Thoughts on Sapphire Princess?

[charlene19]

We will be doing a Mexican Riviera cruise on Sapphire Princess. I haven't seen a lot of posts regarding the Sapphire and just thought I would ask, if anyone has any knowledge on this ship? What are your thoughts? Good and bad points?

 

Our first and only cruise was on the Sea Princess back in 2001...how different is Sapphire?

 

thank you

[Druke I]

Sapphire Princess is a huge ship, one of the modified Grand class.

 

I for one prefer something smaller, along the lines of the Sun class or Coral class ship.

[MercedMike]

Sapphire Princess is a beautiful ship! She has wonderful facilities. She is indeed very large, but the ship is very well laid out and seldom feels crowded. About the only problem is getting a seat in the main lounge theater. You need to get to the show at least 20 to 30 minutes early.

 

Check out our trip report and pics at

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/sapphire.html

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[jff50]

I have been on all the Sun class ships, the Island, the Grand, the Carribean, the Sapphire and the Diamond. The Sapphire/Diamond are my second favorite ships. I like the Island best because it has many of the amenities of the larger ships but in a smaller package. The Sun Class don't seem to have the same amount of amenities. The Sapphire/Diamond are a little larger than the Grand but with the same number of people. The Carribean has about 500 more people in the same size as the Sapphire/Diamond.

 

It's a great ship, and I think you will like it.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I've spent a month on the Sapphire and a month on the Diamond. They are my favorite Princess ships (although I've not yet been on the Island/Coral). I much prefer them to the Sun Class ships. The size is only an attribute, at least until it comes time to tender, which can be a bit onerous.

 

My favorite areas on those ships are the aft Terrace Deck and Terrace pool areas, the Lotus spa pool and the fitness center. The Sapphire has the most beautiful oriental musicbox just as you exit the spa area. You can (at least you used to be able to) wind it up...it was really exquisite. The Diamond doesn't have that music box, and it is the only reason I prefered the Sapphire (an admittedly VERY minor difference, but on month long cruises one has plenty of time to draw these sorts of conclusions).;)

[charlene19]

We will be on the Baja deck, midship balcony. Is there anything that I should know about regarding the balconies on this floor? Like, are the balconies see thru? Is there a lot of noise from the floors above? I am just hoping we made the right choice in terms of floors and room.

[DanJ]

We did the riviera on Sapphire in 2006. Abosulutely beautiful ship. Can't imagine where they hid all 2985 people that were on board (according to the sign in the galley tour) because it never felt crowded. We did have to wait in line for the tender back from Cabo, but even then, things moved along quickly because they used land-based tenders in addition to the 6 tenders the ship has.

 

By the way, for those that like the Coral/Island because they are "smaller", they are only smaller in terms of passengers. They are still big ships. They are the same length and only are missing the Skywalkers deck that the Grand-class has. Where the gross tonnage is missing is in the width of the ships. The fewer number of passengers is the plus here, but I have heard people say they wouldn't want to go on a Grand class because it was too much walking and were going on the Coral instead LOL.

[Druke I]

Coral and Island Princess are smaller in that they can utilize the Panama Canal, while Sapphire and other Grand class (& modified Grand class) are too beamy to fit in the locks of the Panama Canal.

[sddsddean]

We will be on the Baja deck, midship balcony. Is there anything that I should know about regarding the balconies on this floor? Like, are the balconies see thru? Is there a lot of noise from the floors above? I am just hoping we made the right choice in terms of floors and room.

 

We were on the Sapphire earlier this year. Thing to know about the balconies is that they step in the higher you go. So, Dolphin balconies are exposed and the rail is the at the ships side; Caribe, the balcony steps in about 10 feet (so you cant look 'over the side') and are half exposed/half covered. Baja balconies (where we were), the rail steps in another 10 feet and are totally covered. Aloha are directly above Baja.

The result is you can only actually look over the side (in port say) if you are on Dolphin. To show you what I mean, go to my photos of the Sydney - LA cruise at http://photos.orange.co.uk/album/5683729

Below the first photos you will see nos 1 to 14 then ALL. Click on 'all' and then look at photo 229. The scary woman is the wife(!) shouting at the crowd seeing us off. We are on Baja, just below her hands you can see the rail of the Caribe deck and further out again you can see the rail of the Dolphin deck.

You will have no problems with noise. The only cabins susceptible to this are on Aloha under the pools.

Hope this helps.

 

Simon

[sradogna]

Also, keep in mind that because of the stagger described below by sddsddean, the Caribe deck balconies are almost double the size of the Baja balconies. The Caribe deck balconies are half covered and half uncovered. The Baja Deck provides the half-cover for the Caribe Deck balconies.

[kaseyoz]

We were on the Sapphire earlier this year. Thing to know about the balconies is that they step in the higher you go. So, Dolphin balconies are exposed and the rail is the at the ships side; Caribe, the balcony steps in about 10 feet (so you cant look 'over the side') and are half exposed/half covered. Baja balconies (where we were), the rail steps in another 10 feet and are totally covered. Aloha are directly above Baja.

The result is you can only actually look over the side (in port say) if you are on Dolphin. To show you what I mean, go to my photos of the Sydney - LA cruise at http://photos.orange.co.uk/album/5683729

Below the first photos you will see nos 1 to 14 then ALL. Click on 'all' and then look at photo 229. The scary woman is the wife(!) shouting at the crowd seeing us off. We are on Baja, just below her hands you can see the rail of the Caribe deck and further out again you can see the rail of the Dolphin deck.

You will have no problems with noise. The only cabins susceptible to this are on Aloha under the pools.

Hope this helps.

 

Simon

 

 

Thanks for posting those photos , i hadnt seen them before. We were on the sapphire princess in April 2007. You certainly had a good look around sydney, what wonderful memories you must have.

Your photos of the "sounds" are magical too, we had very wet windy conditions but could still appreciate it's beauty.

 

BTW on photo of 102 (where the olympic games was held, the poles to the right of the picture , did you know contained the names of all the volunteers who worked at the olympics. Little piece of trivia in case you missed it checking out the surroundings.

[jnc411]

Hi , we have been on the Sapphire and many of the other Princess ships. The Sapphire is very large, but such a beautiful ship, my only suggestion would be, to be sure to each get a pocket map of the ship on first boarding the ship,(you can pick them up at the pursers desk) really helps a lot , with finding your way around. Have a wonderful cruise.

Cori

[TorontoTL]

The Sapphire is a lovely ship, in many ways the same as the Star/Golden but somehow more beautiful. All the Grand class ships are huge, but they don't feel it, they really do have intimate feeling spaces inside. The amenities are wonderful, I can't see anyone really criticizing the Sapphire unless they just don't like big ships. I wouldn't hesitate to book another cruise on the Sapphire and in fact I'm planning a cruise to Hawaii on the Sapphire's sister the Diamond for this winter.

[charlene19]

Thank you so much for posting those pics and to all of you for your advice. So, basically, we will be in for a completely different experience from what we had years ago on the Sea Princess? That will be great. It's the same iternary, but different ship.

 

This is only our 2nd cruise, so I am excited. I am also happy to hear that our cabin on Baja will be a good one.

[DanJ]

Coral and Island Princess are smaller in that they can utilize the Panama Canal, while Sapphire and other Grand class (& modified Grand class) are too beamy to fit in the locks of the Panama Canal.

 

Yes, and you'll notice I said "Where the gross tonnage is missing is in the width of the ships". I was just trying to say that the complaint I hear from most people about larger ships is that they are too long to walk or have too many stairs to climb if the elevators are busy. In that sense, there is no real difference for any of these ships. I have yet to hear anyone complain a ship was too wide LOL.

 

Anyway, probably a point left unmade for this thread.

[bcinderella]

Hi,

We took our kids, 15/12 Feb. 2006 on the Sapphire.

Remember that the wind can be somewhat cooler coming out of LA during that time until you are further south.

My husband positioned our chairs tucked close to the hot tubs and we were hot while others were in sweatshirts.

The ship is beautiful, afternoon music (think Jimmy Buffet-my kids moaned).

We used any time dining, and in Dec. on Coral we are choosing Traditional because we'd like to know exactly when and where we need to be with no waits. Anytime was fine, except for the added pressure on me to pick the restaurant and find the right time for a reservation.

The balcony cabins are beautiful. We order coffee each morning and sit in our robes and enjoy the view.

You can't go wrong on this Ship.

Cynthia

[sddsddean]

Thanks for posting those photos , i hadnt seen them before. We were on the sapphire princess in April 2007. You certainly had a good look around sydney, what wonderful memories you must have.

Your photos of the "sounds" are magical too, we had very wet windy conditions but could still appreciate it's beauty.

 

BTW on photo of 102 (where the olympic games was held, the poles to the right of the picture , did you know contained the names of all the volunteers who worked at the olympics. Little piece of trivia in case you missed it checking out the surroundings.

 

Apparently the weather in the sounds was the best they had had all season. It was beautiful. Only had 3 days around Sydney...should have had 3 weeks! and to cap it all we did the Harbour Bridge climb on embarkation day (but of course you are not allowed to take a camera..or much else), so no photos, but walked straight onto the ship at 4.15pm with no lines! Ah, memories!

 

Our driver told us about the names at Sydney Olympic site, so another piece of trivia put away. Did you try roast kangaroo? Absolutely beautiful..half way between steak and venison.

 

Simon

[earljr]

Hey KOALA simon--

 

how ya doin?

 

Earl

[ggprincess2004]

We sailed the Sea Princess from Quebec to FLL, and really enjoyed the cruise. We had a fantastic upgrade to one of the aft mini-suites that was fantastic, and offered a totally private balcony. While not as large as the Grand Class, she did have her own charm, but fewer amenities. We would not hesitate to cruise her again.

We were on the Sapphire for almost three weeks this past May/June and thoroughly enjoyed her. She has a lot of amenities, including a choice of four anytime dining rooms, more entertainment options, lots of intimate spaces, great pools, etc. But she doesn't have the pizza restaurant in the Atrium which we enjoyed on the Sea. She does have great specialty restaurants, a spacious internet cafe that includes a coffee bar, and a really easy to navigate layout, just take the pocket map of the ship with you for a few days.

I am sure you will enjoy your cruise on her!

[mary_228]

We sailed both ships on Mexican Riviera itineraries and had a fabulous time on each. The Sapphire has a great new cabin design in which the closet runs perpendicular to the hallway into your room, and it has no doors on it, making dressing much easier. Give it a try, I bet you'll love it!

[yancycruiser]

Charlene,

 

We were on the Saphire Princess several years ago on an Alaskan Cruise. I haven't read all the comments by previous posters. However, my wife and I had a great time and thought the ship was beautiful. To us, it was the perfect size ship.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[sddsddean]

Hey KOALA simon--

 

how ya doin?

 

Earl

 

Hi Carolyn & Earl

 

Hope you are both keeping well and stretching your minds on trivia!! As you can see from my signature, Jane and I are off to the Med next May. Only (...0nly!?:rolleyes: ) 7 months to wait.

 

Take care

 

Simon

[Linda-E]

Simon,Thanks for the great photos! DH and I are doing the same cruise next year. What shore excursions/sights would you recommend? Where was the best place to see wildlife?Thanks,

[sddsddean]

Simon,Thanks for the great photos! DH and I are doing the same cruise next year. What shore excursions/sights would you recommend? Where was the best place to see wildlife?Thanks,

Hi Linda

 

Well if you are stopping in Sydney, it won't be long enough!! We had 3 days and could have had 3 weeks. In Sydney, a Blue Mountains tour is a must. Scenery is beautiful. This is a full day. We also did a city tour with lunch on one of the Captain Cook boats that ply round Sydney Harbour. This was very enjoyable and on the bus section we stopped in Manly for about 45 mins. The beach was beautiful and almost deserted! One evening we had dinner at the top of the Sydney Skytower...in the middle of an electrical storm! Just like a free firework show. The restaurant revolves and you do a circuit in about 75mins. If you do this go for the 'a la carte' restaurant, not the buffet (thats the mistake we made!). We rounded off Sydney with a climb up the bridge on embarkation day. Stunning views if you are into that sort of thing and the climb isn't too strenuous; only about 3 steepish catwalk ladders to climb, the rest is fairly easy.

We didn't book many excursions on the ship, prefering to just get off and wander round the various islands, but we did do the Traeri Gorge train at Dunedin. The train departs from beside the ship and climbs up into the gorge. More stunning scenery (and I love trains anyway!). You can either get off in Dunedin or come back to the ship on the train. The only other bit I'll mention is Honolulu. We were going to go to Pearl Harbour in our hire car, but being Brits we had to spend 2 hrs queueing for US immigration on the ship!, so didn't get off until 11am. We decided to use the car (from Alamo $40 for the day) and 4 of us had a very pleasent day driving round the island. Anything else you need to know, e mail me on the address below.

 

Simon