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Emerald Alaska August 6-13 The Good, Bad and Ulgy


indygirl99
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Just getting back from our cruise to Alaska with pre/post days in Seattle.

 

For the down and dirty we had an Excellent cruise and will definitely be sailing again.

 

For those wanting a more in-depth review stay tuned. I have to go back to work to pay for the next cruise but will be posting a review of the ship, dining, tours, and our experience.

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Living in Western Washington Seattle is just a short drive away, our home port as I have heard other say.

 

Since it was also Seafair weekend we headed to Seattle for a pre cruise stay to enjoy the festival. Of course there are a million and one things to do in Seattle so a few days pre or post cruise is always fun.

 

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza (our go to hotel) on points and only had to pay for parking. It is walking distance to almost everything Pike Place, the waterfront, aquarium, Westfield shopping and the monorail to the Space Needle, MoPOP and Chuilly.

 

On sunday morning we drove to Seattle Cruise parking and took the shuttle to port. I highly recommend them for parking. It is at the armory with razor wire fenced parking and patrolled by dogs. Very secure and less costly than the other parking options.

 

We got to port in about 10 mins and walked right in to the building and through security with no wait. I forgot to look at the time to see how long everything took but there was no delay at all.

 

This was the first cruise in 15 years for me and first ever for Mr Indy so we were a little excited about all that was going on.

 

We were in a suite C 749 so had priority boarding and let me tell you that little green bar on the boarding pass almost parted the water. I was trying to follow the crowd but was being directed to the lines with no one in them.

 

After being directed to the elite waiting area we had a few pastries and some juice. We were here for maybe 15 mins when the couple sitting next to us with BVE stickers were escorted onto the ship. As soon as they disappeared through the door another lady came up to us and said "time to board" . OMG we were the second couple on board. We had the ship to ourselves for about 30 seconds. I was like a kid in a candy store.

 

We were directed to an elevator where we went to the 10 floor. The lady who took us up reminded us that lunch was available in the Horizon Court or if we preferred a meal in the dining room that Michelangelo was open deck 5.

 

Next up: The room

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The Room

 

I am a bit tech challenged so will not be posting any pictures but hopefully my descriptions will be enough.

 

As we got off the elevator we were directed to turn right and go done the hall to our room. We were booked in C749 a penthouse suite in the aft of the ship. I thought this might be our only cruise and it was a big celebration so we went for the big guns.

 

Mr Indy immediately saw the picture of flowers on the wall outside the elevator and realized 2 rights would get us in the right hall so we did not get turned around the entire time.

 

We walked and walked and walked to our room. Being the last room was a long walk but it was worth it for the room we got.

 

Entering the room I started looking around for the place to put a card to keep the room lights on. I was still looking when our steward Romeo (Ro- may-o) walked in and introduced himself. I asked where the slot for the card for the lights was and with a small laugh he said he to was confused at first. This was his first day on the Emerald and he had come off the Royal. It seems the Emerald is not set up that way and you just turn the lights on and off like normal. Such a relief.

 

Romeo said he was aware of my latex allergy and we would not have a problems as he had special gloves to clean our room and he would not put of balloons for the birthday celebration.

 

He showed us how everything in our room worked, pointed out the electrical outlets for Mr Indy's CPAP machine (no extension cord needed) and then encouraged us to drop out carryon's and go enjoy lunch in the MDR, which we did.

 

Every staff person we encountered encouraged us to "enjoy lunch in the MDR" and gave us directions on how to get there. We were the first ones in the MDR other than the BVE family and enjoyed the beef medallions and orange soufflé.

 

After lunch we went to passenger services to sign up for the Ultimate ship tour and the Chef's table and then to the international café to get Mr Indy's coffee card. Stopped by the Crown to get a time for our specialty dinning and then wandered some more.

 

Back to our room to unpack our bags and then off to the required muster. After muster we sat out on our balcony to enjoy sail away and our awesome wake view. This was probably our favorite place on the whole ship. Loved the wake view, loved the wake sound and loved that we could be out there when underway and be blasted with cold air. We had 2 loungers with a side table, a large round table that we could eat at and 4 chairs. We had a few naps out on the balcony and truly enjoyed it.

 

Next up: Crown Grill

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Hope you took good care of the suite because we will be in the same cabin in October! Looking forward to the rest of your review.

 

The suite took great care of us. You will love this cabin.

 

The Crown Grill

 

I had read a lot on CC about everyone's experience with the Crown Grill both good and bad so we decided to go in with no expectations.

 

We were seated by the window so had a great view of sailing through the straight. We were the only ones in the Crown for about 30 min and then they started seating more people. We arrived at 6pm and left at 7:30 and when we left the restaurant was about half full.

 

We had the French onion soup to begin and then the filet with sides of potatoes and asparagus. Mr Indy is not a lobster person and I knew I would have a chance to get some in the MDR so we did not ask for a second main to test the added charge.

 

The filet was melt in your mouth tender and very flavorful. We were both very pleased with the steak.

 

For dessert Mr Indy had the molten chocolate cake and I had the chocolate journey. Both were very good.

 

The staff were very attentive. No pushing of wine or other drinks, quick refills on soda and tea. Since we were the only ones in there for a while they even talked with us, asking where we were from, answering questions about themselves and even joking around.

 

Mr Indy had told them it was my birthday so they presented us with the Princess chocolate cake and sang. We really enjoyed our Crown experience and will enjoy it again on a future cruise.

 

The next morning we went back to the Crown Grill for the suite breakfast and had a totally different experience. Mr Indy asked for something off menu, an omelet with bacon, and after a loooong pause and an um ok they took his order. I had the French toast which was quite good.

 

We had to ask for refills on juice and coffee and the staff were very quite and standoffish. It was a total opposite of the night before.

 

Someone had mentioned in another post that the suite breakfast in Crown is supposed to be a quite and luxurious time, more of a pampering time. For us this was boring as we are used to interacting with people. We decided that the Crown Grill for breakfast was not for us and went to the Club Class dining the next morning and felt much more at home.

 

So the Crown Grill gets high marks from us and we would go again and pay the service charge for the evening meal. I would even say that the majority of guests would give it high marks for breakfast, it just wasn't for us.

 

After our evening meal at the Crown we went back to out cabin to watch the sunset from our balcony. This balcony view and the sound of the wake was absolutely the best of all. No cold breeze blowing us back into the cabin, comfortable loungers and a real table and chairs to have our snacks at. We did not do the ultimate balcony dinner but could imagine how wonderful it would be for this aft cabin balcony.

 

Next up: Club Class dining

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After our breakfast at the Crown Grill we walked out to the Promenade deck to get some air and marvel at the ocean. Would we see some whales? Would Mr Indy freak out that he could not see land?

 

No whales and No freaking out but boy was that wind cold. Back inside to wander and "see what we could see" as Mr Indy is fond of saying.

 

We took the tour of the Lotus Spa to find the thermal loungers that everyone talks about. And bonus since we were in a suite we got to use them free. Yippee but no time now since we were on the opposite end of the ship from our cabin and didn't have time to go grab the swimsuits and return before lunch. We shall return, well maybe.

 

We went in hunt of the Da Vinci dinning room and Club Class dining.

 

When we arrived they were just opening the doors to the dining room and we found we were the first ones there. We told the hostess (Ronci I think was her name) our room number and names. She checked her list and then seated us at a table for 2 right by the window.

 

This lady is amazing. Every time she greeted us, after that first time, she greeted us by name. How does she do that? I have trouble sometimes remembering my co-workers names.

 

Yulia and Robert were our waiter and junior waiter and Petros was the head waiter. They were quite the crew, very personable and friendly. They asked about us and shared information about themselves when we asked.

 

Petros had a station set up in the middle of the dining room where he prepared the extra dish that was offered for Club Class dining. It was not "tableside" but everyone in the room could see what was going on at that station, so close enough for me.

 

Every meal after we were seated Petros would come and tell us what the extra option for that meal was. Mr Indy is not an adventurous eater (he would eat hamburgers every meal if he could) and Petros was able to tempt him to try different things by telling the story of each dish. He kept telling him "If you don't like it we will make you something else".

 

One night Mr Indy ordered the fettuccine and asked for meatballs. When it was served there were 3 huge meatballs with red sauce served in the same bowl. When Petros saw this he had a new bowl brought out with meatballs that had not been in the spaghetti sauce." Fettuccine does not have red sauce in it" he said. Mr Indy was in heaven and ate both portions.

 

We found breakfast in CC much more our speed over the suite breakfast in the Crown Grill. Mr Indy ordered off menu every morning and was served with no questions. He eats big for breakfast and less at other meals and after the first morning, when he asked for extra pancakes (blueberry) to go with his omelet , he was always served the larger portions.

 

The staff in CC even kept a lookout for whales and let us know when they were sighted. They also let us know what area of land we were seeing out the window when going through the passages.

 

The food was wonderful, the service top notch and we never had to wait for a table. Always sat at a table for 2 by the window or one over from the window and ate with the same 2 couples each morning and same 3 most evenings. The room was never more than half full and never felt crowded. The only time we noticed noise spilling over from the other side of the dining room was the first formal night.

 

Dress was casual in the dining room with jeans noticed most mornings and lunch. Evenings were a mix of jeans and business casual.

 

The first formal night, as we were walking around, we noticed mostly jackets or button down shirts for the men and cocktail dresses or pantsuits for the women. The only tux's I saw were on the waiters. And very few ball gowns. Later that night I did see a few tux's in the theater.

 

Second formal night we had a wardrobe malfunction and I ended up wearing jeans to the CC MDR and no one said anything about my "dress". The whole tone of dress the second formal night was much more casual than formal.

 

I did check out the picture wall for the formal nights, since we were CC and did not eat in the traditional dining, and I did see more tux's and cocktail dress in the pictures but still very few ball gowns. I did not count individual pictures but would estimate about 10% in tux's, 75% in jacket and tie and the rest shirt/tie or just shirt. Maybe dress is more casual in Alaska since you have to pack layers for the weather and there is not room for the heavier formal clothes.

 

Our overall impression of Club Class was wonderful. Great food, Great people and NO waiting.

 

We had Club Class included since we were in a full suite. Would I pay extra to get CC if not in a suite? YES! Yes I would. I really think it has value for us and would pay to get it. Which since we paid for a suite I guess we did pay for CC.

 

Next up Ketchikan

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indygirl99

 

So glad you enjoyed your suite and all the club class benefits.

 

Sorry to hear about the crown breakfast.......we were fortunate to take an upsell on our last cruise and it was Sabatini for breakfast....our staff was the same for breakfast as the night before at dinner. It was the best experience ever. They were so great and after the first day automatically brought our pot of tea, coffee and latte along with the continuous flow of mimosas. They also helped us with suggestions for the ports we visited.

 

looking forward to the rest of your review.

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Sorry for your experience with the Suite breakfast in the Crown Grill. We have cruised in a Suite on five occasions and four of those times the service was exceptional. On one short four day cruise the supervisor was in her job for the first time and there were only three rather than four waitstaff. The service was very disorganized and slow although special orders were readily accepted and the food was very good. If we were going to be there for more than three mornings we would have addressed the issue with the Maitre d' but chose not to do it on that cruise. On the Pacific last November, one of us said they would like an omelette with gruyere cheese and the waiter went down to the DR galley to fulfill the request which was just one example of the service. There was a nice tip for the Sabatini's staff at the end of the cruise. We have a cruise with CC dining in a mini suite scheduled for November and don't expect the CC breakfast to be anything like the suite breakfast in Sabatini's.

 

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Edited by IECalCruiser
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