We live in the Midwest and flew to LAX from Kansas City. We had a nonstop flight arriving in LA at 10:30 am on the day of departure. We retrieved our luggage and were met at the luggage carousel by a Princess Representative for our transfer to the ship. This is the way to go. A baggage handler took care of our luggage and the Princess rep led us to the bus. We were dropped off right outside the terminal and were directed to the Dolphin deck to check in. No lines. We were in our room by 11:45. If you're flying in, the Princess bus transfer is the way to go. We departed on time and the weather was great. Sailed on Sunday and Monday. The weather on Monday was dreary and sometimes rainy as we had to divert our course slightly due to Tropical Storm Patricia, but arrived in Puerto Vallarto on Tuesday morning as planned. The Sapphire Princess is very very similar to the Caribbean Princess which is the ship we sailed on for our first cruise. Therefore, we felt like we knew our way around pretty well. We had anytime dining and our first evening we ate in the Pacific Moon Dining Room. They had tables or 2 along the wall. This was very nice as it gave us a chance to be alone, but also converse with the neighboring tables if we so chose. Our waiter and assistant waiter were so attentive we made reservations for his section for the remainder of our trip. We were never disappointed. We had a mini suite on this cruise which suited us well. The balcony was bigger but we didn't use it much because our neighbors above us were always out on their balcony smoking. I wish they would have smoking and non smoking sections on this ship. The entertainment was pretty much like our other cruise. In fact, Steve Morris was the comedian who we saw over 3 years ago on the CP. We didn't see any production shows, but were kept occupied with the various bands in the various bars. We like to dance. The other ports were Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. We did not get off the ship in either PV or Mazatlan as we took this trip for rest and relaxation as my husband is recovering from back surgery he had this past summer. We did venture out in Cabo taking the tender back and forth. It was hot, but we did enjoy our couple hours off the ship. We arrived in LA right on time and were close to the last to get off the ship as our plan reservations were not til around 2. Again we took the Princess bus transfer back to LAX. If and when we do cruise again, we will cruise with Princess.