Sapphire Princess room B109

[newfielover]

We are staying in this room on our cruise to Alaska in August. Can anyone tell me anything about this room? All I know is that it is the first room on the starboard side. Thanks!

[grandmaa]

We have found the closer to the front of the ship, on any deck, the bouncier the ride. If you are a good sailor a fun location but if not, personally, if you could you might want to be more mid ship on Baja deck.

[laraja]

We are staying in this room on our cruise to Alaska in August. Can anyone tell me anything about this room? All I know is that it is the first room on the starboard side. Thanks!

 

We have found the closer to the front of the ship, on any deck, the bouncier the ride. If you are a good sailor a fun location but if not, personally, if you could you might want to be more mid ship on Baja deck.

 

Because you are on the Sapphire, I am assuming it's an Inside Passage, RT Seattle. I wouldn't worry about being at the front of the ship on this particular cruise. For the vast majority of the trip you will be sailing through the Inside Passage and not in open seas.

 

The waters are very calm. I was even able to use my balcony railing to steady my camera for a night setting shot.

[Pam in CA]

The positive is that you're in a balcony cabin. The negatives are that you're a long walk from the buffet, Skywalkers and other areas on the ship plus when the ship anchors or ties up, you might hear more noise. If walking or occasional noise isn't a problem, you should be fine. On other itineraries, you would experience a lot more bow up and down movement since you're far forward and higher up. And you still might but for the most part, you'll be in protected waters and the seas shouldn't be too rough.

[Mist_ynight]

I was in B211 on the Sapphire in April. An inside cabin about 7 doors from where your cabin is. My gf really noticed the motion of the ship but I loved it. It was just a slight motion and it felt like being rocked to sleep. That was on the Mexican Riveria so I don't know what it will be like in Alaska. It was a little bit of a walk to get to places but I enjoyed it. We always walked to the front elevators and took them down to our deck. It made the walk nice cause you could walk along the deck most of the way. It's also just straight up to get to the adults only spa pool which we used the most.

[i_heart_cruzin]

We were on Sapphire Jan 22, B115. You could definitely feel the motion of the ship -- but I love that, so to me it is a good thing and I will book forward as opposed to midship on our next cruise.

The negative, you will have a solid steel balcony railing. We did, and had been told it would be glass, so that was a disappointment. Still, I love the balcony and being able to go out each evening and see the stars and watch the waves! Next cruise will pay a bit more for Caribe deck -- glass railing and bigger balcony, half covered, half not, seems like a perfect combo!

As for the distance, yep -- plenty of walking from one end to the other... but after all that food, I figured the farther the better!!! :p

[newfielover]

<P>So, I heart cruzin, you stayed in the room right next to where we will be in August.  How is the balcony, even with the stainless steel railing? Was the balcony covered? Was there much noise up there? I like to walk, so being so far foward is a great thing for me :)</P>

<P> </P>

<P>Thanks for your help</P>

[i_heart_cruzin]

Your balcony is fully covered.

 

As I recall from peeking around the corner :) your balcony starts to curve a bit toward the front of the ship... (I think!) You may loose just a bit of square footage, but still room for your chairs and hanging out at the rail. On one or 2 days we chatted with those on decks below us since we could see straight down to them. It was fun -- talked about what we were seeing, where the whales were, etc. (Mex Riviera).

Yes, the balcony was disappointing -- probably more than it might have been since we had our fill of disappointment already :( We checked our luggage at SEA, non-stop to LAX -- have never seen it since. So... take my disappointment with a grain of salt I guess! However, I got a great deal on the fare, and having a balcony is impt to me -- so, steel or glass -- I am just happy to be on the boat!!:D

 

The one thing that might surprise you -- take a look at the pictures of the ship -- do you see the strut that goes up to the bridge? That is right above you pretty much. I have several pictures of our balcony, and looking up and down -- I am happy to send to you via email if you wish :) I attached one to this post, your balcony is on the other side of that divider.

 

I read through your other thread -- yes, the hand rail is wood, the bottom portion is solid steel painted white. I did not notice any problem with temperature. Sorry if I was confusing about that.

 

Let me know if you have other questions!

[i_heart_cruzin]

Oops almost forgot -- I did not notice a problem with noise at all.

[newfielover]

Thanks for the info about our room and the picture. So, from what I can tell, the beam that goes up to the bridge is not in front of our balcony. Do you remember if anything prevents us from seeing straight out in front of the ship?

 

Thanks!

[i_heart_cruzin]

I used the picture that someone posted from your other thread and marked with a star what I believe to be your balcony (hope they don't mind!). I also used one of mine, more of a side angle shot. (I think you can click on them to enlarge). The support strut for the bridge appears to be next to your balcony more so than "right in front".

 

I was not able to see straight out in front of the ship (that is, not a view of the bow). By leaning over your handrail and around the divider you may be able to, but I am not sure (don't lean too far! lol!).

 

The best place, in my opinion, is the deck that is on the roof of the bridge. (You can see the railing at the top of my photo.) Very cool! I hung out up there during sail away. Of course my views were mostly Port of LA, but you will have great views of beautiful Seattle! To get there you need to go around the outside of the spa/fitness center all the way forward, then up another couple of stairs -- and enjoy! I went up there a couple of times during the cruise just to enjoy the sea.

[wgbiii]

Thanks for starting this thread!! Just moved from B109 to B140 for a June Alaska cruise. Would have been very disappointed having a solid railing after paying the extra money for a "view".

 

Princess should disclose this on their deck plans rather than in the lawyer type. "Stateroom views are considered unobstructed unless noted otherwise. Obstructions do not include certain nautical items like handrails, dividers, or ship hardware. For balcony staterooms, the view is determined from the perspective of the balcony railing. Balconies may have either solid steel or toughened glass railing."

 

Glad I found out now! See linked picture to see the difference between steel and glass. Can't believe this is not considered an "obstruction!!" I guess Princess doesn't mind disappointing a few customers for the extra revenue generated by these "non obstructed" cabins. They should be in a category by themselves with an explanation as to the view.

 

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