Sapphire - the good, the bad and the ugly

[lysolqn]

Loyal fans of Celebrity, we haven't cruised Princess in about ten years but will be on Sapphire in Alaska this summer. Would appreciate feedback from those who have cruised on Sapphire - remember, the good, the bad and the ugly! Thanks!

[WeBeGone]

We were on the Sapphire last Sept for the last Alaskan cruise of the season. I'm a Princess cheerleader so I have nothing bad or ugly to say. The ship was great-loved the shows. The food was great (we had tradional first seating). The weather was cold and rainy-even snowed at Sawyer Glacier but that made it just that more fun. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this ship/itinerary.

[CL-JW]

We sailed on Sapphire on April 22nd to Mexico and really loved the ship. Our review can be found at this link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=341517

 

We had a great time. Initially we did find the ship's personnel very "business like" and not really outgoing, but after a couple of days that changed and we really loved some of the staff.

[negc]

There were far more good points than bad or ugly when we sailed on Sapphire Princess several weeks ago. The ship is beautiful, theater is comfortable and has terrific sightlines. Lounges are large and attractive and service was very friendly. Decor throughout the ship was attractive although none of the artwork was especially noteworthy or provocative. Meals in the dining room were excellent and service, attentive. Activities offered by the cruise staff were varied and imaginative and lots of fun. Tendering into Cabo San Lucas was quick and efficient. Entertainment was not outstanding but typical of what we have experienced on many cruises. On the bad side, rooms (we had an outside room with verandah on Aloha deck) were on the smallish size with limited storage space. Had to move the small barrel chair (no room for a sofa or love seat) to get to either the refrigerator or the balcony. Traffic patterns were not optimal and to get to the traditional dining room one has to go up a deck, walk to the rear of the ship, and then back down. Tables for two in the anytime dining rooms are arranged close together, with bench seating for one member of each party, and preclude any opportunity for private or intimate conversation. Food in the Horizon court was hit or miss, with cold coffee the first morning, and buffet area was somewhat confusing and caused people to wander back and forth to reach the items they were looking for. Free ice cream in Horizon Court, which was very good, was only available between 3 and 4 pm. Breakfast menu in the dining room seemed unnecessarily limited, and room service menu is severely limited especially for breakfast. Wakeview lounge which is located below Club Fusion and accessible primarily by means of a spiral staircase located at the rear of the dance floor in Club Fusion,provides a very limited view of the wake through a few smallish portholes that are located above your line of vision if you are seated. Ugly: Boarding was delayed because the ship was late returning to port, and while check in was done prior to getting to the pier and once there it only took five minutes to pick up our seapasses, getting through security took almost two hours. On one day the aft pool and Lotus pool all the way forward were both closed, and because the weather was inclement passengers were left with the Conservatory pool which was filled with children or the Lido pool which was exposed to the elements. Loud recorded music playing constantly by the pools made it difficult to read and relax poolside.:(

Despite some of the quirks in its layout and traffic patterns, we really enjoyed our week on Sapphire Princess and expect that you will also.

[mii]

I have been on the Sapphire and while I like the size of 1950 passengers the Sapphire which had 2600 was well porportioned and you did not feel crowded at all. I would sail her again in a heartbeat.

 

marilyn

[Richard Stein]

I have done Sapphire to Alaska and my review was in review section of this website. I was good, no ugly. Nice ship.

[KLLund]

We liked the Sapphire so much we are going back for 12 days in the Orient in October. The staff was fabulous, especially the wait staff at traditional dining and the room steward was one of the best we have ever had. I agree with another poster that the lay out of the ship is a little awkward and the buffet is just so so but the rest of the food was great.

 

I am sure you will love her.

[DrD]

I too love the Sapphire and am going back, we sailed her in November in the Riviera.

 

My only complaint is that when we first boarded there was alot of salesmanship. We were eating in the buffet and crew kept coming up to our table offering stuff. I was quite concerned that this would happen the whole cruise.

 

Well luckily other than that first hour or so, it was not repeated. So don't worry if you notice this.

 

This time we're going to the dining room for lunch after boarding.

[Coral]

I am not a fan of Grand class ships and went in expecting to not like the Sapphire and was pleasantly surprised.

 

The ship handles the passenger load great, it looked brand new (I was on the ship about 2 weeks ago), the staff was extremely happy/friendly and the food was good. I really have few complaints about the ship and if I sail a Grand class ship again, this and the Diamond would be my choice.

[waltd]

We sailed a few weeks ago and we loved the ship. The only strange thing that happened in our obstructed view stateroom was we never had a quilt on our beds. Wasn't sure if this was the new Princess philosophy or we just were the unlucky ones. The beds were still made up each day but just didn't looked finished. But we delt with it and it was easier to lay down on the beds and not worry about how it looked.

[negc]

I too love the Sapphire and am going back, we sailed her in November in the Riviera.

 

My only complaint is that when we first boarded there was alot of salesmanship. We were eating in the buffet and crew kept coming up to our table offering stuff. I was quite concerned that this would happen the whole cruise.

 

Well luckily other than that first hour or so, it was not repeated. So don't worry if you notice this.

 

This time we're going to the dining room for lunch after boarding.

What were they selling? :confused: We never encountered this type of behavior unless you are talking about beverages, and we never found that to be objectionable. A firm "no thank you" usually works wonders. In the buffet a free beverage besides waterr or iced tea would have been welcome, but lacking that I would order a soft drink to go with my meal.

[Logie]

Generally they sell soda stickers, wine tasting, sometimes the cookbooks and shot glasses, but again it goes away after the first day.

 

Have to give the edge to Celebrity on friedliness. They do go out of there way to greet you and smile at you more than Princess. Princess is not rude by any means just not as outgoing sometimes.

 

Sapphire is a beautiful ship, many amenities, wonderful lounges and clubs. All fresh water pools and a lot of them You might want to try Sabatini's or Sterling's for dinner one night. Worth the extra charge for the atmosphere.

 

Also frequent comment I hear people complain about is not having juice and lemonade available all day, or ice cream. Buffet is a scrable style not a long line. The pizza is the best at sea and the hamburger grill has several choices and grilled fresh.

 

Rooms on the Caribbe deck have the largest balconies and I heard the ones on the upper deck are smaller than most. All the grand class cabins that I have been in except the Grand have what are referred to as walk in closets-no doors and about 6 feet long-very spacious. Shower will be smaller, amenities in bathroom (shampoo lotion, soaps, conditioner) are excellent. Hairdryer is horrible.

 

You will love this ship in my opinion, it is certainly right up there with the Constellation. Princess is more fun especially at night.

[Lynda90]

As hard as I try to think of something bad or ugly, it just ain't there. Loved the ship, the crew, the entertainment and the food. Enjoy!

[TorontoTL]

The Sapphire has become my favourite of all the Grand Class ships that I have been on. I just got off the Sapphire a couple of weeks ago. I've been on most except the Diamond (sister to Sapphire) and the Grand. There were lots of things I would classify as great, the food, the prices of wine, the staff, the pools (fresh water and warm), the spa facilities, the gym, the hot tubs (24hr), the bars, the interior decor, the wrap around promenade deck with lounge chairs....hmmmm what did I forget? Anyhow, the ship is a beauty, I can't really think of anything I had fault with the Sapphire.

[DrD]

What were they selling? :confused: We never encountered this type of behavior unless you are talking about beverages, and we never found that to be objectionable. A firm "no thank you" usually works wonders. In the buffet a free beverage besides waterr or iced tea would have been welcome, but lacking that I would order a soft drink to go with my meal.

 

Soda cards, wine tasting tickets, a few other things, repeated several times. They of course were not pushy, and of course a no thank you was quite sufficient to send them on their way.

 

But still, my wife and I were talking about alot of stuff, and didn't care to be interrupted.

 

And strangely, the only thing NOT offered was a beer, which I would have gladly said yes to.

 

Now we were kind of early, and the area was not crowded, so we may have been like a candle to their moths, and this was not repeated.

 

But I thought it worth mentioning, just so if it does happen it will be realized that this is not what the whole cruise is like.

[spocruiser]

Good :)

 

- Embarcation (boy, it was quick and easy, arrive early!)

- Poolside grill & pizza (our kids loved it)

- Caribe balcony (wonderful size)

- Comedians (good shows in smaller theatre setting)

- Cruise Director and staff (very enthusastic and friendly)

- Trattoria Sabatini (WOW! - Good is an understatement)

- Crooners Martini bar (buy a deck of cards which contain all the recipes)

 

Bad (Not necessarily bad, but could be better) :(

- Horizon Court (layout and food, especially the desserts - just how many variations of the same kind of cake can one make?)

- "Anytime" Dining (make your reservations as early as possible)

- Dining room service (we alternated restaurants and were not particularly impressed for three nights, the fourth waiter was wonderful and so we stayed with him the rest of the cruise)

- Room service choices

-Chair hogs (They are everywhere - go higher up, available chairs, good views, enough music from below without being blasted)

 

Ugly :eek:

- I am fine with making soft drink stickers, wine tasting etc, readily available, but we too were approached by an ever rotating group of staff in what seemed like five minute intervals for most of an hour during our initial lunch at Horizon Court. Other than providing practice in responding to beach vendors, it was rather crass and irritating, especially since it was essentially our first impression of the ship and staff.

 

- The choice of channels for the big screen during disembarcation. Our group was to wait in one of the large bars/showrooms (drawing a blank on the name?) which had a big screen TV. As we waited, it was tuned to CNN, which was running an extended program on famine in a third world country. The footage was rather strong for children and there were many present while waiting with their families to disembark. I know there are many problems in the world, but I would have liked to have gotten off the ship before I had to face them again. I also know that the ship crew has no input on what CNN shows, but there were plenty of ship personnel coming and going. If I could see what was in front of everyone, they certainly could as well. How about playing the cruise video on a loop while people waited?

 

All in all, the bad and ugly were minimal compared to all the great aspects of the ship and the cruise. It was a great ship and a great time. Enjoy your trip.

[TorontoTL]

Regarding Anytime Dining. There were a few days that I forgot to make a reservation. I did speak to the Head Waiter when we arrived in the restaurant and was told that they don't allow the reservations to fully book all of the tables. Thus they have some tables available for walk ins. With that in mind, even when we didn't have a reservation for four, we were able to have a table for four without a wait every single day. We usually ate between 6:00pm and 6:30 pm.

 

By the way for those who haven't tried the dining room for lunch, it really is great. The menus are quite different from the dinner menus and the food is excellent that I've had.

[snowblower]

Have sailed on majority of the ships in the Princess fleet. The Sapphire is the best of the Grand Class ships and would rate it at or near the best of all the ships in their fleet. Can't go wrong sailing this ship. We have been on her three times.......

[cruzin girl]

We were on the Sapphire this last Feb. and loved it! Enjoy.:)

[custompcsys]

I agree with all the comments here. My experience on the Diamond (the Sapphire's sister ship) is what hooked me on Princess :)

[lysolqn]

Thanks for your responses; they're very informative. We're looking forward to our cruise and giving Princess another try after so many years.

[skarletohara]

Soda cards, wine tasting tickets, a few other things, repeated several times. They of course were not pushy, and of course a no thank you was quite sufficient to send them on their way.

 

But still, my wife and I were talking about alot of stuff, and didn't care to be interrupted.

 

And strangely, the only thing NOT offered was a beer, which I would have gladly said yes to.

 

Now we were kind of early, and the area was not crowded, so we may have been like a candle to their moths, and this was not repeated.

 

But I thought it worth mentioning, just so if it does happen it will be realized that this is not what the whole cruise is like.

 

We also notice this on out Sapphire cruise in March, and we too were among

the first to board the ship, but the upselling was very pronounced compared to our previous cruises on the Diamond the year before. We were asked over

and over if we wanted the coffee card, the wine tasting, and the soda sticker.

We don't even drink soda. We did have a crew change which was evident,

so perhaps they were trying to coordinate their efforts. I mentioned this

to a frequent (Elite) cruiser and she said that they're supposed to put a napkin down on the table in front of you once you reject the offer of the

soda sticker because that is a cue to the other employees that you've been

asked ... but this experience did not deter me from cruising because we'll

be back on the Sapphire in 3 weeks!!!!!

[negc]

Soda cards, wine tasting tickets, a few other things, repeated several times. They of course were not pushy, and of course a no thank you was quite sufficient to send them on their way.

 

But still, my wife and I were talking about alot of stuff, and didn't care to be interrupted.

 

And strangely, the only thing NOT offered was a beer, which I would have gladly said yes to.

 

Now we were kind of early, and the area was not crowded, so we may have been like a candle to their moths, and this was not repeated.

 

But I thought it worth mentioning, just so if it does happen it will be realized that this is not what the whole cruise is like.

 

Thanks for the clarification. Perhaps because we were so late in boarding we were spared this experience - a mixed blessing I guess.:D

[Pam in CA]

We did have a crew change which was evident,

so perhaps they were trying to coordinate their efforts. I mentioned this

to a frequent (Elite) cruiser and she said that they're supposed to put a napkin down on the table in front of you once you reject the offer of the

soda sticker because that is a cue to the other employees that you've been

asked

Any time you've ordered a drink, they put down a small napkin as an alert to other servers that you've been served. However, I'm not sure if that's the case if you've been asked about a soda card since the napkin is a clue that you've already ordered. I've taken quite a few Princess cruises and never been pushed to get the soda card, wine tasting, etc. I just say, "No" and return to what I was doing and not let it bother me.