Sapphire Princess Review

Mexican Riviera Oct. 22/05 – Oct 29/05

~by~

Emmy (Emily) Schaffer

emmysoo1@shaw.ca

Ports of Call ~ Puerta Vallarta

Mazatlan

Cabo San Lucas

3 days at sea

Captain Tony Yeomans and Cruise Director Billy Hygate

Background: This was cruise #10 for hubby Rick and I and #4 on Princess Cruises. The other 6 cruises have been on Royal Caribbean. This was the first time on a Mexican Riviera itinerary. We are both very early 50’s This was our second experience at the Grand Class ships of Princess the other being Caribbean Princess in October/04.We have also cruised twice on the Voyager class ships of RCI.

Pre Cruise Stay ~ We arrived in Los Angeles two days prior to visit a long time friend and we rented a vehicle at LAX from Enterprise Car Rental. This turned out to be a very good idea. No problem finding a shuttle that took us from LAX to the Enterprise office close by. I have to compliment the staff there as they were very friendly and courteous. We drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to visit my friend in Newport Beach and to spend the night at her home. On Friday before the cruise we drove back up to Long Beach to the Coast Long Beach Hotel. We secured this hotel via Priceline for a price of $66.00 plus tax and used the Long Beach area to bid and a 3 star level.

If you are getting to the Coast Long Beach Hotel on your own make sure you have very good directions to get there. It is a bit tricky and even though Rick and I could see the hotel we had a hard time getting there and found ourselves driving around the Long Beach Port with all the Costco transports

We liked the hotel very much and the rooms are situated in different numbered buildings with 4 floors on each.. You can walk to the Queen Mary from the hotel and we also saw a Carnival ship in port the Paradise.

We enjoyed dinner that evening at Parker’s Lighthouse with some friends we had met on our April Jewel of the Seas Cruise and this was a mini reunion before we all set sail on Sapphire. We had a blast at dinner and the fun continued on Sapphire.

Had breakfast in the Coast Hotel restaurant before heading out about 9:30 am or so to return the rental vehicle to Enterprise. I had read on line on Cruise Critic that there was a drop off place across from the pier and we got directions through MapQuest from the complimentary business center at the Coast Hotel. We encountered a detour but did find the place across from the San Pedro pier so Rick dropped me off with all the luggage at the pier, we found a porter who took them and I waited outside the terminal until Rick returned the vehicle. Enterprise offered him a ride to the pier but the driver was out at that time so Rick opted to do the 10-minute walk. We were not charged the drop off fee of $25.00 since they waived this for cruise passengers… we rented at LAX and dropped off in San Pedro.

By 10:20 he was back and we filled out our health questionnaire and proceeded into the terminal and up the escalators to a large waiting area with lots of seating. We were there at 10:30 am and there were only about 50 or so people at that time. Staff approached us to let us know that check in would begin at 11 am which it did. Check in was painless and quick but then they ushered us into another large room and issued a number to us to designate in what order you would board the ship.

We waited in this room until about 12 noon when they announced over the loudspeaker that embarkation would begin.

Embarkation:

This process commenced at approximately 12 noon and there were a large number of people there at that time. They started with Platinum, Elite and Special needs passengers and then went to the numbering system. We were #2 and were called about 12:30 pm, went through security with no problems and 2 bottles of wine in the carryon and were on the ship and in our cabin by 12:45 pm.

Princess did have staff directing passengers to the appropriate elevators and when you got off they directed you to our cabin.

So from the time we entered the terminal until we arrived in the cabin it took about 2 1/4 hours…

Ship ~ since we had sailed the Caribbean Princess we were familiar with the layout of the Sapphire but I could see how it could be a bit confusing to a newcomer. It is a beautiful ship but in my opinion I still prefer the design of RCI ships. Their design is really innovative especially the beautiful dining rooms…. Princess dining rooms are small with very low ceilings… I also prefer the atriums on the RCI ships. One area of the Princess ship that I hated was the design and flow of the Horizon Court Buffet…very congested and it did not flow very well making it very difficult to grab a quick item if you were not already in line. The Windjammer on RCI in comparison is huge and spacious and conducive to people ‘butting’ in to grab a quick item. No one there feels like you were jumping the line.

I did like the fact that Sapphire Princess provided hand sanitizer and even had staff at time there to remind you to use it…many would just ignore it.

Our Sapphire Caribe Deck balcony cabin was smaller than the similar D1 category on RCI and had much less storage space. RCI ships have many nooks and crannies that you can store things… they also provide a full size couch in the comparable cabin… I do however like the way Princess designs their closet space and it seems like a small walk in closet. With such new ships I do not understand why they continue to use the shower curtain …RCI has the curved shower doors…is this a cost saving measure on Princess’s part? Also I enjoyed the toiletry items like shampoo, lotion and soap from the Lotus Spa that Princess provided…much nicer than the ‘one soap does all’ dispenser on RCI.

Size of the balcony was large compared to side balconies on the RCI ships that is unless you get one of those hump balconies….now aft is another story Ours was half covered and half exposed and I would book this balcony again for the extra space. We were able to sit back or stand at the rail and feel completely comfortable and not being looked at. Good choice in the balcony and location. We were in cabin C731.

The bed mattress I found very hard so about the second day asked the room steward to put an egg crate mattress on…thank you to all the Cruise Critic people who mentioned this. I would not have known. It certainly made a big difference.

We felt minimal motion on this sailing in fact DH and I commented on how calm the seas were. There was some motion on the last sea day but nothing like I was expecting. As far as the sea conditions….it was one of our calmest cruises that we have sailed on. I would also like to comment on the air temperatures on this sailing as I know when I did my reading many would just say it was cool on the first and last days. We did not find it so. We had clouds the first sea day until about 2 pm when the sun came out in all its glory and we were poolside getting toasted. The same sunny conditions were there for the last sea day. I was anxious to soak up some last minute sun as I knew I would be heading to a 6-month winter in Northern Ontario Canada and both DH and I managed to get red that last sea day. We found a nice sheltered spot by the aft pool and enjoyed a bright sunny day with many of our friends.

Staff ~ Our room steward was Rendon from Mexico and did a very good job especially with the extra requests I made like 2 Princess Patters each night, robes and the egg crate mattress. He was always pleasant and would engage in conversation when I saw him. I did tip him over the recommended amount.

The waiter Ramil and assistant waiter Robert from Philippines were friendly and made the dining experience a very good one. I returned to Traditional Dining from Anytime the previous Princess cruise and enjoyed my dining experience so much more…I also had some great tablemates.

All other staff I encountered provided good service and I have no complaints that way.

Entertainment ~ The Piano Man production show was very good and enjoyable and I enjoyed it much more than the Undercover production show. The singer Brandi Chapman was okay nothing spectacular as was the comedian/magician Lorenzo Clark. He appeared at the Welcome Aboard show as well as another night…. Just okay in my books I have seen much better. To me entertainment was weak.

You could always find a seat in the Princess theatre after dinner to attend the show…this was not the case on the Caribbean Princess…. With that extra deck of cabins they have.

The entertainer in Crooners was nothing like Bert Stratton on the Caribbean Princess whom we loved. Most of the onboard game shows like Princess Millionaire, Liars Club & the Newlywed type game were played during late seating so we were unable to see these. We usually enjoy them. If you had early Traditional Dining I do think you had more options for entertainment.

Every evening in Club Fusion they would have heats for Princess Pop Star with the finals on the last evening.

One evening in the atrium area they have a Champagne Waterfall Party as well another evening up on deck aft pool area the Tropical Deck Party.

So many things to do and see and so little time On the whole we felt that the entertainment was better on the Caribbean Princess. Of course the casino was always an option as well.

Food~ we truly enjoyed our meals on this cruise in the main dining room. We dined late traditional in the International Dining Room. We found the food just okay in the Horizon Court. I was much happier with our dining arrangement in Traditional rather than Anytime Dining, this in itself enhanced our dining experience. We found the found much better than the food we had on the Caribbean Princess.

Some of the great dishes at dinner were prime rib, beef Wellington, Alaska king crab, and lobster. Favourite desserts were hazelnut soufflé, crème brulee, peach cobbler, Love boat dream cake and the always-available yummy cheesecake.

I was lucky enough to win a Princess Cookbook at the wine tasting event and many of the recipes from this itinerary as well as all the others Princess does are featured in this book.

Poolside at the Calypso pool on different occasions they featured Sushi, Mexican, Oktoberfest and a chocolate buffet during the lunch hours.

One feature that Princess has which I loved was the Champagne Breakfast for Two. This was given to DH and I as a gift from my sister. We had to arrange a time for them to do this breakfast on a sea day. Ours was on the second sea day.

At the arranged time someone from room service arrived with the food and arranged it on the balcony table. The menu was oh sooo good and consisted of a half bottle of French champagne, warm basket of homemade pastries, delicate smoked Copper River Salmon, medley of fresh fruits and forest berries, Alaskan king crab quiche. This was such a treat and surprise.we thoroughly enjoyed it and made mimosas with the orange juice and champagne. What a glorious way to relax and start your day right. You could also order this yourselves as they left a flyer in your room for a price of $25.00

They also have a feature Ultimate balcony Dinner for Two that runs about $100.00…maybe next time

Shore Excursions~

In Puerta Vallarta my friend and fellow Cruise Critic poster Susan arranged a private sailboat charter for a group of us. The name of the charter company was Charter Dreams and we sailed on the Seabreazes a 40 ft sailboat. Here is link to their website

http://www.charterdreams.com/
 
It was a 4-hour charter and there were 11 of us and we sailed along the coast of Puerta Vallarta to a spot where we could snorkel. I did not snorkel but my husband Rick reported that the fish were very plentiful and colorful but the water was murky that reduced visibility to about 10 feet. We brought our own lunch along and they provided drinks that we ordered ahead when we booked the charter… the price ran around $36.00 per person plus tips because we had 11 people. They charged $1.00 a drink whether it was beer, soda or water.
 
This was a relaxing morning and would highly recommend this tour. Thank you Susan for the research on this one…it was a winner 

Randi’s Horses in Mazatlan ~ With such glowing reports of Randi’s Horses excursion I booked this as did some other Cruise Critic friends…. In fact many of those on the tour were from Sapphire as well as the other ship in Port and most had heard of her through Cruise Critic. She met us at the pier and we were in the second group for a total of 9. Randi took us to our transportation an open truck with benches that took us to a small boat to take a short 10-minute ride to Stone Island.

Once there we were put into a wagon type truck pulled by a tractor to the beach and the horse stables. The horses were out at that time so it gave us some time to beach comb and relax at Victors an open-air restaurant on the beach. We looked over the menu and put our order in so that lunch would be ready when we returned from our ride. DH and I shared the garlic shrimp plate that came with 8 huge prawns, some rice, fries and a few onion rings and some veggies…the first beer was on Randi…Pacifico of course as it is brewed in Mazatlan the only place in the world it is brewed. We passed the brewery on our way by boat to Stone Island.

The ride along the beach took about 1 hour and the scenery was breathtaking…we continued through a coconut grove and made out way back to the stables… here is the link to Randi’s website

www.randishappyhorses.com

I was glad I went but as a first time rider I must admit I was scared the whole time… I will not go again…but everyone in my party would do it again in a heartbeat including DH. I had a hard time holding on and silly me thought I was going to be able to take pictures and ride the horse. All in all it still was an experience I am glad I had but once was enough.

Cabo San Lucas ~ This was a tendered port of call and short stay only until 2 pm. Because of this and to maximize our time there we decided to do a ship shore excursion that would ensure we would be one of the first tenders off the ship that morning. We did a boat excursion to Land’s End to see Los Arcos. We had to meet very early at 7 am in the theatre and were on the tender heading for Cabo by 7:15 am just as the sun was rising. We enjoyed the tour out to Los Arcos and the rock formations are truly stunning and great photos were taken here.

After the boat tour a group of us headed to the Gigglin Marlin Bar and later to Cabo Wabo for the famous Waborita. It did not disappoint. Some of us walked from the pier to the bars and it took about 20 minutes. We walked back to the pier to catch the tender about 12:45 or so and the last tender to the ship was about 1:30 pm. Just wish there was more time in this port.

Disembarkation~ We had a 12:20 pm flight out of LAX and early in the cruise there was a note in the Princess Patters asking those that had early flights before noon to go to the Guest Relations desk to register for early disembarkation tags. We did this so on the second to last evening our ‘red coloured’ tags arrived.

Disembarkation went as follows… all passengers with express disembarkation. This is for passengers who prefer to carry off their own luggage. There were many people who did this. This was to commence about 7:45 am but it was shortly after 8 am when this started. Our colour RED was the first to be called at approximately 8:15 am but we disembarked about 8:40 am. There were two long lines and when you got to the front of the line the customs/immigration person directed you to a certain immigration officer. From the time our colour was called until we were on our way in the taxi to LAX it took about 40 minutes. This included customs and finding our luggage. The taxi was right there and we were at LAX in about 20 minutes and the taxi fare came to $41.00 plus tip.

This time disembarkation went well but it really can go either way.

This ‘n That ~ liked the fact that Princess’s bar prices were less than RCI and that they offered different size drinks…small, medium and large. I do know that the small drink was only $3.95.

Was not charged a corkage fee for the two bottles of wine we brought to the dining room table…we did however choose to bring two bottles that just happened to be on Princess’s wine list.

A fellow Cruise Critic friend had her 5-year-old son who had a great time in the kids program and she and her husband had only good things to say about it…a very well behaved little boy I must add…. Lynn & Charles kudos to you for that.

Loved the selection of goods in the shops on board…managed to purchase a pink topaz pendant, evening bag and some other goodies on the last day when the had an inventory clearance up to 75% off in one of the dining rooms.

Loved the fresh coffee that was available in the Lobby Bar…. No charge here for it although a charge for espresso and cappuccino…great place to sit and watch the sea go by and enjoy that first cup of coffee to start the day.

The muster drill is much more organized and well run on Princess… here you meet in one of the designated lounges and not up on deck.

Conclusion~

With all that being said I would sail Princess again without hesitation… I will not tell a lie and my first love is RCI but Princess is right up there as well. I loved the itinerary, the cruise and ship and above all I loved the people I met and the ones I got reacquainted with…each and every one of you helped to make this a cruise Rick and I will not forget…. Cruise critic people are the best…thank you. Next up for us are the Freedom of the Seas Inaugural and then Freedom again in October 2006…. I did do an onboard booking with the Future Sales Consultant Fernando and also mentioned the Share the Wealth coupons…he asked where I found out about the Share the Wealth and the correct name for them and I said ‘Cruise Critic’ of course… he smiled

If you have any questions please feel free to email me emmysoo1@shaw.ca

Here is a link to my photos of the cruise. http://community.webshots.com/album/494820790EbKoZa

***A special note here**** ~ while on the cruise Rick and I received a bottle of Asti Spumante with a note saying Bon Voyage and no name attached. I endeavored to find out who the mystery person or persons were by calling Guest Relations but they did not have a record either…they said someone like you so just enjoy…..so if you are that person out there that sent this lovely gift we did enjoy and we thank you very much…so who was it?