jpisme123

Glad you had great time. We were on same cruise and you did a great job. As far as Roatan goes...Best place to head if not on a tour in Roatan is West End beach. Grab a taxi at Mahog Bay and tell them to take you there. Great bars and resturant sand awesome atmosphere. Super safe as well. Just be sure to give yourself time to get back because you will not want to leave.

Thanks!!

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I'll add a few things. Make your reservation early. I tried to get one on Wednesday for the Crown Grill and was told it was booked for the rest of the cruise.

Here's the Baked Alaska parade from 2 weeks ago:

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Thanks for the detailed -very helpful. We are on this itineray leaving March 22.

 

GO BUCKS!

I knew someone would notice his shirt eventually. I'm a Duck, but I will (reluctantly) pass along your message :-)

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On our cruise several weeks ago, we had the Estancia Meritage Reserve ($39). On Monday, I noticed the same bottle at Trader Joe's.

There are some really fair prices on Princess' wine list.

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We went to AK the first time on HAL. Talk about a dead ship after dinner, it was awful. That was the first and last time we sailed on HAL. Our next cruise was on Princess and what a difference that made. The local TA had sold me on the HAL cruise and how we would have a good time and how great the ship was. That was the last time I used that TA!

 

 

 

Happy sailing on Princess.

Do you think this is a HAL issue or is it Alaska cruises in general? I'd consider another Alaska cruise in the future if another line would be better.

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Overall Impression and Thoughts

We had such a great time. After our Alaska cruise on Holland America, I was pretty sure my husband would never agree to cruise again. However, he would have stayed for another week on the Emerald. The demographic and vibe of this ship was much more suited to us. I think a larger ship and warm weather destination contributed to this.

There were obviously some negatives. Our cabin steward was fine, but not great. I’ve experienced much better. Likewise, the quality of the entertainment was sad and the itinerary was fairly lackluster. We may go on an Eastern Caribbean cruise next (maybe on the Regal/Royal or a Grand Class ship, since we know we like them).

The positives, however, definitely won out. We spent a week at a high end all-inclusive resort in Mexico this last November, which we both thought was lacking compared to our experience on this cruise. The food was better, the bed was more comfortable, and there were more activities to keep us having a good time. PLUS, the cruise was cheaper. We bought future cruise credits and will gladly cruise with Princess again.

Thanks for reading! Happy to answer any questions, if I am able.

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The Ship and its Activities

Although certain elements of the Emerald are looking a bit tired, I really didn’t care. There were a lot of patch paint spots in our cabin and the carpets throughout the ship were in pretty bad shape. Honestly though, the ship is so beautiful in other ways that it didn’t matter. Not even sure my Husband noticed some of these things. We checked out most of the bars during various hours. On the last evening, there was a large group of people in the nightclub having a toga party. Genius!

We went to a show very early on and were very unimpressed. We never went back for another show. The other entertainers may have been wonderful, but they lost us that first night. I also thought the steel drum band (may have been only two people, I can’t remember) was pretty terrible. I had been really looking forward to that because I love steel drums. Some of the other musicians were decent though.

We played trivia several times, and had fun but didn’t ever win. Ditto with bingo. We also watched the marriage game, which was a riot. We loved the thermal suite on the Westerdam and toured the thermal suite on the Emerald with the thought we might buy a pass. Must say, it’s pretty pitiful. It’s hidden away below the main spa area without any windows. To us, this facility was absolutely not worth paying for. I did like the forward spa pool and hot tubs though—never crowded and very quiet. In fact, my FIL never went up there because he thought there was an extra charge for the pool. I suspect this may be a common misconception.

Speaking of hidden-away places, I’m pretty sure I got lost trying to find our assigned dining room, Botticelli, even until our very last day. We had a forward balcony cabin on the Baja deck and to access Botticelli, you must go down to deck 7 and then go as far aft as you can, and then go down to deck 6. If you try to use deck 6 from a forward location, you will run into the other MDRs. My brain never quite got this one straight (I’m not even 100 percent sure I’m describing it correctly).

I must say, I felt much more pressure to buy and pay for extras on this cruise than I ever experienced on my previous cruises. I’m not sure if this is becoming industry-wide, or if this is unique to Princess. Either way, I got somewhat used to it as the cruise went on. I largely ignore the shopping, photography, art, etc. Based on the crowds, others clearly like these things, but to me they just feel like money-making schemes.

We watched the Judge on MUTS on our last evening. The sound and video quality were good enough. I saw blankets, but didn’t know where everyone else had gotten them. I thought it was a fun thing to do (and I liked the movie). We actually missed the first 20 minutes or so, but were able to watch the first part of the movie in our cabin later (it helped fill in some of the little things we missed).

One of our favorite things to do is just hangout on our balcony during free time. DH has never experienced an inside cabin and is now spoiled. I can’t wait to try an aft-facing balcony cabin because I do enjoy watching the ship’s wake from the aft bar and pool.

My husband and I both love to play craps and were happy there was a table in the casino. On our previous cruise on the Westerdam, the craps table was half-sized and many of the dealers did not know what they were doing. Not so on the Emerald. The dealers were very good and the table was very popular---people lining up right when it opened at 9 pm. We were told being peed on by a monkey is good luck (I was skeptical), but it may explain our winnings in the casino (nearly paid for the cruise! Woohoo!). We earned our winnings over the course of the cruise, rather than all in one night. I am wondering if we will see any special cruise offers in the future related to our casino spending?

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We always do room service for breakfast and eat it on our balcony. In the past we have written extra items on the hangtag and it was delivered.

I nearly forgot. We had only one problem with writing in our own requests. DH ordered cottage cheese, which was delivered, but he spit it out and said it was sour and had spoiled. Our attitude was "serves us right for asking for non-menu items" and thought nothing more of it. Aren't you glad I don't have a photo of this part?! ha!

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In Cozumel, we had pre-booked a Princess excursion to the Coba Maya ruins via our Personalizer. The tickets were waiting for us in our cabin when we embarked. NOTE: IF YOU WANT TO DO THIS EXCURSION, DO NOT BOOK IT INDEPENDENTLY. We ran more than an hour late getting back, and didn’t experience any noticeable hold ups or traffic. This excursion simply takes longer than the time allotted in Cozumel.

Once you arrive in Cozumel, you must immediately exit the cruise ship and board a ferry to Playa Del Carmen. This ferry ride is very rough. Yellow “barf bags” were handed out before the ferry left Cozumel. The ferry staff promised that “some of you WILL throw up.” He was correct, but it wasn’t me!!

In Playa, you board a bus for the ruins. Note, to get to the bus, you are led past a hotel with unrestricted wifi. This was nice for a quick e-mail check-in for work. The bus ride was fine, but the sound system was terrible. Those of us in the back of the bus heard very little of what our guide was telling us. The ruins itself were quite fascinating. The climbing the pyramid is a bit scary (especially down), but worth it. Not everyone attempts the climb (MIL and FIL did not, even though they are pretty fit). Of course, I only remembered to take a photo from the top.

I think it was on Thursday or Friday that the Captain began announcing (daily, sometimes more than once) that severe fog was forecasted for Houston on Sunday. The plan became “try to beat the fog,” which worked. We arrived ahead of schedule in Houston, but it was very, very foggy.

All of the “hurry up” on our cruise made for several windy days, but there were enough protected places on the ship that we didn’t mind.

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The Itinerary

For us, the itinerary was the least enjoyable part of the cruise. We got off to an unfortunate start when the ship had to turn around at about 6pm on the first evening for a medical emergency. The ship returned to Galveston. It was rumored that seven people disembarked the ship in Galveston. No idea what happened. We were able to catch up, however, and made it to Roatan on schedule.

In Roatan, I wish we had pre-booked an excursion, or had just gone on the chair lift to Mahogany Bay. By nature, I’m a planner-type, but the rest of my family wanted to play it by ear, so we did. We walked out of the port area and were viciously harassed by local tour operators to book with them. This greatly irritates my husband, which really doesn’t help the situation. There is really no walking past them to town because the Port is quite far from Coxen Hole via highway. We agreed to take a ride into town with someone for $20. Husband and FIL wanted to rent motorcycles or scooters, but the place they took us to rent bikes was SKETCHY. Plus, with all of the stray animals, people, and the condition of the roads, this probably wasn’t a good idea anyway. We had a drink and used the free wi-fi at the little ceviche restaurant overlooking the Norwegian ship docked in Coxen Hole (I’ve forgotten the name—Captain something?).

We decided to take a taxi to Tabyana beach. Our taxi driver kept telling us that Tabyana beach is private, but that he could take us nearby to Bananarama beach (he said $10 pp would get us access to bathrooms, a drink, a chair, and “security”). Beware folks, this is a scam. The taxi drivers obviously get commission on this entrance fee. They can be fairly insistent on this, but if you do not want to pay to hangout at a particular part of the beach, you don’t have to. MIL and FIL found a place to hangout and we never saw them again until we returned to the ship. We just wandered the beach, had a rum punch at a bar, and learned that Gumbalimba park was in walking distance around the bend of the beach.

Gumbalimba Park was quite fun. Possibly a bit overpriced at $35 pp, but my husband REALLY wanted to hold a monkey. We got our own private tour guide and we got to hold the monkeys. Of course, one of the monkeys peed on my husband (HA!) Our guide managed to snag us two free seats on the bus pack to the cruise ship (shhhh, don’t tell!)

Unfortunately, we missed Belize because of rough seas. Although they looked legitimately rough to me, some of the dealers in the casino were grumbling about the new captain. They said they never used to miss Belize, but have missed it many times since the current captain took over. Whatever, I was okay with a sea day.

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Keep it coming. Nicely written.

 

Pack lots of photos in too!

 

 

 

Norris

Thanks! I'm terrible about taking photos, so this will be nothing like your amazing reviews! I will share what I have to keep it interesting.

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You said your DH bought the All Inclusive Beverage which includes alcohol. I thought they made everyone in the cabin over 21 buy it. Clarification please.

 

 

 

My understanding is that this was a requirement when the package was first launched by Princess. Now, this is not a requirement--if only one of you wants the package, it is no problem.

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2. Food and Drink (including All Inclusive Beverage Package experience)

Before our cruise, we had used the spreadsheet made available on this forum (very helpful and accurate) and I had concluded our best option was probably to buy my Husband the package and buy mine ala carte or use the 40% wine discount to buy bottles for me when I wanted them (since I cannot sustain the required level of drinking for 7 days). He didn’t want to pre-purchase the package, but bought it once we were on the ship.

Although I was SURPRISED at how drinkable I found the syrup coffee (way better than previous cruises), we also got speciality coffee everyday at the International Café. I may get a hard time for this, but no one ever hassled my husband for ordering two speciality coffees at once. We also experienced this relaxed attitude in the MDR on the evenings that I ordered after-dinner drinks. We stocked up on Red Bull and bottled water for port days. The drink package was a worthwhile purchase, for sure.

For dinner, we requested a table for four during the early traditional seating. My husband and I didn’t love eating so early some nights, but MIL and FIL are early risers/early sleepers, so we did this for their benefit. We really liked our wait staff who accommodated all of our requests. My FIL really wanted a brownie ala mode one evening rather than the menu choices and the Head Waiter made this happen. We had quite a few great meals, some okay meals, and a few SPECTACULAR dishes. I really liked the crawfish mac and cheese the first night. The goat cheese soufflé was very good. The pistachio chocolate Norman Love dessert on the 2nd formal night was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had.

For most breakfasts, we ordered room service. We found the service to be very prompt—we could count on them at the same time each morning. There isn’t great variety in the offerings, but we starting writing in a few extra items when we got bored. Without exception, they always brought these extra items (we knew we were requesting things the ship had in other locations, so we were hopeful)).

My husband and MIL attended the first wine tasting. There was a coupon for 20% off if two sign up in the coupon book in our cabin. We actually found this after they had signed up, but were able to get a partial refund. From what I hear, it sounds like the wine was decent but the presentation was a joke. My husband walked out after the group was told they should always drink a bottle of champagne within 6 months or it will spoil. Wow. May be a good deal for the tasting, but perhaps take what they tell you with a grain of salt.

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We are just off the Feb. 15—22 Western Caribbean cruise on the Emerald. I spent a lot of time reading and learning from cruise critic members before our trip, so I will attempt to repay my debt by contributing a review of my own.

A little bit about us to give some perspective to my review. My husband and I are in our early 30’s with no children. We traveled with my MIL and FIL. My husband and I have previously cruised on Holland America to Alaska together and I have previously cruised on Royal Caribbean to Mexico. We were all new to Princess. My husband and I consider ourselves ‘food and wine people’ and we enjoy gambling on occasion (particularly craps).

If I go about this chronologically, I think I will get too carried away with the details, so I will discuss by category (it’s still super long, who am I kidding):

1. Houston arrival/transportation/embarkation (i.e. where it all began!)

We decided to stay at the Hampton Inn—IAH. They only have one shuttle, which we found to be problematic. When the Hampton airport shuttle arrived, the driver was mobbed with hotel guests and he did not have enough room for everyone. Some people ended up paying for a cab (we got shuttle seats, lucky us). Although the airport hotels are convenient, there are not many restaurants close by. Ordinarily I wouldn’t care, but we ate Taco Bell for Valentine’s Day. It makes a good story, I guess.

We reserved the Hampton Inn’s airport shuttle for the next morning at 10:30 am to return to IAH terminal C baggage claim. The Princess airport transfer from IAH to Bayport is a really good deal at $24pp. We immediately got our luggage on a truck heading for the port. While our luggage was being loaded, I

waited in line to get numbers for the bus. I think we had to wait about an hour for our numbers to be called. I discovered the bus had wi-fi and downloaded a kindle book, just in case I needed another one on the cruise.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Bayport Cruise Terminal. Yes, it’s very industrial, but who cares? There is a restroom inside, before you go through security. There was a table just behind security screening for wine. We had one bottle in a carry on and the other in our checked luggage. Someone near us asked the gentleman at the table if it was okay that they had packed their bottles in their checked bag, and were told it was just fine. The line was fast and checking in was very smooth. I think we were on the ship by 1:15 or so.

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Terminal C. I was under the impression this was the only terminal Princess was picking up from but perhaps this is not true.

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By the way, the bus had wifi! Great for my last minute kindle downloads!

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Having embarked at this port in December and January. Returned last Sunday. I can address both your questions with my experience. In Dec. we did our own transfer, Jan, 25 sailing everything with princess.

 

 

 

Regarding wine....precentage don't know....... But one thing that Houston did which was different than some other ports we had to go to the table with just one bottle and then they listed it with our room number. They would not give me a straight answer why.

 

 

 

Tranfer. We booked air with princess and no instructions were given to us either but I called and was told around 10am terminal C and those with transfers only 11:30. We arrived at terminal C at 6am, Princess reps arrived around 7am and set up a table. Around 8am they began distributing boarding cards with numbers. We received 1&2. Speaking to a rep we found out that the first bus comes to terminal C at around 9:30. That is if all goes well with disembarkation, same bus used.

 

So as people began gathering we found out some had come over from the hotel to get on the first bus. I also asked the rep if they would take walk ups, she said absolutely. That day 454 people had reserved transfers to the ship.

 

 

 

Around 8:30 our luggage was loaded on a truck to take to the port. At 9:20 a bus came we were told those that had number 1-33 should board, that was everyone there that morning so far. Since the bus was not full we proceeded to the hotel to PU other pax....then onward to the ship.

 

 

 

Pretty much princess is picking up from the ship and dropping off at the airport through out the morning. The last pickups coincide with the drop off at 1pm of pax that did the Houston tours.

 

 

 

So from what I understand you could arrive at the terminal before 11:30 with just a transfer and get on any bus that has space. However, if alot of princess air people are there you might have to wait. It sounded like no one was really given priority. They just want to fill the bus an give the cards out to regulate the boarding. So for example when we went to the hotel there were 15 available seats those holding card 1-15 came out.

This advice was absolutely correct. We didn't bother going over until 10 am, but they had clearly been putting passengers on buses for hours. We were assigned numbers 270-274. Sometimes an empty bus would pull up and would take many passengers, but sometimes the bus would be nearly full with room for only 10 or so. We assumed the buses stopped at the airport hotel first.

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hopefully the extra port call is not too long...and that the sick/hurt pax and their family all end up ok.

 

 

 

Guess the USCG boat that mated with EP did not show up on AIS...only saw the pilot boats come out and I could see one of them rush a medical crew out to help.

You know, you're probably right. The boat was in and out so fast. I know nothing and just thought it was a coast guard boat. Watching it pull alongside was interesting. Don't blink!

We went back to Galveston and have been back underway for probably about 30 minutes. Still don't know anything about the condition of the passenger, but it definitely seemed very serious. Thoughts are with them, how scary.

Captain said there is plenty of time to make it to Roatan so it will not affect our itinerary.

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Yes. We are back at port for a medical emergency. A coast guard boat pulled up along side us VERY briefly about an hour ago. We think medical personnel boarded but do not know for sure.

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Hi - I am sailing for the first time out of Bayport next month and I don't fly out until 7pm from IAH on disembarkation day. Any advice for where/how to store luggage until my slight or must I schlep it around with me? Also, any tips for things to do in the area of the cruise terminal? Thanks in advance for any advice! Sincerely, Message Board Newbie :)

I'll share what we have decided to do. Our flight is after 5 pm at IAH and we have a car rented in Webster, which can be returned to IAH. We will take the short ride to the rental agency with Uber. It was only like $38 for the one way car rental for an SUV. I know my mil wants to see NASA so we may do that or maybe something else. This is cheaper and more flexible than other return options considered. The Princess transfer would have us waiting in the airport for HOURS.

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I think you'll find that price is for Hobby not Bush.....we are flying cheaply with Spirit, and they don't fly into Hobby!!

$24 pp is the price for EITHER airport. We chose this option from IAH because it's such a great deal.

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Worst case they dispose of it as they do contraband liquor.

I guess this is the preference if my only two options were toss the port or be banned from the cruise! Disposal is not an option I would be happy with, so I'm prepared to leave the bottle at home to avoid the risk (since it appears there is one).

Related question. Anyone know if one can buy bottles of port on board? (Emerald)

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Here is one first-hand account:

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=43406651&postcount=20

 

 

 

And several second hand threads:

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2071314

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2120025

 

 

 

 

 

If you have a problem, just tell them that several posters on

 

cruise critic told you it would be ok.

Thank you for this! I think I may call Princess. If they will confirm that my port is permissible, I may try to get them to confirm in an email to me (that I will bring with me, of course).

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I don't know why Port would be banned. I have seen people bring it on board.

Comments such as these are what have me worried:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=45433742

I suppose they have to draw the line somewhere on what you may bring.

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Thank you in advance for your help!

1. If I bring a bottle of port, either as my free bottle or an extra subject to corkage, will this be okay? Is there an 'alcohol percentage requirement'? If this is not permitted, will the bottle be tossed out? Nothing better than a glass of port and room service dessert on the balcony of a cruise ship!

2. We are arriving in Houston the night before our cruise and returning to IAH to take the Princess shuttle to the cruise terminal. We have given our flight information to Princess. My understanding is that some people receive instructions from Princess on the time to catch their shuttle, but we did not. I presume this is normal for people arriving the day before? Any advice on when to show back up at baggage claim?

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