. I had a conference immediately after this trip and am now in “back to school” world where I work. I hope everything I posted was accurate and will try to answer any questions. Apologies for any spelling and grammatical errors! I am not going to read this one more time as it won’t get posted. I keep wanted to add more and it is already a novel. Hopefully it helps future cruisers plan trips as I had a difficult time finding some info on some excursions.

[Coral]

Great review! I chuckled at the review of the filet mignon because my son and I both had a double portion and it was great!

 

Funny - not one of us ate it at our table. It was this weird gray piece of meat with light grill marks. Bizarre texture.....

 

Glad yours was good!

 

Hope you had as amazing cruise as I did.

[azbirdmom]

Thanks for sharing! We have not been on the Sapphire yet but will be next January. And we have only been to Oslo but want to do the same cruise that you did some day. Definitely saving your tips for future reference.

[IndiTravler]

Coral -- great review. It was good meeting you and I hope to see you again on another cruise.

 

Back to subjective opinions on food. We felt the food was very good. Rarely was there a night that we didn't have something we liked. I think you guys should have sent back the steak!

[Casey12]

We just returned from our Baltic trip on the Sapphire. I agree with your review about the ship. The Sapphire is one of my favorite ships and the Sapphire did not disappoint. She is as lovely as I remember her.

 

We also had awful food. Especially the chicken and beef entrees. Pastas were good. I think after the 7 day mark -- the fruit, vegetables and salads declined significantly. Some fruit had not flavor whatsoever such as watermelon and strawberries which is in season right now. Of the people we ate with -- most were disappointed with the food. Pizza and grill were as good as normal but one can only eat so much pizza. Buffet was odd. They played with themes but I don't think it worked well. German night was strange. Not sure if they have anyone on the ship who can cook German food.

 

Still trying to catch up and will post a review soon. Ports great -- this is our favorite itinerary. We had no problems getting off in St. Petersburg for our private excursion.

 

I have been researching Norway and hoped to have been able to do a Back2Back this year but couldn't pull it off. It is on my list for next year.

 

We also stayed at the Marriott Grosvenor hotel.

[Mom33]

Thanks for your review of your visit to Norway. We did this cruise last year on the Crown and your review brought back wonderful memories of the beauty of the fiords. :D

[Coral]

Thanks for your review of your visit to Norway. We did this cruise last year on the Crown and your review brought back wonderful memories of the beauty of the fiords. :D

 

It is such a beautiful place - I would love to do this cruise again. I just read that the newest Mission Impossible movie had a scene filmed at Pulpit Rock with Tom Cruise hanging from the rock. Not a Tom Cruise fan but may have to go just for the scenery!

[Mom33]

It is such a beautiful place - I would love to do this cruise again. I just read that the newest Mission Impossible movie had a scene filmed at Pulpit Rock with Tom Cruise hanging from the rock. Not a Tom Cruise fan but may have to go just for the scenery!

 

Same here.:D Two of our friends hiked up to Pulpit Rock:rolleyes: but we opted to cruise down below it. We shared our pics at dinner :D I'm sure the photography in the Tom Cruise film will be awesome.

[Jo and Rob]

Thanks for the great review

 

Please can you tell me more about the Steak House. Only Sabatini's is available on the cruise personalizer and I thought it was strange to have only one specialty dining venue. What is the name of the Steak house? Where is it located?

Do you have a copy of the menu? What is the cover charge?

 

Formal nights

Please can you tell me when the formal nights were? Was there a formal night in Bergen?

 

We are doing the same cruise on 18th August so you replies will be much appreciated.

[pshaze]

Thanks for the great review

 

Please can you tell me more about the Steak House. Only Sabatini's is available on the cruise personalizer and I thought it was strange to have only one specialty dining venue. What is the name of the Steak house? Where is it located?

Do you have a copy of the menu? What is the cover charge?

 

Formal nights

Please can you tell me when the formal nights were? Was there a formal night in Bergen?

 

We are doing the same cruise on 18th August so you replies will be much appreciated.

 

Here is the menu posted on the Princess site for the Sterling Steakhouse.

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/Onboard_Experience/Sterling-Steakhouse-Menu-Sample.pdf

Formal nights are First 2 sea days and then Bergen. (Coral posted this on your roll call post #758.)

 

From the Princess website the location is at the back of the Horizon Court, Lido Deck, Starboard Side.

 

https://www.princess.com/deckPlans.do?shipCode=SA

Cost is $29/pp from the Princess site, page 3 of this document.

 

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/food-and-dining/dining-options.pdf

[Coral]

Thanks for the great review

 

Please can you tell me more about the Steak House. Only Sabatini's is available on the cruise personalizer and I thought it was strange to have only one specialty dining venue. What is the name of the Steak house? Where is it located?

Do you have a copy of the menu? What is the cover charge?

 

Formal nights

Please can you tell me when the formal nights were? Was there a formal night in Bergen?

 

We are doing the same cruise on 18th August so you replies will be much appreciated.

 

Looks like this has already been answered and everything pshaze answered was accurate.

 

Formal nights was first 2 sea days and Bergen.

 

I thought Sterling Steakhouse was a much higher quality meat compared to the dining room and even considered going multiple times. I went on one of the formal nights. Though, by no means is it a high end steak house. I live in Nebraska where beef is king and it is not a high end but it is better than the dining room. Service was great in Sterlings.

 

I did try to go one night with out having a reservation early on the cruise and they use that same space for Crab Shack. That night it was Crab Shack. I don't know how many times they do Crab Shack but I did speak with someone who tried to go the 2nd half of the cruise and they said they were not having any more Crab Shack nights.

 

We could not reserve Sterling Steakhouse either online. It is in a closed off area at the back of the Horizon Court. The Horizon Court on that side is closed in the evenings so it is a very quiet place. I don't think it was that busy as I got a Window table and didn't ask for it. Cost was $29. The copy of the menu is the same listed in the link in the previous post.

 

I wish I was back in Norway. It is so full of beauty. I am considering going again in the next few years as there was so much I wanted to do and only one day in each port.

 

I hope you have an amazing time.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[FishinChris]

Thanks for the review. We were originally scheduled to be on your cruise but switched to a 7 day so that we could have more time in the UK. I'll be posting my review soon.

[oskidunker]

What was the cost of the Chefs table and what was served? Though we enjoyed it a few years ago the quanity of food deters us from going. If they had some really good Lobster, I would consider it.

 

Were you allowed to order steakd from the Streak house in the Dining room at an extra charge?

[Coral]

What was the cost of the Chefs table and what was served? Though we enjoyed it a few years ago the quanity of food deters us from going. If they had some really good Lobster, I would consider it.

 

Were you allowed to order steakd from the Streak house in the Dining room at an extra charge?

 

I don't know the answer to your first question. Maybe ask on our roll call (6-23-18 Sapphire Princess). People are still monitoring that.

 

Answer to your second question was "no". We had the old style menus. I know that the Ruby is experimenting with the new style. Somewhere I read was that this part was not a huge hit.

[Posaune]

We were on the July 21 seven day Norwegian Fjords cruise. We found the food in Vivaldi Dining Room to be excellent. The service and food was wonderful in Sabatini's. We did not choose the steakhouse since it was merely a curtained off section of Horizon Court. Wifi was excellent except when we were deep in the fjords. It was very slow or totally down while in the fjords. Quite understandable since satellites are at a low angle when that far north. I was a little disappointed by the entertainment in the Princess Theatre. The shows were not quite up to the standards we expect from Princess. We really enjoyed pianist Paul Burton in Crooners.