Seeking feedback on Vista Suites on the Sapphire Princess

[PapaGoose]

We are booked on a South America itinerary, on the Sapphire, coming up in February. We have an aft facing balcony and there is an opportunity to put a bid in for an upgrade. Our thoughts are to bid on either a regular mini-suite for the extra space or an aft facing Vista suite. The Vista suite bid would obviously be much more than a mini-suite bid but the suite would offer a lot more space as well as the perks you get with a suite. We have sailed in aft facing balconies and side facing mini-suites before but we have never sailed in an actual suite before. 
 

We are looking for feedback from anyone who has stayed in an aft facing Vista suite on the Sapphire. The mini-suite bid would be considerably more economical but we would lose that aft facing view that we really like. My DW needs some serious convincing that an upgrade would be worth it and if that fails we will likely end up staying in the aft facing balcony and use that money to spoil ourselves in other ways…. First world problems I guess!

[Ken the cruiser]

36 minutes ago, PapaGoose said:

We are booked on a South America itinerary, on the Sapphire, coming up in February. We have an aft facing balcony and there is an opportunity to put a bid in for an upgrade. Our thoughts are to bid on either a regular mini-suite for the extra space or an aft facing Vista suite. The Vista suite bid would obviously be much more than a mini-suite bid but the suite would offer a lot more space as well as the perks you get with a suite. We have sailed in aft facing balconies and side facing mini-suites before but we have never sailed in an actual suite before. 
 

We are looking for feedback from anyone who has stayed in an aft facing Vista suite on the Sapphire. The mini-suite bid would be considerably more economical but we would lose that aft facing view that we really like. My DW needs some serious convincing that an upgrade would be worth it and if that fails we will likely end up staying in the aft facing balcony and use that money to spoil ourselves in other ways…. First world problems I guess!

We have cruised in an aft-facing vista suite twice on the Caribbean Princess, and have them booked on the Sapphire on our upcoming South America/Antarctica B2B in January and on the Grand Princess on an Alaska B3B in April. 
 

My advice is don’t do it, because once you experience the awesomeness of cruising in a fully covered aft-facing vista suite on a grand class ship, and all the perks that come along with it along with being able to dine in the Reserve Dining Room, you’ll find it very difficult in the future to book a cabin any lower than a Reserve Collection mini suite! 😂

[Guest Michael4650]

48 minutes ago, PapaGoose said:

We are booked on a South America itinerary, on the Sapphire, coming up in February. We have an aft facing balcony and there is an opportunity to put a bid in for an upgrade. Our thoughts are to bid on either a regular mini-suite for the extra space or an aft facing Vista suite. The Vista suite bid would obviously be much more than a mini-suite bid but the suite would offer a lot more space as well as the perks you get with a suite. We have sailed in aft facing balconies and side facing mini-suites before but we have never sailed in an actual suite before. 
 

We are looking for feedback from anyone who has stayed in an aft facing Vista suite on the Sapphire. The mini-suite bid would be considerably more economical but we would lose that aft facing view that we really like. My DW needs some serious convincing that an upgrade would be worth it and if that fails we will likely end up staying in the aft facing balcony and use that money to spoil ourselves in other ways…. First world problems I guess!

We prefer penthouse aft facing suites but we also have traveled in vista suites and they are much better than a mini suite. We used to sail in insides or balconies but once in any suite that is what you will want

[BabsinTX]

We've had Vista Suites on Emerald, Ruby and Caribbean.   All have been lovely, and the suite benefits are awesome.  I will say that the bathroom has less storage for toiletries than other suites, or even than minisuites.  But that has never stopped me from booking one.  And, yes, you'll be spoiled for life, but in a good way.  

[cruzsnooze]

I dislike aft facing cabins period. I prefer mid ship suites. I sail mostly in suites for what used to be decent perks. Now the perks are sorely lacking. The aft has a few disadvantages to my likes. The wake is noisy, there could be ash from above that blows onto the balcony and you can't see ahead or side to side unless it's a corner aft. It is also too far from the elevators, especially if you're carrying some thing. As to Vista suite vs any other full suite, I find any of them just fine. They all have a free standing shower and plenty of seating and counter space. I choose my suite based on location and price.

[PapaGoose]

Thank you all for your perspectives! My DW is concerned that we might enjoy a suite too much and then it will set an undesirable precedent that we won’t want to go back to a “common balcony” on future cruises. 😉. 
 

As for aft facing staterooms, we love the sound of the wake, we’ve never encountered too much unwanted soot or smoke and I can’t remember the last time we used an elevator on a cruise ship. We love the privacy back there as well as the exercise we will get roaming the ship both back and forth as well as up and down. What better way is there to work off the wonderful meals we will enjoy?

 

The cost for flights and excursions on our upcoming SA cruise will not be cheap. I guess we have some number crunching to do to see if we want to spend more of our hard earned money on a possible stateroom update bid!

[suekel]

On 11/18/2023 at 2:00 PM, PapaGoose said:

We are booked on a South America itinerary, on the Sapphire, coming up in February. We have an aft facing balcony and there is an opportunity to put a bid in for an upgrade. Our thoughts are to bid on either a regular mini-suite for the extra space or an aft facing Vista suite. The Vista suite bid would obviously be much more than a mini-suite bid but the suite would offer a lot more space as well as the perks you get with a suite. We have sailed in aft facing balconies and side facing mini-suites before but we have never sailed in an actual suite before. 
 

We are looking for feedback from anyone who has stayed in an aft facing Vista suite on the Sapphire. The mini-suite bid would be considerably more economical but we would lose that aft facing view that we really like. My DW needs some serious convincing that an upgrade would be worth it and if that fails we will likely end up staying in the aft facing balcony and use that money to spoil ourselves in other ways…. First world problems I guess!

I spent 18 days in a Vista Suite on the Sapphire last spring.  It was the best.  The service, the balcony...If you can afford it, do it.  

[cruzsnooze]

13 hours ago, PapaGoose said:

 

As for aft facing staterooms, we love the sound of the wake, we’ve never encountered too much unwanted soot or smoke and I can’t remember the last time we used an elevator on a cruise ship. We love the privacy back there as well as the exercise we will get roaming the ship both back and forth as well as up and down. What better way is there to work off the wonderful meals we will enjoy?

 

 

I don't get the mean less questions. If you already knew you loved the aft facing suite why the questions? 

[PapaGoose]

1 hour ago, cruzsnooze said:

I don't get the mean less questions. If you already knew you loved the aft facing suite why the questions? 

I’m asking if it’s worth upgrading to a Vista suite. I wasn’t asking if an aft facing room was a good thing. We like aft facing balconies. We’re just wondering if a suite would be worth the extra money spent on an upgrade bid. 

[Ken the cruiser]

This is what our aft-facing vista suite cabin on the Caribe deck looked like when we were on the Caribbean Princess last month. The picture was taken from the "living room" area where there is a large "three-cushion" couch, a comfortable chair, and a desk with another chair (visible in the TV reflection). The open door on the left is to the left side of the bathroom that has a sink and toilet. The entrance to the right side of the bathroom that has a separate shower and jetted tub (we never used) is in the bedroom area to the left of the desk. There is also a door between the two bathroom areas. The walk-in closet is just to the left of the desk chair where you can barely see the opening. The entrance to the rather large covered balcony is behind me. Hopefully, this helps to give you a better picture of what all the hubbub is about. 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[PapaGoose]

45 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

This is what our aft-facing vista suite cabin on the Caribe deck looked like when we were on the Caribbean Princess last month. The picture was taken from the "living room" area where there is a large "three-cushion" couch, a comfortable chair, and a desk with another chair (visible in the TV reflection). The open door on the left is to the left side of the bathroom that has a sink and toilet. The entrance to the right side of the bathroom that has a separate shower and jetted tub (we never used) is in the bedroom area to the left of the desk. There is also a door between the two bathroom areas. The walk-in closet is just to the left of the desk chair where you can barely see the opening. The entrance to the rather large covered balcony is behind me. Hopefully, this helps to give you a better picture of what all the hubbub is about. 

 

Awesome information! Thank you, that certainly helps us understand what we would get in a Vista suite!

[memoak]

1 hour ago, PapaGoose said:

I’m asking if it’s worth upgrading to a Vista suite. I wasn’t asking if an aft facing room was a good thing. We like aft facing balconies. We’re just wondering if a suite would be worth the extra money spent on an upgrade bid. 

It would be for us 

[MJC]

20 hours ago, BabsinTX said:

We've had Vista Suites on Emerald, Ruby and Caribbean.   All have been lovely, and the suite benefits are awesome.  I will say that the bathroom has less storage for toiletries than other suites, or even than minisuites.  But that has never stopped me from booking one.  And, yes, you'll be spoiled for life, but in a good way.  

We have had Vistas on these ships too, and will have one on the Emerald in the spring, and possibly on the Sapphire next fall. We do try to book them early and on sale. They are our favorite cabins and we have our TA mark them no upgrade because we much prefer them over the next class up.  We also prefer the starboard side. We only take Dolphin or Emerald deck so we have a corner one. Don't mind the beam bc it gives DH some shade out there.

 

 

We love the white noise of the wake, don't mind the walk, appreciate that the end of the hall is quiet. Aft elevators are only truly busy at dinner time. Have always had great cabin stewards.

 

I don't know what we will do when P eventually retires the Grands. Vistas are the bargain of the fleet IMO.

 

 

[memoak]

2 hours ago, MJC said:

We have had Vistas on these ships too, and will have one on the Emerald in the spring, and possibly on the Sapphire next fall. We do try to book them early and on sale. They are our favorite cabins and we have our TA mark them no upgrade because we much prefer them over the next class up.  We also prefer the starboard side. We only take Dolphin or Emerald deck so we have a corner one. Don't mind the beam bc it gives DH some shade out there.

 

 

We love the white noise of the wake, don't mind the walk, appreciate that the end of the hall is quiet. Aft elevators are only truly busy at dinner time. Have always had great cabin stewards.

 

I don't know what we will do when P eventually retires the Grands. Vistas are the bargain of the fleet IMO.

 

 

The aft elevators are also very busy going up at breakfast time especially at breakfast and lunch time with people rushing to the buffet 

[L11]

On 11/19/2023 at 6:11 PM, PapaGoose said:

Thank you all for your perspectives! My DW is concerned that we might enjoy a suite too much and then it will set an undesirable precedent that we won’t want to go back to a “common balcony” on future cruises. 😉. 

Your DW is quite right to be concerned. That is exactly what happened to us. We will book a Reserve Class mini suite now but that is about the only other class I can now get my DH to book because he won't sail without the Reserve Class dining. Even then, he misses the pampering he gets at the suite breakfasts and the added space of a suite. Added to all of that, as far as I know, there are no mini suites with an aft view so the only time we book one is when there are no aft facing suites on our preferred decks. SO very much a first world problem.

 

Bottom line, you are in serious danger of uping your cruise game on a permanent basis if you go with any of the the aft facing suites. They are seriously awesome as you can see from the pictures that @Ken the cruiserposted. Since you already like the aft view and wake noise, you will love them but consider yourself warned...

[memoak]

4 hours ago, L11 said:

Your DW is quite right to be concerned. That is exactly what happened to us. We will book a Reserve Class mini suite now but that is about the only other class I can now get my DH to book because he won't sail without the Reserve Class dining. Even then, he misses the pampering he gets at the suite breakfasts and the added space of a suite. Added to all of that, as far as I know, there are no mini suites with an aft view so the only time we book one is when there are no aft facing suites on our preferred decks. SO very much a first world problem.

 

Bottom line, you are in serious danger of uping your cruise game on a permanent basis if you go with any of the the aft facing suites. They are seriously awesome as you can see from the pictures that @Ken the cruiserposted. Since you already like the aft view and wake noise, you will love them but consider yourself warned...

Agree so much   Years ago long before the pandemic we were offered an upgrade to a full suite for a minimal amount. You guessed now we only sail in full suites