2011mom

I read in some very old threads that cabins were too warm on the Emerald, but I don't see any recent comments about it. Do people find that it's very warm? I wasn't planning to bring a fan, I'd have to buy yet another cruise related item, but I do like it to be cool when I'm sleeping.

If single days are available, how much are they and how do I buy them? I'll be on the Emerald Princess, it's a 15 night cruise so that would be very expensive to buy for the whole cruise, and I don't need wifi every day. Thanks!

I use google voice to call my mom on her land line, it uses wifi so I can use it while in airplane mode with wifi. It shows up as being from my google voice number (as opposed to my normal phone number) but it works perfectly and is totally free to call any number is the US or Canada from anywhere in the world, landline or not. And it's only pennies per minute to call pretty much anywhere else in the world. Everyone talks about whatsapp and skype but if you need to call a landline, they don't seem to work.

It's a VERY long time ago (my kid are all grown up now!) but my first cruise was on a Carnival ship when my 3 kids were 3 - 10 years old. The ability to leave them in the kids club while we spent a couple of hours in the port was incredible - we were able snorkel together and see sights that would have been impossible with the kids there. Also, I don't know how it is these days, but our favorite port back then was Grenada. We just settled down at an uncrowded beach, there were a lot of pushy vendors but we paid for an umbrella and a blanket to sit on, and the guy we rented those from made sure we were undisturbed. The beach was beautiful and the water was calm and warm, perfect for our kids to splash in.

Google voice is also a great choice. They give you a dedicated phone number for free! The big advantage over WhatsApp is that Google voice allows you to call land lines in the USA, WhatsApp can't call land lines, only cell phones.

I'll be on the Emerald Princess next April on a 15 night cruise and I'm making my dinner reservations. I have questions! 1. There are 3 dining rooms. Is there any reason to prefer one over another? 2. I want to eat at the same time and at the same table and servers most nights, but on later port days I'd want to eat later - that's only a couple of times on this cruise. Can I do the whole cruise reservation and then change it for the occasional later time, or do I need to separately reserve every day, and then maybe not get the same table every night? 3. If I do reserve the whole cruise, do I get the same table? Or will I have to go to the Maitre' d every night? I loved traditional dining where i could just plop myself in my seat every night and never have to wait in line after the first day. 4. I've read a lot of threads about how long dinner service is. What time are the shows? I'd like to be able to eat and be done with dinner at least 30-45 minutes before the early show starts. Are there shows every or most nights? Thanks in advance for any help!

Although several reports on this forum have indicated folks who are not yet Platinum nor Elite (yes, it includes Platinum) are able to make reservations prior to full payment. What has not been clear to me is if this is now broadly the case and no perk, or whether these are isolated situations where the IT programming has somehow allowed early reservations where folks should not be able to do so. I have no status and I am booked for April 2024. If I make my full payment, can I then make dining room reservations? The princess website states that I can make reservations after full payment, but I don't know if that means when I make full payment, or when their full payment deadline is.

I can't speak specifically to cruising at that time, but I always travel between Thanksgiving and Christmas - not including the holiday weekends themselves - and it's fantastic because it's very much less crowded and usually less expensive as well. I think people get time off at the holidays and would prefer to do their vacations then, but the time between them is very quiet.

What did you not like about this tour? I'll be visiting that port next year and will have to figure out what tour to take. Also, thanks so much for your comprehensive review!

You're right, I made a mistake. It's Hi Cartagena. Yeah I saw the reviews. Maybe I should just go with Dora. I emailed her and she said it's a 16 person tour, it seemed like a lot of $ for a tour like that, but everyone does love her! Thanks for your response!

I saw a similar question last month comparing Dora to a ship's tour. I'm curious about private tours. Dora is $75pp and is up to 16 people on the tour. We are 3 adults so with Dora it would be $225. For $285 I can book a private tour for the 3 of us with Hi Colombia. What are people's opinions - is Dora so great that it's worth being in a bigger group? Or should we go for the private tour? Thx!

Yeah she's aware. She doesn't have to be online all the time, she can do a lot of work offline then send it in, so we're hoping it's good enough for that! It's not until next year, maybe they'll improve the wifi by then too.

I was able to talk my daughter into coming on a 15 night cruise with me. She can work remotely, and there are a lot of sea days. She will be able to work from the ship on those days. She probably couldn't have come with me if she had to take more than 2 weeks off of work! So she definitely needs that wifi!

I took my very first cruise to see the total solar eclipse in the Caribbean in 1998. It was on, I think, the Carnival Fascination, at the time one of their biggest ships. I can't find my photos but I don't remember any problem finding deck space - we were hanging out at the rear pool because my 3-year-old was playing in the water during the eclipse. It wasn't wall-to-wall people so I think there will be plenty of space! I'm also booked on the Emerald for next year's eclipse. I think it will be amazing!

I'm the OP on this thread, I was happy when I saw the Emerald Princess would alter its itinerary to include the eclipse - and I'm booked! It's too bad Carnival didn't get any ships into the eclipse zone, I'm platinum on Carnival and I have no status on Princess, but I think I'll still have an amazing time!

It's because you're Elite. I've only cruised Princess once before. Non-elites can only make reservations after final payment.

This cruise is the one that includes a total solar eclipse, so it is already getting pretty booked up, even though it's a year away. The lowest available balcony category on Caribe deck was B2, so that's what I picked. I got the last non-connecting port stateroom in that category! Thanks for your input - it was very helpful!

Okay I did it! Now I'm on Caribe deck! Thanks to everyone who responded!

I really miss having a fixed dining time every day so you never have to wait in line! Couple of questions! I read that you can make dining reservations once final payment is made. Does that mean if I pay the full amount right at booking, I can immediately make dining reservations, even if the cruise is a year away? Or does it mean I can only make the reservations after the final payment due date, which is not for months? Also, can I reserve the same table every day? I don't relish the idea of standing in line every day to check in, I'd love to be able to go directly to my table, bypassing any line. Is that possible? Thanks!

I'll be cruising next year on the Emerald Princess, and my daughter decided to join my husband and me. We are in an Aloha deck balcony. I know it comes with 2 chairs and a small table, will we be able to squeeze a 3rd chair out there, maybe if we bring the table inside? It would be nice to all be on the balcony! It would cost me about $600 to upgrade to a Caribe balcony. I'd love to get people's opinions on Caribe vs aloha and how you like those balconies, and if it's worth the extra $$. Also, we'll be transiting the Panama canal, I was thinking it might be better to be on a lower deck to be able to better see the locks, does anyone have input into that? Any photos of these balconies would also be appreciated - including photos of what it looks like looking up and down from the balconies! Thanks!

Well, it turns out I won't be in that cabin anyway, my daughter decided to join us so I needed to switch to a 3 person cabin. I do appreciate all the answers, though - thanks!

LT Hambone, I am very curious as to how your experience was in cabin A746 on the Emerald. I just booked that cabin and would love to know your opinion!

Back in 1998 I took my very first cruise, we wanted to see the solar eclipse in the Caribbean and it was a Carnival ship, it was incredible. There's going to be an eclipse off the Mexican coast but I don't see that Carnival has any cruises there on that date (April 8, 2024). Does anyone know if they'll do something?