This was our 5th Princess cruise in 6 years, and our 1st to the Mexican Riviera. We had my 19 year old daughter and her friend who both bought Captain hats for the occasion. Cute!
We departed from SW Utah for the 6 1/2 hour drive to So. Cal., where we met up with my cousins who were also going with us. After a nice evening together and a tasty meal of "fractured tacos", we awoke to a beautiful Sat. sunny morning. After breakfast we loaded my cousins mini van and off to San Pedro we went. The 1 hour drive was uneventful and we were in port at 11:45. There was about a 1 hour delay boarding due to a quarterly safety inspection by the Coast Guard.
The wait wasn't bad and by 1:00 we were on board and ready to check out the beautiful 6 year old Sapphire Princess. She looked very good to me, despite other critical reviews I have read. A few nicks in the wood paneling in our room, and some minor glitches around the main pools. Otherwise, it was very appealing throughout the entire ship. The room was very clean and well maintained by our great steward "Edgar" from Mazatlan. We got to meet his cute family on board the morning in Mazatlan. He is now off to Alaska, and won't see them for 4 1/2 months. What a tough life for cruise ship employees. Also, we did have a balcony room, which was great because we saw lots of sea life. Numerous dolphins and whales throughout the whole trip!
Balcony room was fine for two, a little crowded for four. The bathrooms are small. We needed more hangers for the 4 of us.