Emerald Princess was an epic disappointment. Never again on Princess

[Coral]

7 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Regardless of when it's filmed, The Wake Show in it's current format is a waste of time, IMO.  It used to be useful pre-pandemic.  Post pandemic it's been all about promotion of onboard sales. 

 

 

The Wake Show is filmed the morning before, so when there's a port change or cancellation, it's been axed it from the programming.

It was all about sales pre-pandemic.

 

The Wake Show usually is filmed the day before at various times. It all depends on when the CD staff have time to film it and their guests.

[azbirdmom]

19 minutes ago, Coral said:

It was all about sales pre-pandemic.

 

The Wake Show usually is filmed the day before at various times. It all depends on when the CD staff have time to film it and their guests.

 

It's even more about the sales now IMO.  The CDs are apparently being pushed to sell sell sell.  It's one of the reasons cited by Matt O'Brien in his post about why he quit.  We don't watch the Wake Show much these days.

[SaltyDoggg]

2 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

It's even more about the sales now IMO.  The CDs are apparently being pushed to sell sell sell.  It's one of the reasons cited by Matt O'Brien in his post about why he quit.  We don't watch the Wake Show much these days.

This brand will never evolve as long as they continue to believe everything is great.  That wake show is nothing more than an infomercial that intrudes on guests while they are trying to enjoy their cruise.  It’s so narcissistic and egotistical.  Celebrity does not heavy hand you like that.  

[azbirdmom]

Just now, SaltyDoggg said:

This brand will never evolve as long as they continue to believe everything is great.  That wake show is nothing more than an infomercial that intrudes on guests while they are trying to enjoy their cruise.  It’s so narcissistic and egotistical.  Celebrity does not heavy hand you like that.  

 

Except what is happening with the Wake Show is by design.  They used to bombard folks with fliers in the room about stuff for sale, now they are doing it with the Wake Show.  And thankfully none of us are forced to watch it so it hardly intrudes on our cruise experience.

 

Things like food quality and service are things that they need to hear about.  We take our time doing the after cruise survey letting them know about what worked and what didn't.  And we also will say something on the ship if we are having a problem or if there is something that isn't up to par.  That's all we can do.  And from there we can make decisions weighing what is important to us, cost vs. benefit.

[SaltyDoggg]

5 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

 

Except what is happening with the Wake Show is by design.  They used to bombard folks with fliers in the room about stuff for sale, now they are doing it with the Wake Show.  And thankfully none of us are forced to watch it so it hardly intrudes on our cruise experience.

 

Things like food quality and service are things that they need to hear about.  We take our time doing the after cruise survey letting them know about what worked and what didn't.  And we also will say something on the ship if we are having a problem or if there is something that isn't up to par.  That's all we can do.  And from there we can make decisions weighing what is important to us, cost vs. benefit.

The way I look at it is that the executive board are probably so antiquated that they can’t break out of their legacy way of thinking that’s why when I look at what Celebrity is doing, I’m blown away that they were actually able to evolve to what they have currently become because they actually want to evolve. Their food is consistent across every ship, their entertainment might be somewhat inconsistent, but what you consider to be the earmarks of the Celebrity brand are there on every ship. Princess just seems to wing it. I spoke with one of their top IT guys when I was on board and he said the food on Emerald Princess was actually better than most of their fleet . Their corporate is investing money into carnival and letting princess flounder. There are so many things wrong with that ship, but it begins with entertainment and food which they failed miserably on. 

[Ken the cruiser]

4 hours ago, SaltyDoggg said:

But what they are really doing is alienating the new generation of cruisers. Your legacy guests are gonna be gone someday soon and you will be left at the mercy of pulling in new blood, but i think it will already be too late by that time.

 

I'll be back on Celebrity and Disney if you need me... cheers!

Thanks for the very insightful review. I agree, you will definitely have a better time over on Celebrity and Disney cruises, and they seem like a better fit for you. You may also want to try HAL as they have a Music Walk that includes a Rock n' Roll venue every night!

 

But I agree, Princess is definitely more geared towards the older crowd, especially on their longer cruises. Heck, we didn't start cruising with them until we were in our 60s! 🤣

 

Edited January 2 by Ken the cruiser

[CruzinNoony]

Well, I for one love the Wake Show and have it on in the background as I'm getting ready in the morning.   We just got off the Regal (Christmas cruise) and the CD was Allie.  She is adorable and could be one of the best CD's we've ever had.  We have over 1000 days with Princess, so that is saying a lot.  She and Matt, her assistant CD had a fun Wake Show every day.

[UpcountryTravelers]

24 minutes ago, SaltyDoggg said:

This brand will never evolve as long as they continue to believe everything is great.  That wake show is nothing more than an infomercial that intrudes on guests while they are trying to enjoy their cruise.  It’s so narcissistic and egotistical.  Celebrity does not heavy hand you like that.  

Just off the Celebrity Reflection.  Their morning CD show is worse than Princess.  And other things....can't wait to get back on Princess!  Just a few weeks......

[SCX22]

4 minutes ago, CruzinNoony said:

Well, I for one love the Wake Show and have it on in the background as I'm getting ready in the morning.

 

There's a lot of effort into producing The Wake Show, not only on the CD and guests, but on the production crew who has to film and edit it.  Your admission that it's just background noise really says a lot to how useless it is.

[MacMadame]

1 hour ago, EDVM96 said:

I'm sure he ment Stanley Bear.

I wonder if Princess saw how popular Duffy is and said "Hey, let's get our own bear!" LOL

[SargassoPirate]

 We don't cruise to shop or gamble and SWMBO adds drink to that list.  Nor do we cruise to be on a floating county fair with rides or a water park. We do enjoy being at sea, visiting different ports of call, reasonably tasty and well presented food, a smiling crew, a real promenade,  and some reasonably amplified music in the evening with which I enjoy a wee dream or two.

 

If we encounter something that is unsatisfactory, we let the crew know about it and if it is not corrected, we mention it on the post cruise survey.  Of late our complaints have been oversimplified shows in the theater,  the piazza being turned into a rock concert venue in the evening, and mobility devices parked in the fire exit corridors overnight.

 

Given similar itineraries, Princess wins with us.

 

 

 

 

 

[coo359a2]

3 hours ago, SCX22 said:

 

I hate The Wake Show.  It's a waste of time and energy.  It's a long infomercial.  The crew has to stay up until the wee hours of the morning to film this.  Just let them rest for the night.

 

 

 

The Wake Show is usually on around 10PM at night for the following early morning show.  We usually see the Wake Show filming late morning or early afternoon for those not filmed in the crew areas.  No we don't watch it anymore as we are out of the room early and don't return until the show ends mid morning.

[cjpj]

I think I was on the same cruise as you. As a 15 plus Cruiser, I was disappointed with this cruise on many levels. One was the ship, my last 3 or 4 cruises were on new ships and I did miss some of the venues that are not on the older ships like Princess Live and Alfredos. The other was the food. It was just OK most of the time. I only had two really spectacular meals in the dining room. Most disappointing was the staff - everyone was just doing their job and nothing more. Our room steward never came by to introduce herself, dinner in the dining room took forever to order and between each course, we were invisible to staff in the bars (even putting an order in on the app while we were sitting in Crooners was not successful). Everyday we went to the Sanctuary and everyday we asked for an extra towel - you think after a few days they'd figure it out. I finally just gave up and started getting them myself. This is the first cruise we have ever taken when our wait staff, steward and others did not get an additional cash tip from us. I did not buy a FCC and we have one cruise booked with Princess for next year. I hope Princess gets their act together by then or we'll  be looking for alternate lines.

[cruzsnooze]

I just got off a 28 day cruise on the Island Princess. I agree the food was awful, the buffet was not good either. The choices of dishes are low end and budget stuff. I found the crew to very polite and accommodating.

[CanuckCurlers]

We were on the Enchanted in September and saw some differences in staffing from before Covid and asked our waiter if it was because of cost or availability of staff and said some of both. With the new 'Dine Your Way' we dealt with some issues but after a few nights found the team we were comfortable with, joked with and respected and we had great service and we had all our requests granted with a smile ( ie. After several nights of having broccoli with the entree I picked, I just chose a veggie from one of the other meals and it landed on my plate. We asked for extra sauce/gravy with dishes and got our own little pots.) Yes the menu has been Americanized in my opinion but as I read by another CC cruiser, 'if the food on a cruise is the best you've ever eaten, you don't eat out enough and if the food on a cruise is the worst food you have ever eaten, you don't eat out enough.' We are going on the Emerald in February because we wanted to go around the Caribbean not back and forth to Fort Lauderdale so will adapt and still enjoy the sea air, warm temperatures and hopefully a comfortable bed. Princess has better replaced the beds even if it is an older ship.

[CU64]

2 hours ago, SaltyDoggg said:

This brand will never evolve as long as they continue to believe everything is great.  That wake show is nothing more than an infomercial that intrudes on guests while they are trying to enjoy their cruise.  It’s so narcissistic and egotistical.  Celebrity does not heavy hand you like that.  

I prefer Celebrity over Princess but have never had your experience on any cruise….last Oct on Celebrity, meat in MDR was not good.

however, if you are traveling solo, that fact alone puts you in a different category for needs of stimulation, less interpersonal availability, and wanting to find some satisfaction in the food and/ or entertainment.  Your post sounds like you where generally unhappy and the outside stimulation was not good enough. Period. That being said, I can understand Disney and maybe RCCL offers more for you. Try Oceania, lots of ports, good food, evening HH where you can meet others that just do not talk about assessing the ship.

 

 

[txjim09]

I stopped reading when I saw the word putrid used to describe the food. 

[billco]

7 hours ago, SaltyDoggg said:

I knew of the reputation of Princess cruises was pretty legendary in the cruise world. They are the Love Boat after all. But I didn't know if they could stand up to the stellar track record I had previously sailing with 2 of the leaders in the industry, Disney and Celebrity. Let me cut to the chase... they do not. They're not even in the same stratosphere.

 

I chose Emerald Princess because it was an older ship, which I love and the Itinerary was epic! I watched every Emerald Princess ship walkthrough video, read all the reviews and I was sold that Emerald Princess was a great ship to try. I ca't begin to tell you how disappointed I was.

 

The food overall was awful, even putrid, but the food at the buffet was just horrific. The crew overall were great but everyone really lacked basic training and that rolls over to a bad guest experience. There is also a major communication problem between the crew and the guests. The language barrier is really frustrating to overcome.

 

Buffet. They were serving powdered eggs for breakfast at the buffet. You had to wait 20 minutes at the omelet station just to place your order, then another 15 minutes to get your omelet. And the Omelet was mediocre at best, not worth the wait. By day 2, I resorted to cereal and fruit for breakfast because everything else was just so awful. Same for lunch and dinner at the buffet. Items on the line looked gray and unappetizing. I ended up eating pizza and burgers outside at the Salty Grill and Slice for lunch because oddly, their pizza was phenomenal and that's coming from a NYC pizza snob.

 

The operation on how they managed that burger line at the salty grill was a joke. The idea of hot dogs and burgers are so you can get a bite quickly. It was literally keystone cops behind that line, trying to get food out to guests waiting 20 minutes for one burger with only 3 guests waiting. I would show up exactly when they opened at 11am, first person in line and still wait 20 minutes for a cheese burger because they were cooking everything to order. Not because they weren't trying, because they had no training and no backup. Management was oblivious. It was a joke. Ridiculous. No idea on how to deal with volume on a grill line.

 

Main dining room's food was Tasteless. Presentations were great but the food was just not good. Service was decent and crew were great. I only ate in the main dining room 3 times on a 14 night cruise because I was continually disappointed in the quality of food. I did an up-charge steak one night and it was terrible. You could taste the char on the steak and the vegetable, plus the texture of the steak was like mealy. The kicker??? The mashed potatoes were obviously instant. No butter, no salt. What kind of company does this?

 

Specialty restaurants were better, but bot great. Casual specialty restaurants also were better, but again. Nothing memorable. Thank God I had the Premium package because I could eat at the casual restaurant were were somewhat better but again, they had allot of issues with the quality of the food

 

Does Princess even have a corporate culinary program that ensures consistence across their entire fleet? If they do, they are failing. One ship's mistakes affect how their entire brand is perceived.

 

Entertainment sucked. Steel pan player was trying to play to backing tracks and all you could hear was steel drum with so much treble it was like sticking an ice pick in your ears. This guy was all over the ship too. I was running away from him because it was just not enjoyable. Could not find one band on the ship that played good ole rock and roll. This party band who just joined the ship with us did an 80's night on the pool deck and they were playing air guitar and lyp syncing because they did not know the material. It was pathetic. Even the guys who were mixing the band were embarrassed.

 

The constant upselling. The cruise director is so in love with himself that they have thing they do on the big screen called the wake show. Like a Good Morning America where they are constantly trying to get you to go to the art auctions, the jewelry sales, etc.. It's so in your face and obvious and ruins the chill pool deck vibe Between running from pool deck to pool deck to avoid the steel pan player and having to endure this Wake Show on the other pool deck. It was really annoying.

 

Mechanics. Everything is broken on that ship. Elevators were not working. Auto doors would close on you while you are half way through. Light sensors in the room going off for no reason in the middle of the night. etc. etc. etc.

 

Pool decks. There are 3 of them, each very narrow. It's challenging moving through those areas because all the loungers take up the space needed to walk from one end to another. Why do you need 3 small pool decks? They pack it in so tight, you cant navigate.

The ports were the best part of this cruise. Everything went off without a hitch. The excursions were so great. If it weren't for the ports and excursions, this cruise would be an EPIC fail. It's the only thing that kept me from rating it a 1.

 

In short, I would never sail Princess again. I took a chance and it really disappointed me. This cruise was not cheap either. Traveling as a single, I was paying double occupancy on a 14 night cruise in a balcony cabin. Do the math.

 

Princess does not know who they want to be either. They have this Duffy the bear character that walks around the ship waving to guests. What is that?? You're not Disney and you don't have Mickey Mouse. Plus there are hardly any kids on the ship, by design BTW. What are you doing with this character? Do you really think thats what people are looking for?

 

Also I spent allot of time getting to know some of their Elite guests with 15 or more Princess cruises under their belt. They seem forgiving of the inconsistencies on Princess because of all the rewards they are earning. That's a dangerous place to be for a brand. Princess feels their guests are happy, but they are really just complacent. Most I talked to are so brand loyal they they would never consider sailing with anyone else. Why should Princess try if their legacy guests don't care? I think Princess knows of the complacency and allows the ball to drop. It's so obvious for me where they are failing.

 

But what they are really doing is alienating the new generation of cruisers. Your legacy guests are gonna be gone someday soon and you will be left at the mercy of pulling in new blood, but i think it will already be too late by that time.

 

I'll be back on Celebrity and Disney if you need me... cheers!

Posts like this used to be attacked almost unanimously. Shows the direction princess is going, I think.

Have you looked at Virgin Voyages. I think their approach might suit you. 

[SCX22]

17 minutes ago, txjim09 said:

I stopped reading when I saw the word putrid used to describe the food. 

 

If you've ever been on an ocean crossing cruise on Princess (transatlantic, transpacific, or even just to Hawaii) where there are no stops to provision for days on end, the word putrid can describe the lettuce served in the buffet after the 4th day at sea.

[zogrand]

We are long time Princess cruisers.  We don't have many complaints because we usually cruise in a balcony cabin and spend a lot of time on our balcony.  We love sea days and sitting on our balcony enjoying the peace of the sea.  The food in the dining rooms has changed over the last few years - more fish, fewer high end meats, miss nightly Alfredo -  but we can still find something we like and tastes good to us.  Our last cruise, on the Emerald, we had reservations in the MDR for the same time every night.  We had the same table and waiters every night and just walked to our table - loved it.  We seldom eat in the buffet and like the International Cafe.  We have always had great room stewards and wait staff in the MDR.  My biggest complaints are not getting quick bar/wait service since medallion and the lack of dance venues.  There are now so many ballroom dancers in the few, small dance venues that there is no room for the average dancer.  That being said, we still enjoy the serenity of cruising on Princess and at a price we are willing to spend.  I have never watched the Wake Show.  We have sailed with NCL, Celebrity, HAL, and Vantage (luckily we didn't lose any money with them).  We did enjoy Celebrity.  We're cruising with Viking this summer but don't like their policy of paying so far in advance.  I think, basically, we are comfortable with Princess and have always found a cruise we have enjoyed.

[charliedalrymple]

We are loyal to Princess because they generally offer the best price for the itineraries we want.  We've never had a perfect cruise (though Alaska came close) but have enjoyed all of them. 

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, txjim09 said:

I stopped reading when I saw the word putrid used to describe the food. 

 

 

1 hour ago, SCX22 said:

 

If you've ever been on an ocean crossing cruise on Princess (transatlantic, transpacific, or even just to Hawaii) where there are no stops to provision for days on end, the word putrid can describe the lettuce served in the buffet after the 4th day at sea.

 

Well, putrid is about as bad as it could get I guess.   

 

I had a similar experience with the Lido deck burger grill on Crown.   They cook and complete one order before putting patties on for the next order.  Even if the first order is one burger.   I agree it was kind of poorly managed.  

[thecruisingfarmer]

Thanks for sharing your feedback. I felt quite anxious after reading this review as my family is booked for a 14 day British Isles sailing in summer 2025 on Emerald. Going back to look at other recent reviews/lives, some folks are (thankfully) having a very different and more positive experience on Emerald. With our very port intensive itinerary, we’re prioritizing the destinations more than the vessel. I’ll continue to track the feedback prior to the final payment deadline. We’re excited to get back to cruising after a break of several years. Booked for the Diamond (also an older ship) in Japan in June and for our first MSC sailing in Europa YC in the Med next Christmas. 

[dlh015]

5 hours ago, SCX22 said:

There was a mini ziplock containing some of her husband's ashes and his wedding ring.  We didn't have the heart to tell her how crazy she was.

How nice of you...

[d9704011]

5 minutes ago, thecruisingfarmer said:

Thanks for sharing your feedback. I felt quite anxious after reading this review as my family is booked for a 14 day British Isles sailing in summer 2025 on Emerald. Going back to look at other recent reviews/lives, some folks are (thankfully) having a very different and more positive experience on Emerald. With our very port intensive itinerary, we’re prioritizing the destinations more than the vessel. I’ll continue to track the feedback prior to the final payment deadline. We’re excited to get back to cruising after a break of several years. Booked for the Diamond (also an older ship) in Japan in June and for our first MSC sailing in Europa YC in the Med next Christmas. 

I am currently on Emerald Princess.  Ship in good condtion, food and service good, amenities are good, entertainment fair; I am completely satisfied and I think you will be too.