Back from Emerald Jan 5 - 15th

[JillK]

Hi all.

 

Because everyone here was so helpful to me when planning this cruise, the least I could do is return the favour and offer to answer questions anyone might have as best I can. I have written a lengthy review which I submitted to the member's review yesterday. Hopefully it will be posted shortly but it obviously speaks in detail about the ship, ports, entertainment, food, etc.

 

To sum up briefly, we had a fantastic cruise and all the negative reviews we had read about the Emerald were completely unfounded. The mix of passengers was great, the staff was fantastic and the food delicious. The itinerary of Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Thomas and Princess Cays was perfect and we can honestly say that we enjoyed each and every port.

 

Driving into work this morning fighting traffic and sleet, I found it hard to believe that I was on this vacation mere weeks ago... seems more like a lifetime. Maybe time to plan another???

 

Emerald is a beautiful ship with so many things going on and so many dining choices that I can't even fathom how people can find things to complain about. Hubby and I would highly recommend this ship and itinerary to anyone looking for a get-away.

 

Happy to answer questions if you've got 'em.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks, looking forward to the review. :)

[cruzzers]

JillK...We had the same favorable experience when we sailed on the Emerald in Nov. There was absolutely nothing to complain about. We liked it so much, we are doing it again in Feb. and can't wait! Thanks for posting!

[GSDsky]

Nice to day to get back to work.

We got 5" up here.

Will be on the emerald in 3 weeks so will read your review.

[daWoods]

Jill, some people can find things to complain about in the most ideal situations. Glad to hear you had a great time and I'll read your review. It's the same itinerary we're on in March.

[lkwill]

My husband and I were on that cruise as well and we totally agree with you. The staff was outstanding, the food was the best we have had on a cruise, the entertainment was good and the choice of excursions was wonderful. We purchased the dvd and viewed it last night and we relived that wonderful 10 days in paradise.

[cruizecrazygramma]

I'm glad to hear you had a good time. I'm on the Emerald in March and I am honestly not sure what to expect. The reviews are so mixed. You said a good mix of people on the ship, does that mean is was not a "senior cruise". No offense to any seniors out there but we were on the SUn last Feb and we were about the youngest couple on board and we are 41 and 44.

 

 

What can you tell us about the ports. Particularly St Kitts and St. Lucia and Antigua.

[JillK]

I'm glad to hear you had a good time. I'm on the Emerald in March and I am honestly not sure what to expect. The reviews are so mixed. You said a good mix of people on the ship, does that mean is was not a "senior cruise". No offense to any seniors out there but we were on the SUn last Feb and we were about the youngest couple on board and we are 41 and 44.

 

 

What can you tell us about the ports. Particularly St Kitts and St. Lucia and Antigua.

 

 

Hi Cruisecrazygramma: Yes, I was referring to the fellow passengers when I said it was a good mix of people. I would guesstimate that approx. 55% were 60 +, 40% being in their 20s, 30s, 40s & 50s and the remaining 5% being kids and teens. If I'm off at all, it would be in favour of more folks in their 30s - 50s. We were really impressed by the other pax we got to know. All very friendly and affable.

Regarding the ports...

St. Lucia was our favourite port. Very pretty island and nice locals (that we came across anyhow). The tour we took here ("St. Lucia Nature Walk" offered through Princess) was fantastic. Great views of the island on both Caribbean Sea/Atlantic Ocean from the Rainforest walk and then the Fond D'Or estate. Our guide at Fond D'Or was particularly good, as was the local beer "Piton." Gorgeous foliage here with stunning colours. It was just one of those perfect days. We are already planning on one day doing an all-inclusive here with our daugthers when they're a little bit older.

Antigua was also very beautiful and charming. We took the "4X4 Safari Adventure" offered through Princess here and really enjoyed it. We aren't beach people as we are fair and burn easily and we like to see where we are so we always book sightseeing tours over beach days. I did however hear lots of other pax say that there were incredible beaches here. Lovely vistas of valleys and the port on our tour. Some of the nicest pictures of the trip were taken here.

St. Kitts was the smallest island and somehow it showed. I can't quite put my finger on it, but this was our least favourite port. We had an uncomfortable tour due to poor A/C in the van we were in and the sun pounding down on us so I think that unfortunately negatively affected our opinion. We did go to Romney Gardens which has stunning flowers in incredibly vivid colours. The time at Brimstone Hill was good - neat fortress with outstanding views of the ocean. Actually reminded us of the Citadel in Halifax, Nova Scotia in its design (not the scenery obviously!). We did walk into town on our own here and felt quite comfortable doing so. No fear of getting lost as Basse-Terre is quite small.

Can't comment on beaches anywhere or shopping as we shopped mostly for souvenirs. Although I would recommend that people wait to shop for booze in St. Thomas as it seemed to be the best priced here (1 litre of Mount Gay rum was $9.00 in Barbados, but $7.95 in St. Thomas). A few ladies told me that the jewellery was "expensive this year" in St. Thomas, for what it's worth.

Anyhow, that was our opinion and you might have a totally different experience but there wasn't an island we didn't like. Barbados was a close second to St. Lucia and the 4X4 safari tour here (also booked through Princess) was our favourite shore excursion of the trip.

Really was an ideal itinerary and I hope my comments will be helpful. Maybe some other folks can add their thoughts...

I'm sure that you will enjoy this cruise and hope you have as good a time as my husband and I did. We went in with the attitude that nothing was going to stop us from having a blast and we didn't let petty things or things that maybe we're quite right affect us in the least.

[micnmag]

Hi all, We also were on the Jan 5th cruise. We had a real good time and thought the ship and staff and fellow passengers were fantastic.

 

We also really enjoyed the ports, and our favorite was St Kitts, we did the SugarTrain tour and enjoyed that very much and also enjoyed walking around the town.

 

We are searching now for a cruise next year, looking at April 09 Mexican Riveria on the Star. Love the 10day cruises. We have been on the Star before and liked the ship.

 

Maggie

[kates70]

JillK ... thanks for posting your comments. We have just returned from the Crown Princess and we were concerned about our upcoming cruise on the Emerald because we heard more than once by Crown staff that the Emerald has "morale" issues ... and unhappy dining room staff.

 

I think all new ships have growing pains ... I remember people complaining about the Crown last year saying the exact same thing.

 

Katie

 

P.S. I live in T.O. as well ...and am sufferring from post cruise depression... why is everything so grey in the winter? At least the temp is a bit warmer today!

[JillK]

JillK ... thanks for posting your comments. We have just returned from the Crown Princess and we were concerned about our upcoming cruise on the Emerald because we heard more than once by Crown staff that the Emerald has "morale" issues ... and unhappy dining room staff.

 

I think all new ships have growing pains ... I remember people complaining about the Crown last year saying the exact same thing.

 

Katie

 

P.S. I live in T.O. as well ...and am sufferring from post cruise depression... why is everything so grey in the winter? At least the temp is a bit warmer today!

 

Katie - You are so right about the weather! I really didn't appreciate the cold snap we've just come out of. As I sat in a boring meeting yesterday I couldn't help but ponder that two weeks ago I was on the high seas and one week ago on Princess Cays. How time flies!

 

I have no doubt you will enjoy the Emerald. Perhaps if you were to take traditional dining and get to know your servers you would sense that morale issue but it never came across to us. We had anytime dining and ate in the dining room for dinner six nights. They were always friendly, efficient and actually seemed to care about their jobs and our satisfaction. If there are morale issues, they certainly fake it well.

 

Would you recommend the Crown? We had debated between that one and the Emerald and would consider it for our next cruise....

 

Thanks! Jill

[Catalina56]

Welcome Home JillK

 

Are they still using EXTREME sanitary procedures regarding the outbreak of Norwalk Virus (Can you serve yourself at the buffet, etc.)? Hopefully they are still insisting that everyone use the sanitizer before going to the buffet line. How were the lines on embarkation and how long did it take you to get on the ship? We leave in a few days on the 1/25/08 sailing. Thanks!

 

Catalina56

[kates70]

JillK - i realize this IS Canada and it IS January ... but i still can't get used to the cold. My first comments when cruising in the winter are usually ... "everything is so blue and green!" What is even more hilarious is that not only is this City grey and boring in the winter, but that everyone dresses in grey and black ... it's like we are in mourning of summer :) any got to love the pot holes on the roads ... i'm sure developing countries have better roads than we do!

 

I agree about the traditional dining... we have always taken Anytime Dining, but on our last cruise in december we decided to change to Traditional. Boy, what a difference. It was very nice and relaxing, the staff were amazing and the food seemed better ... or i think maybe just hotter. I would definitely recommend the Crown ... we have sailed on it 4 times! I hear it is pretty similar to the Emerald, if not identical.

[Bonniejj]

We were on this same cruise. We found that sometimes they were insisting on the hand sanitizers when you entered the buffet, other times, there was no one there to monitor its use. We could serve ourselves at the buffet. Upon entering the dining rooms, they squirted the sanitizer on us each time.

Embarkation was a breeze. We arrived about 12:30, and were in our cabin in 20 minutes. Very efficient.

[ronl]

did you stay at a hotel for a pre cruise if so witch one and where

[JillK]

Hi Catalina56 - Sorry I wasn't able to respond earlier. My 20 month old has pneumonia and wouldn't let me put her down for a minute last night so I couldn't get to the computer.

 

As Bonniejj said, if there was someone at the buffet, they were insisting that you use the sanitizer. They also squirted some on you when you went into the dining room. We were able to serve ourselves.

 

We would always use the sanitizer (whether someone was there or not) both before we served ourselves, and then after we got our food back to a table. I would far rather take the extra 30 seconds to walk back over and re-sanitize rather than risk getting sick. We also carried around a travel-sized sanitizer in our beach bag and used it throughout the day. I didn't hear of anyone being ill on our cruise.

 

We also had a similar experience as Bonniejj for embarkation. From the time we pulled up in the taxi to being in our cabin it was 25 minutes. The easiest embarkation I've experienced in my 5 cruises (although the first- a family vacation on the Norway in 1992 was quick because the ship was waiting for us... but that's another story!) We had arrived around noon.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Ronl - you had asked about pre-cruise hotel. Yes, we did fly in a day early and I had been checking various online sites for hotel prices. We were going to book something on the 17th st causeway but I just happened upon Hotwire and got an amazing price for the Diplomat Country Club & Spa in Hallandale (a Starwood Luxury Collection property). We booked there but didn't get to fully enjoy as we arrived at 7:30 in the evening and couldn't arrange a late check out (we had originally planned on going to the ship after 2:00 pm). As you undoubtedly know there are many recommendations on hotels in FLL.

 

My only faux pas would have to be that we didn't rent a car. Cab to hotel from airport with tip was $50 and cab from hotel to port with tip was another $50. I'm sure I could have rented for a lot less, even including insurance and gas. This would also have enabled us to buy some pop and water, which we eventually ended up doing in Barbados. I don't mind paying $16 for two frozen cocktails, but their prices for bottled water and pop bother me.

 

For what it's worth, we also brought two bottles of Mount Gay rum onboard from Barbados that we intended to bring home, but there was no one there to collect it and the security people didn't say a word. We ended up drinking one on board (mixed with coke) and brought the other home. We also bought a bottle of Appleton's in St. Thomas to bring home and while there was someone collecting, there was a massive line up so I just kept going.

 

Whatever you arrange, enjoy!

 

Jill

[myraid]

JillK- thanks for the review. Great to hear about your trip. I am from Canada (Toronto) too, so I can sympathize with your views on the weather.

 

Sorry to hear your little one is sick. I am curious to know if you brought him/her with you on the cruise. We are sailing with our 2 1/2 year old (he will be 3 by then) in November on the Emerald and am just curious about the kids facilities- is there a kids-pool? We have been on 2 Princess cruises already with him and he has really enjoyed the kids areas, so I am hoping the Emerald will not disappoint!

 

Thanks :D

[JillK]

Hi Myraid.

 

We did not bring our girls with us (20 mths and 3 years) this time out. We don't have family in the area with us so this was really an opportunity for hubby and I to re-connect. I keep referring to it our marital retreat! We just needed a break from our normal hectic life and a chance to talk without interruption which always occurs at home.

 

That said, we did pass by the kids area and it looked like fun. We didn't see in the inside facility but the outside area had cottages, trikes and bike paths. I could see our girls enjoying that easily.

 

We did meet a 3-year old on the tender to Princess Cays and her mom told us that she had been using the Pelican Club every day. She really liked the facility, the activites and the new friends she had made.

 

That really got us to thinking that when our little one is a bit older, we would like to try cruising with them. I know that it will be a different experience than what I'm accustomed to (this was my 5th cruise, 3rd with hubby; first two were family trips when I was 18 and 23 respectively), but I think they would enjoy the experience and the kids club.

 

Maybe someone else who brought a little one along will read this post and provide some more details!

 

Hope you enjoy.

 

Jill

[myraid]

Hi Jillk,

 

Thank you for the response- sounds like my DS will have fun in the kids club just playing around- if he stays there for any length of time on his own, it will be a bonus, but we don't care either way. We have cruised with him twice and really enjoy spending all the time together!

 

Having said that, good for you for taking some time away...don't blame you at all and would do it as well if I could! Sounds like you and your hubby had a great time and a well deserved break!

 

If you are thinking about cruising with little ones, all I can say is DO IT! We have created wonderful memories with our little guy on our cruises and all he does is talk about the "big boat". Yes, it will be a different experience than cruising on your own, but for us anyway, it was a wonderful time!:D