Sapphire Princess:Sydney-Auckland 2/4/07

[stan1]

My wife and I were disappointed on the Sapphire Princess Sydney-Auckland cuise departing 2/4/07. We bought our own air(United Airlines SFO-Sydney, Air NZ Auckland-SF)and spent a night in Sydney (Holiday Inn,Darling Harbor)and 3 nights in Auckland (Sky City), using the internet for all bookngs, saving much over similar Princess arranged air. We used van shuttle in Sydney (all the shuttles are located at the far right hand end of the airport )and a van shuttle fromn the hotel in Auckland, each about $15. each. No problems with Sydney customs(nothing to declare exit); Auckland airport security inspections were extremely slow, inefficient, and everyonehad to go through two separate luggage+personal security inspections, as well as extremly slow and inefficient luggage checkin and boarding pass asignment.

Boarding(Sydney)and debarking (Auckland) were fine.

The ship is beautiful, clean, and service is generally excellent. The food problems are substantial: Buffet breakfasts are varied, well managed, and there is a separate omelette cooking station for those who want it. Buffet lunches are awful, and the dinners were frequently inedible. AT one lunch, the posted menu was wrong , and when diners asked about the menu items were told that they had run out. When the supervising chef was told about the wrong posted menu and misleading responses when asked for the items told me "It's not my fault." That seemed to be the general approach, lack of respolnsibility.Specifically, at buffet lunch and dinner, the pans are left on the heated serving areas until they are emptied as diners serve themnselves. If the item is not rapidly chosen, the pan just sits The cheese and pizza entrees (frequently on the menu)often sit so long that a hard crust appears on top and the item gets like glueand cardboard. Many complained to the buffet supervisors, who told the supervising chef, but nothing changed. Some of the meat items could not be cut with the knives(pork chops, barbecued ribs). Many of the buffet featured entrees were very cheap,such as : Meat loaf; turkey breast roll (Processed white turkey meat - not breast of turkey); processed ham roll (not the usual ham). Fish was often just fish & chips. Usually the featured item to be sliced for the passenger just sat on a board until used up and was cold(not kept warm or under heat). The outdoor pool area had a hamburger grill; burgers were precooked and then warmed on the grill when ordered. I tried it but the burgers were just dried out from when they were cooked hours earlier. Princess still charges for ice cream at its outdoor icecream counter, unlike Celebrity and other lines, although it is available at no charge for lunch/dinner dessert in the dining room. The dining room meals were far inferior to our prior Princess dining room (International Dining Room, early & late dining)experiences: There are no longer any wine stewards, and the inexperienced waiters/waitresses only know what is printed on the wine list, the supervising assistant maiatre'd is somewhat better but do not expect any guidance. Same is true about asking advice about the menu items : "Everything is very good, if you don't like it I'll bring another." Prior waiters(other Princess cruises) had some idea as to what the meals (repeated every cruise)were like and what people liked, not ours and apparently not others. The fish dishes were generally awful, the steaks (other than filet, tournedos)were very tough and flavorless, the pasta was often not hot. Lamb, prime rib,lobster(served once)were fine. Desserts were generally sweet and creamy, but not much flavor (unlike prior Princess cruises). A food purveyor I met on this cruise told me that Princess had downgraded many of its ingredients so that the lack of flavor, poor meats, etc. was due to what was provided. I have been on 14 prior Princess crusises, my wife on 15 and we both felt that this was the worst cruise food we have ever had on Princess. Our supervising asst maitre'd said that it was impossible to provide fine meals for 2600 people at any meal, but wife was recently on Diamond Princess (sister to Sapphire Princess)and food was much, much better.

Entertainment: The Princess Theater has 700 seats, two(early, late) shows and there are 2300 passengers. Many people who wanted to see the shows were unable to because of limited seating. Some (including me)stood on the side to see the show, but there is also limited standing room. Production shows were fine, individual acts were old(same jokes, routines as last year).Princess refuses to offer a third showing for those unable to see either of the other shows(could happen on a sea day afternoon).

Shore Excursions: Generally poorly organized, run, and overpriced.This is completely unlike Prior Princess shore excursions which were extremely well organized and run. There is no language barrier,and Princess has been coming to these ports for years, hence no explanation.Unlike other Princess cruises, there was no early presentation in person or on TV by the shore Excursion department describing the tours, local public transportation, or shopping, souvenir data. The shore excursion manager told me that this service was no longer provided by Princess, and each passesnger "was on his own". There was a full sea day between Sydney and Melbourne when the data could have been easily provided and subsequently made availale on TV, but it did not happen. The Shore excursion counter staff were only intrerested in selling tours, and offered no port information,local transportation, other than the very brief & incomplete and misleading (several provided maps were wrong)Princess Port sescriptive circular. The Ship's library was not helpful. Moral: bring your own information.

In Melbourne, all tours left the ship one hour late(10 a.m.) although individuals not on tours departed at 9 a.m., and buses for the tours were there at 8:30 a.m. Tours were sped up to get people back for the scheduled afternoon tours(My Melbourne land tour is a hazy blur due to rapid bus speed, etc.). WE had a full day tour in Tauranga to visit the Maori center, the thermal area, and Agrodome, with lunch. Our bus aircondtioning did not work, as did at least one other bus. The bus company had no replacements, Princess shore excursions had no contact with the bus company (On prior excursions, Princess sent someone with a radio to contact the ship if there were problems) and it was 85 degrees. Upon return Princess said that it was sorry, but it was not responsible for any excusion problems. In Denedin, our bus tour to Olveston Historic Mansion and the city had no tour guide. The bus driver had a microphone and told us what he could but had to remain with the bus. Upon return to the ship and complaining about no guide, Princess initially did not even know that there was no guide, and later admitted that after inquiring learned that one was not provided. The official Princess position is that it provides a service to the passenger by arranging tours but takes no responsibility for the tour other than to get the passesnger back to the ship in time for departure. Shore excursions are a major profit center for Princesss (and other cuise lines), so you can draw your own conclusions.

We would not take any large Princess ship again(food, entertainment), and only take Princess to an area where I could arrange shore excursions on my own(Caribbean, Western Europe). I do not know if the problem is the size of the ship , poor design (700 seat theater x 2 shows for 2300 passsengers!), poor Corporate supervison, or what.

Princess has fallen from a superior product to much less, at least on this cruise.

[BJS]

Sorry to hear that your cruise was not what you had expected. We will take your review into consideration when deciding about our future trip to Austrailia and New Zealand.

 

It sounds like in your past Princess experiences you have not encountered these problems. We have experienced them all but we have only been cruising with Princess during the last 7 years. We can only say that there is a big difference between our first Sitmar cruise 28 years ago and these cruises.

 

Our findings on the majority of the 18 Princess cruises we have been on parallels your comments about the Horizon Court. We only eat there if we have no other choice but we also are not fond of buffets. Only having been on 2 other cruise lines we don't find the Horizon Court any worse than any of them. The attitude of their indifferance is what is disturbing.

 

We have been on Princess booked shore excursions where Princess has refunded at least part of the tour price when the tour was totally unacceptable but we have always had to submit a written request. On one tour the microphone did not work and we received no verbal comments on the 2 hour bus part of the tour. The shore excursion department also told us they are only the ones that act as "booking agents" and can't guarantee the quality of the tour. We then requested a refund, they told us to put it in writing, and they did refund half of the tour price. All of the others on that tour that requested, in writing, a refund received one but those that did not put in a written request received no compensation.

 

Princess entertainment- Whether a small or large ship the showroom is frequently filled 30-45 minutes before the show starts. Production shows and those with popular entertainers are especially crowded. The only way to guarantee that you will have a seat is to get there very early. Arranging "anytime" dining to allow you to reach the show room before first seating gets out works very well and avoids long lines and frustration trying to find seats. We often take our books and read to pass the time. The second seating shows frequently have more availability than the first seating ones.

[SPARKLE10]

Hi:

 

I'm also sorry to hear this as I'll be on the Sapphire Princess next month for their 3/12 cruise from NZ to Australia. I've been on a lot of Princess cruises and I've just never encountered one as bad as you say this one was. Maybe we'll get lucky and have better food. Also, it didn't sound like you liked your shore tours that well. We did a land tour and cruise to Alaska several years ago on the Island Princess, and it was excellent. It's hard to believe they've gone downhill that much since then. We were also on a Princess cruise for New Years Eve (New Years before last) and it was also excellent, on the Dawn Princess. I haven't read too many negative reviews of the Sapphire or the itinerary, so this one kind of took me by surprise.

 

Happy Cruising....Sparkle 10:eek:

[mringenoldus]

We are also sailing with Sparkle 10. Almost all reviews have been very positive. I do, however, understand that buffet, show seating and some of the other items you have mentioned are hit and miss on some ships. After 12 cruises, I have decided that the dining room experience is really dependant upon the professionalism of the waiter. We have had amazing waiters and a few that might have chosen the wrong profession.

 

We have booked 3 tours with Princess and 2 private tours. The tours we have with Princess are essentially done independently once we arrive - so hopefully we won't run into any snags.

 

I am actually glad to hear that there wasn't any of the incessesant "port talks" since I view them as nothing more than a sales presentation for stores that give Princess a kickback.

 

You mention others feeling the same as you about the disappointing items. IMHO there may have been such glaring issues that the passengers were discussing them...or I have found that if I bring up a concern, the other person will tend to agree and the issue takes on a life of its own.

 

While I regret your cruise wasn't all you hoped for, we are very excited about this trip and unless the ship actually sinks - we will choose to have a good time!

 

I hope we will hear from others that were on this itinerary.

[Colo Cruiser]

All I can say is wow, I am sorry you encountered these negative things while onboard.

 

You just enforce my limited time in the HC, I will always eat in the dining room for all 3 meals and supplement my snacks with calls to room service and a quick trip to the HC.

 

Every time I have ordered a burger at the grill on any Princess cruise I have watched them cook it on the grill fresh. Never saw any patties sitting around partly cooked or being kept warm.

 

As far as tours booked onboard they (Princess) are responsible for a lot more of the tour then you think.

When contacted with these bad tours the Tour Office Manager should make it right.

 

As far as the food in the dining room there is no excuse for the screwups that you mentioned especially the menu messup. :)

 

As far as the Theater...when I want to see a show I do get there at least 25 minutes prior or more, this is a fact of life on any Grand Class ship.

I have never missed a show due to no seats being available. I don't arrive 5 or 10 minutes before the show like a lot of people that I see.

[sunsetme]

I have to say I mostly agree with this review having been on the cruise just prior to his jan 23-feb 4. There was a total lack on port info, the cruise director was a flake and the shows were very hard to get into. I enjoyed the excursions i booked privately. the ship is very clean, etc. but service is sorely lacking.

[kellygarrett]

This doesnt sound like the same ship that we traveled on for 30 days pn its first trip to Australia and NZ. in 2004. That trip was outstanding in every way. The food was very good, the help was wonderful, the ship is beautifu land the few ship tours we took were just fine however we usually book our own and they were also good,Every big ship has the seating problems so we just went early and enjoyed.The buffett was as good as most, no bad food, but nothing special as a rule .I cant remember the cruise directors name but he was an English man that did a good job overall. The Passenger mix was Americam ,. English and Aussies which requires some skill working with 3 cultures.

[mringenoldus]

I have been trying to get into contact with you after reading your review.

 

I noticed that you used Arthur for your Dunedin tour. We also will tour with Arthur. How was your day with him?? After corresponding with him, I've been looking forward to the tour!

[PescadoAmarillo]

I cant remember the cruise directors name but he was an English man that did a good job overall.

 

Alastair Greener, and I agree, every part of that cruise was excellent. The Diamond transpacific last spring was just as good, even better in a few aspects.

[aussie down under]

Hi All

We sailed sydney to auckland jan 11 2007 and would have to say we had a fantastic time. The ship was spotless, service was generally excellent and we loved the food. Of course there were some dishes we didn't like but there were adequate other choices to be had, and we are fussy eaters! Our table waiter was very good, able to tell us anything about the food or wine. We did dine with friends one night with anytime dining and felt the service was below par. The buffet although like a feedlot was more than adequate, my hubby thought he had died and gone to heaven at times! Yes we are easy pleased!

We chose not to do any princess shore excursions due to the high costs, each port however is easy managed on your own, just do some research first. We are from melbourne, so if you need any help just email me-

michelegaye65@hotmail.com

The ship itself is beautiful. We had a minisuite which was fantastic. Probably the only negative for us was our cabin steward, although polite and thorough, was no where near as good or fun as our cabin steward on a previous p&o cruise in Australia. We did tip very well at the start of the cruise, which may have been the reason, next time I will wait until the end of the cruise and tip according to service.

Embarking and disembarking was a breeze.

We would certainly cruise on the sapphire again and repeat the itinery, but would much prefer to do the sydney to LA if we had no school aged kids. Will just need to be patient.

Best wishes,

Michele:)

[jackieo]

I have been trying to get into contact with you after reading your review.

 

I noticed that you used Arthur for your Dunedin tour. We also will tour with Arthur. How was your day with him?? After corresponding with him, I've been looking forward to the tour!

 

Hi there I am really sorry to read the OP had a bad experience on the Sydney to Auckland run. We sailed this on the Diamond January 06 - we had the most fanastic time ever. I can't really comment on the Sapphire having never sailed on her but the Diamond we could not fault.

 

With regard to the tours, we did just a couple of Princess tours and then did a lot of independent tours. We had Arthur and he was great we did a whole load in the day, although never felt rushed. He is a real character and we had a really good day, he evern stopped at a supermarket for us on the way back to the ship so we could pick up water and wine!

 

I am sure you will enjoy your day with him.

 

jackieo

[mringenoldus]

With all due respect to the OP, the more recent comments seem more in line with what we expected to hear. This is not an inexpensive itinerary especially for people from Europe and the US - I would hope that Princess wouldn't let loyal Princess cruisers down. I just plan to have a great time.

 

Thanks so much for the note on Arthur! We started as just two of us on the tour and had so much interest from our roll call we had to cut off at 16. Arthur was accommodating every step of the way! We are going to see the albatross, penguins, brewery and town. We're looking forward to a super day!