Just back from Voyage of Glaciers - Sapphire Princess - not a happy chap!

[lucywestie]

So we sailed from Vancouver on Sept. 6th and returned Sept. 20th. We have cruised Sapphire before back in 2010 on a similar back to back though the second week was down the west coast. This cruise we hit the usual ports twice plus cruised College Fjord, Glacier National Park and Hubbard Glacier. 

We have cruised other lines as well and tend to cruise for the ship rather than the ports, especially as this was our third Alaska cruise. My post may offend a few people but I was so mad about the quality of the cruise that I had to say something. (I know what my mum said about if you have nothing good to say...but still)

 

The Sapphire is certainly showing her age. We had an inside cabin on Deck 11 Baja. Don't mind an inside for Alaska this time of year as the weather was terrible pretty much every day apart from Glacier Park day. The cabin was exceedingly dated. Old shower curtain and a peeling mirror were the most noticeable things. Mattress was very lumpy and pillows of very poor quality. Very thin and lumpy and just past their use by date. I must admit the tv viewing in the cabin has certainly picked up with lots of update films to watch plus tv series etc. and we spent a fair few evenings in our room catching up on films etc.

 

Our biggest gripe on the cruise was the quality of the food. I never once had a hot meal, whether in the traditional dining (we ate in the Sante Fe dining room but gave up after a few nights) or in the buffet. Everything seemed luke warm to tepid at the best of times. My wife is Italian and on the Italian night I had the chicken parmigiana which consisted of an obviously "out of a box" breaded chicken cutlet and a very obvious slice of process cheese thrown on top. The pasta sauce was like water. I left most of on the plate and the wait staff never enquired as to why I had left so much. One night I had the 8oz Sirloin that is always on the menu in the dining room and I never knew you could make a piece of meat so flavourless. That was the overwhelming take of the food on the cruise that there was barely any flavour to anything whether the meat or the desserts. The desserts may look nice but when you have a fudge cake that tastes just of lard you really do have a problem. Maybe the accountants have told them to cut back on seasonings etc. who knows.

 

Worst meal of the cruise was in the Sterling Steakhouse. Had a rib eye that was all fat, not cooked properly and again, no seasoning etc. My wifes filet had to be sent back as it was bleeding to death on her plate. Again staff just didn't seem to care.

 

Best meal on the cruise was Sabatini's. We have never been before but the food was good (almost hot and tasty) and the service impeccable. 

 

Entertainment was all the usual with the standard shows plus comedians etc. Had a good comedian the first week on board but we didn't bother with the second week. You had to be in the theatre by 7pm if you wanted a half way decent seat for the 730pm show. Lots of seat holding going on.

 

Embarkation at Vancouver was easy though a long of walking was involved to get from one location to another. We got there for 1050am and were on board by 12 which wasn't to bad. Disembarking started off well but our whole group "Gold 04" walked right past all our luggage before I asked an employee where our luggage was located. No signs and nobody pointing our group in the right direction. Pretty shabby, get off the ship and get the next load on board.

 

It just appears that Princess and maybe most cruise lines are trying to make up for what they lost during Covid. The cruise itself was not that expensive but you do expect halfway decent, hot and flavourful food if thats what you are paying for and we certainly didnt get that. We are not food snobs by any means and our expectations are pretty low but this really was taking the mickey on the cruise. Funny thing is though that we also went to the Twisted Fish in Juneau which we had fond memories of from our first Alaska cruise in 2007. The food there was actually worse than the ship, appeared that the oil for frying hadn't been changed in a long time and everything was tasteless, but they managed to charge the big bucks for it.

 

Maybe that is life now, big business trying to recoup their losses at the cost of the paying customer. This cruise really put us off cruising for a while and our next trip will probably be a land based trip to the UK or similar. Though I was in the UK in May and faced similar situations there, poor quality, high prices and poor selection. Thus is the way of the world right now I fear. 

Edited September 23, 2023 by lucywestie

[LACruiser88]

So sorry to hear that you were not happy with your voyage.  We were on the Sapphire this past March/April for over 30 days (Buenos Aires to LA) and had the opposite experience.  Hopefully, you will have a more positive experience on your next cruise.  🙂

[karatemom2]

So sorry you were disappointed. Food can be very subjective and we have found it varies from ship to ship in terms of overall quality. We are just off the Sky and the food was exceptionally good for the most part. However, the worst meal I had was the chicken parmigiana. Your description is spot on. It was almost inedible. They definitely need to reimagine that dish. Hope otherwise your time in Alaska was enjoyable - it is one if our favorite destinations!

[dickinson]

Sorry to hear that food on the ship and sometimes on land is not up to snuff.  It happens everywhere.  However, if things are as bad as you say, I would have sent it back.  That is how they know there is a problem.

[Coral]

Sadly - I doubt the chicken parmesan was "out of a box". I am sure it was made in the kitchen but am not going to disagree with you about the taste of it. The food on my last 2 cruises were mediocre. 

 

I board the Sapphire soon so I appreciate the review. I have had hit and miss (most of them miss) in the steakhouse restaurant on my cruises. Sabatini's was pretty good 2 cruises ago. I may try again on the Sapphire. 
 

Thanks for the review!

[PacnGoNow]

5 minutes ago, dickinson said:

Sorry to hear that food on the ship and sometimes on land is not up to snuff.  It happens everywhere.  However, if things are as bad as you say, I would have sent it back.  That is how they know there is a problem.

Me too, or I would have ordered something else.  

[Forevercrusing]

Sorry to hear about your disappointing experience. We board Sapphire on Wednesday for a Pacific Coastal cruise so thank you for heads up about the food.  
 

It sounds like you were able to check in at 10:50.  Our check in window shows boarding starts at 11:30 so wondering if we should arrive at 10:50 like you did and beat the crowd. We’re staying overnight at the Pan Pacific Hotel and can get to the check in area any time.  
 

Thanks.

[sunviking90]

Sorry to hear your cruise was so disappointing. We have been pleased with most of the service and food on our princess cruises since the restart. We have found that food and service, etc can vary even on the same ship within a few months due to chef and crew changes and contracts though. 
We’ve also heard from crew over the years that Alaska is NOT a favorite of theirs. Lots of large groups, short 7 day cruises, not much of interest (from their perspective) in the ports, etc. Perhaps you experienced the effects of staff burnout. Hopefully the Sapphire will turn it around.

[lucywestie]

Thanks for the responses. Back at work and nothing to do soooo can post back.

 

Forevercrusing - We drove from Calgary to Vancouver via Washington State so we parked our car at ParkNFly at the airport and took a taxi in. Our boarding time said something like 12pm but we got in to Canada Place very easily via taxi. Dropped bags off straight away and then followed all the signs to check in. It was all very efficient though a bit of line queuing and waiting but nothing extravagant. I would say there were approximately 500 people already there when we arrived but they had plenty of agents handing out the medallions etc.

 

Thats one thing I forgot to mention in my review. We did like the medallions. We bought a couple of the wrist watch type straps on board to mount them in. Loved the "compass" to locate my wife and vice versa and we used that a lot. We found we could order specialty dining times on the app but not traditional dining. Eventually a crew member showed us how to reserve traditional dining on one of the screens next to the elevators. Not exactly private but its not like we were tapping into state secrets!!

 

Yup, food is very subjective. Here in Canada I call going to the Keg steakhouse a good night out with decent food. Thats about where my food expectations lie! We were just very disappointed this time around. Our last cruise was in 2017 on NCL Jade and RCI Rhapsody. I don't really remember much about those apart from the Asian dining on Jade was very good.

 

The international cafe was excellent though. Good sandwiches on fresh bread rolls. Muffins were good in the morning plus breakfast style sandwiches and burritos. This was our go to place when we got fed up with the other dining venues and the food! Princess does seem to get it bread right! Lots of crusty rolls etc.

 

Coral - We have never done Sabatini's in the past as there seemed to be to much sea food but gave it a shot this time. They give you Arancini to start plus I think soup and salad. I also ordered the Porcini risotto as my first dish and it was excellent. I have never had risotto before and this was very tasty and well presented. I think I had the chicken marsala or some version thereof for second dish and that was also excellent. My wife had the meatballs and was happy with that. Desserts were very decadent and pretty tasty. I think we got a free glass of what I might call Prosecco to begin with as well but I don't drink wine so couldnt say for sure. 

 

Service was excellent though. We were first in line and snagged a seat right by the window which means we got a great view of Hubbard Glacier as the ship rotated late in the afternoon!

Edited September 23, 2023 by lucywestie

[JimmyVWine]

While I love the design and features of the Grand/Gem Class ships, Princess really does need to retire all of the ships built prior to Ruby and Emerald. And even those are suspect. The difference in design and condition of the Royal Class ships and soon to be Sphere Class is just way too stark for Princess to charge the same fares to sail on 20+ year old ships. And I have no idea whether top tier crew members like head chefs and MDR managers have any say in where they are deployed, but if they do, it is logical to expect that the best of the best choose to work on the newer ships leaving a talent gap on the older ships. It’s naive to think that crew quality does not impact the overall cruise experience. 

[1emerald1]

Did you express your concerns to the Maitre'd?  I know if Mario were still on the ship he would have tried his best to correct it.

[LACruiser88]

Just now, 1emerald1 said:

Did you express your concerns to the Maitre'd?  I know if Mario were still on the ship he would have tried his best to correct it.

Mario is onboard until the end of October.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, LACruiser88 said:

Mario is onboard until the end of October.

Which restaurant is Mario in, usually?

[Purplsmurf]

Oh goodness! This doesn’t sound good. We are sailing Princess……not by choice…..next month. I already wasn’t thrilled to be sailing Princess to start with and now to potentially expect this on board the Sapphire? Ugh 😩

[PacnGoNow]

4 minutes ago, Purplsmurf said:

Oh goodness! This doesn’t sound good. We are sailing Princess……not by choice…..next month. I already wasn’t thrilled to be sailing Princess to start with and now to potentially expect this on board the Sapphire? Ugh 😩

Not by choice? Someone is forcing you?🤣

 

Food is so subjective.  I would not worry about it and go with a positive attitude.  IF there is an issue, please speak with the DRO/Maitre’d. 
 

[NavyVeteran]

1 hour ago, JimmyVWine said:

While I love the design and features of the Grand/Gem Class ships, Princess really does need to retire all of the ships built prior to Ruby and Emerald. And even those are suspect. The difference in design and condition of the Royal Class ships and soon to be Sphere Class is just way too stark for Princess to charge the same fares to sail on 20+ year old ships. And I have no idea whether top tier crew members like head chefs and MDR managers have any say in where they are deployed, but if they do, it is logical to expect that the best of the best choose to work on the newer ships leaving a talent gap on the older ships. It’s naive to think that crew quality does not impact the overall cruise experience. 

I love the Grand class ships. Most of my cruises are on the Caribbean and the Grand. I doubt that the crew there are any less experienced than on the newer ships. I wouldn't mind, however, if Princess decided to charge lower fares for those ships - I'd be happy to take advantage of them.

[Coral]

1 hour ago, JimmyVWine said:

While I love the design and features of the Grand/Gem Class ships, Princess really does need to retire all of the ships built prior to Ruby and Emerald. And even those are suspect. The difference in design and condition of the Royal Class ships and soon to be Sphere Class is just way too stark for Princess to charge the same fares to sail on 20+ year old ships. And I have no idea whether top tier crew members like head chefs and MDR managers have any say in where they are deployed, but if they do, it is logical to expect that the best of the best choose to work on the newer ships leaving a talent gap on the older ships. It’s naive to think that crew quality does not impact the overall cruise experience. 

I actually like the Grand and Sapphire Princess (and I assume the Diamond but haven't sailed it) and Coral Princess. Not a fan of Crown/Ruby/Emerald - those ships seem too crowded to me.

[LACruiser88]

26 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Which restaurant is Mario in, usually?

Mario Propato is the DRO on the Sapphire.  He is all over the ship.  

[Thrak]

We had a 17 day Panama Canal cruise on Coral Princess in 2015 where the food was mediocre at best. Very disappointing. Half way through the cruise the food suddenly became quite good. We asked our waiter about the change and he said the regular head chef had returned to the ship. (The waiter was quite happy about the change.) The rest of the cruise the food was great. It seems that "the boss" can make all the difference in the world.

[RD64]

2 hours ago, lucywestie said:

So we sailed from Vancouver on Sept. 6th and returned Sept. 20th. We have cruised Sapphire before back in 2010 on a similar back to back though the second week was down the west coast. This cruise we hit the usual ports twice plus cruised College Fjord, Glacier National Park and Hubbard Glacier. 

We have cruised other lines as well and tend to cruise for the ship rather than the ports, especially as this was our third Alaska cruise. My post may offend a few people but I was so mad about the quality of the cruise that I had to say something. (I know what my mum said about if you have nothing good to say...but still)

 

The Sapphire is certainly showing her age. We had an inside cabin on Deck 11 Baja. Don't mind an inside for Alaska this time of year as the weather was terrible pretty much every day apart from Glacier Park day. The cabin was exceedingly dated. Old shower curtain and a peeling mirror were the most noticeable things. Mattress was very lumpy and pillows of very poor quality. Very thin and lumpy and just past their use by date. I must admit the tv viewing in the cabin has certainly picked up with lots of update films to watch plus tv series etc. and we spent a fair few evenings in our room catching up on films etc.

 

Our biggest gripe on the cruise was the quality of the food. I never once had a hot meal, whether in the traditional dining (we ate in the Sante Fe dining room but gave up after a few nights) or in the buffet. Everything seemed luke warm to tepid at the best of times. My wife is Italian and on the Italian night I had the chicken parmigiana which consisted of an obviously "out of a box" breaded chicken cutlet and a very obvious slice of process cheese thrown on top. The pasta sauce was like water. I left most of on the plate and the wait staff never enquired as to why I had left so much. One night I had the 8oz Sirloin that is always on the menu in the dining room and I never knew you could make a piece of meat so flavourless. That was the overwhelming take of the food on the cruise that there was barely any flavour to anything whether the meat or the desserts. The desserts may look nice but when you have a fudge cake that tastes just of lard you really do have a problem. Maybe the accountants have told them to cut back on seasonings etc. who knows.

 

Worst meal of the cruise was in the Sterling Steakhouse. Had a rib eye that was all fat, not cooked properly and again, no seasoning etc. My wifes filet had to be sent back as it was bleeding to death on her plate. Again staff just didn't seem to care.

 

Best meal on the cruise was Sabatini's. We have never been before but the food was good (almost hot and tasty) and the service impeccable. 

 

Entertainment was all the usual with the standard shows plus comedians etc. Had a good comedian the first week on board but we didn't bother with the second week. You had to be in the theatre by 7pm if you wanted a half way decent seat for the 730pm show. Lots of seat holding going on.

 

Embarkation at Vancouver was easy though a long of walking was involved to get from one location to another. We got there for 1050am and were on board by 12 which wasn't to bad. Disembarking started off well but our whole group "Gold 04" walked right past all our luggage before I asked an employee where our luggage was located. No signs and nobody pointing our group in the right direction. Pretty shabby, get off the ship and get the next load on board.

 

It just appears that Princess and maybe most cruise lines are trying to make up for what they lost during Covid. The cruise itself was not that expensive but you do expect halfway decent, hot and flavourful food if thats what you are paying for and we certainly didnt get that. We are not food snobs by any means and our expectations are pretty low but this really was taking the mickey on the cruise. Funny thing is though that we also went to the Twisted Fish in Juneau which we had fond memories of from our first Alaska cruise in 2007. The food there was actually worse than the ship, appeared that the oil for frying hadn't been changed in a long time and everything was tasteless, but they managed to charge the big bucks for it.

 

Maybe that is life now, big business trying to recoup their losses at the cost of the paying customer. This cruise really put us off cruising for a while and our next trip will probably be a land based trip to the UK or similar. Though I was in the UK in May and faced similar situations there, poor quality, high prices and poor selection. Thus is the way of the world right now I fear. 

My Canadian Compatriot

 

I would just like to comment on the Italian food as - like your wife I am also Italian. I am saddened to see this as I thought with Princess - and a good proportion of Italian officers, they would still  have good Italian food.

 

I spent two weeks on HAL in August and the Italian offerings were the only thing I did not enjoy. The sauces were excessively sweet, not enough tomato sauce, etc. I could not eat any of them, and sent them back. The “Classic Lasagna” arrived swimming in a sea of bechamel. They even messed up on the pasta. Buccatini was offerred twice and they were not Buccatini noodles. There was one exception - the Crab Carbonara - excellent.The people that I met and ate dinner with thought it was always incredible. Sadly I think the cruise lines have had to alter their recipes, to appeal to as generic a palate as possible. No offence to anyone, but I would never choose an Olive Garden while visiting in the US, and I would certainly not want one at sea.

[c-boy]

31 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

I love the Grand class ships. Most of my cruises are on the Caribbean and the Grand. I doubt that the crew there are any less experienced than on the newer ships. I wouldn't mind, however, if Princess decided to charge lower fares for those ships - I'd be happy to take advantage of them.

HA! reminds me of when I was stationed on CGN-25, the fix or repair daily tour. I asked the EXO if I could shorten have my  contract shortened if I get reassigned to that wonderful lady. 🤨

[JimmyVWine]

45 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

I love the Grand class ships.

I do too. Or, at least, I did. But it is crystal clear that Princess is neglecting these older ships while it builds and updates its newer ships. Just looking at the tile, grout, fixtures and mirrors of the Grand Class ships reveals how little Princess cares about them. Every non-suite bathroom on these ships needs to be gutted and remodeled. But that will never happen. 

[Thrak]

Boarding Grand Princess in 3 days. Since it was refurbished in 2019 and then not used during the shutdown I'm hoping it's in pretty good shape.

[Forevercrusing]

Thank you for the check in information!  We appreciate it.

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

28 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Boarding Grand Princess in 3 days. Since it was refurbished in 2019 and then not used during the shutdown I'm hoping it's in pretty good shape.

 

I have been on the Grand Princess several times since her dry dock in April 2021 (I think).  I thought she was in fine shape to be shipped down under (ugh/wished they'd keep her on the West Coast).  

 

Yes, still stairs to nowhere (mid-ship).

Fabulous crew

Less Passengers/More enjoyable

No water buckets around the ship (if you know, you know)

 

Enjoy your cruise.  I think you will miss not having your laptop on such a long cruise.  At least chime in once in a while.