Sapphire Princess Review
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Myself and my three teens (16, 14 - boys - and 12 - girl) landed in Anchorage for a vacation of a lifetime. We'd never been to Alaska, never been on a cruise and the reason I picked Princess was because of the wonderful cruisetour option they had. We did the Arctic Explorer 7 day to Prudoe Bay followed by the Sapphire Princess Voyage of the Glaciers Southbound on July 18th. The land tour was beyond amazing with wonderful excursion options and the style and service Princess rightfully claims. We had a wonderful, amazing week on land and looked forward to getting on the ship (actually, by the time we got to the ship all we wanted was to sleep, and not have to repack in the morning :-)
We made it onboard quickly and our luggage was at our cabin within minutes of us arriving to it. Unpacking took most of the afternoon and my 16 year old and I did some exploring of the ship while his brother and sister rested in the cabin. I was very pleasantly surprised to find welcome letters from the teen/preteen areas for each of my children awaiting us in our cabin. Although my teens chose not to utilize the areas much, they enjoyed the time they spent there.
My oldest and I ate in the formal dining room on embarkation evening - since we had chosen Anytime Dining, I knew it was the only chance I would have to eat there! The food was great and service was wonderful. The only negative comment I have about it is that there was too much "encouragement" that evening to order additional cost items (beer, wine, sparkling water) and the refusal needed to be quite firm. Since I'd read all the reviews on here I could find I knew I was going to be purchasing the soda cards for all of us (we DO drink way too much of it!). Later that evening as my son and I wandered, the bartender in the bar by Calypso's mentioned that there were different cards that would also include juice and "mocktails" - THAT was an even better idea then the soda cards! I was also very pleased that whenever we stopped by that bar he always remembered my name and drink preferences :-) As I said - wonderful service!!
Cabin Review
D425 is a midship mini-suite that was spacious and comfortable. As many have mentioned, Dolphin deck balconies are fully open to both weather and eyes above you. I definitely found midship to be the most manageable to get around from and certainly from the motion sickness perspective. It was exactly what I was hoping for.