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One more before review. South FL Shuttle did a great job getting us to the hotel from the airport, hotel to the port and port back to airport. If you have 6 or more. they charge 15/pp (private) and it was worth it to not deal with transportation.

The cruise has came to an end. Last night was a nice night at Vines. If you like champagne, I believe they have the best tasting one on the ship and you can only get it there; JCB. After the head chef’s presentation in the Princess theatre they took everyone through Michelangelo kitchen. I will give my final review and answer the question if I would sail with Princess and Emerald again. I did not include a lot of negative comments because I try not to dwell on the negative while on board. Plus I will add comments from those in our party that this was their first cruise with any line. For those that are about to board, have a fantastic trip and I am jealous as that looks like a fun itinerary.

Time to start packing and to get ready to disembark tomorrow. We did sign up for EZCheck so we do not have to worry about our bags and can help SIL and BIL with theirs. We have to walk off early as they made their flight reservations at 11:15a so they are worried about getting to the airport on time. They do not travel very much so all is new to them. I have the private shuttle meeting us so it should go without issues.

Last night was very low key. Second formal night and if I was to guess I would say 60% were dressed up. Saw a few tuxedos and formal dresses. Also saw tshirts and shorts. One person had a faded tshirt and very worn shorts walking into the reserve dining room, I just watched to see if he was turned away, and he was not so almost anything goes on formal night. That wasn’t a dress code opinion just a statement. I do love seeing all the lovely dresses especially on the other people that seemed to have embraced dressing up. I would say 90% of the teenagers and younger were dressed up. Some in what could have been prom dresses. I was not impressed with how Princess holds formal night. Depending on your reservation times, you miss anything in the Piazza and the menu is not anything special. The only thing that is noticeable is all the photographers taking up walking space to hold small photo shoots.

Vines was able to make us a small plate of vegetables, cheese, and olives to share. It was a nice small plate before dinner. I will say almost everyone has been very friendly and accommodating.

Vines menu-

Slightly dirty for me 😜

@MsSoCalCruiser This picture is for you. IC they get the order from a back tray not the case. So why they couldn’t have a tray of sandwiches or egg muffins without cheese 🤷🏼‍♀️.

Pool chair hogs was up and out this morning. This was at 745a. All chairs around all the pools were taken (saved) Who knows since when? We wanted the shade so we came upstairs and around a corner so we are away from morning to mid day sun. I am not chair hogging, they have gone to get a drink and will be right right back.

Planks was one of the best meals while on board. Even beat Santinis and Crown Grill for service and taste.

No Pickle Martinis to be found on the Emerald. Today was Tortola and it was a beautiful day. Took an excursion to The Baths and it was a nice tour. A little physical for a few but most were able to hike without any issues. We had 45 mins to swim and it was refreshing on a hot day. Tonight was Crown Grill. It was good but service was slow. Don’t have to worry about eating too fast. I would recommend making a reservation as everyone without one tonight was turned away while we were there. Make sure you go to Fusions early as it is packed by show time. Vines is a great place to relax when everywhere else is crowded and you just want a glass of wine and talk.

I just realized I didn’t take a photo of the food for the UBD. As others have said, it is a lot of food. It was good, not great but not disappointed that we tried it. Our top and 2 door down neighbors decide tonight was a good night to open and close the sliding glass door over and over. St Kitts was a perfect place and 6p was a great time. I asked for my DH to have a martini with appetizers but they served it with dessert. Only hiccup. I asked for steak and grilled shrimp instead of lobster as I don’t eat lobster and received it. We had a lot of photos taken and fresh flowers on the table.

It was a lovely but rainy day on St Kitts. We booked with Blue Safari tours for the Catamaran, Snorkeling and Lunch excursions. It was so much fun. Open bar, music and the crew made it fun. We did snorkel early into the catamaran cruise. St Kitts is a beautiful island. I would come back here in a moment. Tonight we are having the Ultimate Balcony Dinner for our anniversary. (It was right before we left) We have it starting at 6p when the ship leaves port which is a good thing because our balcony is facing the sun now.

That is what we did. We went to a house phone at the Excursions desk and I asked for the dining line number. They were able to get us into all the casual restaurants and even move our Sabatinis reservations so we could make Planks work. Steamers and Planks are on opposite days.

Tonight we are watching Ashlie Amber from American Idol for a Whitney Houston review. We saw the comedian in Club Fusion and he was funny. They seem to get good talent for the evening shows.

I am still looking for a bar that can make a pickle martini. Fusion was a no.

The dessert sampler was a hit with my SIL.

The funny thing is for dessert I ordered the fresh berries and it was a bowl full of blueberries.

Sabatinis was good but service was slow. They let me order Baratta Capri twice as I don’t eat pasta. Then I had the rosemary chicken. It was good, not great but good. My DH said that same thing about the veal tenderloin.

The coleslaw is actually carrot and raisins

We had 2 couples so almost everything was ordered. I had brisket and pulled pork. My DH has the sausage and ribs. Everyone enjoyed the meal the most

this is what you see once onboard with the app. under shipmates you can locate anyone that approves you locating them. It has been great as I can see where my DH is after the gym or he can find me after a nap. I really like this feature and the medallions. Princess gets an A for this innovation. So far no mistakes on our folio. To see how many drinks you have had, you go to packages and it keeps a talley 0/15…3/15…etc. We take a quick look and if that seems right we don’t really check the folio except in the morning I will look.

Breakfast buffet is getting same old…same old. I am not really a breakfast eater but trying to eat something before leaving for an excursion. My DH has been eating in the IC for breakfast and he has enjoyed it. We haven’t tried mdr so there are choices, I just need to branch out. Not a fan of Antigua as a port but we had a good zip line excursion. It was with Princess and they didn’t do the best job with organization. The small rain forest company was not expecting 45 people all at once. It would have been much better sending us every 30 minutes or so but it worked out. The company was nice and it went pretty fast once all the paperwork and other things (that could have been done earlier) was completed. My first time zip lining and I survived and no one needed to call 911 so it was a good hot day. We got back at 3p starving so went straight to the buffet. I was able to make a taco salad as it was mexican theme. Hit the spot on a hot day. The salsa on the buffet is good. Tonight is Sabatinis. I will try to remember to take a picture of the menu. I am terrible remembering to take pictures. For those about to board I hope I leave you some “Whispering Angel” and Heineken 0. This elevator list helped me a lot at the beginning

Funny you should ask. We were just talking about pickle martinis and said I was going to try and get one this evening. I will definitely let you know.