tulok

1 minute ago, Cruise-a-Hallic said:

noticed on the Majestic Princess cabin hallways, the Starboard side had blue carpet, while the Port side had red carpet. 

I was on Emerald and didn’t notice the color change. I guess I am not observant either. 

I have to say that the person that decorated their door that I could see getting off the elevator helped me remember to turn left or right. Directionally challenged. 

@57 varieties looking at the deck plans, cabin 441 looks smaller than those around it. Did you notice a smaller size?

20 hours ago, 57 varieties said:

I stayed in Suite 441

When I called my TA on Friday, Vistas were waitlisted. Yes, in one day 4 cabins were reserved.  Today I saw 441 open again and asked her to change us. I am so glad you stated it was a good cabin as I was a bit worried about noise on the lower deck. We were on deck 6. Thank you for posting

On Emerald, door decorations were everywhere. Nothing offensive or political. I didn’t even notice an upside down pineapple. But I passed a ladybug parade that turned into a butterfly parade and was added and changed every day. Someone had a lot of time on their hands. 

Everyone has given us much to think about. I am glad to hear deck 4 was quiet as that was my major concern. Talking with our friends and we would like to be near them, we will move to late July and take a Vista. Cabin 419 looks good for us. It’s been a while since we haven’t had a balcony but I think for only 9 days and a cooler climate we will go with it. And I am sure the extra 3500. will be great for shopping in Ireland. 😜

Waiting for tomorrow will give us some more time to think about it.

We have booked a classic veranda on the Wind for Northern Europe CPH-DUB on June 9. We have friends that decided to go with us but they believe the veranda will be of no use as it will be cold and it is a good savings to take a vista suite. Then I am thinking they have the same cruise the end of July so maybe it would be warmer then.  I would love to hear the experts comments. Deck 4 are the only ones left on both dates.

Had 2 orders of Burrata

agree with @memoak On Emerald a few weeks ago, printed menus were on the bar tables and handed printed menus at restaurants. Never used QR codes. Now if they were on the table 🤷🏼‍♀️. They were never needed.

We requested robes on the app a month before. They were not in the cabin when we got there. We just asked the steward and it was in the room when we came back from dinner. 

9 hours ago, Trafficgirl123 said:

Anyone on board the Emerald now, do the lamps on the bedside tables have the USB plug. I’ll be boarding on Aug 28. Thanks

Not in balcony 3 weeks ago. This is what we used and placed it on the old tv shelf. It worked perfectly and it was all we needed as a plug in for our electronics.

3 hours ago, tml1230 said:

we have this weird thing about visiting grocery stores.

I thought that was just me! I find the best souvenirs in the grocery stores. We found one in St Thomas that had the best wine selection I have ever seen as they handle yacht provisions. 

In June, it was still 30.00 for classes. The trainer was very good on Emerald. We had premier so went to pilates, stretching class and spin. All were very good. I regret that I couldn’t make the barre class but the times were either while in port or in the evening right before dinner. 

2 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

It does eliminate that rising panic as you walk past row after row of bags not seeing yours among the hundreds lined up there. 

And the long check baggage in line at the airport when 3 ships are in at the same time.

We used EZCheck a couple of weeks ago and it was worth the 25.00. We both have ffy status for free baggage but only used my name to save 25.00 because we both didn’t need to pay each as we only had two bags total. It was so convenient to get off the ship (any time walk off), walk past luggage pick up in customs, and got in our shuttle. Then right through security to the gate. AA even had our baggage status on their app once they loaded in FLL. But turn in your EZ request by the next day after they give you the form) My BIL tried the day before (turned in at 6am) disembarking and he was denied. It was given 3 days before. 

On Emerald last week they had a table set up at every port with cold bottled water and they did scan your medallion. IC also had bottled water ready when people picked up a morning coffee and added a bottled water to take with them. That is what we did except for the 10am docking. We picked it up at the table on deck 6 before we walked down the stairs to get off. Bottled water seemed to be easy to pickup everywhere.

Your review has me excited for my Wind cruise next June around Scotland. I was waffling on the choice as this is my first SS and first expedition cruise. Maybe I was biting off more than I should have, but after reading your review; let’s do this!

I concur that it would depend on the $. Our deck 10 balcony was 1000. cheaper than a reserved mini. Didn’t see the benefit as it was port heavy and we had the large part covered balcony which is where we spent most of our time. We had every dinner reservation at either causal, specialty or MDR so we never had to wait more than 5

mins waiting for our table of 4 or 6 people. My DH said he did miss a sofa as we usually have at least a love seat, but I didn’t miss it. I made the desk my makeup table and we were both ready to leave at the same time. We don’t watch TV on vacation so 2 TVs didn’t matter. Its differently a personal choice.

On Emerald, we were at Neptune when we were at a pool.  A movie was playing a lot of the time during the day at the Calypso pool. The MUTS sound didn’t bother us during the day. There was music piped into Neptune or a band and we listened to the music. I couldn’t even tell you what movie was played. Not sure if the music or band interfered with the movie. 

I also want to include that I loved the music that they played around the pool. Mainly 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. 

Wishing I stayed on and was sailing north with you. I miss my evenings at Vines. Enjoy the rest of the cruise.

1 minute ago, voljeep said:

😬 ... no way 

the assistant server kept us with full glasses so we made it through. 🍻 Not sure how we walked out on our own. 😜

Review: 
Cabin: C727 Princess was nice but nothing stood out except the size of the balcony with a standard balcony price (deck 10).  I visited my BIL reserve mini and yes it was a nice size with the sofa but for me I would prefer my balcony to their sofa. As for the walk in the reserve dining room, my BIL used that a few times when they didn’t make reservations with us and they liked it. We had reservations and never had to wait. My BIL did like his cabin more but they spent a lot more time in it than we did. That’s why there are so many categories of cabins. The sensor lights were over killed as if all turned on when going to the restroom at night, it looked like the sun came up. Nothing a few pillows blocking the nightstand didn’t solve. The shower was odd and even experienced one so small on a ship but we are not large so it worked. My other BIL is 325lbs and he had a harder time but made it work. He said he had to step out to turn around. 😬.  Our shower drain was very slow to drain from the start of the cruise. We told our steward and he reported it. It took 4 days for them to clear. The a/c was not working well upon the start. They came quickly and we were told they changed the airflow. It was still warm in the night as if the air was turned off at night. My SIL was next door and she stated the same thing and then we heard others on deck 10 complaining about their warm cabins. Storage was fine and the old tv shelf helped a lot. We didn’t have any issues with plug in space.  This was our steward’s first cruise, first time working on a cruise ship. We loved talking to him.

On Board: We loved the size of the ship. It had the right amount of restaurants to bars to outside areas. The number of kids and teenagers to much older to us was even. We liked the demographics of the passengers as most dressed for dinner, formal nights, didn’t see wet bathing suits inside. The CD was good as was his staff. We enjoyed trivia. My biggest negatives was the schedule of activities to dinner times. My biggest negative was the amount of time it took to eat. Gastro Pub took almost 3.5 hours from at the table to leaving. By time the food was served the fries were cold. This made us miss most of the earlier activities and 1030p shows were just too late for us. The coming around trying to sale wine tastings were annoying as at one lunch we were asked 3 times. The photographer sets were in the way of walking as was the jewelry sales. 

I love the medallions and how well it worked. I thought the premier package was worth the price. I wish the breakfast buffet had more no carb selections. I am glad that the buffet had no-sugar desserts but didn’t know that until the 8th day I asked and the employee pointed to the sugar free desserts. The signs do not say sugar free. I wished the IC had healthier options but the regular coffee was so much better than anywhere else on the ship.

My first time cruiser DH family - enjoyed the cruise. They hate the lines (we know patients is needed, they must learn it) especially embarkation and disembarkation. I agree it needed more organization and staff helping the lines. My SIL already booked RC Wonders as it was parked next to us twice and she wants to try a large ship. To each their own. At least Princess didn’t turn anyone against cruising.

As for my first Princess. It was nice. If the itinerary and price was right, I would sail on Princess and Emerald again.  Our next cruise is on SilverSea as anymore by time you add up all that is included on luxury, and with their sales, there isn’t as much price difference as one would think. We like everything to be included. Did we have to have the premier or excursion in every port. Of course not, but this is how we like to travel. We are not gamblers so we don’t care if they have a casino. River cruises are still our favorite type of vacation but Princess gave us another option to watch. I would put it up there with my feeling of Celebrity. We will never sail NCL again.  These are all my opinions. I never make decisions on other opinions but review and learning from CC experiences. 

I hope to sail with many of you in the future. I learned so much from the Princess board. Happy Sailings!

One more before review. South FL Shuttle did a great job getting us to the hotel from the airport, hotel to the port and port back to airport. If you have 6 or more. they charge 15/pp (private) and it was worth it to not deal with transportation.

The cruise has came to an end.

Last night was a nice night at Vines. If you like champagne, I believe they have the best tasting one on the ship and you can only get it there;  JCB.  After the head chef’s presentation in the Princess theatre they took everyone through Michelangelo kitchen.

I will give my final review and answer the question if I would sail with Princess and Emerald again. I did not include a lot of negative comments because I try  not to dwell on the negative while on board. Plus I will add comments from those in our party that this was their first cruise with any line.

For those that are about to board, have a fantastic trip and I am jealous as that looks like a fun itinerary.

Time to start packing and to get ready to disembark tomorrow. We did sign up for EZCheck so we do not have to worry about our bags and can help SIL and BIL with theirs. We have to walk off early as they made their flight reservations at 11:15a so they are worried about getting to the airport on time. They do not travel very much so all is new to them. I have the private shuttle meeting us so it should go without issues.