EMERALD PRINCESS Questions

[mercede70]

I am cruising on the Emerald Princess over spring break and had a few questions some veterans may be able to answer. Thanks in advance.... :)

 

Sanctuary: Is it $10 or $15 per 1/2 day, and is there a charge for all areas of the sanctuary or just if you rent a cabana? Can you sign up for the sea days prior to boarding?

 

Anytime versus Traditional dinner: I signed up for anytime dining thinking the menu was the same, but it seems it is different from the menu in the traditional dining room, can anyone tell me if the menu is the same, and if not, was the food that much different for anytime diners?

 

Sushi bar: Are all of the items at their sushi bar additionally charged?

 

Kids: I know that spring break cruises inevitably will have children, but I cruised on the Carnival Valor one spring break, can I expect less kids on Princess?

 

Alcohol: I only drink beer and was going to have Just Because deliver a few cases for my husband and I prior to departure but found they have gone out of business, can anyone tell me whether or not there is another business that delivers cases to the ship, and if not what are the odds of getting caught trying to smuggle?

 

Thanks!

[Toto2Kansas]

I am cruising on the Emerald Princess over spring break and had a few questions some veterans may be able to answer. Thanks in advance.... :)

 

Sanctuary: Is it $10 or $15 per 1/2 day, and is there a charge for all areas of the sanctuary or just if you rent a cabana? Can you sign up for the sea days prior to boarding?

Last time I checked it was $10 per half day, but you can only sign up onboard. There is no entry or area in the Santuary without paying the fee.

 

Anytime versus Traditional dinner: I signed up for anytime dining thinking the menu was the same, but it seems it is different from the menu in the traditional dining room, can anyone tell me if the menu is the same, and if not, was the food that much different for anytime diners?

The menus are exactly the same, no difference at all.

 

Sushi bar: Are all of the items at their sushi bar additionally charged?

Not sure, hopefully someone else can jump in here with that answer.

 

Kids: I know that spring break cruises inevitably will have children, but I cruised on the Carnival Valor one spring break, can I expect less kids on Princess?

During spring break, I doubt you will see any less children on Princess then you did on Carnival. At least we have not seen anything different. Spring break (or any school holiday that is lengthy) will mean tons of kids onboard.

 

Alcohol: I only drink beer and was going to have Just Because deliver a few cases for my husband and I prior to departure but found they have gone out of business, can anyone tell me whether or not there is another business that delivers cases to the ship, and if not what are the odds of getting caught trying to smuggle?

No other company that I have found still delivers alcohol to the cruise ships, that was stopped several years ago.

 

Thanks!

 

See above.

[geoherb]

The menus in the traditional and the anytime dining rooms are identical. The sushi is free, although some people have reported that the staff will get an attitude if you don't order wine with it. We did not try it when we were on the Emerald in November.

 

You can expect quiet places to get away from children on Princess. We enjoyed the Oasis pool. There's also a pool at the back of the ship that's adults only.

[LuvTheGoodLife]

I can answer some of your questions:

 

Anytime vs Traditional Dining - food menu is exactly the same in the Anytime vs Traditional dining rooms. So is the dress code.

 

Sanctuary -No cabanas in the sanctuary (maybe you are thinking of the cabanas that can be rented at Princess Cays?). Sanctuary is $10 for 1/2 day and $20 for full day. Single day reservations cannot be reserved in advance of cruise or on first day of cruise and can only be reserved on the day of. On our recent Emerald cruise, people were lining up in the morning for Sanctuary reservations for our last sea day starting about 7:00 am that morning. Attendant arrived to sell reservations for the day about 7:45am and all available loungers for the day were gone in 10 minutes (to first several people in line). If you are truly interested in Sanctuary for multiple days, I would consider buying the full week pass which is generally sold for $105/pp which is a discount equivalent to $15/day. With this, your space in Sanctuary is reserved for the whole week and no need to wake up early and get in line in hopes to get a spot on the sea days (which are the most popular for sanctary).

 

Beer - I am not aware of any outside company allowed to deliver alcohol packages onto the ship. As to your question on smuggling beer on board, I would say Princess is much less proactive than other cruise lines at detecting and confiscating alcohol brought on board BUT, technically, their cruise contract only allows passngers to bring on board wine or champagne. If you do decide to try and get beer on board in your checked luggage, please make sure it is well-wrapped against breakage or leakage as you do not want to ruin your clothing or those of other passengers whose luggage may be close to yours in the luggage bins used to move luggage on board ship.

 

Hope this helps a little. Enjoy your cruise!

[bhopal21]

Sushi is free at Vines, no problem two weeks ago.

 

Mike:)

[travelingtrish]

What dates are you cruising? I am going 3/28/10-4/4/10. I called and there are 500 kids on board as of 2 weeks ago. If you are going on a different date you can call Princess and they will tell you.

[Shifra]

I would like to add that regarding the pools there are two adult only pools. Terrace pool aft and Lotus pool forward. No charge for either. Regarding food at Vines, yes it is all free of charge except for the wine, and don't forget the International Cafe which has no charge except for the gelato.

[Flipflopsnfrozendrinks]

for TravelingTrish: Which number did you call to find out how many kids will be onboard? I tried 1-800 princess, and they told me they wouldn't/couldn't tell me. I am traveling with my 2 kids on April 18, and am curious about the number.

Thanks, Kim

[juggles]

the last cruise I went on [Ruby] had 700 children on board and for the whole two weeks [b2B] I only saw one and he was well behaved and in the restaurant

[travelingtrish]

To Kim

 

I called the 1-800 princess number. They asked my booking number and then provided me with the information. I would try calling again. I am assuming you are already booked?

[Woobstr112G]

Sushi is now free at Vines. This changed over the summer along with most stuff at the International Cafe now being free as well. IMHO too many people were whining about havong to pay a miniscule amount for some great stuff. Now that everything (for the most part is free) and the Tapas have been moved to vines, I have noted a slight decrease in variety and smoe quality. The tapas were great when they were at the Int Cafe. Now that they've gone to Vines, they don't seem to be of the same caliber.

 

Just my personal observations.

 

Bob

[Flipflopsnfrozendrinks]

Thanks, I'll try again, with my booking number. I hope I can get the info. Usually we travel during school, so the kids ares used to only having about 30 kids onboard.

Trying again,

Kim