Disappointed with Sapphire Princess Care and Quality

[Ebony J]

Could you please tell us what went wrong with Club Class dining?

 

There was a very small section of the Sante Fe dining room set up for Club Class dining (we did not dine there on the first night as we went to the Crown Grill). The tables were mostly for 2 persons, and each time we went in we were seated immediately next to other couples - which is fine if the area is busy - but it never was, so instead of giving a bit of privacy there was a cluster of people in one corner and very little going on elsewhere. On the 3rd night, we asked if we could sit at the window which were tables set up for 4 persons, and were advised the tables were reserved?? The window tables were occupied by by the same couples every night who arrived later than us.

One night we ordered a nice bottle of red wine as a special treat, and asked if we could have red wine glasses. The waitress was less than happy at our request:(

There was a hair on my plate of cheese and biscuits.

There were no meals prepared freshly at the table and no "specials" offered.

Every time we went to the door, we were asked for our stateroom details by the same girl who always said "I can never remember your name" , this got a bit wearing after the 10th time.

After reading all the good things about Club Class dining I think my expectations were higher (I have worked in a restaurant for 23 years myself). We changed to any time dining, and it was perfect!

[land lover]

There was a very small section of the Sante Fe dining room set up for Club Class dining (we did not dine there on the first night as we went to the Crown Grill). The tables were mostly for 2 persons, and each time we went in we were seated immediately next to other couples - which is fine if the area is busy - but it never was, so instead of giving a bit of privacy there was a cluster of people in one corner and very little going on elsewhere. On the 3rd night, we asked if we could sit at the window which were tables set up for 4 persons, and were advised the tables were reserved?? The window tables were occupied by by the same couples every night who arrived later than us.

One night we ordered a nice bottle of red wine as a special treat, and asked if we could have red wine glasses. The waitress was less than happy at our request:(

There was a hair on my plate of cheese and biscuits.

There were no meals prepared freshly at the table and no "specials" offered.

Every time we went to the door, we were asked for our stateroom details by the same girl who always said "I can never remember your name" , this got a bit wearing after the 10th time.

After reading all the good things about Club Class dining I think my expectations were higher (I have worked in a restaurant for 23 years myself). We changed to any time dining, and it was perfect!

 

Wow...not providing the product advertised for sure.......bunching you together, they care more about the servers ease than your experience...disappointing......... and not remembering your name..if she recognized you face she should have just seated you...the reserve on the tables...no wonder you decided to go to Anytime..... no specials..whats with that?

 

 

Thanks for providing more detail...........food always taste better..with atmosphere and great service....

[smokey01]

We were also on board Sapphire last month - I totally agree about the shore excursion staff, I was taken aback at how I was spoken to by one of them. Our shore excursion had been cancelled, and I wanted to ask about a change or refund but got an earful. The situation was dealt with, but I had to go through formal channels and when I am on vacation, I don't like having to spend my time complaining. Also, Vines was not opened for the entire trip and the list of drinks they did not have on board at one point was almost as big as the list of the ones they did have. It was our first time in a suite which we were so looking forward to, but it will be our last. When we went to the enclave to try it out, we were told we would have to book it in advance and we could use it once only. Our "flower arrangement" was an orchid in a pot. The strawberries in the fruit basket developed mould and we asked them to be taken away - only to be returned, but this time dipped in chocolate! Club class dining was also the polar opposite of the experiences of other people posting in CC (and not in a good way) . And yes, if this had been our first Princess cruise, it would have been our last too. :(

 

Oh no we have booked a suite for the first time this coming September on Sapphire. We have done other Princess cruises on ships of the same class as Sapphire but have not been on Sapphire herself. To hear your experience is a bit worrying. So far we are booked in for traditional late sitting, mainly because when we booked we did not know about Club Class. But I have been planning to switch to Club Class because of the supposed advantages including the extra "specials" offered, but I see by your later post you did not get any.

 

A second point you made 'When we went to the enclave to try it out, we were told we would have to book it in advance and we could use it once only.' Again worrying to me. I enjoy the steam/sauna rooms and make daily use of the free one's on board so was looking forward to using the more up-scale Thermal Spa ones. So with the Suite perk of 'Complimentary Lotus Spa Thermal Suite access on select ships' - this to me implied use for the whole cruise. I presume it was the Spa reception that told you you needed to book in advance and could only use once?

[Ebony J]

Oh no we have booked a suite for the first time this coming September on Sapphire. We have done other Princess cruises on ships of the same class as Sapphire but have not been on Sapphire herself. To hear your experience is a bit worrying. So far we are booked in for traditional late sitting, mainly because when we booked we did not know about Club Class. But I have been planning to switch to Club Class because of the supposed advantages including the extra "specials" offered, but I see by your later post you did not get any.

 

A second point you made 'When we went to the enclave to try it out, we were told we would have to book it in advance and we could use it once only.' Again worrying to me. I enjoy the steam/sauna rooms and make daily use of the free one's on board so was looking forward to using the more up-scale Thermal Spa ones. So with the Suite perk of 'Complimentary Lotus Spa Thermal Suite access on select ships' - this to me implied use for the whole cruise. I presume it was the Spa reception that told you you needed to book in advance and could only use once?

 

This was our first time in a suite so I had nothing to compare it to other than the terrific reviews from others. I think - and this is my very humble opinion - that the ship had been so long on the Asian market, that it was finding it hard to make the transition back. We have sailed on the Sapphire (once) and the Diamond (twice) before and loved them both. There is a book in the suite which gives details of all the amenities and it is very cleverly worded re the Spa. We received a yellow (I think it was yellow) to take to the spa. (I thought I had brought it home, but cant find it) - but anyway it read something like "Complimentary access to the thermal spa". We were told to bring the yellow card with us and hand it over when we wanted to use our booking. It was the Spa reception that told us to book in advance, bring the card, and it would be once only. We queried it with another person in the spa and were told the same thing. But the wording on the card does not say once nor does it say multiple uses - so there was nothing we could do but accept what we were told.

 

I did mention the Club Class experience, because again I compared to what I read and experienced. My personal experience working in a restaurant gives me the opportunity to see things from both sides easily. I rarely complain, but when I do...........

 

What I would add is, that with the volume of complaints that they must have had in general, by the time September comes you will be sorted;p

 

This was our 30th cruise with Princess, although we also use other lines, so I know that our experiences are not par for the course. Hope this helps........

[WaveSplasher]

I sailed on the Sapphire in December last month and it was the first time I had cruised with Princess. My observations are as below:

 

Pros:

1) The Maitre De was really nice and we had a good chat with him when reserving our table and during dinner service. When reserving tables, we were escorted to sit down with the Maitre De and few of his staff to plan our seating arrangement.

 

2) Our dining room waitress, Vera from Ukraine was very lovely and ensure we were well taken care off. The Maitre De even came up to our table to greet us.

 

3) Room Service accidentally sent our food to the wrong room. They apologies and delivered chocolate strawberries as an apology.

 

4) When ordering a Omelette, the waiter brought it from the kitchen straight to us, which I thought was a nice touch

 

5) Everytime I want to get something to eat at Horizon Court, even just for a bread, I needed to pass through the crew who is blocking the entrance with the hand sanitizer. This could be a con for some people, but in-fact I applaud them for doing it as this reduce the chance of getting the virus.

 

6) Stateroom Attendant was really good and efficient. Our room was clean every-time we returned from breakfast, even gave us slippers and bottle lotion, shampoo.

 

7) Room Service food was nice. Fries wasn't soggy. And I like how they paid attention to detail as the jams are actually in a small cup rather than a bottle, so was the ketchup.

 

Cons:

 

1) Guest Service was the weakest point offering little information and unable to control other guests as they tried to cut queue.

 

2) We missed a port due to medical emergency, yet the next morning the crew told us we were still going. It was only after the Captain came on at noon, only did everyone realize it was cancelled.

 

3) The server at the cafe at the Piazza didn't seem interested and was reluctant to serve us, so was the girl doing the Coffees.

 

4) The TV was abit weird with the wrong navigation and positioning but it didn't really bother us.

 

5) Internet was really slow and expensive. Minutes ticking by and the page didn't even load. Weren't compensated when we complained to the guy who said it was normal.

 

6) Considering this was a majority Asian cruise, the small number of westerners wasn't really happy about it and we could hear complains some of which are distasteful, but given the reputation of the Asian culture, I understand where they are coming from.

 

Overall I felt that the service on Princess was really good and they did a better job than Royal Caribbean. Sapphire Princess has more positives than negatives really.

[smokey01]

Thanks, as you say by September I'm sure they will have sorted some of the issues. I will take a positive attitude at least. :)

[jarvis30]

Many cruises under my belt on all the other lines , but this was my with Princess. I am quite stunned by the lack of friendliness, care, and professionalism throughout our whole entire cruise. EZ Air never notified us that 8 months earlier, our airline had cancelled our main flight so that our connecting flights did not match up with our itinerary. When I found the problem just days before leaving, it turned into a HUGE hassle and I felt bullied and was treated with rudeness with no care or concern for us. "It's all we can do for you with such late timing" Now getting in two days before my cruise and extra hotel and eating expenses that Princess nor insurance will cover but had I let myself get stranded at midnight in Chicago with no connecting flight, that would be different. I actually called the airline to confirm WHEN the change was made and that Princess was indeed notified.All we heard was it was not Princesses' fault, it was the airline... 8 Months was plenty of time if someone cared to review it.

 

First morning room service coffee came with curdled cream. YUK!

Dining room wait staff had no friendly rapport. I couldn't even get a "You're welcome" back when I was thanking them for their service...This turned into our own form of wagering until it was clear that it was a sure bet, nobody was willing to bet on Princess anymore. I guess they were too busy to simply be polite. Seated by a service station one night we witnessed a server take pats of butter from a used butter dish to fill a different one for a new table top.. Umm, can someone say, "Cross contamination from a sneeze, cough, etc...

They enforce their dining room attire requirements but to me it is laughable when you have replaced your steak from the everyday menu with a Hamburger!! Really !??!

I usually do not get dressed up to go for fine dining to order a HAMBURGER! Cheap, cheap, cheap.. shame on you Princess.

Other "cheapened" things I noticed.. no self serve juice.. you have to wait for someone to come around with a small juice glass for you.. hoping they come by before you are finished with your breakfast. Even the daytime lemonade is not self service, you must ask for it! Same with the ice cream cone machine.

I was going to pay $11 for an alcoholic drink but asked for Sprite to be substituted for the pineapple juice it called for. I was told that they'd have to up-charge me $2 for it because they'd have to open a can of soda. I thought I was in luck, I have a soda card! Nope, they didn't have Sprite in their soda gun. Keep it, that is ridiculous!

 

Say what you want about Carnival (the cheapest of the cruise lines)but they are hands down a better value / product than Princess. I have gotten cans of soda out by the pool with my soda card on Carnival and have eaten a many of steaks in the dining room ;with my dress shorts on even.

 

Hi, we were on the Sapphire from 30/12/17 - 9/01/18. We had to wait a long time for our drinks in the Horizon Court.

 

I too like others noticed the hamburger on the menu in the mdr instead of the steak.

 

We had the PBP but couldn't get a tin of sprite or tonic, we would however get I think a 25% discount.

[Tezevau]

Was on Sapphire two weeks ago and found a number of problems never encountered on any other Princess ship. (Some) Guest Services staff seemed to be only able to answer very simple requests. Sadly we had to go to Guest Services four times with different problems (each concerning our charges). One problem persisted and had three different staff try to explain all with different stories. I thought the food quality was far less than expected as was the menus in the dining rooms. We tried them all except international. Singapore round trip was overall fine, yet things went downhill Singapore - Malaysia sectors as the boat filled with Asians on tours. The ship suddenly awash with blue cards and little English. The staff (with above exceptions) were and are friendly and willing to help in any way in the dining rooms, bars and cabins. If this had been my first Princess cruise, I would not be back for a second. Either not cruise in Asia or not on Sapphire again - not sure which.

[Grego]

Probably no person reviews anything. Computers talk to each other. The airline's computer told the Princess computer the flight had changed. The Princess computer should have, but did not, notify you (unless it tried to and it went to a spam file).

 

Did the airline have your E-mail address? If so, it should also have notified you with an E-mail at the time the change was made.

 

It is good practice that, no matter how an airline reservation is made (direct with an airline, with a travel agent, with Princess), to periodically check to make sure the flights and times have not changed.

 

I agree. It is a must to keep checking your itinerary for any changes. If you rely on others then you are subject to their mistakes.

Sorry the passenger had a bad experience on this ship at that time. It is not the norm.

[charlie murphy]

should I be concerned if I am planning a trip on this ship? do you think things will change when the ship repositions? I feel that this is the ship we will cruise on out of South Hampton in the summer.

[USNUZULOOSE]

It is so sad that customer service has gone by the way side. Even so many company's no longer have a phone number. Emails are the way so they can just be deleted, or the excuse of never saw it. It is seems the only way to get the attention is hit with the fb, or hit it with the taking away with the money.

 

In mho, to many people choose not to want to talk, they use electronics is how they have learned not to deal with things instead of listening to people.

[princess09]

should I be concerned if I am planning a trip on this ship? do you think things will change when the ship repositions? I feel that this is the ship we will cruise on out of South Hampton in the summer.

 

There is a "live" post about the Sapphire on this board. Positive reviews are there.

 

Personally, I will not change the booking we have for October. It is not a cruise in Asia. Sometimes demographics and itinerary make a difference.