::: Review::: Emerald Princess 10/19-10/29 Eastern Caribbean

[jillocb]

Boring us - No Way & OMG - We were in St. Thomas once with 5 ships too and it was a zoo! One minute we were walking along downtown & the next thing we know there are hundreds maybe thousands all around us.:eek: Very claustrophobic & it was almost impossible to find a cab back to the ship.

 

Love the pic of James Michael - we sat & talked with him for a while one late afternoon in the Wheelhouse. Nice guy too - did you know he was a cage fighter???

 

Yeah....I love that he's a cage fighter, and he's not afraid to wear a tutu.

[Sanibel*Gal]

Yeah....I love that he's a cage fighter, and he's not afraid to wear a tutu.

 

LOL - so right!

[LollyMoz]

Jill - friends of ours were vacationing in St. Thomas while you were in port and my friend posted on FB a photo of her with the Emerald leaving port behind her - funny coincidence. Again, great review. Love the photos!

[cruizecrazygramma]

how often do the entertainers change? We were on the Emerald in April and will be on her again in February. We saw James Michael as well. As much as we loved the show, we're hoping for different entertainment. Any insights? It seems that in only 4 cruises over 4 years, that we have seen the same big productions over and over. Do those change ever????

[caribill]

how often do the entertainers change? We were on the Emerald in April and will be on her again in February. We saw James Michael as well. As much as we loved the show, we're hoping for different entertainment. Any insights? It seems that in only 4 cruises over 4 years, that we have seen the same big productions over and over. Do those change ever????

 

Princess has about 8 different production shows and the staff on a ship are usually trained in from two to four of them. The scenery and props for the shows they are trained in will also be on the ship.

 

A new show is introduced about once a year and usually only on one or two ships. Gradually it will get to other ships and an older show will be eliminated from the fleet.

 

The introduction of a different show to a particular ship will depend on when managment feels it is time to make a change, and the change will only occur when a new set of singers and dancers comes on board who are trained in that show.

 

As far as the other entertainers, they all have contracts of varying lengths and you may or may not see the same ones a year later whether you are on the same itinerary or on a different one.

[elou]

Your review is just great. Loved it. Would you have any patters to show us?

[LAC2]

Loving your review and all the pictures. Great job.

 

Where exactly was the Fat Turtle" on St. Thomas? We're leaving next Monday on the Emerald and do not have an excursion planned. Would love to stop by.

[lynwar]

Yes, I liked a particular entertainer in Crooner's Bar and he's on the ship this week and his wife will be going onboard to join him on Nov. 8. After that, I won't know where he'll be. I'd like to see him again. This was the first time we'd reconnected since 1998!!!! It would be nice if we had a schedule. Someone on another thread said that you have to start checking the Patters from people at least two weeks before you cruise. However, that doesn't help if you book way in advance. I was really surprised to see this person. It was a great reunion.

BTW-this is a great review. Trevor and I are reliving the cruise. I love the pictures, too. Good job!! And, our hope is for a continuing happy life for the two of you.

Lynne

[kool kruiser]

Hi Jillocb! Nice review! We loved James Michael too! We were standing right near you and Gilda was soooooo happy you got picked and not her! LOL! You did a great job on-stage!! Wasn't the Calabaza catamaran cruise with Gina just awesome! Nice photo of Gilda and I! LOL! We really enjoyed your company and hope you had as much fun on this cruise as we did! Happy cruisin! :)

 

It was a great day in Barbados for us as well. I seem to recognise the strange lady also in the photo:D

It was a pleasure meeting all of you and hope our paths cross again

Colin

[jotabecu]

Your pictures and your reviews were excellent.

Best wishes for your marriage!!!

 

We will be sailing Nov 8.

[JustinPlusLauren]

I'm totally loving your review! Thanks for posting it and happy to re-live some of my cruise memories through your review since I've been to some of the ports :)

[jillocb]

Elu - The Patters are all packed right now in my scrapbook supplies but I will post them at some point if I get a chance. They were excellent and very helpful, when we remembered to look at them!!

 

LAC2 - When you walk off the boat, walk past all of the taxi drivers into the shopping area. Walk past that as if you are walking towards town. You're pretty much following the water. It'll be on your left.

 

To all of my Barbados friends, Hi!! :)

[ILgirl]

Thanks for the great review. We're on the Emerald for our third time in a few weeks. As respects your directions to the Fat Turtle, are the directions from Crown Bay? I know that 99.9% of the time Princess is docked at Crown Bay but I just wanted to be certain the directions are not from Havensight. Sounds like a fun place. Thanks.

[ladylynne]

Thanks for the great review. We're on the Emerald for our third time in a few weeks. As respects your directions to the Fat Turtle, are the directions from Crown Bay? I know that 99.9% of the time Princess is docked at Crown Bay but I just wanted to be certain the directions are not from Havensight. Sounds like a fun place. Thanks.

we were docked at Havensight for this cruise

[jillocb]

After our last at-sea day, we stopped at Princess Cays. This was a great experience. Everyone who wants to get off the boat goes into the tenders that take you over to the island. It was interesting, for sure! Those things can hold a lot of people and they certainly would be cramped if this was an emergency!!

 

 

Check it out. You get off the tenders and can walk right or left. We chose for right because a lot of people were going left. We're crazy like that. So, we passed some a bar and a grill where lunch would be and we kept walking. As we were walking, it seemed to turn into a secluded paradise. There was hardly anyone over here. Once you got past the clam shells and chairs, there was nothing...and no one. It was awesome!

 

Well, no one except this guy who's wife left him snorkeling there alone. That was a people watching experiment for sure. She was worried he wasn't snorkeling in the "right" place. He didn't care. She stomped off. Super.

 

 

 

Hi there! Water's great, come on in!

As you can tell, I really don't mind embarrassing myself. Haha!

 

They fed us an awesome lunch of ribs, hot dogs (the humungous ones), hamburgers, salad, an amazing coleslaw made with oil and vinegar, potato salad, etc. You can tell I'm not a foodie when I call an awesome lunch what we had that day. Also could be we were starving b/c we ate breakfast super early and then played for a while before lunch time. They also had bars open, of course we joined in. Did not get the local beer here. Should have. Next time!

 

Then, it was back on the ship to pack up! Booooo.

[jillocb]

Aloha! That's what the elevator said every time we got off. It's always nice to have someone say hello and goodbye to you when you are getting on and off an elevator. Haha.

 

Our room, Aloha 608

Please ignore any messes, we had taken our luggage out and hastily thrown the cover back on the bed before these were taken. Must. Have. Cabin. Photos!!

 

Entry

 

To the right of the entryway was our bathroom and closet.

 

Closet was large

 

Bathroom was not so much

 

That dreaded shower curtain that every woman understands the perils of when trying to shave

 

Bed Area (sorry, sun was setting)

[jillocb]

Bed area plus bar

 

Bed looking the other way

 

Balcony

 

We loved the room. It was perfect for us. The bed was just fine. It wasn't brand new but it didn't hurt us either. No need for an egg crate. The duvet was nice and comfortable.

 

We had quiet neighbors but unfortunately we had a smoker two doors down who smoked incessantly. I understand, some people smoke, it's your right, but MY LORD. Every morning and every evening before dinner. Smokity smoke smoke. We could not leave our door open in the morning because of it. ONLY negative. But, you can't control your neighbors so, we dealt with it just fine.

[jillocb]

Would we travel on the Emerald Princess again? Definitely!

 

Keep in mind, these are just our opinions, everyone's entitled to their own... hehe.

 

It's a very nice ship, very nice staff. We actually (random) ran into the Captain on our floor one day and he said "hello, hope you are having a good cruise" to us. That was really nice. Just regular people, he takes the time to say a few words.

 

The food was excellent. The buffet selection got redundant towards the end but it was nice to see items other than just breakfast on the breakfast buffet for those of us that don't always enjoy breakfast foods.

 

Power Hour drinks were great. There was a choice of maybe 10 or so drinks you could get after 8pm for $2.99.

 

There was always somewhere quiet to sit during the day inside the ship to play cards or to read a book. There was normally a chair open by a pool, but you had to hunt!

 

The best pool: Aft. Watching the sunset from the back of the ship = Priceless.

 

We are spoiled by our balcony cabin.

 

Finally, some parting shots of the International Cafe! Of course, we have to end it with food!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until our next cruise!

[BballinQT24]

Thanks for taking the time to post a great review and your pictures. I enjoyed reading it!

[tubasteve]

Thanks for your posts. My wife and I were married aboard the Emerald in April. This was a nice mental getaway, wish we were back onboard! Congrats on your marriage :)

[TLC535]

Congratulations & many happy years together.....

Thank you so much for your review & pics....we will be aboard her for the second time in March & really enjoyed reliving it thru someone else's eyes & makes the anticipation even greater for our March trip...:D:D

[Sanibel*Gal]

Thanks again for your review & great pictures - Sounds like you both enjoyed your "first" cruise & are hooked like the rest of us!@!!:D

[JanaJohn]

Thanks so much for the review and the wonderful pictures! I loved the pictures of the local beers the best. :D

[Tweedy]

I enjoyed reading your review and seeing all your photos. I can't wait until I sail on the Emerald in April.

[admranger]

Excellent thread! Thanks for the reviews, ideas, and pics.

 

My wife and I are on the Emerald Dec 18th w/some first timers! I am going to forward the link so they can see what fun awaits!

 

Just might have to do that balcony dinner some night (French night is never my favorite, so possibly then. :p).