Sapphire Princess Review

[Ahhh]

Something not to be missed is the pizzeria called Alfredos, located on Deck 5 in the piazza. We thought these made to order brick oven pizzas were to die for!

 

You are correct! Also, the pizza up by the pool is (surprisingly) almost as good. It is thin crust and crunchy (especially directly out of the oven). I usually avoid ship pizzas around the pools, but these are very good!

[san diego sue]

For the first time on any cruise (and we are Elite on Princess), my husband isn't bring a suit or tux for formal night. He loved packing today for our up coming cruise. He will have a long sleeve black shirt, white tie and black dress pants. Hopefully we can get into the dining room. If not, we will go to Horizon Ct. Still want to walk around the ship, go to the theatre, on formal night and don't want to stand out. I am bringing my dressy clothes.

In reading carefully the posters original post, she mentioned the size of her husband's neck, arms etc. It is uncomfortable for him to even wear a dress shirt.

A couple of people answering here were downright rude to poster. Don't understand why you people do this.Did it make you feel good? :mad:

[NSWP]

The headwaiter at the MDR should enforce Princess dress policy on fomal nights, it is Tuxedo/Dark Suit for men, basically minimum of jacket and tie for men. So I don't know where this shirt and slacks came in to the equation ! This HW - Jovi was just doing his job and very well in my opinion. End of story.

 

I will be on Sapphire next April for a '7 day Coastal' following 31 days on Golden, BA to LA as per my signature. These days I wear a dark business suit to formals, and I bring that all the way from Australia.

 

Just my two cents worth.

[Shake]

If I see that Jovi fellow at the door on my cruise, I will go up to him and read his name tag, and turn right around and walk to another dining room.

 

That's not going to accomplish anything other than show rudeness and lack of class. He is just doing his job. Be nice, remember your Zinmaster is watching. :cool:

[Cruisin' Chick]

Don't mean to get off topic too much, but a few of you mentioned that Sabatini's and the steak house allow non-formal dress on formal nights. Is that really the case? I don't usually frequent the extra fee restaurants on cruises, but I think on all the past cruises I've been on, formal night was still formal in the specialty restaurants. If that is not the case on Sapphire, I might ditch the formal clothes and just plan on a specialty restaurant during formal nights. (obviously, I am sure they still require a smart business casual...I am not saying I will dress poorly in specialty restaurants...but it would be nice to avoid the tie and jacket).

 

The specialty restaurants are always smart casual for dinner.

 

Neither is a suit. Not even close.

 

Wondering what you mean by that. Suits are included in the "formal" dress code according to the Princess website. We're not talking Cunard formal here.

[Cruisin' Chick]

For the first time on any cruise (and we are Elite on Princess), my husband isn't bring a suit or tux for formal night. He loved packing today for our up coming cruise. He will have a long sleeve black shirt, white tie and black dress pants. Hopefully we can get into the dining room. If not, we will go to Horizon Ct. Still want to walk around the ship, go to the theatre, on formal night and don't want to stand out. I am bringing my dressy clothes.

In reading carefully the posters original post, she mentioned the size of her husband's neck, arms etc. It is uncomfortable for him to even wear a dress shirt.

A couple of people answering here were downright rude to poster. Don't understand why you people do this.Did it make you feel good? :mad:

 

Don't worry about standing out in public areas on formal nights. Passengers who aren't dressing up for eating in the MDRs are welcome to go to the shows, etc. Again, we're not talking about Cunard, or Holland or Celebrity, where passengers in shorts may be looked down upon.

[EZ4]

 

 

 

Wondering what you mean by that. Suits are included in the "formal" dress code according to the Princess website. We're not talking Cunard formal here.

 

I understand that in the context of a cruise ship a suit is fine for "formal" attire, but a suit is not considered formal wear in any other sector of society. A suit would typically be considered informal or business wear. I think the cruise lines choice of referring to it as formal night is problematic, because even a standard tuxedo is only considered semi formal. Full blown formal refers to "white tie" which would require a tailcoat.

[bled01]

I understand that in the context of a cruise ship a suit is fine for "formal" attire, but a suit is not considered formal wear in any other sector of society. A suit would typically be considered informal or business wear. I think the cruise lines choice of referring to it as formal night is problematic, because even a standard tuxedo is only considered semi formal. Full blown formal refers to "white tie" which would require a tailcoat.

 

I always wear a tailcoat when I attend formal events at the Royal Palace.:rolleyes:

[EZ4]

I always wear a tailcoat when I attend formal events at the Royal Palace.:rolleyes:

 

I wore one for my wedding. A group of us also wore them as a joke at a Jaycee convention dinner. We looked dashing, dancing atop our table cheering on our chapter at awards time. ;) The last time I wore a suit was at my grandmother's funeral 5 years ago. I'm a big time dresser as you can see. Don't hate me for googling. :)

[Woobstr112G]

**This is a long post**

 

My husband and I were booked on the Sapphire Princess Mexico cruise January 12 - January 19.

 

I am a huge fan of Princess and we sail PCL exclusively. This was my 12th cruise with PCL and my husband's sixth. Because I'm such a big fan of PCL, I typically only try to see the good things about the line and turn a blind eye to whatever might be wrong. On this cruise though, I have to take exception with my usual behavior and report some unpleasant incidents.

 

As usual, embarkation was fantastic. Princes does a great job of embarkatoin. The Sapphire was super, super clean. I mean spotless. Cleanliness is a biggy with me, so they earned a definite gold star for appearance. Everywhere, all the time the ship was either being cleaned or just sparkled.

 

Our room stewardess was delightful. Her name is Ramona and she's from the Philippines. We thoroughly enjoyed our daily visits with her. She was extremely accommodating and bent over backwards to make our stay enjoyable. And what a fantastic smile. She's just a great lady. The typical uncomfortable mattress wasn't present this cruise, which was awesome. Usually we need two egg crates on top of our mattress, but this cruise the mattress was excellent. We slept very well every night.

 

We chose Anytime Dining and we're really at the end of our rope with it. We've been doing Anytime Dining for a few years now and I really miss the customer service that comes with Traditional Dining. We have found on previous cruises that we find a waiter and dining room we really like and we return night after night. That way they get to know you and build a relationship. That translates into better service. This cruise, our first night in one of the dining rooms, the Sante Fe was a disaster. Our waiter was surly and lazy. He never smiled, spoke to us harshly and basically left us alone. Our meals came with baked potatoes, but we had to ask (after waiting for his return for about 15 minutes) for butter and sour cream. My husbands cheesecake was served with a soup spoon. We received iced tea only once and the glasses were removed and never returned, depsite our request for refills. The meat order wasn't correct - meaning the meat wasn't cooked per our request. We watched other tables around us who were served by another waiter getting fantastic service. Our waiter must have been at the end of his contract or something.

 

The next night was formal night. My husband is a big man - he's as broad as a barn and dress clothes do not fit him well. He has a 19 1/2 inch neck, big muscled shoulders and back and no hips. Poor guy. Fitted dress clothes do not fit him well and he's just not comfortable in them. For his formal nights he wears Tommy Bahama button down, collared dress shirts (you know the ones - they cost about $150 each) and a pair of dress slacks with leather dress shoes. He looks very elegant and stylish. He's clean shaved and looks quite handsome, I must say. He has a variety of Tommy Bahama shirts and they are always dry cleaned and pressed. The silk fabric always falls nicely and he looks like a million bucks. The sleeve goes to about mid-elbow. I wore a black dress with black heels and was all done up - make-up, hair, etc.

 

We had reservations for 5:30 at the Pacific Moon (we were done with the Santa Fe) and showed up on time. My husband was wearing the same type of outfit he has worn on all previous five cruises and to each formal night and Captain's Circle party on every ship - Caribbean Princess three times, Dawn Princess once and Sapphire once).

 

Jovi from the Philippines was the head waiter checking people in. My husband gave him our name and Jovi looked my husband up and down and got a sour look on his face. Jovi then told my husband that there was a dress code. My husband said yes, we were aware of that and he was wearing his dress clothes. Jovi then made a motion to his sleeve. He told my husband that he needed long sleeves. My husband again, very politely and quietly said that this was his formal attire. I quiety interjected that this had never been a problem before. Jovi just stared at us. My husband then asked if we were being told that we wouldn't be seated tonight and we should go eat at the Horizon Court. Jovi snidely told my husband that he wasn't telling us where we should eat. So I asked if we were going to be seated because Jovi wouldn't come out and say that we had to leave. Jovi just shrugged his shoulders. By this time I'm humiliated beyond words. I can feel the tears flooding my eyeballs and my husband is so embarassed he's turned a funny shade of red. My husband asked again if we could be seated and Jovi just shrugged his shoulders yet again and pointed to his arms.

 

Crying I went to the Purser's Desk and explained what had happened. The girl listened to me but didn't offer any remedy. She stated something along the lines of she would inform her boss. Humiliated we went to the Horizon Court for a very bland meal. It ruined our evening unfortunately and really soured our attitude through the next day.

 

The following nights in the Pacific Moon our waiters weren't very good. Everyone seemed to be unhappy. The food was hit or miss. Ususally I love the Princess food, but this cruise it was either really good or really bad. We watched Jovi seat a man who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt with matching sweat pants. Another man had on track pants and someone else was wearing a hat. This was of course smart casual night, but honestly, there was nothing smart casual about any of these outfits. My husband on the other hand wore his standard smart casual outfit - dockers, leather loafers and a Nautica polo shirt.

 

The second formal night was the Captain Circle cocktail party. We didn't go because we were afraid my husband would get turned away. Wandering around the ship that evening we watched numerous people allowed into the dining rooms without formal attire on. Men with wrinkled shirts that were untucked. No ties. No jackets. We approached another head waiter in the Savoy dining room and asked about the sleeve length. He said as long as it's a button down shirt with collar, sleeve length did not matter. Imagine our shock.

 

We went back to the Purser's Desk and spoke to someone different from the previous formal night. She listened attentively to our complaint and agreed that the discrepency wasn't fair and should be corrected. She said she would follow up with her boss. We never heard back.

 

Inbetween these formal nights I wrote a letter to the Purser explaining my humiliation and frustration at how we were treated. No one ever replied during our cruise. We were shocked by this because in the past if we've made a comment it's always been addressed immediately and with great satisfaction. It's one reason we love Princess so - they're always so attentive and immediate with their responses. Not so with this crew.

 

We finally found a fabulous waiter the last night of the cruise. Phillip from the Philippines in the Savoy dining room. He was so wonderful - where had he been our entire cruise!

 

Our bar staff was okay. We found some real gems and sought them out. The service on this cruise was hit or miss, which really shocked us. We never saw the Captain once on this cruise. I never saw the Cruise Director either, but my husband says he saw the back of his head. Maybe that had something to do with the attitude on the ship? We have always had such great service on PCL, with the exception of a couple of minor issues through the years. This trip really sent our heads spinning.

 

We took one shore excursion this cruise and enjoyed it very much. We always enjoy the PCL shore excursions. The boutique staff was very helpful and friendly. We enjoyed getting to know them and shopping in the boutiques.

 

The Future Cruise Sales desk wasn't staffed near enough. Two hours a day split into two one hour segments isn't enough time for everyone to be seen. We would wait in line only to finally walk away after waiting 30 minutes because we were fourth in line and it closed in 15 minutes. We heard many complaints about the Future Cruise Sales desk not being manned long enough.

 

Disembarkation was excellent, of course. Again, Princess does this very well.

 

All in all we had a nice cruise, but not a great cruise. We will sail with Princess again...I'm so close to Elite status I can't stand it! :)

 

Unfortunately this trip will definitely not be one of our favorites.

 

OP;

 

Sorry to hear about the dining issues. Did you ever talk to the MD? Hopefully your next cruise will be better. For me, it's late seating traditional. Same staff each night is what we like.

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

Our Alaska trip in July, I wore long sleeved shirt and tie, dress pants and no jacket. It was never an issue. I believe you were treated unfairly.

 

I'm sure you were very dapper:) See you in 45 and a bag drag.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Cruisin' Chick]

I understand that in the context of a cruise ship a suit is fine for "formal" attire, but a suit is not considered formal wear in any other sector of society. A suit would typically be considered informal or business wear. I think the cruise lines choice of referring to it as formal night is problematic, because even a standard tuxedo is only considered semi formal. Full blown formal refers to "white tie" which would require a tailcoat.

 

Considering we were talking about whether the OP's husband was wearing appropriate wear for the MDR on a Princess cruise, it really doesn't matter what your criteria is for "formal" wear. Again, Princess, not Cunard.

[EZ4]

Considering we were talking about whether the OP's husband was wearing appropriate wear for the MDR on a Princess cruise' date=' it really doesn't matter what your criteria is for "formal" wear. Again, Princess, not Cunard.[/quote']

 

I understand completely. Perhaps everyone would be better served if the cruise line simply presented a list of clothing that is NOT acceptable, since they have chosen to muddy the waters with the use of the word formal, when clearly it is not.

[2BeOnaBoat]

I understand completely. Perhaps everyone would be better served if the cruise line simply presented a list of clothing that is NOT acceptable, since they have chosen to muddy the waters with the use of the word formal, when clearly it is not.

 

It's not that muddy. The problem is in the enforcement.

 

Formal

When formal nights are held, please observe the dress code in the Traditional Dining and Anytime Dining venues for the enjoyment of all our guests.

• Evening gown, cocktail dress, or elegant pant suit for women
  
• Tuxedo, dark suit or dinner jacket and slacks for men
  

[Mom33]

Princess has a list of what is acceptable to wear on "formal" night and that should be sufficient to guide the cruiser on what is acceptable.

 

Princess has a jacket as a minimum for men on it's list, yet some men wear a long sleeve shirt and are admitted to the dining room. Since these cruisers are challenging what is acceptable, the OP's husband took it a step further and tried a short sleeve Tommy Bahama print. Unfortunately, he didn't get seated.

 

Until Princess changes it's dress suggestions or ends "formal night", it might be a good idea to dress appropriately so as not to experience what the OP's husband did.

[Sparkvark]

You are correct! Also, the pizza up by the pool is (surprisingly) almost as good. It is thin crust and crunchy (especially directly out of the oven). I usually avoid ship pizzas around the pools, but these are very good!

 

Yet another plug for the totally awesome 'za to be found in Alfredo's. We tried it on the first sea day (same sailing as PrncesE), and ate there for lunch every day thereafter. We ran through the whole menu list with no losers. It was so consistently great that after a day or two, I began thanking the cooks working the ovens. Attentive service staff too.

[PrincessE]

I am glad you find your husbands same old Tommy Bahama outfit each night utterly dashing. :p Love is Blind.

 

You're a very rude person. It's because of people like you that my husband and I always request a table for two.

[Arwen]

We were on the same Jan 12th-19th Mexico Sapphire Princess Cruise. We first fell in love with the Sapphire, last March, and found the ship, staff, and crew to be wonderful.

 

"Jovi" certainly could have handled your situation better. I agree that if it is formal night, that the dress code should be respected. My husband LOVES his short sleeved shirts and wears them all the time, except on formal night (when I make him wear his long sleeved shirt). His navy blue jacket no longer fits well, but he wears it into the MDR and then generally "sheds" it on the chair.

 

My own pet peeve is seeing men wearing shorts in the evening. A short sleeved shirt in the MDR on formal night would not ruin my dining experience. Seeing a man wear denim overalls does (as happened on a cruise 2 yrs ago!).

 

Communication is so important. All the MDR's need to be "on the same page" on formal night.

 

I agree that I have seen some strange clothing even on casual night...an older woman who thought she looked "chic" wearing stone washed jeans with lots of holes in them!

 

No the captain wasn't around, but then it was just a one week cruise. On our previous longer cruises (2weeks+) we have seen and heard the captain speak in person.

 

Cruise Director. He has been with Princess for 29 yrs and he is a funny guy (intro the stage shows). He did not do his job, IMHO. I will try to do my own review on the Sapphire so we can all stay on topic/thread here.

 

Sorry, this was a bad experience for you. You know, we only participated in one formal night and the rest of the time ate in Horizon. Really, the Horizon staff was wonderful and the food fairly decent on formal nights.

[Shake]

It's because of people like you that my husband and I always request a table for two.

 

I enjoy formal night and are in favor of Princess enforcing their dress code policies in the MDR. It's truly classless when people can't accept responsibility for their actions.

 

Hopefully you have learned a valuable lesson that a Tommy Bahama shirt isn't quite so utterly dashing each and every night.

[PrincessE]

I enjoy formal night and are in favor of Princess enforcing their dress code policies in the MDR. It's truly classless when people can't accept responsibility for their actions.

 

Hopefully you have learned a valuable lesson that a Tommy Bahama shirt isn't quite so utterly dashing each and every night.

 

As I stated NUMEROUS times throughout this thread and in my original post, my point was that 1. we were treated rudely by staff and 2. that Princess wasn't being consistent with their dress policies.

 

The argument is not about what my husband was wearing. I used what he was wearing just as a description. Why are you saying I'm classless? I posted a review. A personal review on a forum that is designed for such things. This gives you the right to come on here and name call? You need to get over yourself. This conversation with you is over. Learn some grace and public forum etiquette.

[EZ4]

I'm guessing that it was the short sleeve shirt that did this gentleman in. A long sleeve shirt probably would have gotten him right past the gatekeeper. Quickly donning a sport coat probably would've worked too. The thing about a sport coat is, that it can be ditched as soon as you cross the threshold. Perhaps Jovi could've been a little more jovial. :)

[gelo7]

Thanks, for sharing your thoughts.

[caribill]

I'm guessing that it was the short sleeve shirt that did this gentleman in. A long sleeve shirt probably would have gotten him right past the gatekeeper. Quickly donning a sport coat probably would've worked too. The thing about a sport coat is, that it can be ditched as soon as you cross the threshold. Perhaps Jovi could've been a little more jovial. :)

 

Yes, but I got the impression the DH did not have a sport coat with him on this trip.

[Larlin]

We hate formal nights. We were so uncomfortable on our first Princess cruise, not dressing up, even to go to a specialty restaurant, that we started booking suites, so we can order supper in our room and not have to leave the room on formal night. (I'll teach them, huh?!) I can't imagine the embarassment of being turned away from a dining room for not being dressed "correctly".

 

Cheesecake with a soup spoon? I think I could live with that.:D (But I think I could eat cheesecake with a stick)

[cvpends]

PrincessE, I have been reading this thread and feel horrible about how you and your husband were treated, and especially horrible about how mean these Princess cruisers have been to you! Perhaps you might want to try a more accepting cruise line with more accepting passengers. Carnival is actually quite nice and pretty much anything goes for "elegant" night. When I first tried Carnival I expected the worst, but was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the product and by how much fun I had. Perhaps you and your sweet husband might enjoy Carnival also. Whatever you decide, don't let a few meanie-heads get you down.