Emerald Princess 26 Nov - 6 Dec 07

[catsdinner]

We are early 50s couple with 4 previous Princess Cruises and 1 RCI cruise. This was our first "Big" ship as we had previously only cruised on Sun Class Ships.

 

The Emerald Princess is beautiful. We had Cabin R258 which is a balcony cabin on Riviera Deck Forward. It was a very nice cabin, very quiet. Our cabin steward was Saranya from Thailand. She was very efficient and friendly. When we first met her we asked for robes, extra towels and two wine glasses. She delivered them to the cabin by 4 pm. Even though the ship is large, we never felt like we were crowded. We are not early risers but never had a problem finding a lounger on the pool deck on sea days. This was the first ship on Princess where we have seen pool towels given out on deck and the deck crew were constantly going around picking up towels from loungers. I don't know if they timed them or not. On only one sea day did we see chair hogs where a couple had two loungers in both a sunny spot and a shady spot.

 

We had late traditional dining which was in the Botacilli Dining Room. We had table 127 which was a Table for 8 with Jocquin and Ronie. Joe was a very experienced waiter from Portugal and Ronie, from Phillipines, was on his second cruise but he was very quick to learn our needs and likes. Unfortunately, Joe became ill with the dreaded nurovirus on our second to last day so we didn't get to say goodbye to him. The food was quite good and Joe was very good at recommending the best thing to eat on any particular evening. He always pointed out that if we didn't like something he would bring something else. We never ate in the dining room for lunch or breakfast so can't make any comments about that.

 

The hamburgers at the grill on the pool deck were excellent. The pizza, also on the pool deck, I felt were not as good as we had had on Sea Princess last year. We went for ice cream several afternoons at 3:30 and it was delicious. I don't know why I had never taken advantage of this feature before. I ate mor often in Horizon Court this trip than I have before. The very first day was very disorganized with people coming in from everywhere and thought it would be terrible. However, on subsequent days they closed one of the entrances and it was not as confusing. I am not a fan of buffet food but this was fine as far as buffets go.

 

The internet was very fast. We checked our email every evening around 11 pm and was on and off in less than a minute most nights.

 

The entertainment was good. Our Cruise Director, James Lay, is not the best CD we have met but he was OK. He was leaving after our cruise so he won't be a concern for anyone else anyway. The comedians, magicians and singers were good. We didn't go to any of the production shows but there were some new shows that I hadn't seen in the Patter before. Every day, several times a day, they had street entertainers in the Piazza but we didn't get down to see any of them.

 

The shops had the same things that all the other ships had so nothing new there. I just wish they wouldn't fill the hallways with their 'sales' every evening. It certainly contributes to a lot of congestion after dinner.

 

Our only complaint, if I have to have a complaint, is that they closed the hot tubs early every evening. Our tradition is to go to late dinner, then to a show, and about midnight go to the hottub before bed. On this cruise they were all closed by 11 pm.

 

We had been to all of the islands before. In Antigua, we took a tour called "Eli's Eco Adventure". It was a private tour that we had booked on the internet. It was quite good and we enjoyed it. We were in Antigua on the day the earthquake happened but we were on the water so didn't feel it. Apparently, though, those who were on the ship did feel the movement. The next couple of days we heard about the quake while on the other islands.

In St Lucia, we did the Ziplining Adventure through Princess and loved it. Would highly recommend it. In Barbados, we went by taxi to the Boatyard Beach. Our taxi driver actually recommended that we not go to the Boatyard itself but go to the public beach next to the Boatyard so that is what we did. At the Boatyard they charge you $15.00 per person but at the public beach it was $15.00 for the two of us for the chairs, umbrella and three drinks. You get the same thing at the boatyard plus they have a few other amenities you can use. St Kitts, we went on the Nevis Sailaway with Lunch, through Princess. It was a great catamaran and some nice snorkling and a good lunch. I should warn you that the rum punch is very strong though so be careful. St Thomas, we just took a taxi downtown. Princess Cays was nice as usual. It was quite windy so didn't go snorkling as planned as the waves were high.

 

We had nurovirus on board this cruise but it didn't become evident until about the 8th day. Our cabin steward mentioned iit to us before that to be careful. On our last day, the salt shakers disappeared and we had crew dishing out the food at the buffets. I don't know how many people were sick but I heard there were lots. Our steward told us that passengers had been sick and hadn't gone to the doctor. Fortunately, we didn't get it.

 

All in all, this was a wonderful cruise. We had some rain but it was usually just a shower and it was over quickly and the sun was back out. The temperatures were warm which was what counted.

 

Any questions?

[OutSyder]

Very nice review. We're on the Emerald in feb and we're counting down the days till we board.

 

We also enjoy a late night hot tub. Was there any reason why they shut them down at 11?

 

Did you happen to notice if the poker table played tournies or was it just cash games?

 

The beach you went to in Barbados sounds perfect. Does it have a name?

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

 

Glad to hear James is off, I agree not a great CD.

 

We did the Nevis Sailaway too, loved it. :)

[catsdinner]

The beach you went to in Barbados sounds perfect. Does it have a name?

 

I believe the whole beach is called Boatyard but not sure. It cost $5.00 per person to go and $4.00 each to come back. The two entrances are side by side so just tell the driver that you want to go to the public beach beside the Boatyard. The driver told us that all the beaches in Barbados are public so you are paying for the amenities only.

 

We didn't go to the casino so can't answer your question but I seem to recall seeing tournaments in the Patter. Both formal nights were non-smoking nights in the Casino. We were planning to go one night but didn't get around to it.

 

There was no reason given for the early closure of the hot tubs but we didn't ask. The times were posted.

[vickie_bernie]

thanks for a great review, sounds like you had a good time.

[cdnguy]

Thanks for the great revue Sarah. Hope we can get some of the rest of our people interested for next October. We'll have lots of time to work on them. :)