Sapphire Oct. 31-Nov.7th cruise Review...

[monakayk]

We just returned this past weekend (Nov. 7th) from our Mex.Riv. cruise on the Sapphire during Halloween. Had a fabulous time and the ship was beautiful, crew was great and food was wonderful. Met some fun and lovely folks from our cruise Roll Call at 2 M&Gs, Afternoon Tea,Wine Tasting and had dinner/cocktails with a few. Whatever you do....make sure to get on these boards and join your cruise Roll Call....and then follow through with going to the Meet and Greets to personally meet the folks on board the ship. You will certainly meet and possibly make some life long friends, as we have done!

The Halloween Party was so much fun and so many pax dressed up in costumes as we did too.

One thing..I was disappointed in was that Escagots were not on the menu for our cruise. On the last formal night (French dinner) I asked our waiter about it...he said they were not being served, but finally offered to have it special made the next night (last night at sea). I opted out cause I knew what was on the last night's menu already and wanted those appetizers. So I would suggest for those folks who love Escagot to special order them for a formal night beforehand, even if other past pax on these boards said there were served on their cruise. I think they change the menu offering Escagot from time to time. If I had known they were not on our cruise's menu I would've special requested them beforehand. Always safe than sorry I guess. All the food was wonderful..I think the Sapphire has one of the best chefs staff I have experienced so far on our Princess cruises!

The entertainment in the Princess Theater....I have to admit was not as good as I had previously enjoyed on past Princess cruises. The dance/song shows were nice, but they did a staff Amateur night and even though some of the staff were talented, I felt like many were not as good as some of the pax who were participating in the Pop Star Talent show. I did enjoy the 1st comedy show with Kevin Jordan VERY much. He was great. The other comedian just did not hit my buttons...but others I talked to enjoyed him quite well.

Enjoyed a Catamaran-Snorkel-Beach tour which I booked from a local company that went to Deer Island-Matzalan. It was wonderful and included open bar on the boat/beach and a hot Mexican lunch with Marlin (fish) Tacos! Great food!

Our room steward was outstanding...the best we have had on any of our cruises. His name was Ronald...so I hope those who have Ronald will enjoyed his great service as well as we did.

Weather was wonderful and no real high seas even though, of course, our last day at sea was cool. Enjoyed our cruise very much and put down a deposit on our FCC for our next cruise with Princess.

I will be posting photos of our cruise soon and will post the link to them in this thread for those who wish to view them.

If anyone has any questions concerning the Sapphire or Mex.Riv. cruise..just ask away. Those who plan on sailing on her...you will certainly enjoy the Sapphire Princess!

[bordilo]

Thanks Mona for the post. My wife and I are doing the same cruise this Saturday. We were on the Sapphire last Sept 08 in Alaska. Nice ship. I love Escargot so I will be sure to check this out and pre-order it if necessary.

Which port is better for shopping? I have heard that Cabo is expensive.

Was the ship full. Did you get a chance to lounge around the pools and if so, was there a problem finding empty lounge chairs?

We are sure looking forward to just some R&R.

Thanks again Mona.

Paul

[Caribbean Sunsets]

Thanks for the review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[travelexpress]

Who did you book your shore time with in Mazlatan? It sounds like a great time?

[jerryr]

Mona we will be on this cruise over New Years Eve. How was the new Cruise Director?

Jerry

[jbray]

We were on the Oct. 31st cruise as well and while we enjoy our cruise the one exception was the bed was extra firm and not comfortable...and the pillows we so old and flat that they should have been discarded long ago. Our neighboring cabin residents said they had the same problem. I left with a very a painful hip!

[magictam]

Originally Posted by jbray

We were on the Oct. 31st cruise as well and while we enjoy our cruise the one exception was the bed was extra firm and not comfortable...and the pillows we so old and flat that they should have been discarded long ago. Our neighboring cabin residents said they had the same problem. I left with a very a painful hip!

We had the same problem on the Star in August, even with an egg crate. By the time I got off the ship, the bags under my eyes almost hit my knees from lack of sleep.

I was about 99% ready to book the Sapphire for March 13th but now I'm gonna have to rethink that.

Are the balconys on the Carib level large and only partially covered like on the Star? That might make up for the firm beds.

Thanks!

[funcky]

Is it true that Sapphire theatre have less seat when comparing passengers to seat ratio then other ship? My brother said if you go princess and love going to theatre at night, then go for previous class of princess where builder got it right when it comes to number of seats vs. passgener ratio.

[dianef]

We were also on the Oct. 31 cruise,with Mona,and had a great time.We had a balcony on the Carib and it was very nice,large,part covered and part not.Had 4 chairs and a nice table.

We requested an egg crate the first night and thought the bed was comfortable,as well as the pillows.Slept quite well.

Thought the food was very good and enjoyed the two production shows. They repeated the entertainment the following night.The showroom seats 705 people and the ship had 2700 people.The first seating show booked up fast but the later show was easier to find a seat. Shows are important to us,so we found that lacking.They were supposed to have a third production show,Piano Man,but the dancers were only together 2 weeks and they did not know it well enough to perform.That is why they put in the passenger talent show.The future cruises should have the Piano Man.

Enjoyed the pool in the Gym/Spa area,on deck 15.It was adults only and heated and found it enoyable.

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for the review. Sounds like you had a great time.

[genevieve7000]

We are on the December 5 Sapphire, thx for the review. Who did you book your catamaran/snorkle trp through; it sounds great! Also glad for the heads up on the escargot; that is one of our favorites! thanks for your help.

[CruiseObssessed]

Originally Posted by bordilo

Thanks Mona for the post. My wife and I are doing the same cruise this Saturday. We were on the Sapphire last Sept 08 in Alaska. Nice ship. I love Escargot so I will be sure to check this out and pre-order it if necessary.

Which port is better for shopping? I have heard that Cabo is expensive.

Was the ship full. Did you get a chance to lounge around the pools and if so, was there a problem finding empty lounge chairs?

We are sure looking forward to just some R&R.

Thanks again Mona.

Paul

We were on this cruise as well. Not sure if it was full but seemed so. Lounge chairs were hard to come by near the main pool, the aft pool, and the spa pool and otherwise were available. If you don't mind the smoking section there are a few more at the main pool. Those were always the last to fill. But people move around and most of the time we found a chair.

Went shopping in all 3 ports. Cabo IS very expensive as it is a playground for rich southern Californians and they don't have to settle. I found it was more expensive to about the same as similar items at home.

That being said, Mexico is very depressed economically right now and we really saw it in P.V. and Mazatlan. Sad as that is, vendors were willing to deal and we got some great prices on various things. Avoid the strip in PV along the main ocean walkway downtown--you will never find a deal there! Also had a great chance to chat with locals who weren't that busy and that was fun for us. I hope things pick up soon for them, drop by and give them some business!

[monakayk]

Originally Posted by bordilo

Thanks Mona for the post. My wife and I are doing the same cruise this Saturday. We were on the Sapphire last Sept 08 in Alaska. Nice ship. I love Escargot so I will be sure to check this out and pre-order it if necessary.

Which port is better for shopping? I have heard that Cabo is expensive.

Was the ship full. Did you get a chance to lounge around the pools and if so, was there a problem finding empty lounge chairs?

We are sure looking forward to just some R&R.

Thanks again Mona.

Paul

First of all...sorry it has taken me awhile to respond to the questions. This week has really been busy with work.

DH and I felt that the best 'deals' for negotiating price with the locals were on Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. Cabo---the locals really didn't want to real & deal very low. Anyhow, JMHO and we did get some great deals on silver/semi precious gem-jewelry at both those ports. We paid more for stuff on Carbo than we expected to.

The ship was full...to my knowledge. As for getting lounge chairs right up front by the main outside pool...right in the Sun, most were taken. But just walk around for a few mins...ask the 'next-door' lounger if the chair is being used (saved with a towel), most likely they will answer: "No one has used it for ages"...then you just move the towel and sit down and relax. If (by chance which I doubt) anyone finally shows up and states you are using their chair, just say you are sorry you thought since it had not been used in quite awhile it was available and leave. This has never happened to me cause some folks just like to save chairs all day and then leave their towels there. Loungers up in the top level deck around the pool had plenty of openings. Loungers at the inside pool....loads of seats.

I hope these answers helped with your questions.

[monakayk]

Originally Posted by travelexpress

Who did you book your shore time with in Mazlatan? It sounds like a great time?

We booked our tour through Mazatlan Tours...website link below:
http://www.mazatlantours.org/

This is the link to the excursion we took to Deer Island:
http://www.mazatlantours.org/kolonah...eer-island.htm

Very reasonably priced as you can see...the service/food/drinks/boat, etc were excellent! The snorkeling was not the best, but we did see quite a few fish. The water was not very clear as it is in the Caribbean. But that was expected because we have snorkeled before along the Mex.Riv. in the past.
We had previously done the Stone Island tour with this company and enjoyed it very much.

[monakayk]

Originally Posted by jerryr

Mona we will be on this cruise over New Years Eve. How was the new Cruise Director?

Jerry

Jerry,

The CD was very good IMHO. I think one of the most entertaining and very nice...personally. He stopped by our Roll Call's Meet & Greet and introduced himself and we talked for awhile. I think he did a great job on our cruise.

[monakayk]

Originally Posted by jbray

We were on the Oct. 31st cruise as well and while we enjoy our cruise the one exception was the bed was extra firm and not comfortable...and the pillows we so old and flat that they should have been discarded long ago. Our neighboring cabin residents said they had the same problem. I left with a very a painful hip!

Sorry you had such pain resulting from the bad mattress. Yes indeed...ours were bad too. But I just asked our steward-Ronald to give us an egg-crate topper and also a top sheet (only duvets covers are on the top of the bed) and also some feather pillows to replace the hard ones. No problem....our bed was all made up wonderfully and a lot softer the first night on the ship.

Just a suggestion....on your next cruise the min. you meet your cabin steward...right off....ask for the bed topper/feather pillows and tops sheet. Then all will be well for you for your entire cruise.

[monakayk]

Originally Posted by magictam

Are the balconys on the Carib level large and only partially covered like on the Star? That might make up for the firm beds.

Thanks!

The balconies on the Caribe deck are partly covered on the Sapphire. They are one of the largest balconies...sq. footage wise on the ship. They have 4 deck chairs...2 lean back and a table. Very nice for sitting outside and eating and lounging. We were on the right side (can't remember the nautical term) of the ship and the Sun going down to the ports was pretty intense most of the day. The mornings were wonderful. Coming back on the last sea day..we were in the shade more. Wish it had been the other way around...something to remember if I every choose our cabin with a balcony. However, on that side of the ship----sail-away from Cabo was great. We had a full view of 'Land's End/Lover Beach' which was wonderful.

[monakayk]

Originally Posted by funcky

Is it true that Sapphire theatre have less seat when comparing passengers to seat ratio then other ship? My brother said if you go princess and love going to theatre at night, then go for previous class of princess where builder got it right when it comes to number of seats vs. passgener ratio.

Sorry I do not know the number count of the seating in the theater. We did go to some of the productions and had no problem getting a seat..however we went to the late shows after 10 PM.

[monakayk]

Originally Posted by dianef

We were also on the Oct. 31 cruise,with Mona,and had a great time.We had a balcony on the Carib and it was very nice,large,part covered and part not.Had 4 chairs and a nice table.

We requested an egg crate the first night and thought the bed was comfortable,as well as the pillows.Slept quite well.
Thought the food was very good and enjoyed the two production shows. They repeated the entertainment the following night.The showroom seats 705 people and the ship had 2700 people.The first seating show booked up fast but the later show was easier to find a seat. Shows are important to us,so we found that lacking.They were supposed to have a third production show,Piano Man,but the dancers were only together 2 weeks and they did not know it well enough to perform.That is why they put in the passenger talent show.The future cruises should have the Piano Man.

Enjoyed the pool in the Gym/Spa area,on deck 15.It was adults only and heated and found it enoyable.

Yes...Diane was on the same cruise and it was wonderful meeting her/DH and all their friends. We had a great time with them.

I will be getting my photos up online and will place a link to them in this thread soon.

[monakayk]

Click the link below to view photos of our Mex. Riv. cruise...as promised:

Link to photos:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/575541503yiKPAv

Enjoy!