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CRUISE REVIEW - SAPPHIRE PRINCESSPosted 14 Jan 05 Firstly I would like to say how happy we were with the cruise, it was probably one of the best we have done (this was our 29th cruise in all!)
Embarkation at Sydney was awful, we waited approximatley 4 hours to get on the ship, standing in line waiting for immigration and customs officials to process the 2800 passengers (they had only 3 officials to deal with that amount of people!!) however saying that, once onboard this was all forgiven.
We had two cabins, outside with balcony. Although smallish in size, they had plenty of space to hang clothes and draws to put things in, so it really wasnt that much of an issue. Our cabin steward was great, he looked after us very well, and always anticipated our needs.
The balconies on Sapphire are layered, My cabin on Baja deck looked down onto those on Carribe and Dolphin, with the dolphin deck (mini-suites) totally exposed. However this is more an observation rather than criticism.
We were originally on second seating on the traditional dining, however we met some fantastic people who were on anytime dining, so we moved to anytime dining. This is a much better concept, a choice of 4 places to eat, along with the traditional menus offered for the first and second seating passengers, meant that we could order the house specialities and also the traditional dining room menu.
The only real disapointment was the Horizion Court dining, as a result we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in the restaraunts which solved the problem instantaneously. I loved the Stirling Steakhouse which did the best prime rib!!
The other option was to pay a USD $20 per person to experieince "Sabatini's " It was amazing, however they overfed us so much that we could not cope (around 12 courses!!) so we gave up on some to allow for the deserts!!
Entertainment was very good, we joined in the quizzes, and also some of the game shows (not our normal style, but the Americans we were with were such a laugh, we joined in and had a ball) The stageshows were good, and most nights played to a packed house. The musicians were also excellent and I can''t remember enjoying entertainment on board ship so much.
Ports of call were good, we took the optional overnight tour to Queenstown and rejoined the ship back in Dunedin. My advice is NOT to book on a princess tour, but instead to do it yourself at a pace that is more suitable to you, not to a bus driver. The tours were very overpriced, and not worth the money (the exception was the overnight)
Drink prices were brilliant, we didn't feel we were being overcharged or ripped off once, even the champagne on New Years Eve was priced well, a bottle of Verve Cliquot was US$55, which is a good price considering the cost in Australia.
We loved this cruise SO much, that we have rebooked on the Diamond Princess on the 20th of December this year. We also managed to get mini-suites which we were delighted about.
Our tickets arrived in good time, and cruisemart provided us with a competitive price that could not be matched anywhere else.
Regards
James King
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