Sapphire Princess - Which Deck

[Priszm]

Hello.  Looking at booking Sapphire for Alaska in 2024 when it opens next week. Are there any preferences/ thoughts/ opinions on the Dolphin (9), Caribe (10), or Baja (11) decks? I haven't seen a lot of posts related to this ship in particular outside of why it's preferred for Alaska.  So appreciate any thoughts. 

[VibeGuy]

The only difference in the balcony cabins will be the size of the balcony and how much is covered.   Caribe is the largest and mostly open to the sky above.  Baja is somewhat smaller and mostly covered, Aloha is almost entirely covered.  

[billco]

We like to book aft mini suites on Emerald Deck. They are covered with large balconies. We have an 11 day cruise booked next Spring 

Edited December 3, 2022 by billco

[Priszm]

Just now, billco said:

We like to book aft mini suites on Emerald Deck. They are covered with large balconies. 

It looks like deck 8 has the lifeboats.  Is the view blocked by those at all? 

[billco]

1 minute ago, Priszm said:

It looks like deck 8 has the lifeboats.  Is the view blocked by those at all? 

I imagine the most forward balcony might be. We usually try for the most aft. We recently had the most aft on the Crown and a few years ago the second most forward. Liked them both.

[donswife]

We had mid-aft balconies on Caribe, and thought it was a great location.  Just a bit of a trek to the gym and theater. 

[Coral]

For balcony - I would go with Caribe. Larger balconies that are half open and half covered.

 

For minisuite - aft on Emerald deck as they are covered (these are not blocked by any views).

 

Edited December 3, 2022 by Coral

[startedwithamouse]

Caribe. 

[mikahbeth]

I just booked a Caribe balcony for 2023 Alaska on the Sapphire because I heard they are the best.

[EDVM96]

1 hour ago, Priszm said:

Are there any preferences/ thoughts/ opinions on the Dolphin (9), Caribe (10), or Baja (11) decks? 

From the photographers point of view - the higher deck, the better deck.

[damiross]

1 hour ago, mikahbeth said:

I just booked a Caribe balcony for 2023 Alaska on the Sapphire because I heard they are the best.

Click here to find pictures of obstructed views

[mikahbeth]

33 minutes ago, damiross said:

Click here to find pictures of obstructed views

Thank you!!! Looks like we might be okay. We’re in C701. 

[Coral]

8 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

From the photographers point of view - the higher deck, the better deck.

I have a friend who is an international photographer - he actually thinks lower.

 

I go to Promenade deck (Deck 7) to take photos.

[Coral]

The decks and balconies are similar to Grand, Golden and Star Princess. So if you find info about them, the info is almost the same except for a few isolated cabins.

 

Also - the Caribbean, Crown, Ruby and Emerald except they added an extra deck but the deck names are the same. For example - Caribe balconies are all the same on all of these ships.

[Priszm]

4 hours ago, Coral said:

The decks and balconies are similar to Grand, Golden and Star Princess. So if you find info about them, the info is almost the same except for a few isolated cabins.

 

Also - the Caribbean, Crown, Ruby and Emerald except they added an extra deck but the deck names are the same. For example - Caribe balconies are all the same on all of these ships.

Oh that's good to know.  We just did the Caribbean Canada/ New England this past August and were on Aloha. We also have a friend planning on joining us as a solo this trip who will be planning on using our balcony. 

[CA Dave]

Caribe. We like the larger balcony.

[SLO Dancers]

The smoking area on deck 7 is in the aft area outside Club Fusion. If you are sensitive to smoke, the port side might be better.

[CA Dave]

As an aside, we also like the Sapphire for it's wider Promenade deck with lounge chairs (if they still have them).

[donswife]

27 minutes ago, CA Dave said:

As an aside, we also like the Sapphire for it's wider Promenade deck with lounge chairs (if they still have them).

Yes! We enjoyed them in October. 

[Priszm]

4 hours ago, SLO Dancers said:

The smoking area on deck 7 is in the aft area outside Club Fusion. If you are sensitive to smoke, the port side might be better.

Thank you! I'm actually allergic and do try to avoid as much as possible. We're looking at southbound and my friend wants us to have our balcony "on the side where we can see land". 😁 We'll humor her. 

[SLO Dancers]

4 minutes ago, Priszm said:

Thank you! I'm actually allergic and do try to avoid as much as possible. We're looking at southbound and my friend wants us to have our balcony "on the side where we can see land". 😁 We'll humor her. 

The smoking is on the starboard side.

[Wishing on a star]

We had a Plaza deck, Ocean View, one of the cabins that was added during a refit.

We loved that, especially since these cabins were newer at the time.  Huge window.

Anyhow, we had thought and heard that everyone would be up on the open decks, and the Promenade would be less crowded.   True.   But, then realized that the view from that lower Promenade deck was limited being closer to the water.   Think, view from a hillside compared to view from the top of a ridge.  Higher was most definitely better for photo/viewing.   When viewing glaciers from the lower level, the expanse of the Alaskan mountains will be less.

 

I would do the Caribe, more extended balcony.

Hope for some dryer weather to make the balcony more useable and enjoyable.

Even if it half covered,  cold rainy weather can be a factor.

But, for the big viewing days, be sure to check out the viewpoint from the highest decks.

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Wishing on a star

[dizgal64]

Sorry. Question already answered 

Edited July 8, 2023 by dizgal64

[NothingBeatsBaseball]

We just got off Sapphire Princess in June. We were in E731, furthest back minisuite on the starboard side. The balcony was covered, which was really nice because of some drizzly days we got on the Alaskan cruise. We felt like being all the way in the back blocked some of the wind too. What was really great was the balcony was about twice the size of a normal one.

 

Drawbacks: We could pick up the smoking below us sometimes, sometimes you could pick up the smell of the soot when the ship was really moving and we could feel more movement being in the back of the ship. That was mainly the first day at sea.

 

So yes, some drawbacks to consider but we'd recommend it because of the big covered balcony. We had a room down the hall too as part of our party but we could easily put the five people with us on the balcony comfortably. The Glacier Bay day was great for the balcony.  

[Reina del Mar]

We had a wake view balcony on Sapphire earlier this year..was on Caribe deck. Long way to walk to the rear and balcony not as large as anticipated.

Husband loved it..I found the walk a bit far, as I have knee problems. Must admit a very quiet area of the ship with space in the corridor outside..

Edited July 10, 2023 by Reina del Mar