Review: Sapphire Princess South America cruise Dec 1-19, 2023. LA to San Antonio/Santiago

[USC-UVIC]

We are back home now, after what is probably the worse cruise I have been on in a long time.

 

Embarkation- This was a gong show. 2 hr wait for our medallions at San Pedro. The first 45min of this was standing out in the sun waiting to clear security/customs. Then another long line snaking inside the tent terminal to collect our medallions. Princess did not give out pre-boarding assignment times, so guess what? Everyone shows up at the same time. The ship was supposed to depart at 3pm. Pretty ambitious as far as I was concerned, considering they had to disembark the previous load of passengers, clean the cabins, replenish and refuel, etc. We ended up leaving at 7pm, 4 hr late, due to refueling time issues. .... allegedly.

 

Food - We ate at all the free dining restaurants. Savoy, Vivaldi (Deck 5); Pacific Moon, Santa Fe (Deck 6).   There are no main dining rooms on this ship. The food was in general poor. Almost all the dishes were too salty, especially stews and soups. There is no steak on the fixed dinner menu, like on other cruise lines.. Portions were small. The food in the buffet was better. On some nights, we ended up skipping the dinner and going up to the buffet. Princess is supposed to be renowned for their desserts. This was a big disappointment. Fried fish was greasy, fish and chips was mostly just batter. One night, we were served a roast beef from the carvery that was so tough, I could not "stab it with my steely knife". The fruit selection was the same all the time, consisting of unripen pineapple, then water melon. And when water melon ran out, just apples and oranges. You would think visiting some countries with some of the best tropical fruits in the world, we would see items like papaya and mango on a regular basis. No such luck. You know it's bad when the poolside grill's hamburger was the best food item on most days. Lobster night was decent, with the exception of the small size of the lobster.

 

Service - was very good. Our cabin steward and every wait staff we encountered were polite and when out of their way to take care of us. Towards the end of the cruise, when the staff was rotating off the ship, the service started getting bad in the buffet. You couldn't find anyone to clear your table.

 

Entertainment - Princess really needs to up their game here. The house band "The Supersonic" was really bad. I have heard better high school bands. The strings duo and pianist were decent. The stage shows were ok. Guest entertainers were good, including the ABBA lady, the comedian, and guitarist. But overall, below par.

 

Specialty dining - did not waste my money there.

 

Fellow passengers - we met some nice people on this cruise. And made some new friends. But I have never seen so many obnoxious passengers on a cruise. They range from predators accosting female serving staff in the buffet dining area, and asking them sexual questions about their breasts.  No kidding. In this day and age, we actually have an old white guy, trying to harrass a young Asian female this way. My wife had to rescue her from this sicko. Then you have the guy that we went on a group tour to the Manta jungle with, grabbing a guide's arm and insisting on the guide guessing his age. Whatever happened to personal space and not laying hands on another person without their permission? Not to mention the host of passengers who routinely put their bare feet and shoes on sofas and chairs.  The list goes on.

 

Miscellaneous -. Usually, when someone has a birthday at sea, the staff sing Happy Birthday to you when you show up for dinner. Or there might be a birthday card waiting in the cabin. Princess doesn't do anything like this. On other cruise lines, we would here the dining room staff singing Happy Borthday at various tables throughout dinner. Princess must hate birthdays as much as I do.

We got in 2 hours late at Puntarenas, Costa Rica. No explanation as to why. As a result our private tour started 2 hours late and went it was done, there was not enough time left to explore the town.

 

Diseases - Rampant on this ship, in particular Covid. Lots of people coughing everywhere. You can hear them in the theater and dining areas. I tested positive for Covid when I checked into my hotel in Santiago. Obviously contracted it on the ship. The way the tongs and ladles are shared with everyone helping themselves to the food in the bugget, no doubt contributed to this. They really need to have a staff disburse food.

Also had a bout of serious food poisoning 2 days after our Manta stop. Overheard other passengers talking about their GI issues too.

 

I can safely say this will be my last Princess cruise. I was told by other passengers, even Princess veterans, that the food was bad in their opinion. They had better on other Princess ships. I am not bothering to find out.

 

 

 

 

[BETELVE]

I'm sorry the poster had such a bad time.    I was on the same trip and had a wonderful time.    I love the Sapphire Princess.    My theory about embarkation is that government inspections were keeping the staff from allowing anyone on the ship since she had just completed a 30 day cruise.    I have cruised many times from San Pedro and never encountered a    situation like this before.    I don't think Princess could do anything about it.

 

Most of the food was good, but I do agree about the fish and chips.    The portions seemed normal to me.    I only ate in the buffet when the dining room was closed.    I did notice that most of the passengers bypassed the wash station even though a crew member was standing in front of it.    I took the added precaution of using the wipe dispenser after getting my food.    There does seem to be less choice of items since the Covid shutdown.    I solved this in my room by bringing Ghardelli chocolate bar squares and having one each morning.    The afternoon tea on sea days with sandwiches, desserts, and scones was wonderful.

 

I found the service very good.    I had a great room steward.    The staff was very friendly and kind.

 

I did not participate in any of the entertainment except the Zumba every sea day.    That was wonderful even though I had to hang on to something since I use a walker.    I still got a lot of action with my feet.    I went to the gym once to use the weights.    I also took advantage of a late cruise spa offer of a massage and facial.    It was excellent and my person did not offer me any products afterwards which I have heard is not usual.

 

I had a share table for breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner and met a lot of interesting, well travelled people.    It was nice to put names to faces.    There were 180 solo travellers on board so someone from CC arranged with the International dining room to have a solos lunch every sea day.    We were able to just walk in and back to our tables.

 

As to diseases, I think Covid is going to be with us so all we can do is mask when we need to.    On two occasions I saw someone who continued to cough so I left the area.