Princess
Sapphire
7 Day Alaska Cruise

Sally Fowler

Age: 43
Occupation: R.N.
Number of Cruises: 11

We took the Sapphire Princess leaving out of Seattle. We live in Seattle so thought it would be nice not to have to fly anywhere this time for a cruise. We were able to prepay for parking online with a credit card. Once we got to the port we pulled right in and got a very nice parking spot. The brochure said that they would start boarding the ship at noon, so my plan was to get there around eleven to get in line for embarkation. Well we were traveling with seven people , my in-laws (in their 70's, first cruise ever) my children (19, 19, 13 all boys, their second cruise) and my husband and myself (My tenth cruise). By the time everybody got their act together it was 12:10 when we arrived. This was the worst embarkation of all the cruises I’ve been on. The line to have your luggage picked up stretched all the way around the building. We asked one of the security guards how long the wait was from our point, and he stated he hadn’t seen it this long before so he didn’t know. It took us and hour and a half to get to the point where they take your luggage. As we approached the front of the line we noticed that the people who were using porters waited in a different line that was less than five minutes long. If only we (and the two thousand other people in line with us) had known!

After checking in (very short lines) we were on the ship at 2:00. I had booked balcony rooms for my husband and myself and my in-laws. Even though we booked over 70 days in advance we had been on a waiting list for a room that would sleep three for the boys . We did get it 60 days out, but it put the boys in an outside cabin on the other end of the ship seven floors below us. It ended up working out fine.

We had chosen anytime seating, so when I arrived in my room we called the concierge right away and book times for our meals for the first four nights and they said we could call on Thurs to book for the rest of the week. For anytime seating they have 4 restaurants you can eat at (Pacific Moon, Savoy, Santa Fe and Vivaldi (Vivaldi only if you eat after 8:00) There are also two restaurants that you can eat at if you pay a surcharge. They are Sabatinis Trattoria and Sterling. We like the Savoy best, we also thought that the decorations in Santa Fe were beautiful. Each restaurant (except for the surcharge restaurants ) serve the same menu as the main dining room. The only difference is they each have one speciality item available. In the Savoy it was pork chops, in Santa Fe it was Fajitas, in the Pacific moon it was a scallop shrimp noodle dish. The Horizon Buffett was open twenty for hours a day, and the pizza, burger place was open till six. They also have an ice cream stand with Hagendaus ice cream, but that costs extra.

We believe that we pay so much for the cruise, why pay extra for meals, so we didn’t try any of the surcharge restaurant or the ice cream. We did hear very good things about the surcharge restaurants from other cruisers. We did purchase my 13 year old a soda card when we arrived on ship. It was 27dollars for the week. That provides free soda from any bar or in the restaurant. (No cans just fountain sodas). This was the second Princess cruise for my husband and myself. We had done the Mexican Riviera out of LA two years before. We though the food this time was just not near as good. The food most nights was just average. The nights I remember being very good were the King Crab legs and the Lobster night both delicious. The deserts were just so so. The baked Alaska (they called it something else) was wonderful, but I could have passed on most of the deserts. The menu was very big on fish and seafood. When they had filet, we all ordered it med rare and everyones turned out well done. We always ate in the dining rooms for dinner, but did use the Buffett once in a while for lunch. It was also average with the exception of the fruit which was always good. Room service is available 24 hours a day with a set menu but they do expect you to tip on this.

The service on this ship was very good with the exception of the dining room and the photo gallery. The dining room was hit or miss. Some of the waiters acted like they were going out of their ways to help us, and it was really a stretch if we asked for a glass of milk or anything extra. Some of them were as nice as can be. Especially at lunch. I think part of this is because we had the anytime seating. The photo staff was actually rude while we were purchasing pictures at two different times. And it wasn’t just us, we heard them being rude to others also. Everyone else on the ship was wonderful. Our room steward was great, everyone in the halls had a hello and a smile.

The shows were good, we Especially enjoyed the production numbers, Piano Man and the solute to Broadway.

We had never been to Alaska before so we really enjoyed the ports of call. I am not a big outdoors person so this was the perfect way to see Alaska for me. It also worked out well for my husband who loves the great outdoors as he was able to take the excursions that fitted him best.

Our first stop was Ketchikan. We all got off the ship and walked around the town. My son and I signed up for the duck tour of f the ship it was very informative and nice. We saw lots of bald eagles. My 19 year old did the zip line adventure and thought that was lots of fun.

The second morning was our sail through the Tracey arm. It was absolutely beautiful. The ship said this was the furthest it had been able to go up the straight this season. We went very close to the glaciers. It was amazing and made the whole trip worthwhile. The naturalist on board gives a talk that you can tune in on your T.V. and was very informative and helpful. That afternoon we docked in Juneau. My husband had signed up for the extended ice climbing and my mother in law and son were going on the flight over the glaciers and on to dog sledding. Even though these were Very expensive (over $400 each) they all had a wonderful time and said they would do it all again. The next day was Skagway (my favorite port) My 13yo and I had signed up for the gold tour. It was very informative but there was no gold found in Skagway so it was all planned out with a premade pan of rocks and a little gold dust for you to use. No chance of getting rich here. My husband and kids did the rock climbing and repelling in the afternoon and had a nice time with that. There is lots of shopping in this town and lots of history. Our last stop after a day at sea was to Victoria. Very nice town lots to see and do. We didn’t sign up for any excursions at this port, we all just walked around and enjoyed the town.

Disembarkation was the smoothest I have ever had. They have a category now where you can carry your own luggage off the ship. You get called off first. We left our room and went straight off the gangplank. Going through customs took less than a minute and we were in our car within 15 minutes of leaving our room. Very nice!

All in all we enjoyed this cruise and especially her ports of call. This wasn’t the best cruise we’ve ever been on (nor was it the worst) It was well worth our while to have the balcony room Especially to see the Tracy Arm. This ship was sold out and they said we had 2800 people on board, and yet I never felt crowded! It is a beautiful ship with lots to do and see. I would consider taking this cruise again.

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