Interactive Preview/Review of Emerald Princess Eastern Caribbean May 2 to 9, 2010

[lilly_35_]

He doesn't need my permission... I am going to keep checking the other pics just in case. My husband and I thought it was the coolest thing lol. We had a fabulous trip!

[7x5090g]

That's funny the picture you have posted on page 4 of the "Check-in Hall" my husband and I are in that picture in line. I have a hot pink backpack on wearing a white hoodie and jean skirt and my husband is to the left of me, tall and in a white t-shirt. I was reading your review since we were on this ship too and saw the pic... too funny!

 

 

LOL... So here's a cameo appearance by Lilly_35 and her new hubby.:)

[7x5090g]

I am ROFL at your latest posts. :D

 

Sorry I need some help with this acrynom

 

Did you actually see the sea on the sea day? (see what I did there:p)

 

Yes I did, everywhere I go on the ship I tried to walk on the Promenande deck. It is the only deck that is truely bow to stern.

 

So you are British? You certainly have a very British SOH! I thought you had just attended college here from your earlier posts, and picked up the crazy humour. ;)

 

I was born in Hong Kong and at the time it was a crown colony. I learned to speak English when my parents sent me to England (remember the Spinkhill school near Sheffield?) I was a British Dependent Terretory Citizen and now I am a Canadian citizen.

 

That blue Martini looks very err.... blue. Did you like it and what is it? I always think blue drinks are bubble gum flavour :( Must remember to attend that activity next time.

 

It actually tasted good (not watered down) and I couldn't give a rat's a-- what it was called. It had alochol in it and I didn't have to pay for it :D

 

lilly_35_ do you give Mr. Hippo permission to display your photo? :cool: Did you enjoy your cruise? Spot any hippos onboard?

 

I actually might not even have permission to take the picture in the first place. I thought I read a sign there saying no cell phone/cameras (or may be it was on the way back going through customs??

[lilly_35_]

Yes I saw the sign that said "no cell phones and no camera's" but I saw it when we got off the ship as we were heading down the escalator to go through customs. I always have my camera in hand so I remember putting it up. Too funny, yes that is us in the picture... haha! Small world! :) And ROFL = Roll On Floor Laughing :)

[u2cruiser]

ROFL = rolling on floor laughing. ROFLMAO = rolling on floor laughing my **** off, but I'm not sure we're allowed to say that on here? :confused:

 

Really appreciating the time you're spending on this review. Great entertainment. It will be so useful to future Emerald cruisers, especially the patters and menus. :D

 

More please ......

[akaCruiser]

Great pics and good running commentary. It seems that you enjoyed the cruise.

[BalconyGal]

*Pours wine for dinner onboard the Emerald*

Is it a bit too early in the day for you OneStarTattoo?

 

Wonder what's on the menu tonight? :)

NEVER! It's 5 o'clock somewhere! :D

[u2cruiser]

Here ya go :D cheers!

[BalconyGal]

He doesn't need my permission... I am going to keep checking the other pics just in case. My husband and I thought it was the coolest thing lol. We had a fabulous trip!

Congrats on your marriage! Glad you enjoyed the Emerald Princess! :)

[BalconyGal]

Here ya go :D cheers!

Gorgeous!!! and delicious! :D:p Cheers!

I'll wait for you on my balcony.

[BalconyGal]

Andy, I looked for your thread as soon as I signed on today. Looking forward to the rest. I love it! :)

[u2cruiser]

LMAO!!!!!

 

Here's one for the hippo. He won't care what it is if he doesn't have to pay ;)

[7x5090g]

Great pics and good running commentary. It seems that you enjoyed the cruise.

 

And I am sure you are looking forward to your trans Atlantic. I am demanding a detailed review:D

[7x5090g]

LMAO!!!!!

 

Here's one for the hippo. He won't care what it is if he doesn't have to pay ;)

 

You bet. Free alcohol is always welcome in my books. As long as it's not menthenol:eek::eek:

[7x5090g]

Andy, I looked for your thread as soon as I signed on today. Looking forward to the rest. I love it! :)

 

 

It was crazy in the office today. They are coming!! Just wait a little longer. I am typing as fast as I can

[7x5090g]

Ok where the hell was I? Oh - Pub lunch on Day 3. So after lunch I dropped my son off at kids camp again for some t-shirt coloring and I went back to the room to rest up while DW and the seniors went somewhere (shopping I thought).

 

Here’s the kids complement for this cruise (as you can see, not a whole lot on board but then again it was school week):

 

 

By now I got pretty frustrated by the safe in our room. There was no handle or anything for you to grab the door with after you punched in the code. It unlocked alright but the bloody door still sat flushed with the rim of the safe and I had to resort to using a butter knife to pry it open (for those that will be moving into D234 in subsequent sailings and see markings on the safe you now know why).

 

Here’s what I ended up doing – putting a piece of sticky tape in the corner of the door so I could open the door by pulling on it.

 

[BalconyGal]

It was crazy in the office today. They are coming!! Just wait a little longer. I am typing as fast as I can

Not rushing you, I don't want it to end! :)

[BalconyGal]

That safe looks different than any other I have seen, I hope they are not changing them out for a more streamlined look! :eek:

[7x5090g]

I picked up my son around 4ish for a quick dip in the pool while I vacated the stateroom to allow DW get ready for the first formal night. Getting a 6 yo out of a pool required a lot of creative ideas and perseverance It took me a whole 30 minutes from starting to ultimately getting him out. It took us another 45 minutes to shower and change and we are all ready for some pre-dinner pictures.

 

It’s the Captain’s welcome dinner tonight. For some reasons I did not take a whole lot of pictures of the menu tonight but here’s what I have:

 

 

 

 

This was the appetizer I highly recommended. Even our waiter Wisoot was surprised when he served it because apparently the previous cruise the size of the duck breast was much smaller.

 

[7x5090g]

After dinner we walked by the Piazza to check out the champagne fountain set up and watched the matire d’ putting the final glass on top. Oops, a few of them fell down and thank goodness the whole thing didn’t just collapse. Well he kept his cool and the few glasses were replaced before the captain started the first pour. Those pax that lined up started to do their little part. Since we needed to catch the 8:30 show, we did not stay for the free champagne.

 

 

We proceeded to the theatre to check out the musical production of BOOGIE SHOES. I had heard cruisers before complain about the quality of the singing but decided to give it a try. I heard from the CD that the current entertainment team was transitioning off and a new crew would join (later in the week they also had a performance which we also saw). Here’s another complaint – for the size of this ship, the theater is extremely small.

 

The show started at 8:30 and here was the state of the available seats at 8:00:

 

 

I now remembered what I did on Monday night as I saw the comedy show by Kevin Hughes (yes he was funny but nothing compared to the hilarious James Michael - to be featured in my review later). I remember showing up at 8:15 and was told the theatre was full (yes I was actually denied access on the starboard side of the entrance on deck 7). I had to sneak in on the port side and stood next to the disabled section. YES STANDING ROOM ONLY 15 minutes prior to the show!!

 

Compared to the broadway style productions I was used to on other cruise lines, Boogie Shoes was really average, if not below average. Some of the lead singers couldn’t even get the notes right and the dancing was mediocre at best. I took a glance at the 4 seniors, 3 of them dozed off halfway through the show. Sigh…..

 

This was a wrap for Day 3 . Tomorrow would be a highly anticipated port day of St Marten

 

Here's the Patter and the Pelican Press to wrap today up.

Princess Patter Day 3.pdf

Princess Pelicans Day 3.pdf

[Colo Cruiser]

By now I got pretty frustrated by the safe in our room. There was no handle or anything for you to grab the door with after you punched in the code. It unlocked alright but the bloody door still sat flushed with the rim of the safe and I had to resort to using a butter knife to pry it open (for those that will be moving into D234 in subsequent sailings and see markings on the safe you now know why).

 

Here’s what I ended up doing – putting a piece of sticky tape in the corner of the door so I could open the door by pulling on it.

 

 

 

The safe comes with a spring loaded door and the spring comes loose and does not pop the door open anymore.

The Ruby had bug problems with these during the first few months after her launch.

I had to reach up near the top of the door on the hinge side and push the spring back in place.

[angelsbaby1]

Thank you Andy for this detailed account of your vacation...we're right here with you! This review is excellent and it is making us extremely excited about our upcoming sailing on the Emerald in 31 days! :p Great job...keep it coming!!

 

Quick question...did you purchase the UKP (Ultimate Kids Package)? Although we are not going with any children, my Mom doesn't drink alcohol and I thought it would be a good idea to get the UKP for unlimited mocktails, soda, milkshakes, etc. Just wondering about the price of that card as well as the coffee card. Any info?

 

Thanks,

 

Angel :)

[7x5090g]

Waking up to yet another cloudless day. While the rest of the family was having breakfast, I ventured down to the Promenade deck to watch the Emerald dock. As anticipated, RCL’s Liberty of the Seas had already docked. While not as big as her bigger sister Oasis, it still dwarfed the Emerald as we pulled along side.

 

 

Noticing the interesting colony of penguins that lived on top of LOTS bridge:

 

 

Now getting off the ship required a bit of patience I found. The line up was long as we needed to be on shore within 30 minutes in order to meet up with Benard’s Tour. We just barely made it. With that said, kittikat and kittikat_sister who we bumped into at breakfast could not figure out why we actually showed up before them as they started their journey on shore way before us. Later they would also find out that they got slotted in a different van from the rest of us. They were not happy.

 

We finally met up with hollybelle and cruisecheers as they were not at the formal meet and greet and I was not at the sailaway party

 

Here they are:

 

Our first stop of the tour was a road side stop above Simpson Bay, we then proceeded down to Princess Juliana Airport (Maho Beach and Sunset Bar) to watch the planes. Here’s another cameo appearance of hollybelle and I am also waiting for the picture that she took here featuring in her review, which I am looking forward to.

 

 

YES you noticed correctly, she did have a beer in her hand (and one in mine too). Beer, rum punch (the potent kind) and soda came with the tour.

[7x5090g]

Quick question...did you purchase the UKP (Ultimate Kids Package)? Although we are not going with any children, my Mom doesn't drink alcohol and I thought it would be a good idea to get the UKP for unlimited mocktails, soda, milkshakes, etc. Just wondering about the price of that card as well as the coffee card. Any info?

 

Thanks,

 

Angel :)

 

No I did not. They were everywhere as we boarded the ship on the first day trying to sell it. You get a Coca Cola thermo mug to go with the uptimate kids package. I brought a case of diet coke on board and I couldnt even finish it so I never even looked at the package. So no I don't know how much either.

[Colo Cruiser]

The safe comes with a spring loaded door and the spring comes loose and does not pop the door open anymore.

The Ruby had bug problems with these during the first few months after her launch.

I had to reach up near the top of the door on the hinge side and push the spring back in place.

 

Sorry! Not bug problems. "Big" problems. :o