Just Back - Sapphire Princess Pacific Coastal

[Princess Patches]

I was on the October 1st sailing of the Sapphire Princess, Pacific Coastal Cruise. I really enjoyed this itinerary despite having seen all the ports of call many times before, but never from this perspective. Loved sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge!

 

Everything went smoothly and the weather was perfect. The ship was in excellent shape. I heard they were working on the sports deck (I did not go up there), but other than that I saw nothing other than the usual maintenance (painting, varnishing). A lot of new mattresses were being brought onboard in San Diego. I had an Emerald mini suite that already had new mattresses in it. They were not rock hard like the old ones and I had a great night's sleep throughout the cruise. Really enjoyed our new mattress.

 

We got to San Pedro at 11:00 a.m. and parked our car in the open lot which was nearly full already. Check in was already open and we boarded at 11:30 a.m. (elite priority boarding). We had our lunch in the MDR at noon. I actually thought the food was even better on this sailing than past sailings. They have changed some of the recipes since last year. The Nutella ice cream was to die for!! We ate in the MDR (traditional first seating) for all our meals except lunch on port days when it was closed. However, they served afternoon tea daily in the Pacific Moon Dining room and we substituted that for lunch on port days when we were not ashore. That was a nice treat.

 

We took the Sonoma Wine Country tour in San Francisco. It was expensive, but we saw three wineries and it included wine samples (Jacuzzi, Cline, and Sebastiani). We also drove through downtown Sonoma, which was lovely. We live in Santa Barbara. so we just walked the waterfront there (Sunday Art Show). In San Diego we took the $25 harbor cruise, which was a real bargain. It was 2 hours and you got to see everthing of the North and South Bay. I highly recommend this tour, especially if you have been to San Diego before but never seen it from this perspective. This was our best shore excursion. The harbor cruise pick up point is just a 5 minute walk from the cruise ship terminal.

 

We had a surprise, unplanned celebrity guest on our sailing. Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubbing from the Love Boat series) got on in SF unexpectedly and gave a lecture in the Princess Theater. He is very entertaining and his talk was preceded by an hour film about his life, which was excellent (I had forgotten what a lengthy career he had prior to the Love Boat). He had brought his wife, brother, sister-in-law, and several other relatives with him and introduced them. If you ever get the chance to see him, I highly recommend it.

 

The shows were great, but the theater was packed for the production shows (first show only). I recommend getting there 1/2 hour early for the production shows. The other acts were not crowded. The new show (Got to Dance) was great. Steve Moris, who has been on the Sapphire for 3 years and 8 years with Princess had his final show on this cruise. He is going to be playing Las Vegas next. Disembarkation was a breeze, we were off the ship, through customs and on the freeway headed home by 9:00 a.m.

[windango]

Thanks for the great review! We're on the Sapphire in December and she's my favorite ship. One of my favorite things to do is sit at one of the window computers in the internet cafe and watch the water go by. I'm saddened by the news that much of that space is going to be absorbed into one of the specialty restaurants when she goes into drydock, but I totally understand their need to maximize the space.

 

Our last two cruises on her (April of 2010 and 2011), Steve Moris was on board and told the passengers he would be leaving very soon (for some reason I thought within the month). I was beginning to wonder if it was really true. Guess if he's still on there in December we'll know!

[Princess Patches]

Our last two cruises on her (April of 2010 and 2011), Steve Moris was on board and told the passengers he would be leaving very soon (for some reason I thought within the month). I was beginning to wonder if it was really true. Guess if he's still on there in December we'll know!

 

Steve Moris definitely said it was his farewell performance and he will be starting at the Palace Station in Las Vegas soon.

[Rosethorn40]

Thank you for sharing your review. My DH and I just came back from a Pacific Coastal on another line, in fact we docked in LA the same day you were getting ready to sail. We enjoyed San Fancisco so much that we are thinking about the Califorina Coastal for next year.

 

Does anyone know when the Sapphire goes into dry dock? I sailed on her in 2006 and thought her nearly perfect then.

[Princess Patches]

Thank you for sharing your review. My DH and I just came back from a Pacific Coastal on another line, in fact we docked in LA the same day you were getting ready to sail. We enjoyed San Fancisco so much that we are thinking about the Califorina Coastal for next year.

 

Does anyone know when the Sapphire goes into dry dock? I sailed on her in 2006 and thought her nearly perfect then.

 

The Sapphire goes into drydock in January right after the New Year's cruise to Mexico. I highly recommend the Pacific Coastal. We are planning on doing it again next year.

[KruzPrincess]

Thanks for your report. I go on the Wine Country Coastal in May. Also, I am happy to hear about the mattresses. I hope all the ships are getting new and better mattresses soon.

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Sounds like a nice cruise. Part of our CC roll call group was meeting for dinner, at a members house, and watched your October 1st sailaway.....:):):)

 

Bob

[highheel girl]

Thanks for the mini review. :)

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

We too were on this Coastal Cruise this past week and I agree with everything Princess Patches said except the about the food. We have spent a total of 58 days on the Sapphire over the years and feel the food on this cruise was the worst ever. I understand that food is subjective so differences of opinion are normal. This was our first time in the MDR and the service was not that great so it will be back to Anytime on future cruises where we have always had great service. Cabin steward was wonderful. Itinerary and weather perfect. Have done this itinerary several times and always look forward to it. Listening to Gavin MacCleod was an unexpected delight. For us oldies it was a nice refresher to see all the acting he had done prior to Captain Stubing.

[fayfam]

Thanks for the review. We are hoping to do this cruise itinerary in 2013. Fingers crossed. Any suggestions or tips would be great.

 

Kerry :)

[BLS]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We love the Sapphire and hope to sail on her again! (soon)

[ASeaPrincess1]

We too were on this Coastal Cruise this past week and I agree with everything Princess Patches said except the about the food. We have spent a total of 58 days on the Sapphire over the years and feel the food on this cruise was the worst ever. I understand that food is subjective so differences of opinion are normal. This was our first time in the MDR and the service was not that great so it will be back to Anytime on future cruises where we have always had great service. Cabin steward was wonderful. Itinerary and weather perfect. Have done this itinerary several times and always look forward to it. Listening to Gavin MacCleod was an unexpected delight. For us oldies it was a nice refresher to see all the acting he had done prior to Captain Stubing.

I do agree with you about the food, and since other people I spoke with voiced the same opinions, I don't think you are off-base.

There were some things that were very good, (short ribs, prime rib) but overall, I also found the food to be not as good as in the past.

Not that I starved!:eek:

And yes, the service was a bit slow, but one night we had two waiters in Santa Fe who were quite entertaining.

I must have had the new mattress because my bed was very comfortable. I also had an Emerald mini.

I enjoyed the cruise and would do it again. We had great weather and pretty smooth seas...very nice time all around.

[rlmosher]

The construction was on top of Sky Walkers. That is going to be the new sanctuary.

[RickEk]

The construction was on top of Sky Walkers. That is going to be the new sanctuary.

 

No, the Sports Court is going in above Skywalkers... The Sanctuary is forward where the Sports Court used to be...

[srpilo]

Thanks for your report.

 

 

 

 

 

Srpilo

[Canadianknight]

Just returned from this cruise myself! Wasn't sure how much we'd enjoy the coastal cruise, but we LOVED it. (Especially San Francisco!)

 

Second time on the Sapphire... I made sure to film every last bit of her I could think of... once I heard she was going to be refurbed.

 

This was our second sailing on the Sapphire, and we love her. Hope she comes out even better!

 

As for the comments on the food, I enjoyed the menu in the MDR every night (traditional, second seating) .. with the exception of the Farewell menu on the last night. Steak and fries? Really? :P Ended up ordering the mussels in addition... and they were outstanding. But on the whole, that one menu underwhelmed me a bit.

 

That said, our servers (Raul and Goran) were OUTSTANDING.

[Psychedout]

I was on the October 1st sailing of the Sapphire Princess, Pacific Coastal Cruise. I really enjoyed this itinerary despite having seen all the ports of call many times before, but never from this perspective. Loved sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge!

 

Everything went smoothly and the weather was perfect. The ship was in excellent shape. I heard they were working on the sports deck (I did not go up there), but other than that I saw nothing other than the usual maintenance (painting, varnishing). A lot of new mattresses were being brought onboard in San Diego. I had an Emerald mini suite that already had new mattresses in it. They were not rock hard like the old ones and I had a great night's sleep throughout the cruise. Really enjoyed our new mattress.

 

We got to San Pedro at 11:00 a.m. and parked our car in the open lot which was nearly full already. Check in was already open and we boarded at 11:30 a.m. (elite priority boarding). We had our lunch in the MDR at noon. I actually thought the food was even better on this sailing than past sailings. They have changed some of the recipes since last year. The Nutella ice cream was to die for!! We ate in the MDR (traditional first seating) for all our meals except lunch on port days when it was closed. However, they served afternoon tea daily in the Pacific Moon Dining room and we substituted that for lunch on port days when we were not ashore. That was a nice treat.

 

We took the Sonoma Wine Country tour in San Francisco. It was expensive, but we saw three wineries and it included wine samples (Jacuzzi, Cline, and Sebastiani). We also drove through downtown Sonoma, which was lovely. We live in Santa Barbara. so we just walked the waterfront there (Sunday Art Show). In San Diego we took the $25 harbor cruise, which was a real bargain. It was 2 hours and you got to see everthing of the North and South Bay. I highly recommend this tour, especially if you have been to San Diego before but never seen it from this perspective. This was our best shore excursion. The harbor cruise pick up point is just a 5 minute walk from the cruise ship terminal.

 

We had a surprise, unplanned celebrity guest on our sailing. Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubbing from the Love Boat series) got on in SF unexpectedly and gave a lecture in the Princess Theater. He is very entertaining and his talk was preceded by an hour film about his life, which was excellent (I had forgotten what a lengthy career he had prior to the Love Boat). He had brought his wife, brother, sister-in-law, and several other relatives with him and introduced them. If you ever get the chance to see him, I highly recommend it.

 

The shows were great, but the theater was packed for the production shows (first show only). I recommend getting there 1/2 hour early for the production shows. The other acts were not crowded. The new show (Got to Dance) was great. Steve Moris, who has been on the Sapphire for 3 years and 8 years with Princess had his final show on this cruise. He is going to be playing Las Vegas next. Disembarkation was a breeze, we were off the ship, through customs and on the freeway headed home by 9:00 a.m.

 

"We took the Sonoma Wine Country tour in San Francisco. It was expensive, but we saw three wineries and it included wine samples (Jacuzzi, Cline, and Sebastiani"

 

We were on the sailing before you our wine tour was a disaster. I am trying to get out money back form Princess

[marilynbn]

I was also on this sailing and posted another thread while on board. We loved this ship and our balcony room. We actually loved the food and ate way too much of it. We had the most amazing balcony dinner while in SF. We had a fantastic view, the service was perfect, the filet mignon cooked to perfection and melted in my mouth, as did the lobster. Very romantic meal to have the SF skyline to look at. We were not moving yet so there were no breezes either. We ate anytime dining per norm for us and ate at Sabatini one night which was good but not great. We would definately do this itinerary again and this ship! The smoothest sailing we have ever done and a wonderful room steward.

 

Gavin and his wife were in an aft suite on our deck so we saw them several times in the hallway and said hello etc...very nice, warm people. I thought it was just too funny that he was sailing with us.

 

~Marilyn

[lovevacadays]

Steve Moris definitely said it was his farewell performance and he will be starting at the Palace Station in Las Vegas soon.

 

That's kind of funny because that's what he said in his show back in May on the Sapphire. I really like his show. I wonder if his Palace Station show got delayed a bit and that's why he was still on board.

 

Agree with the OP. If you haven't done the harbor tour in San Diego it really is a nice way to get a different perspective of San Diego. Especially, if you've been many times and done the land based type things like the zoo, etc.

 

Nice to hear you had a great cruise OP

[rlmosher]

No, the Sports Court is going in above Skywalkers... The Sanctuary is forward where the Sports Court used to be...

 

Hmmm One of the crew told me it was going to be the Sanctuary. He must have been wrong.

[Canadianknight]

My wife and I kept hoping to run in to Mr. MacLeod in the hopes of getting a pic... just to prove to everyone back home we'd sailed with Captain Stubing! :) Alas, it didn't happen. I did attend his talk though... what an interesting guy... and humble and genuine!

[Princess Patches]

My wife and I kept hoping to run in to Mr. MacLeod in the hopes of getting a pic... just to prove to everyone back home we'd sailed with Captain Stubing! :) Alas, it didn't happen. I did attend his talk though... what an interesting guy... and humble and genuine!

 

The man sitting next to me at Mr. MacLeod's talk said he had no idea "Captain Stubing" was on our cruise and he just stepped into the hall from his cabin and Captain Stubing was walking right past his cabin door. He couldn't believe it. He quickly asked for a picture and Mr. MacLeod posed with him and his wife right outside their cabin door. He showed me the photo on his camera just before the talk started. Very cute.

[Canadianknight]

The man sitting next to me at Mr. MacLeod's talk said he had no idea "Captain Stubing" was on our cruise and he just stepped into the hall from his cabin and Captain Stubing was walking right past his cabin door. He couldn't believe it. He quickly asked for a picture and Mr. MacLeod posed with him and his wife right outside their cabin door. He showed me the photo on his camera just before the talk started. Very cute.

 

Great story! :) I'd been tipped off by a crew member that Captain Stubing was onboard, but thought "nahhh..." I would have been floored if he walked by my cabin.

[lois1112]

Just returned from this cruise myself! Wasn't sure how much we'd enjoy the coastal cruise, but we LOVED it. (Especially San Francisco!)

 

Second time on the Sapphire... I made sure to film every last bit of her I could think of... once I heard she was going to be refurbed.

 

This was our second sailing on the Sapphire, and we love her. Hope she comes out even better!

 

As for the comments on the food, I enjoyed the menu in the MDR every night (traditional, second seating) .. with the exception of the Farewell menu on the last night. Steak and fries? Really? :P Ended up ordering the mussels in addition... and they were outstanding. But on the whole, that one menu underwhelmed me a bit.

 

That said, our servers (Raul and Goran) were OUTSTANDING.

 

I was on the September 24th sailing, and agree completely. the food was wonderful, except for the last night. (better than I had on the Sapphire before)

[gelo7]

Thank you for sharing your review.