Sapphire 6/20 Review...long! (part 1)

The second part of the review will be my next post...it was too long to post as one!

Background:

My husband and I are both 22, from Oklahoma, and were celebrating our honeymoon on this cruise…the first cruise for both of us.

Embarkation:

We flew into Sea-Tac airport on Sunday morning and landed about 10:00 a.m. We had no trouble at all getting a taxi from the airport to the pier, and paid $25 for the 15-or-so minute trip. Word of advice: If you are embarking in Seattle, GO EARLY! We were at the pier by 10:45 a.m., and there was basically no line at all. We walked right up to turn in our checked luggage, and a Princess rep directed us to the check-in line. Although we had Express Check-In, as I’m sure most everyone does now, there was not a designated Express line, so we just joined the regular line. It took probably 20-30 minutes, and we had our cruise key cards ready to go. When we received our cards, they had just opened the gate to the ship, and a line was forming to enter. We got in that next line, had our picture taken, then embarked on the ship—on the longest gangplank ever—but we were one of the first 150 or so people on the ship that day—it was so awesome! As the day wore on, we would look down from our balcony and see the check-in lines flowing out of the terminal building…many people we talked to later had a very long wait to check in, so we definitely recommend getting there early! Note: All of the Princess reps were VERY helpful and friendly, and this would be a sign of much more to come! The HAL Amsterdam was docked right in front of us, and the NCL Star across the bay. We were scheduled to depart at 4:30 p.m., but an announcement was made that we would be making a late departure since all of our supplies had not yet been loaded. The Star left around 4:30, and the Amsterdam at 5, and I was starting to get worried that we would be so late we would have to be late to or miss a port or two, because of all the hoopla about the Diamond in previous weeks. Not the case…we did leave over an hour late, but the Captain assured us (and came through!) that it would not affect our schedule at all.

Our Cabin:

We had a Cat. BC Balcony Cabin, B600, port side, midship. Our cabin was ready for us when we boarded the ship, so we went straight to it. I was actually impressed with the size…although this was my first cruise, I had read so much about the small size of cabins/bathrooms on the ships, I was expecting much smaller. Our balcony was completely covered, and the only thing I didn’t like was that we looked down upon the partially-covered Caribe and Dolphin deck balconies, and though we met many people that way, it wasn’t very private. However, since those were the mini-suite and suite balconies, they were bigger, so I don’t see another way around it. Our cabin stewardess was Ramona from the Philippines, and she was amazing! The sweetest, nicest lady who always seemed to know just when we were gone. She cleaned our cabin immaculately, and knew our names from the very beginning when she would greet us in the hall. She started out by calling me Ms. Howard (my maiden name, which I was registered under), but when she found out we were newlyweds and put up our “just married” balloons, she started calling me Mrs. Kennedy, which I thought was just adorable. 

Muster Drill:

Not bad…though it amazes me at the amount of people who cannot follow simple directions. Our assigned station was Sabatini’s/Internet Café area, so at least we had a place to sit.

Dining:

We had Personal Choice dining, and honestly, though I heards loads of complaints from other passengers on the ship about how it’s not really “personal choice,” since a reservation is highly recommended, I knew what to expect and had no problems. We immediately made our reservations for most of the week when we embarked, though I later found we could have easily waited until the morning of to make our reservations for that day and still have no problems. Most of the complainers had not made reservations at all, and expected to be able to walk right in and sit down. Before I talk about the specific dining rooms, I will touch on a few other areas…

Horizon Court—yuck. They had very few “good” items, and the desserts were particularly bad. We ate lunch there on embarkation day, and should not have come back, but we had to once or twice. One of the main problems was that it was a really random assortment of foods…nothing seemed to go together, and it was hard to make a “meal” out of what was offered. The crowd congestion was only bad at peak times, and I heard a few complaints from those who thought it was one big line and thought everyone else was “cutting” in front of them, but I would say 90% of the people figured it out and it wasn’t much of a problem.

Prego’s Pizzeria—yummy. I only ate from there twice, as I usually forgot about it until after it was closed, but the pizza was delicious…and pizza is my favorite food! It actually seemed somewhat health-conscious as well, since it wasn’t very greasy and not an overload of cheese. I only tried the Pizza Margherita (cheese) and the Pepperoni, but some of the daily specials looked great, as well. I only wish the pizza was available at later hours of the day, or at least through the dinner hours.

I never tried Trident Grill or Sundaes, and we did not go to Sabatini’s.

International Dining Room—This is the traditional dining room, but we frequented it for breakfast and lunch. Such wonderful waiters…the team of Ana & Nacho was definitely our favorite…we had the pleasure to sit at one of their tables a few times. The breakfast here was wonderful…although the menu was very similar to what was being offered in the Horizon Court, the food was so much better…it was prepared somewhat fresh, and at least it was hot and served with a smile.  I loved the lunch offerings…so much to choose from! I did however, fall in love with Princess’ frozen yogurt (various flavors) and the cheeseburgers offered at lunchtime.

Pacific Moon—We went here on the first night, and didn’t have a huge desire to come back. The food was decent and the service superb, but if you are used to eating extremely good Asian cuisine at home, you may be disappointed by their offerings here. I did hear the sushi was very good, but I didn’t try it. I actually ended up ordering my entrée off the regular dining room menu that night, but got the bread, appetizers, and dessert from the Pacific Moon room.

Sterling Steakhouse—very good. I really wanted to order just about everything on the menu that night, but had to restrain myself.  The steaks were excellent, and the pork chops also very good.

Santa Fe—it was okay. Being from Oklahoma, I am used to outstanding local Mexican food, so this really wasn’t very “authentic” but still tasty. The guacamole was actually quite good, and the fajitas (though not what I am used to), were pretty good as well.

Vivaldi—very good pasta, but very poor service…we heard this from others, as well. It seems like they put the less-experienced waiters in this room, since we had several mix-ups and were ignored for quite some time. We even had to specifically ask twice for the focaccia bread that is usually put out automatically.

Alcoholic Beverages—most of them great, some just okay. I always tried the drink of the day, and even some of the mocktails of the day when I wasn’t feeling like alcohol. Princess bar staff does pour a standard size shot…I watched out of curiosity. However, depending on the mood of your bartender, you may get more if they are in a really good mood.  Theuns from South Africa, one of the bar waiters in Crooner’s, was just outstanding…a true performer.

We will try the Horizon Court one more time on our cruise next week to see whether there is any improvement. Stay tune :) Glad you had a good time. Congratulations on your marriage :)