Emerald Princess Review- Feb 28th - March 10th, pretty long

[Firtree]

Because we never know the weather in Maine, DH and I decided to fly down to Ft Lauderdale two days ahead of the cruise. The plane ride was uneventful and landed on time. I had gotten a room for two days at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa on Hotwire for a very good price last spring and although had some trepidation about it being in Hollywood, decided to try it. We rented a car at the Thrifty Rental at the airport, and because they messed up our reservation, gave us a convertible! Way to start vacation! I WILL say that for anyone staying at the Westin, you definitely want to rent a car as there is very little right around the resort and the food at the restaurant is extremely expensive! I would never stay there again if I didn’t have a car. Think $100.00 for a steak!! Yup, and $80.00 for a lobster from Maine! (we get them here for $5.00!) We didn’t eat there!

 

Spent the day before the cruise driving down to Miami as DH and I had never been there. We drove A1A down to South Beach and then back to Boca Raton. Very nice drive! Went across the street from the resort to Nikki’s Marina for a drink. Nineteen dollars for two drinks! We only had one!

 

Saturday, Feb 28th Embarkation:

This was DH and my third cruise. Last year, DH and I were on the Emerald about this time of year and we absolutely loved the cruise, it far,,far exceeded our expectations. Met a couple from NY on the cruise that we hit it off with immediately and so we all decided to do it again! This was their sixth cruise on Princess so became Platinum members by the end of this cruise.

 

We took the rental back to the Thrifty right outside the port and the free shuttle was right there to take us to the ship. After waiting for about 15 minutes while others got on the bus, we were off! Took about 15 minutes (traffic) and got there about 11:30. Sat with our friends inside, and were on the ship right after noon. Went to our cabins and immediately got the room steward to open our balcony door so we had one big balcony! That was great the whole cruise!

 

We then went to the buffet and had lunch then did a little exploring, but since we all had been on the ship before, it was mostly reacquainting ourselves with it. Spent part of sail away on our balconies and part on top deck. Oh, for anyone that is interested, we left from one terminal (forgot the number) and ended up returning to a different one so if you’re driving, you might want to find out ahead of time and drop your bags off, and take your car to the other parking garage or you’re going to have a nightmare on disembarkation. (Our friends found that out!)

 

Had dinner in the buffet as my DH loves the seafood. I don’t eat much seafood at all, but there was definitely lots of other food there to eat. I never went hungry! We went to the Princess Theatre for the Welcome Aboard show. It had a sampling of some of the entertainment on board. It was good, but we all agreed that the entertainment wasn’t quite as good as last year.

 

Although we’re all in our 40’s and early 50’s, we are not night owls, so oftentimes were in bed by 10-11pm. We did notice this year that there was very little dance music earlier in the evenings, but we heard that if you were up at midnight, then that’s when the partying really went on. The mix of people was different on this cruise, with many more younger people and even quite a few teenagers. We didn’t find the hallways blocked with wheelchairs or scooters as we had seen before, which made navigation easier!

 

Sunday, March 1st, Princess Cays:

The tender to the island was easy, and got there about mid morning. Last year, since we had never been there, had rented a clamshell, mats and snorkel equipment. We didn’t do that this year as there is plenty of shade to be found without renting. OH, I forgot to mention that DH had broken his back 5 weeks before we left, so he was in a body brace the whole cruise, but even with that on, it never stopped us from doing all the excursions we had originally booked. Everyone was very accommodating for him, and it sure sparked a lot of conversations along the way! We spent a leisurely day lounging around, and we thought the bbq was better this year then last year. For those worried about the Noro virus, we didn’t hear about anyone having it, although I’m sure it must have been around. The first few days the crew had the hand sanitizer at the entrances to all eating venues, but by the end of the cruise they were not there. There is sanitizer at the entrance to the Horizon court for individual use, but it wasn’t mandatory. Went back to the ship later in the afternoon and since we had reservations for 8:15 in Anytime Dining, took a nap! We went to the Michelangelo Dining room and were seated at a table for four. After this night, we changed our reservation time to 6pm, as we didn’t like eating so late. We really didn’t like the 6pm slot, but were told we could not get reservations for 7-7:30, although last year we had been able to. We also found over the next few nights that the waiters we had at this table were not very good, as we often waited for half an hour between courses and that dragged our dinner out over 2 hours. We talked to the head waiter, who was very nice and he switched us to a different table and those waiters were great! It wasn’t that the first waiters were bad, we thought that the language barrier was part of the problem and possibly inexperience. On one of the first nights, one of our friends found a bug (yuk!) in her fruit and brought it to the attention of the waiter, who brought the head waiter over and we found a nice plate of chocolates in our cabins as an apology. Now, we don’t fault the cruise line for this, it could happen anywhere when there is fresh fruit around. We agreed this was a nice gesture on their part.

 

March 2nd Monday: Sea day that we spent around the pool. Surprisingly, we didn’t find chair hogs and never had a problem finding a spot. We did find the bands that played on deck not that good unfortunately, and they didn’t play nearly as long as on our other cruises, but it never stopped us from having a good time! We all like Bingo, so attended all the sessions during our time, and I won one of the games as did one of our friends! That was a very nice experience! Since I’m writing this without the Patters in front of me, I don’t remember what order the entertainment was that we saw was in, but during the cruise we saw a couple comedians and the hypnotist. They were all enjoyable.

 

March 3rd, Tuesday: St Thomas: We have been there before, so just got off the ship, took a taxi to town and walked around doing a bit of shopping. Had several vendors offer us tours, which probably would have been good, but we declined.

 

March 4th Wednesday, St Kitts: The four of us went on the City Drive and Beach Break. The drive was “ok”, and the beach was nice, but found that as soon as we got to the beach, the locals swooped down on you wanting to sell you their wares or Aloe foot massages. You have to just tell them no if you’re not interested. We also found that the lounge chairs were free to use, but had to pay $5.00 for the use of an umbrella! We did pay that as the sun was hot that day. Spent a few hours there and then they took us back to the ship. As a side note, we do (at least at this point) all tours thru the ship as we’re not comfortable booking independent tours. We know we could probably get them cheaper, but prefer to know the ship won’t leave us behind on their tours! There were a couple nights that the ship waited for late boarders and as far as I know, never left anyone behind.

 

March 5th, Thursday, Barbados: DH and I went on the 5 Star Catamaran sail with snorkeling, sea turtles and lunch. Our friends just walked around and went back to the ship. This was worth every cent. The crew on the catamaran were great, the snorkeling was “ok”, we’ve been to better snorkeling sites, but swimming with the sea turtles was very cool and the lunch they served onboard was very good. They even served it on china with regular silverware. Met a very nice couple with children from England and the captain let their young son at the wheel. He was very excited about that. After the swimming and lunch they had an open bar and we enjoyed rum punch on the way back to the ship. All in all a very nice day.

 

March 6th, Friday, St Lucia: The four of us went on the Island tour with catamaran ride back to the ship. This was also a very good tour. While standing in line for the tour, one of the lady tour guides, Theresa (who ended up with the bus behind us) started joking with the guys. She was very personable and funny. We ended up meeting up with her at several of the stops and she joked with us along the way. That was a lot of fun. Our tour guide, Bernadette was also very nice and she warmed up along the way. We stopped several times for photo and souvenir opportunities, and then we stopped at a plantation for lunch. It was very good. Went to their active volcano and took that tour, and also saw the twin Pitons. We were then taken to a dock where we boarded a catamaran for the trip back to the ship. Along the way we stopped for swimming, and the only downside was the locals that were on surfboards who came right up behind the boat and stood on their boards, hanging over the back trying to sell their wares. This was disconcerting as we had our personal stuff in the back and the tour guide told us that unless we were staying right with our stuff, we should move it to the front of the boat. We all, as well as other passengers commented on this and we felt the crew should have told them to move on. We also found that unless we were in the water right in front of the boat that the locals would come up to us trying to sell us their stuff. We then boarded the catamaran for the ride back. Again, rum punch ( or other alcohol) flowed, and by the time we got back to the ship we were all dancing and having a great time. This is an all day tour, and the only thing we felt was that possibly the bus part of the tour was a bit long. All in all another fun day.

 

March 7th, Saturday, Antigua: The night before sailing here, the captain had come on the speakers to tell us that we were sailing thru a weather front and that the seas would be rough. And they were. We don’t get seasick, but a lot of other passengers were. Heard passengers complaining about it, but it’s not the cruise line’s fault, so we just went with the flow! Makes walking on the ship a challenge! DH and I had booked the Black Swan Pirate ship tour and found that they had considered cancelling the tour as it was very rough and the Ship swayed back and forth when trying to make a turn into a cove where we weighed anchor for swimming. I didn’t like how rough it was, but made it there safely, although on a couple swells we heard stuff falling inside the bar onboard. Once we were there, they let passengers swing on the rope swing or walk the plank. The kids, and some adults were having a lot of fun doing this. I didn’t try it as I am not a strong swimmer and although we were in a sheltered area, the water was still a bit rough. We did take their tender to the beach and again were swooped on by the locals. I did buy a beautiful necklace and bracelet from a local and am very happy with that purchase. Because it took a lot longer to get to the cove due to the rough waters, we only ended up being on the beach about an hour. On the ride back the rum punched flowed and by then nobody cared that the waters were rough! We danced our way back into port and on the ship!

 

March 8th, Sunday, Sea day: The water was still very rough and the wind was blowing very hard. Because of this they had had to drain the pools. One of them had sloshed so badly that it had gone into the hallway and down the stairs! Just relaxed all day, attended a few activities on board, along with Bingo, (this is the day I won!) and started contemplating packing.

 

March 9th, Monday, Sea day: Again, just relaxed, packed and tried the casino where DH won at blackjack. He’d never played it before so was having a good time. During the cruise, we did watch a couple movies at night under the stars and found this to be a lot of fun! We did skip the dining room one night and went to Café Caribe. We decided that on another cruise (and there will be more on Princess as we bought future cruise credits) that we may skip the dining room more often as we thought the food was very good in Café Caribe, and we liked the atmosphere. Let me say that we are not critical of food, and my DH always says it’s “Quantity, not Quality!” We really liked the Pizza, but heard another passenger, after taking (and wasting) four slices that it was “garbage”. I have no clue why, as I had pizza from the same pie and loved it. To each his own I guess! DH also had a burger and hot dog by the pool and liked them. I did ask for and received Lemonade in the Horizon court. As we had commented last year, the buffet area IS awkward, and sometimes very congested, but it definitely doesn’t ruin our good time! Our motto is that any cruise is good cruise if I’m not cooking, cleaning or working!! We also got items from the International Café a few times and it is very good. We went to Club Fusion on the last night for the “Farewell Dance Party”, but only stayed for maybe an hour as the bands music was putting us to sleep. Definitely a disappointment as we had wanted to party that last night.

 

Monday, March 10th, Disembarkation: Since our flight wasn’t until 5pm, we decided to book the Everglades Airboat ride for something to do. We met in the Wheelhouse bar and were off the ship by shortly after 8:30 am. Took a bus to the Everglades and enjoyed about a half hour airboat ride seeing many birds and a few alligators. The bus then took us to the airport about noontime, and we spent the afternoon just hanging around before our uneventful flight home and back to reality……..and snow!

 

All in all a good cruise, but not exceptional as we had had last year. I think that was due to changes in the crew. Not that this crew was bad, but I think they took their top performers and put them on the Ruby. (that’s what we were told anyway) Last year we’d had a waiter that absolutely “made” our cruise and unfortunately we found ourselves comparing the wait staff to him. We did love the Emerald, flaws and all, but have decided that we’ll try a different ship next cruise. Feel free to ask any questions you might have and I’ll be happy to answer them.

[Colo Cruiser]

Great review, thanks. :)

[mommy5]

We too were on this sailing with another couple. Loved every thing we did, especially liked this itinerary. We too went to the buffet a couple of nights and wished we had gone more, it seemed better than the dining rooms! We loved our island activities too: Sunny Liston in St. Thomas (fair...not that much to really see!) Private island tour in St. Kitts for the women and the guys went golfing (expensive and pretty but not really worth the price), Silvermoon Catamaran in Barbados....Excellent in every way!, Cosol in St. Lucia....so much fun, got to try the island food and drink and saw many beautiful things...loved this stop! Then in Antigua we toured with Lawrence. He is more quiet , laid back which was fine with us! He was very agreeable to taking us where we wanted...took us to ziplining and came back for us, then let us spend 2 hours at Darkwood beach. Such beautiful water!

We had a wonderful time and all pre-booked on board also!

Mommy5 in Kentucky

[elsje]

Enjoyed reading your reviews!

[LarryF]

Thanks for the review. We too will be sailing the Emerald for the second time on April 19. We really enjoyed cruising the Emerald in Jan. '08 and can't wait to be on her again!

[cruizin-from-maine]

Welcome back! Hopefully we are done with the snow - as it sure is a wonderfully warm day outside today. Thanks for the review - always want to do that intinerary however my wife teaches and they don't do that one in the summer - but they should(at least thru the middle of july so we can go!). Hoping to try Alaska next summer - plenty of ships

there:D!

[sherman931]

Thanks for a detailed and informative review. Fun Reading!

[christydore]

Thanks for a wonderful review. It appears you had a very lovely time. I too agree that any cruise is a great cruise as long as you're not cooking, cleaning of working!! However, there was one issue that did get under my skin a little bit, but let me make this clear - I wouldn't ever let it ruin a cruise:

 

The cruisers/guests on this cruise were the RUDEST and most IGNORANT I have ever, ever, ever encountered. Out of the 10 day cruise we sat in anytime dining with 2 different tables that expressed racist remarks, rude behaviour towards other table mates, and rudness towards to waiters. In addition and just in general, time and time again I encountered rude people around the ship in every event I attended and every direction I headed. While the buffet is it's own set of issues as far as manners and politness are concerned, even just walking around the ship and minding ones manners was clearly a challenge for a large portion of this group.

 

For those reading this, may I please request: you're on vacation, stop being such sour-pusses and remember your manners. When elderly are around let them by, when people are handicaped, let them by, when somebody OBVIOUSLY stops to allow you to pass (as some corridors are not a two person passing zone) say THANKYOU - is that too much to ask?? And certainly, do not discuss racial issues at a dinner table with people that you don't know. It displays poorly on yourself as well as poorly on your country if others are from abroad.

[Firtree]

Thanks for a wonderful review. It appears you had a very lovely time. I too agree that any cruise is a great cruise as long as you're not cooking, cleaning of working!! However, there was one issue that did get under my skin a little bit, but let me make this clear - I wouldn't ever let it ruin a cruise:

 

The cruisers/guests on this cruise were the RUDEST and most IGNORANT I have ever, ever, ever encountered. Out of the 10 day cruise we sat in anytime dining with 2 different tables that expressed racist remarks, rude behaviour towards other table mates, and rudness towards to waiters. In addition and just in general, time and time again I encountered rude people around the ship in every event I attended and every direction I headed. While the buffet is it's own set of issues as far as manners and politness are concerned, even just walking around the ship and minding ones manners was clearly a challenge for a large portion of this group.

 

For those reading this, may I please request: you're on vacation, stop being such sour-pusses and remember your manners. When elderly are around let them by, when people are handicaped, let them by, when somebody OBVIOUSLY stops to allow you to pass (as some corridors are not a two person passing zone) say THANKYOU - is that too much to ask?? And certainly, do not discuss racial issues at a dinner table with people that you don't know. It displays poorly on yourself as well as poorly on your country if others are from abroad.

 

Wow, I'm sorry to hear that happened to you....I didn't find that to be the case where we went, or, maybe there were a few, but nothing too serious.....We did find a few teenagers rather bothersome, but nothing major there either.......maybe I just block it all out !!!

[chrysalis]

Thanks for the great review....We will be boarding her this week for b2bs. It should be a great cruise.

 

Just out of interest, what were they showing on MUTS in the evenings?

[Firtree]

Thanks for the great review....We will be boarding her this week for b2bs. It should be a great cruise.

 

Just out of interest, what were they showing on MUTS in the evenings?

 

I don't know them all, but I know they showed "Doubt", "Hancock", "Changling", and "Mama Mia", but who knows by the time you go!

[John & Kelly]

We were also on this sailing and had a FABULOUS time! We took the Emerald last March on the opposite itinerary and had an even better time this year. The wait staff we had in the Michelangelo dining room were the best we have had in 10 years. Ask for Lambert and Eduardo's table and you will be set for the week......outstanding!!!! We have never encountered friendlier staff and they really made this trip our best ever.

 

Say Hi to Marnie in Vines for us!!

[mommy5]

We were curious about the other 10 day....Grenada, Dominica, etc. Did you find this one better because of the islands or was the other itinerary just as good??? Planning our next one already!

Thanks!

Mommy5 in Kentucky

[John & Kelly]

Both John and I preferred this itineray. John scuba dives and St Lucia is one of the best dives he has ever done. There is not much to do on Grenada and Dominica so I am not in a hurry to go back to those Islands.

 

We are looking at the 10 day Ruby next year that does the same itinerary as we just did.

[ReefRover]

Very informative review. We'll be on the 4/09 cruise and found this most helpful. Thank you!

[Firtree]

We were curious about the other 10 day....Grenada, Dominica, etc. Did you find this one better because of the islands or was the other itinerary just as good??? Planning our next one already!

Thanks!

Mommy5 in Kentucky

 

We also did the opposite itinerary last year and loved both Grenada and Dominica! We went on a spice tour on Grenada, and in Dominica we went on a tour to Tou Tou Gorge and hot springs....we really loved this tour! Everybody has their favorites!

 

Beth

[MARR]

So sorry ChristyDore you had to experience such rude and inconsiderate people. I too, have had an experience with tablemates who thought it was ok to be racially insensitive. It made for a very uncomfortable dining experience. I am leaving on the Emerald on Friday and I have got to say that although I have requested a table for two, It is my biggest fear that I am seated at a larger table with folks who haven't got a clue. :mad:

 

On another note, I would sincerely like to thank all of you cruise junkies for your wealth of knowledge. It has truly helped me out in all of my planning. I have been lurking around the boards for many months now and this is my first post. Upon my return, I will definately post a review. Thanks again to all of you.

 

MARR:D

[chrtran]

Thank You for your review of the ship. This is our first cruise to the Caribbean so it was very helpful.

 

I was just wondering if you have any of the Kids Activities Patters? My son is really anxious to know what kind of activities he'll be doing. Thanks.

[Firtree]

Thank You for your review of the ship. This is our first cruise to the Caribbean so it was very helpful.

 

I was just wondering if you have any of the Kids Activities Patters? My son is really anxious to know what kind of activities he'll be doing. Thanks.

 

Unfortunately, (or fortunately!) my son is off on his own now, so we were kidless! I don't know the answer to your question, but maybe others have the Kids Activities Patters!

 

I'm sure you'll have a great time, as will your son! Happy Cruising!

 

Beth

[sunsurf]

The cruisers/guests on this cruise were the RUDEST and most IGNORANT I have ever, ever, ever encountered. Out of the 10 day cruise we sat in anytime dining with 2 different tables that expressed racist remarks, rude behaviour towards other table mates, and rudness towards to waiters. In addition and just in general, time and time again I encountered rude people around the ship in every event I attended and every direction I headed. While the buffet is it's own set of issues as far as manners and politness are concerned, even just walking around the ship and minding ones manners was clearly a challenge for a large portion of this group.

 

 

Were we on the same ship?? :confused: We feel completely opposite and think that everyone we encountered was really friendly. No issues here. Even the chair hogs were friendly!:D Had an amazing time!! But then again, we really only stuck to certain areas of the ship this time around. Sorry to hear though, that you had an awful experience with your tablemates. Must have been uncomfortable to say the least.

 

 

When elderly are around let them by, when people are handicaped, let them by, when somebody OBVIOUSLY stops to allow you to pass (as some corridors are not a two person passing zone) say THANKYOU - is that too much to ask??

 

 

Agree 110%, although (thank god) I didn't witness any of this behavior. If I did, you bet I would have said something to the jerks invloved

[sunsurf]

I am leaving on the Emerald on Friday and I have got to say that although I have requested a table for two, It is my biggest fear that I am seated at a larger table with folks who haven't got a clue. :mad:MARR:D

 

 

You can still have the table for two. Some nights you may have to wait a bit...but you will get it.

 

Enjoy your cruise! You think you can maybe fit me in your suitcase???:D:D