Bad first impression

Sapphire Princess Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean

AshJB

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 3

Overall rating:

3.2 out of 5

14 Night Mediterranean Adventurer (London Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 12, 2018

Ship: Sapphire Princess

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Well this was our first cruise with parents and friends, after being told that Princess Cruises was the best of them all. Our impression was quickly squished when we first went into our cabin, there was a horrendous smell of grease coming from the room, we complained and nothing was done, so we had to leave the balcony door open for the whole 14 days we were on the ship. The ship was very dated and tired, even after people saying that apparently it has had a refurb. The only refurb we saw was carpet in the hallways, not in the cabin at all or anywhere else. The schedule of things do to was dire, we made a joke about getting the schedule, closing our eyes and then pointing to one and seeing what would turn out. There were things like napkin folding, bingo, trivia... all things to keep 60/70+ people entertained. The food in the dining rooms was generally good on most nights, some it was a little cheap. Horizon Court was only good at breakfast, during the day I couldn't find anything decent but I did only try the once. Entertainment was dire, they had dancers and singers but it was nothing spectacular. Some of the acts were entertaining because you had to laugh at how bad some of them were. I don't think I'll be doing another Princess Cruise ever again after our first impression, the parents love them, but I don't think they have ever experienced anything else so have not looked elsewhere.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Children's Programs

1 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

14 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks

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cruisellama 5 years ago

Thanks

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piratejane 6 years ago

I am just looking forward to going on my cruise on 1st September

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nursematt 6 years ago

Shame you had the bad experience with the smell in your suite. I’m sure if you’d asked to move they would’ve tried. To be honest I’m surprised you were informed that princess are the best... far from it in fact, but considering we are cunarder’s we still enjoy princess and are going again this year. We found the food, service and staff superb last year on crown. You’re right the entertainment is a little ropey but we didn’t find it laughable. Maybe you should try a Cunard, silver sea or crystal 5 star Plus cruise!

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roydav 6 years ago

Confident you will have a great cruise. Sapphire is a beautiful ship inside and out, with a great crew and wonderful service.

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graylady 6 years ago

Totally agree tinawebber I was getting worried as we always sail Princess but not this ship , let’s hope some people are just picky and it’s not as bad as made out

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tinawebber 6 years ago

Once I saw this post I was beginning to think maybe we have made a mistake in booking our next cruise on this ship, thank goodness the other reviews by roydav and Diana Paul have put my mind at rest..... thanks guys ⚓️⚓️

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DianaPaul 6 years ago

Have to agree with eilphil and roydav - brilliant entertainment and wonderful service !

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roydav 6 years ago

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. We also were on that cruise and am surprised at your comments regarding food and entertainment and the refurb we found the food very good lots of choices, the princess singers and dancers and the supporting acts were tops, we saw every show in the theatre, where there was new carpet, the atrium had new flooring, there was new artificial grass around the pools and decks.

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eilphil 6 years ago

sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your cruise , we were on that cruise too n found everything spot on , the only thing we think was wrong was the tv's were to big for the room , we had a fantastic cruise , food was excellent, shows great especially bravo n the staff couldn't do enough to please us

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cruzrbachoua 6 years ago

I am not 60+and we enjoy the bingo perhaps something like carnival or ncl or royal Caribbean that have rock walls, wave pools and roller coasters would be more your style. Each line has its own differences to fit each type of person...perhaps one of those would be more fast paced for you, but ee like the option to be able to chill and relax on vacay and not pay for items mentioned above that we wouldn't use

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Gillian1959 6 years ago

Sorry you had a bad experience

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Cricketmum 6 years ago

Princess need to pick up there game, they have turned me off cruising

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harleychick421 6 years ago

Sorry you had these not so good experiences... the smell would have driven me bonkers!

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Other reviews of this sailing

Great, very enjoyable.

Cruise fantastic, backup woeful