First experience with Princess - Sapphire Princess

[Burgmeister]

We have cruised with Royal Carribean 3 times and Norwegian once. We have now added Princess to our list.

 

 

Some quick feedback on our experience..

 

 

Started off really well as we boarded in Southampton at about 11:30 although we had no expectation of our cabin being ready and I was loaded down with carry on. This is quite usual for us - lumbering around the ship with carry on until our rooms are ready. To my surprise I was informed by one of the welcoming staff that we could dump our bags in our cabins whether they were ready or not! Brilliant. Even better, as we got to our cabin our steward was just finishing off and was gone within a minute.

 

 

So bags dropped off we headed straight to the MDR for lunch. We were the only ones in there for a while before a few other savvy, buffet-avoiding, cruisers turned up Excellent lunch.

 

 

The general points I have when comparing to previous cruises are..

Cabin was quite dated. It was also the least well soundproofed of any cabin we have ever had. It was, however, clean and big enough.

The entertainment was OK. Better than NCL but not as good as RCCI. None-the-less it was very enjoyable.

Activities on board were good and well-organised.

The numerous pools on board offered plenty of choice - I liked this. I'm not a pool user mut wife and daughter are and I often hang about with a beer while they swim. It was nice to be able to find some relatively quiet pools.

The food was good althought the menus were not particularly well thought out. Many nights the choces of starters seemed to consist of "seafood" or "soup" (there were several options but they fell in to one of these 2 categories)

The main course options also seemed to show plenty of repetition on some nights. That said, I only failed to find an acceptable starter on one night and never had cause to go over to the burger for a main course.

I was impressed that they took note of our wedding anniversary and fully embarassed me by singing to us in the MDR while presenting a small "cake".

The choice in Horizon Court was limited compard to the other ships we have been on although it should be noted that the Sapphire was the smallest ship we have sailed on.

International Cafe was very good and the coffee card was well worth the money.

Our bar bill was pretty low as we took on our own soda and bought a couple of half bottles of spirit for our room. Add in the bottles of wine we bought with us and we didn't need much more.

 

 

We all enjoyed the Sapphire and cruising with Princess. If the cabin had been quieter and the menus more varied I really wouldn't have been able to fault the cruise at all. Needless to say, Princess is definitely added to the list of cruise lines we would happily sail with again

[Coral]

Thanks - which dining room was open for lunch the first day? Was it off of the atrium or at the back of the ship?

 

Glad you enjoyed Princess.

 

Theresa

[Mapu]

Thank you for your comments. What deck was your cabin on?

[Scorpio41]

What was the range of lager like?

[Burgmeister]

OK, so the dining room that was open on embarkation was the International Dining Room (back of the ship, Deck 6).

Our cabin was on Baja Deck (11)

Didn't really check out the lager range. I had pre-bought some buckets of Bud and Dos Equis so just drank those - sorry.

 

 

Couple more points I forgot to mention...

Really enjoyed our late lunch at Alfredo's Pizza. Nice option (if you like pizza!)

Formal nights were very well adhered to. I didn't notice any man without at least a jacket - even the table of more casual Americans had jackets (although they didn't go the whole hog and have dinner suits).

[Scorpio41]

Thank you for the information.it's a help. I'm looking forward to trying Alfredo's.

 

How do pre bought buckets work?

Which did you use more or find better for snacks the buffet or the international cafe ?

 

Any thing else you can tip us off about would be appreciated. This will be our first Princess cruise.

[Burgmeister]

If you go into your Princess account you can buy the 5 for 4 beers. When you arrive in your cabin you will have a receipt for the beers. You then just ring up and they will send someone down with your beer and you hand over your receipt. Unfortunately, the fridge in our room wasn't great so the beers didn't stay as cool as I wanted them to be. Its not a problem though, any bar will happily exchange your cool beer for a cold one.

 

 

As I mentioned in my original post, we also pre-bought the half bottles of spirit for our rooms. These were about £13 each and, along with the soda we took on board, meant we could have reasonably cheap drinks. I'd have one in the afternoon and then take one out with me in the evening. The bars were happy to give you glasses to take to your cabin. These also worked on the receipt/delivery system that the beers worked on. The steward always kept our ice bucket full but if you run out you can easily get a cup of ice from Horizon Court.

 

 

 

As for snacks, it depends what you want. For savoury snacks then the Horizon Court (buffet) has a better range. International Cafe has some nice sweet snacks and a few sandwich type options. I had a nice grilled Cuban sandwich one day but most of the time we went to HC for savouries.

 

 

Be aware that HC does close its savoury snack section mid-afternoon (sorry, I can't remember the exact time but it is in the "Patter" each day). We used the Trident grill a couple of times for a plate of fries when our timings weren't quite right.

 

 

Alfredo's has a menu that has 4 or 5 different types of pizza, however, you can ask for any combination of ingredients that appear on any of the menu pizzas.

 

 

There is afternon tea served in one of the restaurants (Santa Fe - I think) every afternoon 3:30 to 4:30. Unfortunately, we never made it although we had intended to so I can't tell you whether its any good or not.

 

 

As I mentioned in my original post, we also pre-bought the half bottles of spirit for our rooms. These were about £13 each and, along with the soda we took on board, meant we could have reasonably cheap drinks. I'd have one in the afternoon and then take one out with me in the evening. The bars were happy to give you glasses to take to your cabin.

 

 

If you drink coffee then the coffee card is a great purchase. I don't drink it but my wife does so I bought a card and had the free tea while she had a nice coffee in IC. My wife is by no way a coffee expert but she found the buffet coffee horrible. If we cruise Princess again (which I hope we will) we would definitely do the same again.

 

 

I don't know what itinerary you are on but if you go to Copenhagen then Princess has a free shuttle bus from Oceankaj to Copenhagen. They don't tell you anything about the bus in advance, we only found out about it on the day.

[leck57]

Thank you for the information.it's a help. I'm looking forward to trying Alfredo's.

 

How do pre bought buckets work?

Which did you use more or find better for snacks the buffet or the international cafe ?

 

Any thing else you can tip us off about would be appreciated. This will be our first Princess cruise.

 

Further to Burgmeister's comments - when I was on Sapphire the buckets come with ice so I just left them in there and they stayed cold for hours. If you need more ice just ask the steward. The buckets can also be bought from the bar. When I ran out of pre ordered buckets I would just order one when I was on deck and what I didn't drink I took back to my cabin. We are Sapphire again in Feb and look forward to our cruise on her again. Lovely ship.

[Coral]

OK, so the dining room that was open on embarkation was the International Dining Room (back of the ship, Deck 6).

 

Really enjoyed our late lunch at Alfredo's Pizza. Nice option (if you like pizza!)

.

 

Thank you!

[majortom10]

Thank you for the information.it's a help. I'm looking forward to trying Alfredo's.

How do pre bought buckets work?

Which did you use more or find better for snacks the buffet or the international cafe ?

 

Any thing else you can tip us off about would be appreciated. This will be our first Princess cruise.

 

We were somewhat disappointed with Alfredo's on our recent cruise on Sapphire in May and apart from first and last sea day didnt seem popular and getting a table was never a problem for lunch. There was only 5 choices of pizza and the menu was never changed throughout the cruise and unfortunately only one I liked so had to have Sapphire Princess every time we went in. No complaints about the pizza but there was no other courses starter/sweet but it wasnt a problem to go across to International Cafe for a salad to accompany pizza.

[Burgmeister]

There was only 5 choices of pizza and the menu was never changed throughout the cruise and unfortunately only one I liked so had to have Sapphire Princess every time we went in.

 

Whilst there are only 5 set pizzas, you can order any combination of the ingredients that you want. I didn't fancy any of the set ones but they made up one using the toppings that I did want.

[Burgmeister]

Further to Burgmeister's comments - when I was on Sapphire the buckets come with ice so I just left them in there and they stayed cold for hours. If you need more ice just ask the steward. The buckets can also be bought from the bar. When I ran out of pre ordered buckets I would just order one when I was on deck and what I didn't drink I took back to my cabin. We are Sapphire again in Feb and look forward to our cruise on her again. Lovely ship.

Ours arrived in our cabin without a bucket. The fridge didn't keep them cold enough but the bar staff were more than happy to exchange a cool one from my stock for a cold one from theirs.

 

I didn't run out - in fact, I brought one home with me.

[satxdiver]

Thank you for the report. We will be on the Sapphire next summer.

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your review. The Sapphire is one of our favorite ships, primarily because we had a great room on it for our cruise to Alaska six years ago. Alfredo's on the newer ships have an extended menu. I'm already looking forward to eating there on our upcoming Royal Princess cruise.

[newport dave]

What was the range of lager like?

 

It was either Stella or Heineken on tap, and Bud, Dos Equis, Corona I think in bottles.

[Tedferg]

We were somewhat disappointed with Alfredo's on our recent cruise on Sapphire in May and apart from first and last sea day didnt seem popular and getting a table was never a problem for lunch. There was only 5 choices of pizza and the menu was never changed throughout the cruise and unfortunately only one I liked so had to have Sapphire Princess every time we went in. No complaints about the pizza but there was no other courses starter/sweet but it wasnt a problem to go across to International Cafe for a salad to accompany pizza.

 

Perhaps you missed the fact that Alfredo's is a Pizzeria.

[majortom10]

Perhaps you missed the fact that Alfredo's is a Pizzeria.

 

No I didnt miss the fact that Alfredo's was a pizzeria but on reading many threads on cruisecritic on other ships was given the impression that they also served starters and desserts. Also was disappointed with number of pizzas and the fact that they stayed the same for the whole 14 nt cruise.

[majortom10]

Perhaps you missed the fact that Alfredo's is a Pizzeria.

 

Perhaps you have also missed the fact that Pieology, Roma's and Giovanni's are all pizzeria's in Sacramento and serve either salads, side orders and desserts or all three.

[Coral]

Perhaps you have also missed the fact that Pieology, Roma's and Giovanni's are all pizzeria's in Sacramento and serve either salads, side orders and desserts or all three.

 

You have the International Cafe right next door and can bring those items over.

 

Plus - you are not limited to just the pizza options on the menu. You can use any of the ingredients on the menu to create your own pizza.

 

Remember Princess retrofitted this to the ship later. It wasn't built on the Sapphire when the Sapphire was built.

[capriccio]

No I didnt miss the fact that Alfredo's was a pizzeria but on reading many threads on cruisecritic on other ships was given the impression that they also served starters and desserts. Also was disappointed with number of pizzas and the fact that they stayed the same for the whole 14 nt cruise.

 

The extended Alfredos menu with soup, salads, pasta and dessert in addition to pizza are on the Royal and Regal (not sure about whether the Majestic has Alfredos).

Edited June 5, 2018 by capriccio

[Burgmeister]

No I didnt miss the fact that Alfredo's was a pizzeria but on reading many threads on cruisecritic on other ships was given the impression that they also served starters and desserts. Also was disappointed with number of pizzas and the fact that they stayed the same for the whole 14 nt cruise.

Perhaps if you had realised that they will custom make a pizza for you it would have been better?

 

I must admit, if I hadn't read in this forum that they custom made pizzas then I would have been disappointed with the choice too. It certainly doesn't really explain that to you when you are there so you have to really be pre-armed with the knowledge. Of course, when they will custom make them the options open up considerably from 5.

 

As I'm not a salad fan I didn't miss the fact that I couldn't get any. We never went to Alfredo's for a set meal, it was for a "bite to eat" so I didn't miss dessert either. Probably, if I had foregone the MDR to eat there, I too would have been disappointed by the absence of these things but, as we didn't, it didn't bother me. Also, I was already aware they only did Pizza thanks to the good folk on Cruise Critic.

[Omega1]

Perhaps if you had realised that they will custom make a pizza for you it would have been better?

 

I must admit, if I hadn't read in this forum that they custom made pizzas then I would have been disappointed with the choice too. It certainly doesn't really explain that to you when you are there so you have to really be pre-armed with the knowledge. Of course, when they will custom make them the options open up considerably from 5.

 

As I'm not a salad fan I didn't miss the fact that I couldn't get any. We never went to Alfredo's for a set meal, it was for a "bite to eat" so I didn't miss dessert either. Probably, if I had foregone the MDR to eat there, I too would have been disappointed by the absence of these things but, as we didn't, it didn't bother me. Also, I was already aware they only did Pizza thanks to the good folk on Cruise Critic.

 

I didn’t know pizzas could be customised until I asked. We had delicious pizzas at lunchtime followed by an ice cream ‘up top’ for dessert, perfect!