A (Back 2 Back) Review of the Emerald in the Caribbean over Christmas & New Years

[Tina-Ann]

As I begin this review I am sitting at the aft pool, looking at the most beautiful sunrise as the Emerald Princess heads back to Houston. Taking a few minutes to gaze at this viewpoint should be on your list of must-do's while on board.

Now for some background info....

 

We are a family of four (my husband and myself are hovering in our late fourties and our two boys....ages 15 and 18). We are from the Seattle area and this was around our twentieth-ish cruise (always on Princess). We enjoy "escaping" for the holidays and were glad to have our oldest son home from college for break. After paying for airfare we decided to do a back to back. We chose Houston for embarkation simply because we wanted a change from the Mexican Riv, found reasonable airfare and while we have done this cruise before - we are divers and these ports of call have great diving! So with each of us packing up 1 suitcase per person and a carry-on bag of "essential" dive gear we flew out on Saturday December 20th (1 day early).

 

DISCLAMER: So to not break CC rules of posting private companies for transportation/tours etc....I won't mention names, but feel free to inquire and I will tell you who we used...who was great and who fell short.

 

Anyways, I had pre-arranged for private transportation to pick us up at IAH and deliver us to the Kemah Boardwalk Hotel - with a stop along the way for a couple of bottles of wine. Kemah Boardwalk was a great place to stay for 1 night. We would definitely recommend it, especially if travelling with kids - our boys were maybe a tiny bit old, but a fun night nonetheless. We had a taxi transport us to Bayport Cruise Terminal the next morning - 15 minutes and $20. We arrived at 10:15, a little too early. They would not let people go thru security and get checked in until 10:30. Check in was easy and for those of you interested....yes, they did check carry-ons for liquor (the first 50 people squeaked by simply because the "inspection table" was not manned for the first 15 minutes). The suite/elite lounge was nice as was priority boarding and at 11:30 we were on board. All very smooth.....

 

The Emerald Princess: We have sailed on her multiple times. And she is looking great (I hear she will be going into dry dock for 6 weeks in the coming year). Anyways, the ship is beautiful and the staff was amazing. We enjoyed the food, had anytime dining - oh we ate in Michelangelo and our waiter was a young woman from South Africa, her name...Zanne and the head waiter was Carlos....seek them out (although I believe Zanne's contract is up March 1, 2015). Zanne was so incredible we sat in her section both weeks. And Carlos (from Chile), the neatest man you will ever meet. The menus as well as formal nights were changed up for Christmas and New Years. And yes...Santa made an appearance and there was a New Years Eve balloon drop and party hats. Oh and NO Chef's Table either week because of the holidays, we were bummed about that. On a down note...we thought that the entertainment was a bit sub par - both in quantity and quality (piano man was a dud, production shows were typical, but we missed having that second option most nights - only 1 comedian 1 night) - just our opinion, I'm thinking it had something to do with the holidays maybe?! We did enjoy watching the Seahawk/rams game on MUTS Sunday night (go Hawks). Not much rhyme or reason as to what game(s) is showed on MUTS

 

Our rooms: So we booked two rooms - an inside and an obstructed OV....the first week that Ob OV was upgraded to a balcony, second week the Ob OV was upgraded to a true (unobstructed) OV...the rooms and stewards were great. The free mini bar set up was appreciated ...and for those elites that dont know, you can substitute items for other items (but pop for pop substitutions and booze for booze or everything for a bottle of wine). We took full use of free laundry (in fact due to the timing of this cruise our 18 y/o did not have time to do laundry so he literally came with a suitcase of dirty clothes that he sent out the first day (with a 24 hour turn around) and will head back to college with a suitcase full of clean clothes.

 

Fellow passengers: I will pick and choose my words carefully, trying to show tollerance.....so during the holidays we (you) have to expect large family groups and lots of children. I think I heard there were approximately 500 kids over Christmas week and 740 over New Years week. Some (most, actually) were well behaved. A few not....but honestly, the parents need to take the brunt of the responsibility for the unpleasant issues. Like the "fecal incidents" that caused one of the pools to be drained....not once but twice (parents, please keep un-trained kids out of the pools), the small children unaccompanied in the hot tubs, the small children unaccompanied in the elevators playing the "let's close the door, no open the door, no close the door" game, the children in the back (adult) pool - BTW, what age constitues "adult" in regards to using that back pool?? And my favorite, the adorable 5 year old that decided to use the silverware and plates (in the dining room) as a drum set. Parents, c'mon, the antics of your precious off-spring are only cute to you. Now to the adults - First off, please do not park your strollers in the hallways. And this is a shout out to all you future seat-holding, individuals...if you think that you can "save" seven seats in the Explorers Lounge - during the one comedian show - well think again. And if you think that a camera, book, or sweater screams "off-limits", well just ask the guy how well that worked for him....yes, I shut him down and thank goodness I am agile enough to physically climb over the block he put in and was not intimidated when he asked me for my name nor was I phased when he reported me to the drink server - and yes I laughed (out loud) when the server backed up the no seat holding policy. And I felt terrible for the mom and daughter who the chair hogger "allowed" to temporarily sit in his then remaing three seats he was holding - only to kick them out when his family arrived one minute before the show started. And the hogger only made it worse when his 5 (young) children lost interest in the show 10 minutes in. While I hold you - Mr. Chair Hogger responsible for your misplaced sence of entitlement and lack of courtesy to fellow cruisers, as well as you....Moms and Dads who are in denial as to what your children do when you are not around....Well you are not soley responsible, let's face it Princess (and I know you are reading this) you have helped to create these cruising monsters by not enforcing your policies. 'Nuf said.

 

Moving on to Ports of Call....

 

Roatan: On previous visits to Roatan we had done Tabyana Beach for snorkeling, done zip-lining, have visited the Gumbalina monkey/bird park and had dove there...so the first week we hired an independant driver (which we found outside the gate). Basically it was a waste of $60 plus we were in a (car) accident which cost us an additional $40 (long story). So the 2nd week we dove - great diving and we used an awesome dive shop (let me know if you want the name).

 

Belize: Again on previous cruises (with Belize stops) we had done the cave tubing and have also dove there. So the first week I booked a (private) tour to the Lamanai Ruins...indeed it was a full day, but very cool. We would recommend it. For our second week we dove - great diving still, but out of the three ports our least favorite.

 

Cozumel: Both weeks we dove. If you dive...dive Cozumel!

 

The weather: If you think Houston will be nice and warm....think again - Houston was chilly. First sea day also chilly. Some port days had rain, some not...you never know...for example the first week in Belize the ship's snorkeling tours were cancelled due to rain and wind. And then some days were smoking hot - sunscreen necessary! So pack a little of everything.

 

Shopping: We didnt shop much, but would say the downtown area of Cozumel would be the best place to buy souvenirs.

 

A couple hiccups: Tender priority (in Belize) for elites....some crew is a bit unknowledgeable regarding elite priority tendering status. So yes we are elite, do we care about priority tendering...well no, but if it is advertised as a perk then it should be a perk, not a point of confusion. Another hiccup was the 'in transit' procedure for back to back - so this is our second B2B cruise and this one was equally confusing. The issue seems to incur if having to change rooms - the procedure is that 'someone' will move your hanging garments and suitcases. The question is who. Passenger services told us to tell our cabin steward our cabin steward told us to tell our cabin steward for the 2nd week, he told us to call passenger services, passenger services called the floor manager who contacted our room steward who then thought we were mad at him....at that point I wrote a note with our new cabin number, laid it on the bed with our luggage and left the room. Sure enough a half hour later our things were moved.

 

Disembarkation: From the time we left our room at 9:00am to the time we were curb side...10 minutes (and we always carry off our own luggage - in fact we packed up our last morning (we don't want to waste our last sea day packing). Our only problem....the company I had prearranged to pick us up...didn't. No biggy, we just took a cab - 1 hour (to IAH) and $105 for the four of us and luggage...easy.

 

And so as I am finishing this review, my view is a bit less enjoyable...us sitting at the airport waiting for our 5:30pm flight back to Seattle. But we had an awesome two weeks and our still thrilled with Princess cruise lines. Let me know if you have any questions, otherwise happy cruising everyone.

[JF - retired RRT]

DISCLAMER: So to not break CC rules of posting private companies for transportation/tours etc....I won't mention names, but feel free to inquire and I will tell you who we used...who was great and who fell short. I think it is Travel Agents, not private tours.

 

The free mini bar set up was appreciated ...and for those elites that don't know, you can substitute items for other items (but pop for pop substitutions and booze for booze or everything for a bottle of wine). You can also get 2 coffee cards if you don't drink.

 

And this is a shout out to all you future seat-holding, individuals...if you think that you can "save" seven seats in the Explorers Lounge - during the one comedian show - well think again. And if you think that a camera, book, or sweater screams "off-limits", well just ask the guy how well that worked for him....yes, I shut him down and thank goodness I am agile enough to physically climb over the block he put in and was not intimidated when he asked me for my name nor was I phased when he reported me to the drink server - and yes I laughed (out loud) when the server backed up the no seat holding policy. WOW!! I would love to do that, but DH would probably jump off the ship (or throw me over the rail). He refuses to confront HOGS.

 

A couple hiccups: Tender priority (in Belize) for elites....some crew is a bit unknowledgeable regarding elite priority tendering status. What was the issue? Did they refuse to allow you into the line without a tender ticket?

 

Disembarkation: Our only problem....the company I had prearranged to pick us up...didn't. Could you post the name of the company? Want to make sure we don't use them!

See above - thanks

[Tina-Ann]

Did not want to take any chances.

 

Good to know about the coffee cards.

 

Hoggers are the worst!

 

Yes, regarding tendering they wanted us to be in the dining room and just collect tender tickets with everyone else..

 

Transportation company to NOT use is Houston 24 hour airport taxi & town car service.

[JF - retired RRT]

Did not want to take any chances.

 

Good to know about the coffee cards.

 

Hoggers are the worst!

 

Yes, regarding tendering they wanted us to be in the dining room and just collect tender tickets with everyone else..

 

Transportation company to NOT use is Houston 24 hour airport taxi & town car service.

Strange about the tendering, maybe you should carry a copy of the list of perks.

 

Thanks for the info about the trans. co. - not the one we booked with:cool:

[Bimmer09]

Great, detailed report!

 

Thanks for taking care of the seat hogger!

 

Norris

[compozer]

Tina,

 

Great review.

 

Wish I would have been in the lounge to watch you in action.

 

We were also on the New Years cruise and I need to add my story of the little boy in the buffet. Other than on the Royal, we don't go to the Horizon Court but we got back mid afternoon from diving and were too hungry to wait for room service (it took about twice as long as normal). I noticed two small boys who could barely reach very high. One would pull out a dessert and stick his finger in it, lick it and then put it back. I looked for a parent but of course none were around. I went up to him and said "young man, you need to take the bowls that you stuck your finger in and licked". He just looked at me. I said it again but firmer. Nothing. I finally said "take the bowls you stuck your finger in and don't do it again". He did take one but I didn't stay around to see what happened.

 

So, never take the dishes closest to the edge - take the high ones.

 

 

I do need to add that, like Tina, most of the kids were well behaved. But I am so sick of seeing the little kids packed in the hot tubs for hours and, again, no parents around. We have our own tub so we never go in them but I know many adults wanted to use them but could never find an empty one.

 

Princess - please start enforcing your rules. I was not pleased with the dress in the MDR. Shorts on formal! Blue jeans and t-shirts every night. And why do men have to wear their hats in the dinning room?? I know the crew is afraid of confrontation with passengers but it is time to either change the rules or do something.

 

Sandy

[GradUT]

I do need to add that, like Tina, most of the kids were well behaved. But I am so sick of seeing the little kids packed in the hot tubs for hours and, again, no parents around. We have our own tub so we never go in them but I know many adults wanted to use them but could never find an empty one.

 

Princess - please start enforcing your rules. I was not pleased with the dress in the MDR. Shorts on formal! Blue jeans and t-shirts every night. And why do men have to wear their hats in the dinning room?? I know the crew is afraid of confrontation with passengers but it is time to either change the rules or do something.

 

Sandy

 

Ditto, Sandy. We were on the Christmas cruise on the Emerald and I must say that I did not encounter any misbehaving children. (In fact, I was suprised at how few children there were.) I did notice the hot tubs were pretty full of kids but, like you, we have our own hot tub at home, so we didn't bother with those on the Emerald. However, on other cruises, I have told kids to get out of the hot tub if their parents weren't with them.

 

Also, I'm a pretty casual dresser in "real life", but on cruises I always abide by the dress code for dinner. I never noticed a problem with the dress code on our two previous Princess cruises (Panama Canal and Black Sea), but I was amazed to see the diners at the table next to us in shorts and T-shirts. Princess needs to grow a pair and enforce their own rules!

[mysaddlebred000]

Princess needs to grow a pair and enforce their own rules!

 

That is for sure!!!!

 

My wife is ready to write Princess a letter on this subject but probably won't because nothing will come of it.

 

Is it just our society these days?

 

We prefer longer cruises but then you get a different set of issues - a lot of "well" seasoned cruisers that think they should get "special" treatment because they have cruises so much. My wife has done a little research and it seems that the majority of those people always book insides and constantly want price drops even when it is for new bookings or after final payment and then get them - again Princess doesn't follow their rules. These people never spend an extra dime on anything and complain about everything. They are constantly looking for reasons to ask for an OBC.

 

I am afraid that this is just a sign of the times. I could write a short story just from our last round trip flight about rude passengers. I had to hold my wife down twice because she was so upset and I was afraid she might get kicked off the plane if she spoke up. She thought she would receive applause some the other passengers but I did not want to risk it.

 

So, any suggestions who we could write to that would listen?

[triple7tahoe]

who was your Captain and CD?

WE board in a month and have not received that Info.

Thanks

[Northender]

Thanks for the great review and double thanks for sticking up to that Chair Hog. Princess should hire you to enforce the rules.:D:D

[BM64]

Tina Ann we had booked the same limo company as you and guess what they didn't pick us up at the pier either. They called about an hour before they were supposed to get us and said the car had been in an accident and they would not be coming to get us. We also just got a cab to IAH not a big deal.

 

We had a great time and would sail on the Emerald again in a heartbeat. We thought the crew was extremely friendly and did a great job for the most part. Were a little disappointed in the MDR service and entertainment but all in all a great cruise and a awesome way to ring in the New Year!

[Tina-Ann]

who was your Captain and CD?

WE board in a month and have not received that Info.

Thanks

 

Captain: Martin Stenzel

Cruise Director: Kelvin Joy

[Tina-Ann]

Tina Ann we had booked the same limo company as you and guess what they didn't pick us up at the pier either. They called about an hour before they were supposed to get us and said the car had been in an accident and they would not be coming to get us. We also just got a cab to IAH not a big deal.

 

We had a great time and would sail on the Emerald again in a heartbeat. We thought the crew was extremely friendly and did a great job for the most part. Were a little disappointed in the MDR service and entertainment but all in all a great cruise and a awesome way to ring in the New Year!

 

Yep, we got the same phone call....20 minutes before they were to pick us up, in fact we were in the customs line at the time. And yep, got a taxi and it was basically the same price...$105.

 

And I totally agree with the (friendly) crew, and yeah we were a bit disappointed with the entertainment...or kinda lack there of.

[OCruisers]

Thanks for your review!

Did you actually have to go to get a tender pass?

We've never had that happen to us. Just showing the Black card has always been enough. :confused:

LuLu

[Tina-Ann]

Thanks for your review!

Did you actually have to go to get a tender pass?

We've never had that happen to us. Just showing the Black card has always been enough. :confused:

LuLu

 

Yes, the crew manning the desk in the dining room gave us tender passes and I questioned the fact that we were elite (in fact we were with a couple in a suite - and they had to get a tender ticket)....but no one cared.

[mysaddlebred000]

Just curious,

 

after I have had issues and wrote about it in the after cruise survey, I would receive a phone call from someone at Princess. They are always so nice that you hate to bitch very much. But has anyone every talked to them about the crew not enforcing their rules??? And if so, what was their response?

[ChrisRobinson]

I complained. In person onboard and in a formal letter post cruise. I was given a bottle of wine onboard and a $100 dollar future OBC I never used.

The issue: Aft Pool, Adult, with a father and a diapered baby in it. I asked the dad if he realized this was an adult pool. He said prove it. I pointed to the sign. He said "go complain." I did. Soon several gentlemen in white suits appeared, had a brief conversation with the dad/baby, and left them there to swim. The white suits said the baby was not bothering anyone. The rest of the cruise, the baby daddy gave me the death stare. Princess rule enforcement fail. That was in 2010 or 2011... This is my first time back on PCL since that quality failure.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[satxdiver]

Tina,

 

Great review.

 

Wish I would have been in the lounge to watch you in action.

 

We were also on the New Years cruise and I need to add my story of the little boy in the buffet. Other than on the Royal, we don't go to the Horizon Court but we got back mid afternoon from diving and were too hungry to wait for room service (it took about twice as long as normal). I noticed two small boys who could barely reach very high. One would pull out a dessert and stick his finger in it, lick it and then put it back. I looked for a parent but of course none were around. I went up to him and said "young man, you need to take the bowls that you stuck your finger in and licked". He just looked at me. I said it again but firmer. Nothing. I finally said "take the bowls you stuck your finger in and don't do it again". He did take one but I didn't stay around to see what happened.

 

So, never take the dishes closest to the edge - take the high ones.

 

 

I do need to add that, like Tina, most of the kids were well behaved. But I am so sick of seeing the little kids packed in the hot tubs for hours and, again, no parents around. We have our own tub so we never go in them but I know many adults wanted to use them but could never find an empty one.

 

Princess - please start enforcing your rules. I was not pleased with the dress in the MDR. Shorts on formal! Blue jeans and t-shirts every night. And why do men have to wear their hats in the dinning room?? I know the crew is afraid of confrontation with passengers but it is time to either change the rules or do something.

 

Sandy

 

Yes great review and I also would have loved to watch the confrontation with the chair hog. Thanks for the advice on taking desserts etc from the back and not front. That was disgusting!

 

Jeans are allowed in the MDR on non-formal nights and here in the west we wear jeans everywhere so it is no big deal to us. Tshirts on the other hand are stretching it and I agree that a shirt with a collar is not too much to ask but Princess does not like confrontations. Out here in these parts when men wore large hats commonly referred to as cowboy hats and went into a bar etc there never was anyplace safe to put the large hat so they wore it. That has morphed into men wearing ball caps (gimme-caps down here) in the restaurants/bars. It is just something we do and think nothing of it just like the jeans issue. When in Rome do as the Romans do or at least tolerate it.

[mysaddlebred000]

satxdiver,

 

thanks for explaining that. Never thought about it that way. I know my wife doesn't take a purse out to dinner much anymore. She doesn't want to leave it on the dirty floor or over the back of my chair. And would never set it on the table or counter. I get stuck carrying lipstick for her.

 

But, being on a cruise ship and going to dinner is different. Why do guys even need to wear one to dinner on a ship when they are just going to be inside?

 

Like a Nascar race - they have to announce "gentlemen, please take your hats off". People should know better.

[Cosmo30068]

Would like to know the dive operators you used. We are on this itinerary in February & have dives planned in all 3 ports. We are using ship's dive excursion in Belize because they will pick you up at the ship & you don't have to tender with everyone. Then private dives in Cozumel (Scuba with Alison - have used her twice before) and Sun Divers in Roatan.

 

Thanks.

[GradUT]

That is for sure!!!!

 

My wife is ready to write Princess a letter on this subject but probably won't because nothing will come of it.

 

Is it just our society these days?

 

We prefer longer cruises but then you get a different set of issues - a lot of "well" seasoned cruisers that think they should get "special" treatment because they have cruises so much. My wife has done a little research and it seems that the majority of those people always book insides and constantly want price drops even when it is for new bookings or after final payment and then get them - again Princess doesn't follow their rules. These people never spend an extra dime on anything and complain about everything. They are constantly looking for reasons to ask for an OBC.

 

I am afraid that this is just a sign of the times. I could write a short story just from our last round trip flight about rude passengers. I had to hold my wife down twice because she was so upset and I was afraid she might get kicked off the plane if she spoke up. She thought she would receive applause some the other passengers but I did not want to risk it.

 

So, any suggestions who we could write to that would listen?

 

I just finished sending an email complaint to Princess Customer Service on a fairly small complaint I had about our cruise. (My philosophy is that if you don't tell a company what they are doing wrong, they don't know that it needs to be corrected.) Anyway, the email address I found was: customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

I received a "standard reply" saying that they would contact me in 2 - 4 weeks. I'm not holding out for much of a reply from them on this issue. If it were a more major one, I would probably send a snail mail letter to Customer Relations at their corporate headquarters:

 

24305 Town Center Drive

Santa Clarita, CA 91355

 

Good luck! (And I probably would have been applauding your wife on the plane.)

[Tina-Ann]

Would like to know the dive operators you used. We are on this itinerary in February & have dives planned in all 3 ports. We are using ship's dive excursion in Belize because they will pick you up at the ship & you don't have to tender with everyone. Then private dives in Cozumel (Scuba with Alison - have used her twice before) and Sun Divers in Roatan.

 

Thanks.

 

For Roatan...We used Blue Island Divers - we booked this dive excursion during our first week on board the Emerald. I found many dive shops booked (because of the holidays) and one dive shop had recommended Blue Island Divers. They are a new shop, located slightly closer (to the cruise terminal) than all the West End shops. They have a great location, small sandy beach, and all NEW equipment, in fact my husbands BCD still had the tags on it. The shop is a family owned venture (from Texas) and they were all super great to deal with. I would highly recommend. When we dove here a year ago we used Scuba Roatan...in the West End. Great shop as well.

 

In Belize we used Seasports Belize (they are the biggest dive shop in town). We have used these guys before and they are great. Their shop is a 2 block walk outside of the cruise terminal, they provide lunch, then back to the shop to rinse our gear then back in the boat for a 2 minute ride back to the cruise terminal dock. I love Seasports. I did this cruise in March 2014 with a girlfriend (who is not a diver) and so being a single female I did Princess' ship (dive) excursion and yes they do pick you up from the boat, but for the cost and the 24-ish divers on the boat...I wished I would have stuck with Seasports.

 

In Cozumel we used Blue Magic Scuba. We dove with Blue Magic both weeks on this cruise. (And have used them in the past). A very good shop as well.

[dave_k58]

Tina,

 

Great review.

 

Wish I would have been in the lounge to watch you in action.

 

We were also on the New Years cruise and I need to add my story of the little boy in the buffet. Other than on the Royal, we don't go to the Horizon Court but we got back mid afternoon from diving and were too hungry to wait for room service (it took about twice as long as normal). I noticed two small boys who could barely reach very high. One would pull out a dessert and stick his finger in it, lick it and then put it back. I looked for a parent but of course none were around. I went up to him and said "young man, you need to take the bowls that you stuck your finger in and licked". He just looked at me. I said it again but firmer. Nothing. I finally said "take the bowls you stuck your finger in and don't do it again". He did take one but I didn't stay around to see what happened.

 

So, never take the dishes closest to the edge - take the high ones.

 

 

I do need to add that, like Tina, most of the kids were well behaved. But I am so sick of seeing the little kids packed in the hot tubs for hours and, again, no parents around. We have our own tub so we never go in them but I know many adults wanted to use them but could never find an empty one.

 

Princess - please start enforcing your rules. I was not pleased with the dress in the MDR. Shorts on formal! Blue jeans and t-shirts every night. And why do men have to wear their hats in the dinning room?? I know the crew is afraid of confrontation with passengers but it is time to either change the rules or do something.

 

Sandy

 

Good post Sandy. Usually it's Carnival that gets blasted on these exact same issues. I guess it's all cruise ships.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your great report.

[psujmatt]

Tina-Ann,

 

Thank you for sharing. I don't dive, but do want to snorkel. For Roatan, how was the snorkeling from the beach on your previous cruise? I'm considering that or an independent snorkel tour by boat with two 1-hour stops on the north side. Thank you for any insight.

 

 

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