seconds thoughts about emerald princess

[floridalover5623]

Sunday, March 6,2016...at home in Gainesville, FL

Not sure where you read the bad stuff about Emerald Princess..... I have not heard anything bad. I spent Christmas on the Royal sailing the Caribbean and it was just lovely now I'm booked on the Emerald on April 2 for a transatlantic (my second). Really looking forward to it. Princess will always be my first choice...having sailed on all others over the years. It is consistent....and that cannot always be said for other lines. (although they are mostly owned by the same company)

 

You honestly saw nothing lacking about the food in the Horizon buffet?

[Brendaleelandry]

DH and I just spent three weeks on the Emerald in October. We had a really good time. Our toilet worked and so did the air conditioning. I'll be happy to share some tips with you that will hopefully make you feel special and pampered on your "Mass Market" cruise.

 

1) Upon boarding, go directly to the Sanctuary and book half-days in the afternoons for all of your sea days. On the Emerald at least, you don't have to stand in line every morning to book partial days. The cost will be $20 per person, per day, but it is well worth it. The waiter will also bring you afternoon tea, with little sandwiches and pastries.

 

2) Go to the Crown Grill at least once. IMHO, the Emerald has one of the nicest Crown Grills, and the steaks were huge and of better quality than the ones we had on the Grand Princess in November.

 

3) Go to the Adaigo bar and order a Tiramisu martini. They are to die for.

 

4) Go to the Promenade deck and sit in the loungers and watch the sea go by. Hardly anyone uses those chairs and the views looking out over the water are amazing.

 

5) Go check out the live music in the Vista Lounge after dinner. On our cruise, the live band would often play in the evenings. Hardly anyone was there, so plenty of room to dance and no crowds.

 

The only negatives that we experienced were when DH was charged for drinks, or they forgot to take the 40% off the bottles of wine, even though he had purchased the AIBP. We were also charged $50.00 for our visit to the Crown Grill, even though we had vouchers for a free meal. A couple of trips to the Passenger Services desk took care of reversing the charges.

 

Have a fabulous cruise.

 

Can you advise if you can walk off boat or tender to a beach without doing excursions?

[Brendaleelandry]

Do we need to book excursion or can we walk or taxi to a beach?

[WisCruiser2]

Do we need to book excursion or can we walk or taxi to a beach?

 

Check the Caribbean ports forums for the ports you are going to - lots of good info! Short answer - no, you do not need to book an excursion to get to the beaches. Taxis are available in all ports. If you want to go to West Bay in Roatan (rather than stay at Mahogany Bay), I can recommend Rony's Tours for transportation, although others did just get taxis outside the port.

[MissP22]

Check the Caribbean ports forums for the ports you are going to - lots of good info! Short answer - no, you do not need to book an excursion to get to the beaches. Taxis are available in all ports. If you want to go to West Bay in Roatan (rather than stay at Mahogany Bay), I can recommend Rony's Tours for transportation, although others did just get taxis outside the port.

 

The last stop at Mahogany Bay we docked there an hour or so later than a Carnival ship & the place was already trashed. Although the beach was clean all that were left were broken chairs if you could find two together, garbage on the ground, etc.

This place had really gone downhill in the last few years.

Next cruise to Roatan we're taking you advice & going to West Bay.

[pablo222]

Well, to each their own, but in our opinion, uncontrolled temperature water supply was NOT trivial and having to schlep to the Spa to brush our teeth and shower was NOT trivial. Not to mention the steam coming out of our toilet...

 

Was the spa tooth brushing due to the super hot water in the cabin,

or another issue?

 

(like no water in the sink)

 

Thanks.

[PescadoAmarillo]

The last stop at Mahogany Bay we docked there an hour or so later than a Carnival ship & the place was already trashed. Although the beach was clean all that were left were broken chairs if you could find two together, garbage on the ground, etc.

This place had really gone downhill in the last few years.

Next cruise to Roatan we're taking you advice & going to West Bay.

 

We were in Mahogany Bay last week with a Carnival ship and remarked how uncrowded the beach seemed to be. We noticed none of the broken chairs and garbage you mentioned. Must have been a good week.

Edited March 8, 2016 by PescadoAmarillo

[MissP22]

We were in Mahogany Bay last week with a Carnival ship and remarked how uncrowded the beach seemed to be. We noticed none of the broken chairs and garbage you mentioned. Must have been a good week.

They must have replaced many of them. We were also there around two years ago & it was much nicer- of course we were the only ship in at the time. When you arrive late in the day & 3,000 people hit the beach before you do you have to settle for what's left.