Sapphire Obstructed Oceanview Questions

[LostAgain]

So some of you may have noticed that I had a couple of other threads asking questions so we could book for an Alaskan one way with land tour. Now I have the Sapphire 11 night, southbound, booked for June 2021.  We do not want to spend the additional $1,000/pp for a balcony cabin. We rarely spend time in our cabin, and prefer to be on deck anyway. We did the Seattle round trip to Alaska in 2018 and had an obstructed oceanview on the Ruby that really wasn't obstructed, and it worked out amazing for us. One of the things I really liked about it was that the bed was not under the window, so there was room to stand at the window to look out, or even set up a chair there.  I am familiar with Renwar's website (I think that's what it's called) and I have checked to see what the views out of the windows are.  But now two questions - 1. how do you find a cabin with the bed away from the window? And 2. if you are going southbound, is it best to be port side to face the land? I would guess so, but I am double checking with you fine folks.  Thanks, as always.

[LostAgain]

No replies yet. I am surprised.

[snoozecrooze]

I'll bite, but hopefully others can help you out as well.

 

For the Sapphire bed question, I believe all beds are going to be against the window, unlike Ruby. Reference is below: 

 

 

For the balcony side debate of the ages, this might help:

There's many other search results as well. Overall, there seems to be a lot of varying perspectives, and some people also prefer aft views instead. Someone mentioned the views of the land were too far from the ship when cruising down the passage anyways, but of course, that can vary depending on where you are. I wouldn't personally have a particular opinion, because I think there are views to see on both sides, but a port side balcony may have more land to see along certain parts of the cruise, so you can go for port. But just remember that on glacier viewing days, the ship turns so everyone has a view, so it won't matter as much then. 

[LostAgain]

On 2/11/2020 at 1:24 AM, snoozecrooze said:

I'll bite, but hopefully others can help you out as well.

 

For the Sapphire bed question, I believe all beds are going to be against the window, unlike Ruby. Reference is below: 

 

 

For the balcony side debate of the ages, this might help:

There's many other search results as well. Overall, there seems to be a lot of varying perspectives, and some people also prefer aft views instead. Someone mentioned the views of the land were too far from the ship when cruising down the passage anyways, but of course, that can vary depending on where you are. I wouldn't personally have a particular opinion, because I think there are views to see on both sides, but a port side balcony may have more land to see along certain parts of the cruise, so you can go for port. But just remember that on glacier viewing days, the ship turns so everyone has a view, so it won't matter as much then. 

Thank you, SnoozeCrooze! It's been a busy week so I am just getting back to this thread today. I appreciate your help!

[snoozecrooze]

7 hours ago, LostAgain said:

Thank you, SnoozeCrooze! It's been a busy week so I am just getting back to this thread today. I appreciate your help!

Hello again! I was looking up some YouTube videos of the Sapphire Princess and stumbled upon this one: https://youtu.be/l0-KpQRQyMw?list=PLkjr62m7shBxWFrGo9-GYr2AkJv-UGmqZ&t=17

 

 

In the short clip, there is clearly an oceanview room shown (not sure if it's an obstructed view) and the bed is not by the window...so this doesn't seem to support the earlier link I showed you. I really highly recommend you call Princess directly or get a travel agent to assist you, who might know better about Princess' deck plans. No guarantees either way, but I personally am not sure how to figure the bed-window position out. Hope this helps a little more!

[LostAgain]

On 2/15/2020 at 1:42 AM, snoozecrooze said:

Hello again! I was looking up some YouTube videos of the Sapphire Princess and stumbled upon this one: https://youtu.be/l0-KpQRQyMw?list=PLkjr62m7shBxWFrGo9-GYr2AkJv-UGmqZ&t=17

 

 

In the short clip, there is clearly an oceanview room shown (not sure if it's an obstructed view) and the bed is not by the window...so this doesn't seem to support the earlier link I showed you. I really highly recommend you call Princess directly or get a travel agent to assist you, who might know better about Princess' deck plans. No guarantees either way, but I personally am not sure how to figure the bed-window position out. Hope this helps a little more!

Thank you for that! I will call Princess!

[Essiesmom]

On 2/15/2020 at 1:42 AM, snoozecrooze said:

Hello again! I was looking up some YouTube videos of the Sapphire Princess and stumbled upon this one: https://youtu.be/l0-KpQRQyMw?list=PLkjr62m7shBxWFrGo9-GYr2AkJv-UGmqZ&t=17

 

 

In the short clip, there is clearly an oceanview room shown (not sure if it's an obstructed view) and the bed is not by the window...so this doesn't seem to support the earlier link I showed you. I really highly recommend you call Princess directly or get a travel agent to assist you, who might know better about Princess' deck plans. No guarantees either way, but I personally am not sure how to figure the bed-window position out. Hope this helps a little more!

On cruisedeckplans there are a few pictures of cabins with the bed on the side wall.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.  EM

Edited February 16, 2020 by Essiesmom

[DeeTO]

2 of us sailed on Sapphire Princess March 2019 in obstructed ocean view cabin E308 with head of bed under window. TA couldn’t tell me with any certainty about cabin layout. Can’t rely on drawings.

[Thrak]

4 hours ago, LostAgain said:

Thank you for that! I will call Princess!

 

Many (most?) of the Princess reps you will get on the phone have never cruised. Likely never even been on a Princess ship.

[Colo Cruiser]

49 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Many (most?) of the Princess reps you will get on the phone have never cruised. Likely never even been on a Princess ship.

Yes but they have lots of pictures.

[JWUC]

We sailed on the Diamond in an OV last year. From what I recall, if the bed is in a queen configuration, the window is above the bed. However, if the beds are in twin configuration, the window would probably be above the night stands.

[JF - retired RRT]

This may or may not help, because I don't know if it's possible or if your steward would be willing, but here goes...

We were in a mini-suite where the description stated "twin beds only". We thought it was worth a try to get it changed as others had posted they'd been successful. Asked our wonderful steward and she did it!

MAYBE, your steward can reposition the beds. You might lose the nightstand placement and/or the lamps being plugged in. It's worth asking.

[LostAgain]

On 2/16/2020 at 4:19 PM, Essiesmom said:

On cruisedeckplans there are a few pictures of cabins with the bed on the side wall.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it.  EM

I've had a family emergency so I am "checking in" on Cruise Critic today to thank everybody for their help and comments, but don't have time to follow up or even finish my booking of this cruise. It will be back to normal soon, but meanwhile, I appreciate it.