Embarkation: We arrived at the port around 11:00 A.M. and parked our car in the short term parking lot. The cost for a week was around $84.00 and cheaper than a cab to and from West Hollywood. We immediately dropped our bags off with the local port baggage handlers with a tip included. The next thing was to fill out our sickness form and proceed to the check in desk up the escalator. We checked in online and handed the attendant our cruise tickets and she gave us our Princess sea pass and sent us on our way. Next you received a number and had to wait in what felt like an airplane terminal until going through security and boarding the ship. The sea pass is your room keys as well as your stateroom account onboard the ship. No money or credit cards are used, just your sea pass. Note, I lost mine off the ship and had no problem getting a new one after showing some identification to security. You replace it at the pursers desk.

Stateroom: Our Cabin onboard the Sapphire Princess was Caribe C621 on Deck 10. We were lucky to get a great stateroom attendant named Ma Lily whom we nominated for employee of the month. We chose this category because the balcony was very large and was half private and half open. We had room service out there every morning and we loved it. The room was large but the beds were on the smaller side. We knew this because we sailed on her sister ship the Diamond Princess to Hawaii in January. The bathroom had Eucalyptus products from the Lotus Spa and the shower head was movable. The only outlet in there was for shavers. Between the bathroom and bedroom is a large closet that easily accommodates many hanging clothes and there is even another closet behind mirrors that has cubicles and even a safe. In addition, the television was high in the corner and could be viewed from almost anywhere. The phone was easily readable as far as dialing anywhere on the ship. Moreover, there was a nice desk and chair as well as a round glass table and a sitting chair in the corner. We moved our table to the balcony for more room indoors. Each stateroom also has a fridge with water and diet cokes etc. A charge applies for each and there was no alcohol either. You could order booze from Room Service though unlike Royal Caribbean.

Dining: We signed on for anytime dining as we did on the Diamond. Besides the International dining room, there are four other dining rooms as well as two specialty restaurants. As always, you can eat anytime in the Horizon Court which is the main buffet eating area. The anytime dining pertains mostly to the Pacific Moon, Vivaldi, Santa Fe and Savoy dining rooms. It is best to arrive around 8:00 P.M. because people have assigned seats in those restaurants. These were located on decks five and six. Each has the same menu as the International dining room. What separates them is each has their own dEcor and dining special. For example, The Santa Fe had Fajita's and the Pacific Moon had a great noodle dish. You can also order and bring a special from one restaurant into another. Make sure and ask your waiter what the special is for each. We had a table for two and usually showed up around 8:00 p.m. and they usually could accommodate us right away. If not, they give you a pager. We also were allowed to sit by ourselves at tables of four also. We are not anti-social but like to sit with each other. We always chat with the people beside us anyway. The buffet was pretty good but the logistics of it were bad. This happened mostly at breakfast, but you had to wait in line and let everyone go around everything first instead of just grabbing what you wanted. Getting a salad was much easier because that section is located in the central portion of the court. Horizon Court is pretty small compared to say a buffet on Celebrity but they did have a variety of food to offer. Also, you could eat there anytime you wanted and they had complimentary juices, coffee and iced tea. Poolside had great burgers, hotdogs and pizza and the Calypso pool area would have a themed buffet on each day. Examples of this were an Italian trattoria and California roll buffets. For those of you that want something unique, there are two specialty restaurants onboard. Sabatini's is the Italian restaurant and Sterlings is the steakhouse. You have to be really hungry to eat in Sabatini's because they bring the entire menu to your table. I would skip breakfast that day. Read more