Emerald Princess Review - May 30th to June 6th Eastern Caribbean

[Hunwolf]

Here is a relatively brief review of our Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Emerald Princess – May 30 to June 6th.

 

Background: We are a family of 3 (our daughter turned 9 during the cruise) and this is our 5th cruise overall (first on Princes, one on Carnival, 3 on Royal Caribbean). We drove down the day before and stayed at the Cambria Suites in Dania Beach. This is an excellent hotel with a good location (especially if you have a car). They let us park there for the cruise week for $30 and provided free transport to the pier.

 

Embarkation: Arrived at the pier around 1:15 PM and check-in was smooth. The only glitch occurred when we were crossing the gangway and we finally realized that our cabin had been re-assigned. The lady at the desk (we were supposed to be on the Dolphin deck) did not mention this. Turns out we were “upgraded” to an outside on the Plaza Deck, P336 to be exact (right beside the International Café).

 

Room: Pleasantly surprised at the size of the room compared to the size of our cabins on our previous RC cruises. It was nice to be on the Plaza deck in terms of location/logistics. However, being right beside the International Café kitchen caused a lot of noise in our cabin both at closing and then before opening in the morning. Of course, we also heard all the noise from activity on the piazza. In short, if you like to sleep a lot, this is not the cabin for you. If you like to be near the action, this would be a good choice.

 

Food: Overall, we were pretty pleased with the food both in the dining room and at the buffet/horizon court. I would say it was comparable to Royal Caribbean and better than what we recall from our previous Carnival cruise. To be fair though, we haven’t been on Carnival in 10 years. We also very much liked the concept and execution of the International Café. Princess really excels here.

 

We did not partake in any of the specialty restaurants on this cruise. Time just got away.

 

Outdoor spaces: We made frequent use of the main pool spaces as well as the “Movies Under the Stars”. Only on the last sea day did we have a problem finding a lounger. We also enjoyed strolling the promenade deck even with the stairwall issues. Our daughter enjoyed the mini golf course.

 

Children’s Program: Overall, our daughter enjoyed the Shockwaves program. She made several friends there and they’re already emailing each other back and forth. The counselors seemed very competent and got to know the kids pretty quickly. Having said that, I do think that this is an area where Royal Caribbean is still a notch or two above. While Princess focused mainly on “fun activities”, RC went out of their way to mix in educational themes. Last year, the kids on the Monarch of the Seas even did a talent show for the ship to show everyone what they had learned during the trip.

 

I would be remiss though if I didn’t give a “shout out” to Princess for their Junior Chef @ Sea program. Our daughter participated in this program, and it was one of the highlights of the trip for her. If you have a child interested in this, make sure to let one of the counselors know on the first day as the program is limited to 10 children.

 

Activities: As this was our first Princess cruise, we weren’t sure what to expect. The cruise was a nice mix of ages, trending a bit older (but not much) than some of our RC cruises. We really enjoyed the random trivia contests, karaoke, and even theme dance nights in Club Fusion. The program/shows in the Princess Theater were also good. The only “negative” was for a ship the size of the Emerald the Princess Theater is a bit small. Get there early for a seat. The comedian on our cruise was hilarious, but certainly geared to an adult audience.

 

The gym facility is pretty nice but a bit cramped. We did not use the spa on this cruise.

 

Ports/Activities:

 

Princess Cays: Just enjoyed a lazy day on the beach. Lines were a little long for the food, but nothing to terrible. Food overall was pretty good.

 

St. Maarten/St. Martin: We booked the Butterfly Farm/Orient beach tour through Princess and it was pretty good. The butterfly farm was fun and interesting and the beach was pretty good. I will say though that they take you to a pretty sketchy looking beach “area” on Orient where if you walk just a bit to the right there are some nicer beach bars and restaurants. I know that some parents might be concerned about this, but we saw very limited nudity here (contrary to rumors).

 

St. Thomas – We booked a combo shopping/sightseeing/beach tour privately through Godfrey Tours. This was a great decision as he charged us less than half of what they charge through the ship and we really maximized our time on the island. We ended up going to Magen’s Bay/Beach. It was a wonderful day and a great bargain!!

 

Grand Turk – Just hung out at the beach and enjoyed the pool at Margaritaville. The food/drinks there are a ripoff though. You can do better elsewhere on the island.

 

Disembarkation: Was a little behind schedule, but went smoothly overall.

 

Only negatives of note:

 

1. Our cabin assignment was moved without notifying us, and we ended up with a lot of cabin noise. In fact, the people’s names who were supposed to have our cabin stayed on the door until Day 2!

 

2. We had talked with the folks at Princess about celebrating our daughter’s birthday with balloons and a cake. I even called back to confirm. Well…we did get the balloons but never any recognition in the dining room. She was a little sad about that, but the sadness only lasted about 10 minutes. Lol!!

 

3. After 10 PM children’s program/child sitting: On Royal Caribbean they had a lot of “after 10” activities for the kids including pajama parties, treasure hunts, etc. Our daughter was always begging to go to this. On Princess, they stuck them with the little kids and made them lay down and watch movies. We only kept her to 10:30 PM at the latest.

 

Overall, we really enjoyed our time on the Emerald Princess. It truly is a beautiful ship with lots to offer. Aside from some minor things here and there, it was a memorable vacation.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

[matt690]

Thanks for the great review. Was there a calypso band? If so, what was their name, and how were they and their hours?

[Hunwolf]

Thanks for the great review. Was there a calypso band? If so, what was their name, and how were they and their hours?

 

Matt...I believe that band's name was Evolution. They played some calypso music out by the pool when activities were going on there and also in several of the different clubs during the week.