Review Emerald, April 16 2012

[Suzy Q]

I scratched out some random thoughts on our flight home. Perhaps helpful to someone.

Review Emerald Princess – April16, 2012

Embarkation – quick and painless. In cabin by noon. Quick lunch Horizon Court.

Cabin – Vista Suite D736 aft. Cabin is amazing-- flower arrangement waiting. Balcony is ginormous. Beam to the left as you walk out. This in no way obstructs the view or interferes with balcony activities. Balcony has a teak table with four padded arm chairs, two padded lounge chairs and two occasional tables and there is still room to walk around. There are two sliding doors out to the balcony. BTW, the balcony is completely covered. Sun may appear late in the day. I like to tan on my own balcony. This is seldom possible with this cabin. Bathroom is huge, however, there are no shelves in the sink / vanity area. NONE. Also, princess needs to rethink their paper product supplier as toilet paper and facial tissue feel like they came directly from the forest. DH was concerned that I would never go back to a mini suite after this. He is justified in that. Stocked mini bar. WiFi in cabin. Free laundry. Canapés.

Ship in general – common areas are spotless. Public bathrooms are clean. Healthy, no Noro! Ship is very large, our cabin, which is the last one aft on Dolphin deck, was a trek. Also, the wake noise was louder than expected. We had an aft cabin on the Amazon/Royal cruise. Bigger ship, bigger noise. Pools, chair hogs in abundance. Found a couple of chairs near a vent but gave up as it was so loud. Did not visit Lotus Spa or Sanctuary. Kiosks to swipe your card and get folio info. Pursers Desk--man completely mistaken about my half used coffee card. Insisted it was "not valid" Had six punches remaining and we used them later throughout the cruise. The Pursers Deck is inundated with random questions/issues/complaints--I get it--and IMO, they need to squeeze out a smile or two despite this. MUTS--seriously? in the daytime?

Chefs Table – called dine line upon embarkation explained I don’t eat red meat--no lamb, veal, etc., so was not optimistic. Surprisingly we were invited. Three words describe this experience A-MA-ZING!

Meet & Greet gathering--I had sent invitations to several officers and we had a lovely turnout. The Commodore, Cruise Director, Hotel Manager and two or three others stopped by. It was great and everyone had an opportunity to get photos with the Commodore and the CD. They are working after all and I appreciated them taking the time to see our group.

Casino--I won!, no wait, then I lost. One side is smoking and one is non. One night was all non and that was great. One of our group arranged a slot pull and that was a hoot. I would like to see the "ticket" system implemented instead of the current cumbersome redemption method they have for your slot credits. Should be like Vegas, you hit the cash out button and you're done.

Room Service--fast, accurate and Anna was super sweet and friendly. Room steward--not bad, not fantastic, in the middle.

Passenger Demo--older crowd (hey, we're older). Ran into a teen in the elevator and she told us there were only 30 kids onboard. Pick your vacation time. If we travel with our granddaughter, we go when there will be tons of kids.

Dining & Food--had Botticelli late seating. Maitre 'd stopped by each evening (knowing I didn't eat meat) to ask what I would like the next night! Penne arrabbiatta, puttanesca, and, of course, Alfredo. Very attentive. Sabatinis--breakfast, if you are in a suite. Worth it. Daniel and Jules were super. Dinner one night here--super. International Cafe--addicted to the tuna sandwiches--not enough seating here as many are hanging out or watching entertainment. Horizon Court--not crazy about any buffet, but DH would eat there every day. The Horizon Court is set up with the "station" style, which is way more efficient than the old "line" style. I wanted cheese and crackers, but a tray is $12--go up to Skywalkers and have tons of really good appetizers each PM 5--7 with a drink special for $3.99--suite, elite and platinum..

Entertainment--Beatle Mania was the best--two shows. Orchestra/bands/musicians are great. Singers and dancers, well, they work hard.

Shops Onboard--typical merchandise.

Formal nights--two. Most people dressed up, but not crazy.

Disembarkation--flawless. Off by 8Am, through Customs and to the airport by 8:30 for our flight at 11:30.

Not detailing the ports as the Emerald is heading transatlantic and there is a separate board section for this.

[Tak8]

Glad you enjoyed The Emerald. A great ship. I love the VS aft.

[Sincity]

I love the Emerald's gym because they have a Smith machine. I don't think all of the ships in the fleet have a Smith.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Mmmmmmm...pasta arrabbiata and putanesca. They became my favorite pastas when we were on the Emerald. Add some steamed broccoli and asparagus and I'd call it dinner.

 

Thanks for your review. Did the Beatle Maniacs do two shows in the Princess Theater or one of them in Club Fusion? Did they do the Sgt. Pepper costumes? Was there a string quartet? Did Captain Pomata come to the M&G or was it Captain Nikko Benetti?

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your report and glad you had a good time

[srpilo]

Good time had by all, good to hear ..

 

 

 

Thanks and welcome back

Srpilo

[tip]

I wanted cheese and crackers, but a tray is $12

 

We shall be on board the Emerald next January and look forward to it. It is certainly a minor point, but I am confused about your comment re. the cheese and crackers. We enjoy something like this each day on our balcony while watching the sunset and having some liquid refreshment. Was the $12 charge for room service or cheese and crackers to go from the Horizon Court?

[SRQfireman]

I watched your slot pull for alittle bit and you guys were at about $100...I quit watching and it seemed like you guys were still playing another 15 mins later when I looked over there......you guys get any money back or ya run it down to zero? I know everybody seemed to be having a good time hooping and hollering even if somebody hit 5 credits

RE: cheese and crackers....if you can find them at the HC, there is never a charge for anything there.....so it had to be room service that charges that (I don't know since I'm not into that)

[Coolmama_1]

I enjoyed your review. Thanks for sharing.

[highheel girl]

Thanks for the review. :)

[beachnut41955]

Hi Suzy Q. Loved your review. It was the most wonderful cruise I have ever had the opportunity to be on. This was my first cruise with Princess and I am definitely a Princess convert now. The Emerald was absolutely beautiful. We had an inside cabing on Aloha (deck 12) and it was just fine for us. We kept the TV on the bridge cam so we felt we had a view to the outside world. We sure weren't in the cabin very much!! Our cabin steward Julius was so nice and kept our room in tip-top shape. He always had a smile and nice compliment each time he saw us.

Thank you for all the work on the meet and greet. It was wonderful and I was so happy that the ship "higher-ups" showed up. I thought it spoke well for them that they took time out of their day to come. It was a lovely time and I so enjoyed meeting all of you from the Cruise Critic boards.

We did the EZ Air on this cruise and it was wonderful to not deal with our bags until we reaced Atlanta. Actually, by the time I got from the gate to baggage claim my luggage was waiting on me on the belt.

We did Anytime Dining and ate in the Michaelangelo Dining Room each night with different people. The food was wonderful and the service was as well. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many different and nice people from all over the world.

I guess the only negative I have of the cruise was having to get off the ship. I wanted to stay on the beautiful Emerald for the transatlantic crossing. I am already looking forward to another Princess cruise in the future. I just hope it won't be too long. It has been so hard having to return to work this week. I just keep telling myself that I am working so that I can go on another cruise.

Shirley

[Suzy Q]

We may have been a teensy bit loud at the slot pull, and lost our investments. :mad:

 

Cheese and crackers are $12 from room service. HC is free. Speaking of HC, I should have mentioned the staff there--they are tireless, friendly and attentive.

 

Shirley! You're home safely. I enjoyed our M & G too.

 

We had Commodore Giuseppe Romano and CD was Peter Tredgett. Both very friendly and patient with us.

 

Beatle Mania was one show in the Princess and once at Club Fusion. Didn't see a string quartet but there are so many venues on this ship, there could very well be one somewhere.

[greenbar]

Hi SuzyQ,

 

Your review was spot on. We had a wonderful cruise and as always, the Cruise Critic roll call was icing on the cake.

 

Hope to see you and Peter on another cruise someday.

 

Greenbar

[Mom33]

We may have been a teensy bit loud at the slot pull, and lost our investments. :mad:

 

Cheese and crackers are $12 from room service. HC is free. Speaking of HC, I should have mentioned the staff there--they are tireless, friendly and attentive.

 

Shirley! You're home safely. I enjoyed our M & G too.

 

We had Commodore Giuseppe Romano and CD was Peter Tredgett. Both very friendly and patient with us.

 

Beatle Mania was one show in the Princess and once at Club Fusion. Didn't see a string quartet but there are so many venues on this ship, there could very well be one somewhere.

 

Thank you for the review! We too enjoyed the Emerald and thought the ship was in great shape.

 

For future reference, you can get cheese and cracker platters in the International Cafe in the evening and take them anywhere you want, for no charge. They are also on the dining room menu as desserts or as starters.

They might be different than the 12.00 platters, but they were just great for 2 people.:D