Emerald Reflections by a First Timer

[Been There, Planning That]

Random Observations on our First Princess Cruise

 

These observations are influenced by several HAL cruises, and one Celebrity. While we’ve completed two NCL cruises, I don’t think they’re marketing to a similar audience.

 

We did a 27 day b2b Baltic and TA crossing on the Emerald.

 

Mass Market Expectations

 

Met

• Pleasant dining experiences in the dining rooms. We switched to Traditional when it became available as we weren’t keen on the ‘anytime you’d like to wait’ option at popular times between 6:00 and 7:30.

• Generally good food, attractively presented in the dining room. We enjoyed Sabatini’s which offered a spectacular sail away experience. The food and service in the Crown Grill were superb but we found the quantity of each item almost obscene. Both of these specialty restaurants offered piping hot food – a real treat.

• Our cabin steward was excellent but his friendly and informative greeting to first timers was a bonus not offered on the other lines.

• We rec’d attentive and friendly service throughout the ship.

• We only took two Princess tours. The guide in Oslo was excellent while the kindest things I could say about our Rostock guide was that she was sweet and spoke perfect English.

• Announcements were few and far between and never intrusive or loud.

• The few evening shows we attended were appreciated by the majority. We personally preferred the string quartet and pianists performing in different venues.

 

 

 

Exceeded

• The port lectures by John Lawrence were excellent and the other lectures were as good as others we’ve heard.

• Princess seemed to offer more generous port advice for those exploring independently. We really appreciated this.

• When an officer casually asked about our day ashore I mentioned our disappointment with the guide in Rostock. I did acknowledge the excellence of our earlier guide in Oslo. I was surprised with a follow up note. The guide was sweet, just not knowledgeable beyond identifying buildings. Princess obviously strives to provide excellent guides.

• HAL provided a retired minster who offered devotionals on the many sea days on a longer cruise, but Bible Studies and Sunday services on this Princess voyage were led by a vibrant and enthusiastic young man.

• A note of commendation to the chief housekeeper about the excellence of our cabin steward elicited both a voice mail and note of thanks for the positive feedback.

• Not once did we receive a facecloth or towel past their prime.

• We really appeciated the lack of horrid disembarkation meetings when the crew was paraded out and non stop mention made that only an evaluation of 10 or perfect was acceptable. There was plenty of opportunity to send notes of pleasure to individual crew members and then an evaluation was Emailed. Insisting upon a perfect review negates the purpose of evaluation and both reward and areas for improvement.

 

Disappointing

• We were absolutely starved for news. Only CNN was offered and not their 24 hours news service. No BBC. CNN was often unavailable and only for the final few days was an American news flyer distributed suspect the ship’s receiver was at fault as internet connections were good. Other lines spoiled us with a summary of Canadian wire service stories and the availability of American and Australian flyers.

• The identical card making kits were offered three times. A repeat on the second leg is understandable but not twice on the same cruise. Each time cruise staffers in charge were keen and friendly.

• No proper origami paper was provided and the enthusiastic cruise staff member had to cut computer paper and we had to imagine a bit of colour.

• I guess that energy conservation dictated that cabin drapes be closed tight and all lights turned off after the room is cleaned. We personally found it depressing to enter a pitch black room. One low wattage light left on would suffice to please us. (We didn’t request this, because we’d confirmed with fellow travelers that darkened cabins were the norm)

• I found the thin mattress rock hard and even lumpy, but my husband didn’t complain and our mattresses were the same. Pillows suited us perfectly.

• With the advent of electronic readers few if any English books are left in the book exchange. Times are a-changing.

 

Opportunities I Missed

• There were book discussions which sounded great, but I didn’t attend because I hadn’t read the books. Should we cruise with Princess again, I’d search on line for the book list and come prepared.

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

 

Thanks for posting,

 

what did you do in Greenock,

 

 

yours Shogun

[Been There, Planning That]

We took a great tour organized within the Roll Call to Stirling Castle and Lock Lomond.

 

Ruth

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the "reflections".

[caribill]

 

• When an officer casually asked about our day ashore I mentioned our disappointment with the guide in Rostock.

 

 

• We were absolutely starved for news. Only CNN was offered and not their 24 hours news service. No BBC. CNN was often unavailable and only for the final few days was an American news flyer distributed suspect the ship’s receiver was at fault as internet connections were good. Other lines spoiled us with a summary of Canadian wire service stories and the availability of American and Australian flyers.

 

If you have a disappointing Princess shore excursion experience, you should report it to the shore excursion desk. If the excursion did not meet Princess expectations, they will sometimes give a partial refund.

 

I am surprised to hear about the lack of BBC. It has always been on the Princess ships we have sailed on.

 

Even with BBC, there is often a lack of real news. No nationwide American channel has real news 24 hours a day. Some have news part of the day and opinions the remaining time.

 

Princess used to have a daily printed news summary, but discountinued it about a decade ago.

 

Satellites used to broadcast TV channels and satellites used for Internet are not always the same ones. When crossing the ocean, there is often a lack of TV satellites because they are usually positioned to be over areas of population.

[Been There, Planning That]

I should clarify that I'd no intention of registering our disappointment with the tour guide in Rostock. The comment was in response to a question. And we never even thought of asking for even a partial refund.

 

As I'd mentioned, the guide was sweet, eager, in love and well intentioned. She spoke perfect English.

 

She'd just graduated from a technical college in maths and sciences. This knowledge didn't provide adequate historical content beyond a surface show and tell -- and short on the tell part.

 

The retired teacher in me wanted to make some suggestions but there was no private opportunity.

 

Ruth

[Magellan321]

Thanks for the review.....wonderful format and unbiased review.

[caribill]

I should clarify that I'd no intention of registering our disappointment with the tour guide in Rostock. The comment was in response to a question. And we never even thought of asking for even a partial refund.

 

 

If people who are on Princess excursions have a less than expected experience, the situation cannot be improved for future cruisers unless Princess knows there is a problem.

[Shogun]

Hi Ruth,

 

Thank you for reply, while you were at Stirling I was visiting the Emerald,

 

the story of my day is a few pages back.

 

yours Shogun

[musicmom3]

Enjoyed your observations. Any comments on the flow of the ship? It's larger in passenger capacity than we have ever sailed, and I was wondering if it felt crowded. Would also appreciate any cabin/deck observations. We're looking at a TA for 2013.

 

As an avid paper-crafter myself, a repeating card-making class is nuts. There are so many materials and techniques that a new class could be planned for every day of the year without running out of ideas. And origami without the paper...wow. Hope they gave you some crayons for add-your-own color!

 

Thanks for any information.

[Been There, Planning That]

Musicmum3

 

First let me say this was our first TA and we enjoyed the experience. I'm not sure we'd be able to enjoy 6 straight sea days but this one was perfect -- four being the maximum in a stretch. I'm sure we'd enjoy a more generously sized suite or even a balcony, as my husband enjoys writing and we in fact did spent time in our obstructed view cabin.

 

It was the largest ship we'd ever been on and were surprised how 'uncrowded' it felt.

 

All the lectures were well attended but we always managed to find a seat together by arriving just a few minutes early. The few evening shows were packed but again we found seats albeit in the centre of the row, making polite escape impossible.

 

The cruise staff rotated among craft classes were eager and pleasant but I don't think any one of them was a natural crafter.

 

If you're a reader, do find the books listed -- not sure where on the Princess site - as I suspect that would have been a lively discussion as we discussed books with our many table mates and there sure were keen readers aboard.

 

Ruth

[Seafoam Green]

What a great post! I really like how you categorized your thoughts in relation to your expectations and actual experiences. It would be great if others would adopt your format.

 

Thank you.

[Been There, Planning That]

Why thank you Seafoam for the compliment. It's a format I'd appreciate others would use from time to time.

 

Ruth

[patrickmoran]

Any comments on the flow of the ship? It's larger in passenger capacity than we have ever sailed, and I was wondering if it felt crowded. Would also appreciate any cabin/deck observations. We're looking at a TA for 2013.

 

We were on the cruise with Ruth and greatly enjoyed it. Generally we had smooth seas but did have 2 "rougher" days. Then the decks were moving. So when considering cabin location, I recommend lower deck and more central location. We had an inside up front on Plaza deck which was fine. But the motion was much more pronounced on Lido upfront.

Lido buffet can get very crowded for breakfast and lunch. Finding a table can be a challenge though staff was helpful - lots of table sharing. Breakfast in MDR is good but can be slow if sharing a table of 6 or more. We asked for a table for 2 and usually had no problems.

[musicmom3]

Funny how some ships can feel overwhelming and others not. On our Celebrity Solstice cruise, it seemed the entire population was forever crowding around the glass elevators. On a voyage with NCL, there were private pockets everywhere. I don't pretend to get it.

 

Ruth, going to take your suggestion about the books to heart...being an avid reader, I can imagine good back-and-forthing enlivening a sea day.

 

I also like this type of review format. It is comprehensive and grounded, something to strive for.

[shepp]

If you're a reader, do find the books listed -- not sure where on the Princess site - as I suspect that would have been a lively discussion as we discussed books with our many table mates and there sure were keen readers aboard.

 

 

Or not.

 

I was on a cruise where "Jane Eyre" was the book club selection. I finished it before sailaway, only to discover that out of the half-dozen or so people who showed up at the book club meeting, only one other person had read the whole thing, and the staffer leading the discussion hadn't read a word of it.

 

Not exactly stimulating.

[musicmom3]

I hope you walked out! I would have trouble displaying a show of patience at that point!

[shepp]

I hope you walked out! I would have trouble displaying a show of patience at that point!

 

Nah, I just ruined it for almost everyone by telling them what happened to Rochester's wife. ;)

[Tatka]

Or not.

 

I was on a cruise where "Jane Eyre" was the book club selection. I finished it before sailaway, only to discover that out of the half-dozen or so people who showed up at the book club meeting, only one other person had read the whole thing, and the staffer leading the discussion hadn't read a word of it.

 

Not exactly stimulating.

 

 

"Jane Eyre"? Seriously? I thought it was a book for kids... or teens. :)

[susancruzs]

Thanks for your review, enjoyed reading it and the format. I'm on the B2B next year and can't wait! I've done several TAs but never the Baltic so I'm very excited. Figure as long as I'm going so far, with the intense itinerary might as well do the TA, too.

 

I got the CD from John Lawrence going to watch it when we get a rainy day. I don't plan on doing many Princess tours as it seems most places are very doable. I will probably do Princess for Russia as I am traveling by myself. I've done private tours but don't want to go that route for St. Petersburg.

 

The lack of news would bother me, too. I do like to know what is going on in the world. My last TA was in 2005 on the Sea Princess and we weren't that out of touch.

[TracieABD]

Thanks for the review!:)

[rdsqrl]

Nah, I just ruined it for almost everyone by telling them what happened to Rochester's wife. ;)

The butler did it.

[rasybanks]

Him

We were on the same b2 b as Ruth and Patrick. Would highly reccommend SPB tours for St. Petersburg over Princess. We had a fantastic 2 days organized by Patrick. Our cousins took Princess the year before, paid more and saw much less.

Private tours are far better

Sharon

[caribill]

I will probably do Princess for Russia as I am traveling by myself. I've done private tours but don't want to go that route for St. Petersburg.

 

 

 

Honest, taking a two-day tour with SPB, Red October, Alla or DenRus is a good alternative to the Princess excursion.

 

o You will see more

o You will save $$$

o You will be in a smaller group

o You will get back to the ship before it departs

 

Having said that, if you do take a Princess tour you will enjoy it. People have been happy with their tours from Princess and all of the suggested independents.