Sapphire Princess Review w/ Pics 1/21-1/28

[lovecruising111]

Thanks for responding so fast! Thanks for the info...

[ggcruiser]

Pictures were great - even your tour of L.A. (I live here) covered some great spots (a Pinks hot dog no less - yummm!) Sounds like you had a great cruise, too. Good luck with the baby :)

[hsmom]

We will be going on the Sapphire this summer in Alaska. Can you tell me if one of the pools is covered?

 

Thanks for the review.

[DanJ]

Yes, the Calypso Reef pool, which is just outside the Horizon court buffet, has a roof. It was closed all last week, except on Saturday in LA of all times LOL.

[CL-JW]

Great Reveiw, We sail on the Sapphire in April. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

[1bigballer]

I have a picture of the covered pool in my photos. It was taken while the cover was closed.

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/barberio

[hsmom]

Thank you for the info and the pictures - they were great.

[tiggyfrank]

What time did they start boarding? Just wondering what time we should get there without waiting a long time.

[1bigballer]

I think boarding started around 1pm but they said they were running behind schedule because the ship had returned late to port. We were able to check in as soon as we got there though and the earlier you check in determines what boarding group you will be in (1,2,3,4.....).

[cruzbabe]

Great review and pictures. It brought back memories from our December cruise on Sapphire.

[DanJ]

We were in group 4 and boarded in the 1:15pm range. We were checked in by 11am, but the waiting area is pretty comfortable, and we would have sat somewhere waiting. I'd rather be at the terminal with an early boarding number than sitting at the hotel waiting around.

[keido]

Thanks for the great review! We are sailing the Mexican Riviera 2/25/06 and we are really looking forward to it. Just wondering if you had anymore info on the name of the person or tour that you took in Cabo?? Sounds like what we are looking for but not sure who to hire or how to find them. Thank you in advance!

[DanJ]

Once you get off the tender, the next 10 minutes you walk will be people offering you water taxi services. I've heard (maybe even earlier in this thread LOL) the further you walk, the better the deal.

[rapsodyme]

Hi, does anyone have the name of the Captain of the Sapphire Princess?

 

Maybe someone knows where I can get this infomation. We are sailing in March and would like to have it to write a request to visit the bridge.

 

Thanks for any help anyone has to offer

 

Lois

 

Rapsodyme

 

Sapphire Princess 03/04/06

[DanJ]

Paul Wright is the name. They don't do bridge visits anymore due to security, but you can try asking.

[rapsodyme]

Dan I appreciate the info. I wondered if they had stopped them. Well guess a note asking can't hurt anyway.

 

I really enjoyed this review. It was refreshing to read a review that someone had a postive experience and says so.

 

Thanks again

 

Lois

 

Rapsodyme

[scootepie66]

Appreciated the wonderful review and pictures. I am trying to get my Sister and her husband to do this cruise with us next winter. So I am going to point our your review to them, it would be our first Mexican Riveria cruise. The only cruise we both have taken from San Pedro is to Ensenada and Catalina Island. So this cruise sounds wonderful.

We were on the Grand 1/21 cruise and found that we could get things not listed on the room service menu too. We called down to get something for breakfast and they actually told us we could order omelettes, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage and the like if we wanted. We were in a normal balcony room on the Baja deck not a mini suite.

[nancyox]

we were on the same sailing, and agree it was great. we, too were on the LIDO deck, L311, first door next to the pool area..what a fabulous location...we got to the terminal around 11:30 and i think we boarded around 12:30...we were platinum card holders, so we were the first to board...didn't seem like it took long at all. i was nervous about making an 11 AM return flight home, but we got red 1 tags and were the first off around 8:30 and were checked in at the airport by 9:30....as far as shuttles, we used super shuttle, but pre-reserved a van of our own for 4 of us, so we didn't have to wait to fill the van to get back to the airport in a time crunch. it worked out very well...i think it was $72 for the four of us. can't wait 'til the next cruise!!!

 

nancy

[fnewman]

Thanks for the great review - it will be very helpful for our cruise departing on 2/11. I do have a few questions:

 

1. How did you identify the tour operators you used (particularly for whale watching). Do you remember any of the names?

2. How did you arrange to get off early at the tendered port? I thought the Princess tours were given priority.

 

Thanks for the help.

[basher83]

1bigballer:

Thanks for the review and the pictures! DH and I are booked for this cruise in May. We too have never been to LA and really want a good tour. Sounds like yours worked out well. Did the driver give you some time at some of the different spots to walk around i.e. Venice Beach? or was it just a stop, look, and go kind of a deal?? Also, did you book the tour of LA the day you got back or was it pre-arranged before the cruise?

 

Thanks!

 

Ashley

[SusieS]

We were also on rhis fabulous cruise 1/21- 1/28, & had the time of our lives. We're a fairly quiet family of 4, & were fine in an inside quad with our 2 kids, 7 & 11. We highly suggest our fabulous waiter in the Santa Fe dining room, Rommel. Please tell him the Schwarz's send our best. He was absolutely phenomenal with our son, Sam. Have fun to anyone going on this lovely ship!

[1bigballer]

fnewman - 1. We just walked the dock after we got off the tender and talked to a couple different people and decided to do whatever we thought sounded the best. I don't really remember any names but there are LOTS of people hawking the same tours.

 

2. There were multiple tenders (3 or 4 I think) running from two different points from the ship. If priority was given to tours, I never noticed. We ate breakfast and then went directly to the lounge where we were given a ticket to board and it was only about a 5 minute wait. No big deal. Hope this helps, have a great cruise.

 

basher83 - We could set our own pace but if we stayed too long we might not have seen everything we wanted so we moved pretty quickly. We stayed the longest at Venice Beach. It's really just a rented limo and they will do whatever you want. I did make sure ahead of time that it would be "guided" by the driver and not just driven around. It was a highlight for us, we loved it. We didn't have it pre-arranged, we had the concierege set it up for us. Also, I saw that in the in-room magazine there were lots of ads for the same thing. Good luck and have a great cruise.

[soonercruisers]

Hi Mike,

 

Thanks for the excellent review. We sailed on the Sapphire this past October 22 Mexican Riviera as well.

 

This ship and its sister ship Diamond have a redesigned pool area in the Aft section of the ship that is much more relaxing than their other Grand class ships, Grand and Golden.

 

One other thing that I see missing in Princess comments are the suttle differences such as larger storage areas in the cabins and excellent deck lounge chairs. No straps, most have solid coverings that provide a more comfortable seating experience. (My wife says I'm getting real picky as I get older, I can't help it if I prefer to keep my elbows and feet from poking in between the slats and hitting the deck) .

 

Keep us informed about your wife, Carlye, and your new addition to be in the cruising family.

 

Frank :)

 

PS - We sail on Celebrity 2/18 for the first time, most of our last seven of fifteen cruises have been on Princess. I hope we won't be disappointed.

[bubbadog]

hi nancy me and my wife also had this room and thought it was great along with our room attendant rouen:))