neongoddess

I was on the Emerald in May with my Android. The app sort of worked, sometimes.

I was on the Emerald in May and noticed the same thing (mainly at the poolside bars). I had only ever cruised Carnival before and always enjoyed the drinks onboard those ships. The specialty drinks at the Salty Dog gastropub were good though, but they cost extra if you don't have Premier..

I did try to sit down at the bar by the aft pool on Lido (not sure what the name of the bar was). The bartender asked me to stand up, leave my stool, and wait in line. Long line of people waiting for a drink next to a bunch of empty stools. To me it was weird and also kinda off-putting. Since sitting at the bar and socializing (which is what I normally do) did not appear to be an option, I started using the app instead (once it started working).

Good question. The general texture reminds me of candy cigarettes, if you remember those, but they come in lime, strawberry, and chocolate flavors. They are wider than a standard straw, to facilitate drinking icy/frozen cocktails (I think the candy straws are *only* used with frozen cocktails, but I could be wrong). The lime straw is my favorite with a fruity, tropical cocktail such as a Miami Vice. (Not everyone likes the candy straws....they do offer packs of reusable metal straws for sale at the bars, but I like the candy.)

Yeah I think my cruise was short staffed or maybe just more crowded than they were anticipating.

Yeah I know the lines are two different classes, which is why I was surprised that customer service was actually worse on Princess! I was expecting it to be better (or at least as-good). I did order the robes in the app pre-cruise, they just didn't come. I'd have mentioned the washclothes to my steward if I'd ever managed to see him, lol. I requested a call on the app but it never came, and hold times on the phone were long enough that I hung up. Is it normal for room stewards on Princess to not introduce themselves? (Other people on my cruise mentioned they'd met *their* room stewards, so I figured it was the standard practice.) There were plenty of people drinking in the hot tub on Princess, dangerous or not...there was just no one bussing the empties and people had to get out to order their drinks. Bottles and cups were all over the hot tub area. One of the people in the tub with me got out and cleaned the area himself. There must have been a stack of at least 10-15 cups and many glass beer bottles as well. It was pretty bad.

I would try Twitter. They were responsive to me when I was having some customer service issues onboard.

I'm writing this review of my (very first non-Carnival!) cruise aboard the Emerald Princess. This was a 5 day cruise with 2 days (an overnight) in Cabo from 5/27/23 to 6/2/23. I will preface this review by confessing that I am a regular cruiser on Carnival; I am not bougie and didn't really have any high expectations for this trip, although I've heard, of course, that Princess is classier and all-around better. Anyway, here goes! I really hate to say it but the first three days of this cruise were not impressive to me at all, and I felt like Princess did not live up to its reputation. First, the app didn't work on the first day, my room was missing bathrobes and washcloths, etc. Also I never met my room steward, but none of that was *that* big of a deal to me. On day 2, neither I nor my traveling companions (in a different cabin, on a different deck) received our room service breakfast. (Word on the ship was that they had too many orders and were unable to keep up...?) Eventually the app started working and on day two I ordered a hummus/veggie plate to be delivered to my deck chair. It was so incredibly tiny (and absolutely nothing like the photo) that it was kinda comical (see pic). On our first port day, we docked in Cabo at like 12 or 1 pm. I have never in my life waited *so long* to get off of a ship! We finally made it into Cabo at like 4:30 p.m. I've been to Cabo before so okay, whatever, no big deal but it was a disappointment. Water taxis were no longer running to Medano Beach by that point so we all just walked around, shopped, and went to a restaurant. At about 8pm my group wanted to go back to the ship. We waited in line at the port for a full hour before finally being able to board a tender. Some people were in line for well over an hour. I have been on several other cruises to Cabo and have never had such issues getting a tender to and from the ship before. (To be fair, I am not sure if this was a problem with Princess, or a problem with the port, or what, but it was definitely crappy to miss out on most of our time on shore.) At some point I finally cracked and contacted customer service about my experiences thus far via Twitter. Day 4: We were only in Cabo till 11 a.m., but we had an excursion so we were able to get off and back on to the ship in a timely manner. Later we ordered pizza through the app and again, it did not show up. Finally guest services called me back (one of their Twitter staff had put me in touch with them after my complaint about the Hummus plate and other issues). I talked to a guy named David (I think) Pitchfork. He listened to all my complaints and somehow my service was magically much, much better after that. The rest of my cruise was smooth sailing, so-to-speak, and was more what I had expected my cruise to be like! The rest of my review is a comparison of my experiences on Carnival (I've taken 10 or 11 Carnival cruises) vs my one experience on the Emerald Princess. Public Bathrooms: Princess wins for the completely-enclosed, practically soundproof toilet cubicles. Very nice. App: Carnival wins simply because the app works consistently. Also, their app sends push notifications for events you bookmark. It is pretty useless to be able to bookmark events if you can't recieve a push notification when the event starts. Rooms: The rooms themselves were pretty similar, but Princess wins for cleaning your room multiple times per day instead of just one. The frequent cleaning service really added to the cruise experience for me. I did miss the towel animals, but overall Princess wins this category for me. Adults-Only spaces: It's a tie. The Sanctuary is a little nicer than the Serenity deck, but Serenity doesn't cost anything extra, so to me it's a wash. Ice cream/Gelato: Princess wins for it's premium dessert sundaes. Soft serve cones are similar on both lines, so no preference there. Indoor spaces/decor: The Emerald Princess has classier indoor spaces than most Carnival ships I've been on. Outdoor spaces/sports deck: Carnival wins hands down in this category both for variety of outdoor activities and also because the sports areas on Princess were small and kinda run-down. Customer Service: Carnival wins in this category. My room stewards always greet me by name on the first day of my Carnival cruises; on Princess, I never even met my room steward at all. Also, no one on Princess offers you drinks when you're in the hot tub, pool, or on deck. You have to use the app instead (but I don't have my phone on me while I'm in the water, so for me this is not very convenient). I saw multiple guests bussing their own dishes, because (apparently?) there were not enough staff to bus tables. I've never had an issue with things like room service just not showing up on Carnival, either. The general lack of customer service on Princess during our first 3 days was very surprising to me. Drinks: Both are good, but for me Carnival wins. The MDR on the Emerald Princess does not have a cocktail menu. You can order a cocktail, if you happen to know what you want....but there's no menu for them. Also Princess uses paper straws in their frozen drinks, which I hate. Carnival uses candy straws, which I love! Also the bartenders aboard the Emerald Princess were not very friendly at all. Movies under the Stars: Princess wins for an all-around better setup for movies, including screen location and blankets provided on the deck chairs. Shops: The Emerald Princess has better shops with more merchandise selection than most of the Carnival ships I've been on. Burgers and fries: Guy's is way better than the Salty Dog. Salty Dog is okay but nothing to write home about in my opinion. Pizza: Princess wins due to more and better cheese. Other food: Princess has a better selection in their buffet for sure, although quality is fairly similar. I prefer Carnival's steakhouse. I only ate in the MDR on Princess once so I can't really compare these, but I'd give the edge to Carnival because I love their dancing waiters! The Italian restaurants on both lines are a tie, I love both. Princess' Italian place is more formal, while Carnival's is more casual. Entertainment: I did not see a production show on Princess, so I cannot compare those. Comedy shows are more frequent on Carnival, but the comedian on the Emerald Princess was quite funny, and the venue was bigger, so you could actually get a seat (which is sometimes not possible on Carnival ships). Princess seemed kinda lacking in deck parties (personally I love deck parties, but I wasn't expecting Princess to be a "party" cruise so I was not really surprised by this). I prefer Carnival for this category although both are good. Embarkation/debarkation: Princess wins for being faster than Carnival for both of these processes. Sooooo smooth! Other: The Emerald Princess had lines everywhere, all the time, so I was unfortunately unable to take full advantage of the amenities they offer, such as premium desserts. If the ship had more staff I think I would have enjoyed this cruise a lot more. Also I was only able to attend the piano bar (one of my favorite cruise activities) once, because it was always packed. Most of the other fun-looking activities seemed to conflict with my preferred dinner times (I like to eat late, so this might not be an issue for most people). While at this point I must confess that I prefer Carnival for their consistent customer service and overall "fun" atmosphere, I still enjoyed trying out Princess and might give them another go in the future, if the price and itinerary are right. I have heard that Princess usually has much better service than I experienced initially. Also, Princess *did* come through for me after I contacted guest services with my concerns, with improved service as well as adding some future cruise credit to my account.

I wasn't asking you 🙂 But thanks!

Did your group mask indoors? Asking because I am going on a cruise in a few days and trying not to catch covid.

I would, because even a mild case of covid can cause permanent damage/long covid. Colds don't do that.

Where are these secret decks? I will be on this ship in a few days.

So far, no ships on any line have been designanted as red...not even the Princess ships that have had 175+ cases on them. CDC does not define the red category with any specific number of cases.

I would personally feel much better about my upcoming cruise if the mask policy were reinstated. Kinda ridiculous that they got rid of it in my opinion.

Hi everyone! I have sailed many times on Carnival from the Port of Long Beach, and once from Ft. Lauderdale. In May I will be crusing from San Francisco for the first time (super convenient since I live in the Sacramento area). Any tips on parking and/or thoughts on the emarkation process/the SF terminal in general? I have walked by it before on Fisherman's Wharf but never sailed from there so I am a bit nervous.