Sapphire Princess Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,020 reviews

Worst Embarkation Ever-Worst Buffet Food Ever

Review for Asia Cruise on Sapphire Princess
User Avatar
CarlW1
6-10 Cruises • Age 80s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service

Additional details

Sail Date: Jan 2019
Cabin: Mini-Suite with Balcony

Original ship boarding time was 2pm. Princess sent out notice of 3hr delay because of Chinese Fingerprinting of passengers. Sent out 2nd delay for 2hr because of Fog & late arrival. We arrived at terminal at 5pm to find about 2500 people stuffed into terminal waiting. They finally started boarding the "Elites" around 7pm, and we started about 8pm.. Had to trek thru rain to Chinese Immigration building, spend 30min there the another trek in the rain to the dock, 300 yard down the dock to the gangway, board the ship in the rain and then trek another 100 yards to have our pix taken in the rain. Got to stateroom at 9pm. Thank God for their pizza on deck 14. Our Mini-suite & Room Steward "Frenchie" were the best part of the trip. Specialty Dining and Regular dining rooms were very good but the buffett was the worst we've ever seen on many cruises. Having been on the Royal and the Regal we were spoiled but the Sapphire buffet was mostly out of No. 10 cans. Terrible baked goods, main dishes low quality, but the salads were good. Seating very crowded, especially when one side was closed off. Took only 3 of ship excursions. Hong Kong was excellent, Ko Samui OK (skip monkey harvesting---a joke); Phu My interesting and good. Used private driver in Thailand, still a 2hr drive each way to Bangkok from dock. Singapore made the whole trip worthwhile. Too bad the trip was started off on a very bad vibe. Embarkation could have been handled much better. Even the wheelchair people had to wait while they boarded the "Elites". Not very good PR.

Cabin Review

Mini-Suite with Balcony

Cabin ME

Old style but very clean and roomy. Old style bathtub w/shower but we had the best room steward we have every had. He went by the name "Frenchie" and he was fantastic. Even kept us supplied with ice, which had to come from a machine somewhere. Laundry was only few suites away. We love Mini-suites and balcony was great size and room service (which we used more than normal due to the crappy buffet up top) was excellent. Long walk to the restaurants but actually didn't mind. Showroom was crowded as usual. Cruise lines need to come up with a better way of handling seating to stop the mad rush to reserve seating for relatives & friends.

Port Reviews

Shanghai

Hired our own guides. Spent week at Mandarin Oriental (outstanding).

Bangkok (Laem Chabang)

Hired private driver. Thought it was only 1hr to Bangkok from dock but was actually 2hr. Some friends who went on ship tour via bus said it was 5+ hours round trip. We were lucky to have great driver & guide. Got back to ship 45min before it left.

previous reviewnext review

Find a Sapphire Princess Cruise from $218

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.