LIVE: Emerald Princess 10/31 sailing

[sunshine426]

Have just discovered the internet cafe and thought I would post a few thoughts before I reboard the ship. Just coming back from a long lovely day in St Lucia. Weather has been pretty good. Some showers every day, first sea day the water was a bit rough, which made it difficult for yoga on the top deck, but good for napping. Sushi in Vines was pretty good, no waits yet in anytime dining. Overall having a great time. Do not know if I will be back on line again, but will post a full review when I get back. :D

[Colo Cruiser]

Have just discovered the internet cafe and thought I would post a few thoughts before I reboard the ship. Just coming back from a long lovely day in St Lucia. Weather has been pretty good. Some showers every day, first sea day the water was a bit rough, which made it difficult for yoga on the top deck, but good for napping. Sushi in Vines was pretty good, no waits yet in anytime dining. Overall having a great time. Do not know if I will be back on line again, but will post a full review when I get back. :D

 

 

Thanks for the live from and enjoy the rest of your cruise. :)

[The Scottish Kirks]

Good to know things are going well, my friends "The Scottish Whytes" are on board and the naughty girl has not e-mailed me once so far !!! I have been following your progress on the Webcam - if you do meet them say hello from Linda :D

[Sandie]

Hi Anne and Linda!

 

Anne, sounds like you are having a great time on the Emerald Princess. Hope you get a chance to see Solstice in port. So glad that all is going well. Can't wait to read your review.

 

Sandie

[spingal]

Hi Karen!!! Glad to hear you are having a great time. I was thinking about you last Friday as my week on the Crown was winding down and you were boarding the Emerald. We have got to figure out when we can cruise again soon.

 

Keep the updates coming -- I love reading them! Hi to Rich! :D:D:D

[kusscate]

I'm on the 10/31 Emerald too. Here are my nuggets of advice.

Don't bother renting a clamshell on Princess Cays. If you get off the tender and go to the left, there are plenty of covered areas. I did not need the bug spray either.

Bring an umbrella. The islands get showers. I have one but mostly forgot it in my cabin.

Bring some jokes, sayings, etc you can use for the daily wakey wakey TV show.

We did Godfrey's tour on St Thomas and Cosol on St Lucia. Both through CC, both recommended.

Go to the front of the ship on the Lido deck, exit through the emergency door and you end up outside over the bridge. Great viewing when you leave the ports.

The hypnotist (last name Frenandez) is outstanding. So was Glenn Smith. We're not fans of the production shows.

We brought on 9 bottles of our own wine. Corkage in the dining room is $15.00, so it may not be worth it to you.

Try the Piton beer in St Lucia.

Sapphire Beach on St Thomas is much nicer than Coki or Magens.

People love the chefs dinner. We love the Crown Grill.

The library has decent books.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Two more days. BOO.

[SF]

Sounds like you are all having a great cruise. Thanks for taking the time to post. It's so nice to hear what's happening on board since we will be sailing Emerald again next month.:)

[cmalibu1]

Thanks for posting!! I love all the tips about emerald!!

We sail her next monday, and it is our first time with princess.

 

Glad to hear that you are having a great time! Hope the weather holds up and the good times continue!

[TwinCruiserMom]

We are so looking forward to December when it is our turn to cruise on the Emerald :) So glad you are all having a great time!

 

Please write some reviews when you get back! Would love to know what menus you had, which nights were formal and which night was the tropical island party. Was the International Cafe open when you embarked? How was the service onboard?

 

Our itinerary is very similar to yours and we are eager to hear all about the Emerald and these Eastern ports. Many thanks for any info you are willing to share!

[TwinCruiserMom]

Saw the Emerald docked in Fort Lauderdale this morning. (webcam - certainly cannot see it from here in Ohio :rolleyes:)

 

Is anyone ready to share their experiences onboard the Emerald?

[sunshine426]

Waiting for my flight to Atlanta. Disembarkation was very efficient. We were in the 8:40 group, and by 9:50 we were sitting in the FLL airport.

I kept all my patters so I'll post a review in the next few days while my mind is fresh. Any questions, post away.

On a personal note to Spin Gal! Eric Stone was in Crooners on this trip and he also did his one man show to Andrew Loyd Webber. We enjoyed him as we did in Hawaii. I did not have a chance to give a personal greeting to him for you:( I am wearing the same clothes off the ship that I wore on, so hopefully the scales will be good to me when I return.

[spingal]

Waiting for my flight to Atlanta. Disembarkation was very efficient. We were in the 8:40 group, and by 9:50 we were sitting in the FLL airport.

I kept all my patters so I'll post a review in the next few days while my mind is fresh. Any questions, post away.

On a personal note to Spin Gal! Eric Stone was in Crooners on this trip and he also did his one man show to Andrew Loyd Webber. We enjoyed him as we did in Hawaii. I did not have a chance to give a personal greeting to him for you:( I am wearing the same clothes off the ship that I wore on, so hopefully the scales will be good to me when I return.

 

Karen,

 

Thanks for the update on Eric! I really miss him and have never found a piano player that I like as much as him. Glad you had a chance to enjoy his music.

 

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip! :D

[momofcbp]

Waiting for my flight to Atlanta. Disembarkation was very efficient. We were in the 8:40 group, and by 9:50 we were sitting in the FLL airport.

I kept all my patters so I'll post a review in the next few days while my mind is fresh. Any questions, post away.

On a personal note to Spin Gal! Eric Stone was in Crooners on this trip and he also did his one man show to Andrew Loyd Webber. We enjoyed him as we did in Hawaii. I did not have a chance to give a personal greeting to him for you:( I am wearing the same clothes off the ship that I wore on, so hopefully the scales will be good to me when I return.

 

We hope you had a great time, and we eagerly await your review and patters.

[Kimmus66]

Glad you had a great time on the Emerald Princess! I have a few questions if you don't mind as we are considering booking this ship:

 

Is there a piano bar? If so, how is it?

 

Did you go into the disco at all?

 

How are the shows?

 

Kim

[kusscate]

Since someone else is posting the Patters, I won't do that. But if you have questions, please feel free to ask.

A couple more comments.

We did not much care for Eric Stone, so it goes to show you how different people like different things. But there is so much to do on this ship in the evening, you'll find something!

Our favorite was Kevin Jordan although we liked almost everyone in Fusion or Explorers. Go see as many of his shows as you can (2 on one night and then the last night).

We had already seen the Motown show on another ship and did not love it so did not see it again. As I said in an earlier post, we're not real big on the production shows, although I highly recommend the backstage tour.

For late diners, shows are now at 7:15. I like that -- it means you stay awake!

Neil Chandler and his assistant Marascalh were among the best cruise directors I've ever seen. Both were fun, funny and helpful. Marascalh does a lot of fun onboard games (family feud, for example). He'd make it as a game show host.

We switched from traditional to anytime dining and liked it a lot. If there is a line at one dining room (usually Da Vinci), try the other.

Buffet lines were no big deal. Again, if one side is crowded, try the other, and go to the tables in the back of the ship for more room. (And if you can, try the dining room for breakfast and lunch. We love eating those meals there -- especially Eggs Benedict!)

Food in the dining room was very good on this ship. Sometimes "medium" roast beef on a ship is far from medium. That was not true on this ship. Of course, you should not expect 5-star food, but 3-star is much much better than what I get at home and I'm not cooking it, which makes it 4-star in my book.

The BREAD!

Bartenders don't know what a dry martini is. I actually had to send one back (horrors). Try Adagio for a cocktail. Lovely hidden spot.

I needed fewer shorts and tops than I took. A lot of time spent in a swimsuit.

If you have a massage, I highly recommend Amanda from Oklahoma. Someone else I talked to LOVED Bridget for a facial.

Workout room is very nice, but tak your own water because all they have is fountains.

A lot of people get lost on this ship. If you are concerned about that, print out the floor plans from the Princess site. The sideways guide they give you when you walk on is hard to use. Once on board, you can also look in the cruise tour area for a brochure that has the Emerald deck plans.

We did not find lines to be a problem overall. The only time we waited for anything was to get on the tender for Princess Cays. But only 9 more cruises and we'll be Elite and get off first (or should I say "dodder off" first)

As always, my only complaint was complaining passengers. How can I complain when someone else is changing the toilet paper roll?