Sapphire Dining Rooms

[Mike45LC]

I have an upcoming cruise on Sapphire.  Because I was unable to get a Club Class cabin, I am having to use the Dine My Way to make dining reservations.  I learned today that Sapphire has five Main Dining Rooms -- Savoy, Vivaldi, Pacific Moon, Santa Fe and International (not to be confused with the International Cafe -- poor naming!).  

 

I would assume that there is no difference among these five MDRs, but it is safer to check with fellow Cruise Critic sailors who know!  My inclination is to avoid the International because the lobby area outside presumably will get crowded at times, with guests at risk of getting pushed down the stairs!  [Some rude people pushing out of the elevator in scooters caused such issues on other ships.]  And who wants to have to go upstairs to go aft and then downstairs again?  So unless there is something to recommend International, I'll go with another dining room.

 

Should I book a different Dining Room each night to try them all?  I did that with Celebrity Edge, but each of those Dining Rooms had a different character and menu.   On Princess, it never seemed to make a difference which Dining Room it was!  Same menu, same basic decor, same ambience.  But with names like Santa Fe and Pacific Moon, it sounds like the ambience should be different!   Savoy and Vivaldi have Good Spirits and Vines right outside if we have to wait.  Pacific Moon and Santa Fe have the casino right outside, which means we might not ever get to dinner if we have to kill time waiting!  

 

What input do you guys have for me?  Thanks in advance.

 

[Essiesmom]

All of the dining rooms have the same menu, just different decor.  The aft dining room used to be traditional dining.  Don’t know how that works now.  EM

[Mike45LC]

Thanks, Mom.  According to the application, it's the same as the other four, "Dine My Way."  The names of the Dining Rooms are so different from what I am used to on Princess, that I am kind of expecting difference in the menus.  

 

Dead Italian artists, who cares which one?  But Santa Fe versus Pacific Moon should represent completely different menus!

 

[Coral]

1 minute ago, Mike45LC said:

Thanks, Mom.  According to the application, it's the same as the other four, "Dine My Way."  The names of the Dining Rooms are so different from what I am used to on Princess, that I am kind of expecting difference in the menus.  

 

Dead Italian artists, who cares which one?  But Santa Fe versus Pacific Moon should represent completely different menus!

 

At one time they did. They no longer do.

 

Santa Fe is for Club Class.

[Mike45LC]

Thanks, Coral.  I will just rotate among them for the experience.  Then, if I have a preference, I can change the reservation.  Same menu means it doesn't make a huge difference!

[Coral]

8 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

Thanks, Coral.  I will just rotate among them for the experience.  Then, if I have a preference, I can change the reservation.  Same menu means it doesn't make a huge difference!

They started out with different menus. Then they quickly changed to one item that is different in each restaurant but that went away also. 

 

I do like the decor of the dining rooms and the smaller dining rooms. I think the Sapphire is a great ship!

[tonit964]

The International dining room on Sapphire was named long before International Cafe came along.

[latebloomer56]

12 hours ago, Mike45LC said:

Thanks, Mom.  According to the application, it's the same as the other four, "Dine My Way."  The names of the Dining Rooms are so different from what I am used to on Princess, that I am kind of expecting difference in the menus.  

 

Dead Italian artists, who cares which one?  But Santa Fe versus Pacific Moon should represent completely different menus!

 

I miss traditional seating. Will be our first time on Sapphire our cabin is aft. Wonder if we can just take the elevator straight down? We don't plan on using the medallion app. maybe if it is harder to get to we will have a better shot of reserving dinner once on board.

Thanks as always folk's.

[DiRonT]

Sapphire is our favorite ship.  Will be on her in September for a 10 day.  The various dining rooms, as has been said previously, all serve the same menu.  The decors are different, Savoy = old fashioned steakhouse/private club.  Vivaldi = classic old upscale Italian.  Pacific Moon = Asian theme and Santa Fe = Southwestern (think New Mexico) theme.  Santa Fe is Club Class, but I don't know if it is exclusively Club Class.  Can't tell you about International, never been in there.  Try them all and enjoy!

[KeepCalmBearOn]

32 minutes ago, DiRonT said:

Sapphire is our favorite ship.  Will be on her in September for a 10 day.

 

Not to veer way off topic, but......  we are on Sapphire the cruise after you, 15 Day Hawaii RT. Both the 10 Day Baja (Sept 24) and 15 Day Hawaii (Oct 4) are showing "currently not available" for booking, which has a few folks shook up on the Oct 4 Roll Call, because the Sapphire cruises before Sept 24 were cancelled and Sept 24 is (was?) her first cruise back. Have you heard anything?

 

PS yes, MDR are pretty much the same when it comes to food. They were named in the days before "specialty" dining and menus did reflect the name more.

[DiRonT]

12 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

Not to veer way off topic, but......  we are on Sapphire the cruise after you, 15 Day Hawaii RT. Both the 10 Day Baja (Sept 24) and 15 Day Hawaii (Oct 4) are showing "currently not available" for booking, which has a few folks shook up on the Oct 4 Roll Call, because the Sapphire cruises before Sept 24 were cancelled and Sept 24 is (was?) her first cruise back. Have you heard anything?

 

PS yes, MDR are pretty much the same when it comes to food. They were named in the days before "specialty" dining and menus did reflect the name more.

Just checked my Personalizer and Medallion App and texted my TA- no notification of change or cancellation, BUT I do see that this cruise shows as Unavailable when trying to book.  Wondering if sold out???

[tonit964]

3 minutes ago, DiRonT said:

Just checked my Personalizer and Medallion App and texted my TA- no notification of change or cancellation, BUT I do see that this cruise shows as Unavailable when trying to book.  Wondering if sold out???

It's not sold out, lots of Insides still available. I'm on this sailing too and have been nervous about it not actually going. We'll see. I've been looking for back up ones, just in case. 😊

[KeepCalmBearOn]

1 minute ago, tonit964 said:

It's not sold out, lots of Insides still available. I'm on this sailing too and have been nervous about it not actually going. We'll see. I've been looking for back up ones, just in case. 😊

 

Dare I say it here on the Princess Forum, we had a great NCL Bliss cruise out of LA last November. It was only 7 days but still great.

[DiRonT]

6 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

It's not sold out, lots of Insides still available. I'm on this sailing too and have been nervous about it not actually going. We'll see. I've been looking for back up ones, just in case. 😊

Sapphire is definitely on the move and is scheduled to arrive Singapore on 7/28.  After that (assuming she follows track of Diamond) she should head to Phillipines to pick up crew.  San Pedto shows her arriving there on 8/20.  Let's hope this all happens.

[tonit964]

8 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

Dare I say it here on the Princess Forum, we had a great NCL Bliss cruise out of LA last November. It was only 7 days but still great.

Great ship! Was on her in 2018. Loved the Observatory!

[SClakeliving]

I'm booked on the Sapphire in Jan 2023 Antarctica/South America cruise. Haven't been on Princess since 2003 Alaska cruise! Which Specialty Dining Rooms does she have and what is your favorite?

 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

3 hours ago, SClakeliving said:

I'm booked on the Sapphire in Jan 2023 Antarctica/South America cruise. Haven't been on Princess since 2003 Alaska cruise! Which Specialty Dining Rooms does she have and what is your favorite?

 

It really only has two Specialty Dining Rooms, Sabatini's and Sterling Steakhouse and we like both, but if we had to choose, Sabatini's would get the edge.

 

I don't consider Vines Wine Bar specialty dining per se, but it is how we love to eat, wine and tapas.

[loray in ca]

On 7/19/2022 at 6:46 PM, Mike45LC said:

I have an upcoming cruise on Sapphire.  Because I was unable to get a Club Class cabin, I am having to use the Dine My Way to make dining reservations.  I learned today that Sapphire has five Main Dining Rooms -- Savoy, Vivaldi, Pacific Moon, Santa Fe and International (not to be confused with the International Cafe -- poor naming!).  

 

I would assume that there is no difference among these five MDRs, but it is safer to check with fellow Cruise Critic sailors who know!  My inclination is to avoid the International because the lobby area outside presumably will get crowded at times, with guests at risk of getting pushed down the stairs!  [Some rude people pushing out of the elevator in scooters caused such issues on other ships.]  And who wants to have to go upstairs to go aft and then downstairs again?  So unless there is something to recommend International, I'll go with another dining room.

 

Should I book a different Dining Room each night to try them all?  I did that with Celebrity Edge, but each of those Dining Rooms had a different character and menu.   On Princess, it never seemed to make a difference which Dining Room it was!  Same menu, same basic decor, same ambience.  But with names like Santa Fe and Pacific Moon, it sounds like the ambience should be different!   Savoy and Vivaldi have Good Spirits and Vines right outside if we have to wait.  Pacific Moon and Santa Fe have the casino right outside, which means we might not ever get to dinner if we have to kill time waiting!  

 

What input do you guys have for me?  Thanks in advance.

 

Hi Mike - I'm Laurie from CA. I've been looking at the same thing. Also, I saw a review that the International Room is very loud. In addition it has very limited slots for reservations. We are making a res at each one of the smaller rooms for night 2-5 and then we'll decide which we like best 🙂 Our friend going on the Vivaldi room best.