Sapphire Princess Review
2010 Valentine's Mexican Riviera Cruise on the Sapphire
Rating by category
Additional details
My wife and I just returned from a great Mexican Riviera cruise on the Sapphire Princess. We had a wonderful, relaxing time and since we received such great information prior to our cruise from the Cruise Critic Boards we thought we should return the favor. So here is our review and I hope it does not get too long. If it does, I beg your pardon but I am trying to think of things that would have been helpful to me in planning for this cruise.
Trip to Los Angeles
We left a day early and flew into LA from Kansas City on Friday evening, February 12th. We used our Marriott points and stayed at the Courtyard Los Angeles/LAX Marriott at Century Boulevard. It is literally at the entrance of LAX and has a free shuttle to the hotel. It is a short shuttle ride, but be aware, since it is so close it is the last stop on the circuit that stops at 3 hotels. Nice hotel, nothing fancy but ideal for a one night stay close to the airport. They have a small restaurant in the lobby area that serves a nice buffet style breakfast (for a charge) in the morning.
Cabin Review
Our stateroom was A704 on the Aloha Deck (Deck 12-Aft). We had a balcony and it was completely covered. We could look down on the open and partially closed balconies on the lower decks. We were a little concerned about being one deck below the Horizon Court because of potential noise from tables and chairs being moved around; but we hardly noticed any noise at all. Just a couple of times on 1-2 mornings did we hear anything. We were near the elevators (no noise) and the staircase which was very handy. We could walk up one flight of stairs and be at the entrance to the Horizon Court for breakfast, coffee, etc. Very Nice!! But the best thing was that we were only a few doors down from the Aft (Terrace) Pool Area. This was great as the Aft Pool area is less crowded and the pool itself is "adults only". You really had a great view off the back of the ship. I cannot say enough about how nice this was.
The stateroom itself was nice. The 2 twin beds had been pushed together to make one Queen bed and the egg crate mattress really made for a comfortable night sleep (definitely get this). We found we had plenty of hanger space with storage above and below, a full-length mirrored door opened up to several shelves for storage. There was a nightstand on one side of the bed with 2 drawers and the desk had 5 drawers for additional storage. There were 2 outlets near the desk but we had brought along a power strip so we had plenty of outlets. There is also an one outlet in the bathroom. There was a desk chair and one other chair in the room. Each room also has a TV with a few channels and a refrigerator. The bathroom was small but nice. The shower was very small but the water pressure was great all cruise long. The balcony on Aloha deck is small but nice—enough room for 2 chairs and a small table.