My Sapphire b2b trip report

[lucywestie]

This is just a quickie as I didn't see anything else posted on the board. We did the Sapphire's last cruise of the season to Alaska before remaining on board for the coastal cruise down to LA.

 

Some background on us, couple in their 40's/50's, only previous cruise was on the Serenade of the Sea's and did an almost exact same cruise in 2007 with similar ports of call.

 

This cruise we had an inside cabin on Aloha deck, nice cabin but alot smaller than the Serenade. On the Serenade there was room for a loveseat, on the Sapphire there was nothing, just a chair at the built in desk and we had to move a round glass table and tuck it in the corner of the wardrobe otherwise there would have been no way to move around.

 

First night we asked our steward [awesome guy by the way] for a mattress topper and he gave us one that he said they use in the suites, not an egg crate but something else. We also asked for extra pillows.

 

Now, Im pretty sure that prior to leaving the port Princess go and lay all the pillows on the busiest highway they can find and let rush hour traffic run over them for hours on end. Im pretty the pillows should have been buried years ago, no "oomph" to them at all. They were awful but once you stacked 3 together it wasn't so bad!

 

The ports of call were the usual, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and a cruise around Glacier Bay. We went into this cruise knowing that going to Alaska this time of year can result in lousy weather and we weren't disappointed. But funnily enough, Ketchikan, which is supposed to be one of the wettest places in North America, was the driest place we visited!

 

In Juneau we used Harv and Marv's and had a great excursion with them. Skagway we just got off the ship and wandered around, cleaned out the Alaska T-shirt company of all their greatly reduced shirts [one of the benefits of being the last ship of the season].

In Ketchikan all the tour companies met us as we got off and were offering greatly reduced trips, we paid $50 for an excursion that apparently Princess were selling for over $100. Did a tour around the island, trip to the Totem Pole Park and generally had a pleasant morning checking out the scenery.

 

Glacier Bay was nice but a very cloudy and wet day hampered what could have been some great photos of the glaciers etc. Still, it was a nice cruise though we saw little in the way of wildlife.

 

Back enroute to Vancouver before departing again southbound for Naniamo, Victoria, San Francisco and San Diego.

 

We are Canadian and we probably could have swum to Nanaimo quicker than the ship sailed there. Not sure why they chose these two ports of call that are so close to Vancouver and so close to each other. Would have much preferred a stop in Seattle instead, but I digress.

 

The folks in Nanaimo really do deserve a pat on the back. The cruise dock location is just on the edge of town and I believe they deliberately developed in the last couple of years to try and seduce the cruise companies to stop there.

The welcome centre at the start of the pier was full of volunteers from the town including the Mayor, I don't think I have ever been welcomed to a town by the mayor before! They had a number of bus's that they had turned into free shuttles that did a loop around the town with about 4 stops. At every stop there was a table set up with other volunteers who had all sorts of info about what to see and do.

My wife and I were desperate for a coffee and one of the volunteers took me by the arm and walked me 100 yards up the street to a great little coffee shop that we would have never of found by ourselves. So Nanaimo gets an A+ rating from me.

 

We didnt disembark in Victoria and just sat in the hot tubs at the back of the ship watching a Bald Eagle sit on top of a parking lot lamp post and eat something, hopefully it wasn't somebody's pet because this thing was huge!

 

Next port of call was San Francisco. We did a ships excursion to Muir Woods and had a very informative guide on board who talked about what we saw along the way. I know there were a few complaints that day on board as that was the first U.S port of call so Customs and Immigration had to board etc. and that took alot of time. I think they got on board at 10am and nobody was able to leave the ship till maybe midday. Lots of muttering was heard from various quarters, but what are you going to do.

 

It would have been nicer if we had more time in the city as we have been here once before and like the location of the cruise dock to some of the touristy sights.

 

Last stop before L.A. was San Diego. Here we just disembarked, hopped in a cab and headed over to the Zoo. Bit pricey at $42 per person for entry but it is a world leader in terms of all things "zoo-like" and we got to see the sleeping Panda's so I won't complain to much!

 

Last stop was the port in L.A. Disembarkation was a breeze. Because we had our own flight plans later that day we weren't able to leave till 930am. Straight off the ship, luggage was waiting and straight out to a taxi to take us to Long Beach airport.

 

It was a nice relaxing cruise though Princess really needs to do something about their bedding. Like I said, our first cruise was back in 2007 and the bed on the Serenade was one of the comfiest I had ever slept in. Now 5 years later Princess still has crappy mattresses etc, they need to get with the times. You are on board to relax and part of relaxation is getting a good nights sleep.

 

Food was so-so. Pretty bland most of the time and nothing to overwhelm or impress the taste buds. I did enjoy breakfast on a Friday in the buffet as they had English bacon and sausage, thank you Princess lol.

 

We dined at the Sterling Steakhouse which is really just a partitioned off part of the buffet. Nice meal though I really took offence to the Maitre'd who gave me the most obvious head to toe look over before letting us sit in the restaurant. It was so blatant as to be rude and I let it be known in my final survey. I was dressed nicely, nothing torn or soiled etc. yet from his look you would have thought I had rolled in something nasty on the street. Not impressed.

 

Food and entertainment are very subjective, we didn't see any of the production shows but we did see one of the comedians one night. I find that they all try to up sell themselves by having this 5 minute blurb that runs before hand with semi famous celebrities saying what a great person they are. If you are that great, don't run the blurb, just get on with your act.

 

We did have the misfortune to be trapped in Crooners one night when Bert "with an e" Stratton started up. This guy really does have a great voice, but he seriously murders some great songs. Maybe that is part of his act but we had to depart for quieter climates till he had finished.

There was also a chap that spun a metal cube for a few minutes in the Piazza, not sure what that was about either!

 

Loved the International cafe and we bought a special coffee card that we used and abused the first week. Nice desserts, sandwiches etc. so no complaints.

Much preferred the pizza that was on the pool decks rather than Alfredo's, once again, just subjective here.

 

Did like the MUTS though they showed an awful lot of football during the day. Would have been nicer if they had shown a real man's sport, like Rugby, you know, a game where they don't wear padding and helmets and actually play for 45 minutes straight [just trying to rile some of you up there]. They had some great movies playing both at MUTS and in the Princess Theatre in the afternoon.

 

The tv offerings in the cabin were ok but not fantastic. They really needed to have a pay per view channel. I know some people feel that they only use the cabin to sleep in, but some of us also like to spend a bit of time in there escaping from the crowds and some better offerings would have been appreciated.

 

All in all it was a good cruise, managed to run up a healthy bar bill, lose some money in the "oh so tight" casino [slot players will know what I mean] and also got 5 books read while on board.

 

Not really sure if Princess is the cruise line for us right now. We probably won't cruise again for a few more years as we have other holiday plans that just don't involve the ocean!

 

Still, this was a pleasant, friendly cruise that did the job of getting us relaxed before our final week in Las Vegas! Yes, we went from a tiny inside cabin to a 500 sq ft room close to the strip with fluffy pillows and comfy mattresses, well I guess you can't have it all in life!

Pete

[DrivesLikeMario]

Had to laugh at your pillow comments!! What is it with the Princess pillows lately? They are HORRIBLE! :mad: I've seen more stuffing in a turkey! The pillows are lumpy and flat with no stuffing at all. It takes me 3-4 of them to get comfortable!

[TracieABD]

Thanks for the detailed review. I am not offended by the mattresses on Princess, but I laughed out loud about the pillows in the highway... You are so right.:)

[KruzPrincess]

Thanks for taking the time to report to us. I will be on the Sapphire in 5 weeks, so it's fun to read about the ship. I agree with you that Princess should upgrade their beds, but they haven't listened to me so far. I still like Princess, so I keep going back. I also think they have too much football on MUTS and wish they had interactive TV with on demand movies. Which cruise director was on board with you?

 

Thanks again.

[cvpends]

Thanks for taking the time to write this report! How often were there comedians, and in which venue did they perform? Thanks!!

[highheel girl]

Thanks for the review.

[luvcdays]

Glad you had a good time. You should cruise more so you can humor us with your funny reviews!

[caribill]

All in all it was a good cruise, managed to run up a healthy bar bill, lose some money in the "oh so tight" casino [slot players will know what I mean].

 

Still, this was a pleasant, friendly cruise that did the job of getting us relaxed before our final week in Las Vegas!

 

Be sure to report back if the slots were looser in LV.

[lucywestie]

I wasn't complaining about the weather, as I stated, I knew what we were letting ourselves in for because of the time of year and we had cruised at the same time before.

Also, I did state I was Canadian so knew about the closeness of the ports, was just wondering why two ports so close together. Anyway.....

 

The comedians usually did a show in the main theatre and then went to Explorers lounge later in the week. I think we had a guy called Steve Moris on the first leg of the cruise, he was quite good but disembarked in Ketchikan.

 

We met some great people on this cruise, normally around Crooners bar which ended up being our 'go to" bar for drinks etc.

 

I did say it was an enjoyable and relaxing cruise, there were no major problems, the problems I did have were to small to really sweat over and could have happened anywhere in the world, just not on a cruise ship.

 

The cruise director was Billy Hygate [spelling?] Wasn't to visible on ship during the day. We did see him in the theatre and he has a very good singing voice, he did a medley of Tom Jones songs one night before introducing the act and he could hit the notes thats for sure.

 

We did find plenty of quiet spots to sit and read, only discovered Skywalkers towards the end of the cruise which was a shame as it was empty during the day and an ideal place to while away the hours.

 

And yes, the slots were a lot looser in Vegas. Looser in that I came home with enough to buy a new laptop and my wife gets her dishwasher [its what she wanted..honest]

 

Pete

[cvpends]

I wasn't complaining about the weather, as I stated, I knew what we were letting ourselves in for because of the time of year and we had cruised at the same time before.

Also, I did state I was Canadian so knew about the closeness of the ports, was just wondering why two ports so close together. Anyway.....

 

The comedians usually did a show in the main theatre and then went to Explorers lounge later in the week. I think we had a guy called Steve Moris on the first leg of the cruise, he was quite good but disembarked in Ketchikan.

 

We met some great people on this cruise, normally around Crooners bar which ended up being our 'go to" bar for drinks etc.

 

I did say it was an enjoyable and relaxing cruise, there were no major problems, the problems I did have were to small to really sweat over and could have happened anywhere in the world, just not on a cruise ship.

 

The cruise director was Billy Hygate [spelling?] Wasn't to visible on ship during the day. We did see him in the theatre and he has a very good singing voice, he did a medley of Tom Jones songs one night before introducing the act and he could hit the notes thats for sure.

 

We did find plenty of quiet spots to sit and read, only discovered Skywalkers towards the end of the cruise which was a shame as it was empty during the day and an ideal place to while away the hours.

 

Pete

 

Thanks for the info about the comedians! I definitely understood your first post as saying that you enjoyed your cruise, but were giving an honest evaluation. I appreciate that you were straightforward.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

We were on the second leg of your cruise with you on the Sapphire and on the first leg we followed the Sapphire around Alaska on HAL's Zuiderdam. I have to say the weather in Alaska at the end of this season was far better than it was in July this year.

 

Agree totally with your comments on the food in the MDR on the Sapphire- bland and tasteless as well as very few choices. Fewer choices in the Horizon Court as well for Breakfast and Lunch.

 

We try to do the Princess Coastal at least once a year because of the itinerary. Nanaimo is such a treat. The town built the cruise ship terminal within the past two years to coax ships in. Last time we were there we had to tender over. This is such an improvement. Would have liked to have longer in Victoria even though we have been there many times. And the sail in to San Francisco was absolutely gorgeous. We have done the US Immigration aboard a ship many times and it is always a pain as it takes so long to process 2670 passengers.

 

Enjoyed your review.

[indiaksue]

My DH and I were also on the Coastal cruise with you. I will give a detailed review soon but totally agree on the beds and pillows. My side of the bed I chose was worse than my DH's I felt the springs and it was so hard. Luckily I was exhausted every night and so slept really good anyway. I really liked the food in the MDR, much better than the buffet but food is subjective.

[AKman2495]

On our last cruise we also had the "highway" pillows the first night. We asked our steward f he could find us some firmer pillows and he did! We had these great pillows for the rest of the trip. DOn't ask me how or where he found them, but they were great.:)

[Keith1010]

Thanks for detailed review.

 

Keith

[sunsetbeachgal]

Enjoyed your review...we were on the sailing after yours and loved the ship, the food and pretty much everything about the Sapphire. My only complaint was that the bed was rock hard and very uncomfortable...agree that they are in desperate need of better mattresses...and pillows...mine was a flat feather pillow that seemed to have stuff that kept poking me!

[mintjulip123]

Thanks for the review, we were on the Coastal with you! I also found that the bed was horrible, the worst yet. I didn't sleep well at all :( I did ask for an egg crate and was thoroughly scolded by our cabin stewart that I didn't put into my request on line before I got there. I tried to explain to our rude stewart that I have never felt the need before.

 

Overall I did enjoy the cruise but found most of the staff somewhat abrupt and bordering on rude.

 

I was so looking forward to Nanaimo as I had written to the Downtown Management Board before and had received such a nice letter explaining their offerings at the pier for the cruise passengers. They did not disappoint.

 

We enjoyed San Francisco but as you mentioned, we were not able to get off the ship as early as expected, our private tour was shortened. Also we took a tour out to Alcatraz and we did not have time to go back to the ship and get a jacket. BRRR We were glad to get back to our cabin to take a nice hot shower to thaw out.

 

I am glad that we were able to visit Victoria in the daylight. It was a great day for touring even if we were only there a short time. I would like to go back to Victoria and see more.

 

I didn't get the survey that I usually do when I get home, maybe they don't do that anymore?

[conwakr]

We were on the Alaska leg and got some spectacular sunrise pictures every morning from our balcony but Glacier Bay morning and then the Hal ship looked like a ghost ship in the mist. I was shocked at how little rain we encountered some drizzle in Juneau and at some point in Glacier Bay but I can't recall the time....the flat light in Glacier Bay made the blues spectacular and that morning was foggy, not sunny. Flat light is perfect for glacier viewing and photos. Based on previous reviews from this season I thought we had some of the better weather of the season.

 

We didn't mind the bed but we like a hard mattress and use a pretty flat pillows at home. We generally ate what the waiters recommended and weren't unhappy. The escargot on the menu was a treat as I'd been reading it wasn't available. That dinner was quite yummy and the bottle of wine almost didn't make it to the next night. We only ate in the buffet once and I thought the food was fine for a buffet.

 

We didn't encounter any rude staff and many were taking pictures of each other at Glacier Bay and I thought that was so cute. I agree with the OP that the other passengers were great. Really didn't encounter anyone I didn't enjoy talking to or wouldn't want to talk to.

 

We had never cruised Princess before but will again. It was our favorite ship since the RCC Nordic Empress which feels like a lifetime ago. Even though we both think the Princess design looks rather like a floating hotel rather than a ship, inside is lovely and I didn't take any pictures of the outside of the ship LOL.

[KruzPrincess]

Did any of you have a mini-suite or higher category? Princess advertises premium bedding for mini and above. Wondering if anyone experienced that. I've read about a pillowtop that's added? I've started bringing my own foam topper because the foam toppers they provide have been pretty thin and worthless for me.

 

Thanks.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Kruzprincess...no we were no in a mini suite or higher...unfortunately!!

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for the review! I agree about the pillows.:eek::eek::eek: I have to stack three to feel like I have anything close to what I use at home.