Princess Saphire Trip February 2009

It has been a while since we visited the Mexican Riviera, with the price of flights to LAX and the convenience of cruising out of San Pedro, it was just too hard to pass up for much longer. We arrived early at the port (around 10:30 AM) and were invited to sit in a lounge for coffee or juice before boarding. It wasn't long before we were on board and started roaming around the ship. It was Valentines day so the atrium was decorated for the holiday and the crew had the entire ship in ship-shape. Peg wrote a review for our fellow CruiseOne agents and also sent it off to Priness. Here are excerpts from the trip review:

THE SHIP: Our favorite features of the Princess Saphire are: The Horizon Pool (AFT) this is a great spot to hang out and relax. This was also the location for the sail away party; what a fun and festive time!! The Solarium spa area was also great and a relaxing place to go, we really enjoyed the steam rooms and sauna. Most of the time we had the whole spa area to ourselves. There is an extra charge for the Solarium but since we went every day, it was worth the cost! The Princess Sapphire is a beautiful ship and in great condition. The only negative was: no

MUTS (movies under the stars).

SERVICE: The service was great on every aspect of the ship. We had the traditional dining (early seating). The experience was great, both with wait staff service & the company of new friends we met on board. One of the best features of cruising for us is exchanging stories of the day with our dinner companions. I was talking with other passengers on the ship that had the anytime dining. Everyone I spoke with had nothing but good things to say about the anytime dining. Princess seems to have this down pat & does a very good job, so for the clients who want a little more flexibility; this is a great option for them. It’s up to us agents to advise our clients how it works (especially the experienced traditional cruiser).

FOOD: Every meal was very good to excellent. Room Service was EXCELLENT; I’m not sure if we were close to the kitchen or what but we ordered coffee and cereal every morning & it was delivered in about 5 minutes! That needed cup of coffee was there in record time! We were also fortunate enough to enjoy the Balcony Champagne Breakfast what a wonderful treat; it’s was a surprise gift to us that we thoroughly enjoyed. It made me aware of what a nice gift for me to provide my clients. We actually didn’t have a balcony but we enjoyed the breakfast just as well!!

CABIN: We had an obstructed view cabin. The bed was comfortable and the cabin had ample space. I selected this category cabin because it offers light & glimpse of outside but was about the same price as the inside cabins.

ENTERTAINMENT: The Princess dancers and Singers were marvelous. Even the people at our dinner table kept raving about how talented the performers were. We especially enjoyed the piano bar with Roger Carr singing and playing the piano. The entertainment included a great mix of comedians, music, dancing, and juggling! Over the course of the week the entertainment was like a huge variety show!

PORTS: We stopped at the usual 3 Mexican ports for a 7 night cruise (Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan). We highly recommend the Premier Yacht experience in Cabo. We rode in the comfort of very few people (the excursion is limited to 24 passengers) and saw too many whales to count! We also enjoyed fun in the sun and on the water in Mazatlan and P.V.. The weather was a bit chilly the first and last day at sea but sunny. The water is also a bit cooler than the Caribbean but still much warmer than LAKE MICHIGAN!!

To summarize, we had a Great cruise…..As an agent located in the Midwest (Chicagoland), the Mexican Riviera is a great alternative for my clients. Now with several newer mega ships sailing from Los Angeles and San Diego, this will enable me to offer more options than the typical Caribbean. The flights to LAX are very reasonable most of the time, with hourly flights R/T from ORD.