1st Timers on the Emerald Princess

[jayslater]

My wife and I are experienced world travelers, but have never cruised before. We are seriously looking to book passage on the Emerald Princess for it's August 24th sailing from Copenhagen for 10 days. I don't think this ship has ever done this particular tour but I am interested in hearing any thoughts on the ship, the itinerary, or advice from the more experienced cruise travelers. Also interested in hearing opinions about an interior cabin vs an obstructed oceanview cabin. And finally, finding many differences in cabin rates with various online travel agents. Just wondering who to choose.

 

I know this is a lot to ask, but everyone has been a rookie at some point :-)

 

Thanks!

[GloriaF]

I would not choose an inside cabin if I could afford better. I personally like balconies. We are not allowed to discuss travel agents on this board, so unfortunately cannot give any advice on that subject. You should try cruising - it is so much easier and more relaxing than land travels. Hope you enjoy your cruise, and we would love to hear back from you when it's over.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I've not been on the Emerald (yet), but have read every review that has been published on this site, and everyone says the ship is beautiful. Service levels and food, which can change on a ship as the officers and crew come and go, is currently rated quite highly. I have a link which no longer works, to Wokie's extensive photo gallery of the Emerald. Maybe someone else can tell both of us how to find that again.

 

As for cruising vs. land vacations....we done quite a bit of both, and like both for what they have to offer. Cruising is infinitely easier, but not everyone is looking for an "easier" vacation experience when they get to a part of the world they're not likely to visit again. Very good friends of ours who are true world travelers (and retired military, having lived all over the world) did not like cruising. They like the experiences that come from spending multiple days, and especially nights in any given city. On a cruise, you definitely don't get that. You'll miss the whole "dinner" experience on land, and while the cruise line might try to bring on board some local folkloric type entertainment, the vast majority of the entertainment options are very mainstream and are the same regardless of whether you're in Alaska or Asia.

 

The good part of cruising is being able to count on food you know you can eat, a certain service level, clean bathrooms (!), and, of course, unpacking once and staying put for the entire vacation. We also like to combine land and cruise vacations (we never do the cruise line's cruise tours, though, opting to go on our own), and have found that we much more like doing the land portion first (which is, admittedly, the harder part) and then finishing up with the cruise. At the end of the cruise, we like to pack up and go home, not tote all our luggage somewhere else for a few days. Just our preference.

 

As for inside v. obstructed ocean view. If your itinerary is port intensive (a port almost every day), I would definitely go with an inside or an unobstructed view on a low deck. The Emerald is a big ship, and you'll spend a lot of time simply getting to the gangway if you are on a higher deck, or too far forward or aft. If you're not going to spending too much time on the ship, go for convenience. It's nice if you forget something to have a quick trip back to your cabin before you head out for the day.

[Treven]

I certainly would suggest an inside cabin. Once you've turned out the lights, the cabin is pitch black, great for sleeping at night or for taking a well deserved nap in the middle of the afternoon. You're not going to be in your cabin long enough (while awake) to be looking out the window at the bottom of a tender or some other obstruction. Plus I'd take the difference in cost and spend it elsewhere.

[JB Fort Lauderdale]

I did the transatlantic reposition from Fort Lauderdale to Europe on The Emerald earlier this year. It's a great ship, excellent staff and the best food. I had a balcony, but found it unnecessary. What is there to look at? Even when on a cruise in Alaska in Glacier Bay or going through the Panama Canal, you always end up on deck for the best pictures. Another thing to think about. You will hear your neighbors closing their balcony doors along with the wind howling at night, it woke me up sometimes. If you can get a balcony for a couple hundred dollars extra, go for it. Otherwise, the room is for sleeping, spend the extra money on Shore Excursions, which is why your on the cruise in the first place.

[kreemmer]

I must take the complete opposite view. We love a balcony and would never consider cruising without it. I can't tell you how much we enjoy breakfast out there everyday and a drink in the evening. We have cruised Alaska, the Panama Canal, Med and even the Baltic and have spent a great deal of time on the balcony every time. We love the quiet and ability to relax without being bothered by others if we choose. There is also nothing more romantic! I do a lot of research and try to find the best balcony for the price. CC is invaluable for this type of information. We especially like being totally aft and viewing the wake only. This is our favorite location. We are going on the Emerald in April and have cruised on Princess 10 times. I have also cruised on HAL and Celebrity and like certain things about both. Although we have done some land trips, we enjoy cruising much more. I hate packing and unpacking and having to travel all day. It's the best vacation to me. We try to eat lunch off the ship when traveling abroad, to experience some of the local food and this has worked well for us in Italy, Russia, etc. We did the Baltic cruise with Celebrity last August and loved Copenhagen. I'll be happy to answer any questions about that cruise Good luck with your decision.

 

Kathy

[jayslater]

I appreciate everything written so far and hope to hear from more of the members.

 

Kathy, since you have done the Baltic before, can you give me some pointers about off ship excursions. We were thinking of something offered by the ship or another organized tour in St Petersburg, but were definitely thinking of doing the other cities on our own. We will be in Helsinki, Oslo, Tallin, Stockholm, and Gdansk. Since we have land experience, we feel once we get off the ship in these cities, we should be good on our own.

Any thoughts?

Thanks and keep the comments coming.

Jay (excited newbie)

[JWJs]

Sounds like a wonderful cruise. Would sure like to do that one someday.

 

We ALWAYS get balcony cabins. However, on our 12/07 Diamond/Hawaii cruise, we had our 1st inside--which saved us over $2,000 pp in comparison to the cost of what we would have paid for a balcony cabin.

 

Our inside on the Diamond was on the Aloha deck...in the aft section. In less than 20 steps out the cabin door, we were at the door that led outside to the Terrace Pool and deck. It was just right there and awesome. I checked the Emerald and I think the Riviera deck would offer the same door leading to the Terrace pool. So...if you are interested in saving a few bucks with a fabulous inside cabin, this may work for you.

 

If want to see what it was like on the Diamond...click on the link for my cruise pictures below and then click on the Diamond Princess_Hawaii_2 file. The door leading to the Terrace aft pool is the 1st picture. Prior to our Diamond cruise, I wanted badly to see what this all looked like and someone was kind enough to post a link with a few pictures for me.

 

On our 12/20/08 Emerald cruise, we have our first aft balcony cabin, B748, facing the wake. We are very excited about having this cabin. It will most likely spoil us forever.

[mizLORInj]

We had a balcony on the Riviera deck and just got off the Emerald yesterday. Loved it. Great ship in beautiful condition.

I have never had an inside cabin and love the balcony. We spend lots of time out there, brkfst, a drink, sunset views. Check out as your coming into port early in the a.m. w/o having to go to a public space. So with the 2 choices you give, I'd go w/ obstructed view because it is some type of view anyway.

Lots of lounges, good shows, the promenade deck all the way around the ship outside, shops, good food in dining room and buffets.

Call a few travel agents and see what they can do for you. Independent ones, online ones (have not found these to be the lowest priced), warehouse club ones, etc. We get a couple hundred off standard prices and usually a shipboard credit. The prices do go up and down and you need to check even once booked.

 

ENJOY!!!

[LarryL]

We sailed her on the first Caribbean cruise this season Oct 21). This is a beautiful ship and the crew was outstanding. We enjoyed a balcony on the Caribe deck, which has the biggest standard balconies on the ship. If possible, I would recommend getting a balcony the first time out to maximize your experience. As others have stated there is great pleasure sitting on the balcony, particularly during port intensive cruises like the one you are considering. We are going to eventually find some cruises where we can get an inside cabin. As people will also tell you, you may not spend much time there anyway.

 

Before I sailed her I downloaded the deck plans and enjoyed my time just learning about her. There is a lot to see and do on this ship. Half the fun in cruising, for me is the planning and discovery. I would recommend joining the "Roll Call" for this sailing. The people on these can be incredibly knowledgable about cruising and are very willing to share it with you. We had a very large roll call group for our cruise and we met many very nice people along the way and are looking forward to seeing them on future cruises.

 

I still have to write my review for that sailing and want to do a good job describing our wonderful experience. Have Fun!!

[caber]

Emerald is a lovely ship. Personally, I like to see daylight so always book at least an outside cabin. We tried inside once and didn`t like the darkness in the morning.

My daughter was on Crown Princess last year in the Baltic. She had a great cruise. If you go to St Petersburgh you have to get a visa unless you take a Princess tour. They did a day tour then went to the ballet in the evening (it was an overnight port). They would really recommend the ballet. It was an experience.

Have a wonderful cruise.:)

[sing2sas]

We were on the Emerald earlier this year and had an aft inside cabin on the Riviera deck. It was a great location and literally steps from the aft pool (Terrace Pool). It was also very easy to get to the Caribe Cafe in the morning for coffee or iced tea. We are going on the Emerald again in March, and guess what? We booked the same cabin again. Sure, we would love a balcony and have had one on several cruises, but the difference this time is $1200, so we opted for the inside on the Riviera deck. Whatever you choose, hope you enjoy the cruising experience. Sounds like a wonderful itinerary!

[kreemmer]

Jay,

 

We were on Celebrity's Constellation in August. I did post a review in the Review section. Our itinerary was different than yours and we opted for the Connie because of that and four full days at sea. We enjoy these days the most.

 

We did not do any ship's tours in the ports you mentioned. We used Denrus for Russia for two days and I highly recomment them. We did Talliin on our own just walked around the walled city and ate lunch at a great restaurant -Olde Hansa. In Stockholn we took a hop-on hop-off boat on our own, that we boarded next to our ship. Don't miss the Vasa Museum here. In Helsinki we hired a taxi at the port because it was poring rain and he drove us all over the city. In Copenhagen we did the Hans Christian Anderson walking tour which was great too. We did not go to Poland nor Norway. Any more questions?

 

Kathy

[jayslater]

Kathy,

 

Appreciate your info. How did you deal with Denrus? Did you look into other tour operators in St Pete? I have been on their web site and they have not posted August 2009 trips yet. I also see the company Alla mentioned for tours.

We feel St Pete will be the only port we will use a tour company and the rest of our excursions will be completely on our own.

 

We just made it official and booked the 8/24/09 cruise through an online agency. We opted for an "obstructed view" window cabin, hoping we may get upgraded to a balcony or at least unobstructed. We are really excited about this upcoming trip!

Thanks for your comments!

 

Jay

[kreemmer]

Jay,

 

I dealt with Denrus online through their website. There were originally 8 of us but when I posted to the roll call, two other couples emailed me and joined us. It worked out very well. We had a comfortable van for 12 with a driver and guide. We toured for two full days and saw everything that we wanted to visit. I especailly enjoyed the subway ride that we took and the hydrofoil ride back to the city. The inside of the Church of the Spilled Blood was magnificent too. I loved the hermitage and Catherine's Palace also.

Kathy

[JEMS]

Jay,

Enjoy your cruise experience:D. We are taking the same trip June 5,2009, and have been getting lots of information on the Port-of-Call threads. There is a long discussion there about Copenhagen, which provides reams of things to consider and enjoy.

In St Pete we are going on an SPB tour with group of other Cruise Critic members. You give the tour company your passport info and they take care of the visa for you. You do not have to go only on a Princess excursion, if you arrange with one of the tour companies mentioned in these threads.

[sunsetme]

we took the copenhagen itinerary last august on the crown. having been on many princess ships you will not be disappointed. we had an inside cabin and since the itinerary is very port intensive it is worth it. you will be spending plenty on land and not spending much time in your cabin. some ports on doable on your own --get john lawrence's DVd of the Baltic ports (he is an ex cruise director--if you are lucky he will be onaboard to advise you of your port visits. However it is useful to get this dvd in advance and plan ahead). In Russia we were able to form a group of CC people and get a private tour guide. Oslo, Helsinki, Stockholm and Tallinn can be done on your own. We were unable to stop at Gdansk because of rough seas. good luck on your planning --go to the ports of call board for more info regarding Europe.

[Mimi39]

We're booked for the Emerald August 24 sailing. We are going to be in an Emerald deck, partial view cabin because we like to have a window and see out a bit but don't want to pay extra for full ocean view. We found on our Alaska cruise this year that we didn't spend any time in our room looking out because the views were better on deck or at Skywalkers. Check the Europe/Baltic board here for information on shore excursions. We've reserved with Alla for St. Petersburg as they are highly recommended on by people who have used their services.

 

My husband and I are also experienced world travelers and have only taken a few cruises. We decided on this itinerary because easy way to visit this part of the world without spending a lot of time and money on a more intensive experience. If there is someplace we really like we can go back later for a longer stay independently.

[jayslater]

Mimi39,

 

We booked a guarranteed cabin with an "obstructed view" window. We'll see what we get. We are excited since it will be our first cruise.

 

Have you given any thought or looked into any shore excursions yet? We will definitely need to use a "professional" for St Pete but will rely on our own selves for the other cities.

Really looking forward to this trip.

Jay