Anyone Just Return From Sapphire April 15-22?

[love2cruise221]

How did you enjoy your cruise? Highlights?

[doodie]

I just got back from the Sapphire 04/15-22 and it was the most relaxing cruise I have taken yet (it was my 4th Princess). Cool weather the sea days, nice and warm in Mexico--I spent most of my time on the Promenade and just relaxing--didn't do any excursions. Really loved the entertainers in the Wheelhouse Bar--avoided the sun as much as possible.

 

Karen

[lkmamom]

Hi, we too are just back from the Sapphire cruise. The ship is in excellent shape and the crew was great! The food was outstanding, lots of new dishes. I am not sure if you have specific questions. I brought back all of our patters so if you need some help with that I am very glad to look things up for you. We did not do any of the ship's excursions. This cruise for our family was more about spending time together than looking at the ports. We did walk around each port and there were some that we enjoyed more than others.

 

I am not sure if you are flying into LAX but I can share our experiance with that. We stayed one night precruise at the Renaissance LAX. It was a very nice and clean and comfortable hotel and they provided free shuttle to the hotel from the airport. We struggled trying to decide on transportation to the pier and finally just took a taxi. That was the "easy" button for us. It was $41.00 for the three of us down. We were on the ship within 45 min of arriving at the port (11:00) and it was very painless. I was a little concerned because we did not recieve the standard Princess documents. We printed our boarding passes on the internet. Things actually went very smoothly although, the gentleman that checked us in said that he did not really feel that the method saved any time, must be the conservation of paper:) .

 

One other tip that I will remention (as did doodie) please prepare for the cool sea days. We had read the cruise critic boards and brought sweatshirts. It does get quite chilly. Also, not sure if you are motion sensitive, but our son had quite a lot of problems with the motion. The average waves were moderate on the sea days.

 

Our favorite dining room was the Pacific Moon. We loved the wait staff. They just could not do enough to make your experiance a great one. The food was wonderful. If you want the specialty items, you need to ask for them, they are not on the menus like they were the first time that we were on the Sapphire.Also, if you are signed up for anytime dining, make sure that you make reservations as soon as you get onboard. They will only let you reserve two days at a time. Not really a problem if you are an earlybird though:) The shows were good. We actually did not go to all of them as we have seen most of them on our other cruises. Do not miss Lovena Fox, she is a magnificent singer. My husband saw her earlier in the cruise and swore to me that Venus Williams was on our cruise:rolleyes: lol

 

Disembarkation was very painless and we did the taxi thing again. You will love the crew. Our room steward Manual was a jewel so kind and attentive. The CD is Billy Hygate and very personable. I even saw the Captain walking around one day and he very casually came up to me and started the conversation, what a very kind man.

 

Like I said, if you have any specific questions I am very glad to help. I hope that you really enjoy your cruise!!

Linda

[kevloe84]

It was a fabulous cruise - we had a very relaxing time, too. Nice weather for the most part and smooth sailing, except for it being a little rough on Friday.

Yes, our best meals were in the Pacific Moon, too. It was really interesting how different each dining room was. Each felt a little different and the staff was a little different in each as well. We also had dinner on Sunday for my husband's birthday at Sabattini's. I can't say I loved everything that was served, but the experience as a whole was wonderful. Staff did a great job.

We also got an upgrade when we arrived to check in - went from obstructed view cabin on Emerald to a balcony on Baja. Wow! We were not expecting it and it was wonderful. Spent a lot of time out there.

The only negatives: Our luggage was misplaced - probably due to the cabin change - and we found it at the purser's desk with tags missing. But they sent it up right away. Also, our room steward was a little forgetful. He didn't give us towels one day, for example, and another day he took one of our wastebaskets. No big deal, still had a great time! Booked a future cruise while on board. Thinking of taking the kids next time.