Sapphire Princess Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,020 reviews

Loved our Princess Alaskan Cruise

Review for Alaska Cruise on Sapphire Princess
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tomtravel23
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jun 2012

Ship: The extensive Winter 2012 facelift for the Sapphire Princess was a big plus. The ship looked sharp and well maintained. The update gave the Sapphire most of the innovations found on the newer Princess ships (the International Cafe, Movie Under the Stars, etc.) and, in addition, a sit-down Pizzeria (Alfredo's, a favorite of ours) and the nicest computer center of any Princess ship we've seen. Since the Sapphire now offers practically everything you can find on the newest Princess ships (but not everything: the Sapphire's Sterling Steakhouse still does not have its own dedicated space -- they just cordon off a portion of the Horizon Court) and with only 2,670 passengers at capacity, you can enjoy the ship's facilities with 400 or so less passengers than the newer Princess megaships. Right now, the Sapphire is my favorite among the Princess ships.

Stateroom: We got a mini-suite and enjoyed the extra space and larger balcony. It will be hard to go back to a regular stateroom. Everything was in the stateroom was in good working order and well maintained. Our room attendant did a good job of keeping the room clean and tidy. All of our service requests were fulfilled promptly.

Dining: I thought that the quality of the Horizon Court buffet facilities and food had been upgraded. We ate there for breakfast and lunch each day and enjoyed the variety of offerings. On the other hand, the variety and quantity of food in the main dining room (MDR) has, in my opinion, stood still. The MDR menus struck me as being almost identical to those on our last Caribbean cruise. We were never offered king crab legs as an entree; something I expect on an Alaskan cruise. While our waistlines didn't need them, we never offered seconds on an entree or an extra dessert. Don't get me wrong, the MDR food was fine and there was something I enjoyed every night, but it was clear to me that Princess is economizing on its MDR offerings. This was demonstrated on our last night. They dimmed the lights and we had the march of the assistant waiters carrying large half beach ball-sized Baked Alaskas. When our desserts arrived, however, we were served a small slice of what I called "Baked Alaska loaf," which obviously did not come from a full-sized Baked Alaska. I shook my head to think that the waiters marched around the room with fake Baked Alaskas.

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