Sapphire Princess Review 7/25-8/1

We just returned from a glorious week on the Sapphire Princess having travelled with a group of 33. Alaska is spectacular! Here is the summation of the groups feelings in several areas.

Ship

The Sapphire Princess is gorgeous. It is beautiful and there is definitely something to be said for travelling during an inaugural season. The ship is spacious and comfortable and we never felt crowded or had to wait in a line onboard.

Food

The group felt the food was quite good. The vegetarians loved the vegetarian selections, which were ample and rated as "very good." The veggie burgers are aweful--with no protein. The meat eaters felt their meals were good but uneven. Some meals were just fair and others were excellent.

We ate in the Personal Choice dining rooms. Each offers two menus--the daily menu, which is available in every location and a set theme menu. EG Vivilda has a set Italian menu which is the same every day.

The waiters in the PC dining rooms were rated as very good overall but uneven.

We found the food in Horizon great...better than the dining room. My only complaint was the small number of tables outside which made it difficult to eat outside..

Cabins

We had a balcony on Caribe. The balcony was very worthwhile and I suggest even splurging to get one. Alaska is very scenic and one of our favorite activities was having breakfast on the bqalcony. (This was our 11th cruise with Princess and for some unknown reason we never thought to have breakfast brought to our stateroom..oh well! You turn 60 and.....:-))

Stewards were excellent. Noone in our group had a steward they felt was anything but excellent.

Gym/Spa

Excellent. The Spa is run by Princess and the saff is the best. It has an upscale feel which is appropriate for the upscale prices!! The gym is very large and very well equiped. I never had to wait to use equipment. The flat screen TVs are a nice touch.

Shows

the best we have seen on Princess. I highly recommend them.

Embarkation

This is a very weak area. Some in our group reported it took over 2 hours to get on the ship. The people in line when we arrived had been in line for over 2.5 hours.

Disembarkation

Fine except when we had to take tenders in Juneau. We waited 2 hours to get off the ship from the time the ship anchored. The Princess excursions went first and everyone else had to wait in line. As a result we did not get to see much of Mendenhall. I would strongly recommend only taking Princess Excursions that day.

The disembarkation at the end of the cruise was quick and well-organized.

Children/Youth Programming

Exceptional. The children (ages 11- 19) were only seen at dinner time!! They had a blast without exception.

Excursions

We arranged our own and went through Princess. Ketchikan--Saxman/Bight through Sourdough tours was excellent. My wife did snorkeling through the ship and loved it and kayaking with Southeast Kayaking--both were exceptional. Great staff and equipment.

Juneau-

Mendenhall was rushed due to our trying to do it on our own(see above). In the evening we did the Whalewatching through Princess. It was an incredible and memorable experience. The whales were out in full force and put on an unforgettable show! The excursuion was a class act with an excellent naturalist.

Skagway- since I was with our senior parents I did a tour of Skagway with MGT--outstanding. Many did the train and loved it.

All in all it was a memorable cruise. I can't wait to return. In fact, I am already counting the days before our cruise in December.

Thanks for all of your help and suggestions.

Bob