I had reduced expectations from this cruise, based upon prior comments about Princess Hawaii 14 night cruises due to poor service, mediocre food quality, and a ship in need of refurbishment. We went cheap with an inside cabin on the Lido deck and came away totally impressed with the Sapphire Princess.

First, the food was outstanding and never repeated over 14 days. We ate breakfasts in the Horizon Court (buffet), lunch in the Horizon or Vivaldi dining room, and dinners always in the main dining room, so we sampled everything. I expected to be bored over 14 days, but consistently had outstanding soups and entrees. The entrees and desserts in the main dining room were NOT repeated in the Horizon, so the food experience is different by location. There were excellent desserts in the main dining room every day, but the Horizon had more selection. I never had a bad portion of a meal and healthy choices were available. Service was good. The Horizon Court was open 24/7 with hot food available except 4-6AM. The dedicated pizza, omelet, and burger stations were a nice touch allowing one to avoid the Horizon. NOTE: The Horizon layout is a nightmare and at peak times, you'll be elbow-to-elbow with your fellow passengers. Since there are two sides of the Horizon, if one is packed, try the other side. Overall, this was the best cruise food we've had (second best was on the Celebrity Mercury a couple of years ago).

One thing to note -- on this cruise, the average age must have been 75. My parents who cruise a lot even commented on the extreme number of walkers, wheelchairs, and canes. If you are young and want a social event, this cruise is not way to meet others. We are approaching our 50s and we felt young on this ship. With this huge age concentration, entertainment meant waiting in line for every show in the Princess Theatre and Explorer Lounge for live performances. Other venues, such as music in Club Fusion, Skywalker Lounge, and Wheelhouse Bar were attended by a handful of listeners/dancers. At one point in Club Fusion, we had the band, waiters, sound engineer all to ourselves and felt bad we kept them playing. The same thing happened in the Skywalker Lounge after 11PM...under 10 people easily. Read more