The Ship
The Sapphire Princess, Princess Cruise Lines. One of two ship specially built for Alaska. Built in 2003 it's less than 10 years old and the improvement in design show. Heated swimming pools, 1 indoor pool, Wind stops on the breezeways, and a wonderful aft deck and bar out of the wind make it great even when the weather turns poor. Add to this a well thought out layout for of all of the dining rooms and clubs and you have a winner. Basically, there are no square rooms. Every public area is shaped so that even if the dining room holds 800 people there is no place you could stand to see them all at the same time. We were consistently impressed that the ship did not seem crowded.
Everything about the ship was incredible. We have been on Carnival and Royal Caribbean and while Royal Caribbean was nice, nothing compared to this ship for style and class. I would definitely want to cruise on it again. Balcony rooms on an Alaskan cruise are worth the money as 2 of your days are sight seeing from ship. The Promenade deck is great as you can do a full lap or do 3 for a mile. Aft decks have a tier design and hide 2 pools, 6-9 hot tubs, and 2 bars. As a bonus they are all out of the wind and one bar is under an overhang and out of the rain. Sweet! For wide open vista’s without the crowds hit the aft viewing area on the promenade deck. If you get bored on the ‘days at sea’ they run 6-8 demonstrations each day about 30 min long in the Atrium for you entertainment.
1. Ship from the dock in Skagway
2. Ship from the Mt Roberts Tram in Juneau
3. Our Cabin
4. View Forward from our balcony
5. The Promenade deck
6. The Atrium
7. The Aft Tiered Deck, hot tubs, pools, and bars
8. The Skywalker bar, top deck aft
9. The Skywalker bar, top deck aft, window view
10. Practice for Retirement
11. Louise from the Promenade Deck aft
12. Day at Sea Activities include a Food Animals Demonstration
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