LIVE from the Emerald - 11/28/10 to 12/18/10

[1 HappyCruiser]

OMG...shut the air off,if u want put a towel on the bottom of your main door.open your balcony door and enjoy!!!It has 0 effect on anybody and anything.Enjoy the way u want to and ignore the old maid remarks,that do not know anything about air conditioning.Remember the entire inside of ship is air and everyone is coming and going all day long everywhere on any ship!The only thing u should do is shut the balcony door when u leave the room cuz the suction will slam the door on u and maybe hurt a finger or two!!:)

 

I don't know why you think putting a towel at the bottom of the door does any good since all the cabin doors have a large vent cut into the door so opening the balcony door just unbalances the system no matter if you shut off your individual control or not.

[BoPippy]

I don't know why you think putting a towel at the bottom of the door does any good since all the cabin doors have a large vent cut into the door so opening the balcony door just unbalances the system no matter if you shut off your individual control or not.

I never noticed,so just cover that with a sheet of cardboard then.Can u tell me if 3000 people all day long opening and closing multiple doors to the promenade deck,pool deck,etc have any effect?:D

[1 HappyCruiser]

I never noticed,so just cover that with a sheet of cardboard then.Can u tell me if 3000 people all day long opening and closing multiple doors to the promenade deck,pool deck,etc have any effect?:D

 

I can't begin to guess what effect all 3,000 people have opening & closing doors has on the system but I do know when one individual has their balcony door open there's a blast of hot air blowing through their door vent enough to heat up the hallway corridor and it's very obvious in all directions. So if the hallway is that affected it can only mean that the cold air has to be diverted from someones cabin to try & keep everything cool & someone has to suffer for that one individual.

I also doubt if anyone brings along cardboard & duct tape to cover up the door vent.

[Tweedy]

Then we went to see a concert show. The Beatlemaniacs. If you like the beatles, you will like this group. They basically look and dress like the Beatles and play about 50 minutes worth of songs. I liked the music a lot and Judy is a Beatle’s fan. I guess my only disappointment was that some of the music was canned, so it was hard to tell what was live and what was Memorex. I know for a fact the horns were canned, it’s a 4 piece band after all, and some of the guitars. I’m pretty sure the drums and the singing was live. It was a fun time and lots of people loved it. With the aforementioned caveat, I recommend it as well.

 

We saw these guys on the Pacific Coastal Cruise we did on the Golden this past September. I thought they were fantastic and really enjoyed the show. They really get the audience off their feet and dancing in the aisles.

[gfkcruiser]

I really enjoy your postings as I will be on the Dec 8 sailing on Emerald. This is my first Princess cruise and I usually cruise off season so I usually can find chairs because I don't need to sit right by the pool. Except for chairs near pools, are there vacant chairs most of the time during sea days?

 

Thanks and looking forward to meeting all on board.

 

Gail

[vickie_bernie]

i've used a towel at the bottom of the door but for different reasons on the Dawn the cabin door was visible from the bed and the light coming in from the bottom drove me insane, well I am a little neurotic anyways :D and the towel did the trick

[CrusinAgain]

I can't begin to guess what effect all 3,000 people have opening & closing doors has on the system but I do know when one individual has their balcony door open there's a blast of hot air blowing through their door vent enough to heat up the hallway corridor and it's very obvious in all directions. So if the hallway is that affected it can only mean that the cold air has to be diverted from someones cabin to try & keep everything cool & someone has to suffer for that one individual.

I also doubt if anyone brings along cardboard & duct tape to cover up the door vent.

 

That is what I have heard also that by keeping your door open affects others with the a/c trying to keep up with the warm air coming in and yes those vents on the door are large and I never noticed them until we had an inside cabin on our last cruise and had the hallway lights shining thru the door vents when it was cabin lights out.

[freetocruise]

Loribelle

Make sure you find your way to our roll call for the 8th

 

We were on the Crown with you in May in Europe and were on your bus from Rome to Civitavecchio in the rain. Sorry to miss you. We're getting on th Emerald Princess on Dec. 18th as you're getting off.

[Solara]

ccrain, I always enjoy reading the live postings of your cruises. Thanks for taking the time again.

 

Vickie, I've also had to use a towel at the bottom of the door for the same reason you did on one ship, it really did the trick.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I really enjoy your postings as I will be on the Dec 8 sailing on Emerald. This is my first Princess cruise and I usually cruise off season so I usually can find chairs because I don't need to sit right by the pool. Except for chairs near pools, are there vacant chairs most of the time during sea days?

 

Thanks and looking forward to meeting all on board.

 

Gail

Gail, there are areas of the ship with acres of lounge chairs, just not by a pool (a plus if you want quiet) and not in the shade. You can always find one there.

 

Spoke with Tim last night. Beatlemania is an Eastern Caribbean show, and is performed every other cruise. These guys must board in Barbados an disembark on St. Lucia each itinerary.

[ccrain]

I really enjoy your postings as I will be on the Dec 8 sailing on Emerald. This is my first Princess cruise and I usually cruise off season so I usually can find chairs because I don't need to sit right by the pool. Except for chairs near pools, are there vacant chairs most of the time during sea days?

 

Thanks and looking forward to meeting all on board.

 

Gail

 

But there are a lot of chair hogs. The most coveted chairs are those in the shade near MUTS, and there are a lot of people out during sea days, but there are chairs in all kinds of nooks and crannies all over the ship. The ones that are the most popular, and have a fantastic view are the couple on the little wings off the aft end of deck 16. They have a great view over the stern. You can get to them through Adagio or up the stairs from the back of deck 15.

[regnig]

Spoke with Tim last night. Beatlemania is an Eastern Caribbean show, and is performed every other cruise. These guys must board in Barbados an disembark on St. Lucia each itinerary.

 

If you get a chance ask Tim if perhaps they will be switching which Emerald sailing they are doing please. The group sounds great but our March 8th sailing is the southern one.

 

Thanks, Barb

[ccrain]

Last night was Chef's Table and I'll have a complete writeup later today. Suffice it to say it was a completely different menu from our previous 5 Chef's Tables and very good. Its a must for foodies.

 

Now we must go work off last night's dinner!

[Whoo]

 

Spoke with Tim last night. Beatlemania is an Eastern Caribbean show, and is performed every other cruise. These guys must board in Barbados an disembark on St. Lucia each itinerary.

 

Sounds great!!! Can't wait to see them in January! :)

[ccrain]

12-03-10 St Lucia:

 

Another restless night. Even the can of Fosters didn’t help. The Deck Party was so energetic, the adrenaline kept flowing until early in the morning. That’s the sign of great party.

 

Lt Lucia is a beautiful island. We’ve been here several times and just chose to go Christmas shopping for the grandkids. Some Del Sol color changing nail polish should keep any teenage girl happy.

 

Breakfast was at Sabbatinis again. Judy doesn’t every want to go back to the buffet. Can’t say I blame her. Breakfast is cooked ala minuet and to order. My omelet was nice and spicy with fresh jalapenos. Judy went with the waffle. Three mochas later and we’re ready to roll.

 

Shopping was quick and painless. I don’t like to linger. Get in, get out. After shopping it was time to burn some more calories. We set up Judy’s Itouch in Club Fusion with her portable set of speakers and danced around for about an hour. The dance floor in Club Fusion is the biggest and the best of the dance floors around the ship. We tried to get a seat in the shade at MUTS this afternoon. That didn’t work out well.

 

Chef’s Table was the highlight for the evening. We met at 7pm with the matre de, and started our 13 course menu in the kitchen. The crab and lobster margarita with a very good champagne, followed by a Salmon tartare, a mini fontini cheese tart and a roasted potatoe with sour cream and caviar. Of the four, the cheese tart was the highlight and matched perfectly with the champagne.

 

Seating was in Micheangelo on deck 5. Beautiful table settings, with fresh baked breads. Love the baked goods on the ship. Most of the main dishes we’ve never had before. Instead of risotto, we had Linguini Alla Vengole, a linguini pasta with clams and tomatoes in a wine sauce. Absolutely the best starter we’ve ever had. Blew always all of the past risottos, which we’ve always thought to be fantastic. The palette cleanser was a lemon sorbet with a little mango and grey goose. Very good, but not as good a the spicy bloody mary sorbet with cracked pepper and grey goose we’ve had before.

 

For the main course, the chef simply brought out the entire kitchen. Huge lobster tails, diver scallops, filet mignon and lamb chops with a warm artichoke salad, roasted potatoes and several choices of sauces. We’ve always had flambéed veal and/or beef before, nothing like this feast. It was pretty incredible.

 

The cheese course was baked camembert cheese with pine nuts, a port wine reduction, walnut bread a date/fig concoction. This was served with the dessert wine of course. A forkful of the cheese, the port and the date/fig followed by a bit of wine was pure heaven on the taste buds. A very good lemon cello was offered at this point as well. It was much better than the lemon cello I’ve had before. Sweeter and not nearly as bitter.

 

Dessert itself was a chocolate ganache in a beer dough fritter, a French vanilla and honey ice cream over a praline. Coffee and several selections of bon bons and petti-fors followed. The strawberries dipped in white chocolate were especially good.

 

1 Champagne, 1 white, 1 red, 1 dessert and a lemon cello made up the drinks offered. Not being a wine kind of person I can’t tell you what they were except pretty darn good. The white was much better for us, the red very robust, but my favorite is always the dessert wine.

 

The linguini and the cheese course were the standouts of this meal. These two dishes were better than anything in our previous Chef’s table. They were absolutely fantabulous. That’s not to say that the other courses were bad or not very good, they were all excellent and easily were better than anything we’ve had since our last Chef’s table, but the two stood out above all the rest.

 

We got done with dinner about 10pm and headed to the production show I got the music. I can honestly say I didn’t see that much of the show. The wine, the champagne and the lemon cello decided to knock me over the head about 15 minutes into the show and it was such a lovely little nap too. Needless to say, I can’t really tell you whether the show was good or bad.

[chrysalis]

Thanks for the update.

 

We have done 3 Chef's tables...twice on the Emerald and once on the Ruby. Never once have we had scallops, lobster tails and/or lamb chops. Very nice change.

 

Enjoy.....

[BballinQT24]

Thanks for posting live! Sounds like a great cruise so far!

[regnig]

12-03-10 St Lucia:

 

Chef’s Table was the highlight for the evening. ..........

For the main course, the chef simply brought out the entire kitchen. Huge lobster tails, diver scallops, filet mignon and lamb chops with a warm artichoke salad, roasted potatoes and several choices of sauces.

 

Well, did you or did you not, have the lamb again? Were it I, you can bet I would have!

[ccrain]

Well, did you or did you not, have the lamb again? Were it I, you can bet I would have!

 

Could not resist, nor could I resist tonight either. The lamb on this ship is quite excellent.

[ccrain]

The days start to blur together – which is a good thing since this is a vacation. As usual breakfast was in Sabbatini’s, but a much lighter affair after a meal at Chef’s table. We’ve never been to Antigua before, so it was time to get off and do a little sightseeing and shopping. Nothing big, just looking around the port area and picking up a few things.

 

Oceania was in port next door. Ocean Princess, before she was transferred to P&O. The 4th of the sun class ships (Sun, Dawn, Sea and Ocean). Our very first cruise ship in June 2001 Seward to Vancouver. Our first introduction to cruising. It looked like she’s been upgraded. The bridge wings are now enclosed, not open. Looking at the balcony cabins on the decks brings back a lot of memories. Nice thing about the Sun class, except for location, the size of the opening of the balcony in the outer hull and a few quad cabins here and there, the balcony cabins were all identical in layout, the aft suites the largest and nicest in the fleet and the mini-suites were what are on most ships full suites.

 

After getting back on board we decided to get in some exercise and did a couple of miles around the promenade. Some more differences between the Emerald and the Grands. No Emerald deck balcony cabins on the promenade at the top of the stairs. Looked like all outside view cabins with portholes.

 

We have checked out the gym. The treads and elliptical are all Precor with individual TVs. Bring your earbuds.

 

It was Italian Night in the dining room. One of our favorite nights. The eggplant parmesan was very good. So good I had two. Most eggplant parmesans on land have breaded and fried eggplant, which is the correct recipe, but they grill or sauté the eggplant on Princess, not deep fried. I like this a lot more. Then straight to the Veal Scaloppini. Which was very good as well. Topped off with several Lemoncello’s, it was a pretty tasty meal. Judy had a salad and the spaghetti and meatballs, which she said was pretty good as well. No dessert for her, but I had the Tiramisu, which was very well done.

 

After dinner we did the dancing to the orchestra in Explorer’s. Unlike the Star in February, Gordon, the band leader, did a really good job of picking a good variety of tunes. Ever Rhumba’ed to White Christmas? We now have. The orchestra is very good and another example of how the entertainment on this cruise is really, really good.

 

After dancing we sat through Rollin Jay Moore’s comedy act. We’ve seen Jay on three previous cruises, but when he’s on, he’s on and he did a really good job and had some new material. He throws so much at you, some of it has to stick and make you laugh. His adult show is tomorrow night and we have to try and stay up to see it.

 

After that it was bedtime. We needed to get up at 0600 to get the day started.

[ccrain]

Using an alarm clock on a cruise ship, I believe is sacrilege. Oh well, the price we pay. Today would be our sole planned excursion on Treazzure out of Red Hook at 9am. We’ve never done this before and we were both looking forward to a semi-private, only 6 people, snorkeling and lunch trip.

 

Treazzure is a 65’ sailing yacht. Beautiful with plenty of shade, downstairs cabins available for use and Jack the black cat that runs the boat. Danielle and Joe do a really good job. We met Joe at the flagpole behind the burrito place at the American Yacht harbor. He zodiaked six of us to the boat and we took off for St John’s. Danielle served mimosas, fruit, fruit juices and coffee cake. We stopped at the first snorkeling spot and the water was absolutely the perfect temperature for snorkeling. I like snorkeling in St Thomas. The water is clear, the fish are large and plentiful, and the sites are gorgeous. I got great shots of a 20# mullet running with a bunch of yellow tail fish. Brain coral, fan coral, sea urchins, lots of little colored fish dotted the reef area. After snorkeling for 90 minutes we had a great lunch, a chicken wrap and a Caesar salad, with some “painkillers”, which were very refreshing. We headed for the second snorkeling spot off one of the resort beaches on St John to see turtles and stingrays. We saw several turtles and one stingray with lots of fish. I got some great underwater shots of all the above. We then set the sail and glided back to red hook.

 

The Treazzure is a great day sail to St John. I would highly recommend them except for one caveat, the time factor. We arrived back at Red Hook at 3:15 with all aboard at 4:30. We just barely made it. One car accident on the road out of Red Hook and we would have been toast. It would be a great day sail if you were staying on the island. To get the two snorkels locations in, with lunch and sail time takes a minimum of 6 hours which cuts it too close for the ship’s departure. But others may be more adventurous. If so, I highly recommend them.

 

The only other issues is that Judy’s motion sickness kicked into high gear during the first snorkel, the sail home and the ride home in the taxi. Had to resort to high powered anti-nausea drugs which knocked her down for the rest of the evening. Which was a shame since tonight was Disco night and we do like to hustle. Oh well, you just can’t do it all.

 

Dinner was Chef’s Dinner. First of all it appears that Princess scored a major buy of Rosemary and Thyme. It’s everywhere! On the hash browns in Sabbatinis, to at least one dish on every menu. I really like rosemary and use it a lot, especially on chickens and turkeys and the hash browns are really good in Sabbatinis, but Judy doesn’t like it nearly as much. It is a very strong flavor. Tonight the menu included Strawberry and thyme infused sorbet. It did not work. Tasted like sorbet with a hint of Nyquil. On the other hand the twice baked Goat Cheese soufflé with Garlic Sabayon was very good. Garlic and cheese? How could that go wrong? I also had the French Onion soup, which I’ve always liked. Hey, there was a table of French people next door and they slurped it all up as well! And of course I ordered the lamb and yes it came with a sprig of rosemary, and it was the 4th lamb dish I’ve had this cruise, but I can’t help myself. They really do lamb well on Princess and this was no exception – even with the rosemary! (Judy ordered the mushroom soup and the southern fried chicken but her taste buds were totally off and she was falling asleep in her plate. But she liked both dishes and I tried the chicken and found it well seasoned, crispy and very moist.) Dessert was a Menage a Trois of a raspberry pana cotta, mmmm good, a Tiny Gateau Opera (Layered cake that also very ummmy), and a honey-hazelnut semifreddo with a nutella twist (frozen stuff outside, frozen nutella ice cream inside, chocolate garnish – very good).

 

Tonight we will miss Disco night in Fusion, Billy Vader on stage, Rollin Jay Moore at midnight with his adult show and late night disco dancing, but I’m going to put her to bed early for the night.

 

Tomorrow is a sea day, then Princess Cays and then my favorite day of a cruise, turnaround day as an in-transit passenger!

 

More tomorrow!

[lynwar]

Our first cruise was on the Sun Princess so thanks for mentioning the Sun Class. I remember her fondly.

When we were on the Emerald in October, we were in E114-right at the top of the stairs from the Promenade Deck on 7. We were the second window-right as you reach the top. We were worried about other cruisers looking in but the windows are like one way-we could see out (very interesting sometimes) but folks couldn't see in. Our first cabin on the Emerald in 2007 was on the Plaza deck and our we were also on the Plaza deck on the Ruby in 2008-both windows-right above the water line! LOL.

Your cruise sounds wonderful and I am reliving ours. It appears, though, that you and Judy are much more adventurous than we were, including food choices and excursions. We thought that St. Lucia was beautiful, too, and I always look forward to pulling in to St. Thomas. I wouldn't mind visiting all those islands again.

Billy Vader was on our recent cruise, also, and Tim was the CD.

Good luck on the second leg and have a great time.

Lynne

[avalong]

Since you seem to be a major lamb freak, you must try the rack of lamb from Trader Joe's (hope there's one near you). It's in the freezer section and is flavored with rosemary & garlic (I'm like your wife and I scrape off some of the rosemary). Simplicity itself to prepare (defrost & throw in oven) & deeeeeelicious!

[mrspaper]

I've never tasted the lamb on Princess, I think I'll have to give it a try. Usually I go for the fish, since I rarely cook that at home.

 

We also did a daysail in St Thomas, returned about 3 pm, and didn't worry too much. It was an enjoyable day, like you had.

 

I hope you got to Nelson's Dockyard and Shirley Heights, etc. in Antigua. To me, it is one of the most beautiful islands I've been on.

 

Linda

See you in a few

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the continuing live.

 

The Sun Class ships have always had enclosed bridge wings. ;)