JamieLogical's Live from the Emerald Princess 12/18-01/02

[Robbie555]

2 hours ago, rideev said:

Shell is leaving at the end of this contract.  That's why they brought in Andrew.  This is his first contract.  He does a great job already.

As a suggestion, how about you take a picture of the current cruise director and any assistances on the wake show (either on TV or when they are filming it) and post it here like I did for my sailing.

[Robbie555]

10 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Literally one half of our checked bagged was just board games and card games.

Since you love playing board games and card games, did you extend that to playing trivia games as well and possibly winning some prizes like those in the picture that I posted?

 

[abbydancer2003]

14 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Literally one half of our checked bagged was just board games and card games. Matt & Meghann also brought a bunch, so I think we will be okay!

 

 

 

Looks a bit like my suitcase, although I just bring a few.  Sometimes, it's Sushi Go Party.

[JamieLogical]

Yesterday was our port stop in Fuerte Amador, outside of Panama City. We did not have an excursion booked and I had read that, if you did not have an excursion, it could be quite an undertaking to get to the city. You had to tender to the marina and then take a shuttle bus (for which there was limited supply and high demand) along and unfinished road. So, we elected to stay on the ship.

 

We did the buffet for breakfast, as we got a VERY late/lazy start to the day. In fact, by the time we got to the buffet, we agreed to just get something super light so we could do lunch at a regular lunch time.

 

Matt & Meghann had an excursion, so we got to hear a bit about the saga of their tender experience. Meanwhile, we went to the Wheelhouse and learned a few new card games we had bought for the trip.

 

 

The MDR was closed for lunch, so we ended up at the Salty Dog Grill. I got another Carolina BBQ sandwich and fries. No onion rings on the buffet this time.

 

We decided to check out the dessert selection in the buffet and I found a yummy chocolate mousse in a cup. It was pretty chocolatey compared to most of the "chocolate" we have had on the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, it was time for more games, this time in the Explorer's Lounge. I grabbed a first round of drinks for us from Crooners and then we had several more rounds delivered via the Medallion app before the Explorer's bar actually opened at 3:00. I felt so badly for Pamela as she was stocking the bar, because people coming back from on shore kept stopping by the bar and asking her for stuff, despite the fact that the bar was clearly closed and she was clearly just setting up by unloading large crates of all the liquor. Some of them were actually quite mean to her about it, like it was her fault the bar wasn't scheduled to open until 3:00. Meanwhile, Crooner's was open about 50 feet away and she pointed that out and they acted like she had asked them to walk 5 miles for their drinks.

 

We hung out there the whole afternoon until Matt & Meghann got back onboard and stopped by briefly, before going to get a snack and get cleaned up. We all agreed to meet up for gaming and just order dinner through the app, since the MDR menu for the evening was truly uninspiring.

 

 

 

 

Once we were all back together, we headed over the the tables in the Wheelhouse that will become the Salty Dog Gastropub for the rest of the trip. We had a couple of pizzas, sandwiches, and sushi delivered and played games.

 

At one point the Entertainment Director happened by and we chatted with him for a good long while. We complained about how short/limited the karaoke is and talked about comedians.

 

I was pretty wiped and knew I needed to be up at 5:00 for the beginning of our Panama Canal transit, so I headed off to the casino very briefly and then to bed.

 

Day's Drinks: Ginger Mojito, Mojito x3, Americano with Bailey's, French 77 x3, Gin Daisy x2

[EllieinNJ]

Can you tell us a little about your friend's excursion and how they enjoyed their day?

[Essiesmom]

Canal Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passing Pedro Miguel

 

 

 

 

[JamieLogical]

5 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Canal Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passing Pedro Miguel

 

 

 

 

 

Don't worry, I took about 800 of my own pictures to post. They will come with my full update tomorrow.

[JamieLogical]

5 hours ago, EllieinNJ said:

Can you tell us a little about your friend's excursion and how they enjoyed their day?

 

@megaphone84 Can probably elaborate. I know they did a Gatun Lake & Animal sanctuary. They stopped at the canal visitors' center and saw a ship it two going through the locks. They took a covered boat ride on the lake and saw some sloths.

[Essiesmom]

Leaving via the Agua Clara locks

 

 

[ESCARGO]

Before dessert, out server offered us a drink called Amarula, which was delicious. It was like Bailey's, but about 12 times better? Going to have to see if I can find it when I get home.

 

Jamie, I found that Amarula at my local liquor store. It is from South Africa! I will have to get a bottle and try it for NYE! 😁

Ok, I have to ask, how was the French Onion Soup compared to NCL LeBistro?

[JamieLogical]

12 hours ago, ESCARGO said:

Before dessert, out server offered us a drink called Amarula, which was delicious. It was like Bailey's, but about 12 times better? Going to have to see if I can find it when I get home.

 

Jamie, I found that Amarula at my local liquor store. It is from South Africa! I will have to get a bottle and try it for NYE! 😁

Ok, I have to ask, how was the French Onion Soup compared to NCL LeBistro?

 

The soup in  Crown Grill is pretty different from the soup in LeBistro, so it is hard to compare. The soup in Crown Grill has some blue cheese and whiskey flavors to it, which are very good, but non-traditional. My husband actually ate the soup in Crown Grill, just like he did in Le Bistro, despite his hatred of onions. I personally think the Le Bistro soup is better. They dona better job with the melty gruyere on top and the broth is a little better.

[KKB]

On 12/28/2022 at 8:41 AM, JamieLogical said:

 

 This is where things went off the rails a bit. I ordered medium well and, to me it seemed medium rare at best? At least the jux and the fries were delicious and I made myself a bit of a steak frites situation.

 

 

 

That appears to be Medium--M. Rare would be more red in the center than pink.

Even a MW should have a touch of pink in the center.

You could have sent it back for a couple minutes more on the grill.

 

Yes, it has taken me years to convince DH that if he wants a MW steak, just get a sirloin.

He now orders his filets M...

 

Now, you are not paying any more at Crown Grill for filet than Sirloin, so enjoy!

[JamieLogical]

Yesterday was finally out Panama Canal transit on our "Panama Canal Cruise." My husband and I got up at 5:00, as were were scheduled to leave our mooring at 5:00 and pass under the Bridge of the Americas at around 5:30.

 

I had the apparently very popular idea to get up at 5:00 and grab coffee from the international cafe before going up on deck. Since everyone else on the ship seemingly had the exact same idea, we gave up op waiting on line and missing our chance to stake out some decent deck space in time to see the bridge.

 

Our first plan was to go on top of the bridge, which can be accessed from a door near our room on Deck 15 forward. However, when we got back there after trying for coffee, the door was roped off. That was a disappointment, so we headed up to 16 to the forward railing that runs along the front of the gym. As we were standing there, we saw people start being let out onto the top of the bridge afterall,.so we raced back down again and managed to get a spot along the railing. Then we saw they were handing out chairs so I rushed over to grab a couple, but they ran out before I got over there and got through the line. They said they would bring more.

 

They did eventually bring more, but by then I was pretty terrified to lose my spot if I went to get some. A couple had already squeezed in tightly beside me even though I warned them of our intentions to obtain chairs which would make us wider than we were while standing.

 

Since this was to be a multi-hour process, ultimately decided to risk it and got us two chairs. Nice to sit down, but the guy standing next to me had a coffee cup from the International Cafe in his front pants pocket that I was 100% sure was going to get coffee on me as he kept bumping my should with it.

 

It was incredibly windy as we approached the bridge. I would guess about 40mph winds? There was a storm off in the distance that was producing a lot of lightning and providing us a nice light show, as it was still dark outside. For a long time, we couldn't make out the bridge we were heading towards at all. It was not significantly lit up in any way, but as we got closer, we could kind of see it back-lit from the city lights.

 

Seemingly behind schedule a bit, we passed under the bridge around 6:15 and by then the sun was rising behind us. This is when I learned that the Panama Canal from the Pacific into the Atlantic counterintuitively goes from southeast to northwest. It really threw me off!

 

 

 

After passing under the bridge, we slowed way down, so the wind became much less punishing. it didn't take too long for us to get within sight of our first set of locks. I was still miserable about the man next to me physically touching me with his coffee cup, but I cared much less about it as we started going into the lock, which was incredibly cool and fascinating.

 

I took about 300 picture but I will just post a few to give you the gist. There was a container shop going through ahead of us, so we got a good preview of what we were going to experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we began moving out of the first section of lock into the second section, we decided to relinquish our seats (at this point people were standing about 12 deep behind the row of chairs along the railing) and get some food and water/coffee as it had been over 2.5 hours since we got up and had had nothing to eat or drink.

 

We didn't even bother showering and dressing. Just went straight to the buffet in our PJs. The didn't have any fun meat in sauce to put over my egg this time, so I tried some chickpea bases masala, I believe it was? Decent but not as good. I forced myself to drink a cup of the horrible buffet coffee and then we headed back to the room to get showered and dressed. Wish I had taken a picture of my hair. I hadn't seen a mirror since leaving the bridge and had no idea how insane it looked while having breakfast. The wind had really done a number on it despite my having had it in a ponytail.

 

After we were showered and dressed, we sat out our balcony for a bit and watch some of our canal passage. I got a view of the old locks and we passed under another pretty cool bridge.

 

 

Meanwhile Matt & Meghann had gotten up really late and attempted the MDR for breakfast. Meghann had ordered the "Three Minute Steak" special and never received it. By the time Matt and received and eaten his food, they came out and told her it would be a while longer, so she ended up just leaving!

 

We had all agreed to meet up at the aft of the buffet to do some pre-lunch gaming. That way we could run over to either side of the ship if they announced anything interesting for us to see while passing through the canal.

 

We got one of the high top tables at the very back, which put us very close to Outriggers, which was shockingly open. We were able to grab mimosas and waters and enjoy our gaming until lunch time.

 

We checked out the MDR lunch menu in the app and I was super excited to see a Monte Cristo listed. I insisted we all go down to the MDR, because a Monte Cristo is my favourite MDR item on Norwegian. I failed to notice it was served with cocktail sauce until we actually got down to DiVinci. That should have been my first clue. Some google searching indicated that no one in the history of the human race has ever served a Monte Cristo with cocktail sauce. Everyone knows that you serve a Monte Cristo with jam/preserves or sometimes, apparently, maple syrup.

 

For those of you that aren't familiar, a Monte Cristo is a ham and Swiss sandwich that is breaded and deep fried and served with jam or preserves for dipping/spreading. On NCL, there Monte Cristo is a lovely double-decker, that has an almost tempura-like batter and is served with raspberry jam. It is fantastic!

 

 

 

 

What I received was a sad, public school ham and cheese sandwich that had been lightly toasted/grilled? My husband's hadn't even been toasted. His was just on pale, white, untoasted bread.

 

We did ask for some jam instead of cocktail sauce and got some strawberry jam, which was the same taste jam from breakfast, so I that definitely helped.

 

After lunch we decided to go our separate ways and maybe nap. I wasn't particularly nappy, despite having gotten up at 5:00am, so I went to the casino, which I was surprised to see was open for our canal transit. I won a $68 and $75 jackpot so I called it quits quickly and just went up to the room to play on my phone on the balcony.

 

Post-nap and pre-dinner, Clayton, Meghann, and I played another game or two in Wheelhouse before it converted to Salty Dog for the evening.

 

 

 

 

We dropped off all our stuff in our rooms and went to Explorer's for a pre-dinner drink or two. Then we headed to Salty Dog Gastropub/The Wheelhouse for our 6:30 dinner reservations. We arrive around 6:25. At 6:45 we received menus. At 7:29 we received our free bread sticks with beer cheese fondue. At Salty Dog you pay a cover charge per person and that includes bread sticks, two "plates," and a dessert. At 7:58, we got our first "course?" It was one of the two "plates" each of us ordered. At 8:24, we asked one of the servers when we should expect our second course, as we had planned to be at Karaoke at 9:15. We were told "seven minutes." At 8:40, Meghann approached a table of officers that had been seated at some point after us and asked who we could talk to about this ridiculous situation. One of them got a hold of the food and beverage department for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometime around 8:50 we received our second course. Sorry I didn't take a picture. I we were so rushed and ravenous at that point that I just inhaled mine. While we were eating that course, an assistant food & beverage manager came and spoke with us. We talked about all of our ordeals for all of our meals for the day and said something along the lines of how this is our first Princess cruise and will probably be out last and she agreed and said she didn't blame us. She didn't even try to dissuade us.

 

During our over 2.5 hours at dinner, we saw multiple tables of people just get up and leave between courses or in some cases before even getting any food at all. We ended up dashing out after our second course and having to skip dessert so we could get it Karaoke in time to sign up. Both couples have HUGE tips to the two servers who were being WAY overworked and having to bear the brunt of everyone's angst. They are such sweet people who usually just work in the Wheelhouse that had been roped into doing this clearly very poorly planned and managed Salty Dog thing. I wanted to cry for them.

 

We raced over to Karaoke and Meghann at least managed to get signed up for a song. We had a fun time and forgot our worries. Then we went to Explorer's Lounge for a few more drinks and then finally up for some late-night pizza.

 

I tried to get two bottles of water from the casino bar after a brief visit to the casino (I was up $200 for the day!) and I found out that they are now out of small bottles of water. You can now only get the giant bottles that are usually an upcharge. I tried three different bars!

 

 

Day's Drinks: Mimosa x3, Vodka Sour x2, Ginger Mojito x2, Gin Daisy x2, Blind Russian

 

[martinitime1]

We were on the Emerald about a month ago for the TA back from the UK. My wife and I got a chuckle out of the Monte Cristo sandwich review above as I was excited they had it on the menu for lunch. I really built it up to be a culinary taste sensation to my DW so she ordered it as well. Imagine my horror when we received exactly what you did. We choked it down and I left with my tail between my legs. Having said that, we had very good food and service in the DR, especially dinners. That was the only real what the hell is this moment we had on the whole cruise.

[abbydancer2003]

10 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

The soup in  Crown Grill is pretty different from the soup in LeBistro, so it is hard to compare. The soup in Crown Grill has some blue cheese and whiskey flavors to it, which are very good, but non-traditional. My husband actually ate the soup in Crown Grill, just like he did in Le Bistro, despite his hatred of onions. I personally think the Le Bistro soup is better. They dona better job with the melty gruyere on top and the broth is a little better.

Fun fact.  I finally learned why it is called "Black and Blue" onion soup.  The Blue is blue cheese.  The black is because they use Jonny Walker Black whiskey.  I learned this when I was on the Crown in September, and my nieces with Celiac wanted it (with GF bread) but were concerned about the whiskey.  They googled and JW Black is Gluten Free, whereas JW Red is not.  The soup uses JW Black, so hence Black and Blue.

 

 

[sunviking90]

Thank you for posting those great pictures! Really nice to see.

That is the saddest Monte Christo I have ever seen. I’ve  never had the courage to order one, but DH finally got one on our last trip to Disneyland. Exactly as you described. Fantastic. We were also on the Emerald TA and tempted to order it at lunch. So glad we didn’t. Yikes! Aside from that MDR was great.

[johnjovi]

On 12/29/2022 at 8:47 AM, Essiesmom said:

Canal Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Passing Pedro Miguel

 

 

 

 

 

On 12/29/2022 at 3:01 PM, Essiesmom said:

Leaving via the Agua Clara locks

 

 

 

These are awesome pictures - can you tell me the webcam links these were taken from?  I am doing the Jan 2 sailing on the Emerald (back to LA) and would love to grab pictures like this during our transit.  thanks!

 

[JamieLogical]

Yesterday was our final port day, Cartagena, Columbia. This was our only port where we had arranged a private tour. We had been in correspondence with one of the tour managers via email and WhatsApp up until the day before our scheduled arrival and then she put us in touch with our specific tour guide, Jesus.

 

We coordinated with Jesus to meet up at the Texaco station across from the exit from the pier, because he told us it would be q mad house of can drivers and tour guides right at the pier exist.

 

Having been less than impressed with Princess' ability to get people off the ship in a timely and orderly fashion, we scheduled our meet-up for 11:00am, even though people were supposed to be able to start disembarking at 10:00.

 

The captain made an announcement asking for all independent guests who didn't need to be off the ship immediately to kindly give priority to the people with Princess shore excursions scheduled. So we were a little worried that when they did start letting people off the ship, they might give us a hard time since we didn't have a Princess excursion.

 

The four of us met up in the Piazza to await further instructions. When the announcement came that we had been clearer by the local authorities to disembark, we quickly walked down to Deck 4 and got in line, which was actually moving quite efficiently.

 

Once off the ship, we had a bit of a walk along the pier to the port area. But once we got to the port area, we were super impressed. First we encountered some flamingos, then some peacocks, then a million parots... It was a lot to take in. We all took a million photos and we feeling really positive about the port so far. It was the nicest one I had been to, with only Puerta Plata to compete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we had had our fill of the wildlife viewing, we had to find our way OUT of the port area and that's where things got confusing and a bit frustrating. It seemed like only people with excursions could get our to the area where the buses were waiting and we couldn't find where you could just walk out and every time you tried to ask someone how to get out they just tried to sell you a tour or cab ride. One woman found a gap in the bike rack style fencing that was physically being blocked by a guy trying to sell tours and I thought she was actually going to murder him. She was screaming at him and cursing. We quickly moved away from that situation.

 

Matt finally found where we could walk out and we got across the street to the Texaco. Jesus found us there fairly quickly and we waited in a shaded area for our driver to arrive, which was taking a little while because the traffic along that main strip of road outside the pier was clogged with cabs and tour busses.

 

When our driver showed up, we were surprised to see we had a big van that could probably seat about 15 all to ourselves. The first stop on our tour was the highest point in Cartagena, which involved a harrowing ride up a VERY steep and narrow road with hairpin turns that occasionally requires us to back up to maneuver.

 

The view from the top was incredible, though and there was a church/museum up there that we got to explore. Jesus told us about its history, but the main thing that stuck with me was that they sacrificed goats by throwing them over the cliff from up there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One really nice thing was that we got to skip the line, as Jesus already had our tickets. There was a long line to get in and by the time we were leaving, the parking area and the road close to the parking area was mobbed with cars and buses everywhere. I was worried we'd never get out.

 

After the church, we headed down to the fort. We had seen the fort while driving and from the top of the peak, so we knew a little of what to expect. Once again, we got to skip the line.

 

Getting to the top of the fort was quite a climb in the sun and 900 degree heat (heat index was actually 98). Jesus led us to a shady spot before telling us some of the history of the fort. It was built by slaves under command of the Spanish to protect the city from pirates or bandits that might try to attack by land. The walls around the city were meant to protect from pirates and privateers coming from the sea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We explored some of the tiny tunnels running through the fort and got some good photos from the top. We then walked back down to our van and headed to Old Town.

 

In Old Town, our first stop was for coffee and the coffee shop we went to was madhouse. But at least it was air conditioned! Matt and Clayton managed to get us a table eventually, while Meghann and I waited in line to place our orders.

 

After that we walked around Old Town and fought off the street vendors. There were a LOT of pushy street vendors, but the area was beautiful. Jesus told us about the local candies, which unfortunately were made primarily from coconut, but Matt and Clayton loved them when we got a free sample.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked over to a park that had a sloth living in it and we got to see the sloth! I was very very excited about that.

 

 

We stopped in a pharmacy and I brought myself a Smirnoff Ice of all things. It sounded so refreshing in the heat. Turns out, it really was! Hadn't had one of those in years.

 

Eventually we left Old Town and piled back into the van to return to the ship. Somewhere along the way, I had managed to cut my finger and I realized I was bleeding? No idea how that happened and I didn't feel it at all. I couldn't even tell exactly where the blood was coming from until I used an alcohol wipe from the first aid kit Meghann had fortunately brought to wipe it off and felt the sting finally.

 

As we went back through the port area we saw some monkeys and ant eaters we had missed before. Then it was back to the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

I could not wait to get in the shower. I was soooo hot and gross. Also I realized I had bled on my hat, so I tried to wash that out.

 

Once I was finally clean and dressed and feeling human again, I went down to the International Cafe for a sandwich, since the buffet and MDR were closed between lunch and dinner.

 

We met up with Matt & Meghann at the Wheelhouse for some games, but they quickly realized they needed to nap. So I went up to the buffet, since they were open for dinner at that point. And Clayton ordered some Sabitini's to just be delivered to him there in the Wheelhouse through the Medallion app.

 

It only took about 40 minutes for him to get his food, which I was surprised by. Bet the people seated over in the Salty Dog area, waiting for their food like we had the night before were pretty jealous!

 

 

After Clayton ate and Matt and Meghann had returned, we listened to as much as we could stand of the live music that was on offer at that time in the Wheelhouse. It was TRULY the worst live music I have ever heard on a cruise. Maybe anywhere? It was a guy on piano butchering popular songs to the point that you would need to listen halfway through to even be able to identify them. He had no rhythm or tempo, mangled the words, and just generally mangled the songs beyond all recognition. It was kind of like watching a train wreck. We should have just left, but at the same time we kind of wanted to see what would happen next.

 

Eventually we did leave and headed up to Adagio. I had promised the bartender there that I would come see her after dinner the previous night, but of course our dinner never ended, so I didn't get the chance. We hung out there and played some cards and  then Matt & Meghann copied Clayton's play and ordered Sabitini's through the app.

 

Eventually we made it down to Karaoke where both Meghann and I signed up for songs. When my song came up, there lyrics weren't on the prompter in front of me. Good thing I knew the song pretty well, but I still didn't do great.

 

What I did do great at was drinking water. I had three glasses full while we are at Karaoke for 45 minutes. Which was good, because I had crammed a lot of alcohol into my evening.

 

After Karaoke, it was time for late night pizza, of course. Then I went to the casino for a while. Didn't do great, but didn't do horribly either.

 

Day's Drinks: Smirnoff Ice, Gin Daisy x3, Lemon Drop x4

 

[graphicguy]

Jamie….just love….LOVE this review.  I know you said you would probably not sail Princess, again.  And, I certainly understand why.  But, I’m amazed by the itinerary and the trip through the PAnama Canal (which seems like it could not hold a large cruise ship).

 

Hope things get better and you keep posting.

 

Thanks!

[Essiesmom]

14 hours ago, johnjovi said:

 

 

These are awesome pictures - can you tell me the webcam links these were taken from?  I am doing the Jan 2 sailing on the Emerald (back to LA) and would love to grab pictures like this during our transit.  thanks!

 

The canal pictures are captures from the Panama Canal webcams:

https://multimedia.panama-canal.com/

 

The others are from the Princess bridgecams:

 

https://www.princess.com/bridgecams/

Jamie's pictures are much better...if you are there.  But these help us to follow along. 

 

Don't fret if you can't get captures from the PanCanal cams.  I will be doing captures for that cruise for another forum that concentrates on the Panama Canal and can post on CC, separate thread if you are not doing a Live from...EM

Edited December 31, 2022 by Essiesmom

[JamieLogical]

8 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Jamie….just love….LOVE this review.  I know you said you would probably not sail Princess, again.  And, I certainly understand why.  But, I’m amazed by the itinerary and the trip through the PAnama Canal (which seems like it could not hold a large cruise ship).

 

Hope things get better and you keep posting.

 

Thanks!

 

Probably will not sail Princess again, but will DEFINITELY do another Panama Canal sailing. Would love to go on a ship small enough to do the old locks next time and I want to come once the Fuerte Amador pier is completed.

[Essiesmom]

4 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Probably will not sail Princess again, but will DEFINITELY do another Panama Canal sailing. Would love to go on a ship small enough to do the old locks next time and I want to come once the Fuerte Amador pier is completed.

I have done full eastbound transits on HAL and Celebrity.  Neither had overnights at Fuerte Amador, although Oosterdam did arrive at 6PM and offer evening tours, tendering.  At that time, few voyages did a stop there.  I think more lines are scheduling it in expectation that the new terminal is usable.  I wonder what the real holdups are...EM

[nini]

3 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Probably will not sail Princess again, but will DEFINITELY do another Panama Canal sailing. Would love to go on a ship small enough to do the old locks next time and I want to come once the Fuerte Amador pier is completed.

 

I have been following along and understand your frustration and disappointment with the Emerald and Princess. When we were on the Emerald in May, and this was not the Princess we knew and loved, however most of the crew was great. This was our first cruise "post covid".

 

So, I am curious, have you sailed on any other cruises post covid? I am really curious about your thoughts so as to know if this has been a common theme among cruise lines post covid and trying to get back up and running. We we were on the Grand Princess in September and this was much better and closer to what we enjoy on a Princess. ship.

 

We also enjoyed our stop in Cartagena.

[schmoopie17]

Always enjoyed your posts over on the NCL page. Glad I found this one.

 

We did the Panama Canal from Miami to LA in 2019 on the NCL Bliss. Great cruise, but I just don't get the attraction with the canal. To me it was a few hours of creeping along without much to see. But that's just me, I guess. 

 

When we saw Cartagena on our itinerary, we were a bit wary...Columbia being one of the drug capitals back in the day. But we ended up loving it...our segway excursion through town was one of the highlights for us. Your pictures of flamingos, peacocks and the Old Town brings back some great memories.

[JamieLogical]

2 hours ago, nini said:

 

I have been following along and understand your frustration and disappointment with the Emerald and Princess. When we were on the Emerald in May, and this was not the Princess we knew and loved, however most of the crew was great. This was our first cruise "post covid".

 

So, I am curious, have you sailed on any other cruises post covid? I am really curious about your thoughts so as to know if this has been a common theme among cruise lines post covid and trying to get back up and running. We we were on the Grand Princess in September and this was much better and closer to what we enjoy on a Princess. ship.

 

We also enjoyed our stop in Cartagena.

 

 

The crew has definitely been great. I love them all. There just need to be far more of them in order to adequately attend to the passengers. Nearly all of the issues we encountered could be solved by having more staff.

 

This was my 11th cruise post-restart. I have sailed NCL three times and Celebrity seven times since July 2021. I have definitely not witnessed anything like this on the other two lines.

 

Edit: That was a little inaccurate. I did have one super slow dinner service on Celebrity on the Equinox for their very cruise back sailing. But that was to be expected. Newly trained crew, working together for the first time were not going to be a well-oiled machine. And on NCL, I was on the first Breakaway sailing back and it was a complete sh**-show at the pier on embarkation day because they were testing all passengers and MANY people had not completed their Bermuda travel authorization before showing up at the pier. Again, a fairly isolated situation.

Edited December 31, 2022 by JamieLogical