What a great first cruise - on the Emerald Princess Jan 4-11, 2015

[Jase0581]

Wish I would have found this site prior to my cruise. What great knowledge and information.

 

I took my first cruise last month aboard the Emerald Princess on January 4th. I know I’m a little late posting this, but thought I would share my experience. I traveled with my parents. I was in an interior room on the Dolphin deck (D716) and they were in a mini-suite (D621). Overall the cruise experience far exceeded my expectations. The embarkation was easy and quick at Houston/Bayport. We got to the port about 12:15 PM, my mom decided she wanted to take a couple bottles of wine so we had to stop at Kroger’s and you cannot buy wine in Texas before 12:00 PM on a Sunday. Even getting there at that time we had the luggage dropped, car parked, checked-in and were on the boat by about 1:15 PM. We headed for the Horizon Court for lunch and boy was it packed. We did eventually find a table and was able to enjoy a quick bite. By the time we were done our luggage had been delivered so it was time to unpack and wait for the muster drill. The interior room was more than enough space for just me and I had an outstanding cabin steward, Danilo.

 

The food for the most part was outstanding. We had anytime dining and ate most of our meals in the Michelangelo Dining Room. We would always go between 6:00 and 6:30 and never had a wait to be seated. We shared a table 4 of the nights and the rest would just get a table for the 3 of us. I always tried something new every night and a couple times ordered things I had never heard of. The breakfast and lunch buffets in Horizon Court were alright, but nothing to write home about. The pizza was amazing though. We ate breakfast one morning in the MDR and that was very good, should have done that more often. The British Pub Style lunch they did in the Wheelhouse Bar, done the 2nd and last sea days, had really good fish and chips.

 

The ports were Costa Maya, Belize and Cozumel. We did ship shore excursions in all 3, might have to try some of the private ones on my next cruise. In Costa Maya we did the Dzibanche and Kohunlich Mayan Ruins tour. This was a full day tour as the ruins were about 1 ¾ hours from the port. We had some excitement on this one as the bus blew a tire and we had to wait for a replacement bus to be sent. We did get the full time at the ruins, which were amazing IMO, and ended up getting back to port at 4:20 PM. Just enough time to get back on the ship. We went cave tubing in Belize and again had a great time. It was pouring rain while we were on the tender and getting to the bus, so we were soaked before even getting close to the tubing. We had another quick burst of rain while getting our tubing equipment and starting the hike to the start. The 30 minute hike was fairly easy and our guide, Pedro, gave us some great info about the plants along the trail. The tubing lasted about 40 minutes and we had a little time to get something to eat or drink afterwards, at this point though I had misplaced my cruise card and couldn't enjoy that part (it was later located on the seat I had occupied on the bus). We had a couple hours back at port where I did some shopping and my parents and I got some nachos and adult beverages. It was sunny for the tender ride back to the boat, but when exiting the tender one guy said it would start raining again in a couple minutes (he was right). In Cozumel we did the Passion Island Beach and Scenic Cruise. That was the most relaxing day just lounging on the beach. Our attentive waiter, Adolfo, made sure we always had a drink in hand. The drinks were kind of weak, I had many Tequila Sunrises but only felt a little buzzed. The lunch buffet was good. The Princess excursion was the first to get to Passion Island so we had the first choice of loungers. Funny thing was there was a woman who was going around and complaining about the Norwegian Epic to anyone who would listen.

 

Disembarkation seemed smooth enough, although it was cold and raining in Houston. We took one of the later groups to disembark and was set for 9:45 AM. They called our group about 30 minutes early and we were able to get off, grab our bags and go through customs. The customs guy I had was the friendliest one I have ever encountered. The line for customs was fairly long, but it moved fairly quickly.

 

One thing I worried about pre-cruise was that there wouldn't be many people around my age, 33, on the ship. My parents had sailed both RCI and Princess and said to expect most to be around their age, they are 62 and 64. This cruise, though, ended up having a great mix of age groups on it. I even heard many cruisers commenting on how many young people were on the ship.

 

Again the cruise was great, and I can’t wait until I get to go on another. And on the next one I will know to come here for the roll call, so I can meet some great people. Sorry for being so long winded.

[GradUT]

So glad you had a great cruise on the Emerald! It's a nice little ship, isn't it?

 

We did that cruise just a couple weeks before you did and were lucky enough to have near-perfect weather for all the ports. But it sounds like the weather (and change from Roatan to Costa Maya) did not affect your enjoyment of the cruise.

 

It sounds like you're ready for another cruise. Aren't we all?

[Jase0581]

I think the Emerald makes a perfect ship for a first timer. Even though there was about 3200 on board it never felt too crowded, except when trying to get off in port and meet for a shore excursion.

The January 4th sailing was always scheduled for Costa Maya, unlike the Jan 11th which was changed to Costa Maya after a late departure.

I always say you can't control the weather so you might as well enjoy it. The only bad weather was Belize, and we were going to get wet anyways, and when disembarking in Houston.

[partybarbie]

So glad to hear that you had a great cruise despite the weather.:) I can't wait to board the ship in October.

[OCruisers]

WOW! So glad you had a wonderful cruise on Emerald. :D

We also love Emerald and have her booked for 14 days in January 2016 beginning 1/23/16 (weeks of 1/23 and 1/30). Any chance you would consider doing this as well?

LuLu

[rdsqrl]

You weren't long-winded at all! Most of us love reading reviews, the longer and more detailed, the better. I'm so glad you enjoyed your first-ever cruise. And I'm delighted to hear this cruise and ship were so good, since I'll be following in your footsteps in just a few weeks! You've got me all excited, especially about the presence of a nearby Kroger, as I, too, want to pick up some wine in advance. Off to Google Map it right now . . .

[Jase0581]

WOW! So glad you had a wonderful cruise on Emerald. :D

We also love Emerald and have her booked for 14 days in January 2016 beginning 1/23/16 (weeks of 1/23 and 1/30). Any chance you would consider doing this as well?

LuLu

 

That sounds like it will be a great cruise. I would love to be able to do a b2b like that, but due to work could only think about 7 day cruises right now. I'll have to look into the Jan 30 Eastern Caribbean, looks like it has a great itinerary.

[Kiwicruiser25]

Good to hear you had a fantastic cruise. I wish more people would write reviews. It was great reading and don't worry it wasn't to long at all.

I have a question to ask, you said Danilo was your cabin steward, did he wear black glasses by any chance?

I am hoping it is my favourite cabin steward from Dawn,Sun Princess :)

All the best for your future cruising. :)

[Jase0581]

Good to hear you had a fantastic cruise. I wish more people would write reviews. It was great reading and don't worry it wasn't to long at all.

I have a question to ask, you said Danilo was your cabin steward, did he wear black glasses by any chance?

I am hoping it is my favourite cabin steward from Dawn,Sun Princess :)

All the best for your future cruising. :)

 

Yes, he did wear black glasses. I could see why he would be your favorite, he was great.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review. :)

[Susie51]

Thank you for your wonderful review. You have a great attitude it is nice to see you don't let things like rain and flat tires ruin your cruise experience.

[PrincessNancy]

Loved your upbeat and honest review! Thanks for taking the time to post it.

Our family will be cruising on the Emerald the end of March. Your review has got me even more excited!

Edited February 5, 2015 by PrincessNancy

[srpilo]

Good stuff, thanks for sharing

 

 

Srpilo

[Bimmer09]

Nice review indeed an I am glad you enjoyed your first cruise with Princess.

Hope you are already thinking about taking another one!

 

Norris

[john watson]

Thanks for the lovely review. Princess are a fabulous cruise line and remember next time; YOU ARE GOLD

 

Regards John

[Bruinboy]

Jase ... great review and how thoughtful of you to take the time to share your experience with the rest of us. I've never been on the Emerald or the places you visited. I'll have to check it out. The next cruise for us is in South America and anything positive I read about cruising, whatever ship, gets me more excited for my cruise.

 

I hope you post again soon and tell us where you are planning to go next.

 

 

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[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review, glad you had such a good time.

[jeffdal]

Enjoyed Emerald so much in November and saw a great deal for March 29 and doing it again!

 

 

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[Jase0581]

Thanks everyone, I'm glad you all have enjoyed the review. Still researching which cruise to do next.

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your review. I'd recommend an eastern Caribbean one for your next one. We have been to St. Thomas many times and are still finding new things to do there.