I must SHARE this with you!

[cruisequeen4ever]

The band is Soul Rocker, and they suck! Lol The lead singer just isn't very pro. The steel drum band is Domino Duo, and they're AWESOME!!

[cruisequeen4ever]

Thank you for the wind explanation! That was interesting.

As for breakfast in Crown Grill, there weren't many eating there today as would be normal for Suite Breakfast, so don't worry.

[RASHOPPER2]

Unacceptable!! :mad:

 

I was on the Dec. 14 cruise and there have been water issues since the beginning. Plumbing issues as well. Toilets overflowing and not working at all. People with no water throughout the cruise. I disagree with the OP. This was our 23rd Princess Cruise and was by far the worst. The A/C was also a problem....it was not consistent even though our setting was. We found the service below par....waiting 55 minutes for an appetizer to appear is unacceptable at dinner. There were no shows or movies in the Princess theater 4 of the 5 nights. The cruise director was in hiding.

 

I do agree that the new mattresses are wonderfully comfortable. But if we experience another cruise like this one we will consider moving to another cruise line. I might add, NEVER TAKE A CRUISE JUST OUT OF DRYDOCK.

[macmax]

I was on the Dec. 14 cruise and there have been water issues since the beginning. Plumbing issues as well. Toilets overflowing and not working at all. People with no water throughout the cruise. I disagree with the OP. This was our 23rd Princess Cruise and was by far the worst. The A/C was also a problem....it was not consistent even though our setting was. We found the service below par....waiting 55 minutes for an appetizer to appear is unacceptable at dinner. There were no shows or movies in the Princess theater 4 of the 5 nights. The cruise director was in hiding.

 

I do agree that the new mattresses are wonderfully comfortable. But if we experience another cruise like this one we will consider moving to another cruise line. I might add, NEVER TAKE A CRUISE JUST OUT OF DRYDOCK.

 

That has been good advice for years. It seems that very few ships manage to get everything done in the short dry dock time and they are still a work in progress when they do their next cruise.

[capriccio]

I might add, NEVER TAKE A CRUISE JUST OUT OF DRYDOCK.

 

That has been good advice for years. It seems that very few ships manage to get everything done in the short dry dock time and they are still a work in progress when they do their next cruise.

 

RASHOPPER2 - if you don't mind me asking... out of curiosity, did they discount the first cruise post dry dock? If not, they really should given that it seems to me (reading posts the past 8 years) that everyone has legitimate complaints about the subsequent cruise post dry dock.

Edited December 25, 2015 by capriccio

[IECalCruiser]

RASHOPPER2 - if you don't mind me asking... out of curiosity, did they discount the first cruise post dry dock? If not, they really should given that it seems to me (reading posts the past 8 years) that everyone has legitimate complaints about the subsequent cruise post dry dock.

I doubt there was a discount, but if enough people stay away from booking the first cruise after a drydock, Princess will need to drop prices to fill up the cruise.

[Colo Cruiser]

RASHOPPER2 - if you don't mind me asking... out of curiosity, did they discount the first cruise post dry dock? If not, they really should given that it seems to me (reading posts the past 8 years) that everyone has legitimate complaints about the subsequent cruise post dry dock.

 

 

Not that it means much but I have never seen that before or after.

They would never admit any issues.

Why would they?

Edited December 25, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[metairiegal]

RASHOPPER2 - if you don't mind me asking... out of curiosity, did they discount the first cruise post dry dock? If not, they really should given that it seems to me (reading posts the past 8 years) that everyone has legitimate complaints about the subsequent cruise post dry dock.

 

Lowest inside cabins went down to $249 per person for the 5-nighter (as far as I know).

[cwayne]

I was on the Dec. 14 cruise and there have been water issues since the beginning. Plumbing issues as well. Toilets overflowing and not working at all. People with no water throughout the cruise. I disagree with the OP. This was our 23rd Princess Cruise and was by far the worst. The A/C was also a problem....it was not consistent even though our setting was. We found the service below par....waiting 55 minutes for an appetizer to appear is unacceptable at dinner. There were no shows or movies in the Princess theater 4 of the 5 nights. The cruise director was in hiding.

 

I do agree that the new mattresses are wonderfully comfortable. But if we experience another cruise like this one we will consider moving to another cruise line. I might add, NEVER TAKE A CRUISE JUST OUT OF DRYDOCK.

 

We too were on the 14th Dec cruise. Had some AC issues but otherwise fine. We went to shows 3 of the 5 night cruise. Didn't go to the 1st night musical. Sorry you had a bad service experience. We had absolutely great service! Even with the water/AC problems, we had 4 friends who were sailing Princess for the first time and had such a good time that they will sail her again.

Edited December 26, 2015 by cwayne

[MicCanberra]

An interesting read, thanks for sharing.:D

[sunsetbeachgal]

Yikes...we are taking the Coral in January, right after its two week refurbishment. Hope we didn't make a mistake...too late now!

Edited December 26, 2015 by sunsetbeachgal

[cwayne]

Took the Coral to Alaska in May......super ship and crew! Hope everything is as good after refurbishment as before it. I didn't think it had been that long since her last refurbishment........but then as I get older, time goes faster;)

[Colo Cruiser]

Some find a silver lining, others just see the dark cloud!

 

Well according to all your dark cloud posts I guess nobody is entitled to voice their opinion if it does not fit your parameters. :(

[shredie]

Well according to all your dark cloud posts I guess nobody is entitled to voice their opinion if it does not fit your parameters. :(

 

I believe he is too busy enjoying his fine dining to care. :rolleyes: I, for one, appreciate all the info this thread has been providing.

[RASHOPPER2]

RASHOPPER2 - if you don't mind me asking... out of curiosity, did they discount the first cruise post dry dock? If not, they really should given that it seems to me (reading posts the past 8 years) that everyone has legitimate complaints about the subsequent cruise post dry dock.

 

 

No, they do not discount it.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Home now...[emoji30]

We had a fantastic Christmas cruise! I've been reading others' threads regarding the 5 and 8 day segments, and we all definitely have varying opinions with some commonalities, which is to be expected. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but there were a few comments made by others that were simply not accurate. 1) The first medical evacuation was an older man who needed blood donations and was transported to FLL to receive treatment, NOT a 19 year old drunk girl going overboard! I spoke to one of the pax who donated blood, and the captain made an announcement. 2) There were 2 Platinum/Elite cocktail parties in the evening, beginning at 5:15 and one later in the evening. The Gold/Ruby was held in the Theater. I saw a sign for it in the afternoon but don't know what time it occurred. 3) Deputy Karen was awesome, and we saw her all over the ship doing quality control of the activities. She was a delightful hostess of the Marriage Match Game Show, too. 4) In the countless times a day and night I traversed Deck 6 of the Piazza, I never saw more than about 15 people in line at Pax Services. Yes, that's a lot but definitely not 50-60! I completely understand pax being furious about the water, toilet, and A/C issues, but in general, pax seemed very happy with their cruise experience. Obviously, some were not, but the overall atmosphere was very positive. IMHO, The Emerald looks and feels fantastic with cheerful, hard working crew. Our room steward was the only exception; we literally had to ask for soap! [emoji33] He was nice but just very ill prepared for his job. They shouldn't have assigned him the aft suites and premium balconies. Our only day with new bedding and robes was the first day. After that, it was back to stained linens and shrunken robes despite requesting the new plush ones. A few times, we got the wonderful new towels. The new bed is great and luxurious, although the pillowtop would scrunch up in the middle. We continue to love Crown Grill and just don't have a craving to ever return to SHARE. Salty Dog was good but not necessarily something I would be overly eager to experience again. I'm still missing Horizon Court breakfasts! The Grill and Prego had the best burgers and pizza I've had on Princess thus far. The dining room food was outstanding. Our only complaints were that they were out of watermelon 9 of the 13 days, and there was never a Mexican lunch buffet. DJ Layla and Domino Duo couldn't have been better! I hope they replace the band, Soul Rocker, though. When we walked into Club Fusion one night, my husband was happy to hear that Karaoke was going on...until we realized it was actually Soul Rocker with the singer just sounding as bad as ever! We miss Evolution! The Spa staff were great. We did the Thermal Suite and enjoyed it as always, but please people...if you're coughing into the air and blowing your nose with your hands, please don't come to the Thermal Suite!!!! This man plagued the Thermal Suite every day with that, no manners at all. MUTS didn't have enough seating but did have fresh popcorn, cold milk, and hot cookies. We didn't get to see Magic To Do because the theater was over flowing at 45 minutes before the show!!!! They should have offered it an additional night. The cruise director asked at the rest of the shows how people liked it; well I would have loved to share if I had actually been able to see the darn show! There were nonstop fun activities offered, so much so that we burned the candle at both ends and got less sleep on this vacation than we get on work days!! Adam Ace was a funny comedian; Al Katz was decent. The Christmas show was soooo nice and even included snow at the end! Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were done so well! The crew was in the Christmas spirit, and we all had fun singing and doing activities together. Adults were able to get tattoos and decorate cookies, too. Christmas dinner was delicious, and we loved having British and Italian Christmas desserts!!! Th AIBP was quite popular on the 5 day segment and seemed almost non-existent on the 8 day segment. Lots of people our age (30s) on the 5 day, and lots of kids and college age people on the 8 day. It was fun seeing so many multi-generational family groups on the 8 day, though I do prefer the adult atmosphere of Princess cruises. The kids were well-behaved for the most part. We did see several try to use fake IDs to get into Skywalkers! [emoji5]️ Security checked IDs during the 8 day segment of any who seemed underage. I was pleasantly surprised to find the 5 day cruise to be very healthy despite it being winter (the exception being the man coughing his way through the Thermal Suite). The cruise cough unfortunately started up toward the end of the 8 day, so we intensified our "stay healthy onboard" regimen. I wish adults would be as considerate as my 1st Graders by covering their coughs with their arms! One older lady skipped the hand sanitizer in Horizon Court and carried her dirty Kleenex in her hand while she dished her food onto her plate all around the buffet! All of the ports were fun; Grand Turk was my fav. We had rough seas many days of the 8 day segment but nothing to the point of having seasick bags out and about. Swells to 14 feet one day, 12 another, and not sure of the second to last day, but they seemed higher than ever that night. It was funny watching the group of people dancing at Skywalkers basically dance back and forth from one end of the dance floor to the other as the ship would rock back and forth. We had 1 wild elevator ride during the peak of the rough seas and were awoken one night by the ship majorly shuddering back and forth. It all just added to the adventure, though! We had plenty of glorious sun and warmth! We were quite sad to disembark Sunday. Yes, there are some major water and A/C issues that need to be solved on her, but in general, the Emerald is an awesome ship, and no one should cancel their cruise on her! Have a blast future Emerald cruisers!! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Happy New Year!

[Gwendy]

Home now...[emoji30]

We had a fantastic Christmas cruise! I've been reading others' threads regarding the 5 and 8 day segments, and we all definitely have varying opinions with some commonalities, which is to be expected. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but there were a few comments made by others that were simply not accurate. 1) The first medical evacuation was an older man who needed blood donations and was transported to FLL to receive treatment, NOT a 19 year old drunk girl going overboard! I spoke to one of the pax who donated blood, and the captain made an announcement. 2) There were 2 Platinum/Elite cocktail parties in the evening, beginning at 5:15 and one later in the evening. The Gold/Ruby was held in the Theater. I saw a sign for it in the afternoon but don't know what time it occurred. 3) Deputy Karen was awesome, and we saw her all over the ship doing quality control of the activities. She was a delightful hostess of the Marriage Match Game Show, too. 4) In the countless times a day and night I traversed Deck 6 of the Piazza, I never saw more than about 15 people in line at Pax Services. Yes, that's a lot but definitely not 50-60! I completely understand pax being furious about the water, toilet, and A/C issues, but in general, pax seemed very happy with their cruise experience. Obviously, some were not, but the overall atmosphere was very positive. IMHO, The Emerald looks and feels fantastic with cheerful, hard working crew. Our room steward was the only exception; we literally had to ask for soap! [emoji33] He was nice but just very ill prepared for his job. They shouldn't have assigned him the aft suites and premium balconies. Our only day with new bedding and robes was the first day. After that, it was back to stained linens and shrunken robes despite requesting the new plush ones. A few times, we got the wonderful new towels. The new bed is great and luxurious, although the pillowtop would scrunch up in the middle. We continue to love Crown Grill and just don't have a craving to ever return to SHARE. Salty Dog was good but not necessarily something I would be overly eager to experience again. I'm still missing Horizon Court breakfasts! The Grill and Prego had the best burgers and pizza I've had on Princess thus far. The dining room food was outstanding. Our only complaints were that they were out of watermelon 9 of the 13 days, and there was never a Mexican lunch buffet. DJ Layla and Domino Duo couldn't have been better! I hope they replace the band, Soul Rocker, though. When we walked into Club Fusion one night, my husband was happy to hear that Karaoke was going on...until we realized it was actually Soul Rocker with the singer just sounding as bad as ever! We miss Evolution! The Spa staff were great. We did the Thermal Suite and enjoyed it as always, but please people...if you're coughing into the air and blowing your nose with your hands, please don't come to the Thermal Suite!!!! This man plagued the Thermal Suite every day with that, no manners at all. MUTS didn't have enough seating but did have fresh popcorn, cold milk, and hot cookies. We didn't get to see Magic To Do because the theater was over flowing at 45 minutes before the show!!!! They should have offered it an additional night. The cruise director asked at the rest of the shows how people liked it; well I would have loved to share if I had actually been able to see the darn show! There were nonstop fun activities offered, so much so that we burned the candle at both ends and got less sleep on this vacation than we get on work days!! Adam Ace was a funny comedian; Al Katz was decent. The Christmas show was soooo nice and even included snow at the end! Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were done so well! The crew was in the Christmas spirit, and we all had fun singing and doing activities together. Adults were able to get tattoos and decorate cookies, too. Christmas dinner was delicious, and we loved having British and Italian Christmas desserts!!! Th AIBP was quite popular on the 5 day segment and seemed almost non-existent on the 8 day segment. Lots of people our age (30s) on the 5 day, and lots of kids and college age people on the 8 day. It was fun seeing so many multi-generational family groups on the 8 day, though I do prefer the adult atmosphere of Princess cruises. The kids were well-behaved for the most part. We did see several try to use fake IDs to get into Skywalkers! [emoji5]️ Security checked IDs during the 8 day segment of any who seemed underage. I was pleasantly surprised to find the 5 day cruise to be very healthy despite it being winter (the exception being the man coughing his way through the Thermal Suite). The cruise cough unfortunately started up toward the end of the 8 day, so we intensified our "stay healthy onboard" regimen. I wish adults would be as considerate as my 1st Graders by covering their coughs with their arms! One older lady skipped the hand sanitizer in Horizon Court and carried her dirty Kleenex in her hand while she dished her food onto her plate all around the buffet! All of the ports were fun; Grand Turk was my fav. We had rough seas many days of the 8 day segment but nothing to the point of having seasick bags out and about. Swells to 14 feet one day, 12 another, and not sure of the second to last day, but they seemed higher than ever that night. It was funny watching the group of people dancing at Skywalkers basically dance back and forth from one end of the dance floor to the other as the ship would rock back and forth. We had 1 wild elevator ride during the peak of the rough seas and were awoken one night by the ship majorly shuddering back and forth. It all just added to the adventure, though! We had plenty of glorious sun and warmth! We were quite sad to disembark Sunday. Yes, there are some major water and A/C issues that need to be solved on her, but in general, the Emerald is an awesome ship, and no one should cancel their cruise on her! Have a blast future Emerald cruis

 

ers!! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Happy New Year!

 

Thanks for review. It provides balance, some people are half empty, some half full, but any cruise can be a good cruise if you want it to be. Don't you want to give those bad mannered people a dressing down? Oh, that would make ME bad mannered. Lol

[cruisequeen4ever]

I forgot to mention that there were 2 cool promos in the Casino...On the 5 day segment, you would earn an entry into a drawing to win a free cruise for every 1,000 points accrued! That's awesome...if only I ever earn 1,000 points!! Lol On the 8 day segment, you would earn a free drink for every 100 points accrued, and that one I was able to enjoy! What they didn't initially disclose is that after your second free drink, you progressively have to earn more and more points to get free drinks, not every 100 points. The flaw in the system is that 2 people have to access your account and mark the drink as redeemed, so your game play is interrupted twice. It should be able to be accomplished once. People seemed to like the free drink promo. It got me to play more the last night because I was so close to my next free drink! I hope this becomes permanent.

[babygoo]

Great review thanks

No Horizon Court for breakfast?

Is there a buffet breakfast somewhere else?

[babygoo]

Great review thanks

No Horizon Court for breakfast?

Is there a buffet breakfast somewhere else?

 

oops sorry I misread the post! :rolleyes: DUH

[mmckm]

The "Deluxe Breakfast" was offered on our 50th Anniversary Cruise on the Pacific. It appears to be just the same old balcony breakfast menu, increased in price from $32/couple to $45/couple [emoji33] with the option of eating the meal in a restaurant, the Club Restaurant on the Pacific, or on your balcony. Suite passengers were still having their breakfast in Sabatini's. It does not appear to be an attempt to open breakfast at Sabatini's to anyone willing to pay $45/couple.

 

We have done the balcony breakfast several times and I don't like the menu. My wife does. I just ordered what i wanted eggs sausage, bacon and anything else I like. To much food but very good. Never been a problem, i hope there still allowing you to order what you want and not sticking to there menu.

[mmckm]

That has been good advice for years. It seems that very few ships manage to get everything done in the short dry dock time and they are still a work in progress when they do their next cruise.

 

Never take a cruise if the ship is going into dry dock after the cruise.

[floridalover5623]

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Happy New Year!

 

Thanks for your detailed reports. Maybe I missed it along the way but what deck & cabin did you have. We'll be on the ship shortly & would like know if we're located in an area affected with the water & AC problems. All the rest I can live with. ;)

[notentirelynormal]

We continue to love Crown Grill and just don't have a craving to ever return to SHARE.

 

Can you please state what you did and didn't like at SHARE.

[cruisequeen4ever]

We were in the aft section; I'm sorry; I never get more specific than that. Reports of water issues ranged from Plaza all the way up to Riviera, from fore to aft.