Outside viewing decks - Majestic v Regal v Sapphire

[~*Lou*~]

I am looking at a cruise to New Zealand in 2021. We would book an internal cabin so outside viewing decks are important to us. We most recently cruised on Coral Princess which had fabulous outside viewing from a number of decks including a Promenade you could walk all around, and ability to view from the front and the aft of the ship. Can anyone help me with comparing Majestic, Regal and Sapphire's outdoor decks?

 

Many thanks

Lou

[OzKiwiJJ]

Majestic and Regal don't have promenade decks.

 

Majestic doesn't have any forward outdoor viewing decks but has the Hollywood Observation Lounge which has large windows facing forward. On Regal you would need to pay for the Sanctuary for forward viewing.

 

Assuming Sapphire is the same as her sister ship, Diamond, which I have been on, then she has the best outdoor viewing, including forward. Sapphire also has a promenade deck but not right around the ship. The forward section is on the deck above and isn't under cover like the rest of it.

Edited July 17, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[Coral]

Sapphire has amazing public viewing decks! It also has a Promenade deck.

[johnsuttoncoldfield]

Sapphire does have an excellent Promenade Deck - there are a few steps up/down to the extreme bow, which is indeed under-cover.

[Jeter02]

The royal class ships promenade deck sadly do not wrap all the way around for walking access. Really is such a design shame, compared to the older Princess ships. I love the views from the bow of the ship.

[skynight]

The Sapphire has a 360 degree promenade fully covered. To get to the forward section you have to climb up a flight of stairs, I remember 22 steps. It give great views right from the nose of the bow. It is very windy up there when the ship is in motion and there is no seating. The remainder of the promenade is on deck 7 and should have seating. The Majestic and Regal do not have walkable promenades. They have 4 patios, 2 mid ship and 2 aft on deck 7. These have lounge chairs and are not covered or shaded.

The Sapphire has lots of outside seating areas, both covered and uncovered, on the upper decks including areas around Neptune's Reef Pool and the deck above, Lap Pool a quiet area, The Oasis area seldom used, and a favorite of many the Terrace Pool area. Some passengers like to book interior cabins on deck 12 aft with easy access to the Terrace Pool. The Sapphire also has an indoor pool, Calypso Reef Pool.

The Regal has lounge chairs around the main Fountain Pool on deck 16 and on the decks above.  There are also cushioned sofas and chairs in the Fountain Pool area. Deck 16 forward there is the adult Retreat Pool. Very little shade in this area. There is also a small Terrace Pool on deck 17 aft which contains a smoking area. The Horizon Terrace, deck 16 aft has some nice outdoor cushioned chairs and sofas. No pool in this area.

The Majestic is vary similar to the Regal. The area that is the retreat pool on the Regal is the indoor Hollywood Pool Club and forward of that is the Conservatory. There is no aft pool on the Majestic.

My Opinion I like the older Sapphire. I am not a big fan of the newer Royal Class ships, although I will say that they do have some nice features like the World Market Place buffet. 

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

The Sapphire also has an indoor pool, Calypso Reef Pool.

 

The indoor pool area is a great asset on a potentially cold and/or rainy cruise.  We spent 14 days on the Sapphire last month on a fabulous Land of the Midnight Sun (Norway) cruise.  Our favorite viewing area was the balcony area above the Calypso Reef Pool with cushioned loungers facing outward.  Both sides have 3 sets of double glass doors for viewing and easy access to the outside.  The only downside was that the public address system was terrible in the covered area.

[skynight]

I wish to add the the Sapphire has Skywalker's Lounge, deck 18 all the way aft. It is a nice quiet area during the day with great views through the almost totally glass walls. In the late evening it is used as a nightclub. There is nothing like this on Royal Class ships.

[BarbinMich]

5 hours ago, Jeter02 said:

The royal class ships promenade deck sadly do not wrap all the way around for walking access. Really is such a design shame, compared to the older Princess ships. I love the views from the bow of the ship.

Not only don't they wrap around, they're only two uncovered small areas on each side.  Not sure why Princess bothered unless it's the only place a pax can smoke (which would make them undesirable for non-smokers).  We have been on the Royal twice:  once for a 14-day EB TA and once for a 10-day in the Caribbean.  It's a beautiful ship inside, but its lack of covered outside spaces (like Promenade deck on older ships) was disappointing.  Did enjoy the covered area aft and outside Horizon buffet, which I don't think a lot of pax area aware of, when we were in the Caribbean.

Edited July 17, 2019 by BarbinMich

[Jeter02]

1 minute ago, BarbinMich said:

Did enjoy the covered area outside Horizon buffet, which I don't think a lot of pax area aware of, when we were in the Caribbean.

Shhhh! Don't announce that lovely area aloud.

[NSWP]

Been on both classes of ship, prefer Sapphire and the Grand Class ships for the prom deck.

[mevs904]

Good to hear about the Sapphire.  We will always opt for a ship with a promenade deck if we can when booking a cruise.

[kenexx]

Sapphire for me over the big monsters any day 😄. Love the wrap around promenade deck. 

[skynight]

18 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

Not only don't they wrap around, they're only two uncovered small areas on each side.  Not sure why Princess bothered unless it's the only place a pax can smoke (which would make them undesirable for non-smokers).  We have been on the Royal twice:  once for a 14-day EB TA and once for a 10-day in the Caribbean.  It's a beautiful ship inside, but its lack of covered outside spaces (like Promenade deck on older ships) was disappointing.  Did enjoy the covered area aft and outside Horizon buffet, which I don't think a lot of pax area aware of, when we were in the Caribbean.

The starboard side aft patio has a smoking area. The other 3 are non smoking.

[BarbinMich]

4 hours ago, skynight said:

The starboard side aft patio has a smoking area. The other 3 are non smoking.

Thanks for clarifying the smoking policy on those outside decks.