Emerald recent reviews, YIKES!

[Geoffa30]

2nd meal at Share as good as first. Very much a menu to appeal to Europeans, small plates (very filling) and items prepared in imaginative ways, but nothing outlandish.

 

Hoping to try Salty Dog tomorrow night.

 

Love this. Will be interesting to see if reviews are more positive now the ship is in Europe. We cannot wait try both Share and The Salty Dog in August. We have never been that impressed with The Crown Grill. Horses for courses.

[binky3001]

My family is booked on the Emerald Princess for the Mediterranean Explorer in July, and I'd read the same reviews as the OP, so I was a bit worried!

 

Just wanted to say a big thanks to all the posters in this thread, who've set my mind at rest! 😀 👍

[Mopsymillar]

We are also booked on the 28th May cruise. This is our first ever cruise and I have to say that the reviews have been taking a bit of excitement away for us.. Thank goodness for all you guys who've had a good experience on Emerald and have been kind enough to share this. Something that was mentioned in the bad reviews was the lack of space and seating in public areas. Is this the case?Having never been on a cruise ship, I have no knowledge of the dimensions of these ships! A bit bigger than a Caledonian Macbrayne ferry though, ha ha.

[Pink-belle]

We are also booked on the 28th May cruise. This is our first ever cruise and I have to say that the reviews have been taking a bit of excitement away for us.. Thank goodness for all you guys who've had a good experience on Emerald and have been kind enough to share this. Something that was mentioned in the bad reviews was the lack of space and seating in public areas. Is this the case?Having never been on a cruise ship, I have no knowledge of the dimensions of these ships! A bit bigger than a Caledonian Macbrayne ferry though, ha ha.

 

It can be frustrating in the piazza, especially Deck 5, which houses the International Cafe, the cafe is very popular, both for drinks and eating. The Piaza also has musicians and other entertainment. Some seem to claim a table for the entire day, so if you want to get a coffee it's sometimes easier to get it "too go" and seek seating away from the main area.

It's a hub area and enjoyable because it is busy. Sometimes it is a little too busy, if the weather stops people from enjoying all the outside decks. However, sometimes you strike lucky, being in the right place at the right time.

 

Vines is also on Deck 5, pleased to say I never experienced a problem with seating here in the evening :cool:

 

As its your first cruise, try and think of the ship as a small town, sometimes your intended area may be very busy, or the atmosphere not quite what you were looking for, just as it can be in a favourite bar at home, but there is always another one, and you might find a new favourite.:)

 

I have said in the past this design of ship can eat people up, and you wonder where the other 3000 pax are. However, as I previously said on this thread, on our last cruise, we found the entertainment poor, and this did lead to congestion, in some areas, as people headed to the same places reacher than dispersing around the ship.

 

Princess has also been very generous with their happy hours, of buy one get one for a $1" those hours can get crazy busy, I preferred to pay full price and drink in the empty venues.

 

Wear a smile, and don't be afraid to ask if vacant chairs at an occupied table are vacant, you can meet great people as well as getting a seat.

 

I hope you have a great cruise.

[Diver2014]

Lack of space and seating in the public areas? No way! There's tons of space and seating. My scuba diving club with 20 people were able to secure a private area in one of the lounges with no advance notice! Lots of room.

Don't believe the naysayers on Cruise Critic. They'll find something wrong with every ship whether it is true or not. Emerald was just fine. No complaints at all.

[Mopsymillar]

It can be frustrating in the piazza, especially Deck 5, which houses the International Cafe, the cafe is very popular, both for drinks and eating. The Piaza also has musicians and other entertainment. Some seem to claim a table for the entire day, so if you want to get a coffee it's sometimes easier to get it "too go" and seek seating away from the main area.

It's a hub area and enjoyable because it is busy. Sometimes it is a little too busy, if the weather stops people from enjoying all the outside decks. However, sometimes you strike lucky, being in the right place at the right time.

 

Vines is also on Deck 5, pleased to say I never experienced a problem with seating here in the evening :cool:

 

As its your first cruise, try and think of the ship as a small town, sometimes your intended area may be very busy, or the atmosphere not quite what you were looking for, just as it can be in a favourite bar at home, but there is always another one, and you might find a new favourite.:)

 

I have said in the past this design of ship can eat people up, and you wonder where the other 3000 pax are. However, as I previously said on this thread, on our last cruise, we found the entertainment poor, and this did lead to congestion, in some areas, as people headed to the same places reacher than dispersing around the ship.

 

Princess has also been very generous with their happy hours, of buy one get one for a $1" those hours can get crazy busy, I preferred to pay full price and drink in the empty venues.

 

Wear a smile, and don't be afraid to ask if vacant chairs at an occupied table are vacant, you can meet great people as well as getting a seat.

 

I hope you have a great cruise.

Thank you Pink -belle for your reassurance. Really looking forward to this!

[Mopsymillar]

Lack of space and seating in the public areas? No way! There's tons of space and seating. My scuba diving club with 20 people were able to secure a private area in one of the lounges with no advance notice! Lots of room.

Don't believe the naysayers on Cruise Critic. They'll find something wrong with every ship whether it is true or not. Emerald was just fine. No complaints at all.

I suppose it's usually people who have a particular grievance or are just plain miserable that post very negative reviews. I think the best thing to do is not read the reviews!!

[LibrarianMonroe]

We are also booked on the 28th May cruise. This is our first ever cruise and I have to say that the reviews have been taking a bit of excitement away for us.. Thank goodness for all you guys who've had a good experience on Emerald and have been kind enough to share this. Something that was mentioned in the bad reviews was the lack of space and seating in public areas. Is this the case?Having never been on a cruise ship, I have no knowledge of the dimensions of these ships! A bit bigger than a Caledonian Macbrayne ferry though, ha ha.

 

Its not hard to find seating, imho, but sometimes its hard to find seating exactly where you want to sit. Sometimes in the buffet you need to walk around to find a table. Sometimes if there's a show in the piazza you can't sit there with your coffee. If its the wrong time at the pool, you might not find a good seat right there.

 

If all you are looking for is a place to sit and read or whatever, you can find one, you may just need to look in the next area over, etc, depending on what's going on.

 

My vacation was NEVER ruined by lack of seating.

[islandatsea]

I was on the Emerald 2-27-16 to 3-5-16 and found the food selections plus quality very good. Service for me was top notch as always including the condition of the ship.

 

Only thing that happened was the computers was down when we went to disembark at Port Everglades so that slowed down everyone getting off the ship. We had to give cabin number & name to the staff before leaving the ship and they checked the name off the paper they were holding. Not complaining, other than that everything was great.

[russy1]

Hi, I just wanted to add that I have recently written a review and I did state that the food was awful and that this was my first and would be my last cruise on Princess Emerald. I have been on P&O, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and Cunard so I have a few cruise lines to compare and there is always going to be things that are not to everyone's taste. I am NOT a miserable person and I don't just put negative reviews on to upset people. It's my opinion and it may differ to others but I thought that was a point of a review to express your views on your recent experience, good and bad!

[shredie]

Hi, I just wanted to add that I have recently written a review and I did state that the food was awful and that this was my first and would be my last cruise on Princess Emerald.

 

Sorry you had a bad experience on the Emerald Princess.

[floridalover5623]

Hi, I just wanted to add that I have recently written a review and I did state that the food was awful and that this was my first and would be my last cruise on Princess Emerald.

 

Don't judge all the Princess's ship food by that of the Emerald. It's usually much better.

[Diver2014]

What food was awful? Not the food we ate - best tasting food we'd had on a ship in our 30+ cruises. Totally subjective. I don't see how anyone can say in one fell swoop that the 'food was awful'? What venue? Why? What were your expectations?

[Pink-belle]

What food was awful? Not the food we ate - best tasting food we'd had on a ship in our 30+ cruises. Totally subjective. I don't see how anyone can say in one fell swoop that the 'food was awful'? What venue? Why? What were your expectations?

 

I agree with this comment.

More details needed

[GUT2407]

I agree with this comment.

More details needed

 

So often the case isn't it?

[Pink-belle]

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=531827

 

Found the review. :)

 

I agree with the comment regarding Orange Juice, it can be hit and miss each day.

[hansi]

My wife and I have just returned from two b2b cruises on the Emerald, and we had no problems with the food. The buffet as always was very busy but the food was ok, and we ate in Crown Grill twice which was superb as well as the delicious salads in International Cafe. Oh, and those of you who have been enquiring about the butter problem, there is no problem. As much butter as you can eat!

[aimeeluk]

We just came off the Emerald on the 14th and we had a fab time!!!!! Staff were amazing, went out of there way for you. Food was great tried lots of new foods. Entertainment was excellent!!! Always smiling!!!! Plenty of things to do, we stopped at 4 ports but only got off 2 of them we loved the ship too much so didn't want to come off.