Sapphire Princess Review

[Tom O.]

I just submitted a review for the Sapphire Princess. I know it takes a long time to get them published, so I thought I would post it here as well.

 

Sapphire Princess – 7 Day Mexican Riviera – January 21-28

This was our first cruise, and we were not sure if we would like it, so we picked a fairly inexpensive Mexican Riviera trip. We bought the tickets only a month before the cruise and got a good deal – a balcony cabin was only a little more than an inside cabin. And since we live in the L.A. area there was no expenses for flights or hotels.

We absolutely loved it. And now we are spoiled with a balcony and won’t even consider a room without one for future cruises.

Princess gave us the best service I have had anywhere. The steward was fantastic, the waiters exceptional, I can go on and on.

Here is one glitch: I did a lot of research on the internet beforehand and found that most people who had traditional seating raved about their dining experience, and most people who had “personal choice” dining complained about their experience. So, I was happy to get traditional late dining confirmed a few weeks before departure. Despite being confirmed, I discovered, after boarding, that I had “personal choice.” I immediately complained to the consierge and they had it fixed by day two. For the first night they gave me a reservation. Despite the reservation, there was a long line we had to stand in before being seated. Once we had traditional dining we never had to stand in a line again, and we got fantastic service from our waiter who knew our every wish and whim. Personal Choice dining is heavily promoted and sounds good on paper, but in practice it is a disaster. Princess should just realize that the whole thing was a mistake and do away with it. Apparently a lot of people agree, because there is always a wait list for traditional dining. Originally we took the late dining because that was all we could get, but it turned out that was for the best. Having late dining gave us plenty of time to shower and unwind from our shore excursions. We would feel a little hungry around 5pm, so we would either go to the afternoon tea, or slip into the buffet for some sweets (which we took to our room and ate on our balcony).

Our cabin was beautiful. We would sit on our balcony and watch whales while having breakfast or snacks. We are not very social, we are not the kind of people that hang around the pool, drink cocktails, and participate in activities, so it was good that we had a balcony. We spent most of our time there.

One other problem: We are non-smokers and are very sensitive to tobacco smoke. I only ran into tobacco smoke two places - the casino and our cabin. Smoke in the casino is expected so there is not problem, but I should not have had to deal with it in my cabin. The problem was that my neighbor’s idea of a vacation was to sit on his balcony and smoke one cigarette after another. The smoke would engulf my balcony, and since we are fresh air freaks, come into our cabin through our open sliding door. We first noticed it before the ship unmoored. We were very concerned. But, because the neighbor was directly aft of me, the smoke blew the other direction once we were underway. I would only notice it when there was a complete lack of wind, or we were in port. But Princess should offer no smoking sections of the ship, where people can be assured of not having a problem like this.

As far as Mexico is concerned, I have never been impressed, and I continue to be so. The only port I really liked was Cabo San Lucas. Cabo was a true resort area and was beautiful. Puerta Vallarta and Mazatlan had nice areas, but both had horrid slums as well. And everywhere there were aggressive hawkers who just won’t leave you alone. My next cruise will not be to a third world country.

Actually our favorite days were the “at sea” days, because the ship was so beautiful, our balcony view of the sea so breathtaking, and the fantastic service. It turns out I really love being at sea.

Going south, the seas were calm, I could barely tell we were moving, returning north the sea was rougher and there was some definite movement, but I couldn’t imagine it bothering anyone, but I suppose it did. The weather was very cool north of Cabo and very warm south of Cabo. We kept our balcony door open most of the time, day and night (except when there was too much smoke out there). North of Cabo we would wear sweat shirts and enjoy the cool sea breeze.

Over all I give Princess very high marks, but not a perfect score, because of the dining and smoking problems.

[aclay]

and we agree with you about the Mexican Riviera ports- Cabo being the only really memorable one for us..

[jlp20]

We have done this itinerary four times and have had a great time South of the border.

 

Just wondering, what is your rational for blaming the cruise line (Princess) for the actions of passengers (smoking)? I may be wrong, but other than your balcony and the casino, there are very few places on the ship where smoking is allowed.

 

If this is your major concern, there are cruise ships that are completely nonsmoking.

[SeaTeacher]

Princess should designate certain groups of cabins for smoking (for example the aft 25%). Currently, I find that the VAST majority of smokers on cruises are very respectful and smoke only on deck when in designated areas. But ship policy also allows smokers to light up on their balconies. Those of us who don't smoke can easily avoid smoke on deck by moving to non-smoking areas on the other side of the ship. However, the one place a passenger doesn't have a choice is on their balcony. By designating the aft 25 % of cabins as non-smoking, then the 75% of Americans who don't smoke can have reasonable escape from second hand smoke.

 

Mark my words: public smoking is going to become a more contentious issue in the coming decades. States are begining to outlaw smoking in bars and restaurants and other public spaces. The cruise ships are going to have to deal with the issue more proactively or face customer anger.

[huskerdan25]

Tom O, glad you had a great first cruise! That very cruise was our first and I posted my review about a week ago. We had a balcony on the Baja deck and will never cruise without a balcony! We spent a lot of time on it and had some great views. Really made things very relaxing to watch the ocean go by and to see the ports from our balcony. I'm glad we took the Sapphire for our first cruise. Fantastic vacation!

 

Dan

[giggster11]

Tom: Glad you had a great cruise! We loved the Sapphire both times we were on her. The smoke from other balconies does bother, especially cigars, but at least it didn't ruin the whole cruise. Nothing like fresh air on the balcony!

 

Huskerdan: Sounds like you had a great time too!

 

 

It's always fun to read reviews of the ship you've been on whether your cruise is coming up or has already passed. Here's a link to mine if you feel like reading it. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=296002

 

Happy future cruising!

[Lynda90]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Everytime I read a review I want to be back on the ship. I think the Sapphire is absolutely beautiful. Sorry about the smokers. I have been very lucky and have never had a smoker on the next balcony. That would be a real turn-off for me as well. I agree about having a certain amount of cabins designated for smokers.

[Tom O.]

We have done this itinerary four times and have had a great time South of the border.

 

Just wondering, what is your rational for blaming the cruise line (Princess) for the actions of passengers (smoking)? I may be wrong, but other than your balcony and the casino, there are very few places on the ship where smoking is allowed.

 

If this is your major concern, there are cruise ships that are completely nonsmoking.

 

I wasn't blaming Princess for someone smoking, I was just wishing they had smoking and non-smoking zones for balconies. I believe everyone has the right to smoke as long as it doesn't interfere with the lives on non-smokers. If cruise lines had smoking and non-smoking zones, everybody would be happy. And there's nothing better than making everybody happy.

At any rate, I didn't let the smoke spoil my cruise and I had a wonderful time and have already booked my next one - 15 days to Hawaii and back!

[negc]

While I sympathize with the views expressed about smoking and I do not smoke, I wonder about the problems that would arise if a certain percentage of staterooms were designated non-smoking. Would you have to indicate when you booked whether or not you were a smoker? Would there be complaints that only the best (or worst) staterooms were designated as non-smoking? What percentage of cabins would be set aside for smokers and would there then be a waiting list for one or the other? If you wanted a non-smoking room and non were available would you be shut out from the sailing even if a lot of smoking rooms were empty or would you be assigned to a smoking room and have to hope that the previous guests weren't heavy smokers who left you with a room reeking of smoke.

Hotels can designate rooms, floors, or their whole facility(Westin) as non-smoking because you cannot generally request a specific room. On cruises, however, a lot of people are very specific about which stateroom they want and if that room didn't match their smoking or non-smoking preference, they might be quite disappointed or irritated. Carnival tried with the Paradise to operate a totally non-smoking ship but, for whatever reason, the experiment failed. I'm not sure that banning smoking even in a small proportion of staterooms will be any more successful.:)