First time Princess Cruisers and we’ll be back!!

[homeinboca]

Sailing Date - March 14 – 21, 2010, Emerald Princess

After being loyal to Royal for several years, we decided to try out Princess, primarily because we really liked this itinerary, which included stops in Princess Cay, St Maarten, St Thomas, and Grand Turk. We booked spring break week, not because we were travelling with kids, but to celebrate our 30th Anniversary on board.

Day 1 – We came down early and stayed in our condo in Boca for a few days, before setting sail on Sunday. We rented a car from Dollar so we could drop it off at their location right at the cruise terminal in Port Everglades. Their location is literally a few minutes away – so you don’t need to go to Ft. Lauderdale Airport drop off and deal with all the traffic there. They drop you off for free right at the ship.

We arrived around 11:30 expecting to walk right on the ship. Most people told us they usually board between 11:30 and noon. However we were told they would not be boarding until 1:00 PM. Apparently, there was an outbreak the previous week and they were scrubbing down the ship. That was fine with me; I’d rather wait and have a clean ship. The line quickly grew very long, I’m glad we arrived a little early.

Upon boarding, we went right to our cabin to drop some things off, change and head to the pool. I like the fact that you can go to the cabin right away. The nice thing I found about this ship is the choice of pools - there are four, each has its own ambiance. Spa pool is quiet and is for adults only, Terrace Pool, small and very quiet, MUTS pool, nice comfy padded chairs, with movies and music videos playing all day, and the Central pool, which was the hub of most activity.

Once we settled down, I went down to the Crown Grill to book my dinner reservation for our anniversary. I was very surprised you cannot pre-book online as you would for an excursion. A Princess Representative told me this may change in the future.

At the lunch buffet, we saw the first evidence of the outbreak, there were staff at every station, you could not touch a thing, and everything had to be handed to you. There were no pepper shakers on the tables, and you could not even take a glass of iced tea; it had to be handed to you.

Our experience with anytime dining was great, I really enjoyed not being tied down to a scheduled seating. We never had to wait long and most times we walked right in. That night, we met some nice folks from Western Canada in line and we ended up with a large table of Canadians and had a nice dinner. The food was good, as expected when you are cooking for thousands.

Day 2 – Princess Cays, well maybe not.

We arrived at Princess Cays and the Captain told us we were not going to be able to tender in today. The sea was too rough, with 4 – 6 foot waves, so we set sail for St Maarten. This was a little disappointing, but you can’t do anything about the weather. It hasn’t been a great winter this year, and I understand this has happened on many a cruise. I saw some people complaining to staff, which is unfortunate as it’s the captain’s call, and I’m sure he made the right one.

We had a nice sea day, and got some time to explore the ship. I really liked the Piazza, International Café, Vines Wine Bar; it’s a great spot on the ship to relax indoors. There is always something going on, and quiet entertainment all day. They had a Pianist, a jazz band, a string quartet, and even jugglers. This is what I like about cruising. You can always find a quiet spot to relax, or if you want to party in the sun, there’s plenty of places to do that.

Day 3 – At Sea – our 30th Anniversary

We always book a cabin with a balcony. It’s true what they say – once you have a balcony, you can’t go back. We order coffee and juice for our morning on the patio, before heading up. I brought on board some splits of Champagne and surprised my bride with Mimosa’s for breakfast. Princess also allows you to bring wine and water on board. It’s a $15 corkage fee if you bring it to dinner. It was a beautiful day of sailing and we really just relaxed all day at the pool.

Our dinner at the Crown Grill was superb, one of the best steaks I have ever had at sea. I don’t order meat in the dining room, as I find mass prepared meats not enjoyable. We also had lobster tails, and tiger shrimp, all freshly prepared. You can also order a whole lobster if you wish.

Emerald Princess does not have a huge theatre, it seats 900 or so. Instead, they spread the entertainment around, so you can go to see a comedian at the Explorers lounge, a jazz band at the Wheelhouse, The Piano Man at Crooners, lots of great choices. They don’t go for the big splashy extravaganzas like you see on RCL, its more sedate and classy, and that’s why I decided I like it better.

Day 4 – St Maarten

We are the fifth large cruise ship to arrive in Port. It was a very busy day as the Oasis was in town also. It made for lots of traffic in town. We booked a tour with Bernard’s and had a great time. We ended up at Orient Beach and it was packed with people – it looked like Coney Island on a hot summer weekend. You can rent 2 chairs, an umbrella and 2 drinks for $15, not a bad deal. We stayed away from the Nude Beach, but there were plenty of topless women as you would see in Europe. You are in France after all.

From there, we went to Sunset beach to watch the planes land right overhead. I love jet planes, so this was a great experience; we saw AA, JetBlue and Air France jets land. It’s also a great beach and the Sunset Bar & Grill was hopping. The Dutch side is definitely nicer and more developed than the French side of the island.

That night we enjoyed the Movies under the Stars and saw The Blind Side, which we really enjoyed.

Day 5 – St Thomas

It was a quiet day in St Thomas as we were only one of two ships in port. Princess docks at Crown Dock, not Havensight, which is unfortunate as it’s a much further distance from the center of Charlotte Amalie and the cruise terminal is not anywhere near as nice. I was told that it’s half the price per passenger to dock at Crown, and that is why Princess docks there.

We booked a tour with Godfrey’s Tours and he arrived on time to pick us up. We had 2 hours of shopping, and then embarked on 2 hour tour, followed by 2 hours at Magens Bay. Godfrey was a great tour operator, very knowledgeable about the island; I would recommend him to anyone who wants a quiet and professional tour of the island. This is not the party bus that some of the other tour operator’s promises.

I have been on many beautiful beaches throughout the world and I have to say Magens Bay is one of the nicest I have ever seen. It certainly is worthy of inclusion on the Top 10 list that National Geographic created. It was quiet and the waters were beautiful. We rented a couple of beach chairs, ordered up some beers and sat in a Corona commercial.

We were back on the ship in time for the early sail-away. The pizza and BBQ grill on the Pool deck was always a popular place in the afternoon for a snack. Each day featured a pizza special, along with the regular pepperoni and cheese varieties. The BBQ Grill menu never really changed, - hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken breasts and fries.

Day 5 – Grand Turk – Turks & Caicos

Today was the first day we didn’t have great weather. It was windy, cool and rainy when we arrived around 1:00 PM at the dock. The Carnival Glory was already docked. The Turks government has built a nice cruise center, with some nice little shops, and there is a very popular Margaritaville restaurant and bar located there. It’s a pretty quiet island and still has a feeling that it’s not quite finished yet. We went ashore and spent some time at Jimmy Buffets. The place was packed. We had some friends that went down to Jack’s Shack a little further down the beach, where it’s much quieter. We didn’t go as the weather wasn’t great.

Day 6 – Sea Day

We got up early, and the weather was glorious, not a cloud in the sky. We went up to the Breakfast Buffet early, before 8:00 am, and the chair hogs were in full force - towels on the chairs everywhere, and no one around. I think people come up put out their towels and go back to sleep. Princess doesn’t really enforce the chair saving rules, which is unfortunate. Today, we just relaxed on the deck and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

We booked the Sabatini’s for dinner. This was the Italian dining experience. It’s a beautiful room at the back of the ship and really enjoyed the meal. You choose your main course and they bring small bits of all the appetizers on the menu. It was a great experience. After dinner, we went to see Phil Tag, who was hilarious. We really enjoyed his comedy.

Day 7 – Disembarkation

Princess really had the process organized; we were off the ship and had our luggage in mere minutes. I really liked how they grouped the luggage together, so you weren’t looking amongst thousands of bags. We booked a transfer to Miami airport and arrived home safely.

We so enjoyed Princess we have decided to book another trip with them in January 2011. The countdown begins!

[TorontoTL]

That was a great review, thanks for posting it. It is great to see a review of a Princess cruise through the eyes of someone with an open mind coming from another cruiseline. I'm glad you enjoyed your first Princess cruise.

[Toto2Kansas]

GREAT Review. Love the way you touched on the good, the best and the not so great.

 

Thanks for taking the time to put it all down for us to enjoy! :)

[VaBeachCruisers897]

I am happy you enjoyed your Princess cruise & thankyou for the very nice review of your trip. It was also very nice that you did not get into the usual XX was good but XXX is better banter. I really enjoyed my RCCL cruise as well but as it has worked out we keep buying the future cruise credits....

[Colo Cruiser]

Very nice review.

[Woodmnky]

Thank you for the great review. We did the same cruise in January, including the same missed stop at Princess Cays and the same shore excursions, and loved it.

In fact, although we strongly considered other cruises, the price on Princess has brought up back to the Emerald for the Western itinerary in May.

 

Quick question, did you notice the Power Happy Hours after 8:30pm that others have mentioned? If so, do you remember seeing it at all bars or just certain ones?

 

Thanks.

[SCFCRUISER]

We did this same cruise in January for our first Princess cruise & we couldn't stop at PC either. We liked Emerald so much we have already booked the CB for next January.

We would like to know about the happy hour deal as well !!

[janina]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.:) Unfortunately those "chair hogs" are everywhere!

[homeinboca]

Very nice review.

 

Thank you, I hope it wasn't too verbose. I take that as a big endorsment based on your experience on the board.

[mqtlakesuperior]

Thank you for the great review. We did the same cruise in January, including the same missed stop at Princess Cays and the same shore excursions, and loved it.

In fact, although we strongly considered other cruises, the price on Princess has brought up back to the Emerald for the Western itinerary in May.

 

Quick question, did you notice the Power Happy Hours after 8:30pm that others have mentioned? If so, do you remember seeing it at all bars or just certain ones?

 

Thanks.

 

 

YES! POWER HOUR was very glorious at MERMAID's! Not sure of the other areas.

[two4me]

Our good friends were on that cruise also.

they had a great time.

She said she did not want to over do it (vacation)

but ended up busy, but a good busy.

they were our guinea pigs for our cruise on princess is a couple of weeks.

we are seeing them next weekend to see all the pics.

Hey maybe you even sat with them, their canucks, hahahaha

do you remember first names?

[Coolmama_1]

Nice review. Sounds like you had a great time.

[homeinboca]

Our good friends were on that cruise also.

they had a great time.

She said she did not want to over do it (vacation)

but ended up busy, but a good busy.

they were our guinea pigs for our cruise on princess is a couple of weeks.

we are seeing them next weekend to see all the pics.

Hey maybe you even sat with them, their canucks, hahahaha

do you remember first names?

 

No, I can't recall names, but one couple was from Winnipeg and 2 couples were from Edmonton, very nice people. In the cabin right next to ours, they were from Vancouver. There were lots of Canadians on the cruise as it was spring break.

 

Enjoy your cruise in a few weeks.

[Worn out mailman]

Yes indeed, there were many Canadians on board...by round of applause at the show in the theater on opening night, it sounded like almost a third of the people in the theater (though that's a small segment of the ship).

 

As for the power hours, the bar adjacent to the International Cafe in the Piazza also had this special.

 

Good review Boca. You ought to paste it in the reviews section as well so it'll be there for posterity. Mine is over there, though it reads more like a play by play than a review. This class of ship is certainly lovely. You'll really enjoy your western next year, especially if they don't ditch PC again. That made a big difference in this cruise, esp. since Grand Turk was so overcast.

[two4me]

Thank you homeinboca,

 

I also hope the weather is good also.

Will post back after i see their pics on the weekend!

[waterlily22]

Thanks for the review homeinboca. So glad to hear you had a great time. Makes me even more eager for our Caribbean cruise aboard the Emerald.

[adk0425]

27 more days and we're on the Emerald! Thank you for the review. We are also loyal Royal fans so we're interested in comparing the ships/experience.